{"id":1040,"date":"2014-05-05T11:30:27","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T16:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/?p=1040"},"modified":"2014-04-27T11:51:07","modified_gmt":"2014-04-27T16:51:07","slug":"rhiallis-lilys-folly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jeezjosie.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/rhiallis-lilys-folly\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhiallis: Lily’s Folly"},"content":{"rendered":"

      Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cLily’s Folly\u201d, is a piece I wrote about my PC in Mark’s new (Good) Pathfinder Campaign.
\n      Be forewarned, there are mature themes and naughty language below.
\n– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –
\n      \u201c…alone here?\u201d
\n      Rhiallis could hear Mira at the top of the stairs, talking in her gentlest voice to someone. A child? <\/em>She wondered. A child here? Alone? Iomedae forfend!<\/em>
\n      There was a murmured response, just beyond the reach of her keen ears. With a glance outside, where Mickey and Lucien waited with the three Kenabres survivors they had escorted from below, looting the bodies of a half-dozen cultists, Rhiallis started up the steps.
\n      Upstairs, Mira crouched by a door which had been opened only a few inches. A girl stood within, thin and pale, with long yellow hair and suspicious brown eyes. Her chin jutted out defiantly and she shook her head.
\n      \u201cI won\u2019t leave.\u201d
\n      Mira nodded sympathetically. \u201cI get it. You want to wait for your sister, right?\u201d
\n      \u201cI won\u2019t leave,\u201d the girl repeated, scrowling.
\n      \u201cOkay. Well, my name is Mira. What is yours?\u201d
\n      She hesitated in the face of Mira\u2019s adorable charm. \u201cUm. I\u2019m Lily.\u201d
\n      \u201cWell, Lily, that\u2019s a beautiful name.\u201d
\n      \u201cThank you.\u201d
\n      Rhiallis crept closer, even as her comrades shuffled up the steps as well, each with an opinion on the situation. She held out a hand toward the girl. \u201cHello Lily. My name is Rhiallis. You\u2019re waiting for your sister, is that right? When did she leave? When did she say she would return?\u201d
\n      \u201cShe is coming back tonight, by nightfall. I am waiting for her.\u201d
\n      \u201cLily, I know this is hard to hear – but it is not safe for you here. You need to come with us.\u201d
\n      \u201cNo! I won\u2019t leave,\u201d the girl insisted, stepping back from the crack in the door.
\n      Rhiallis exhaled softly, trying to contain her frustration and gently cajole the girl. \u201cAll right, sweetling, but we could leave a note for her so that she knows where you\u2019ve gone if she comes back.\u201d
\n      \u201cShe will <\/em>come back! She will<\/em>!\u201d
\n      The door slammed shut, nearly clipping off Rhiallis\u2019 fingers at the top joint.
\n      She clutched her fingers to her chest. \u201cLily!\u201d
\n      \u201cSHE IS COMING BACK!\u201d
\n      \u201cThat\u2019s not going to work.\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis rolled her eyes, trying to contain her frustration. \u201cI can see that. But she must come with us. It is not safe to leave her alone-\u201d
\n      \t\u201cI\u2019m not alone,\u201d came Lily\u2019s strident cry. \u201cAnd we\u2019re staying here! Go away!\u201d
\n      \t\u201cLet\u2019s just go, if she wants to die-\u201d
\n      \tLucien shook his head, \u201cAbsolutely not. She\u2019s a girl, no more than twelve or thirteen. We cannot in good conscious just leave her here alone.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cBut-\u201d
\n      \t\u201cNo,\u201d Lucien\u2019s face was set in stone. \u201cNo. We cannot leave her here.\u201d
\n      \tSomehow, Rhiallis knew, they had to get the stubborn little minx out of her room and out of this house. They could take her to Defender\u2019s Heart, where rumors said refugees had set-up defenses, or even to the Library where Aravashnial\u2019s people were. She could be safe there. And here, where they had killed an unreasonable number of Baphomet cultists, she would only be\u2026 dinner.
\n      \t\u201cCome now,\u201d Rhiallis said, putting a velvety warmth in her voice, \u201cWe can leave her a note. She\u2019ll know where to come and find you. But truly, little one, this is no place for a girl alone.\u201d
\n      \tThe door cracked again and Rhiallis, kneeling to be at eye-level, held out her fingers once more.
\n      \t\u201cI\u2019m not alone. You- you just go away, okay? Go away and leave us be.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cLily,\u201d she began, \u201cWho-\u201d
\n      \tBefore she could complete the question, the door slammed again and despite her even-tempered nature, Rhiallis saw red. Though she felt the strike as her gauntlet was crushed between door and jam, the steel protected her as it was designed and she rose, uninjured, pushing her way into the room.
\n      \tSmall for her age, lithe as a willow tree and shrieking, Lily was not happy to be hefted into the Paladin\u2019s arms as if she were naught but a sack of potatoes.
\n      \t\u201cNOOOOOOOOOO!\u201d she screamed.
\n      \t\u201cHush, Lily,\u201d Rhiallis growled, much more menacingly than she intended. Her heavily armored hand clamped down on the girl\u2019s mouth to stifle the sound – destined only to draw demons and other unsavories to their position – and received astonished looks from her compatriots.
\n      \tOpening her mouth to defend her choice, Rhiallis lost her concentration on the girl for the merest of instants. That was all the opportunity Lily required. She twisted her little body and writhed out of Rhiallis\u2019 grasp, sliding to the floor, darting into her room, and slamming the door before anyone could react.
\n      \tThat little bitch!<\/em> Rhiallis surprised herself, thinking so vehemently about a child. She struck the door with her fist once and shouted, \u201cLily! Come back out here!\u201d
\n      \t\u201cI won\u2019t! I won\u2019t come out and you can\u2019t come in! GO AWAY! I\u2019m waiting for my sissy!\u201d
\n      \tMira placed one tiny hand on Rhiallis\u2019 forearm, drawing her back. \u201cIt\u2019s okay, Rhiallis. You tried your best.\u201d
\n      \tNot placated, Rhiallis stalked down the stairs. \u201cFine, let her stay here and when the demons suck the marrow from her bones and eat the brains from her skull, I shall not shed a tear!\u201d
\n      \t\u201cRhiallis!\u201d Emma gasped.
\n      \t\u201cShe doesn\u2019t mean that,\u201d Navara said, shaking her head.
\n      \tI do so<\/em>, came the petulant thought. That stubborn little thing will end up a messy pile of bones and gore. Was I ever so stupid and young? Was anyone ever so bloody stupid and so utterly stubborn? Willful, spiteful thing\u2026 <\/em>Rhiallis rubbed her wrist, wondering if she would bear a bruise for her troubles. If her sister really did leave, she\u2019s likely dead, isn\u2019t she? How long could one young woman survive on these streets? They\u2019re chaos\u2026. brutal, brutal chaos.<\/em>
\n      \tPacing across the ground floor, Rhiallis was so caught up in her thoughts that she did not hear her friends filing down the steps. Mira called her name softly and motioned her to follow them outside.
\n      \t\u201cWhere\u2019s the girl?\u201d
\n      \tIdril shrugged. \u201cLucien is staying with her until nightfall. If her sister hasn\u2019t returned, they\u2019ll leave a note and go together to Defender\u2019s Heart to wait.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cI see. I don\u2019t like leaving him behind, either.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t budge.\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis nodded. \u201cI suppose he wouldn\u2019t. Damned child, splitting the group this way is never a very good idea.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cAt least he\u2019ll be able to protect her.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cRight.\u201d
\n      \t\u201cYeah. Let\u2019s go,\u201d Mira smiled, shifting her pack upon her shoulders. \u201cWe\u2019re not so far from the library and from there we\u2019ll go to Horgus\u2019 manor, or Anevia\u2019s house, or maybe\u2026\u201d
\n      \tRhiallis closed her ears to her little friend\u2019s amiable chatter and moved into position, lifting Anevia\u2019s stretcher with Idril at the other end. She forced herself not to dwell on Lily and Lucien\u2019s fate, instead choosing to focus on the ripple of the elf\u2019s incredible biceps or the fine, firm curve of his ass.
\n      \tWith just such an image in her mind, Rhiallis felt her rage ebb and, as they made their way through the rubble-strewn streets of Kenabres, a smile crossed her lips.
\n– \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –
\n\"Signed,
\nNote: Image is “King Jagiello Statue Central” by (Mulligand) from SXC.hu; edited by me<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Today\u2019s snippet, titled \u201cLily’s Folly\u201d, is a piece I wrote about my PC in Mark’s new (Good) Pathfinder Campaign.       Be forewarned, there are mature themes and naughty language below. – \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 \u2013 –       \u201c…alone here?\u201d       Rhiallis… <\/p>\n

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