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She scaled up the wall, as she did nearly every night at this point, and crawled through the open window into Gortash’s office. He was out at some party. Hosted by and for the patriar’s of the city.
He’d invited her, but she'd told him no. A place like that was not a place for a child of Bhaal, and he knew that as well as she did so she wasn’t even sure why he had asked her, or why he’d tried to convince her otherwise.
Or why as she moved over to his bed, a dress was laid out for her with a note.
‘In case you change your mind.’ Followed by coordinates and an official invitation.
She scoffed and threw the note aside, but her eyes didn’t leave the gown. She’d never even attended so much as a dinner with him and his aristocratic contacts, and he wanted her to go to a ball?
Gods she hated him. She hated him for buying her a dress, for inviting her in the first place, and she hated him for how much she didn’t hate him at all.
She walked away from the dress, trying to ignore it. Which lasted all of two seconds before she spun around and yanked the fabric from the bed. The party had been going for a few hours now, she could show up just to make him happy and then they could head back.
Who the hells was she at this point?
She chose not to answer that, moving to wash herself up a bit, making sure to get any leftover blood that clung to her skin from her excursions earlier. The least she could do was make herself presentable for this no doubt expensive dress.
As she pulled the dress over her body, it was a perfect fit. Strapless, hugging her curves beautifully, before billowing out softly to the floor. Two slits started from the middle of her thighs revealing her legs, so she had to raise the strap around her thigh for her small dagger. Something told her he chose this dress so she wouldn’t bring weapons. Which was naive of him.
She took in her reflection for a moment, feeling so unlike herself, but at least admiring the fact she did look good. He’d gotten the dress in a blood red, and it brought out the tone of her skin beautifully. She rolled her eyes before talking herself out of it, and left.
*
Once she arrived, she’d nearly talked herself out of it a hundred times. But honestly, she wanted to see the look on his face when she showed up. She could do this. She pretended to be all sorts to lure people away so she and her blades could have their way with them. This would be no different. Minus the blades, of course.
She was let in without an issue once she handed the invitation over, and made her way down the hall to where she could hear music echoing through the home. If one could even call this home, it looked like a museum.
The open doors led to a staircase that led down to the room below. Hundreds of citizens of Baldur’s Gate danced and laughed and spoke to each other, but she was only looking for one.
She spotted him, his back to her on the other side of the room, so she started descending the staircase. Many stopped to watch her descend, and she was reminded once again how much she preferred to stick to the shadows.
Her eyes remained on Gortash, ignoring the others who whispered and pointed to her. The man he was speaking with nodded behind him, and when his eyes locked with hers she finally realized why she was here.
Gods she loved the way his eyes lit up and the way a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. He began making his way to her, and those between them slowly backed away. She didn’t even think about all the eyes on her right now, she could only see his.
Once they were in front of each other, he held out his hand, to which she gently rested hers in his. He lifted it to his lips, pressing a small kiss there before closing the rest of the distance between them and whispering in her ear, “Thank you for coming.”
“You can thank me later.” She whispered back in a teasing tone. “When we’re away from here. You owe me.”
“Oh believe me, I know, and I will.” He pulled back and extended his arm. “Are you up for this?”
“As I’ll ever be.” She gave him a forced smile as he guided her back to the man he’d been speaking with previously.
He introduced her to so many people. Calling her his partner, showing her off, and praising her. It was overwhelming to say the least, but she forced her smiles and pleasantries all the same, letting him do the talking.
When they had a moment he leaned in close to her ear again, “And you thought you wouldn’t belong, they love you.”
“It’s you they love, Enver.” She retorted quickly as he moved her towards a table full of glasses of wine. “They don’t know me. I’m just the consolation prize of a Lord of Baldur’s Gate.”
“If you ever call yourself a consolation prize again, you’ll regret it.” His words were honeyed, but it brought a chill down her spine as his hand on the small of her back moved to squeeze her waist. “If I wanted a prize I’d hire a whore. When are you going to accept what you are to me?”
“And what is that?” She asked as they reached the table, and he handed her a glass of wine before taking one for himself.
His eyes found hers, taking a slow sip before answering, “Everything.”
Before his answer could sink in and she could respond, his attention was pulled by a young man coming up with a letter, and handing it to him before taking a quick bow and leaving. Gortash opened it and read it quickly. “I have to step away for a moment, will you be all right here?”
She nodded, taking a sip of her wine before he leaned over to press a soft kiss to the side of her lips before disappearing into the sea of people.
It didn’t take her long to realize she’d lied to him. She was not alright in this room by herself. Gods wasn’t this almost over? How long did these things last?
“It’s quite a night, is it not?” She turned to the voice, a Lord that Gortash had introduced her to earlier, but she couldn’t think of his name. A tall man, dark hair, striking blue eyes, and a full beard perfectly cut.
She gave a small smile and nod, before turning her eyes back to the room before her, not wanting to make conversation.
“Do you dance?” He asked, taking a step closer to her.
“No.” She said simply, not looking at him. A voice in her mind reminding her she was being rude so she turned to meet his gaze. “I mean, I do, but I had a very long day and I’m waiting for Enver.”
“Ah yes, your partner.” He emphasized that word in a way that made her blood boil, but she remained as stoic as possible. “Tell me, are you like him?”
“In what way?”
“A lowborn.” He said it so casually, so quickly. Oh how she wanted to kill him.
“And what does that have to do with anything?”
“I will take that as a yes.” He said with a grin, lifting a glass from the table behind her, leaning in closer to her causing her to pull back from him. “I’m not looking down on you, we all take what we can get.”
Just what was this sack of shit implying? “It must have been easy for you, one bat of your eyes and one night spreading your legs. I'm sure anyone would be hooked. Well done.”
“I’m not his whore, if that’s what you’re implying.” Her hand tightened around the wine glass she was holding.
Stay civil. Stay civil.
“No need to be shy about it.” He gave a chuckle that made her skin crawl, and he took a step closer to her, which she responded with taking another step back from him. “What did he offer you? Money? Power? I could offer you more. Thrice the amount he offered. He doesn’t realize how ill fit for this world he is. Walking in here like he already owns the city.”
His hand moved up to brush a strand of hair from her face and it took every amount of willpower she had not to grab his hand and break it. “He offered me nothing, and I suggest you stop while you’re ahead.”
“Oh come on,” he laughed again with his words before sidestepping in front of her so she was backed against the table, “women like you will take anything to have a scrap of something.”
“I can promise you, you never met a woman like me.” Her words were as cold as ice as she felt her blade burn against her thigh.
Her words only seemed to egg him on however, as he stepped closer, his hands going to her hips.
Her hand slowly moved to the slit of her dress, no longer caring how many people would witness her killing him, she just wanted him gone.
“How about we find somewhere private, and I could show you what you’re missing, and all I could offer you.”
Like a fly into her web. She could get him alone, and quickly take care of him before anyone knew what had happened.
Before she could say anything though, a hand clasped onto his shoulder and Gortash stood behind him. His eyes dark, his brow furrowed. “Lord Benedict.” His voice was so low, only a hint of the civility he’d had when introducing her to everyone.
Ah yes that had been his name. He let his hands fall to his sides as he stepped away from her. “I wasn’t going to do anything to her, just having conversation.” Benedict answered easily.
“Oh I’m not worried for her safety, believe me.” Gortash spoke lowly, the darkness in his eyes drawing her in like a moth to a flame.
“That sounds like a threat, Lord Gortash.”
“Good.” He shoved the man’s shoulder back before taking his place at her side, hooking his arm behind her and resting on her hip, sliding down to her thigh and feeling the hilt of her blade there. “We were just leaving. I suggest you find someone else to waste your breath on.”
He turned with her, and they made their way up the stairs, his fingers pressed firmly into her hip as they made their way to the city streets. “I wasn’t going to kill him.” She said quickly, wanting to make sure he wasn’t angry with her because there was no reason. “Well, okay I was, but I wouldn’t have done it with everyone there.”
“I was going to.” He spoke darkly, not looking at her. “Seeing his hands on you, the anger in your eyes…” He shook his head and pulled her closer to him as they walked. “I knew Benedict was an ass, but I underestimated his stupidity.”
“He has no respect for you, did you know that?”
“I assumed, tonight confirmed it.”
She watched his face as they walked, and felt her lips pull up at the edges. “Want me to help?”
He finally turned to look at her, matching her dark grin easily. “You read my mind.”