Sin and Soil 10 Read online

  I miss you, but that’s not why I’m writing this. I woke up, as you probably can guess from the existence of this letter. Aesta was gone. I spoke with Keiza, who’d been taking care of me in aesta’s absence, and she said that aesta left without telling her where she was going.

  Just so you know, I did wait for a few days before coming to the decision that it was time for me to go looking for her. I wanted to stay. I thought that it would be so much easier if I could just stay and let everyone else handle everything, but that’s what I always do. It doesn’t seem to work that well, and I suppose I’ve known that for a while.

  I’m a little scared. I have my tent and supplies all packed away, but I have no real idea where to start looking. It scares me more to think of how I’ll feel if I don’t go and something does happen to aesta without me even making an attempt. That’s how you’d think about it, isn’t it?

  I plan on returning come the next full moon. I hope you receive this letter by then. If you wait for me at the inn, be careful to stay hidden! It’s quite obvious when the hearth is lit inside even from a distance, so obviously you should avoid doing that.

  I love you, Damon. I have lots more to tell you but not enough time to write it all down. Stay safe.

  Vel

  CHAPTER 3

  Damon let out a long sigh. He traced the last line of the letter with his finger, feeling a strange mixture of emotions. Vel was alright. Malon, more than likely, was still alive. It was a relief, but it didn’t undo what had happened to Ria. He wasn’t ready to let himself stop bracing for pain, not just yet.

  His contemplation took him back to his immediate situation, specifically the warning Vel had put into the letter about the dangers of him staying at the inn. As much as he agreed with her judgment, it left him conflicted, like he was being forced out of his own home for no good reason.

  He made his way downstairs, settling on at least extinguishing the fire he’d lit in the hearth. Damon had only made it to the last step of the stairs when a distinct rattling noise came from the inn’s front door. Someone was trying to force the handle.

  He froze and then sank into a low crouch, mindful of the view through the inn’s windows. Had Doogle or Arturius happened past the inn and seen the fire’s glow within? No. They would have knocked, in all likelihood.

  A prickle of dark premonition ran up the back of his neck as he heard the faint crunch of snow outside of one of the windows, followed by it being gently pried open. Damon pressed his back against the wall of the partition, ruining his own view of the intrusion, but putting himself into position for ambush.

  He waited, breathing slowly, counting his heartbeats. A figure crept into the inn’s far side, where the fire’s light didn’t quite reach and the shadows were free to accumulate. Damon listened to the footsteps, recognizing several creaks from the floor that announced the intruder’s position.

  He sprang upon the intruder just as the person passed into the kitchen, pressing his forearm against their neck and slamming them into the wall. A friendly, familiar face stared back into his.

  “Keiza…” he muttered, shaking his head. “Oh.”

  She looked more annoyed than afraid, and her sharp, dark eyes were so intense as to be hard to meet. She was all bundled up in winter clothing, a heavy cloak and deerskin gloves, and she cleared her throat reproachfully when she saw him looking her over.

  “Anders,” she said. “Would you mind letting go of me?”

  He nodded, frowning in surprise as he pulled back. “You’re talking again?”

  “I am.” She gave him a small, somewhat forced smile that felt like a threadbare patch over an unfortunate tear. “I saw the glow from the hearth on my way back to town. I thought I’d stop by and see what was going on, but realized I’d forgotten my key when I tried the door.”

  “So, you went in through the window,” provided Damon. “I assumed you were a thief.”

  “Yes, because The Rosewood Inn is brimming with valuables.”

  Damon chuckled, shaking his head warmly at her. “It’s good to see you again. To talk with you again, really. How have things been?”

  She didn’t answer immediately, slowly pulling off her gloves and setting them down at a nearby table. She looked regal and elegant, with a distinct sense of maturity that had only been a seed the last time Damon had seen her. Her raven-dark hair was tucked into the hood of her cloak, bunched together like lines of black ribbon upon a weave.

  “They left,” she said in a quiet voice. “Your mother and your sister.”

  Damon grimaced slightly and nodded. “I know.”

  “Lady Leah just disappeared,” said Keiza. “That’s as best as I can describe how she departed. She didn’t tell me where she was going or when she’d be back, and she didn’t offer a goodbye.”

  “That’s a little unusual for her,” said Damon. “Did she seem different at all in the days beforehand?”

  Keiza shook her head. “Not that I remember. Violet woke up the very next night. I was so surprised when she started banging on my door that I actually screamed.”

  “I can picture it,” said Damon. “She left a note here for me explaining why she left, if not where, exactly, she planned on going.”

  “I tried to talk her into resting at the inn for a few more days, but she wouldn’t hear it,” said Keiza. “She set out on your mother’s trail, and I haven’t heard from her since. It made sense for me to lock up the inn and move back into town, given the difficulties of trying to manage the affairs of the entire common room myself.”

  “You did more than enough,” said Damon. “Thank you.”

  She nodded slowly. “Lady Leah originally said that you’d left in search of a healer for Vel, on top of, well… the business with Doogle and the bounty on your head.”

  “I did,” he said. “I didn’t find one in the end, but it seems as though my search was unnecessary to begin with. Ria… er… Heather and I traveled back to her homeland in search of a cure.”

  He felt a scratchiness inside his throat. He wanted to tell Keiza more, but he wasn’t sure why, or if it would be fair to dump on her. She waited for him to continue, and when it became clear that he wasn’t going to, she gently took his hand into hers.

  “Did something happen?” she whispered.

  It was all he could do to nod.

  “But now you’re back in Azurecliff,” she said.

  “Just passing through. The fact that you’re here means I’ve already drawn too much attention.”

  “Anders…” She made a point of not letting go of his hand. Damon chuckled and pulled her a little closer.

  “I know you know what my real name is, Keiza,” he said. “Call me that instead.”

  She licked her lips. “Damon. You’ve saved my life. Multiple times, in fact. You’re a good person. If there’s anything I can do to help you, just say the word.”

  “I have a bounty on my head. The smartest thing you can do is to head back into town and forget you ever saw me.”

  “Despite what you may think, I don’t always do the smartest thing,” she said.

  “Is that right?”

  He was suddenly very aware of her presence, from the melting snowflakes in her hair, to the tightness of her hand gripping his. He pulled her slightly closer to him, still meeting her eyes, sensing her mood.

  She didn’t stop him as his hands slid to her hips and pulled her into an embrace. She didn’t stop him as he kissed her. She smiled as he began toying with the clasp of her winter cloak, and then let out a squeal as he scooped her into his arms.

  “What are you doing?” she asked in a voice more amused than annoyed.

  “Taking you upstairs.”

  He waited, half expecting her to scoff and call him a buffoon. Instead, she looped her arms around his neck, bit her lower lip, and gave him a small, almost embarrassed nod.

  CHAPTER 4

  Life on the road was a life of sacrifice. Damon hadn’t given much thought to how rugged he’d learned
to be in his travels. He’d been forced to weather twelve- to sixteen-hour marches, sleeping in the cold, often on an empty stomach, always alone in his tent across the past few arduous weeks.

  He dropped Keiza onto his bed and was momentarily mesmerized by the way she bounced before coming to rest. In his travels, he’d let himself forget how much he missed this, the build-up and anticipation in the moments before sex. He’d let himself forget how much he needed it. Damon was honest enough, in his heart, to admit that.

  He climbed onto the bed after Keiza, leaning forward to share that first, bursting kiss. Her lips were hot against his, teasing him with small, interesting movements. He pawed at her body, feeling as though the many layers she’d worn to stave off the winter cold were taunting him with their endless ties to be undone, buttons to be unbuttoned.

  She helped him, shifting her arms so he could slide off her wool coat, and then helping with the buttons of the shirt underneath. She’d forgone a half-shirt, and Damon was awestruck by her small, pale breasts. She shivered as his fingers touched bare skin.

  “Your hands are cold,” she whispered.

  “I’ll have to put them somewhere to warm them up,” he said.

  She squealed as he slid them between her thighs, which were still clad in leggings. “Not there! Damon!”

  They took turns undressing each other, though the process was much more straightforward on Damon’s end. It was still chilly within most of the inn, and Damon knew that Keiza wasn’t as able to easily ignore it as he was. Their bodies met underneath the quilt, each of them pulling and tucking the edges inward to create an insulated pocket to warm up through their hot exertions.

  Damon let his hard cock probe against her stomach. She shifted upward across the bed, trying to give him better access, but the movement pulled the blanket off her feet. He shifted over her, pulling her to a more central position by the thighs as he spread her legs. The motion forced him to take a second to re-cover them with the quilt, with the cold draft keen on foiling their foreplay, and then he flexed his hips forward.

  He sank his cock into her slowly, sensing from her reaction that it wasn’t her first time, but close to it. She was wet and primed for him, and he would have taken off inside her at a gallop if not for a deeper urge to savor the moment.

  He stroked a hand across Keiza’s cheek, letting his thumb trace a line alongside her mouth. He’d missed this, having a woman open herself to him, naked and trusting and utterly touchable. Damon slowly began rocking his cock forward and back, easing in another inch with each deliberately controlled thrust.

  Keiza’s eyes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly on its first flight. Damon kissed her neck and teased one of her breasts with his hand. It was a perfect palmful, large enough to stir his lust without passing into unwieldy territory. Lean and practical, much like Keiza herself.

  “You’re so big,” she whispered. “Just… go slow.”

  Few words could stir such an opposing reaction within him. Damon suddenly wanted to unleash himself, to thrust to his heart’s content, taking her until she was sweaty and loud underneath the quilt.

  He sank his cock deeper into her, speeding up as he continued to pump. Keiza was small enough for him to handle her easily in his strong arms. He felt her fingers digging into his shoulders, heard her tiny moans as he continued to bury his shaft into her tight lane.

  “My first day back in town,” he whispered. “I never imagined it would be you.”

  “Are you teasing me?” She let out a breathy noise, one of her feet kicking out from under the quilt. “Who else would have been here at the inn but me and your family?”

  Who else, indeed?

  Damon built to a pace that rocked the bed, groping her as he stretched her out with his hardness. He’d imagined doing this to her before, but so much had happened since he left Azurecliff. To have her in his bed now felt indulgent, unnecessary, though it was hard to care that much with her soft moans and urgent breathing against his ear.

  “I knew you would do this to me,” she said. “Something… about how you looked at me.”

  “Of course,” he said. “I was always undressing you with my eyes.”

  She gasped, and he fucked her harder, letting their bodies meet with lewd, accelerating claps. Neither of them could hold out against the rising tide of pleasure. Damon felt Keiza come, her womanhood clamping down on his cock with surprising force.

  He kissed her deeply, letting his tongue probe into her mouth even as she still drowned in the bliss of her release. He took her hips and pumped into her with full, aggressive force, letting out a low, primal grunt as he used her at a properly testing pace.

  Damon pulled out just before he blew his load. Most of it ended up on her stomach and chest, and her eyes fluttered with cute annoyance as his hot seed spurted onto her skin. He gave her a kiss, stroked her hair, and stood up.

  “I’ll get you a towel,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  ***

  They lay together in bed for a while afterward, each thinking their own thoughts, finding their own meaning in the sex. Damon was surprised by how guilty he felt, even though he knew Keiza had been a willing and eager participant.

  “I don’t plan on getting married,” whispered Keiza. “Ever.”

  Damon cleared his throat with a smile. “Well, I guess we can jump right into that particular conversation. Keiza… This was probably a bad idea.”

  “You coming to Azurecliff in the first place was a bad idea,” she said. “But you did come here. And we did have sex.”

  “I have to find my family,” he said.

  Keiza leaned onto her side, propping her head up on her arm. She looked at him with those piercing eyes, seeing something deeper than what he was showing her.

  “Leah, Violet, and Heather,” she said, listing them off. “Those aren’t their real names either, are they?”

  Damon shook his head.

  “Are they really your family, or…?” She let the question hang.

  “They are, as much as anyone can be,” he said. “We love each other. A little too much, in some ways.”

  “Interesting…”

  “And by interesting, you mean…?”

  “I mean interesting,” said Keiza. “I sensed that there was more to all of you than you were letting on. I’m not one to judge, Damon. What I will say is that you should be careful about staying here at the inn by yourself.”

  “I know,” he said. “I just… this place is the closest thing to a home that I’ve had in quite some time. I plan on setting out in the morning. Vel left a note saying she’ll be back for the next full moon.”

  “That’s in a couple of days,” said Keiza. “I’ll keep an eye on the inn for you, in the meantime.”

  “Thanks,” he said. “For everything.”

  They shared another long kiss. Keiza slowly pulled her clothes back on. Neither of them said anything as Damon walked her to the door. They shared a kiss, both of them accepting it for what it was, with no lingering expectations.

  She disappeared into the snowy night, cloak swaying in the wind.

  CHAPTER 5

  Damon had forgotten how wonderful it was to sleep in his own bed. He awoke early, an hour or so before sunrise. His quilt still smelled of Keiza, along with the faint undertones of sweat and sex. He dressed and made his bed before moving slowly down to the inn’s lower level.

  The aqueduct running through the basement was nearly ice cold, but still flowing. Damon appreciated the cold resistance of his myrblade twice over as he scrubbed himself off and quickly dried with a towel.

  Being back at the inn meant having access to the full range of his clothing. He put on a nice shirt and thick leggings underneath his traveling cloak. Breakfast was a cold and minimal affair, but he found some leftover butter in the kitchen to slather on his days-old bread and managed to salvage much of the taste.

  He still had business in the area, despite not expecting Vel’s return for another few days.
Kastet and Lillian, as far as he knew, currently resided in the ancient Remenai ruin of Hexadonia, only an hour’s hike or so outside of town.

  Damon set out just as the first tendrils of sunlight spilled out from over the horizon. The snow covered his tracks from the night before, along with Keiza’s, and he took care to make sure the new ones he left weren’t obvious.

  He felt exposed as the day arrived. The sky was clear of cloud cover, though it was still bitterly cold. The serene white of the snow left him feeling as though he stood out against the landscape, and it wasn’t as though he could continuously cover his tracks for every step of his journey.

  He’d never cared as much about being outed or discovered across the early portion of his travels, when it simply meant that he’d need to move faster to outpace potential pursuers. There was more to lose in Azurecliff, where he and his family and the inn were all known quantities.

  Still, he couldn’t let his fear of being discovered paralyze him in the face of action. Damon kept his head covered by his cloak and avoided coming into view of the road. Eventually, he moved into the trees and finally felt as though he could let his guard down.

  For as much as the winter left him announcing his presence, it also did the same to anyone else traversing the area. The occasional glance at the snow was enough to tell him what to be wary of, whether it was undisturbed, marred by animal or monster tracks, or trodden by boots. He didn’t see much, though that was no surprise, given how few people cared to venture into the woods when the snow was knee-high.

  It took Damon longer than he’d expected to reach Hexadonia, nearly half the day. He crouched behind an old stump as he took in the details of the ruined fortress. It wasn’t huge, no larger at its perimeter wall than the market square in Azurecliff, and its sole tower resembled Malon’s old home on the farmstead in both architecture and size.

  Hexadonia did, however, look far more impressive in the winter, with the snow and ice clinging to its ancient stones in a manner that disguised much of the decay of centuries. The snow had been cleared from the outer wall and the main entrance, with a thin foot trail leading off in the direction of the nearest road.