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“What?”
“Take a bath, alright? You stink like a weefer.” he gestured to the water basin.
“What the fuck is a weefer?” Serena growled, straightening.
“It’s a creature that hunts every night. They’re stinky. And dangerous.”
Serena glanced at the basin and thought for a moment, before agreeing that she really could use a bath, since she spent so many days recovering from her wounds.
“Fine.” the woman headed to the basin, still feeling the aching in her ribs and knee that were injured worse than everything else.
Wolfin followed her with his eyes and shook his head, returning to the kitchen to finish up preparing some meat. When he heard her throwing off her clothes, he didn’t even look, but as soon as she submerged herself in the water and a faint groan escaped her throat, he glanced her way, seeing her massaging her shoulder.
“Serena?” Wolfin turned to face her, noticing how lean and beautiful her body was.
“What?” the woman opened her eyes and met the man’s gaze.
“You still hadn’t told me who you were looking for around here. And how you got to where I found you.”
Serena looked at the water, gathering her thoughts, and noticed the faint streaks of dirt and blood that was washing off her skin being carried by a slow current, which meant there was an underground creek, leaving the cavern.
“I was… scouting out one of the campsites I’ve found.” she said a few long moments later. “When I saw Ellax, a creature jumped at me, and this made the Red Lanyards uncover my position.”
The woman heard Wolfin drop something.
“You’re after the Red Lanyards…” he gritted his teeth. “Figures.”
“You know them?” she glanced his way and saw him approaching with a bowl, where two steaming steaks lay, sprinkled by some herbs.
“We’ve ran into each other before.” he put the bowl next to Serena. “Mind if I join you?”
“I’m in your…” Serena glanced around. “Home? Do as you wish.”
The man smirked and undressed, walking into the basin as well to clean himself from whatever sand and grime he could have collected through the past few days. He tore a piece of meat off one of the steaks and took a bite, studying Serena with a very strange expression.
“Why are you after them?” the man asked, licking his fingers.
“My team was contacted by one of the mayors and we were offered a reward if we would take care of the gang.”
“And… how big is your team?”
“Does it matter?”
“It does.”
Serena pressed her lips together. She was weary of giving him all the information, since she hadn’t known the man for many years and he pretty much threatened her when she first woke up at his cavern. She glanced at the box he threw before her then – now all the pins collected and the box returned to the stack.
Wolfin noticed this and moved closer to her, meeting her eyes with a slight frown:
“I had my reasons to kill those Veluthians, Serena. They came for me. They came to kill me.”
“Why?” she wasn’t hoping to get an answer, as he didn’t reply to similar questions before.
This time, however, the man took a very deep breath and exhaled, before saying:
“After the massacre…” he gritted his teeth. “When your family died, taking with them all of the Bima-Liss traitors… I was one of those investigating this mess. The evidence I found, and the questions I’ve been asking made some of the allies to the Bima-Liss grow weary of my persistence. And while I was able to capture most of those who sent assassins my way, trying to silence me… others framed me for something I hadn’t done. I escaped Velutha only by chance. For years I was trying to fix the damage those traitors caused to my reputation. But my attempts weren’t as good as the influence of powerful families, who gained a lot from the death of Thara-Lyss and Bima-Liss families.”
“Who framed you? And for what?”
Wolfin looked away:
“I was framed for the murder of my wife and son.”
Serena’s eyes widened. The man stayed silent for a while, as if thinking about the times that passed.
“Wolfin?” Serena called him, seeing him flinch at the sound of his name. “Who framed you?”
“Salaar Dorn Kalun.” the man said, throwing a handful of water into his face. “The pieces of armour I showed you belong to the assassins that came after me time after time. At his orders. The last ones I killed two months ago, right here…”
Wolfin pointed at the bloodied rock with chains.
Serena felt something stirring in her memories, and decided to distract herself by taking a bite to eat. Thinking over something that bothered her, she caught Wolfin looking at her with a strange expression on his face again.
“What?” she tilted her head, noticing his eyes studying not only her face, but her body as well. “Got something to say? Say it.”
The man smirked:
“Who knew a scrawny little kid could grow up so strong and beautiful?” he saw her eyes squinting and cackled. “Relax, Scorpi. You’re my ward, not a woman I’d want in my bed.”
Serena forced down an irritated grimace from appearing on her face:
“Thanks, I guess.”
“I didn’t ask…” Wolfin squinted at her, watching her reaction. “How did you survive? I saw the recoding that was shown all over Velutha, but… no one could find you. I assumed, just like all the others, that you died… either by the hands of the traitors or by the assassins that might have been sent after you.”
“How much do you know?” Serena felt her teeth gritting against her will. “About that day?”
“We found your blood, lots of it, on the site. And the short recording came to the communication web a bit later. That’s it. No trace, no hint that you were alive after that.”
The woman looked at her left arm.
“Tekkern caught me by surprise.” she said. “He shot me, blowing off my left arm, almost up to the shoulder. I managed to grab my gun, but my father ran into the fight, shoving me away and ordering me to run.”
Wolfin saw her eyes becoming angry.
“Then what?” he encouraged her to continue the story.
“I followed the order. I fled.” Serena grasped her left wrist, clenching the limb hard. “I got to my ship and didn’t look back. Tekkern followed me, vaporising my right leg as the ship was taking off. He toyed with me.”
She finally raised her eyes, meeting Wolfin’s gaze with a very dark expression shining in her eyes.
“I shot his head off.” she growled. “And had to crawl to the medical bay. Lyssa found out that we were all poisoned by some complex toxin, which inhibited regeneration. So when I was suspended, the ship’s AI had to crack the toxin to help me regain my regeneration. It took a number of years for her to do that, since she couldn’t use the Veluthian servers to analyse the compound.”
Serena shook off her tension and grabbed the whole steak, taking a big bite.
“And I thought you were dead…” Wolfin sighed.
“About that…” Serena squinted her eyes at the man, her gaze becoming suspicious. “How? Why were you so sure I was dead?”
Wolfin silently raised his left wrist, showing her a familiar design of a bracelet – a thin wavy dark metal with a single small stone on it. Though, her own bracelet had the stone glimmering.
“This wasn’t a simple gift, Scorpi. I left something to keep an eye on you. It was supposed to let me know if you were alive or not.” Wolfin said. “If the stone was lit, it meant you were alright.”
Serena realised that when Tekkern shot her arm off, the bracelet was destroyed with it, showing Wolfin the dire news.
“You kept an eye on me?” the woman asked, trying to grasp at the concept of her past mentor watching out for her without even showing his face.
“I did. Every now and again I would inquire how you were doing in the academy and how well you were progressing in your studies.”
“Then why not face me? Why do all that and… not even know what I look like?”
The man smiled sadly:
“It was enough for me to know you were alright. Everything else didn’t matter. I didn’t want to ruin your life, so…”
“Ruin my life? The fuck you’re talking about?” Serena suddenly bared her teeth in anger.
“What did your father tell you, when I was transferred?” Wolfin remained calm, even though the woman looked like she was about to strike him.
“He said I was getting too attached to you.”
“He was afraid that if I’ll be with you while you’ll be growing up, you’ll end up seeking my company more than just that of a mentor.”
Serena was taken aback by these words, confused at the sheer assumption of her father being so short-sighted.
“The fuck?” was all she could say.
Wolfin smirked:
“Your father feared that eventually we’ll end up in bed. He didn’t want a no name like me ending up with his precious daughter. And he promised me that if he ever sees me again near you, he will do everything in his power to destroy me. He also promised me that he’ll ruin your reputation as well, so that you won’t have a future anywhere, but in outer space, being a mercenary without a home.”
Serena felt waves of shock washing over her, making her body tremble. She now understood the sheer disdain her father looked at her with, and all the times he had shown her how little he thought of her.
“That Old Fart wasn’t happy seeing me being a better father to you than he ever was.” Wolfin said, seeing the woman obviously distressed.
The man washed his face once more and got out of the basin, grabbing one of the towels he left there the day before, when he thought about offering Serena a bath. Drying himself, he didn’t look at Serena, who still sat frozen in the water, incapable of saying anything.
Once he dressed up, Wolfin threw the towel aside and glanced at the woman, seeing her frozen in thought.
“Scorpi.” the man called out and she raised her head just as he kneeled next to her.
“What?” she barked, angry at everything she found out about her father.
Wolfin grabbed a block of soap and offered it to her. The woman took it, frowning, and the man chuckled, suddenly pushing her head under the water. When Serena managed to free herself from his hand and take a breath, she saw him walking off with the empty bowl, cackling.
“Wash your hair, Scorpi.” he laughed.
The woman wiped her face, irritated at his stunt, but decided that she really should wash out all the dirt and blood from her hair.
“You asshole.” she growled at the man.
Chapter 6. Dalilah
“Got any spare clothes I can use?” Serena’s voice sounded through the sound of water dripping down onto the rocks.
Wolfin turned to her and saw her pressing out her hair, surprising him with a long mane, pure silver in colour.
“Holy seven hells of Polonnas!” the man breathed out. “Where have you been hiding all that length? And since when are you carrying long hair?”
Serena froze, meeting his gaze and ignoring the fact she stood there completely naked in front of him:
“Since a man I looked up to said to me that only the strongest can grow their hair out.” she said. “I took an oath to cut my hair only when I will be defeated in a duel or on the battlefield.”
Wolfin blinked, surprised to hear this:
“And when was the last time you cut your hair?”
“A week before turning seven.” Serena smirked.
“Any longer, and you’ll have as long of a braid as Artemis Serdana herself!” Wolfin shook his head, walking over to his supplies to look for some fresh clothes. “How many duels have you had?”
“Uh…” Serena fell silent, obviously counting. “Shit… Don’t know. I used to have about seventeen duels…”
Wolfin chuckled, choosing for her a fresh set of pants and a shirt.
“Seventeen a week…” Serena continued, making the man freeze from shock. “For five years in the academy… then about thirteen each week while under commander…”
“Wait!” Wolfin turned to her, frowning. “And you’ve never lost?”
Serena walked up, taking the clothes from him:
“Not once.” she said with a smirk.
“But why do you hide all that hair in such intricate braids then?”
“There’s time to show off one’s strength, and times to conceal it from prying eyes, Wolfin.” Serena began to put on the pants. “You taught me that, remember?”
“You remember…”
