Olivia laid there and could feel Lyrika slide her hand down her chest and stomach, and it caused a lovely tingling sensation across her skin. She knew what Lyrika was thinking and couldn't help but agree that it probably would help with the situation.
But, just as she was about the reach where she was heading, both of them had to shield their eyes from a bright flashing light that enveloped the whole room.
Olivia's first thought was someone had thrown a flashbang, the many shoot-em-up films she had seen coming to mind. But once she thought more clearly about this, realised that wasn't the case.
Looking over in that direction, in between the flashes, she found her backpack, the light coming from inside it.
"Wha-what is it?" Lyrika asked as she planted her face in the bed linen to stop the light from blinding her.
Olivia didn't know how to answer, struggling to think what could be causing the light.
But then, it hit her. One of the first items she ever placed in that backpack. The communication orb from Ameril.
Hopping out of the bed as fast as she could, which in her case was a somewhat slow straining step or two given her inactivity for a while, she walked over to the bag shielding her eyes as she did, all the while thinking about why it was so bloody bright.
She figured if it had been during the day, it wouldn't be so bad, but at night, it was ridiculous.
As she rummaged around inside, she finally managed to find the crystal ball and brought it out, quickly thinking of Ameril in order to hear the message.
"Olivia, I hope you still held onto this and have not forgotten about me after we parted in Cassus. I have been trying to get things sorted like I said I would, and I have done the best I can with the time available. But a problem has arisen. My parents are sending me to the next town over, Caldaria, much earlier than they should in order for me to stay with my future…husband. They are probably doing this to get rid of me and to make an impression by showing how 'eager' I am to marry him,"
Olivia could practically hear the almost gagging on the word husband.
"They shall be packing everything and making arrangements for me over the next three days, and then in the morning after those days, they will be sending me in a carriage with several guards. I…I'm not really sure how to say this but, this may be my only way out of the mess that is this marriage. I need… I need you to pretend to be the monster I know you are not and…kidnap me."
With that the message ended, leaving Olivia to comprehend all that she had said.
Lyrika was trying to understand what was going on as well, but her first thought was who this woman was that knew Olivia.
Olivia thought back to Ameril and the problem she was facing, where her parents were forcing her to marry some wealthy man in another town who was very shady. There would be no romance between them. Well definitely not from Ameril, but who knows what the man would be like. It was more a business move for her parents than anything else and they had no qualms about sending their daughter to be with this creep.
She had offered to take Ameril with her when she brought her back to her home town, but being who she was, a noble of some sort, she had to deal with quite a few things before she could just run off. Things had already gone wrong for her the first time, so she wanted to make sure the next time she did it, she could stay out of their reach and be able to start a new life away from them.
Hopefully, she had managed to get everything she needed done before they sprung the new travel arrangements, meaning she would be free and clear if she got away. Something she would have to ask when she met her.
That though did beg the question. How would she go about kidnapping her?
…
"Who was that?"
Olivia looked over at the bed and saw Lyrika sitting there is a little bit of an annoyed expression on her face. She wasn't sure why she was like that but figured it was the flashing lights and all that, ruining what was probably going to be a fun evening.
"Oh, that was Ameril. I told you about her before when we first met. Remember."
"Ameril… yes, I think I remember you telling me about her," Lyrika replied with a couple of twitches in her eye as she got through the sentence.
Olivia waited for a while, thinking Lyrika would have more to say, but all she did was get back under the sheets of the bed.
'Huh, that was…odd.' Olivia thought as she walked back to the bed after placing the orb back in the bag.
She decided to reply tomorrow, hoping to come up with some ideas in the morning, as right now all she wanted to do was sleep. As she fell back onto the bed, she couldn't help but wonder why Ameril had sent the message so late. Could this have been the only time she could be alone? If so, that meant she should probably send the message around the same time tomorrow evening.
Deciding to leave things for tomorrow Olivia to deal with, she got herself comfy and started to try and fall asleep again. But as she did, she realised that they had some unfinished business to take care of.
"Lyrika, shall we continue what we started? I for one am still feeling quite stressed and in pain and what you planned to do would really take my mind off it. Plus, I'm sure I'll be able to repay the favour."
By this point, Olivia had completely forgotten about the guards outside, and Lyrika's touch had made her very…ready for what was going to happen. So, moving into position to get things started she was surprised by Lyrika's response.
"No, I don't feel like it."
'Wait, what. Doesn't feel like it. She was the one who started it.'
Confusion just flooded Olivia's brain as she tried to understand what had happened. The almost sulky behaviour from Lyrika made her wonder if she herself had done something wrong.
'All I did was get the message from Ameril. How would that make her annoyed?'
Looking over at her, she saw her facing away from her in the bed which never normally happened. Usually, she would be facing her, all the while sleeping with her arms wrapped around her.
'Is she…jealous of Ameril. That can't be right, she hasn't even met her and I've only ever done things with Lyrika. I don't know… I'm sure we will talk in the morning.'
And with that, the state Lyrika had put her in made it even harder to sleep, causing her to struggle all through the night.
…
The light streaming in through the windows should have been the first thing to wake both Olivia and Lyrika up. But today, it was the sound of someone clearing their throat. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes Olivia looked up to find the woman, Erina standing there with her hands on her hips and a slight frown on her face.
"Come on you two. Time to get up."
Groans arose from both of them as they struggled to wake up. Lyrika rolled off the bed and sat down on the chair that was still nearby and Olivia went to sit up in the bed. But, she was very quickly stopped by Erina who told her to remain where she was.
"I'm just going to check your injuries and see how you're doing. Just lay still for a moment."
The guards, different ones from yesterday evening, were both standing in the room and had their hands over the pommels of their swords, ready in case she did anything. Erina made her way around the bed and gave Olivia a check-up, looking over the scratches and bite wounds. She applied a few salves in various places, to replace the stuff from yesterday. Once she was done, she headed to the door.
"Ok, you look fine. It should be fine for you to move around now. Just, don't do anything to strenuous. Some breakfast will be here soon and then I think Chief Teagan will be coming here to talk to you."
With that, she left.
Now being given the ok to move about, not that she didn't do so last night or anything, both got ready for the day and waited for breakfast which soon arrived. It didn't take long to finish it as eating was all they could do since for some reason the conversation had stagnated between them.
Olivia thought about trying to check with her if everything was ok but was stopped by the arrival of Teagan.
"Ah, good to see you are up and about. If it's all right with you two, would you like to go for a walk around the village? I've been stuck at my desk all morning, so would love to get outside for a while."
Even with the lacking conversation, both looked at each other with knowing looks. The events of yesterday were still fresh in everyone's mind, so who was to say what would happen if they saw a monster that looked like an Orc walking around?
Teagan did see this and quickly realised what the problem was. "Don't worry about everyone in the village. The two guards on the door will accompany us for your safety and if needed the safety of the villagers. I did also hold a meeting with everyone to inform them about you and what Yoban had said. There may still be some hostility from some people, but for the most part, it should be fine."
With Teagans…word on how he had helped with the problem, they both decided to go for it. With Olivia in better shape, she was able to pick up her Morningstar which made her feel safer. Lyrika also took the creature in the basket, which was so much easier to carry around.
Teagan almost stopped her when he saw the Morningstar, but realise that like what she thought, it would make her feel safer, and if someone did get any ideas, it would probably deter some people. Besides, given how expensive it looked, he couldn't imagine she would just leave it lying around to be stolen.
They would have to wait and see if her keeping her weapon and Teagan's talk within the village would help keep the villagers placid as the monster roamed the streets.