Behind Those Golden Eyes

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They rode in silence from there on out, with the old man occasionally humming to himself. After the brief outburst he had reverted back to his cheery self and babbled about all sorts of unimportant things while the men grunted in response, apparently quite used to his behaviors. They barely even looked at the prisoner. All in all it was a strange bunch she was with. Several hours later, the tone of the horse's hooves changed from dirty to cobblestone, signaling their arrival at the Duular mansion. The old smiled brightly at her once again. "Time to meet your captors." He proceeded them out of the carriage while the two men carried her in between them by the arms to what looked reminiscent of a throne room.

There were 3 people sitting on the 'thrones': One young looking boy and two elder sisters who had to be twins. They all had dark brown hair, almost black, but blue eyes glittering like shards of ice. They all looked like pale porcelain dolls until they moved. The sisters were on either side of their brother and the one on the right smiled darkly. "Good work Jensen. I trust you have set everything up appropriately?"

The old man, Jensen, nodded with another one of his cheery smiles. "He should be showing up within a few hours, plenty of time to prepare our little bird here." All of the eyes fixed on their captive now, the twins wearing identical smiles of satisfaction.

The twin on left stood up and came to examine Aisha. "Isn't he a pretty one? I can see why Talie would be letting this one follow him around." She looked like she might do something more for a moment but apparently decided to give the prisoner a bit of reprieve for the moment and returned to her throne. She flashed one parting smile and blew a kiss as she sat down though. "We might have to play some time later."

The other sister smirked. "Perhaps Talie will play with us too." From their familiar manner of speaking, there was almost certainly some sort of past with these two as well. The two exchanged looks then and gestured towards Jensen.

Jensen nodded and led his group off again, carrying Aisha to another small room with no windows and only one door. There was a small cot to sleep on and strangely enough a book case with an adjoining desk and chair. Aisha's bonds were finally cut loose and she was sat firmly on the bed while Jensen settled in the chair. "Well that went quite swimmingly didn't it? The ladies seem quite fond of you." He grinned mischievously.
 
It took several hours for them to finally arrive. Even though she dreaded the moment she would have to meet whoever had ordered for the old man to capture her, her hatred for long carriage journeys had started to get to her. So by the time they stopped, she was almost delighted, though that feeling only lasted for seconds before the weight of reality came back into her mind.

Being carried like that would have felt very embarrassing during normal circumstances. But given the situation she had other things to think about. As they came into some kind of throne room she immediately took notice of the masterminds. Two girls that looked the same, probably twins, and a smaller boy. She guessed all of them were related. At the moment she were just going to stay silent, it was better if she knew their personalities before she said anything.

They started to talk about Tal, but then their conversation fast turned to her. And it was not words she was going to look deeper into. She just hoped they simply were the kind of people that rather joked than act on their words.

Shortly afterwards she was dragged into a small room where they finally released her from the ropes. She massaged her wrist as they forced her to sit down on the bed. "Rather them than you." She replied perfectly honest.

"What happens now? Am I just supposed to sit here like a damsel in distress?"
 
"Well, when the shoe fits." A soft sweet voice came from the doorway. The young boy stepped into the room, having apparently followed them. "Is that not what you are? If you were smart you would listen to Jensen and my sisters, otherwise they may not be so pleasant." It was hard to get a read on the boy. He was definitely arrogant and perhaps a bit too intelligent for his own good. Aside from that almost no personality shone through those eyes.

Jensen tilted his head at the boy and chuckled. "You are quite right, Jeremy. Our little bird here has not yet grasped the situation he's in, but surely he will soon." In an almost protective gesture he shooed the boy out and then sent one of the men of to get her a meal. "Can't have you starving, you won't be any use to us dead." He murmured in a sing-song voice. "But you'll be seeing your precious prince soon. He is far away but I can feel him coming already." He inhaled deeply like he was scenting the air. "His anger burns all this way, it tastes so sweet. Probably only an hour or two now."
 
The boy whom hadn't said a word in the throne room suddenly entered the small room. His words irritated her even though she knew he was right. It didn't matter that she wanted to escape by her own hands. At the moment reality told her that she couldn't, and she had to wait for someone else to rescue her, which by definition made her into a damsel in distress.

The thought of Tal coming closer not only gave her the most joyful feeling she had ever had, but it also made her frightened. She wanted him to come, but she didn't want him to get involved with them because of her.

"He's not my prince. I'm not a damsel, I'm not a bird and I'm definitely not someone that you can call dearie." She told the old man quite irritated. By now she seemed to argue only for the sake of arguing, and not to reach a goal or release her anger. She just didn't want to be friendly with her kidnappers no matter what. "And for the record. Humans can survive for months on only water, so there's no hurry." Food was the last thing she could think about at the moment. Her appetite was completely lost because of the hectic day.
 
Jensen only laughed, he knew he true feelings and he thought it rather quaint that she was so stubborn. Of course it was no skin off his back if she tried to escape and got punished for it. "There's a difference between being alive and keeping up your strength. And I think you'll definitely want your strength when dealing with the ladies Kaylie and Carla." He hummed to himself until the food arrived. "Well, we've still got plenty of preparations to make so you be good dearie." He stood up and strode out of the room, followed by the two men, and made sure to lock the door behind him. The two men remained outside the door while he went down to the throne room again to discuss preparation and presentation for when Tal arrived.

It was definitely worthwhile to keep their hostage close so long as Tal was around to minimize the chance of any shenanigans. They were confident but not stupid. They plotted for about an hour before sending Jensen to pick up their captive. He pushed the door open with another one of those bright creepy smiles. "It's show time dearie, princely is almost here and everyone's got to be in their places." He motioned to the men who once again took Aisha by each arm, though this time she was allowed to walk on her own down to the 'throne room' which now included a chair for her to the side and slightly behind them. It had cuffs for her hands and feet and there were already several men standing around it armed to the teeth. If the situation wasn't so ludicrous, their wariness of Tal would probably be quite funny. "Get comfortable Dearie, I give it about 15 minutes before our guest of honor arrives." Lucky for her, none of the siblings were in their seats yet either.
 
"There's a difference between being alive and keeping up your strength". She already knew that. She would need her strength if she ever wanted to escape. But at the same time there were those conflicting feelings inside her that told her it would look as if she had given up if she accepted anything from them. Even food. On top of that, it was also hard to swallow anything when you were worried for your own and your best friend's safety.

The old man and his two companions, or guards, left her alone in the room. She sighed a sigh of relief and finally allowed herself to relax. Something she hadn't dared to do as long as eyes were locked on her. It probably was the perfect moment to think of an escaping plan, but that was the last thing that entered her mind as exhaustion took over. She didn't fall asleep, but she wasn't completely awake either. She didn't know how long she would have before they came back, so she took every second she could to rest her body and mind.

Eventually the old man, Jensen, came back, and once again her arms were tied together. But at least they let her walk on her own this time. At the moment she came along without doing anything, no cursing, no screaming, no trying to run. Instead she just went with them, and she studied the path they took. If she were able to get out of the room, and out run the guards, she would need to know where to go. Or else they would catch up to her while she tried to find her way.

By the time they arrived in the throne room, she had pretty much figured out that he called her dearie in every sentence now just to piss her off. She decided not to care for now, then maybe he would stop. The twins and their brother weren't in the room yet. Lucky, those twins freaked her out a bit. So far she didn't have much impression of the brother though, except that he said some irritating stuff.

"So this is the mouse you picked up Jensen." A guy came in shortly behind them, it looked like he was around Aisha's age, or some years older. His raven colored hair was put up in a tail that went down all the way to his lower back. "Cute, sure. But doesn't look very special. One could wonder what poison was used to wreck that loners Taliesin's heart." Archer, as he was named, was an assassin himself. And he was quite perplexed by Tal's sudden interest in a traveling partner. Actually he was quite jealous, and he weren't one to hide it. Ever since Tal rose to the top, Archer had idolized him, even though he had never met the man in real life. For someone like him to take on such a novice was unbelievable.

"Wha..." Aisha was at complete loss of words. Was it just her imagination, or did that guy sound like a jealous ex?
 
Jensen chuckled softly, quite aware of Archer's feelings. "Ah you have no idea Archer. This here child convinced him in less than an hour apparently." Of course Jensen knew this as truth. He could feel the bond between the two even if he could not tell you how or why it was there. It was a point of great curiosity to him and he intended to take the time while she was here to get to the bottom of the mystery.

"Oh he's a pretty enough thing and you know how Talie is." The twin sisters had arrived and Carla was back to fawn over her new favorite toy. "He's a sucker for delicate little ones like that." She was downplaying Aisha's importance but she knew better, since she was banking her life on their captive being important to Tal. With the twins in the room the jealousy in the air was probably thick enough to touch.

"It's a shame for him though." Kaylie's eyes burned with irritation. When Tal had pretty much dropped them like it was hot and ran off to take some other job it had offended them on so many levels. Tal wasn't known for being picky with his jobs and he loved pretty women, there was no reason he should have done what he did. Of course they forgot Tal's reputation for being infatuated with no one and turning down some jobs for reasons such as 'boring' and 'I don't feel like it'.

"He's nearly here." Jensen announced suddenly and started ushering Aisha to the chair. The men pushed her down and fastened all her limbs so she could barely move anything but her head. Two men stood with swords mere inches from her throat and the rest were nearby with hands on their weapons. Jensen himself stood a couple feet in front of her, changing from a sweet old man to a much more intimidating creature.

"Where's Jeremy?" Kaylie piped up, looking around worriedly for a moment.

"I'm right here." Came the arrogant drawl as the boy stepped out of a door directly behind his center throne. "I would not risk our operation sisters." He sat down and fixed his eyes on the door. He was quite small the last time Taliesin had graced these halls and he was admittedly rather excited to meet the man he had heard so much about as well.

There was a loud bang that echoed through the halls. Everyone in the room unconsciously straightened just a bit. Much like the old man's aura was blanketing the room and making him seem more menacing, Tal's was radiating in angry waves and for those who even a little bit sensitive they knew a predator was on its way. Yet, when Tal arrived at the throne room it was in complete contrast to the chaos within him. He was strode in with a swagger, taking in the wary group of guards with an amused glance and a grin. Finally he fixed eye's on the group on the thrones and broke out a bright smile. "Well well dears, if you wanted me to come play you could have just asked."

Both of the sister's straightened at that and gave him decidedly murderous looks. "Don't give us that crap Talie." Kaylie snapped. "Everyone here knows where you really stand."

Tal tilted his head back just a bit, letting his hair fall back just enough to reveal both shimmering gold eyes and fixed her with a dangerously amused expression. "And just where would that be? Last I checked I'm right here." He had just a hint of a sour note in his voice there.

"In the worst trap of all." Jensen suddenly joined the party, stepping far closer to Tal than anyone else in the room dared. "An assassin who cares."

The air in the room turned decidedly frosty and Tal's amused expression changed to one that indicated he would kill that old man right now if he thought Aisha would survive. "So that was you in the market. You're quite good." He strode around the old man in a slow circle. "That was quite clever, revealing yourself just for a second. You wanted me to panic." He didn't add that it had worked to a point. He apparently decided he had enough of the act now and turned to fix those blazing eyes on the family once again. "I assume your request has not changed." It was more of a statement than a question.

Carla smiled brightly at him and clapped. "You are quite right Talie. Be a good boy and take care of them for us."

An almost physical wave of rage crashed through the air at 'good boy' but Tal seemed to have iron control for once. He sniffed disdainfully and turned to leave. "Oh and one more thing." Tal paused at the voice, looking up at the until now silent boy in the center with surprise. "Archer is coming with you."

"…Archer?" Tal turned, fixing his eyes on the man without any problem. The man practically blazed among his peers with an impressive array of emotions in his aura, he was easy to pick out. "No. You know I work alone."

"You normally travel alone too, yet here we are." Tal gave the boy a dour look and resumed his previous path of leaving the room. The entire time, he had not so much as glanced in Aisha's direction except for when he picked out Archer. Jeremy gave Archer a meaningful look and nodded towards Tal.
 
Less than an hour? Archer had a hard time containing his surprise for a few moments. Could it be true? Or was that boy just a very skilled liar. No. No one should be able to lie to Jensen. He always seemed to see through it. There must have been some kind of trick to it. Some kind of inside info that little rat used against Taliesin. But if that had been the case, then it should have only lead to a ticket to his own grave. There must be some kind of secret. Either way he hoped they could get rid of that person soon.

Aisha was surrounded by the last people she ever wanted to meet. Tal's angry exes. It didn't matter if they loved or hated Tal, just knowing that someone got to travel with him must have stirred emotions. And at the moment, she was at their mercy. That thought was strangely enough much more frightening than any demon, assassin or kidnapper.

Jensen told them that Tal was close, seconds later things started to move fast. Aisha found herself locked in a chair, with two swords close to her throat. The little brother, Jeremy, came in just in time before a loud bang could be heard through the room. Tal, Aisha though. She couldn't be happy to see him because he might be in danger, and she couldn't be sad to see him because she missed him too much. She wanted to run up to him and hug him, ask him to forgive her for being so stupid, and just get out of there. But she also wanted to hit him, tell him everything was his fault, and then never see him again. Luckily she could do neither, and once she would be able to do any of those two, she hoped she had decided which one was the right.

Tal didn't look at her, but she refused to take her eyes away from him. He seemed so calm, as if nothing what was happening didn't matter. But it had to matter, since he was there. What wouldn't she do just to be able to read his mind. To find out what was going on in there.

Archer was quite amused by the conversation that played out before him. He knew that Taliesin had a temper, but also that he could play his part perfectly. He had been curious to see if the man he had idolized for so long would be foolish enough to not control his emotions, or if he would make fools of everyone else by keeping them to himself. He wasn't disappointed. Even though he couldn't know Taliesin's true emotions over the situation, at the very least he knew that the man was upset.

Then the revelation came. Archer would travel with the man he had adored for years. Someone had to make sure that the job was done, and that Taliesin wouldn't try some crazy stunt to get his friend out. As long as it was a job, Archer wouldn't let his emotions come in his way. No matter his feelings for the man, he would put them aside, as he had done during so many missions before.

It wasn't a surprise that Tal refused, but since it wasn't a discussable offer, he would not have a choice. Archer gave a respectful bow towards Jeremy and his twin sisters, then he followed Taliesin.

A feeling of emptiness washed over Aisha as Tal disappeared. What was the job they had spoken about? What was it he was supposed to do for them? Her eyes was locked at the door for maybe half a minute before she turned to the old man. "What are you making him do?" A bit of anger was mixing in with her worry.
 
Tal did not look back the entire way out of the mansion, he knew the other man was following him and it was all he could do not to turn around and murder him. He should have expected it but this situation was bad enough without a lackey following him everywhere. He continued to ignore Archer's presence as he made his way into the stables and commandeered one of their carriages. He considered it one small victory in a situation that was very much against him at the moment. There was no reason for him to be hiding anymore so he could return to his carriage riding ways, starting with their carriage.

The stablemen all looked at him with a wary but skeptical eye between him and Archer when he told them to prepare the sister's carriage. Tal let out a muffled growl and drew his sword. "I would not advise you impede me at the moment." He had killed or maimed for a lot less and in a much better mood.

~~

"The Job he should have done years ago." Kaylie said with a huff, but she sounded just a bit smug now that he was on his way.

Carla licked her lips and sighed softly. "I hope he gets over this soon, I forgot how yummy he was." She glanced over and Jeremy and beamed, standing up and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "So what do you think of him sweetie?"

Jeremy looked up at her with those lidded eyes and then smiled. "He's wonderful." Whatever that meant, coming from him.

Jensen hummed softly to himself once again, it seemed to almost be a tick with him. "He will be taking care of a rival family that has been creeping their way into our business for a while now. Not anyone you should worry your precious little head about. Sorry you'll have to stay in the chair for a bit though, he's not off the property yet and we can't have any mishaps." He had turned into the 'sweet' old man again.
 
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Archer silently followed, as it would have been stupid of him to poke on an already angered lion. That Taliesin went to the stables wasn't a surprise to him, though it seemed to be for the stablemen. "Do as he says. It wouldn't suit our ladies taste to suddenly be short on people." He told them with a charming but also a warning smile.

"It wouldn't kill you to be a bit patient. Taliesin." He then told his unwilling companion, still smiling, not bothered at all by his behavior. As much as he admired the man beside him, he also saw him as a rival, and for the moment, a partner. Admiration because he was the best of the best, rivalry because Archer himself wanted to come up to that level, which he most likely never would be able to do. He would notice every flaw in Taliesin because of his despise for the man, and he would also notice and learn from every one of his good qualities because of his adoration.

___

Why did she even try to ask anything when those weird siblings were close by? At least Jensen gave her an answer she could understand. Though, that didn't mean she actually liked the answer.

"I guess I have nothing better to do either way..." She mumbled. If the choices were to either sit tied to a chair while people close by had swords just waiting to pierce her, or being able to walk freely in a small locked room, then she would very much prefer option two. But she didn't have much say in the matter, and those people apparently preferred option one.

What is Tal thinking? She wondered to herself. Did he truly believed that they would release her if he did that one job for them? Would he leave them alone if they indeed did release her? She wasn't sure what anyone was thinking anymore. The biggest criminals she had ever come across at home had been thieves. Usually kids that just couldn't afford something and then tried to steal it. Tal had been an extreme case for her, she never thought about how the world as a whole actually looked like. Now she was suddenly thrown into a hostage drama, her friend was being blackmailed and her life and safety was threatened while she tried to keep her identity as a female hidden. With all that in mind, she started to wish she could be back in her boring home town again.
 
Tal sheathed his sword and glanced over at Archer, doing another one of those sudden changes in mood he was also infamous for. All the rage was gone, replaced with an almost predatory amusement. It almost wasn't fair for Archer because Tal could see so much more about him than he could about Tal, but Tal was hardly going to complain about that advantage. "Call me Tal, the full name gets tiresome very quickly." He chuckled softly and leaned against the wall, watching the stablemen intently as they went about their business. "And what about you? Shall I call you Archy or do you have a real name you'd like to forward." The tendency of people in their shady business to take on 'impressive' names or some kind of alias always amused him. Of course not all assassins were powerful enough to find any sort of attempted repercussion laughable. At least until a childhood friend decides to shove themselves into the firing line.

Now that he was done being angry, he was showing the gregarious side he generally brought out to get people in bed with him, though that was not his goal at the moment. He wouldn't mind taking a tumble with the guy, he was not unattractive, but he felt it was a bit early and Tal was not particularly interested in that sort of thing at the moment. "You must have elbowed a lot of people out of the way to get this assignment." Tal's eyes glittered with humor now. He doubted many people had wanted to travel with him, even with a hostage half of that room had been quaking in their boots at his arrival.

~~

Jensen gave her a knowing smile and did another of his creepy hand pats. He then left her to stew while he chatted with the other men. The two men holding the swords to her had relaxed somewhat, though they kept wary eyes on the doors and windows.

Kaylie, apparently fearless, stood up and went to a window to watch Tal depart, raising an eyebrow when she saw where he went and chuckling. They could spare him a carriage to speed him along his way she supposed.

In the meantime Carla finished her baby-talk with Jeremy and slunk over to half drape herself over Aisha and the back of her chair. "So pretty one, how was it seeing Talie again? Were you hoping for something else? I love how he gets straight to business sometimes." She gave a pleasant shiver. "Though slow playful Talie is fun too."
 
And the fire was fast diverted. It seemed awfully simple to calm down the infamous blizzard all of a sudden. Did he have some sort of secret agenda with his sudden change of behavior? As much as Archer enjoyed the way Tal spoke to him now, he was still going to keep his guard up. Who knew what he had hidden up his sleeve.

"Okay then, Tal. Some people call me Ark, but my real name is for me and me alone to know." He replied. Archer was the only living person whom knew his real name, and he would keep it that way. Not because he had to. No one would be able to get to him by knowing his real name. There was no hometown to go to for hostages, no families to threaten, no friends to be found, no one that knew anything about the person he once were. The only reason it was a secret was because it was a lost time. He wasn't that person anymore.

"If I had to do so, then I most definitely would." He then confessed to Tal's last statement, even though he had known it was mostly a joke. Very few would dare to work so closely to him, especially when he was enraged. "But it seems like my luck and skills fixed it for me this time." He weren't going to pretend as if he didn't want to work with Tal. It didn't matter if he were unwilling or not.

"I wonder if you could entertain a question of mine." He then asked, knowing beforehand that the chances of actually getting an answer was slim. "Why would someone like you suddenly pick up such a fragile person? He clearly don't know anything about combat, and he doesn't have much muscles on that tiny body. Isn't he just a burden for someone with your profession?" The question was pure curiosity. He couldn't even feel the jealousy that had bothered him for days since he had heard of Tal's partner. Maybe because he were the partner this time, and thus didn't have anything to be jealous for.
___

Talie? She just wanted to role her eyes every time she heard the twin sister Carla speak about Tal. Or speak about anything at all. She just had that tone in her voice that irritated Aisha. Maybe it was her flirtatious behavior that got to her the most. Would that cease if they knew she were a girl? Of some reason it felt like things would get worse if they knew that. Though since Jensen thought it would be more entertaining if she hid her gender, maybe that actually was what made it worse. In the end she just decided to keep up the act either way until it wasn't possible anymore.

"It was disappointing. He didn't even have the decency to say hello." She replied plainly without much emotions behind the answer. She had no desire to tell her true feelings to anyone currently present in the throne room. There was no need for them to know how her heart had been split into a thousands of pieces because her emotions were in such a disarray after finally seeing him again.
 
Tal hadn't expected much from the name route so he wasn't disappointed when it didn't pan out. He found it rather cute that the man seemed to hold some sort of…affection for him? He supposed his skill and fame had to pick up a few followers. He just didn't have to deal with them normally. What he was very interested in though was just how skilled the man was. It would be a challenge for him to match Tal's speed and elite skill but he couldn't be completely useless. He felt like someone who knew what they were doing. He had the intent and focus, though restrained at the moment.

At Ark's question Tal just chuckled again. "Hmm yes you are quite right. I definitely did not pick him up for any of those reasons." As expected, Tal was not dropping any hints. Honestly he wasn't sure he could explain how the situation happened even if he wanted to which he didn't for more than one reason. Tal had a reputation to keep up and standing with someone who clearly admired him only made Tal even more reluctant to explain how he had pretty much been bullied into it by a childhood friend. For her sake, he should have stood his ground.

Tal refused to dwell on that now though, pushing away from the wall to stride up to the now ready carriage. As per usual, already, he did not look back or seem to care that Archer was following him at all. He simply took a seat on his usual side and gave the driver an annoyed look when he asked where they were going. "The Maverick estate, have you been that out of the loop?" If he did end up going through with this he would be at it for a while. He didn't know where they actually were and there were a fair few of them to track down. He couldn't forget the added bonus of having his new companion along, he wasn't sure how much Archer was going to help or hinder the process.

A thought struck him and he couldn't help a musing expression on his face. Since his last companion had been snatched up so quickly, he now felt the urge to see what would happen if he advertised his new traveling companion to the world. Sure Archer was a lot more capable of dealing with those sorts of issues than Aisha but it might be a worthwhile petty revenge. The more he thought about it the more he realized it probably would not end well though. So he was back to the Aisha situation and he did not yet have a plan about how to circumvent that issue.
___

Carla tilted her head curiously, she had a feeling there was more to it than that but she was no Jensen. "Ah poor thing." She cooed and sweetly rubbed her cheek along Aisha's. "You can always count on Talie to give you a cold shoulder if nothing else." She straightened and chuckled softly as her sister also came over and draped an arm over Carla's shoulders.

"Is our new pet feeling sad?" Kaylie had a faux sympathetic look on her face that masked whatever she was really feeling.

"That's one way to put it." As he had a tendency to do, Jeremy had appeared next to them without anyone having noticed he moved. His expression seemed less guarded now and he was looking at Aisha with a mix of childlike curiosity and fascination.

Jensen had also turned to take some notice of the group now that Jeremy had joined and gave him an approving smile and nodded, as if confirming some sort of strange silent communication between them. The sister's took no notice of this, or it was such a common thing as to not be commented upon.

Jeremy reached out to put a hand on Aisha's cheek and focused those icy blue eyes on hers. "Don't worry, he was making himself not look." He smiled very sweetly at her.
 
As expected, there was no clear answer to his question. Well, they had a long way to go. Maybe he could make the big almighty Taliesin give him some information, even if it just were a few words. People tend to slip up rather easily if a good discussion were started.

Archer followed Tal into the carriage and sat himself at the opposite side of his companion. Tal's mood seem to change completely depending on whom he was talking too. It could mean many things. He could be planning on backstabbing Archer once they were out on the road just to get rid of him. He shouldn't be that careless though. He might want to see if he can get any information out of Archer. Well, Archer was doing the same thing so that wouldn't surprise him at all. It was pretty much in the human nature to get as much information as possible, if it could help them in their everyday life. As an assassin, every piece of information could help one way or another.

"I bet you want to finish this up quickly. Who knows what those sisters will do to a pretty boy like him. They can be a bit crazy sometimes. But I think you know all about that, don't you?" Ark simply wanted to see if Tal was going to show him some emotions over a very true, and frightening statement. Or if he were going to keep everything hidden away.

___

Couldn't they just lock her up in a cold dungeon and leave her alone until they didn't need Tal's help anymore? All the touching started to creep her out. And their sexual inputs was completely freaking her out. At least she knew that she could stop Tal if he started to do unwelcomed moves on her, but with this group, that wouldn't be as simple if something were to happen. She just hoped that it would remain as jokes and teasing.

Pet, dearie, bird, mouse. People just loved to call her weird things all of a sudden. And it was nothing else but irritating. The only one she couldn't get too irritated at was Jeremy. He barely spoke, which made her glad, he hadn't given her any nicknames, which she appreciated, and he hadn't touched her so far. Though that was about to change.

Jeremy joined the small group around Aisha and put a hand on her cheek as he spoke sweetly. Even though her heart started to beat faster because of his words, she tried not to look too surprised about the information. She didn't even know if he was telling the truth or not. He might just have been to irritated with her and thus not wanting to look at her at the moment. Or he might not have cared enough to actively seeking her out. As if that boy would know what Tal was thinking.

"I don't particularly care if he looks at me or not though." She replied, having no intentions of showing them how bothered she was by Tal's behavior, or the current situation. Though she was fairly certain Jensen already knew. At least he had the decency not to tell anyone.
 
Tal, as a master dissembler and a man prone to locking away emotions to the point even he wasn't aware of them, completely ignored the part of that statement about Aisha. Instead he blinked out of his thoughts and started laughing. "Oh those were some good times. Well-earned reputations with those two. Not as bright as they would like to think but they certainly know how to make an interesting week long get away." Trust Tal to diss on the employers of the man he was sitting with. He didn't even care, because that was how he functioned. It may also have been an information play on his part. He was very curious to see how Archer responded to his lack of respect for the sisters.

He leaned forward in his seat, focusing on Archer with a bright smile. "The question here is just how well do you know that?" He wasn't seducing per say, he was simply doing the same thing as Archer, fishing for information while holding a 'friendly' conversation. It was much easier to deal with the situation when he had something to do in front of him so the little verbal sparring was a welcome distraction. Otherwise he might just snap and he had already destroyed a substantial amount of property today.
___

Jeremy tilted his head cutely and stared at her very intently for several moments, though he was more looking…around? Past her? Whatever it was he finally seemed satisfied and gave a soft chuckle. "In some ways you two are quite similar." He smirked then. "Luckily for us not the important ones." And with yet another weird statement, Jeremy left to do whatever it was he did when he wandered off on his own.

The sisters made sounds that were a strange mix of a coo and laughter. "Isn't he just precious?" purred Carla.

"Well My Ladies." Jensen had finished with whatever he was doing with his men. "Taliesin is on his way, it is unlikely he will turn back at this point. What shall we do with the child?"

The sisters exchanged looks, possibly some of that telepathic twin communication people kept talking about. The silence stretched out before they both nodded. "We leave him to you for now Jensen." They smirked. "Just don't go too hard on him on his first night."

Jensen waved a hand dismissively. "Really now my ladies, I am no brute." The twins seemed oblivious to his comment and strode off to go find their brother probably. Jensen had his men finally free Aisha and carry her back to the room. Jensen once again settled at the table while she was put on the bed. He seemed ridiculously cheerful. "Well that was fun wasn't it? I'm honestly impressed your Tal managed to hold it together as well as he did, it felt like he was going to blow the whole mansion up from sheer fury on the way up." He giggled disturbing. "But despite his mistake with you he is a true professional." And just like that, he was serious again. "Which leads us to the big question tonight, just who are you to that boy? It will come out eventually so you might as well spill it now."
 
Tal completely jumped over the question and skillfully went into a closely related topic. It didn't bother Archer at all. He couldn't help but laugh out loudly, only the infamous Taliesin would ever dare to speak like that about the twins. "Not as well as you do, I can assure." He replied still having a hard time putting himself together. "And thank God for that, women tend to be a bit too demanding for my taste." He then confessed. Even though he had slept with women countless of times, it never did much for him. He found most of his fun among men.

While many of the sister disciples might go as far as to draw their sword at anyone whom dared to offend their employer, Archer was the kind to not get attached. He simply did as he was ordered, and followed the orders of those with the most money. He had the habit of betraying people quite easily if a better offer suddenly came up.
___

That kid became more and more mysterious. It was impossible to know what he was thinking, and it was hard to understand what he was speaking of once he opened his mouth. You two... Could he be referring to Tal and her? What exactly was similar about them? On the other hand, why did she even try to guess who it was he was speaking about. As long as he spoke in riddles it would be impossible to know for certain.

"What shall we do with the child?" Ugh, she hadn't been called a child in ages. Finally she had been able to stop her father from calling her that, and now she had another old man doing the same thing. The silence that followed, and the sisters secret communication worried the tied up girl. And once they spoke her worries became worsened. Jensen was the person that scared her the least, but once a statement like 'don't go too hard on him' was uttered, the least suddenly lost its worth. Hopefully it was just their way of frightening her more than necessary.

Finally she was taken out of the chair and brought back to the room. The lack of swords close to her neck felt reassuring. The old man was as cheerful as ever as he started to speak to Aisha once they were back.

Mistake. The word stabbed her heart. She knew it was true, if she hadn't been with him then this wouldn't have happened. But it was too late to change anything now.

"Which leads us to the big question tonight, just who are you to that boy? It will come out eventually so you might as well spill it now." Jensen was once again serious, all traces of his cute old man behavior was gone.

"What does it matter?" She asked him. "You're already making him do your bidding, so what does it matter what I am to him? It's not like it will change anything." She then clarified. They already knew that she was important, so why even bother trying to figure out what made her important. They already had what they wanted as long as they kept her close enough. "Either way, I'm not a mind reader. I don't know what he thinks of me or what I am to him." It was the truth, but also a lie. This new Tal was confusing, and she wasn't sure what he was thinking. If she had met him for the first time just some days ago, then she honestly wouldn't have known anything at all. But they had grown up together. They had been friends for a long time. And the fact that he had let her come with him was proof that that Tal was still in there. And she knew more or less what her childhood friend thought about her.

But if he knew that they had grown up together, then he might want to know more, about Tal's family, about their town. How many people could get involved then? While Tal tried to get her out, she had to make sure that they didn't get any information that could be used against her friend. And at the moment she guessed that everything could be used against him.
 
Tal filed away Archer's lack of reaction to his remark for further study later. It gave him a good clue to the other man's personality. He then grinned because they were now solidly on a topic that Tal could relax and chat freely about. There was a slight but visible relaxing in his posture and he let out another chuckle. "Oh they can be for sure. I have certainly run into my fair share of high maintenance females. They also tend to be far too coy and send mixed signals." He gave a soft irritated sigh and shrugged it off like he was so good at doing. "Luckily I am not one of those boring fools who thinks equipment restricts a person to one or the other." He was being slightly oblique but he had no doubt his clever 'associate' knew exactly what he was talking about.
___

"Knowledge is power child, I am sure you are aware." Jensen had that overly knowledgeable far-reaching gaze again. "The more we know the better we are able to plan and predict his actions." He chuckled softly. "As I'm sure you know, Taliesin is notorious for being unpredictable. He stays with no one, he takes and turns down jobs seemingly at random. And let's not even get started on when he decides to quit halfway through. He flits from here to there yet he does not come across as simply wandering. There is a pattern somewhere, a key to that man and my ladies mean to possess him more thoroughly than simply holding you over his head." His smile was decidedly not nice now. "And they will go to rather unpleasant lengths to make that happen. And I'm sure all this has just strengthened your resolve, because as Jeremy observed you two are very similar in some ways. But that will only get you so far here."
 
"I prefer being boring over being bored." Archer replied with a grin. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that he would end up in a carriage with that Taliesin. What was even more amazing was that they were actually having a normal conversation. At least as normal as it could get when both sides tried to discretely get information out of the other. It didn't matter if it lasted for some hours, days or weeks, or if he would even survive or not. He simply enjoyed the moment with the man he looked up to and the person he longed to surpass one day.

"Speaking of equipment." He then started and gave a fast look towards Tal's sword. "Once we stop for the night, what about we have a little contest? I am dying to know if you're as skilled as people say you are." He weren't even joking with the last sentence. It wouldn't matter to him if Tal decided to take it one step further and get rid of Archer during a duel, at least he would die by the hands of the best.
___

The more he spoke, the less Aisha wanted to tell him, even though she doubted there was anything in their childhood that would help those people to possess Tal. But since she didn't know what would be useful to them and what would not, she had since long decided not to tell them a single thing of what she knew.

"Sorry to burst your hopes, but traveling with someone for some days doesn't make me an expert. I probably know less than you do." Aisha said with a monotone voice. It was far from lying. The Tal she had known as a child wasn't the same Tal as she knew today. Even though it was hard for her to accept it, it was still hard to deny it. Sure, his old self shone through sometimes, but she was uncertain of who it was she was traveling with for the most parts.
 
Tal blinked a couple times before a grin that was pure excitement grew on his face. He had honestly been dying to test out Archer as well and here the man was volunteering. It was about that moment that somewhere in the back of Tal's mind he decided they were going to end up in bed together at some point in this journey. Archer had officially become that interesting. "You should not say things like 'dying' in the same sentence as asking me to draw my sword for you." There was definitely a suggestive double meaning to that statement. "I'm almost hurt you doubt me." He smirked. "But it's more fun this way."

He sighed and stretched languidly, somehow now taking up the whole seat in a catlike manner. "I am starting to see what he meant about long carriage rides…" Tal murmured softly to himself. He was feeling restless. Restless enough that his excess energy should be bursting through the seams of the carriage. Sitting around and chatting when there were things that needed to be done, when Aisha was alone in that place, set him afire even though he had buried those emotions down to the point he was

___

Jensen tilted his head contemplatively. He could tell that she was both telling the truth yet…there was more. It had been the same thing as before. There was something there between them that allowed her the ability to get Tal to let her travel with him. And whatever made her doubt how much she really knew him he was absolutely convinced that she had knowledge that would help them, aside from the fact that the mystery was too much for him to stand.

"Hmm…" He hummed softly to himself as he pondered for a moment before abruptly standing up. "We shall see." He smirked and then bent down to give her a quick peck on the forehead. "Sleep well child." He called in a sing-song voice as he left the room. Whether she had actually been tired or not before that, she would be now. He was no magician but nudging a person towards sleep was child's play. His real strength lie in what he had been slowly doing the entire time he spoke to her.

Tal would probably describe it as 'stirring' her aura. Part of it was simple psychological manipulation, but for the best results he needed to employ his own powerful aura to pull and push and mix. It was not painful, per say, it was an unsettled feeling that if continued would be like ants crawling within her skin. The most obvious and quickly appearing results were various types of unsettling dreams. He often wished he could look in on these, though the things people tended to cry out and do during them was enlightening enough. It also tended to wear people down much more quickly when even the release of sleep was a plague upon their psyche.
 
Archer wasn't sure what he had expected. Maybe he thought that Tal would turn him down because he saw him as too weak. And in comparison to his companion, that was probably true. But Tal didn't seemed more than interested in a duel. There was very little chance, probably even non, for him to win, but that wasn't the purpose. He simply wanted to see how far behind the master himself he was, and how much he needed to work to get to Tal's level. If it was even possible.

Tal started to take up the whole seat on his side of the carriage, making him seem more cat like than human. Archer had to admit, the man had many faces. Some of them were faces he had never expected to see.

He could just barely make out what Tal was murmuring. There was no question about who it was he was murmuring about though, which just proved that the mans mind was still on the boy. He was definitely worried, just incredibly good at hiding it. Archer decided not to mention it, as he knew Tal would just try to change the subject if it was about his friend. Instead he leaned back a bit and relaxed. "Doubt keeps you alive. I just hope you will be nice enough to kill me in battle rather than in my sleep." He chuckled.
_____

Aisha looked confused after the man as he went out the door. Was that all? Here she had prepared for the worst, and he left without even having tried to get anything out of her? She was happy about it, but it shouldn't have been that easy. What was he up to? Though at that very moment she was just happy that he had left. She was exhausted. Since when had that happened? She had gotten plenty of rest while waiting alone in that room until Tal came. Everything that had happened afterwards hadn't felt that draining.

But even so, she was dead tired. If she had thought up any escape plans for the night, then they had all disappeared in the blink of an eye. Within minutes she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Aisha didn't know how, or when it had happened. But she was home. She was standing in the doorway of her house, not sure how she had gotten there. Not even caring how she got there. Her brother sat at the table, carving dolls. Funny, he didn't even want to go into dads business, and there he was, actually doing the job they had wanted him to do for years. She smiled at him, but he didn't look happy.

"What's wrong?" She asked, but he didn't answer. A strange feeling was laying like heavy fog in the air. She walked up to him, and sat down on her legs so that she might be able to see his eyes behind his hair. "Did something happen?" She asked. Her brother didn't stop carving. Except for his arms, the rest of his body was eerily still. Her eyes widened in fear. "Who are you?" She couldn't move an inch, even though she suddenly had the urge to run. The boy in front of her was not her brother. At the sound of her question the being before her stopped carving, and the head started to turn to look at her. Doll eyes stared back at her. Suddenly the whole body was that of a doll instead of a human, and it reached for her. The movements was clearly not human, they were too stiff and slow.

Aisha finally got back control of her body, pushing away the hand that tried to grab her. Then she ran. Her legs felt like cement. However fast she tried to run she barely moved. Once outside she took a hold of the first person she saw. "Please, help. My bro.." She stopped in her tracks as the person turned to her. A doll. Its hands reached for her and got a grip on her shoulder, a grip so hard it was impossible to break loose. The people around them turned to look, she didn't see their eyes, and they looked human. But she knew they weren't. They all laughed and sang an eerie song with words she couldn't understand.

She screamed trying to get loose. Suddenly she screamed out for Tal. Not something she usually did when in danger as she always wanted to resolve things with her own power. But Tal didn't come, at least not to save her. The doll suddenly pulled her closer to it's body, holding her tightly in an embrace. It felt too human. As she looked up she saw Tal. But he weren't the Tal she knew. His eyes was red with fire as if he wanted to rip something apart, as if he wanted to rip her apart.

Her pleads was drowned before they could even reach her thoughts. Not even breathing, she watched as Tal took a firm grip of her wrist before pulling it up towards his mouth and started to eat. She couldn't even feel pain. Was it because of the shock? Probably. Trying to find the willpower to breath, or move, whichever came first, she thought she were about to vomit. And she did. Her head was thrown forward as she threw up long black hair that shouldn't possibly have gotten into her stomach. No matter how much came out, more was still on its way.

Once it finally stopped, she noticed that she had gotten back her hand again, and no one was in sight. Though quite frankly, she couldn't see more than one step ahead as darkness was covering everything.

Alone. She stumbled back and fell down. "Tal.." Her voice was barely hearable. But something else was. Footsteps. No one was close enough to be seen, so she ran. Ran towards the footsteps, not even thinking about how big the chances where that she might be running into something, or someone. Then she saw him. It must be Tal. The true Tal. Her best friend. She ran towards him, but he went further and further away. "You're a nuisance!" A voice said. Tal's voice. It sounded so angry. He continued to scream at her, and even though she couldn't understand a single word he was saying, as if he was speaking another language, she still understood the meaning behind them. He hated her. She had intruded on him.

Aisha broke down crying as Tal disappeared. "Don't go." She cried, tears flowing. A small girl in her early teens was sitting alone in the dark, crying, asking for forgiveness. "I'm sorry." was shortly followed by "I can't loose you again. I need you."

A hand tenderly brushed her shoulder and the little girl turned around. She did recognize the old man, but wasn't certain from where. All she knew was that he frightened her. "It seems like you aren't useful to us anymore dearie." He smiled gently. "Sweet dreams." He then finished as someone from behind gripped her other shoulder before piercing her with a sword.

Aisha woke up, almost flying into a sitting position. The sweat was covering her, and there was no question about it, she had definitely been crying for most of the night.
 
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