Talyn's Things (Pt4: Returning for Talyn)

[Matalina]

The shadow relished the blood loss but the pain was overwhelming and the body reacted as if being touched softly with a feather in the most sensitive of places. The shadow slank away defeated, with out knowledge before hand Yrean had won the battle and lost it at the same time. He's overcome the shadow and beaten it at it's own game, but in the process had provided enough of a game to sedate it for the time being.

 

Cari took a deep breath of the blood that lingered in the room. Her desires shot up and she reached for Yrean. He took a step back and she reached for him again as he found his back against a wall. She brought his head down to hers and she kissed him gingerly on the lips. The taste of his blood on his lips made a soft moan escape Cari. Cari didn't let Yrean up but she spoke softly. "It's gone Yrean, but other things have taken the place of it. Things I hate to ask of you." Cari kissed him a little more forcefully and he returned a kiss if not eagerly, he did return it.

 

Cari let go of Yrean and backed a step away from him. "If this goes where I need it to go, you are going to have to hurt me." She didn't smile but she made sure it was a friendly tone. She closed her eyes and removed her clothes and stood before Yrean in nothing but blood. It was more a gesture of baring her soul than one of bearing her body. "I've asked this of no one though I have received the pleasure I seek and that the shadow has pushed upon us. But you are the only one here, and if you truly are the man you say you are then I will ask, but it holds no bearing on where we go from here." She smiled at him. "My tastes can be rather bizarre."

 

Cari took that step closer to Yrean and reached for his hand and placed it behind her head in the midst of her long auburn hair and closed it around it. "Yrean, hurt me." It sounded almost like a plea. He looked confused and Cari used wrapped her hand around his hand in her hair and pulled he head back and an awkward angle. Another small moan escaped her lips. She knew he still didn't understand, it was difficult to talk in the position she was in, but she didn't let the pressure off.

 

"Yrean, there is a fine line pain and pleasure. That line was what made the shadow leave, but left the desires of a violent lust behind. I could hurt you but that would only bring the shadow back and I don't think you'd enjoy it." Cari paused for a breath and pulled her head back a little harder, asking him to do it himself but when she eased her grip up he eased up with her. "If you hurt me the shadow will not come, and I assure you I want this. I won't ask for more than you can give." Cari let go of his hand and her head returned to a normal position and she smiled at him. "All I ask is that you be rougher in your bed manners. Instead of easing up before breaking skin on nibbling at my neck, I ask that you break skin. I'm not fragile Yrean, I want you to hurt me. Please me in a way very few men can handle. I won't hurt you in return only make love to you." She smiled seductively up at him. "I can please you in ways few other women can." Arrogance on her part perhaps, but she would be more than grateful lover if he pleased her with violence.

 

Cari moved in as close as she could to Yrean and whispered in his ear. "Hurt me Yrean."

 

Cari

[WhiteWolf]

"I've asked this of no one though I have received the pleasure I seek and that the shadow has pushed upon us. But you are the only one here, and if you truly are the man you say you are then I will ask, but it holds no bearing on where we go from here."

 

That was it, all shred or resolve was gone, all sense of purpose fled, and so had Yrean. The words battered at his mind, repeating over and over again, each time with more intensity, each time with a resonance that increased like the peeling of a bell, and him at the center.

 

But it holds no bearing on where we go from here.

 

But it holds no bearing on where we go from here.

 

But it holds no bearing on where we go from here.

 

Around and around, spinning back and forth like some demented litany, each time seeming to condemn him, condemn him to a path that he had willingly taken, blindly rushed down as if all he years of training and experience had left him. He now stood, naked and blind, alone, caught in a trap of his own making.

 

His mother had once told him that to open a door was to invite the world in, a world that conformed to it’s own rules, one that ignored wishes and personal desires. Until now he had never fully understood what she had meant, and even now he was not sure what the full implication of those words meant. He did know that he was closer to understanding them than he had ever been before, but still the full implication slipped away from him In his time as a mercenary, and later as a Tower Guard, Yrean had faced the prospect of losing his life, and had accepted that. Now though he faced the prospect of losing something that was far more ethereal, himself.

 

And for what?

 

No promise of undying love, no promise to be there, to hold him, to help him, to nurture him and walk by his side through the dark watches of the night. Instead just a few words, words that reminded him, that hammered the message home to him. No matter how far he thought he had come, no matter how far he thought Cari had come, he was no closer to making an impact on her, Instead he was now only just beginning to truly sense the complexities of this woman who stood before him. Did he really think he was the one who could find her, who could help her? How arrogant that now seemed to him, this sudden rush of clarity striking him like lightening on a moon dark night. But it did no good, he was no longer able to change his path, he was as committed as he had ever been to anything in his life.

 

Slowly he felt his hand moving, almost of it’s own volition, tightening on her hair, stretching her neck backwards until the muscles and sinews stood out in stark relief. His gaze centred on her brown eyes, almost willing himself to drown in those eyes, to allow his mind to go somewhere were it could protect it’s self from what he knew he had to do. Had to do if he was to see this madness through to it’s conclusion, a conclusion that now seemed all the more clearer, yet all the more distant.

 

But it holds no bearing on where we go from here

 

Again the litany of words beat at his senses, nibbled at his resolve, almost had him running for the door, wanting to deny everything that had happened and was going to happen. Oh yes, he knew it would happen, and happen now, there was nothing left but to complete this journey, and deal with the consequences later.

 

But it holds no bearing on where we go from here

 

The more the words rang out in his mind, the clearer he could feel his thoughts becoming. He used them as a monk would use a chant to focus his thoughts to prepare himself for meditation, focusing on them, losing himself in them and in her brown eyes, eyes that now contained more life and emotion than any he had seen before. If anything was the driving force behind his reawakened resolve, it was her eyes, and the emotion therein. He hungered for that, he lusted after it, more so now that he was close to attaining it and like a reckless fool who reaches out for glory, only to have it snatched away, so Yrean did what Cari wanted, what she needed, what she demanded.

 

But it holds no bearing on where we go from here

 

Spread eagled on the bed, supine, she watched as his hand came down, once twice, thrice, each time brining her closer to that nirvana, each time increasing the fireswithin her. He had her now, trapped, she could no more escape him than he could escape her, Their fate entwined, much as their bodies where, A twist here, a pinch there, a bite somewhere else, and the blood started to flow afresh, increasing the desire to levels that were almost beyond that that a human body could endure.

 

But it holds no bearing on where we go from here

 

Again the litany drove him on, made him reach that place that she was pushing him to, a place that would bring her what she wanted, and bring him what he had never contemplated, nor desired.

 

But it holds no bearing on where we go from here

 

Finally they lay spent, bodies abused, but sated. Now there was nothing, and Yrean knew the world would never be the same for him again. So innocently, so eagerly had he approached this tryst, thinking it nothing more than a continuation of the afternoon’s fun. Now though the realisation hit his exhausted mind hard and if Cari had looked at him, she would have seen a single tear make it’s way down his face, a final mark of his utter and abject failure.

 

But it holds no bearing on where we go from here

 

No longer were these words a driving force, now they were mocking him, he was lost now, and knew there was no hope that he could ever turn back.

 

Yrean Stavrosi

 

Tower Guard and dupe

 

We are Grey. We stand between the Light and the Shadow

[Matalina]

Cari found her pouch lying next to the bed where she'd laid it down. It contained the salves to keep their wounds from scarring. She rolled over with the pouch in her hand and smiled at Yrean. Cari whispered into his ear. "Thank you." It was an odd thing to thank him for, but it was something she had truly enjoyed. Cari sat on Yrean's stomach and carefully took out a rag and some cleaning supplies from her pouch. "It will sting alittle but it will keep it clean and the salve will prevent scarring." She thanked Nona for helping her prefect the concotion and she used it regularly.

 

Cari dabbed at the cuts on Yrean's face with the clothe watching the light in his eyes. She smiled softly. "Unfortunately Yrean, after we clean up, I will have to ask you to leave." He almost looked angry at her words. "I have a dinner party with my daughter and her step mother. And I don't need to explain you and the cuts. Some other time, but today is not that day."

 

Cari

[WhiteWolf]

It is odd the way people can change, and change so quickly that it seemed as if they had been replaced by another version of themselves that was totally juxtaposition to the other. Watching as Cari worked the salve into their wounds, Yrean thought that that was what had happened here. Now she seemed such a different person that it was very hard to accept her as the crazed, demanding, insistent harridan she had been before. Yrean was reminded of the way Illian felt after one of the summer storms, the air all fresh and clean, the horrible mugginess that preceded such a storm blown away. If only he could be cleansed so easily, but that was never going to happen, as with anything there was a price to pay and the cost of this was not so easily going to be set aside. Suddenly he realised that Cari had been speaking, and he had not heard a word of what she had said.

 

“What be you saying?”

 

With a small sigh of exasperation Cari repeated her earlier words, reminding Yrean that he had to leave, and soon. “Explain me? You be making me be sound like something you be wanting to hide.”

 

Pushing Cari off his chest, Yrean slowly untangled himself from the bed sheets and gingerly climbed off the bed. Now that the void had gone, he could feel every cut, abrasion and bruise, and despite the salve Cari had administered Picking up his clothes, and realising that they would need cleaning if he was ever to wear them again, Yrean sighed and started to get dressed, his back turned to Cari. He did not mean to ignore her, but he needed to think, to try and understand what had just occurred and how to deal with it. To say he was out of his depth here was an understatement of vast proportions and he knew of no one he could talk to, no he could unburden himself to. Struggling to get his boots on he over balanced and fell back on the bed, mad at himself he flung the offending boot across the room, hearing Cari’s laugh did not improve his mood any and he turned to face her, anger apparent in his eyes.

 

“You be used to this, but I be not, how be you coping with…” Yrean did not know what to call it and in frustration waved his hand, indicating the state of the room, but also meaning the mental turmoil he was feeling. He did not have the words to describe what he meant, and did not think he ever would. “I be out of my depth here.” Levering himself off the bed he went after the errant boot, and picking it up pulled it onto his foot, tucking his breaches into the top of them. “Forget I be saying anything.” With those curt few words he made his way to the door, buckling his sword belt as he went.

 

Yrean Stavrosi

 

Tower Guard

 

We are Grey. We stand between the Light and the Shadow

[Matalina]

Cari reached the door to the room before Yrean did and stood between him and the door. She was mildly confused about his reaction but she could see he was slightly out of his element. Cari didn't know what to say, but she wasn't about to let him leave here like that.

 

"Forget you said anything? You want me to forget what we just did too?"

 

Cari looked back at him with almost as much anger as he had when he flung the boot across the room. If he couldn't see the humor in his small little mishap then perhaps he was not someone with which to share any relationship with. "This is my life Yrean. This is who I am. I'm sorry that you feel out of your element, I can't do much to heal your broken ..." She didn't know what was broken, or even how to explain what could be broken.

 

She didn't approach him, just calmed her voice. "What we just did meant alot to me. But you didn't have to travel into areas you were not sure of. I wouldn't hold it against you for denying my more brutal side. Few can handle it, and since leaving, it has grown and it will continue to grow for as long as I have the shadow to contend with. Things will not change with me Yrean. I will not ask it of you again." With those words Cari stepped out of the way of the door and started tiding up the room hoping Demus wouldn't notice too much when he returned to their room.

 

Cari bend over to clean up the shattered water bowl and broken tables. The glass cut into her hands as she swept the smaller peices up, but it could be handled later, it was a small price to pay for asking Yrean to do what he apparently had problems doing. She would let him go, if he wanted that. There would be time tomorrow to see where they went from here. Today was a bit too busy and she had many more things to do this night before morning came.

 

Cari

[WhiteWolf]

“You be no needing to ask me Cari, I be willing to help, but this be strange to me and I be not knowing……….” All of a sudden the anger drained out or Yrean, and he realised that his anger at her was misplaced. It was not her fault, nor was she the cause of it. Being out of his element was something Yrean had never been comfortable with, and so his anger was with himself, and he had no right to take it out on her.” This be easy for you? It not be so for me, not even when you be asking it of me.”

 

At the sound of braking glass he glanced around, not yet able to meet her eyes, but drawn by the sound, and he could not but notice the blood seeping through her fingers. Picking up a strip of cloth from the floor, he moved over to where she was standing and took the broken glass from her fingers and then, after checking the wound, bound her hand with the cloth. Finally he raised his eyes to hers and sighed.

 

“I be needing you to be talking to me if we be continuing, for now I need to be knowing what I be asked is really what you be needing and not you be wanting to hurt yourself, I be remembering that, fortune prick me if I be not.” Yrean had never understood that about Cari, or Matalina, as she had called herself then. He had hated that from the moment she had told him and try as he might he could not understand why she had done that to herself. Hopefully, if she explained now, maybe he could come to terms with it and try and figure out how he could help her, although he suspected that he had more chance of walking in on the Amrylin in a bathtub with several naked stable boys.

 

Yrean Stavrosi

 

Tower Guard

 

We are grey. We stand between the Light and the Shadow

[Matalina]

Cari shook her head at him. "It's not something I need." Cari wasn't sure how to explain it to him. Pain, violence was just another bit of pleasure to her. Whether she inflicted or it was inflicted upon her, it was all more of a turn on than anything.

 

"It's my nature. I can't explain what brings happiness to me, just as you can't explain why a certain touch rouses your sexual side. I can't explain it, Yrean. It's not a need so much as a want." She remembered cutting herself to rid the shadow from her and her desires to tempt fate. "This isn't the same as before. Then there were other reasons tempting the violence and the pain. I have accepted who I am. I do not do anything to harm myself. But I won't lie to say that I'm not tempting fate anymore. I do not wish to end my life for my past actions nor actions I do in the future. But if it ends at the hands of pleasure than I will not stop it." She couldn't tell him more, it was hard enough to explain. "I can't change who I am."

 

Cari

[WhiteWolf]

The little that she said did nothing to help Yrean understand what they had done, he thought he now understood the why, but he felt that the more she tried to clarify things, the murkier they got, even more so after she said: But I won't lie to say that I'm not tempting fate anymore. I do not wish to end my life for my past actions nor actions I do in the future. But if it ends at the hands of pleasure than I will not stop it.

 

There was much here he needed to think about, he could just about appreciate that she was more open to things that he had never contemplated, it had always been obvious to him that she had was more experienced in life and in ways that he had never even realised, but to have even begun to contemplate the loss of life in the pursuit of pleasure set his mind spinning again, almost threatening to spin off it’s axis and disappear for good.

 

“I be trying to be what you seem to be wanting me to be, but you be needing to realise I be out of my depth here. If you be telling me this be right I be trusting you, but you be honest with me, or be this some scheme you be cooking up? There be things you be doing that you be no telling me, be I just a dupe in your plans? Be you be using me to be going where you be wanting, or be this something more?”

 

Yrean Stavrosi

 

Tower Guard

 

We are Grey. We stand between the Light and the Shade

[Matalina]

Cari bit back a laugh. "Using you? Yrean why would I use you?" Cari pulled her hand from his to test the bandages he'd finished tying, she'd undo them once he left, but she'd be obliged now by his comfort dispite not caring for it properly, she wouldn't bring that to attention now.

 

"If I wanted to use you, we would not be having this conversation. You'd not have been in my bed but I in yours and I would have gone as soon as it was done. You've nothing I want in a material sense, you've nothing worth anything to take. And I don't need to kill you to keep quiet about who I am, so what is it that I'm using you for? Sex?" Cari didn't laugh but she took him by the chin a little too roughly but enough to point out. "You are not the only man to share my bed."

 

And that had been the whole reason they were in this particular dilema anyway. "Where I want us to go, I don't know Yrean. But I would like to see where it went, but we have to agree to it. I'm willing to see where anything between us can go, but you will have to learn to trust I'm not doing anything to hurt you. I have no reason to want to hurt you."

 

Cari

[WhiteWolf]

Yrean helped Cari repair the damage they had inflicted on the room, while listening to her reply to his concerns. For once she actually said something that helped him understand the situation more, allowed him to gather himself and realise that she really had thought more about their situation than she had let on. There was still her worrying insistence that she take over people to her bed, both male and female, but if she did not rub his face in it he could live with that. He wondered though, how she would feel if he did the same with other women and while they put the finishing touches to the repairs, considered whether or not he should mention this to her. “I be wondering how we be explaining this?” Yrean indicated the broken washstand and basin, it was beyond his skills to repair and would be hard to away. Cari just laughed at the look of concern on his face and told him she would handle it, although he thought he detected a note of concern in her voice as she answered.

 

“There do be one thing I be wondering about. What be you thinking if I be taking others to my bed? Be you thinking I betray you?”

 

Cari responded with a shrug, before replying. 'Take who you want with you to bed. I'm not your keeper nor your wife. "Yrean was not sure if he liked that answer, a little bit of jealousy might have been good for his ego, but that was not the way Cari did things, apparently.

 

It took them a while longer to finish off the repairs, and but eventually they were done, and mindful of Cari’s later meeting, Yrean did not want to linger, but he also did not want to just walk out. So with a mischievous smile on his face he walked over to where Cari was folding a shirt and grabbed her wrist, forcing her back against the wall and holding her there, his face inches from hers. “I be going now, but I be thinking you be needing something to remember me by.” Then before she had a chance to say anything, Yrean’s lips found hers and he pressed his body firmly against hers, trapping her against the wall. Yrean increased the pressure on her hands, not really wanting to hurt her, but wanting to leave an impression on her before he left. His left leg forced it’s way between hers, and he used his weight to totally immobilize her. Then just as he heard a slight moan from her, he pulled away, abruptly ending the kiss. “I be seeing you soon Cari, don’t you be forgetting me.” With a twinkle in his eye, and the mischievous smile still on his face, Yrean turned and walked out the door, leaving her gasping for breath.

 

Yrean Stavrosi

 

Tower Guard

 

We are Grey. We stand between the Light and the Shadow

[Matalina]

Cari smiled as Yrean left, he'd done what she'd done to him earlier, leaving her wanting him. But that was neither here nor there Cari had more pressing things to take care of. It was slowly getting dark and it was time to pay Aran a visit and secure his silence.

 

Cari changed into dark breeches and shirt and pulled her cloak tightly around her after strapping on her sword to her hip. It was a refreshing feeling to have her blad at her side, she only hoped that she would not be stopped on her way to Aran's location, she hoped he was not on duty.

 

Cari inquired to the wereabouts of her target and the guard was eager to answer. Few stopped someone who looked like they belonged her, and Cari knew she could fit in. She had spent most of her life living on these grounds it was easy to blend in.

 

Cari found the roster of rooms easily and found Aran's room shortly there after. She didn't bother knocking, it was open or not she would open it with out destroying anything. The room was empty and Cari stood in the shadows waiting for Aran to arrive. She hoped he'd be along sooner rather than later.

 

Cari

[Wayfarer]

Aran had taken a bath before he had chosen to report to Vasya. His report had been rather selective and had gone from suspicious to comic. Following the woman in and seducing the woman only to have Yrean burst in and like a cuckold had sought to get his hands on Aran only for Aran to have to escape via the window. Still, the location of where Cari was staying and the fact that Yrean knew her were enough to keep Vasya satisfied. But there were other considerations, others that Aran knew had to be taken into account.

 

He hadn't given his word to keep her secret. Not that his word was something that Cari would value, but she had shown other weapons. That then raised the question of whether that was what she had done with Yrean, used her other talents to lure him into her thrall or whether there was something else going on. There was the possibility that Cari served a different master now, and if that were the case then Aran would have to make a choice about her. Alex was also on his mind, he'd seen something in the woman but had he seen this? Aran doubted it, not all of it, Matalina had been dangerous enough but Cari was unknown.

 

If he had to choose what was more likely, Aran was fairly certain that Yrean was being played rather than playing the game alongside Cari. He had been too surprised by what had occured, and she'd had no opportunity to send a message off to Yrean to stage such a thing. What game was she playing then? He couldn't say but it was one of many things that remained in his mind as he entered the barracks. After all, if he was right, then she would want to meet with him at some point to try and settle things, to cover her tracks for certain. Maybe even learn more, she'd been trying to pry and investigate as best she could even before he had realised who she was.

 

With such thoughts running through his mind, it wasn't until he entered his room and closed the door behind him that he realised that he wasn't alone. Blinking at the shadow in the room as he settled into a ready stance, it took a moment for Aran to figure out who it was and, relaxing visibly, lock the door. Not having to share his room with anyone, he'd pushed the beds together. Heading over to them, he looked underneath it and then sat on the bed as he looked at Cari as he spoke.

 

"Well, Yrean isn't hiding under the bed and the door is locked, I'm hoping there are no more surprises to be had?" Smiling as he began working on his boots, he continued. "Does he know?" A nice general question, it would be interesting to see how she interpreted it.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

[Matalina]

Aran wasn't too surprised by her uninvited visit to his room and calmly locked the door.

 

Cari smiled in the shadows. "He knows enough to keep his mouth shut."

 

Cari stepped out of the shadows and into the dim light that shown throw the windows of Aran's room. Sword at her hip she was sure that there was aboslutely no doubt in Aran's mind of who she really was now. Hair color and make up do little to cover the wolf like appearance of any Tower Guard or Warder, and even after so many years of not claiming such titles, Cari still held herself up to those standards, even if she rarely used it. But today it would come in handy, intimidation or lust would prevail tonight, or Aran might find himself an early grave.

 

"We have some business to take care of." Cari kept her hands at her sides but in clear view, she wasn't going to draw unless there was a need, but she wanted him to know she meant business. "We can do this several ways, but in the end your silence must be kept. I would hate to have to kill you."

 

Cari stood inches away from Aran waiting for his reply. It was his choice but his silence would be given or she'd take it herself.

 

Cari

[Wayfarer]

In otherwords, Yrean knew that it was Matalina turned Cari that was there with them. Did he even know why Cari was in the city or had he easily been swayed by her? How much of a hold did she have over him if he was willing to remain silent? His own silence on the matter was a different matter because Aran's reasons would undoubtedly not be Yrean's. And if Yrean was all hers, and if some of the possibilities when it came to Cari were true, Aran would have to tread very lightly. Well, if he wanted to play things safely that was.

 

Smiling as Cari approached him from the shadows, Aran had already taken note of the sword that she was wearing at her side. She had played the part of the warrior to enter this time then instead of the supplicant, and from the way she held herself she hadn't forgotten her blade training and she certainly had picked up a few new things that he was quite certain she hadn't known before. Her words just made him laugh though, laugh as he freed his boots and tossed them by the door. Laying back on his bed as he threw his legs up and over, his head found the pillow as he made himself comfortable for the second time that day with Cari in the same room as himself.

 

"Deja vu, I'm reminded of another woman who once held a dagger to me." Back when she had called herself Matalina, but that was a different woman as she'd said. "You know, I've been thinking about something and I think you may indulge my curiosity. Put your blades on the ground and come and sit here." Patting the space next to him, his smile became slightly more subdued. "I would like to hear of what you've been up to since you've been gone I think. It has been sometime after all, no?"

 

He was interested to see what she would do. Aran was fairly certain she would set her blades aside and sit next to him, even tell him a tale or two. It cost her far less and she still had the option of attempting to kill him if he proved recalcitrant afterward. Maybe she would see it as a chance to weave a web and sink her hooks, if he were her he would take the opportunity anyway. Besides, true or false, any tale that was given could be used to gain a little more insight into her.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

[Matalina]

Cari removed her sword belt and the daggers from her sleeves. He knew they were there and she wouldn't need them at hand if things progressed as they had in the inn.

 

Cari sat down where Aran had indicated she wasn't sure what he wanted to know but she didn't lie. "I've been raising my children." Cari leaned onto her hands towards Aran. "But that's not what you want to hear now is it?" Cari leaned in closer. "Stop fishing for your answers and just ask them straight out Aran. You may find things alot easier to understand then might you not?"

 

Cari held her ground inches for Aran's face. He was an attractive man, but there were too many memories of him in her mind that reminded her of Alex, and Alex was dead and buried. Aran was nothing more than an objective in her way. "I'll answer your questions if you promise to keep your mouth shut about the dead warder who is not dead."

 

Cari

[Wayfarer]

She was still prepared to play the game she had at the inn. She was different, Aran was under no illusion about the attraction he may have posed to Cari. She was willing to do such a thing to buy his silence, to use seduction and more as a weapon and a tool to achieve her own goals. Knowing that was confirming what he had surmised earlier, this wasn't a natural talent of hers, it had been cultivated. Something he knew because his own skills were a good deal due to instruction that had been given to him. There was a certain natural intuitiveness to it as well, to play to the other person's desires.

 

Which was what Aran was contemplating as he let a hand run down her side. He could try to apply his skills to her, use them to manipulate her as best he could. Or he could play the easily satisfied Aran, let her believe that she had easily conquered him and not betray himself. But then, that would produce few to no answers. After all, if there was no risk then there was no gain to be had. He was here to find out something, if it failed then there was little that Cari could do with the information except know that someone had taught him well. Given his reputation for jumping between beds, she wouldn't be able to draw anything definitive from it though she might suspect.

 

These thoughts were all spinning through his head as his hand drifted from her side to her thigh. An easy grin on his face, his tone was light and almost carefree as he spoke. "Probably, but I'm not used to being able to ask things so directly." So close, but he would let her make the first move, give her the opening to do so. Then they would play their game and see who came out ontop. "But in the meantime, I wonder if you really are Cari or someone I once knew. How different are you?"

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

[Matalina]

Cari smiled so he wanted to touch, she'd let him touch all he wanted. Still memories of him and Alex brought thoughts of having Alex walk in on them right now but Alex was dead, and no longer hers even if he wasn't. Alex needed to get out of her mind, out of her heart, he was making matters worse, he always did. Cari pushed Alex aside, mostly as she put her leg over Aran to sit on his stomach. She didn't mind whether or not he could breathe it really didn't matter she'd probably be leaning forward soon anyway.

 

"The person you once knew is dead, was dead the day the letter arrived in Tar Valon." Cari smiled at him. "The warder instinct still lives on, but the one time Mistress of Trainees and over protective girlfriend you once knew are gone. Replaced by more convenient things." Cari leaned down and brushed her lips against his to illustrate her point. Barely a breathe away Cari asked Aran, "Why so curious about a dead friend's dead lover?"

 

Cari didn't know if Aran knew Alex was dead, but he did now.

 

Cari

[Matalina]

Summary of lost posts:

 

Aran was surpised to find out Alex was Dead. Cari told Aran she'd give him more information if he kept his mouth quiet.

 

IC:

 

Not getting an immediate reaction from Aran, Cari leaned in and whispered in his ear. "Your silence can also be rewarded with other pleasantries." She kissed necked and then moved her tongue over his ear and sucked on his lobe gently. "Your desires fullfied, your fantasies, whatever you like, but it comes with a price. Your silence on who I am."

 

Cari wasn't sure if he was waiting on something but she needed his reassurances now, or she would end up cutting his tongue out.

 

Cari

[Wayfarer]

Alex dead? The question of how was the first thing that came to mind followed by when. Then the big question, how did Cari know of it yet word not have come back to the Yards? If word had come back, Aran was quite sure that someone would have told him what had happened but there hadn't been a single whisper that had reached him before. And if Cari knew but others didn't, well Cari had displayed a certain implacability that he had little reason to doubt. Even when she had been Matalina, she had been quick to violence. Indeed, one of their first meetings she'd put a knife to him and he'd had to respond with one of his own to get her off him.

 

But, she was teasing him with the carrot again, alternating from the stick she had tried using before and the surprise she had sprung on him. It was tempting to believe it a lie, but there wasn't a reason Aran could think of for her conjuring such a thing. Alex would certainly never have agreed to Cari offering herself to others in the way she was now, using her charms as a weapon and a tool in equal measure. Her motivation to do so remained obscured, though Aran had his suspicions.

 

Better to play the fool rather than tip his hand, let her believe what she would of him and spare himself the danger. Besides, he did have a precedent to follow and there would have had to have been some reason for it. Leaning up slightly as he began to respond to her advances, he whispered a single word to her.

 

"Done."

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard

[Matalina]

Well that was alot easier than I thought it would be, becareful he's more devious than he looks. Cari nodded to Aran and Marosa in her head. It was not often she agreed with the dark heart inside, but Aran was someone she wasn't about to trust, coming back to Tar Valon again with him knowing, even if he promised to keep quiet was something she wouldn't risk easily, too much was at stake.

 

Cari sat up on Aran's legs and stomach and started to remove his shirt, and her own clothes, giving him a show as she did so. There was very little light coming in the window and evening set into darkness, but there was enough for him and her to see by. Cari moved sensually about her own body as she removed her own clothes. By the time she was completely naked she was ready for the man she had once thought little of because of his treatment to Alex, now Alex was dead and she was pressing his buttons in all the wrong ways if she were suppose to be devoted to another. But Alex was dead.

 

Cari's attentions went to her .... vicitim for lack of a better word. Removing his clothes and paying all sorts of attentions on Aran. Her mouth danced over his body as well as her hands. When they were both fully unclothed except for the weapon harneses that were too annoying to remove Cari sat on Aran's stomach and pushed herself back to lay her flesh against his. She kissed his neck and moved up to his ear. "Now, what would you like me to do to you or if you have other fancies my body is yours for taking."

 

*****

 

Aran's tastes were not quite Cari's but she was grateful for his attentions and she hoped that he was equally pleased. Cari watched as Aran's few moments of pleasure lasted before she laid down next to him to talk to him quietly. "Now we have a deal? You keep quiet about who I am." Cari licked his neck and his ear lobe to let him know she'd already fullfilled her part of the bargain.

 

Cari

 

Cari

[Wayfarer]

By the time they were finished, Aran had been able to confirm several things about Cari. She had definitely been schooled, so much of her screamed a wealth of experience that she hadn't possessed before she'd disappeared. She'd picked up that schooling for a reason, and Aran knew where she hadn't picked it up which then begged the question of where. Cari had also retained a certain... taste, that had been observed about her in the past. Some things had remained true at least, even if it wasn't as well hidden as it had been. Then again, there was little need to hide such a thing now.

 

And of course, there was the other thing, but he had made a deal and he doubted he would have to break it. After all, while he certainly wasn't bound by his word, he tried to keep it where he could. That and someone else... Well, that didn't need to be mentioned, not even as Cari whispered in his ear and danced on its lobe with her tongue. She had seen fit to remind him of their bargain, fair enough he supposed since he wasn't exactly regarded as one of the most trustworthy of people. And if Cari retained parts of Matalina within her, well, she definitely wouldn't trust him. But, it was easier to try and persuade than it was to use force, she seemed to have come to appreciate then.

 

Then again, maybe she always had.

 

"A deal is a deal." Smiling at her, Aran slipped out of bed and began to get dressed again. It wouldn't cost him to let her go and leave her secret be, might even be enlightening depending on who she spoke to while she was in Tar Valon. It would require some backtracking perhaps, but it'd be worth it.

 

In the meantime, he needed to go attend to a few things and then report to Vasya. Pulling on his shirt, he turned at Cari and grinned. "Well, I'd offer to escort you out but that might be a tad conspicuous. It was good seeing you again, or rather, meeting you." Letting himself out, Aran knew he was going to have to look over his room when he returned, but it was another way to learn after all. Whatever she touched would give him another way to glean more information from her, if she tampered with his room at all.

 

 

Aran

Tower Guard