Chapter Text
Vax’ildan of House Vessar used to be a noble, then he lost the surname and became a thief, and now he is a fucking babysitter.
One of his contacts reached out to him a few days ago with a job offer that he “couldn’t refuse”: to be some rich, spoiled princess’s bodyguard. In exchange for his babysitting services? A hefty pay that would be more than enough to ensure he and his sister, Vex’ahlia, could afford a house in the hell hole that is the town of Stilben.
The terms of the job weren’t exactly what Vax was looking for, but he was told he would be a back-up bodyguard and that his services as a shadow assassin would mean he didn’t have to interact directly with his charge since she had a primary bodyguard to actually babysit her. He could be paid to lurk in the shadows and make sure some stuck-up noble didn’t get murdered in her sleep, right?
So Vax’ildan said goodbye to his sister, he reminded her to be careful and stay vigilant, he promised to write whenever he could, and he started making the trek up the mountain. He had no idea how long he would be gone, but he was intent on sending Vex’ahlia money along.
The interview happened as soon as Vax arrived in the small town. He was shocked to see there was no castle to evidence the rich, noble family who hired him, and even more shocked he was when he arrived at the address he was given and found a house—an honest to Gods regular cabin in the woods. The man who interviewed him was humble and kind but strict. He emphasized multiple times how important it was to keep his daughter under watch, that she would try to escape at any given notice, and that her life might be in serious danger due to the nature of her powers and the magic she sought.
“My wife endured the same journey fifteen years ago, but she disappeared without a trace during her stay in one of our sister tribes and we have no way of knowing if it was foul play or an accident.” The man explained.
Vax’ildan understood how important this girl’s life seemed to be for the man, but after having lost his wife and now being in danger of losing his daughter, he couldn’t understand why he was sending her away. Vax didn’t ask. He didn’t think it would be polite to ask such questions, but he also didn’t care much. He was going to be paid to make sure she survived, that’s all he needed.
Vax was given a packet with information about his charge to memorize before they met the next day. Among the information, he learned that no man was to touch her without her permission as the girl hated to be touched by men (specifically). Provided along was a list of exemptions: her father Korrin, the man who interviewed Vax; and her primarily bodyguard Derrig. This sounded weird to Vax at first, but it wouldn’t stop him from doing his job. He had no intentions to touch her.
Derrig, the primary bodyguard, was introduced during the interview process, too. He was a half-elf, stocky and built like someone who had intensive training. The man was quiet and observant up until the moment Vax was tasked to fight him. He was a wonderful swordsman with a great technique, but he couldn’t beat Vax’s speed and use of the shadows. Derrig’s word about Vax’s ability to defend the princess was the last nail on the coffin.
So here he is, dressed in a set of clean, untouched black leathers with brand-new scratchy linen clothes and a black hooded cloak that can fully hide him from sight, waiting in what looks like a reception chamber in a building in the center of town. Korrin and Derrig are with him, both men securing backpacks, although only Derrig looks ready to travel. Vax made sure his bag was ready to go before he arrived, leaving it by the door. From what Korrin told him during the interview yesterday, they are to leave as soon as his daughter presents herself.
Vax’ildan was expecting some rare beauty from another world, a stuck-up noble princess who wouldn’t give him the time of the day, but what he encounters instead is beyond his imagination.
Keyleth, that is her name according to the packet, runs into the building already looking disheveled as if she already has been on the road for days. Her flaming red hair is coming out of its braid already tangled; her green, floor-length dress is dirty with mud stains; the few patches of skin she is showing are dusty and have caked mud, which Vax also spots on her leather gloves and on the bridge of her nose and cheeks. She looks more like a daughter of the wilderness who has just finished wrangling boars than a princess.
“Sorry I’m late,” Keyleth yells out, running from the door. She bends down over her knees panting in an un-ladylike manner, the movement allowing her dress to open at the neckline, providing Vax’ildan with a view of her small, round breasts.
Vax averts his gaze just in time, choosing to stare at the girl’s father. She doesn’t look like the teenage girl he thought he was going to have to babysit. Keyleth looks older, like she has just reached her twenties (the packet conveniently forgot to inform him about her age).
Keyleth is also taller and lankier than Vax, though not by much, something he realizes when she draws herself up to her full height and stares him down for the first time with a look of disgust.
Vax’s heart jumps. Beneath the layer of dust and dirt, she is beautiful. Her skin has a rich pink color of someone who spends long hours in the sun, her eyes shine brightly like emeralds, dusted by freckles beneath them, her lips are plump and rosy, and her body isn’t a bad sight either, although Vax prefers to have a little more to hold on to, she is still ethereally beautiful.
Fuck. No. NO. You are not attracted to her.
Vax’ildan is in danger, if not from his heart, then from the glare that Keyleth shares in his direction. If looks could kill, he would have been lying on the ground bleeding by now.
“Keyleth, this is Vax’ildan. He is going to be you body–”
“No.” She turns to her father stubbornly.
Oh she is so, so far from what I imagined.
“Keyleth we talked about this.”
Keyleth stomps—actually stomps—her dirty boot-clad foot on the stone like a petulant child.
Wait, there it is. Vax smiles to himself. Maybe he wasn’t so wrong about her after all.
“I don’t need a bodyguard, much less two, father.”
“Keyleth–” Korrin pinches the bridge of his nose. He looks older as he does so. Maybe his gray hair is due to his daughter’s antics. “We have discussed this. You are not going on your Aramenté without security. Your mother–”
“My mother went alone!”
“And look at what happened to her.” Korrin’s raised voice makes Keyleth cower.
Vax’s first instinct, against all odds, is to set himself between the man and Keyleth, to protect her even from her own father, something he has had to do in the past many times, but Derrig is there, clasping Korrin’s shoulders and pulling the man back.
“Enough. Keyleth, we understand how you feel, but the council has made their decision, and this is your father’s compromise.”
“If I can’t go alone, then I won’t go,” She replies, drawing herself short.
Vax’s heart pangs in his chest. His first impression of the woman was that of a summer night, warm but fierce with thunder, but now she looks so small and fragile.
“You have to go,” Korrin says with frustration. “It is not your decision, Keyleth. You must go, and I can only hope to protect you in ways I wasn’t able to protect your mother. Please stop fighting me on this.”
Keyleth’s eyes jump from her father to Derrig beggingly, but the man simply shakes his head, then they land on Vax, piercing, assessing. He feels naked in that moment, as if she’s undressed him to his barest soul.
“You won’t even know I’m there,” He promises, as if that will do anything.
“That’s the problem,” She mutters, looking him down and up. “I don’t care if others don’t see you, you’re to stay within my eyesight, and you will not touch me.”
Vax nods. “As you wish, princess.”
He meant it as a teasing remark, but a gasp and the cold feeling of steel pressed against Vax’s throat shows him the truth behind the meaning of the words.
“Do. Not. Call. Me. Princess.” Keyleth mutters angrily, holding a dagger to his throat. She was faster than the speed of light, Vax hadn’t even had time to see her move, much less react in his self defense.
“Sorry–” He rasps. His heart is thundering loudly in his chest (certainly she can hear him), but what gets to him is the blood flowing to his pants.
Defenseless women aren’t his thing and Keyleth seems to be the furthest away from being defenseless. At a first glance, Vax doesn’t understand the need for two bodyguards when she seems more than capable of defending herself.
“Good.” Keyleth releases him, pocketing the dagger and walking to her father. “If I must go, then I shall take my leave now.” She grabs her bag.
“Err–” Derrig stumbles. Keyleth looks at him, confused, then the man pointedly motions at her outfit. “You should bathe and change first. I don’t think any horse will want to get anywhere near you, niece.”
Keyleth frowns her nose at the man (Niece? That explains the familiarity and he is allowed to touch her), then she drops her bag at her father’s feet again. “Fine. I shall go bathe and change.”
Keyleth gives Vax one last threatening look as she passes him, something he does not reply in likeness. Keyleth is not the weak, stuck-up, noble girl he thought he would be babysitting, but a fierce, strong fighter. He understands why Korrin said she would be looking for ways to escape—she seems like the sort of woman to cause trouble—but that makes the challenge of keeping watch over her even better for Vax.
As Korrin lets out a deep sigh and Derrig claps the man on his back in understanding, Vax relaxes and lets out a chuckle.
“She’s a handful.”
Korrin glances at him and nods. “Good luck on your journey, Vax’ildan.” He says, and leaves.a