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The sun was high in the sky, and Celeana was calm. Aelia had wanted to do some early morning gardening after the storm last night, checking on her gardens and her bees, and had seemingly decided that Celeana would join her. Not to help with the garden itself, because they both knew Celeana did not have a green thumb, (“Purple thumbs, actually,” Celeana wiggled her fingers at the other woman. She didn’t laugh.), but to get her out of the house.
“You need more sun,” the other woman had said while they were getting dressed, brushing her fingers over Celeana’s face as if that alone would convince her. Aelia’s large sun hat flopped a little, making her look like it was flapping with every one of her movements. The string hung loose, and Celeana fidgeted with it.
“What if I don’t want sun, hm? What if I want to stay inside all day and be all dark, and brooding,” Celeana had responded, wrapping her girlfriend up in her arms. Aelia let out a startled laugh as Celeana spun her around, stuffing her face into the side of her neck. “Like a vampire.” She gave her a couple of kisses, trailing down to her shoulder. Aelia hummed.
“A vampire, huh?” Celeana kissed her again.
“Yeah. A sexy vampire. Who lives in your bed,” she grinned against Aelia’s skin, dropping her voice in a low, and mock seriousness, “and feeds on your blood. Mwah ha ha.” Aelia only scoffed.
“Well, until you spontaneously and miraculously turn into a ‘sexy vampire’,” Aelia quickly took the hat off her head, stuffing it onto Celeana’s before she could swat her hands away, “You need sun. And fresh air.”
So Celeana was outside. Sitting on the porch steps of their house, hat on the ground next to her, watching Aelia work. She casted her spirit guardians, leaving them to flit around Aelia like the bees that kept buzzing around Celeana, covering her in pollen in a way that she could sense was supposed to be playful. It was calming, watching her dig in the garden, the care and meticulousness of her hands digging in the soil, checking each individual plant for signs of damage or sickness. Her spirit orbs circled each plant to ‘help’, and she could hear Aelia softly murmuring to each of them as if they could hear her. The light at this time of the day hit her face perfectly, and if Celeana could spend her entire life watching her in the sunlight, she would.
It was only because she was watching Aelia so closely that she noticed it. A giant shadow passed behind the woman gardening, circling in a way that would be unnoticeable to the kneeling woman, like a predator hunting prey. Celeana’s hackles were immediately raised, as the shadow grew larger, staying stationary for a moment. She leaned forward, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked up, locking on a large figure hovering in the sky. It looked like a large crow, and its eyes were focused on Aelia. Her magic leaped, her guardians turning their attention to the figure in the sky as well. The bird attempted to turn away, flapping its wings urgently as if it was aware it had been spotted. Good. Celeana glanced down at Aelia, finding her eyes on the figure as well, before her gaze quickly swung to Celeana, meeting her eyes.
“Wait–” Aelia began, but Celeana wasn’t listening. She sent her spirit guardians after the figure, having them attack and attach themselves to the bird, leading it back to the homestead. She got up, grabbing the garden hoe leaning against the side of the house before rushing past her girlfriend, who was still kneeling beneath clumps of dirt and weeds. She made her way to the edge of the garden just in time to see the figure, covered in her orbs, crash through the fence and fall hard into the carrots, tumbling for a few metres before skidding to a stop.
As she grew closer, she became aware that the stranger was an Aarokocra, and while rare in these parts, not unseen. Celeana couldn’t help the anger that bubbled up into her chest at the aspect of being watched by anyone. She pointed the blade of the hoe toward the stranger, darkening her face.
“Who are you?” Celeana pushed the garden hoe a little deeper into where she thought the Aarokocra’s neck was, “Who sent you?”
“Celeana!” Aelia yelled, running up from where she was previously kneeling. A hand grabbed Celeana’s arm, and attempted to pull her back a little bit. Celeana held strong, not pulling away from her girlfriend, but not allowing herself to be moved. “Stop that! They haven’t done anything!”
“They were spying on us! What if my mother sent them?” Celeana’s heart stuttered at the look in Aelia’s eyes, an obvious attempt to try to calm her down. She turned away, making sure her face hardened while looking at the person beneath her, “I should kill it where it lays-”
“You will do no such thing.” Aelia’s grip gently tightened around Celeana’s bicep.
“Aelia-”
“No, Celeana. You will not spill blood in my vegetable garden.” Aelia lifted her eyebrow minutely, pursing her lips. Shit. Celeana let out a soft sigh, not wanting to sleep on the couch tonight, and gently loosened her hold on the hoe.
“I would appreciate not spilling any of my blood anywhere, if you don’t mind.” The stranger said. Their voice was higher, feminine. A woman. Celeana removed the blade from her neck, but did not allow her magic to cease. Celeana currently had the upper hand, and while Aelia seemed to think that the stranger who was spying on them was harmless, she did not. Regular civilians didn’t evade her guardians that well– not at first. She channeled her mother the best she could, looking down her nose at the woman.
“Your fate depends entirely upon how you answer my questions. Who sent you?”
“I heard rumours of demonic activity in this forest,” Celeana’s blood ran cold. Aelia’s grip, meant to be warm and gentle and grounding, tightened a little, and she couldn’t help but feel her face darken at the soft gasp from beside her. She tried to school her face into a neutral expression, not liking the way the stranger was studying her face. “I am a hunter– a priest paid me a bounty to eliminate the threat. I mean you no harm.”
“Those two facts cannot be true at once,” Celeana clenched her jaw, spitting out the words through her teeth. It was the only way she would be able to control her lip from trembling in fear. Oh gods, they knew where she was, and not even leaving and never being seen again would convince them to let her live. A slight ringing in her ears began as phantom pains pricked around her mouth. She couldn’t help but spit out, “I am the entity they speak of. Look away, Aelia.”
Celeana hesitated for only a moment before steeling herself, lifting the hoe above her head in a wide arc. Celeana could feel Aelia tense behind her, a sharp intake of breath the only sound reaching Celeana’s ears.
“Stop.” Celeana couldn’t move. Her muscles shook from where she was frozen as she tried to fight against the spell, her eyes widening in a helpless fear when she was unsuccessful. The woman in front of her closed her eyes, and Celeana could only watch in a small amount of fear and borderline awe as the woman’s chest began to glow. She felt Aelia jerk away from her, moving out of the way just in time for a blast to hit Celeana dead in the chest, knocking her off her feet and breaking her concentration on her spell.
Celeana hit the ground hard, wheezing as the wind got knocked out of her. She didn’t have time to catch her breath before the woman was on top of her, attempting to hold her down. Realizing that she had control of her limbs again, Celeana grabbed the woman by the shoulders, using the other’s momentum to flip them both over. Both women fought for control, rolling and grappling with each other in the clumping dirt, neither one allowing themselves to yield. Celeana was about to call toward her magic, pooling it in her fingertips to cast inflict wounds against her opponent and hopefully end whatever the hell was going on, when she felt something sharp catch on both of the sleeves of her shirt and rip. She hesitated for only a moment, but the woman was able to get the jump on her, kneeing her in the stomach before leaping away.
Celeana starfished on the ground, trying to catch her breath. “Holy fuck,” she tried to wheeze, her words not translating to anything other than an extra heavy exhale. Celeana rolled onto her side, coughing once as her lungs constricted. She grabbed the garden hoe with the intention of using it as a cane, because holy shit she shouldn’t have tried to fight a trained hunter, when her eyes caught on the now standing stranger. She wiped her eyes, hands blackened with soot and dirt, unwilling to believe what the stranger was holding. Celeana stiffened, Father Leoandrin’s staff held in the strangers hands. Her grip tightened around the hoe, as if it could protect her from the memories of screaming and muffled cries flashing through her mind. She shook her head slightly, not wanting to get lost in her mind, especially with the stranger watching her.
“Where did you get that?” The hunter glanced at the cane and back at Celeana before raising one hand, as if trying not to set off a spooked animal, and held the cane out closer for her to see.
“This was my payment from the priest. And this,” The woman gestured to the coin pouch that was strapped to her belt, “was counter-payment from his son, Markas, pleading with me not to follow his father’s wishes. I’m inclined to agree with him, now.”
“Markas?” Aelia hesitantly said from behind her, filling in the silence that was threatening to overtake the conversation as Celeana couldn’t quite find her words. Warm hands gripped under Celeana’s armpit, and she allowed Aelia to help her to her feet. “He paid you?”
“Yes. To leave you both alive.” When neither of the women said anything, the hunter stuck the staff in the soft earth in front of her. Celeana managed to suppress a soft flinch as the woman backed up a couple of steps, raising both hands, and leaving the staff in between the groups. “I told you– I do not intend to harm either of you. I see now that the rumours were wrong. My greater mission does not include you, and now my bargain with the priest is fulfilled. I am sorry about your arms though.”
Celeana had so many questions, and her brain was moving so fast that it took her a second to realize the woman was talking to her, and even longer to finally look down at her arms. Blood was steadily flowing through gashes that had landed on the inside of her bicep and her forearm, seeping into her linen shirt. Damn it, she liked this shirt. She subtly sent some magic towards the wounds, if only to stop the bleeding until she could wrap them properly. She looked back up at the woman, realizing she should probably respond before she took her silence as a slight, or rude, or… something. She didn’t quite feel like fighting with her again. Celeana had gotten the jump on the stranger the first time; she would get her ass handed to her if they went again.
“It’s… alright.” Celeana felt Aelia lean in close, her breath warm on her ear.
“We should invite her in for lunch. As an apology.” Celeana couldn’t help as her head whipped towards her girlfriend, pulling her a couple steps away from the stranger.
“What?” She whispered, voice intense despite the volume, “Are you crazy? Did you miss the part where she said that she was sent by Father Leoandrin to kill us? To kill me?” Aelia rolled her eyes.
“Well, she’s obviously not going to hurt us now. And, technically, you attacked her first.” Celeana scoffed.
“Right, because that obviously warrants an invitation to lunch? And what are we going to have– tea with little finger sandwiches? Should I get my ball gown and tiara out for a tea party with the self-proclaimed hunter who was sent to kill us?” Aelia didn’t respond, only rolling her eyes again, and with a quick squeeze to Celeana’s arm, quickly stepped around her before she could move to stop her, addressing the stranger. “What are you-”
“We are sorry for any harm that may have come to you, too.” Aelia spoke loudly, ignoring Celeana’s protests and attempting to speak over them, “Will you join us for lunch? Tell us of your adventures? We don’t get many visitors.”
“Aelia!” Celeana hissed. Her girlfriend only waved her off, giving the stranger a smile Celeana knew would secure an accepted invite. The woman hesitantly glanced between the women, before nodding.
“It would be my pleasure, but truly, I can just leave. I have caused you enough trouble already.”
Celeana started to nod, opening her mouth to say something in agreement, but Aelia stomped on her foot, causing a squawk of pain to escape. Celeana’s jaw snapped closed, teeth clacking as she hissed, forgetting just how strong Aelia could be when she wanted to be.
“It’s no bother. This is more excitement than we’ve had in months. Please, join us inside, I have bread almost finished baking in the oven.”
Aelia leaned over to where Celeana had finally stood up to her full height, giving her a quick “be nice” look and a peck on the cheek, before turning and heading towards the backdoor of the house. Celeana’s shoulders slumped, resigned to the fact that if they get killed, she could at least say ‘I told you so’ in the afterlife. The woman looked over at her, stunned, but seemingly looking for her permission.
“Well, come on then,” Celeana said, resigned that she was going to have to make small talk with a stranger for however long Aelia keeps her captive at the dining room table. She frowned, side-eyeing the woman as she felt her scars pull. Suddenly self conscious, she turned quickly, calling over her shoulder, “You heard her. Let's hear what you have to say.”
As Celeana stepped over the mess they made of the garden bed, she heard the soft pull of wood from the earth, and quiet footsteps following behind.