Guarding Of The Messenger

Cara's tongue brushed her lip instinctively and for a little while afterwards she regretted it. The foul taste left on her tongue had her urging at the side of the path. She had used her sleeve to scrub the remaining blood, if that's what it were to be called, from her lip. Not only did it taste awful on her tongue, but her nose was stinging from the horrid smell. Coughing and spluttering, she reached inside her cloak and removed a piece of parchment which had been rolled into a scroll. "Here." She held her hand out to her side, offering the letter to Morgethius as she lent against a wall, her stomach churning. "That, was grim. You asshole. I can't believe you!"

With a smirk, the parchment was plucked from her hand and observed, the seal stroked until the warmed wax wore a sheen as if it had begun to melt, betraying them all.
"Nor I you...you may not be able to trust me, I may be party to some great plot, I could kill you now and wander back to that bar and sell this letter to the highest bidder for a few cheap coins, you're a naive child and now you're a messenger with no letter" He rolled the parchment in his hands carefully before once again holding it out for her to collect.
"And had I not so casually wiped my hands across my leg, your letter would have been stained in peasant blood...are you even serious about this job?"

"It was this or I end up just like my parents. Now I've got the job, I don't much want it. It was only a way of cheating death at the time." Cara snatched back the letter, stowing it away. "Honestly, you didn't have to save me back there. I'm pretty sure the Royal children don't much care whether I live or die. I'm just the one that runs around after them, right? Of course, living sounds more appealing to me and the travelling is bound to be good but this job isn't something I would have initially chosen myself for." Cara shook her head, a sigh passing through her lips. "The things people do to keep their heads on their shoulders."
Cara straightened herself, still nowhere near as tall as Morgethius, and looked him dead in the eye. "Are you going to kill me, take the letter and do with it as you wish? Because I don't think you are. If you were going to do anything, I'm sure you would have done it already. You don't seem like the type to beat around the bush." Cara smiled, lightly, hoping she was right.

"Wrong!" He chimed, smirking with delight. "I once spent two years seducing a woman I'd been asked to kill, took that long for the silly cow to let her guard down long enough for me to take off her head mid orgasm, best sex ever!" He paused for a long moment. "What were we talking about again? Oh! So if I wanted to take that letter and maybe kill you, I might decide to leave it awhile, make the most of you until I maybe get bored, though I must say, you're a clever enough girl to question it" He laughed down at her, his eyes staring back into hers.
"Now, should I actually grow bored of you and decide I no longer enjoy being your bodyguard, I'll do what I bloody well like to make it more interesting, guess you'd best stop that from happening eh?, it's only fun saving the girl once, it's much better if the girl can actually hold her own" He winked and pet her cheek.
"But, at least you can sleep easy knowing that I have no one I would particularly want to flog the letter off to, that should at least make you feel a little bit better" He chuckled, knowing full well that he had only succeeded in making the situation into a more difficult arrangement than it had originally been.
"Get it pumpkin?"

Cara scowled at the male, a defensive light in her eyes. "I get it, don't you worry about that." She placed a hand on the hilt of her sword and stood up straight. "I can hold my own, if it's a one-on-one fight that is... I've never been any good at fighting groups. Not that it matters. So long as I can fight for myself in most situations, you have no reason to betray me. If it's considered betrayal?" Cara placed a thumb on her lips, deep in thought. Would it be betrayal? He hasn't made any obligations so I can't be sure... She shook out her head and smiled at Morgethius. "I guess we'd better get moving. I don't want to run into any more liabilities." Cara took on a nervous tone; "also... The way you ripped that man apart; I was honestly terrified. Wha- Who are you?"

He smirked and pushed her back by her nose.
"That's for me to know, pumpkin, and you to hope and pray you never find out" He picked the space between his teeth boredly as he observed her and her unthreatening blade, as if patiently waiting for her to finally suggest they make a move.
"Annnd...what could you ever hope to do with a crappy sword like that when you cant rip apart an alcohol soaked old man?...can we go now? Maybe pick you up a real weapon?...pleaaase?"

Cara sighed, defeated. "Fine. We're going. The entrance to Elderthorn is to the east of here. If we move now, we should get there by midday... So long as we aren't interrupted again," she smiled, turning to walk off. Cara paused. "The quicker we get this done, the quicker you can be on your way. You're already getting on my nerves." Adjusting her dress and the belt she wore around her waist, she strode off in an easterly direction, desperate to avoid the daily rush of people that was soon to arrive. "Now, if you would please hurry. I believe there is an armory about here somewhere and, if it would please you, I can equip myself with a more efficient weapon there."

"It so happens that it would please me greatly, but I get to choose! Don't want you picking up something ridiculously light...or ridiculously heavy...tell you what.." He said, pulling up along side her with a grin on his face.
"It'll actually be a big enough struggle just to find something that won't make you look ridiculous so be you'll have to be happy with whatever I choose for you!" He snatched up her wrist and began walking faster than her, tugging her along as if she were a doll.
"Now, who exactly needs to hurry up?"

Cara stumbled forward, almost tripping over her feet due to the abrupt tug on her wrist. "H-hey! D'you mind?" She cried, trying to release the males grip on her. "I'm quite capable of walking on my own, thank you. Your assistance is not needed." She tugged lightly, testing his hold on her. "Please... You're making me feel like a small child. It's degrading, really!"

He gave her one final encouraging tug before he released her as she flew forward. His abrubt release gave her body no time to realise that his hand no longer remained to steady it and he watched her fall with light amusement, as if it were even possible, his grin even widened some more.
"Degrading? What would you know of it? Children are treated too damn well if you ask me, I'm treating you as short, not as a child, you silly little pumpkin" He smirked and waited for her to regain her feet.
"You're slowing me down, Pumpkin"

Cara spat the dirt out of her mouth that had been collected when she fell. Her dress was entirely dirtied on the front and her belt was digging into her waist, which was pressed against the floor. Standing, she brushed the dirt from her dress, making it no better however hard she tried. Standing in front of Morgethius, Cara shot a murderous glance at him. She raised a hand and swung it at his face, making direct contact. Her hand stung but she would not show it and she looked at the male. "My name is not 'Pumpkin'!"

The grin took some time to melt away and before it had completely his hand had reached up to hold his cheek which had a surprisingly bright hand print glowing against it. He looked more embarrassed than angry, which in itself was an odity, the surprise of her outburst evident in the almost quiver of his bottom lip.
"Well...at least pumpkins are nice. I like pumpkins...not so sure about Caras..."
He turned away from her and began waking, rubbing his cheek.
"Hurry up, Cara" He hissed her name as if it something he barely wanted to acknowledge.

Cara stood on the spot, a smile spreading across her face. She darted in front of Morgethius, turning to look at his face. "A-are you about to cry?" Cara attempted to bite back a laugh, a gentle whimper escaping her pursed lips. "Be honest with yourself; you deserved that! Look at the state of my dress." Cara raised a finger in a matter-of-fact manner; "I can also say my face has never been quite so dirty." She smiled, taking his hand from his cheek and inspecting the hand print that dominated the left side of his face. "Bet that hurt?"

His eyes became slits.
"Not as much as it'll hurt if I happen to try that crap on your face!" He snapped, batting away the hand that had removed his own. He pressed his hand back to the red handprint just as his eyes began to water at the stinging response.
"Besides, it's as disgusting a dress as it was before and I don't know why girls where them unless they wanna be f-..." He thought better of it and withdrew.

She sighed in agitation. "I happen to like this dress. I don't know why no one else does. What's so bad about it, really?" She smoothed the dress down, conscious of his opinion on it. She looked down at her hands and groaned. "Aw, for Christ's sake! Now they're even more dirty." She looked Morgethius in the eye and scowled. "This is your fault." Cara brought her dirtied hand to his face and smeared it across his forehead. "See. All that dirt because you just couldn't help but push me down. Now your face is dirty too," she smiled in satisfaction, turned on her heel and walked away, a slight spring in her step.

For a moment he did not move, he felt small peices of dirt fall from his face while the rest of it began to dry immediately, as she walked away from him the urge to cry also flaked off as if it were dirt and was replaced by a smile. He simply began to laugh, heartily and loudly.
"I can't wait to get you back for this one!" He chuckled, following suit at a now relaxed pace. "So, where's this armory then?"

The sound of laughter was something Cara missed. The last time she had heard someone else laugh, it had been a sinister sound; not a memory she was likely to linger on. She turned a corner and poked her head back around to make sure Morgethius wouldn't lose her. "It's just at the end of this lane," she said, disappearing once more.
The buildings surrounding her were older than the rest of the city, having been preserved. It appeared that even the Royal family cared about the towns history. The armory could be seen from the other end of the lane and Cara noticed the vines that had wrapped themselves around the foundations, some even creeping into the windows. "Found it." It was marked clearly with an emblem displaying a lance, axe and a sword.

He stopped to stare up at the somewhat simple architecture. A frown stretched across his face.
"That's it?...huh...Well it'll do...let's find something useful...if we can" He carefully stepped inside but managed to dislodge a pane of glass with his heavy footstep nontheless. It occured to him that the door must have been locked, but his hands had managed the rip it away carelessly so that it now hung on one hinge. "Um...see anything you like?" He took a seat and waited. "Better let me test out whatever you pick out though...could...y'know...fall apart if it's too old..." He blushed slightly as the sheild he'd examined crumbled between his fingers though it shone as if it had been fairly new.

Cara stared at him for a moment before breaking into laughter. "You know, you should be a bit more careful; ripping apart people and now turning metal to dust? Someone could get hurt," she laughed as her hands ran over the masses of metal around her. The weapons appeared sturdy to her but she was unsure if she could trust her own judgement after watching Morgethius turn a sheild into nothing.
Cara took hold of a lance, the weapon relatively heavy. The point was sharp - as far as she could tell - and the weapon itself shone as if it were brand new. "Here," she said, handing the lance over to Morgethius. "How about it?"

He took hold of the showman's toy and held it as if he himself were about to joust.
"Not really a cross country weapon though is it?" He asked, sizing her up as though it was her that did not fit, not just the lance.
"It's a bit flimsy...I suppose it would be nasty if you fell on it but you can’t always count on that happening..." he laughed and mumbled to himself as he held it up. "Especially not if your opponent has wings..." He held the length of metal in his hands and slowly bent it in half before dropping it to the floor.
"It's a piece of crap...find something useful..."

Cara deliberately took each weapon from the wall and handed each to Morgethius for testing, all except one long-sword which was held high upon the wall. It didn't look much and in fact looked much older than any of the others. It's hilt was embedded with odd coloured jewels that didn't compliment the sword's design. However, it held a certain kind of beauty and Cara attempted to take it from the wall, stretching high but it was to no avail. She was too short to reach it and was forced to wait for Morgethius to finish testing each weapon she had given him before he could reach up and remove the sword. "Hurry up," Cara whined, impatient.

"I'm hurrying! See?" He laughed as he pushed himself up from his seat and sauntered over to the wall, knee deep in the weaponry he had destroyed for being made for mortal hands.
He grinned at her as he deliberately made each movement take far longer than it needed.
"So...you mean...this sword?. Are you sure?" He gestured to the otherwise empty wall. "You want this one right here?" She didn’t look impressed. "Positive?" He chuckled to himself and reach up.
"I don’t see you carrying a sword as big as this ba-OW! WHAT THE HELL!?!" He hissed and threw the sword to the littered floor, it's hilt bubbling dangerously with the layer of skin it had ripped away on it's fast descent to the floor. It lay still, only now it radiated an angry atmosphere which ebbed away only as the skin dried up and flaked away harmlessly.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF OLD NICK WAS THAT?!" Morgethius continued to curse under his breath and cradle his hand as the foul smell of sulphur filled the air. He was eventually brought to his knees as he tried to tend to the rawness in his hand, the pain only seeming to get worse. And for all his cursing, the sword remained intact.

Cara was forced to bite back a laugh as she watched Morgethius fall to the floor. "We-" she coughed to prevent herself from laughing during speech. "Well, what about that one?" She pointed at the sword, which was still smoking pieces of flesh slightly.
Cara bent down, wary of the weapon, and picked at a small piece of Morgethius' skin. Holding it in front of her, she shuddered slightly. "Ugh! Your skin is just as ugly burnt!" She flung his skin at him, the slither of flesh landing on his back. "Grim," she laughed.
She looked intently at the sword, her index finger extended towards the hilt. "Just a fingertip," she muttered as she pressed her finger against the cold metal. She paused for a moment, waiting to see if anything should happen but after seconds of nothing she wrapped her hand around the gem-embedded hilt of the sword and lifted it from the ground. She weighed it in her hands, the weapon seeming unnaturally light. "Hm, I like it! This is the one," she murmured, just loud enough for Morgethius to hear.

And hear he did, he groaned at his own stupidity for not simply allowing her to choose something more harmless and less divine.
"Why that one?!" The words like an angry hiss faltered as his good hand peeled away another layer of skin after becoming stuck to the pinkish raw of the other. He shuddered as he pulled at his shirt until it fell free and was wrapped tightly around the wound, a sigh revealing the hint of relief as pressure dulled the pain.

"Thi-" Cara stopped, her eyes glued to Morgethius' back. She was going to make a snide remark but her eyes found the bare plains of Morgethius' torso. His muscles were so defined, which were usually hidden beneath his black shirt. "I- Uh... Morgethius? Could you, uh... Y'know? Put your shirt back on?" Cara's voice was nothing more than murmur and she could feel her cheeks starting to burn. I... I'm blushing?!