Nyawe finds a worthy opponent
Nyawe hurriedly closed the door behind her to hide her blushing face. The nerve of that woman to embarass her like that in front of the Queen. Not that she didn’t have a point but really, it was undignified to behave in such a manner. And for all she had said, Nyawe had never been unfaithful to her husband.
She began to walk to her mistress’ chambers, taking her time. It was a sunny day and it was beautiful outside. She could not understand why the Queen always insisted on spending the days locked up in that stuffy room of hers. Nyawe would have much preferred to sit outside but Madlenka did so love her company.
She almost squealed when she felt a sure hand on her hips, and then she realised it was Sir Hwratar. She had been flirting with him since they arrived on the island but since his wife had been ill she had barely seen him and even after her recovery he had not sought her out again.
His hand came to rest on her arm as he firmly pushed her in front of him, into a dark corridor leading off the main deck. She pretended to struggle slightly for the fun of it, feeling a rush of heat in her body as he squeezed her arm tighter.
He spun her around roughly so they were face to face.
“Well then Sir Hwratar”, she purred with her most winning smile, “Is there something I can do for you?”.
Her heart was fluttering in her chest, and her stomach felt sick. But this was what she had wanted. Wasn’t it?
“My dear Nyawe, I think in fact there is something I need and you seem like just the woman to help me with it”, he grinned at her, flashing his brilliant white teeth.
“Oh dear”, she said mockingly, twisting her mother’s cross between her fingers, all the time feeling like a hypocrite. He watched her closely, his eyes lingering on the creamy skin beneath the necklace. Then his gaze began to wander around the room he had pushed her into.
“Hmmm…”, he said, his slender brows knotting with worry, “there seems to be an awful lot of swords in here my dear. Where exactly are we then?”.
“Oh”, she tittered, “This is the armoury, did you not know?”.
She continued to twist her fingers around, gently caressing the cross, somehow calmed by the smooth edges, worn down by pious hands that weren’t her own, “Did you perhaps need some help with your sword. Because if you did it seems you have come to the right place”.
He grinned at her, chuckling softly, “You read my mind like a book, lovely Nyawe. My sword is exactly the problem I wanted to consult you about, since you seem to be such an expert on the topic”.
“Unfortunately this seems like an inoppurtune place to have such a discussion with you, I am sure I wouldn’t want your husband to find us here, surrounded as we are by such sharp and pointy objects”.
She thought the mention of her husband should have disturbed her more than it did. Her husband, Garald, taking her to his bed for duty’s sake and now that she was with child she spent the nights cold and alone, waiting while he snored in a chair outside the King’s door.
“Oh Sir Hwaratar, I wouldn’t worry about that. My husband doesn’t know how to use a sword properly and even if he did”, her gaze slid down his torso and she smiled and whispered engagingly “I’m sure your sword is much bigger”.
Her husband who barely had a moment for her. The mornings, pulling open the curtains for the Queen finding her wrapped sleepily in the loving arms of the King. And her husband, an expanse of bed seperating them, her swelling belly distasteful to his awkward hands. In the darkness creeping, curling up beside him while he slept, desperate for some warmth, desperate for his touch, however clumsy.
Alexis threw back his head laughing till tears formed in the corners of his eyes, “I see I have definitely found the right woman for the cause then, En garde!”.
“But I should probably warn you my lovely that I am pretty good when it comes to the sword. Are you sure you can keep up”, he grinned at her, wagging his finger at her.
She could scarcely keep her eyes off the lean lines of his body, the muscular chest peeking through the ties of his tunic. Had it really been so long since a man had satisfied her?
“My dear Sir Hwratar”, she replied mimicking his movements in counter-attack, “Are you forgetting who you are talking to. I am quite the expert when it comes to swords. If I were you I would be concerned that your apparent prowess is not quite enough to keep pace. Perhaps your advances will be met with a parry”.
He leaned in close to her and she felt a thrill through her body, her heart speeding up, her breath quickening.
“And so comes the riposte. Oh my dearest Nyawe, I don’t think I’ll have a problem keeping pace, did I not tell you, I am quite the master of the thrust”, he whispered, his hot breath tickling her neck.
She unconciously began to stroke her bare arm longing to feel the heat of his touch against her skin.
She would give it up, she had been wrong in pursuing Garald. Her husband would never love her no matter what she did. She had been stupid. He was cold and distant where Alexis was warm in all the right places.
He moved even closer so she could feel the length of his body pushing up against hers, corps-a-corps. He was staring at her so intensely she had to look away.
“Now tell me my dear, how did your pussycat of a husband manage to tame a tiger such as yourself”, there it was the feint, reminding her of her husband again, testing her resolve.
“Do I look tame to you”, she replied huskily, her voice a sharp, angry beat against his armour.
Then he lunged at her, throwing her off balance so she had to cling to him while he nipped hungrily at her throat. It had been such a long time since she had felt like this that she could barely contain her moans.
Finally their lips met, taking from each other what they both needed. Her breath was coming ragged between her lips, an unbearable heat building between her legs.
Then he pulled back, gazing at her flushed face.
“Not here, someone might come”, he panted, “Tonight. Meet me tonight by the mast and we will go somewhere noone shall find us”.
She stared at him for a moment, taking in his open lips, his dilated pupils, the face of desire. This was what it felt to be wanted.
“Touche”, she murmured then disengaged, turning on her heel and walking from the room, leaving him alone to compose himself.
The Queen was waiting, she would have to hurry. But there was tonight to look forward to.
Oh dear, Verity! I’ll be unable to look at swords the same way again for some time now.
I think Alexis may have met his match–maybe not entirely, but pretty close. They had an interesting little dialogue there, but I could see there was some awkwardness in Nyawe. It made it all the more fitting… her flirtations were mostly innocent… but she didn’t anticipate Alexis!
This can’t end well, of course, but I’ll love seeing it develop. Poor Morven…
Oh my God Garald is gay! There is no other explanation! Nyawe is too gorgeous.
Actually there are tons of other explanations, but only if Nyawe’s little stream of consciousness there was dishonest. He could be one of those men who finds pregnant women repulsive, but that wouldn’t explain his problem before she was pregnant (and I’m not seeing a belly yet anyways). If she really wants a man the way she claims to… and especially if she really tries to cuddle up with him in the bed… then how can he not respond?
I think I am experience some cognitive dissonance here trying to reconcile Lisbet’s impressions of her with her own idea of herself. She just does not seem as innocent as she thinks she is, unless she is innocent and an idiot.
And Alexis really is a creep. His repartee is about as lame as his mustache. Can you help me with my sword? Reminds me of drunk Egelric asking Lili to help him gird his loins. I realize Nyawe was ripe for the plucking and the words were not important next to the body language and chemistry… but still… too funny.
Verity, I would say “I was afraid this was going to happen” ever since your comment about Alexis back in the chapter with Morven, but what’s the point? This happens all the time with him. This just happens to be the first time we see it. He’s a creep. Poor Morven.
I haven’t even brought Garald into the game at all yet so I am not sure of his character yet… only from what I saw in CAS and I have some ideas
. Nyawe’s stream of conciousness is not dishonest… it is what she honestly thinks but perhaps she has misinterpreted her husbands actions *eyebrow wiggle*.
Nyawe isn’t really innocent. She was rather, erm… free with men before she was married, but it was true that she had not slept with another man since she was married. And she does have a persona that she is rather proud of even though somtimes there is a less than sure person underneath that.
Alexis is awfully corny. Really. In his defense I will say he really doesn’t realise how ill Morven is. She has been hiding it from him to the extent that she is sleeping with him fairly regularly when she feels like maybe she is up to it and pretending to enjoy it. So in his mind he is probably thinking that their marriage has gone back to the way it was before she got sick which was not entirely of his own making.
And ack I am giving my opinion of the characters again. I really need to stop. Sometimes it is so hard not too
And sorry about ruining swords for you Mao
I know how it is with the wanting to defend your characters! These poor, precious, misunderstood creatures! But sometimes you have to call a cad a cad.
I will admit it’s a teeny bit Morven’s fault, for accepting Alexis “as he was” at the beginning, and setting herself up for this kind of thing when she later figured out she really loved him. And for pretending to be well when she’s truly ill. But hey, that last part is what Hetty did and everybody still wanted to slay Alred for not seeing it. Somehow the men are just supposed to guess these things.
Actually I am really sensitive about that because my empathy skills are about zero. I am totally unable to pick up on subtle distress… I tend to take what people say at face value, and if you say you’re fine, it’s your fault if I don’t know otherwise. Either that or I prefer not to see and justify it to myself in that way.
But for that reason, when I see Morven (or Hetty) pretending everything is fine, it does make me cringe. If you would just tell the man!! What’s he going to do? Leave you because you’re sick? Love you less? Oh, those crazy martyrs to their pain!
I think a lot of people get in trouble with saying that they are not fine when they are. Especially in relationships. With my ex I always used to say “nothing” when he asked whether something was wrong and then expected him to know that something really was wrong. It is a very hard habit to break but I am trying to be more honest in the relationship I am in now.
But really, you can’t be blamed for taking things at face value. I do agree with you, if something is wrong and people want comfort or whatever they should just say. I guess the problem is when something is wrong and people think they don’t want comfort when they actually really need it. But people like me saying “nothing” is just silly. Especially when I wear my heart on my sleeve completely so people can actually really tell when I am upset about something and I just look like an idiot when I say “nothing”
Oh, I do the “nothing” too, but it is more like “I don’t want to talk about it, but I know you won’t accept that as an answer” kind of nothing. I am fair enough not to blame the other party if the other party believes nothing is actually wrong. (Which the “other party” never does, to his credit, I suppose…)
But maybe you would put that under the “don’t know they want comfort when they actually need it” nothing.
I guess there is also the “I actually really don’t want to talk about it nothing” when comfort won’t make it better. It is so hard to tell which is which. I get in trouble for asking my boyf over and over if he’s sure he is fine. He says he will tell me if he isn’t and still I worry. I am dreadful
. And to his credit he is very honest and upfront and if he says nothing is wrong then he is telling the truth. It is just that sometimes he hasn’t really realised yet that something is wrong whereas I have picked up hints of it.
“My sword is exactly the problem I wanted to consult you about, since you seem to be such an expert on the topic.” *Snort* Alexis is something else. I literally had to suppress my laughter at several points during this chapter (particularly the master of the thrust comment) since it’s 3am and everyone here is sleeping.
He’s dreadful isn’t he
I’m glad he made you laugh though. Wouldn’t you just fall about if someone tried to pull such cheesy lines on you. Oh dear and I thought them up… wouldn’t I be dreadful trying to pick someone up in a bar 
I once had a very cheesy guy try to pick me up in a bar by telling me that he had a very large p—-. BWAHAHAHAHA!! Like I’m going to take his word for it?! Behold the power of cheese!
Wow! What a wonderfully blunt pick up line. How funny! I wonder if it ever works. It kind of reminds me of this Australian comedy singer Kevin “bloody” Wilson. He has this song about how he can’t be bothered with the niceties of dating anymore so he just plonks himself down on the stool next to the woman at bar and asks what he considers to be the important questions, which are “do you f.. on first dates? does your dad own a brewery? can I feel your tits or would you show them to me?”. Haha… makes me laugh so much cause I knew a guy who did quite well with the ladies and some of our other male friends were asking him how he did. And he said his dating philosophy was based on that song