If you loved me you'd... Often demanded, often with consequences you'd rather not deal with. truth is that "If you loved me," cuts both ways. -- Nonny the Mouse [in memory of too many domestic violence victims]
It was only natural. Take one Tiefling who had rarely known a kind word and never known a kind touch. Add a young lady who showed him even the most elementary of kindness, and you have a recipe for instant trouble. For Kormwind, it was even more complicated than that.
Her name was Lali, and she was perfectly beguiling. Even a half-elf has charms that lesser mortals could fall for. All she had to do was bat her eyelashes and giggle... and Kormwind was a puppy on her leash. She was not rude enough to whistle for him, but a nod and a smile were far more than enough.
He was sixteen. So was she. If it weren't for his clear demonic nature, they might have made a cute couple. The fact that he had distant promises to keep and an oath to uphold could easily be forgotten, sometimes. What was here and now was easier to keep in mind. Nevertheless, when he remembered his oath to be "true to his troth", Lali had an ace up her sleeve. "I thought we were friends..."
He could not deny wanting more than friendship. He was a lonely monster, after all. Few talked to him at all, fewer still were willing to use his name. Lali would take his hand in hers. She would have conversations with him. She was also far more willing to skate near the thin ice of the law than he was.
In the hours they shared, Kormwind was entirely too aware of the law. He had been arrested too many times for doing anything whilst Tiefling. Lali could smile and giggle her way out of almost anything. If she was truly in a pickle, she would cry. In retrospect, that should have been a warning signal.
He was walking her to a courier service, carrying something heavy for delivery somewhere he could only try to pronounce. Kormwind was happy and didn't even notice when Lali shoplifted from a grocers on the way to the courier's.
The fruit was purple and dimpled and the size of a citron. Lali dug them out of her poke[1], and said, "I've always wanted to try these," as she handed him one.
He knew for a fact that she hadn't had much in her poke when they began their errand. "Did you steal those?" he whispered, instantly looking around for the local watchmen.
"Don't act so guilty and they won't find you guilty."
"Dear... they can find me guilty of a sunny day." The 'dear' was more telling than it should have been. He had been thinking of her in affectionate terms for a month or two. This was the first time he was aware that it was escaping.
"So let's eat the evidence," she cracked its hard shell and sucked at the juicy contents. "Dear."
He noticed that reciprocation. It stood out like a diamond in a coal mine. It made him forget, however temporarily, that he was the one frequently cast as a bad influence.
At the time, he didn't notice that Lali frequently got away when they ran from trouble. He considered any stays at the Watch House to be a noble sacrifice. Besides, it was never big trouble. Other students at the Dojo did much, much worse.
And always, always, whenever he was reluctant, she would coo, "I thought we were friends..."
Until the Festival of Hearts. He had weathered more than a few such times of year. First, with disinterest and later, with spite. This was the first one that he dared approach with hope.
He wove her a favour. A little trinket of knotted grasses and grain stems and significant flowers. They were full of meaning in the right hands and Kormwind had done his best to encode how special her friendship was to him. Should the recipient feel the same, they would pin the favour to their garments until it either fell off or fell apart.
Kormwind had never made one before, and it showed. He had been months practicing on it, but even then... this was the best he could do. He hoped it would be enough.
He met her at the gates, wearing a flower crown meant for visitors to the Dojo's side business. Holding the favour in a small box that he had also made for the purpose.
She and her gaggle of friends passed it around to mock it. This was the peak of hilarity for them.
"Oh this is better than your first plan, Lali," said one of the gaggle. "We were going to make him kiss a fish, but this!" She almost fell over from her own paroxysms.
"Pucker your lips and close your eyes," singsonged another, "and you will get a sure surprise!" It was no longer giggling, it was cackling.
Kormwind said the one thing Lali had always said to him. "I thought we were friends."
"That was the point," she said. "As if anyone could actually like you."
He let her go, slowly turning to stone from the heart outwards. The master, as always, was correct. Tieflings don't get friends.
[1] Sort of a medieval purse carried on the wrist. The origin word for 'pocket'.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / artshock]
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