It's after nightfall when Rastellion & Immalaine return from the dinner at Whilleam's. Tilly gushes over Immalaine again when they return, still seeming amazed that "Little Imma" has returned and is all grown up. Eventually the two manage to escape up to their room, pleading and early start to their travel the next morning. The two guards follow them up as well, and Rastellion bids them goodnight before the young couple retire to their own room across the hall.
Stepping into the bedroom, Immalaine stretches and yawns, turning to Rastellion. "Well, that were a lot longer day than I reckoned on havin', though the dinner was rather nice." She smiles up at him, a slight tinge of pink in her cheeks as she recalls her friend going on about their childhood antics. "Can't 'magine you thought it were all that exciting though."
"Oh, i don't know..." he chuckles, "some of those stories of 'Little Imma'...." He grins and kisses her fondly. "I do wonder if Whilleam's Letty is always that affectionate with 'im, or only when his childhood sweetheart's around?" He grins again, then turns and carefully tucks away their notarized document in the luggage. "Three signatures, signed, sealed and witnessed. We get up early enough, they might even be writing you up a fresh deed to your farm tomorrow, back in Bree!"
Heading to the dresser, Immalaine nods and replies. "After that, then I have t' figure out what t' do wit' the place. Might be best t' sell it t' someone an' use th' coin fer something else. Or mebbe I could ... " Immalaine shakes her head, as she realizes she has no clue what she could do with the farmland after so long. She sighs, then begins changing into her nightdress.
Rastellion sits down on the bed to watch. "Well, th' land's kept this long, you won't have t' decide what to do with it tomorrow. It'll keep a while longer. Thing is, whatever's done, ought you be your choice.. and your profit. It's yours, after all."
Pulling the pale yellow nightdress over her head, Immalaine reaches for her brush and, after unbraiding her long hair, begins to brush through it as she talks. "Yer right, of course. Though it seems as though if I have it, then I should think on what to do wit' it some. But ..." she winces as she finds a knot in her hair and works it loose, "I can't do anything 'bout it tonight. I feel like I dun run th' length o' Bree ten times." She chuckles lightly to herself and turns to look at Rastellion, her lips turned up in a warm smile as she stands and heads to the bed to sit next to him. "An' I 'magine yer ready t' get a bit o' rest yerself."
"Yes... in a bit", he says, pulling her to him, and kisses her slowly on the mouth, causing her to smile as she turns her head up and returns his kiss, her lips lingering on his for a moment after it's over. "Rastellion ..." she says, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I love you."
"Mmmm... I love you too," he whispers back. Then he pauses, frowns, and looks at her in evident concern. "There's something I need to know, though..." A crease forms between her brows as she nods at him. "Though what? What is it, Rastellion?"
Rastellion mirrors the slight frown. "This new gown of yours - is it the one Zandrianna gave you?" ... his grin is threatening to break out now ... "Does it have buttons to undo or do I just slide it off you?" He starts to match actions to words, slowly sliding it up her body, as he rolls Immalaine onto her back and begins to kiss her again. Her giggle of surprise and her playful "Rast!" can be heard bouncing off the walls of the room.
Sometime in the wee hours of the night, Immalaine finds herself suddenly awake. A breeze rasps across the shingled roof above them, and twigs scrape against the thick windows. The shutter creaks. Rastellion's breathing is warn and slow in her ear; he's spooned up close behind her, his left arm around her chest, holding her tight against him, warmth pooling between their bodies under the inn's thick quilt. Nothing else stirs, and she sighs, her lids getting heavy ... when she hears the noise again, the one she now realizes work her: a stealthy scraping at the lock of their small room. Her eyes opening again, she pauses to focus on the small sound, before turning to gently shake Rastellion from his slumber. "Rastellion ..." she whispers in his ear, being as quiet as she can, "Wake up," she continues, placing her finger over his lips as he stirs.
He stirs slightly, then opens his eyes, feeling her hand on his mouth. He blinks, then gives her a slow sleepy grin and nuzzles her neck. "Mmmm, you really are insatiable," he says, fondly, as he begins to pull her into an embrace, but she places her finger more firmly over his lips. "Shhh." she whispers. "Listen ... do you hear that?" she says quietly.
Briefly confused, he frowns, then comes more awake as her words sink in; his hands stop their nascent exploration and he cocks his head, listening. An owl hoots from a nearby tree. He nods. "Just an o..." he begins, then stops, going utterly still, head cocked, as the noise comes from the door again - scrape- crick, followed by a nearly inaudible intake of frustrated breath and the sound of a small metal object hitting the uncarpeted wood of the hallway floor, just outside their room. Upon hearing this, she sits up looking at Rastellion, her eyes wide.
Going slightly pale in the dim light of the moon that seeps into their shadowed room, he nods at her and slips off the bed as quietly as he can, gathering his breeches up in one hand and pulling his long dagger as quietly as he can from the jumble on the floor. He steps nervously toward the door. The scraping comes again, obviously from the lock mechanism, a click, and another intake of breath, triumphant now, from the far side. And then the door handle begins to turn... she looks over at the door, her pulse racing as she watches the handle begin to turn. She takes a small, sharp, quiet breath as she turns to Rastellion, her eyes wide with fear, as she slides off the bed and moves further from the doorway, towards the dresser by the wall. He turns to look back, his eyes wide, the whites clear in the dim light - and gestures her further back, to crouch down out of sight behind the dresser. Then he turns, reading his blade as the door starts to inch open into the room.
"Here you!" comes a sudden, sharp voice from the hallway. "What're you... ooof!" The voice is broken off in a huff of breath, with the sound of bodies impacting. Rastellion throws one more glance toward Immalaine, then jerks the door open and steps into the door frame, knife at the ready. A thin man, dressed in dark clothes, has shoved one of the guards against the far wall of the hallway, and the two are struggling, the guard unarmed, but grabbing the right wrist of his attacker; in that hand, a thin blade shines with razor cruelty in the dim light that spills into the hallway from the window at its far end.
The barest sound of a angry snarl comes from the man's mouth as he turns to look at Rastellion, hearing the door open. "Bugger off ..." he says, trying to free his hand from the guard's grasp. Inside the room, Immalaine crouches between the wall and the dresser, her eyes wide with fright as she sees Rastellion open and step into the doorway. "Rastellion," she half whispers, afraid for him as she listens to the struggle outside. Seeing her old dagger out the other side of the dresser, she goes to reach for it with trembling hands.
Rastellion raises his long knife - which trembles only slightly - and steps forward, but the unknown assailant, his face hidden behind a mask that covers forehead and eyes - rotates, keeping the guard between himself and Rastellion. The guard seems dazed, either still half-asleep or reeling from an unexpected blow, and the assailant, though slimmer than the guard, seem on the point of regaining control of his weapon.
He shifts from side to side, but the stranger is too skilled. Rastellion hesitates a moment - then, drawing a breath, he raises the cloth in his left hand and brings it down hard on the struggling hands of attacker and guard, tangling the weapon in it, while he calls out as loudly as he can, "Murder! Theft! Call the Watch!!" He tugs the cloth, which makes a ripping sound as the enemy's dagger pierces, then gets tangled, in it, and he raises his own weapon again, looking for an opening. His cries shatter the still night, and from the nearby rooms, and from downstairs, comes the angry muttering of rudely woken patrons and staff.
The intruder hisses at Rastellion, trying to jerk his blade from the cloth as he quickly scans the hall for an easy escape. It finally comes free from the cloth, but the man loses his grip on it and and drops to the floor at his feet. The sounds of feet on the floor as a couple of patrons open their doors to see what's going on, and the louder sound of Tilly opening the inn's door and calling out for the watch, cause the small man to freeze in panic a moment, before spying a window to climb out through. Spotting one, just past Rastellion, he throws the guard in his direction and makes for the window as he attempts to escape.
Rastellion manages to dance out of the way, avoiding impaling his own guard on the knife he awkwardly wields. By the time he's regained his footing and turns, the assailant his halfway out the window. He takes a few hurried steps in that direction as the man pushes himself out onto the inn's roof... then his foot goes out under him and he slips. Rolling onto his back, Rastellion is in time to see Tilly emerge at the head of the stairs, a lantern raised in one hand, a wood axe in the other, and a fierce expression on her face. He points toward the window. "He went out that way," he tells the innkeeper.
(Continued in part 7B)
(Credits and love go to Rastellion, who provided the voice of the male characters in this story. *Blows kisses to Rastellion and grins widely*)
