Beauty and the Beast and a Myrian Too [Kamalia, Gunto]

[Tabarnac]

1st Spring, 511 A.V. late evening "I can smell it from here," Rafa said, wrinkling her nose and glancing toward the door and back to Kamalia with a pointed look. She liked the sorceress well enough, but Myrians were pushing things. At least it wouldn't be long before they went gallivanting off to Sahova of all places, where the reek rather exceeded that of Gunto down in his basement with his knives and his tattoos. Unwashed savages were one thing, but walking corpses were quite another. It didn't help that on her last passage from Mura, the ship stopped in Sahova and a zombie whose aura reeked of leeched djed had sniffed at her and asked her if she would consider donating her body to science. "But," she added grudgingly, "Mother Avalis gifts us all, and I... Saw something. It's a bond of some sort. Might be the sort that turns to marriage, but I can't say for certain. If so, I do hope you'll... civilize him." She paused to think, to articulate herself better, her bone-pale hand held up to forestall interruption. Finally she shook her head. "The Vision is imperfect. There's danger, but it's all so complicated. More than the normal amount of complication, I mean. You must be careful, Kamalia," she said, hand touching her friend's wrist. "There's..." Her face blanched. "Danger," she hissed, standing up suddenly, her delicate porcelain teacup falling to shatter at her feet. "DANGER!" she screamed as if to wake the filthy Myrian from his wet dreams about his goddess-queen. Then Kamalia heard the sound of splintering wood as someone battered the front door down with one fell blow. Booted feet, too many to count, pounded into the Konti's home. *** From his isolated "bedroom", Gunto could hear Rafa's voice raised. Even muffled, the clarion call of alarum sent a thrill through his nerves as if Myri Herself were calling him to do battle. He was contracted to protect a woman who was suddenly in danger. Then he too heard the entrance breached with all the violence of a prison rape, and certainly the sort of mercenaries who skulked about in Zeltiva were the type to take such unseemly advantage of Konti women once they were overpowered. [i]Danger thrilled in his veins, his body galvanized and ready. So much for that bath.