Completed The Dancing Stallion [Garland]

[Sayana]

Sayana froze for a moment when the man drew a knife of his own. She had expected him to take her threat and leave the tavern. And that’s when Garland came in and stunned the man. In moments the squire had disarmed him, and made things very painful for the man. The Eypharian took the opportunity to grab the knife of her original opponent and glanced around the tavern. Garland clearly had the first man under control, but there were two others approaching. She wasn’t used to having to deal with multiple people in a fight. Usually those who wanted to force her to do their bidding didn’t do it in groups since they ultimately wouldn’t want to share her. But apparently the man had friends who had joined him at the tavern.

Adrenaline pumped through her and she sorely wanted to rush in and drive her knife into the chest of one of the men. But that would get her fired instantly and worse, trouble with the knights. Instead she armed herself with her knife from her blouse and positioned herself to the side of the incoming men. She now held a dagger in her right mid, and a knife in her left mid and low. If they came at her, she’s show no mercy with the three blades, but ideally they’d go at Garland and she’d be able to dart in when the opportunity arose and nick them when they didn’t expect it. If the brawl didn’t sort itself out soon, Kevith would surely be there to break things off. But Sayana didn’t really want to be caught by her employer while holding three blades.

[Garland]

"Sayana..." He said, looking at her. "If you don't want to fight, I can probably handle these two." He turned back to one of the men, ready to fight. The fight was about to start, but the other one grabbed Garland from the back, locking his arms and leaving him exposed.

The first man was about to land a punch to Garland's face, but he ducked and hit his friend instead. Garland raised his leg and gave a strong kick to the gut that sent the man back and into a table. Garland slammed his head back, making the other one cringe and lose his grip on him. He slammed his elbow on his holder's temple, making him dazed for another attack.

Garland took positions again and gave a strong hook to the face and a swift knee to the gut. Garland didn't notice the other one had recovered and took a stool to hit Garland on the back of the head.

[Sayana]

OOCExcuse me while I insert Sayana into the scene as appropriate.

When the second man came around to grab Garland from behind Sayana was about to go after him to free her friend, but she didn’t make it in time before the first punches were thrown. Instead, when Garland gave a hard kick to the first man, she seized the opportunity to throw her weight against him to bring him to the floor while he stumbled against the table. Once down, he tried to roll but she slammed her knife into his right shoulder. She glanced up to see how Garland was faring, but the man used her moment of distraction to land a solid punch to the side of her face.

But even as the man tried to recover, he was slowed down considerably from the shoulder wound. Sayana recovered first and brought her dagger to his throat. This time she held it there and didn’t take her eyes off the man – she wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Hopefully Garland had it under control with the other one so she needn’t be worried about her exposed back.

And that’s when she heard the angry voice of Kevith Aargon. “Break it up! I won’t have any nonsense in this tavern.”

[Garland]

Garland saw Kevith come out of the back. He gave a small sigh and dragged the guy he was fighting out the door. He gave an apologetic look to Sayana and the ex-knight. "I'll be right back." He left the tavern and pinned the man to the wall. "Listen, I don't want to see you or your friends back here again, or I will rip out each of your eyes and keep them for myself, and I am not kidding." He said before slamming his fist down on the man's face, breaking his jaw and nose.

He went back inside and helped Says a with the injured one. "Listen, I'm giving you a chance to leave before I do something YOU will regret, take your friend and get out of here." He said in an eerily calm tone.

The man got up and grumbled, holding his wound. He picked up his unconscious friend and limped out. Garland looked at Kevith, with sad eyes. "Kevith, I'm sorry. It was my fault, Sayana didn't do anything wrong. I started the fight, please don't give Sayana any of the heat." He half-pleaded and explained, trying to get Sayana out of trouble.

[Sayana]

The old knight was clearly not happy about the fight that had just occurred even though the men who had started it were limping off in various forms of ‘health’. “Sayana,” he said turning to the Eypharian who had not yet put her blades away. “You’ve made yourself a good friend, but I will be docking today’s pay,” the knight said briskly. “I’ve told you before that I don’t want to see those daggers and especially not at the throat of a customer. But I expect to see you tomorrow evening to provide more entertainment.”

Sayana held her tongue at the reprimand. Some battles she knew when to fight. She also put away her dagger and knives. She had two now, one of her own and one that she picked up from the stranger, which was now bloody. She carefully used the bottom hem of her skirt to wipe it off and then tucked it into her belt. Kevith then addressed Sayana again, “If there’s ever trouble, I want you to come to me first, or at least call. Now both of you, be off. I won’t be having any more brawls tonight.” The knight gave a dismissive wave towards the door. He may have had a slight bias towards the squire and his employee, particularly since Garland said he had been the one to start the fight and had left the others quite bloodied, but he attempted not to show it by sending them out from his tavern.

Sayana left quickly, and only just remembered to pick up her tambourine. Once outside she recalled that she had stashed her cloak away in the back, but she wasn’t going to go grab it now, not after all this. It was different working here in Syliras. In Ahnatep, one tended to fend for themselves more. Bar fights were discouraged but she was free to use whatever force she wanted to defend herself. Here she was afraid she’d end up being arrested by the knights for even the slightest show of violence.

[Garland]

Garland was about to protest, but it would be useless, he knew that these types were always stubborn. He sighed and offered Sayana the door.

Both of them made it outside. The night had a chilly air wind blowing through it. "Look... I'm sorry... I'll pay you for the trouble... He said he was going to dock your pay right?" He said, apologetic. "You must be mad at me." He said quietly.

He took off his jacket and placed it around Sayana's shoulders. "Least I could do... You probably wouldn't want to go out drinking with me ever again, so should I just take you home?" He asked, hoping she would say yes, for her sake. It was dark, and despite being a peaceful city, crimes did happen under the Knight's noses from time to time.

That and he wanted his jacket back after she's done with it.

He put his arm over her shoulder, hoping to keep both of them warm for the walk back. He hoped that there was someplace warm he could stay in. It looked it was going to rain soon.

[Sayana]

“No, I drew steel first,” Sayana replied firmly. “And four gold mizas… well it’s just four gold mizas. It’s not like I’m on the street begging. He didn’t fire me.” She pulled the jacket close around her shoulders, it was chilly out. For the first little while she was silent and didn’t look at him. Maybe she was mad, but it was moreso about how the events took place, and not specifically at the squire. It was Garland who had fought off the men who otherwise looked like they meant business.

“I’d like to go home,” she stated quietly. “And I’d like you to join me. At least till we get there.” She added and looked over to him. When he put his arm around her shoulder she wrapped her low arm around his waist. “Thanks,” she said quietly. “And I’m not mad. It just… things didn’t turn out the way I had planned.” From the first guy not heeding her threat, to finding out that he had two other friends at the bar. They began to walk in the direction of her apartment.

“We made a nice team though,” she said and her tone was a bit lighter as she recalled the fight in the tavern. “I need to learn how to fight without intending to kill.”

[Garland]

He gave a small forced smile. "Come on, you did well enough, you didn't kill him and that's good." He took out four gold Mizas and handed them to Sayana. "Look, you're paying rent, I'm not. You need this more than me." He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Right, let's get you back home. Its getting really cold out and I think it might rain."

They had started walking back towards the castle, hoping that nothing else would be there waiting for them. Thugs would get away if there were no witnesses. The city of peace isn't so peaceful when you lived here your whole life.

It was well into the night, but there were still a few trinkets here and there, a few were just about to close up shop. Garland spotted a cheap wine bottle in one of the stalls, but it was about to close, so if they were going to buy that he needed to be fast. "Sayana?" He said and pointed to the wine bottle. "I mean, if you want to. We can just head home." He shrugged and waited for her to reply

[Sayana]

“Garland…” She said in a pained voice as he tried to give her the gold mizas. “I know you’re trying to be a good person but… But I’m proud of what I earn and you’re not going to take that from me by giving me handouts. Whether Kevith’s decision was fair or not.” She didn’t take the coins and was only minorly warmed by his kiss to her cheek. In fact, the kiss reminded her of the punch to the face she had taken earlier. With a distracted hand, she touched her cheek gently. It was a bit sore, but seemed to be rather minor. In appearance she had a couple of small bruises and a bit of discolouration but that was all.

The streets were dark and eerie. For a fleeting second Sayana’s heart raced at a dark shadow from above, but it was only a dark cloud passing across the moon. Besides, a Zith would never be allowed entry to a castle city like this. When Garland pointed out the bottle of cheap wine, Sayana gave a slight nod and answered, “Yes, get it. I think I could use a drink and I’ve always liked wine better than that ale stuff. And use those coins you were going to give me.”

“But you’ll be joining me, right?" Sayana said wanting him to confirm. She didn't really want to go back to an empty home. "I’d feel like a nobody if I were to drink that on my own.”

[Garland]

Garland nodded, and took back the coins. He would just leave it on the table at her apartment or at least get her to do something for him to give a reason to pay her. "Right, some wine." He waved over to the old man with the wagon.

He left Sayana for just a short while to meet with the old man before he closes shop. He grabbed the cheap wine bottle from the wagon. "This please, one wine bottle." The old man nodded, but offered a fancier wine in case he wanted it. "Oh That's better... 10 Gold? Kinda steep... But..." He looked over to Sayana, this would pay back for the fiasco in the bar. Plus the four gold he'll put in her apartment later, it would clear his conscience.

He sighed. "Alright, sold." He took out ten gold and gave it to the old man, it seemed like he didn't sell much today and the wine Garland brought seemed to brighten his day. Garland took the wine and headed back to Sayana.

He smiled at Sayana. "Ready to go?" He held the wine bottle tightly, making sure he wouldn't break it by dropping it. "Oh, of course I'll be drinking with you. I didn't just spend ten gold on something I wouldn't take part in."