Chapter 32: 32: Temptress

Bassi went very still in my lap as I finished reading the letter, which sent a spike of anxiety down my spine. It had sounded suspiciously like Joan was trapped with Bassi’s old folks, and was now asking me to go and save her.

“Bassi?” I asked gently, dropping the letter to the floor so I could run my hand soothingly down her arm.

“You know… you know what’s wrong,” she mumbled, getting up out of my lap, hands immediately digging themselves into her hair, worry crippling her expression.

I stood up too, giving the others at the table an apologetic look. I didn’t know how much they knew, but if Bassi wasn’t outright saying it, then I wouldn't either.

Catching her around the waist, I pulled her to a stop and gave her a deep, long look. Eye contact had always been strong between us, emotions flying across the abyss between us like sparks down a wire. Now though, I used it to anchor her, steady her as she struggled with what she’d just learned.

“Joan is a good person, but you are more important to me, okay?” I told her quietly, once she’d stilled enough that I was sure she was listening.

Her lips quivered, like they wanted to smile but were under too much weight. She didn’t speak either, just kept searching my eyes for something.

“Let’s go back up to your room,” I offered carefully, gently tugging her towards the door. “We can talk there. Does that work?”

She finally nodded. “Yes.”

We left the tavern room in silence, and stayed that way until Bassi’s door was closed again. Pushing me back against the door, I thought she’d try and kiss me rather than talk, but instead she sort of slumped in against me.

Wrapping my arms around her, I murmured, “Talk to me?”

“I left without saying goodbye. My family, my friends… all of them. I left without ever saying goodbye,” she whispered, shifting so her mouth was to my ear. That alarmed me more than anything else. Bassi wasn’t a quiet girl. She wasn’t necessarily loud either, but she certainly wasn’t the type to lose her powers of speech.

My heart ached for her, my arms pulling her tighter against me without waiting for conscious approval. “Why?”

“When she… when it became known that she had been toying with me, dancing just out of reach, simply for the amusement of it… most simply shrugged. It was considered normal to them, they might have loved me as family or a friend, but I was still a half breed. Lesser,” she explained as a tear fell from her eye and onto my shoulder. The drip startled me for a second, then I realised she was crying.

“They were wrong,” I told her, far more forcefully than I’d intended. “You’re wonderful, Bassi. An incredible woman.”

“Will you still think that once you’re among other full blooded fae?” she asked, leaning back to give me a desperate look. Her serpentine eyes didn’t look all that intimidating right now, so vulnerable and full of pain as they were.

I kissed her, just gently on the lips. “Where I come from, we’re taught not to judge people based on shit they couldn’t control, like their birth. Plus, I’m actually somewhat familiar with folks like your kin. It’s what Joan was talking about in the note. Kinda funny that our fictional artistic fancies match this reality like that. So yeah, no dumbass arrogant elves are going to change my mind about you.”

She was silent for a second or two, before a tiny, almost bashful smile tugged at her perfect lips. “For some reason I cannot fathom, I find myself believing you.”

“That’s funny, since I’m pretty unbelievable,” I giggled, booping her nose with mine. Then I winked. “Unbelievably pretty.”

She laughed, tears forgotten as she pushed off me with a roll of her eyes and a smile on her lips. Her smile took my breath away, as per usual. “Mist, I swear by all that is good in this world… you’re lucky you’re right.”

I just grinned, then my heart did a little flip as she stood there smiling at me. How on earth had I found myself in some sort of tentative relationship with a woman as incredible as her? Not even a year ago I was just some random run-of-the-mill gamer dude. Goddess, however it had happened, my heart felt so full and happy. Bassi was everything to me now, she was my world. I loved her. There was no more ambiguity about it.

To hide the tears that began to bang on the door to my tear ducts, I pushed up and wrapped her in another hug. Because like, not hugging her sucked. I was addicted to her touch, her taste, her smell… her mind.

She pulled me close with a long, happy sigh. That happiness faded slightly when she spoke, “You know we have to go, right? Both of us.”

“If you want,” I told her truthfully. “Joan is a good person and I’d like to help her, but I’m not going to leave you alone.”

Even more truthfully, I’d let every single one of my old friends and classmates die if she asked me to. I’d argue with her, try and convince her otherwise, but I would. Not that she’d ever ask me to, she wasn’t that kind of person.

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“Not just for your friend,” she said with a wry pain in her voice. “I don’t know what this shattered land is that your friend spoke of, but if she’s right, then I should at least help my people.”

“You’re a better person than I am,” I snorted. Truthfully, I was conflicted about this. Those people didn’t deserve her help. It sounded like they had psychologically abused her back there, and it had my blood boiling.

“Or just a fool,” she sighed, stepping back out of the hug to lean on her desk. Damn it, she kept escaping. “Those… classmates of yours, will they come? She mentioned you should gather them.”

I grimaced. “Some of them, maybe. I don’t trust them.” If the goddess had taken any other class, they might have been more receptive, but my class was full of that weird subset of nerd that had some real strange ideas about life. Like that rapist I killed, for example.

“I think we’ll need them, trust or not,” she said seriously, pointing to her ear for emphasis. “Full blooded fae are incredibly powerful, and I have a sneaking suspicion that you and your cohort are beyond even that. Created by the goddess herself, you must be more powerful.”

“Some of my classmates seem to be able to use divineling style magic, by the way,” I noted as I thought back on my encounter with Victoria.

Eyebrows rising, she fished out her talisman and showed it to me. “Which is unheard of. Fae magic works differently, even the more thought-induced kind. I have divineling blood in me, that’s the other half, but I don’t use it much. I’m no great spellcaster. Fae casters don’t need these things though. Just their minds, although their magic requires infinitely more preparation for each casting.”

“Funny thing is, the magic system that was in that game I was talking about was completely different to any of that,” I mused, mostly to myself. “She took the suggestion of what our characters were meant to be and twisted them to fit the rules of this world. Interesting.”

“You lost me there Mist,” Bassi smiled, tilting her head like a different view of my face would grant understanding.

One day I was going to have to go through and explain all that shit in greater detail. Goodness it would be a lot of work though, and I didn’t think I could be bothered right at that moment.

“It’s nothing,” I shrugged with an apologetic smile. “Idle thoughts. I’m assuming you want us to go and recruit some of my old classmates for this mission?”

“Indeed… furthermore, I am somewhat inclined to leave the rest of the guild behind,” she said slowly, gears beginning to turn behind her eyes. “They are competent at what they do, but very few of their skills will be useful outside the walls.”

I felt worry curdle in my gut. “Who will you leave in charge?” Things were pretty dicey in the city right now, with a second open conflict between the thieves and the gangs looking like a possibility. It wasn’t just the Slate Snakes who were getting sick of the gangs getting more uppity.

“Singer,” Bassi told me without hesitation. “She is technically my second in command anyway. This can be a little training for her.”

“I’m worried something will happen,” I told her, wrapping my arms around myself as my anxiety over everyone’s well being intensified.

She gave me a slight nod, then patted the desk next to her. I wandered over as she’d indicated and she placed an arm around me. “They’ll be fine. They just need to lay low for a month or two. There’s more than enough in the coffers for them to survive, and then when we get back we can deal with whatever has happened.”

I wasn’t convinced, but if Bassi was confident then I guess I’d just chill a little. In an effort to calm myself, I snuggled in against her side, letting out a low purr of contentment as a feeling of safety suffused my being. I think that was something I loved about her, how she made me feel so safe and calm, simply with her presence.

Turning, I nuzzled at her neck for a moment, then began to kiss the oh so soft skin there. The gentle scent of her was wonderful too, yet another sensation that was like a shot of dopamine straight to my brain.

“We can cuddle later,” she told me with a laugh, pulling me into a tighter embrace that seemed to go against the words she’d just spoken.

I smiled and kissed her neck again. “Is later now?”

“No, we have to go and eat, then we will begin making preparations to leave, as well as recruiting your friends,” she told me, attempting to sound stern and failing miserably because she let out a little gasp when I nipped at her with my teeth.

“The bed is right there,” I murmured, lips brushing against skin as I spoke.

“Temptress,” she accused breathlessly.

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