37 Trouble is here

The ladies had spent the majority of the day trying to convince Kano to leave or even hide, but he refused both suggestions. His own righteous anger had been drawn out and he was now willing to go the extra mile to defend his own freedom, yet not a single one of them knew that he was only venting the pain he felt from losing one of the women he happened to love. The loss of Tiffany's love had hit him hard and he had been hiding from that pain. The Trio had left earlier to try to keep things from escalating on their end and also to get away from the overwhelming darkness surrounding Kano at this time. Nastalia herself was quite disturbed as she felt something familiar in that energy. Her talk with her Goddess Revia had given her more questions than answers and especially now with the Hierophant and her cousin trying to pit her against someone without evil designs. Halfway back Whisper dropped off of the wagon and disappeared into the night. She told her two friends that she was going to watch the battle to see what would happen and ensure that at least Alice was not hurt. Nastalia and Li na were unsure of what to do after they returned, but hoped to convince the Heirophant and Nastalia's cousin to not attack presumptuously. Thus, the night found Kano sitting by himself outside his cottage, a stump his seat and the moon his only company.

As Kano sat and watched the road, he felt a presence nearby, when a faint fragrance of roses hit him, he knew it was Alice. "You should sleep. It will be dawn before they get here. No one travels at night, not even the Church," he chided.

She didn't respond at first, only moving to sit beside him. As the stump was too small, she had to sit extremely close and their legs were touching which made her burn up a little from the contact. He was handsome in an exotic way from the men she had seen in this village, almost similar to the warrior monk in looks. For a second, she recalled how close the two of them were and wondered what was happening between them. She struggled with herself for a moment before getting up the courage to speak. "Why?"

"Hmm? Why what?"

"Why are you so determined to help me?"

Kano turned his head to look at her in surprise. He was not expecting her to ask him that. It forced him to think about the reasons why. "I never thought about it. It was just... the right thing to do."

If he was completely honest with himself, then this was not the only reason. She was a looker once she was cleaned up and the asshole she was forced to marry was just that, an asshole. Here, he could actually do something about it, unlike his own world... or was this his world now too? That question hung on his mind now that it had been a year since he had discovered, or fell really, into his current situation. Without realizing it, he had come to enjoy the benefits of it all already. He was stronger, smarter, and tougher. His stamina was near inexhaustible and he had a certain charm and confidence he never had before. He also had Sarah and Vicky as well as Margo... he should be pleased with what he had, right? Did he want more? His gaze stayed on Alice for a few moments longer as he thought and decided that he was not going to pursue her. Not intentionally. No, he needed to slow down and let things happen naturally. He lost Tiffany because of his hurried actions and now he needed to make sure that he never hurt another woman due to his own carelessness. No, let them approach him and he would explain first. At least for now, here, there was noting doing, so he was good for now. Soon, though, he wondered what would happen if he kept flirting with Li na and Nastalia. 'Red, my girl, what is a man to do? You are just so tempting. And Li Li, that body of yours... the things you can do must be amazing with all of that flexibility and control over your muscles...'

Alice had already turned away from his gaze with a heated face. Why did he have to look at her like that, even his thinking face was good looking. It was then that she realized that his army of the dead was gone. "What happened?! Where did they go?!"

She jumped up and looked around, fearfully, expecting the Churches warriors to be surrounding her at that exact moment. Kano burst out laughing as he watched her before he placed his hands on her arms and stood behind her. "Don't worry. I don't have that much control over magic so I put them back. Honestly, I was surprised that I was able to raise so many."

Her heart thumped wildly in her chest and his words were barely heard over the noise it made. His hands were warm and his body was directly behind her, giving her a sense of security that she never had before, not since she was little and her father had protected her from a snake near the village. Without fail, she leaned back and into his arms. She stopped thinking about everything that had happened up to this moment and was inadvertently turning her face upwards and backwards towards his. Her instincts were kicking in hard on her and driving her to boldness. Her head was tilted at the perfect angle for her lips to be kissed and Kano was given a wonderful view of her valley. This exact moment was something he had been dreading and also hoping for at the same time. His lips were mere inches from hers when a whistle followed by a loud thunk pulled her out of her thoughts. Kano's arms fell away from her and so did his body, opening her eyes to look, she saw an arrow sticking out of his forehead. Her scream shattered the still beauty of the night.

***

Kano jerked upright and tried to leap up to his feet, but only fell onto the floor unceremoniously in a heap. "Ow." Rubbing his head as he tried to untangle himself, he noticed that he was looking at a pair of dainty looking feet attached to an upside down woman with shocking red hair. He quickly recognized her as Nastalia. "Red!" He grinned as he fell the rest of the way onto the floor and jumped up to his feet and wrapped her up into a hug.

"No, no! How?!" Nastalia kept shaking her head and looked extremely frightened and confused and a little relieved at the same time.

"Hmm? Oh, being dead? Yeah. Won't be the last time you see me like this if you hang around me long enough. Anyway, what happened after I took an arrow to the face?"

Kano sat down with Nastalia still in his arms and did not let her go until she finished her story, in fact, she herself did not even once ask to be out of his embrace. Quickly, she told him of the events of the previous night. It was indeed the elf that had shot him, under orders from the Hierophant himself it seemed. She had heard this from some of the guards when she had passed by them on her way to the cottage. Alice was taken away to stand trial for adultery and would be executed soon. The Church itself was going to perform the ceremony and Alice's family was going to have to repay the dowry to her husband.

"Adultery? But we never did anything." Kano complained and failed to notice a definite gleam pass across Nastalia's eyes. "No? Nothing? Then we may be able to save her. If we can get back to town, then we can have my cousin use a Zone of Truth on you. Then, its possible to get the Hierophant to reverse the decision." She slowed down a second and a question crossed her mind. "Why do you want to save her?"

"Because she is in a terrible situation with a man that abuses her and uses her as payment in lieu of actual money. Helping her is just the right thing to do."

Her heart thumped in her chest. This idiot was not only handsome and talented, he was also decent. He did not sleep with a married woman. He wanted to save her from a terrible life. Now he was holding me in his arms... at this thought Nastalia recalled where she was and extracted herself from Kano. "Well, this is good. Yes." She was flustered and a little embarrased by how shameless she had been just now. He had held her on his lap for the duration and she had simply let him. A woman must have standards and somehow this rake had bypassed all of her defenses without even trying. She made a mental note of his charm once more and wondered just how many women would fall for him like this. Another thought she had was whether he knew he was doing it or not, if it was just natural for him, then that made him all the more dangerous to be around. Yet, this fact alone also made him a little more exciting to be around as well.

"So, let us be off then?" Nastalia brushed off her robe and made motion to head for the door. It was then that Kano realized they were in his basement workshop where the deceased were prepared for burial. "You wanted to care for my remains..." He quietly stated as his gaze turned to the too cute cleric. A blush bloomed on her face as she quickly looked away from his gentle eyes. They were too much for her heart right now and she did not want to fall in love with a man that was this charming. It would be too much work to keep other women away and she knew that he would not have the heart to keep on turning them down, let alone the ability with his shameless attitude. She was in the process of stepping away and out when an arm snaked around her waist and pulled her back. Before she could think she was wrapped in those arms and pressed into his well muscled chest. His scent filled her mind and all thoughts were lost as she finally let loose all of the emotions she had held in check all night. Seeing his lifeless corpse left in the grass, his cold skin as she washed his every inch of skin, even the shock of seeing his endowment and a hint of disappointment at not being able to experience it for herself all came crashing together as she began to cry uncontrollably.

Kano gave her these few precious moments to let go of everything. He did not know what was going through her mind, but he understood that seeing him dead and caring enough to perform such a duty to him was obviously proof that she had some kind of feelings for him. 'Well, ya bastard. You have another to watch out for now. So what are you going to do with this one? Right, take it slow. Slow and steady. If its just a fleeting crush, she will move on and if not... well, another bridge to cross later.' He also came to the realization that he was wearing a burial robe, which meant she had seen him naked and he could not help himself from cracking a joke. "Well now, both you and Li Li have seen me in such a state. What ever am I going to do with you two shameless ladies? Sneaking peaks at a defenseless naked man. Tsk tsk."

"Shut up! You idiot!" Nastalia tremblingly hit at his chest but without any strength in her fists. She buried her face even deeper into him and tried to disappear as he now knew such a thing. He even dared to mention it to her! Not a gentleman at all. Still, a smile crept across her face as she was still in his arms. He never once let her go or pulled away. This was security, this was comfort. Such a thing that she never dared to dream of having after joining the faith, having always been the pillar and support of everyone around, now she had someone she could rely on and lean against... someone that could come back to life even... "Hey, how did you do that? You were dead!"

She could not help but pull back and stare up into his stupidly handsome face, a bit angry at his words. "Don't mind that. I'll explain more later. Right now, we have a friend to save."