21 Chapter 21:
"And that's all of it," I told them, leaning back and crossing my arms. I left out much about my of my journeys and reactions, but I have explained the outline of my reasons and my relationship with Mira and the council.
Proximo looked at me with a distant look, somewhat understanding my reason for leaving but still not understanding why telling everyone how I was raised destroyed my self-pride. I actually understood why he didn't understand, he was raised in a good home, not a fucked up one.
Everyone in the room was spaced out, thinking back to my words and trying to understand the reason for my departure but I was done trying to convince them. We've been here for hours with me talking and telling them everything so I was fairly tired of everything.
"Then tell me why you were at the Sylph Black Market?" Valrun asks, her tone softer than all the other times she's asked me.
"I was told by a client that the Sylph's had been practicing in human trafficking and that there was something I wanted there in the boss's office. So I went to kill the boss and take what I wanted before burning the place down. I have people already returning the humans home safely with no memory of what has happened." I answer them, knowing Claus's men has taken care of the humans.
Valrun nodded, now understanding why I was there when Agalana leaned on the table and narrowed her eyes at me.
"What did you take?" She questions me as a smile crawled on my face and nodded to Proximo.
"He has my trick bag. I can't answer you unless I have my bag back." I held my hand out to him while he reached into his bag and tossed me my sack. "Thank you." I opened the bag, setting it on the table and searching for the things I stole from the black market.
I took the wrapped up amulet out, pulling the rags back and showing them all the fantastic piece of jewelry. The Valkyries awed at the jewelry, our weakness snapping in as I clapped my hands to catch their attention.
"This is the Amulet of Curses. It has the power to plant the worst of the worst curses on people, however, as all magic goes by. Those who curse people are cursed as well. So I'd rather no one touch or else you'll be tied to the amulet." I tell them, pushing the amulet by a rag and digging through the bag for my next trinket.
My hand caught onto the rather large item making me grin and slip it out of my sack and slam it down on the table. I watched their eyes widen at the large item, wondering how it fits inside my bag.
"My trick bag is very special. It's can fit anything inside of it. But this is a very special item I got for you Kho. I wanted to get you a special weapon for yourself so this is yours." I pushed the heavy weapon across the table to her as she stared down at it in confusion.
"What is it...?" She asks while I stood up and took the weapon from her. I turned it over, slipping my arm through the lopes of the shield and feeling it strap on itself.
In a flash, the shield shined bright and unfolded itself to a large metal plate that was barricaded. The Chillrend sword stuck from the top as I slipped it out and showed her the strong glass sword to them.
"It's a sword and shield, but they aren't ordinary. I was actually very surprised to find this since it was registered destroyed almost a century ago, but apparently, the damn Sylphs had it. This weapon and shield belonged to a very powerful general in the old armies and he had fought a lot for a human man. He was bestowed as one of the most powerful." I tell her before slipping my arm from the shield and placing the Chillrend back in its rightful place. "Kho. You are a shield maiden so it should be yours to carry on. Plus think of it as a sorry gift for not coming to your wedding." I shrug, handing it back to her and ruffling through my bag for the last item.
She ran her fingers over the golden crescent, very pleased and thankful for the gift when I took out the baggie full of fairy dust.
"The last thing I took was some fairy dust. It's good for everything good and evil." I said, tossing it to Dylan. "Keep it safe. There's no much in the world." I told him, closing my bag and tossing it over my shoulder.
"What will you do now?" Hjala asks while I tightened my bag and thought back to my assignments.
"I'm not sure. I haven't fully healed up so I may remain here for a few days until I feel better, but after that, I am not sure. I heard from a friend of mine that there was a war between vampires and wolves. So I may go over there in a few weeks." I told her as she clapped happily.
"I wish to go with you. No offense Kho, but it's boring here." Hjala admits as Agalana shook her head and sat on Kho's armrest.
"What are you talking about?! It's so much fun here with my goddaughter!" She yells making Dylan and Kho smile kindly at her.
"Sorry, I have to agree with Hjala. It's a little boring without a constant battle. I will accompany you." Getha comments as Sevetha sighed, knowing she was going because the twins went everywhere together.
"Damn. I didn't realize it was that boring here." Dylan comments making the women crackle in laughter. Kho patted his hand softly and smiled up at him.
"Don't worry. I love it here." She assures him as he nodded grasped her hand softly. I sighed deeply, feeling Proximo look at me when I nodded and pushed my hair behind my ear.
"I will let you all know once I am to leave for the war then. It seems like after so long, the Valkyrie crew will be back together." I wink at the ladies causing an uprise of excited screeches of joy. "I must go and rest now. Could you show me to my room-"
"You're to stay with me." Proximo buts in, coming around the table towards me and grabbing my wrist.
"Fine." I shrug in an indifferent way, knowing there was no way to argue with him when he pulled me out of the room with everyone staring at us. My trick bag felt nice to finally be back in my grasps while it jingled with the things inside the bag. The amulet burning within my bag but I ignored it and continued on.
What was his room going to look like?
〰〰〰
"You own a house?" I ask almost surprised when he fished out his keys and looked at me.
"Of course. Why does that surprise you?" He says, unlocking the door and holding his hand out to me. I stared at it for a moment before taking it and letting him bring me inside.
"I just didn't expect you to have a house. Considering you've been gone for almost seven months." I point out, seeing dust and dirt covering the floors and abandoned furniture as he scratched his head.
"It was my parents old home. They built it when they moved here and since they passed away, it became mine." He explains when I nodded and glanced around at the things in his home. "It's nothing much of course! I should have had someone come clean it and-"
"Proximo. Don't worry, it's just a little dirty that's all." I assure him, realizing we were still holding hands before I let his hand go and slipped my pack off my shoulder. "It has charm and it has memories. There's nothing a little cleaning couldn't do. Right?" I walked into the kitchen, spying a broom and snatching it from the wall.
He followed behind me, watching me with new found light as he nodded and rubbed his neck.
"Yeah. You're right." He mumbles under his breath, his cheeks reddening when I smiled and kneeled down to open the cabinets.
"Alright then. It won't take long to clean up. Here." I tossed him the broom while I laid out all the cleaning supplies I found underneath the sink. "Go ahead and start cleaning up the dust piles. I'm going to clean the counter and table tops." I told him, tying my hair behind my back and slipping out of my armor so it was easier to move around.
He just stared at me, his eyes glowing despite the color being black making me realize how important it was to him that I liked his home. And by the look on his face, he was loving that I was taking the initiative to clean his childhood home.
"Okay. Tell me if you need anything. I'm going to start on the living room." He tells me, walking to me and pressing a kiss to my hair. "Don't overwork yourself," Proximo says against my hair before leaving me in the kitchen alone.
I stared as he left the room, my heart warming from what he did as I felt my cheeks burning up. Turning towards the counters, I started my assault on them with the supplies.
〰〰〰
"We're not even close done," I whine, collapsing on the ground with the gloves attached to my hands and cleaning supplies stinging my skin. Proximo stared down at me, the broom still in mid-swift.
"Did the supplies irritate your skin?" He asks, kneeling down and rubbing at my agitated forearm.
"Just a little," I mumble as he sighed and rested the broom on the floor.
"Come on. Let's get some rest." He stood up, holding his hand out to me when I smiled and grabbed it.
"Thanks. Are the bed and sheets clean?" I question while he pulled me out of the kitchen and into the clean living room.
"There are blankets and pillows clean. But I want to get a new mattress since it is about seven years old. I set up a loft on the ground for you." He tells me as I tilted my head and stared at him.
"Where will you be sleeping?" He opened the door for me when I saw the pile of blankets and pillows on the ground. Surprisingly, it looked very comfortable.
"I'm going to rest in the living room. But I'm not tired right now." He tells me with a softness that made me want to tell him he could stay here. That I wanted him to stay with me.
"But you should get some rest..." I mumble, brushing my fingertips on his knuckles almost forgetting that he was still holding my hands. He glanced down at our hands, unsure of what to do before looking back at me.
"Are you inviting me to sleep with you?" His smirk illuminating his face making me roll my eyes and push him away.
"God. Go away," I growl at him, feeling embarrassed at his words when he chuckled and caught me before I could leave.
"Aww. I'm sorry, Hrudra. I didn't mean to tease you." He mumbles, pressing his lips against my ear causing me to shiver. "Will you let me stay with you?" Proximo asks while I sighed and leaned against him.
"I guess... But stop picking on me." I warn before he collected me off the ground and brought me over to the pile of blankets.
"Okay okay." He laid me down, pulling my boots off and tossing them aside before removing his own shoes and clothes. I turned on my stomach in order to not stare at him for too long, knowing I was sex deprived for almost seven months since the first time we met.
Oh god, how that sounded so good to just get naked under the blankets...
"Seems like you are happy with the setup?" He comments as I peeked from underneath the pillows and smiled sheepishly at him. Oh, he had no idea...
He shifted under the blankets and sheets, forcing me to scoot over and give him space to lay beside me. I laid on my side with my back to him, unsure of what to say but not that tired yet. Well, not tired anymore at least.
"Hrudra?" He mumbles beside me when I turned over and stared up at him with a curious gaze.
"Yes?" I yawn back.
"Will we ever be anything?" Proximo asks, our eyes connecting as we stared at one another. I blinked a few times, trying to collect my surprised thoughts together before closing my eyes and pulling the blanket up a little bit.
"Only time can tell," I admit, still unsure about what we were but hoping that everything turned out good for us. Though in reality, I had no idea what the future may hold.
Neither of us does.
"That's not a no." He says as I opened my eyes and saw him smirking down at me with a cocky gaze. Rolling my eyes, I turned away from him and snaked my hand underneath the pillow.
"Go to sleep already. I'm tired." I grumble, annoyed but also hopeful that he would try to work it out between us like before. Although, the memories of my confession to him still stung the back of my mind and only served as a roadblock between us.
He chuckled softly, bringing me out of the memories and pulling me in a tight hold. I felt him digging his face in my hair and holding me tight making me smile softly which brought tears to my eyes.
I know I was being pathetic and not upholding who I normally am, but I felt more emotional around him than anyone I've ever known.
Clutching onto him, I silently let out a few tears as the night carried on.
