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“Oh, cheese and potatoes? Looks delicious!” Balor tucks his napkin into his collar as Reina delivers the plate along with a warm beer. “And a beer? Fantastic!” He digs into the meal and– just as Luc had calculated – once he’s cleaned his plate his eyes droop as the drowsiness takes hold. It’s not long before the merchant is curled over the inn’s table, snoring softly as he sleeps off the heavy meal. With the target neutralized, Dell sneaks up and plucks the keys off of his belt before scurrying away and up the stairs where Luc and Maple are waiting, crouched in front of his room.
“We did it!” Dell hisses, brandishing the keyring.
“Excellent work!” says Luc. “Let’s find out what secrets he’s hiding!”
It takes a whole nerve-wracking minute for Dell to find the correct key, but soon the door opens silently on well-oiled hinges and the three sneak inside, closing the door behind them.
The Dragonguard look around the room; it looks very similar to other rooms for rent at the inn, but they know there must be secrets hidden somewhere, so they split up. Dell searches the bed, feeling under the mattress for anything suspicious while Luc flips through the books on Balor’s desk. Maple spies a cedarwood trunk sitting in the corner and approaches it reverentially; this surely must be where he keeps his secrets! She tries to open it but finds it locked. “Psst! Guys!” she whispers. “I think I found Balor’s secrets!”
The two drop what they are doing and hurry over to the trunk.
“It’s locked,” Maple informs them. “Dell, where are the keys?”
Dell pulls up the keyring and once again they try various keys until at last one fits inside the lock. Maple hesitates, so Dell nudges her aside and turns the key. With a soft clunk the trunk unlocks. They pause – are they really going to do this? – but then they look at each other, nod, and all three together lift the lid to the trunk; if they’re going to do this, they’ll do it together.
Inside the trunk are clothes. Plain, boring, folded clothes.
“This can’t be it,” mutters Dell and she digs deeper into the trunk, trying to not disturb the clothing.
“Were my calculations off?” Luc questions while Maple pouts.
“Here, help me take these out. Maybe there’s a false bottom!” says Dell, pulling out the folded clothes and handing them over to Maple, who hands them to Luc, who places them on the bed. As Dell pulls out the final stack of clothing, she finds a small, plain shoebox buried at the bottom.
“I’ve got it!” she announces, a little too loudly, and she removes the box from the trunk. The other two huddle around her.
“What do you think’s in it?”
“Jewels!”
“Letters from a secret lover!”
“Ohh, maybe a mummified gryphon paw that grants wishes!” Luc and Maple look at Dell. “What? I have just as good a chance of getting it right as you guys!”
Dell cautiously grips the lid (just in case there’s a curse placed on the contents) and they all hold their breath as she opens it.
Inside is a dingy, raggedy crocheted doll. Its long hair is a faded, dusty blue, similar to Balor’s, the eyes a bold, though faded green, and its dress is a dirty purple gingham.
“...Why does Mister Balor have a doll?” asks Maple.
“Do you think it's cursed?” suggests Luc.
“Do you think he secretly cuddles with it at night?” asks Dell, perplexed.
“I think that’s none of your business.”
The three children’s backs go rigid and they spin around to look in the doorway. Standing there is Balor, his face clouded with anger, with Ari beside him.
“Um…”
“Er…”
“We were just…”
“I think the three of you need to drop everything and get out of here. NOW.” He doesn’t shout, but his voice is cold and stern and the three children drop the box and key ring and scramble out of the room wordlessly. When they’ve cleared out of the inn entirely, Balor sighs and steps into the room. “I’m sorry, Ari. This will just take a moment.” He bends down and picks up the box and goes quiet.
“Do you want a hand?” Ari offers from the doorway when Balor doesn't move after a minute.
“Come in and close the door behind you,” he says softly, still looking at the doll nestled inside the box. He sits down on the bed, not bothering to move the clothes stacked on it. Ari cautiously crosses the room and stands before Balor, gentle confusion on their face.
“I haven’t pulled this out in such a long time,” confesses Balor. “I think I wanted to forget about it, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Not entirely, anyway.”
“It’s important to you,” Ari acknowledges gently.
“Yes. …This doll belonged to my little sister.” He looks up at Ari and then glances across the room at his desk. “Pull up a chair. I was going to tell you some of my backstory today anyway. I may as well start with this.
“Her name was Perrine and she was born when I was eight. I fell in love with her and her bright green eyes the moment she opened them and stared up at me. …Mother died shortly after giving birth to her, and Father never quite recovered from that, so it was up to me to raise her. Father crawled inside of a bottle, never to leave, and when I was ten he wandered in front of a speeding carriage and that was that; Perrine and I were orphans. It wasn’t long before we were out on the streets, but I always made sure that she was happy and safe. I know; we could have gone to the orphanage, but I was scared witless that they’d separate us and I’d never see her again, so I kept us on the streets. That meant that I had to do some unsavory things, unfortunately – things I’m not proud of – but to see her eyes sparkle and her brilliant smile when I had enough money to buy her things that made it all worthwhile to me, so I kept it up. I’d steal, swindle, rough up kids smaller than me, run illicit goods for the bigger gangs… anything you can imagine happening in the Capital, I’d do it.”
Balor pauses and fidgets with the doll, never taking his eyes off of it. “I’d do my best to keep my work a secret from her, but I think after a certain point she knew. She’d always hug me so tightly when I got back and kept asking me not to go when I had to… she was a clever little thing, Perrine. I knew that if I asked, though, she’d join me in a heartbeat, so I always made sure she went to school and had friends to play with while I was gone; I did what I could to keep her safe.
“Life continued that way until I was fifteen. I was a pretty good rogue at that point, and I was getting cocky. Back then there was a group of thugs based out of the Capital called the Snake Bites and it was pretty common for me to run product for them across town and to deliver their goods to drop sites. Well, I got it in my head that I could pull a fast one over on them – they were tough but not that clever – and so I started skimming a bit of their goods off the top so I could resell it myself. It worked for about a month, but by then they had caught on, though they never gave any indication that they had.
“No, instead they came for me in the middle of the night while I was asleep. They attacked not only me, but anyone else in that alleyway, including my sister. They were brutal and intended to leave no survivors. They got one good hit in on me – a slash across the chest resulting in my scar – but Perrine got it worse. I pulled her away and we ran. We ran, and ran, and ran… out of the city, in fact, but by that time it was too late for her. She was too weak and hurt. I should have taken her to a doctor, but I was scared and wasn’t thinking straight…
“She died the next day from her injuries, and I buried her in a small copse outside the Capital. I made sure she was surrounded by flowers and trees – she loved nature, after all – and I turned away from my life of crime. I didn’t return to the Capital for a long time, instead heading out towards the east to learn something worthwhile, and I picked up the skills to become a merchant. Now all I have left of her are memories and this doll which she used to take with her everywhere.”
The room goes silent.
“I'm sorry,” Ari eventually whispers, looking over at the slumped man sitting on the edge of the bed. Balor usually looks so confident, but in this moment he's receded within himself, and his shoulders shake as he chokes back a sob. Ari stands, takes a few steps forward and puts a hand on Balor’s shoulder. “You're not alone now,” they say. “You've got friends here: Hemlock, Jo, Nora, Adeline, Holt… the kids adore you… and I-” Ari pauses. “And you've got me. Always.”
Balor finally looks up and into Ari’s face. His eyes are red and puffy and stress lines his face. Gone is the mischievous glint in his eyes, replaced with barely held-back tears.
“Ari…”
The farmer takes a final step forward and wraps their arms around him. “I'll always be here for you, Balor. Through thick and thin. I…” Ari hesitates again, the words on their tongue but unable to speak them.
“Just say it already!” cries out a small voice, causing both Ari and Balor to jump. Ari looks up and Balor turns around to see the door cracked open, the three children’s heads stacked atop each other peeking in.
“Maple, shhh!” shushes Luc, too late. With lightning speed Balor stands up and strides over to the door, shutting it in the children's faces and then locking it. He leans his head against it and sighs, the mood ruined. He turns around and there is Ari, right in front of him, and the farmer stands on their toes, leans in, and kisses him on the lips. Balor melts into the kiss, bringing his hands up to cup Ari’s cheeks as he returns the kiss with fiery passion.
“Sorry,” Ari apologizes when they at last break the kiss. “I couldn't get the words out so I thought I'd get my feelings across this way.”
“I got them loud and clear,” Balor says with a small gasp.
“I love you, Balor. You've shared your past with me and I'd love to share my future with you.”
“Ari…! I- I feel the same way!” The two lean in again for another kiss, but small voices carry through the door.
“What do you think they're doing?”
“I bet they're kissing!”
“Ewwww!”
A smile creeps across Balor's face and he gives Ari a small peck on the forehead. “I think I'll need to take a rain check on that kiss. Come, let's put this stuff away.”
The two tidy up the room and Balor puts the doll back in the box but leaves the box on top of his clothing this time before locking the trunk.
“Thank you for listening to what I had to say, Ari.”
“Thank you for sharing. It took courage to say what you did. …Would you like to come by my house later this afternoon to continue our conversation? Say, six o'clock?”
Balor smiles. “I’d love to. I wouldn't miss it for all the tesserae in the world.”