Chapter 32: 99 problems and women are all of them
The candle flickered as Kano leaned forward on his stool and stretched out the kinks in his back. He was glad to finally get to sleep as he was afraid that Vicky was never going to have enough of him the night before. It was a little awkward at first since both sisters were his 'official' girlfriends now and he was banging one while not banging the other. The one not getting any had sent a plethora of rather risque photos to his phone of herself in various stages of undress and engaged in personal relaxation massages. One of them informed him that this was her revenge for not getting any of him for herself last night. 'Yeah, I'm glad to be here in Chelandria then. Maybe now I can actually relax.' Then his thoughts turned to the women of this world and how he had already started hitting on them. 'Flirting is ok, right?' He thought of the kiss he shared with Feng Li na and smiled. 'It was just one kiss.' Mental images of the athletic woman pressed against him, her lips on his, raced through his mind and he had to stop himself as he started getting excited.
"Crap, I really need to get a hold of myself. This is definitely going to be a problem. Maybe I should master a spell that bolsters my will power."
"You can use magic?"
Kano jolted upright as he realized someone else was around, then he recalled the owner of the feminine voice and looked over at his bed. There was Alice, laying upon it and looking much more colorful compared to earlier. Apparently she had been awake for a while now. "How long have you been awake?"
She blushed and he guessed that she had been watching him for some time now. He chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Its fine. I can't help being this handsome. Blame my parents." She blushed even further and tried to burrow in on herself. 'I'm a married woman, I shouldn't be thinking about another man, even if my husband is a cad,' she was thinking.
"Your father is the graveskeeper?"
"No, he's my mentor. My parents..." He thought for a moment how to explain it and then decided not to and just left it blank as he gave her a rather wry smile. "Anyway, how are you feeling now?"
She misinterpreted his silence as something darker and thankfully let it drop then she nodded at him. "Much better. Thank you, but you should have left me to die. The village will label me as a problem now and the church will have them shun me. I will have to return to him."
"Do you have to? I mean can't the marriage be ended? Back home, they had a ritual called divorce. It was what happened to end marriages." Why am I telling her this? Do I want to save her again?
Alice thought for a moment then shook her head. "I'm not sure. It was never mentioned in services, not that my husband ever went. So I don't know. All the Hierophant ever taught was marriage till death and love and loyalty." 'Yep, just like a local zealot. I wonder why Nastalia is so different. Her goddess is not the same. Maybe she has a way.'
"I have a friend at the Academy. Maybe she has a way to do it. Or at least can give you some help other than dying. I would rather you not if it could be helped." She blushed again as he realized his words could be mistaken for a lot more feelings than there were. 'Crap.'
"I work here, I helped take care of your sister. It pains me to see anyone brought before us, especially when they are close to or younger than my own age." She nodded this time and a look of embarrassment crossed her face, 'crap.' "Look, sleep some more. Stay here until you fully heal. I'll go investigate this for you. Alright?"
This time, she hesitated before nodding again. She obviously did not want to return to her husband, and Kano understood her reasons. "Alright, good. I'm Kano, and I don't think you ever told me your name?"
"Alice." 'What a gorgeous name... Crap.'
***
Kano found himself traipsing along the trail once more headed back to the village. He knew he would make it shortly after sun up and Nastalia would be awake by then... at least he hoped so. Then again, he wondered what she slept in. Probably some kind of long nightgown like he saw in old history books. 'Blegh. Not hot at all. Crap! Why am I thinking this way?! Ugh, I really need to hurry up and figure out a mental fortitude boost of some kind.' Still, the images of Nastalia drifted through his mind as he walked and as he approached Academy Village, the smug grin on his face could not be erased. In fact, his mindset had changed so that he hoped he got to see Nastalia in something other than her usual priestess robes. 'Now who is the scoundrel? Ruolan is right. I am scum.'
He made sure his mask was firmly affixed before he sauntered onward towards the Academy. Not even stopping at the gate, he strode past the guards with a determination that made them both lean away. Had he realized they had this reaction, he might have noticed his aura was a bit stronger than usual and if one were to look at him with an arcane eye, they would see the tell-tale flicker of Balefire surrounding him. As he entered the garden that marked the entry to the Academy, he saw Li na was practicing her morning routine and he smiled as he changed direction. Unable to stop himself, he slipped closer to her and blocked one of her strikes. "My dearest wife, your strength grows each day almost as much as your beauty."
"Scoundrel!" Li na cried out as she quickly spun about to deliver another blow. They repeatedly blocked and countered, struck and dodged, trying to gain the upperhand upon the other. Kano noticed she was not as distracted this time and had to use his coat as a foil. The tails of his coat became like shadows as he used them to hide his attacks and Li na found she was beginning to lose. Soon, Kano's arm snaked out from the shadows and he wrapped Li na close to his chest, her arms pinned across her own body and pressed against him.
"Ah, my sweet. To hold you again is the greatest treasure." Kano breathed out as he held her in both of his arms. To others, it would appear they were in a warm embrace, but to Li na it was a very confusing moment. On the one hand, she had prepared for this and had tensed the muscles of her lower body, ready to use her legs to kick his knees, but on the other hand, something surprising had occurred. She found that she was enjoying his closeness. In fact, she had actually been thinking about it for some time now and could not maintain her focus on anything lately, until this moment. Her mind had emptied, just as if she had begun meditating. She decided to simply accept it for now and take advantage to get some answers. "Rogue. What do you want? Why are you here?"
"Can a man not visit his beloved?" he teased, but only drew a snort, yet she still had not attacked him. Releasing her with one arm, he pulled his mask free and looked at her with his own eyes. "Fine, you win dear heart. I have questions for Nastalia."
He felt Li na tense up as he mentioned the other woman. "Oh, why do you want her?"
'Jealous? Really?' "My darling wife, why must you be so? Come now, I only have to talk with her a bit for a friend. One of the villagers has a problem of a... religious nature and as you are well aware, I am not exactly qualified to answer those types of questions."
Li na pulled free and pointed a finger square in his face, almost touching his nose. "I am not your wife. You do have the qualifications to court me as you are capable enough, however, you must also be of good moral character and I am not convinced of this."
Kano grinned slyly as he kissed the tip of her finger. "Then I will work to change your mind."
Li na blushed furiously as it registered that he was not intimidated by her and even more so by his brazen actions. To hold her in public, to kiss her in public even, her pride could not bare it and she leapt away, alighting on a balcony three stories above. Kano watched in awe at her capability and grinned foolishly. "Also, where would Red be at this time?" A yawn came from behind him and he turned to see Nastalia walking up while stretching.
"Kano, you do realized that your aura is really dark and it is impossible to sleep with it waving about like that." His eyes were glued to her as she was wearing a rather simple yet elegant night gown covered by a red robe that hung open. Finally, as a man dying of thirst receiving a drop of water, he was able to see what her usual robes hid from him. Her hourglass waist and matching ample bust and hips entranced him. She realized he was staring after he did not answer her, his eyes appeared glossed over and she gracefully flipped her hair out of her collar. Laughing as she watched his eyes follow her hair even, she quickly closed her robe and grinned coquettishly. "Like what you saw?"
Kano swallowed and shook his head as he grinned sheepishly. "I would be lying if I said no."
Her eyes changed color as a rainbow of light passed over them. "Well, your aura has calmed significantly so, if all it takes is a glance of me then this will be much easier to tame such an Evil Necromancer than the legends would have us believe."
"Red, you are so bewitching that you must have been borne a goddess of beauty to simply grace us with your presence." He wanted to step forward, grab her wide hips and plant his lips on hers, but he rooted himself to the spot, afraid that if he moved even a single muscle, he would lose control. 'Damnit! Did you have to be this hot? Come on! I am trying to be good here!'
Nastalia seemed to notice his effort to control himself and giggled as she beamed. It was not often that someone noticed that she was attractive, all any ever saw of her was her rank and status. Her hips sashayed as she stepped toward Kano and 'accidentally' brushed against him as she walked past and around. Her eyes gleamed as she saw a shudder pass through him at her touch and she could not help but be a bit proud of herself. "Flatterer. I will allow you to continue such talk, but first, why are you here? It is a bit too soon as I just saw you yesterday and if this keeps up, people will talk."
As she returned to his front, he inhaled hard to catch her scent and breathed it in, cherishing the sweet smell of her. "If they talk, they talk. I never cared for the gossip of others." Kano sighed before continuing and his face fell. "And if only my reasons for coming were just to see you, my lovely, then my mood would be much better. However, I do have some serious topics I need to discuss with you." His face fell as their play time had to stop, he really wanted to see just how far she was willing to go. As Nastalia acquiesced he began to recite her the tale of the mistreated housewife, Alice, and even going into detail the signs of beatings and abuse upon the previous wife of the blacksmith. "So, there you have it... How do we help this poor girl?"
Nastalia frowned as she contemplated the story she just heard. On the one hand, she felt for this poor girl, on the other, she had a duty to the Cult of Light. Then again, she was not a follower of said cult. Her goddess only cared about the safety and security of the family. If the monster comes from within, the hearth becomes meaningless. The family protects each other, like a pack, not feeding on each other like mindless vermin.
"I am not sure. Honestly I would like to help... let me do some thinking and talk with a few of my fellows. Maybe they will know more. Also I should probably ask Lady Revia, she is a goddess after all."
Kano shook his head and remembered that all clergy would defer to their diety at times. Still, he was starting to like this Revia over the Lord of Light. He seemed like a pompous ass with nothing better to do than order people around. "Very well, Red. Until next time." With a wink he started to step past Nastalia before he stopped short right next to her. "Oh, right, give this to my dear Li Li when you see her." Reaching into his coat, he acted as he were bringing something out and grinned as Nastalia leaned closer to look out of curiosity. He quickly snaked one arm behind her back to hold her by the waist while his other clasped the back of her neck, forcefully but tenderly while he pressed his lips against hers. It was only a small kiss, just a tease really, but enough to remind her what it felt to be desired. As her body relaxed, he drew away and quickly made his way back towards his home.
Her mind slowly came back to reality as her fingers touched her lips, she would not be giving Li na this gift, this one was hers. "You sneaky knave." She smiled as she watched the departing figure. If he only knew the thoughts that were crossing this woman's mind, he might have run a little farther than his cottage. Possibly until he was safely in another kingdom. Then again, he might also have run back to her.
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