look at you…” I say, throwing my hands to the sides and indicating her armor, her capelet, her cloak. Her friggin’ wolf’s tail that’s dangling over her shoulder from her ponytail. “You can’t…you can’t possibly expect me to believe that you’re from another world.” I pale, and clear my throat, stiffen when she continues to watch me with guarded eyes, her arms crossed. “Wait, did someone set you up to this?” I ask her, anger making my voice shake. “Because if they did…” She remains silent, watching me, and I go quiet, watching her, too.
“M’lady, would that I had a simpler explanation for you,” she remarks wryly, again with a small, sideways grin as she shakes her head. “But it seems that I am out of my element, at the present, and can not present you with anything but the truth. I am no longer on my world. As is my beast, who—right now—may be wreaking havoc and hurting innocents.” Her face goes grave again, her ice-blue eyes flashing, and she sighs, pushes her broad shoulders back, the pads of her armor moving with her. “I need to track him down and destroy him—exactly what I was trying to do last night before my unfortunate wounding. Neither I nor the beast expected to end up here, and I think he simply recovered quicker than I might have, and—”
I can’t believe I’m actually saying it, but I blurt out: “Whoah. Wait. Start at the beginning.”
Virago draws herself up to her full height (which is a full head taller than me), and nods genteelly, that graceful arch of neck and jaw a gravity that my eyes are compelled to follow. She indicates the chair I slept in all night with a gentle wave of her hand. “If m’lady would take a seat, I shall recount my journey here as best as I’m able.”
I sit down quickly.
In one smooth, fluid motion, Virago is crouching down in front of me on one graceful knee. She is kneeling in front of me.
“I am Virago of the Royal Knights of Arktos City, capital of Arktos,” says Virago, her voice strong and clear. She touches the place over her heart with long fingers and inclines her head to me in this sweeping bow, causing my own heart to beat even faster as I try to understand what she just told me.
And then with a dancer’s grace, and still down on one knee, she takes the hand that had touched her heart and proffers it out to me. In a stunned sort of silence, I give her my hand, because I assume that’s what she wanted: me to give her my hand. And, God yes that’s exactly what she wanted, because she’s kissing the back of my hand , her lips just as soft, just as warm as I’d imagined. Her hot, satin mouth lingers against my skin for a single beat too long, my heart thundering against my chest like it’s going to stop working completely.
She’s smiling softly as she lets her warm fingers trail over my palm, her bright blue eyes gazing at me unwaveringly and then she lets go of my hand, and it falls back into my lap, and it’s all warm and tingly from where her lips brushed against it.
Virago stares at me intently, this gorgeous woman on one knee in front of me, perfectly balanced and steady, with her elbow on her knee, her armored elbow. She breathes out softly, slowly, and straightens, then as she sits back on her heels in a single fluid motion, I find I can breathe again. Just barely.
“I have been a knight since I took my oath to Queen Calla in my seventeenth year,” she tells me, her face serious and impassive as she says the words with a quiet strength. “It is my solemn and sworn duty to protect the people of Arktos City, and the kingdom of Arktos, and that is what I have done to the best of my ability. Until last night.” She grimaces, sighs, places her hands on her legs—one on the bare skin of her thigh, actually, since there’s still a gaping hole in her pants. Not that I’m still paying attention to that,
“M’lady, would that I had a simpler explanation for you,” she remarks wryly, again with a small, sideways grin as she shakes her head. “But it seems that I am out of my element, at the present, and can not present you with anything but the truth. I am no longer on my world. As is my beast, who—right now—may be wreaking havoc and hurting innocents.” Her face goes grave again, her ice-blue eyes flashing, and she sighs, pushes her broad shoulders back, the pads of her armor moving with her. “I need to track him down and destroy him—exactly what I was trying to do last night before my unfortunate wounding. Neither I nor the beast expected to end up here, and I think he simply recovered quicker than I might have, and—”
I can’t believe I’m actually saying it, but I blurt out: “Whoah. Wait. Start at the beginning.”
Virago draws herself up to her full height (which is a full head taller than me), and nods genteelly, that graceful arch of neck and jaw a gravity that my eyes are compelled to follow. She indicates the chair I slept in all night with a gentle wave of her hand. “If m’lady would take a seat, I shall recount my journey here as best as I’m able.”
I sit down quickly.
In one smooth, fluid motion, Virago is crouching down in front of me on one graceful knee. She is kneeling in front of me.
“I am Virago of the Royal Knights of Arktos City, capital of Arktos,” says Virago, her voice strong and clear. She touches the place over her heart with long fingers and inclines her head to me in this sweeping bow, causing my own heart to beat even faster as I try to understand what she just told me.
And then with a dancer’s grace, and still down on one knee, she takes the hand that had touched her heart and proffers it out to me. In a stunned sort of silence, I give her my hand, because I assume that’s what she wanted: me to give her my hand. And, God yes that’s exactly what she wanted, because she’s kissing the back of my hand , her lips just as soft, just as warm as I’d imagined. Her hot, satin mouth lingers against my skin for a single beat too long, my heart thundering against my chest like it’s going to stop working completely.
She’s smiling softly as she lets her warm fingers trail over my palm, her bright blue eyes gazing at me unwaveringly and then she lets go of my hand, and it falls back into my lap, and it’s all warm and tingly from where her lips brushed against it.
Virago stares at me intently, this gorgeous woman on one knee in front of me, perfectly balanced and steady, with her elbow on her knee, her armored elbow. She breathes out softly, slowly, and straightens, then as she sits back on her heels in a single fluid motion, I find I can breathe again. Just barely.
“I have been a knight since I took my oath to Queen Calla in my seventeenth year,” she tells me, her face serious and impassive as she says the words with a quiet strength. “It is my solemn and sworn duty to protect the people of Arktos City, and the kingdom of Arktos, and that is what I have done to the best of my ability. Until last night.” She grimaces, sighs, places her hands on her legs—one on the bare skin of her thigh, actually, since there’s still a gaping hole in her pants. Not that I’m still paying attention to that,
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