The Lead Crown: Ch 3c, Making Friends (pt 5)
Tranquil Waters: The Lead Crown Ch 3-5, Making Friends
Sada was purposefully late to breakfast the morning of Evencrest. Although it was only a minor holy holiday among the hidden sect she couldn't bring herself to be a part of it; she was no stranger to the church and she didn't feel right letting her traveling companions know just how much of a part of it she really was. True, she had saved the practitioners numerous times from destruction but, then again, they had saved her first.
when finally she did attend the gathering she saw the party seated as an entire group for the first time since their arrival. Although the closely packed gathering of Alarice, Weisen, and Inigo all shot her a glance, each of the scholars were too busy with their own activities: Roland and Joshew with one another, and Alvis with Brother Jessen. It made the otter smile to know that both the mongrel and the coyote were finally getting a chance to socialize-- and with one another, nonetheless.
She remained silent, simply nodding to Alarice, who returned to a quiet discussion with Weisen while Inigo appeared bored, casually swirling his index finger in the luke warm honeyed tea given to the visitors as part of the Evencrest celebration. The otter nodded thankfully to Sister Harriet who delivered her a small mug of coffee; hosts did not drink tea for the celebration, and Sada was thankful that everyone was already too wrapped up in their own activities to notice the difference in her drink opposed to theirs... or so she had thought.
Despite being blind, Joshew glanced her way, "So what'd YOU do to have all the luck?"
The otter met the blind scholar's glance despite him not being able to see it, "I beg your pardon, Mr. Helix?"
If the human had an issue with the use of his family name he didn't bother letting it show, "The rest of us are stuck with tea, but you get coffee? That's the lifeblood of any real scholar... not this stuff." Joshew slid the tea away from himself with the back of his hand.
Roland frowned, objecting to his compatriot quietly, "Shew... our hosts are practically right here... don't be rude."
The blind scholar clicked his tongue in distaste, "I'm not being rude... I think it's only fair to let em know I don't drink rabbit-food." The human stalled at the sudden pause in conversation from across the room where a lapin acolyte turned and glanced at Joshew, who lowered his head and voice, murmuring, "There's a rabbit here, isn't there?"
The two scholars continued to argue quietly like an old married couple, though the human's realization did take a little of the edge off of his gruffness. If anyone else in the group had noticed Joshew's faux pas they didn't bother mentioning it... most likely because they were all busy with their own interactions: Alarice and Weisen were discussing the Order of Blades and Alvis... Sada smirked to herself as she saw the mutt make good use of one of the many tips she had provided him.
The young scholar, sitting right beside his coyote host, took a sip of tea during a break in their conversation. Once the mug was back on the table he stretched, letting out a wide yawn. Although one paw went back to the table to join the mug the second found its way to the back of Brother Jessen's chair. If Sada were any less in control of her emotions she would have blurted out a laugh at the way the two mens' tails wagged in perfect unison back and forth behind them, or perhaps gushed a little more than smile simply when she saw the coyote lean just a little closer to the mutt.
The quiet morning passed in relaxed company until the second course of breakfast had been finished. Alarice and Weisen had moved from a discussion about what information the dragon had obtained from their (now deceased) prisoner and on to possible plans of action in response to the Order of Blades' activities in Newport. It was during the dragon's unrolling of a map that Alarice sent Inigo off on some random errand; Sada was not close enough to hear exactly what it was, but the bat leaving was the catalyst she was waiting for; the otter slid out of the dining hall and followed after him.
She was barely three steps into the hall before she saw that Inigo was not unaware of her presence. He waited for her, standing with one paw on his hip, the other still holding his tea cup from breakfast. He wore a self-confident expression drawn across his muzzle as he smirked, "Just couldn't stand to be away from me for even a minute, hmm? Not surprising... but it usually doesn't happen to most women until AFTER I've taken them for a ride..." and he offered her a suggestive wink.
The otter was not impressed, "Cute."
A needly-toothed smile accompanied the bat's words, "So I'm told."
Sada didn't have a lot of time, so she cut to the chase. Losing all hint of playful banter, she stated quite plainly, "You used to be cuter, Gahl'Agra."
The bat's tribal Common Name wiped the smirk right off of his muzzle, but he was fast enough to recover-- he'd been trained well, "You must have heard wrong... it's Golgara... Inigo Golgara." and he accompanied the name with a flourishing bow.
She remained unimpressed, and pressed the advantage, "Gahl'Agra... it's the name you gave the ladies at the brothel."
There was something about seeing the seemingly unshakable bat off balance that gave Sada the faintest bit of a high, but he still somehow, admirably, managed to keep up his charade, "Well, despite the fact that I might be SKILLED enough to be a courtesan, I would remind you that I am, in fact, my Lady Alarice's chief bo--"
"Your father told you that outsiders should know you as 'Spinning-Leaf'... Gahl'Agra in the tribal tongue. The Madame changed it to make it easier to say and decided it would be good to give it to you as a family name."
Inigo dropped the tea cup he had been cradling in one paw. It landed on the carpet-covered wooden floor with a faint thunk; tea splashed all over the rug but the cup did not break... unlike the bat's previously impervious visage. He tried several times to formulate a complete thought, but failed with each attempt, "How do you know about the---?... Where did you hear my---?... Why did--?..."
She took a step forward, "They told you to forget your life... to forget what came before... your family... your village... your language..."
The bat looked down at the ground where the tea cup had fallen and stared for several seconds before returning his gaze to meet hers, "Ena sumuno... Never forget..."
Sada saw in the bat's gaze that he finally remembered her. She smiled... just a little. It had taken some time before she had realized just who the bat was and she hadn't had the chance to approach him. "Ena sumuno." and she held out a webbed paw to Inigo, as she had done during the times they had met in the Brothel.
Rather than accept her paw he collided with her, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her shoulder; it was something she had come to expect from the young bat years ago whenever she went to visit him during his first few months at the Brothel-- despite the fact that he was taller than her after so many years did nothing to dispel the memory of it, or the familiarity of the gesture. His voice was muffled as he spoke against her blouse, "I thought you were dead... I thought they killed you."
The otter slowly slipped her arms around to embrace Inigo in return, "They tried... but Sahjah doesn't die easily."
The bat cleared his throat, slowly pulling away once the strongest of emotions had passed, "You changed your name, Owa."
Sada smiled when Inigo used the tribal word for 'mother'. Although they were barely a decade apart he had always called her that, ever since she had helped him come to terms with his new place in life. She had been sold to the Brothel by Bone Tribe slavers two years before Inigo had been brought in by sell-swords. "Yes... I did." She had done what she could for the young bat up until-- The smile slowly faded however and she nodded, "After... well... after the event that took me from you, I traveled to Soyria to get away from all of this.... in Old Soyrian, de'Ahm means 'By Your Grace'... it's an oath."
Inigo blinked, standing with the same awkwardness she remembered from the young bat, "When did you return?.... WHY did you return?"
Glancing back at the door to the dining room, the otter took a step closer to the bat and lowered her voice, "After the Madame put me to the knife I was tossed out into the Red Alley and left for dead... but the people of this church found me, and took me in."
Inigo's large ears raised and he glanced back toward the dining room, then once again to the otter, "So... you came back for the priests and priestesses here?"
Sada smiled, and reached into her blouse, pulling out a small brass symbol; it didn't take long before she saw the bat's eyes widen as he recognized it as the same one worn by the priests and priestesses, "I came back AS a priestess here."
Inigo's muzzle worked several times without any words coming out; had the otter been just a little more sadistic she might have commented on it but, instead, she let him have a moment to finally spit out what he was going to say, "You... you mean you... a River Tribe courtesan... you're... a priestess?"
She slid the symbol back into her blouse before countering in a matter-of-fact tone, "Still a courtesan, and now a priestess as well... yes. No stranger than a Mist Tribe orphan becoming a sword for hire."
The bat shrugged helplessly, "And a man-whore too... got some skills there that still come in handy."
Sada offered a bitter-sweet smile, "How far we've both come... a swordsman with two weapons, and a priestess who prays on her feet AND on her back."
There was silence between them for several breaths before Inigo spoke up once more, "I thought you were dead."
The otter nodded, "It was best for everyone... if you knew I was alive you might have said something and then the Madame would have come for you next."
The bat nodded, then let out a sigh, "You waited until we were alone before you said anything, and it would have been easier to just say nothing at all... which means--"
"I need your help."
Her admission was honest and straight-forward; it was a big change of pace for the otter woman, but she realized that the bat was too astute and they shared too much of a history for her to be anything less than direct. It paid off, "Owa, tell me what I can do."
Sada took in then let out a breath before replying, "It won't be easy."
Some of Inigo's easy-going humor returned, "Neither was telling the Madame 'no'."
The otter nodded, "Alright..." she repeated another breath before getting down to business, "I need you to help me convince your employer and Lord Weisen to--"
"LORD Weisen?" Inigo had obviously recovered enough to interrupt her.
Sada nodded, "There is far more going on here than it seems, Gahl."
The bat paused, folding his arms together as he leaned back against a wall, gazing at nothing in particular "Gahl..."
The otter cleared her throat, unable to spare the time for him to reminisce, "Will you help me, Inigo?"
The bat's ears swiveled in her direction, "I won't do anything that'll put Alarice in danger, and I won't do anything against her either."
Sada smiled, nodding in appreciation of his loyalty, "It will put us all in danger... but no more than anything else these days... and no... we'll need her help too."
Inigo glanced her way, "And how do you plan on getting her to help? Her services aren't all that cheap. Do you have enough coin?"
The otter's smile widened, "It can aid in resolving the 'Order of Blades' problem."
The bat's debonare, self-assured air returned in the blink of an eye as he pushed himself off of the wall and rested his paws on the hilts of his blades, "In that case, I would be honored to aid you in whatever quest involves poking the Order in its 'ouchy places'."
Sada's eye-roll was more nostolgic than anything else; despite everything that had changed, so much remained the same.