And lastly, I told them of the arachne spiderlings and what was really lurking in Silvanus Darkwoods.
"I guess what I'm getting at is that Nexus is home to a lot more dangerous foes than we previously thought. We're going to have to bolster our defenses and work on getting stronger. It feels like the calm before the storm is coming, and I want to be ready for anything," I told the room.
I sat back down and poured another drink while everything settled. It was a lot to absorb at once, and I saw a few cups being drained and refilled. I didn't blame them. I drank mine much slower and waited for everyone to be on the same page. Then I spoke about our upcoming trip.
"We'll be heading that way in a few days after we've rested. If you guys want to accept a few contracts while I'm away, that's fine. Just be sure to vet them to the highest degree you can and make sure to have Wilson approve anything."
“Speaking of, I left Evelyn in charge for a few days and went to investigate the theft quest.”
“Ah, right.” I forgot all about that. “What’d you learn?”
Wilson sighed, taking a sip of his ale. “Nothing much. I learned the thief was a woman, pretty from the description, with brilliant red hair. Other than that, she’s a ghost.”
“What was taken again? A ruby amulet, right?”
He nodded. Pretty redhead. Sounds like Morgan. And wasn’t she wearing a ruby necklace when we met?
I chuckled. “Best to let this one go. You’re not going to find her.”
“Yeah, my thoughts too, it’s too big of a haystack for one woman,” Wilson said, sighing.
Quest: Thief Taker Abandoned.
Reward: 0 Exp
With that taken care of, we got down to the more mundane items on the roster. Even with me only being gone for two weeks, small things still piled up and had to be addressed. It droned on for another hour, and I was grateful when it ended.
With our debrief complete, I dismissed everyone and went to take a bath.
Eris was getting the spiderlings settled in. I let them bunk in Eris's room, but they didn't want to sleep alone, so Eris went and slept with them, sparing me a kiss and an apologetic look as she left. I don't want to sleep apart, but maybe it's a good thing. Perhaps some time apart will do some good. We'd spent nearly every waking moment together, and I hadn't had a moment to myself where I could just relax.
I stripped out of my arms and armor and sat them outside my room with a message to Gil to repair them at his convenience, before returning to the bathroom. I stepped into the steaming bath. The hot water soothed my anxiety and relaxed me.
It made the prospect of sleeping apart from Eris much more bearable to think about, and I let the weight of my exhaustion settle in. I quickly washed my hair and didn't even bother to comb it or dry it before stepping out of the bath and managing to stumble into a pair of pants and a shirt before leaving the bathroom.
I was dead tired from nearly five days straight of no sleep, but as I settled into the bed, the emptiness of the room got to me. It's too quiet and cold without Eris. I sighed and tossed and turned for half an hour before realizing sleep would be eluding me for some time yet. I grabbed the fresh bottle of whiskey from the nightstand and walked out to the balcony.
Hopefully, the booze with take the edge off and let me sleep. I grimaced as the bite of liquor seeped down my throat. It's new and strong. I like it. I savored the taste, and before I knew it, half the bottle was gone, and the night sky spun like it was dancing.
I set the bottle on the railing and watched the stars, while the night air chilled my burning face. A raven flew through the air, dipping and gliding in a circle. It was mesmerizing, and in my drunken stupor, I couldn't stop looking at it.
The raven swooped down to land on the railing, cocking its head at me to stare, unblinking with its large red eyes. As we gazed at each other, a shiver ran through me that had nothing to do with the night air—time to call it a night.
"Goodnight, bird," I slurred as I turned my back on it and went inside. A fluttering of feathers behind me startled me, and a soft voice spoke quickly, a woman's voice.
"I'm sorry."
What? I turned, only getting a glimpse of long dark hair and pale skin, before everything went black.
***
I awoke an indeterminate amount of time later. My head fuzzy, and in a fog, it pounded in time with my heartbeat, and I had the urge to vomit. Once my nausea settled, and the blood wasn't so loud in my ears, I sat up and took note of my surroundings.
The location was unfamiliar to me, though, it was incredibly reminiscent of Gloom-Harbor. Nearly the same dark stone made up the room. A dark rug lay across the floor, almost the entirety of the floor. It looked plush and incredibly expensive.
When I shifted, I sank into luxury. I was on a bed, but to call it a bed was wrong. It was enormous, easily twice the size of mine back home, which had been bordering on the excessive already. Fifteen people could sleep without touching each other. The bedspread matched the rug, and it was very low to the ground. I rolled off, and my bare feet hit the carpet.
Well, I'm not tied up, that's a good sign. Maybe I'm not a prisoner…or whoever kidnapped me is confident
