For Whom The Bell Tolls || Kael & Gwen
When Kael realized that the person he had come across was a woman, his attitude shifted. His initial plan had been to check to see if they were awake, maybe drag them out of the main line of fire and hightail it out of there. However, he had also assumed that it would have been a man heâd stumble across in a place like this. If it had been a womanâŠhonestly he hadnât really thought about it, but at the very least it meant he couldnât leave well enough alone. As a nobleman, he had a duty to make sure that the fairer sex was protected. It wouldnât sit with him well unless he was sure that she was all right.
Considering they had met in a slightly darkened alleyway, he doubted that was the case.
He hadnât the slightest clue if the lady had amnesia or anything like that. It wouldnât have surprised him, seeing how pale she looked at the moment. Nonetheless, he decided it wouldnât hurt to fill her in on what was going on. âThere was an attack at the harbour. Some pirates, I think.â He started, frowning as he tried to put in order all of the hectic events of that morning. âThe commoners retaliated and everything got out of hand from there. Now everyone is torching their neighbourâs shops and thereâs a full-blown riot at the docks.â That was probably an understatement at this point, with the angry roar of metal clashing against metal drowning out all other sounds aside from the screaming. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare.
Rather than focusing on that, Kael peered back at her, assessing her appearance for any sign of injury. She was a rather attractive broad with firey red hair- had the circumstances been different it wouldnât be so far-fetched to think that heâd hit on her. However, this was not exactly the appropriate time for that. âYou donât look all that swell. Did you hit your head?â She did look pretty pale; not the most assuring of signs that she was well. On the other hand, it didnât exactly look like she was injured either.
Perhaps she was sick? The nobleman supposed that he could check that, but general politeness kept him from touching her. Even in an emergency, it wasnât proper. He would have to resort to asking questions instead, so long as there was time to do so. Kael decided to start with a few simple ones first. âDo you remember anything? What are you doing in a place like this?â
The word âpiratesâ brought forth a series of images that ended with her staring in fear at a sweaty, leering man armed to the teeth. Gwen didnât have to be a genius to know what he was. His skin was crusted with salt and looked like it had the texture of old leather boots that should have been thrown in the rubbish bin decades past. His teeth (what little he had) were of a shade similar to overcooked steak and it made Gwenâs stomach churn just to look at. Everything about him -- from his looks to the hungry gaze in his eye as he stared at her, grinning like a child in a candy store with unlimited funds.
She remembered the man -- pirate, as it were -- and remembered trying to figure out whether she would be able to outrun him or not when sheâd felt herself knocked down before things went black. Her âadmirerâ hadnât been alone, apparently. The good news, however, was that he was nowhere to be seen and judging by the dress of her ânew companionâ, his friend was gone as well. She wasnât where she had been before the blackness, but she could tell that aside from being struck on the head from behind and dragged to a dark alleyway, nothing else had happened to her. Of course, that only meant that her revenge wouldnât have to involve murder. What a shame.
âHit my head?â she asked as she struggled to sit up. âIn a manner of speaking,â she replied as she lifted a hand to her temple, adding pressure from the heel of her palm to her head.
She remembered everything and while she didnât know exactly why she was in that alley, she could guess. Not that he would care, though. She could tell from his manner of dress that he was well above her station (and human). There wasnât any possibility that he would give half a damn about her, even if she wasnât merfolk. She was of lower class, in or out of the water. âI was looking for my friends. There was a man -- pirate. He uh.... heâs gone now, it seems,â she said slowly, looking around for the first time.
