After wanting to reach the gates of the city for what felt like all night, the final walk up to the East Gate came all too quickly for Temmit.
Renee was slow on her feet though, and it was easy to keep up with her. He was glad he carried her pack, as the girl didn’t appear to have much strength left.
As Renee and Temmit got close to the gate, three of the huge beacon lanterns on the Outer Wall, each operated by two men, swiveled and rotated to not only illuminate the path before them, but warn the four soldiers meandering under the open portcullis of their approach. As these men at the gate became alerted to their presence, the obviously bored group lit some torches of their own to better identify the two strangers who approached at such a late hour.
“Miss Prynne,” one of them exclaimed as they came within earshot. Temmit winced, not sure if he was ready for this.
“Well I’ll be damned,” the brute finished as they made it to almost underneath the archway containing the gate. Temmit reluctantly withdrew into the folds of his hood and now only could only see everyone’s feet. He realized quite suddenly his disadvantage. He wouldn’t be able to watch for hints of danger from the betrayal of the soldier’s body language, for to look at them was to also give them a look at his own face. He cursed himself for the short-sightedness.
Renee’s voice, although still strained from the events of the night, suddenly was about a half-octave higher and a tad softer.
“Evening Durgin,” she heard the feigned smile in her voice.
“Morning Hester, what puts you outside the gates so late on a cold night,” the man said, the same man who had first addressed her during their approach. His voice was oily, as if he cared not that he didn’t disguise the hunger that Temmit imagined was in the gaze upon his commander.
It was suddenly a bit amazing to Temmit that his ears could pick up the situational queue’s while his eyes were blinded to them, and he was comforted by the thought...at least a little.
“Well, my friend and I here were out....um, playing[/b] and lost track of the time,” Renee answered in a bit of a dim-witted fashion. He noted that her alternate personality[/b] wasn’t smart enough to realize that it was getting itself into trouble, considering these soldiers now knew she was ‘cheating on’ their Captain.
“Well, well, well...who do we have here that would dare mate the Captain’s woman while he was away fighting the enemy eh?!” the man said with a bit more anger than Temmit was expecting. Before he could even take a back step, Renee was on top of the situation.
“He doesn’t matter, listen Durgin...wait!” she pleaded with him, and judging by the feet that came to a halt two steps ahead of Temmit he guessed that she succeeded.
“The Captain can’t know about him, he has his friends[/i] and I have mine,” she said in a bit of a lower voice. And very clearly in Temmit’s mind’s eye he understood why she changed the octave, it was to get him to look at her as she said it.
’Even in this situation she is trying to get more information,’[/color] he said to Smokey.
’Why do you say that?’[/color] Smokey asked.
’Did you hear what she did with her voice? It was to get him to look at her, so she could see in Durgin’s eyes if their is truth in her words, truth in the Captain’s disloyalty to her. By bluffing that she knows of The Captain’s infidelity in front of a friend who may unknowingly betray him.’[/color] Temmit said to Smokey.
’You got all that from her voice? Not bad work my friend, very observant of you and genius might I add....’[/color]
’Thanks,’[/color] Temmit replied.
’If you’re right.’[/color]
While this conversation took place, Temmit managed to multi-task and pay attention to Renee’s conversation with the guard, he was proud of his non-coffee-mind in its success.
Renee was speaking, and he could tell she was up against the guard and most likely had her arms around his much higher neck in a reaching embrace, as it appeared she was standing on her toes right in front of him.
“So if you will just enter the name Nathaniel Hawthorne for my friend here and Scarlet Johansson for me, I will make it worth your while and we can be on our way,” she said in a sensual voice.
“Oh really, sure you aren’t all worn out from being with shorty here? You look a bit peaked Hester,” the oily voice said.
Temmit chanced a slight upward shift in his gaze and saw that the man’s large hands were all over Renee’s ass as he hugged her, he clenched his fists and thought he was ready to end the whole charade when Renee stopped the man instead.
“Actually, that is indeed the case Durgin, perhaps just a few coin will do this evening?” she said, sounding as weary as Temmit knew her to be. She stepped out of the man’s grasp and from his prying hands.
’...this evening? Has she slept with this...this....this “Ath-hole” too?’[/i] Smokey asked in alarm.
But Durgin’s retort quelled that fear. “Come on Hester! When am I going to get a piece of that fine young pie of yours?” he said, but Temmit could hear the friendliness in his voice, the glee over the spoken word of coin. Meanwhile, the other soldiers, who must have been Durgin’s subordinates, jeered and one even clapped as they laughed over the evening’s unexpected entertainment.
Renee was a good ten paces away and had one hand on a barrel of torches, leaning on it for support.
“I think two men in my life are more than enough Durgin, when I make to replace them, one large one should be able to handle the work of two eh?” Renee answered, her ankle swaying behind another in what could only be the sensual play of a tramp in Shantytown Theater.
“You bet your sweet ass my pet, I will do things to you that this shor....” but he stopped talking. Temmit hoped for a blink of a tick that she had changed her mind and had thrown her sword through the man’s throat, assassinating him where he stood.
But Temmit quickly realized that Renee’s movement of her hand was to hold up two coins.
“Two platinum?” the man asked, obviously shocked. ’And unfortunately still alive.’[/color] Temmit said to Smokey.
’What?’[/color] asked Smokey.
’Nevermind.’[/color]
“One platinum coin for each of us, and since I know that your friends will require some compensation to also enjoy the secret, I thought I would be generous,” she said. Her voice was straining to maintain the girly high-octave, and Temmit feared she didn’t have much left for this game.
“Heh, and what’s to say that I go ahead and share, and they only end up ratting you out anyway?” Durgin said, in what had to be a scowl at his fellows.
“Because those men are as smart you...my future pet. They know that a bribe out of jail tends to return again and again,” he heard the soldiers agree in low tones.
“And everyone stays happy...you, me, shorty, the boys, and especially the Captain. Everyone wins. Now what do you say?” she asked, her voice actually cracking twice during the sentence.
There was a pause that was one tick too long for Temmit’s liking.
“What do I say?!” exclaimed Durgin and Temmit flinched, and made ready to execute his already formulated fight plan.
“I say that you are too wrecked for me this evening anyway Miss Pryn....Miss Johansson. Take this lucky bastard Nathaniel with you and be on your way.” Durgin replied with a chuckled response from the soldiers.
Renee took Temmit’s arm, and without rushing lead him past the soldiers, handing Durgin the two coins on the way. She then lead him through the East Gate and away from the scene.
