15. Taldesa
Taldesa
The only reason Tala didn’t message Avie immediately that morning was because she needed Avie to do it first.
The half baked plan was to wait for Avie to disclose her exact location, steal a horse, and abandon her mission.
That had been the plan the night before.
The other reason why she couldn’t bring herself to do it was because Tala was certain she would confess to what she heard during the night. Or rather who she had heard.
I’m not ready to touch that, yet.
Tala did her best to keep the memory distant as she patrolled in the early hours of the new day.
There were no new faces outside of a few traveling merchants in the dining hall of the inn, but Tala doubted they were interested in a couple of blue bards.
She snagged another breakfast basket directly from the barmaid.
And if she requested enough food to feed three, well, it wasn’t anyone’s business, was it?
By the time she made it back to the bards’ room, there weren’t any mysterious gifts waiting outside.
A relief—though false, as it didn’t change her suspicions.
Whoever had sent the ring knew Cashmere Fantasy very well.
They knew them enough to know they were already in Eshorion, despite not slated to arrive months later.
The timing of the delivery—exactly when Tala wasn’t around—was trickier to know.
There was a good chance whoever did it was waiting for the halls to be empty, but they could also be aware of Tala’s real purpose.
She wasn’t exactly hiding the fact that she was affiliated with a temple.
Most clerics and paladins wore symbols of their deities, while disciples like Cercel wore the colors and clothing of someone who was quite obviously a monk.
While the Moon Maiden was legal in Eshorion, she wasn’t as beloved or well known as the Sun Bringer or the Dauntless Verity.
That didn’t mean she could rule out not being clocked by someone.
Not to mention the organized crime, Tala thought as she knocked on the door.
Ameriden answered after a short moment, swinging it wide open.
Tala wanted to bark at him for being careless—he didn’t even ask who was at the door—but her throat dried upon seeing him.
His hair was wet—freshly washed by the looks of him.
He was wearing a shirt that was way too tight, sleeves rolled up to show off his forearms. Tala was pretty sure the buttons were holding on for dear life.
Worst of all, he looked good.
“Morning,” he smiled. “Come on in,”
He smells like incense, Tala thought as she brushed past him.
“We’ve been waiting for you.” Ameriden locked the door. “Casi, our guest has arrived.”
The inkling of suspicion was already in Tala’s mind, but it grew exponentially when she observed the room.
All the windows and curtains were drawn closed.
The furniture had been pushed away from the coffee table with ornate blankets and plush pillows surrounding it.
There was incense burning and candles scattered throughout the seating area.
What the fuck…
“Good morning,” Casimine greeted as he appeared from the bedroom with a ceramic blue bowl in his hands.
Tala internally cursed. Fuck, he looked good, too!
Casimine was far more lithe than Ameriden, but that didn’t diminish how gorgeous he was.
His blue green hair was partially swept back in a half bun, showing off the silver earrings and ornamental designs on his pointed ears.
But what caught Tala was the fact that Casimine was wearing the sluttiest shirt she had ever seen.
A sheer, light purple long-sleeved blouse that was open past his naval.
The ends were tucked into his pants—which hugged his lower half—
What in the fucking sex kitten—no, no, no! You are better than this, Tala. You are NOT going to ogle these two pompous dickheads this morning!
“What’s going on?” Tala asked instead of greeting him back, eyes drawn to him as he placed the bowl onto the coffee table.
“We thought we should talk,” Ameriden said as he brushed past her to stand next to Casimine.
Tala lifted a brow. “About?”
Had something happened during the night?
She was very aware of how absent-minded she’d been since the Valiant Circle had assigned her to them.
Avie was rarely far from her mind, and Tala often found herself distracted while patrolling the halls.
Honestly, if the pair of them told her she wasn’t doing a good job, she’d rather they just say so.
“We realized we haven’t been the best at communication,” Casimine started. “So, we thought we would have an open dialogue about what our intentions are.”
Was this about—
Warmth bloomed beneath her cheeks as a sense of awkward dread filled her.
Fuck, did they know that she had heard them last night?
Did they know their bedroom wall was next to hers?
That she had willed herself not to listen but failed?
That Tala had pressed her thighs so tightly together, felt herself grow hot, but had been too much of a coward to chase the wicked impulse? How close her fingers had been from—
“Intentions?” Tala managed, though her tongue felt thick and useless.
“Yeah, we’re kinda over beating around the bush, here.” Ameriden said.
Tala almost dropped the breakfast basket at his turn of phrase. She had been silent, and she hadn’t even touched herself directly! There was no way they could have known.
“I don’t follow,” Tala blurted as she tried to regulate her embarrassment.
Ameriden caught Casimine’s eye. “I told you she wouldn’t get it.”
“Fuck you guys.” Tala glared.
“That’s the goal,” Ameriden replied with a smirk.
A tidal wave of insults were gathering on the tip of her tongue when Tala suddenly registered what he had said.
She blinked, staring at him, then Casimine in turn.
His smile was less obviously smug than Ameriden’s, but she recognized it from the one he gave her the other day.
Blood rushed to her ears and Tala blinked, her entire body struck with the new information.
“You—” Tala licked her lips. “You’re not—you can’t be serious.”
“We are,” Casimine confirmed. “We’ve been wanting to invite you into our bed for a while now.”
Thunderstruck was a word that popped into Tala’s head as her mind exploded.
All the different lines crossed as she tried to make sense of any of it.
There was no way they wanted that with her of all people.
This had to be a prank or some manipulation tactic because for Tala to think otherwise would open her up to pain.
Swallowing around the lump in her throat, Tala shifted, “I… aren’t you two, like a thing?”
Tala had gathered that much fairly quickly.
She never questioned it because it seemed natural the more she was around them.
The long stares, the lingering touches, and the most obvious of flirting—all of that Tala had written off as some kind of act.
But it was the softness in their interactions that had clued her into there being something more between them.
That hunch had only solidified the night before when she heard their mutual moaning through the wall.
“We are,” Casimine confirmed. “But bards aren’t afforded relationships the way everyday folk are.”
“What Casi means is there’s a stigma around bards who have lovers in public. We can tease, share an almost kiss, but we’re not allowed to be with anyone. We’re basically married to our work, to our audience.” Ameriden explained with a disgruntled tone.
“That… sounds like horseshit,” Tala replied.
Which it was—in her mind, at least. She already had a legendary temper when it came to authority, but the idea of anyone telling her who she could or couldn’t court made her want to punch something.
It suddenly made sense how the couple had shown slight restraint around Tala when they were together.
She had seen them shy away from making out in front of her—at least, that was the vibe she got from their intimacy from time to time.
“Glad you agree,” Ameriden slung his arm around Casimine’s shoulders, “I’ve been telling him that for ages now.”
“While I agree that it’s unfair, we can’t change our audience’s minds over night,” Casimine interjected. “It’s been easier to hide our relationship when we’re not on the stage. Which brings us to the topic at hand. Do you want to be in our bed?”
“You—don’t say shit like that!” Tala exclaimed.
“Would you prefer it if we said we want to fuck you?” Ameriden offered.
“That—how would that even work?!” Before the smug bastard could respond, Tala growled. “Shut the fuck up, I know how it works, you asshole! How would that work when you two are a couple?!”
“You’d join us?” Ameriden shrugged. “I don’t get what’s so hard to understand about that.”
Upon seeing her expression twist, Casimine stepped forward, “What Amer means, is that our relationship is open to a degree. We’ve shared our bed with others in the past, discreetly of course—”
“Not sure how discreet we were during that orgy—”
“Discreetly,” Casimine stressed. “And usually it’s been for a night or so. Rarely anything longer than that.”
“This some fulfillment fantasy, one night stand bullshit?” Tala rolled her eyes.
“Would you be interested if it was?” Ameriden asked with a hopeful expression.
“I will murder you,” Tala replied, deadpanned.
“We know you like us,” he retorted.
“I do not!”
“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, sunshine,” Ameriden chuckled. “I’ve seen the way you look at my body and Casi’s face. Not that I blame you. I get hard just thinking about his mouth.”
Tala’s grip tightened on the handle of the basket, gearing up to whack him across the face with it. She only stopped when Casimine gently took hold of her wrist, lowering it to her side.
“Outside of being discreet, the only rule Ameriden and I share is that it’s both of us or neither of us.”
“We don’t have sex with people if the other isn’t there,” Ameriden elaborated. “So, if we’re doing this, we’re all doing it.”
Casimine nodded. “It can be more complex than a two-person encounter, but it can be done. Amer and I are very interested in pursuing this. It just depends on what you want, Tala.”
She froze at the shortened version of her name.
There was so much to process in such a short time that she nearly forgot that question.
What did Tala want? It was hard to figure out in the moment, overwhelmed with embarrassment and possibilities.
Logically, it was a terrible fucking idea.
While the High Conservator hadn’t given her any strict instructions on the matter, Tala was pretty sure fucking the guys she was supposed to protect was some kind of violation of ethics.
Avie had said Tala was like a diamond. Hard with sharp edges, but could easily fall apart with enough pressure.
Her friend had been half-drunk when she told her, so Tala hadn’t taken it poorly at the time.
It was only later, hung over, waking in a field outside of Eshorion, that Tala realized what Avie meant.
Tala had a hard exterior built on a foundation of anger.
Partially to shield herself, but mostly to protect others.
I’m an explosion waiting to happen—whether people believe it or not. I’m not safe to be around and that’s why my family sent me away. Why the Moon Maidens sent me away, and why the Valiant Circle wants to send me away…
Why was she even considering this when Avie was in swampy GloomsDale? She should have already stolen a horse and taken off to find her, not seriously considering what they were saying as they waited for her to speak.
The words—whatever they were—were caught in her throat.
Casimine’s touch slid across her wrist to entangle their fingers together. “Before you make a decision, let us at least offer you a token of our affection.”
What will I do when you two eventually send me away?