Thieves Never Prosper?

Varon had no idea how long he lay there in the dark. He had been thinking all the while of how stupid he was, how if he ever recovered, he would follow Ardaline’s example and simply move away to another town. He couldn’t possibly stay here. If this got out, he would be a laughing stock around the whole town, and probably be seen as some kind of pervert. The object of his affections would hate him even more now. If things were bad enough before, now they were worse. Eventually, sleep mercifully took over from his circling thoughts, and his breathing deepened, although his eyes were still open in the dark.



He awoke with a start as he heard the door opening. Light, too bright at first, flooded into the room, but he could not move to see who the person was.



He heard a whisper. “Are you awake?” Ardaline’s voice. Why would she want to talk with him, of all people?



Without thinking of his condition, he tried to greet her, and almost succeeded. “Arraliin...” At least the noise he made was a vague approximation of her name, this time.



“You’re awake, then, but you’re still paralysed?” she asked.



“Yeaah,” he slurred.



“Perhaps it’s just as well for the moment. I came here because I couldn’t sleep. I kept wondering what you were doing out there. I’ve seen you around town lately. I didn’t think you were trying to get my attention any more, and now this...”



Varon tried to say, “Sorry, it was an accident, I didn’t do it deliberately” That wasn’t quite true, for nothing had forced him to stay there outside the guild. It made no difference anyway, for his words came out all mushed together in a jumble.



“I didn’t quite catch that, but were you trying to say sorry? I wonder if you truly are. Do you know the Hero of Kvatch?”



“Yeaah.”



“A while ago, he came to buy some supplies, just after my missing staff had been found. For some reason, we ended up talking about you, and he told me that you were genuinely sorry for upsetting me. He didn’t seem the type to lie about it. That’s what I thought at the time, and I was ready to forgive you. But tonight I find out that you were pressed up against a wall listening to all my secrets! Now I simply don’t know what to think...”



“A... Ard’line. M’ Sorry.” This time, the words came out a little more clearly, but Varon didn’t try to say any more yet. He could feel his face tingling slightly, becoming less numb.



“Is the spell wearing off?” The light moved slightly, as if she had a lantern in her hand and was heading for the door.



“Slight-ly. Hard... t’speak.”



She moved towards him again, setting her lantern down on a nearby desk. This time she was standing near him, but her face was just out of eyeshot. Varon Vamori tried to move his head, but all that happened was that his jaw twitched slightly.



“I want to ask you something, but I don’t know whether if I can trust you.”



“You can. Please. I give... my word.” That time, his words came out more clearly, if still rather jerkily. His face felt warmer, and the spot on his cheek where Henantier had slapped him was stinging slightly.



“Just don’t try using any Speechcraft on me. Or any other tricks,” she said. “Now that I have my staff back, I could use it on you if you cause any trouble.”



“I won’t. I promise.”



“Tell me, how much did you overhear us saying tonight?”



Talking was becoming easier by the moment, thankfully. “You were reading something, and Kud-Ei started talking about matchmaking. Then you told her about your former lover, who sounds like a complete bastard.”



Ardaline gave a groan. “Oh no. That’s far more than I’d ever want you to know.”



“I won’t use it against you in any way, I promise. Let’s get this clear. I may be an idiot who eavesdropped on you, and you can call me a thief too if you like. It’s true enough. I was the one who stole your staff, for the record. It’s time that I admitted to that.”



“Oh, I knew it was you. I guessed that straight away.”



“Yes, and I’m sorry. It was a stupid, childish thing to do. But I never meant you any harm. I don’t go around hurting women,” He thought for a moment then added, “Unless it’s in a combat situation and they attack me first.” There were plenty of women around the land who were a good deal tougher than him, but Ardaline seemed rather more gentle than most.



“I didn’t say that you would hurt me. I just can’t help being a little jumpy around you, for some reason.”



“It’s not hard to guess why. Because of him - your lover. He looked like me, didn’t he?”



“Only slightly. His hair was styled differently, and he was older... in truth, he wasn’t quite as handsome. He had such a powerful aura about him, though.”



She thought he was handsome? Elated, Varon spoke ardently. “No matter how he appeared, he wasn’t good enough for you, Ardaline. He should have treated you like a princess - I know I would have done. Someone like him is beneath my contempt.”



“Yet I was stupid enough to fall for him.”



“Who knows, maybe he cast a Captivate spell on you, and that’s what made you fall for him in the first place.”



“Do you really think so?”



“Oh yes, I’m certain of it.” He wasn’t, but he knew she was feeling bad about having made such a poor choice in lovers. If it made her feel any better, that was good enough for him. “Men like that need something to make them look better than they really are. He might pretend to be a respectable businessman, but he’s probably in the skooma trade.”



“Skooma? You mean, drugs?”



“I’d guess so. What else was he doing in an abandoned house? There’s a skooma shack in this town, too. Everyone knows where it is, no-one ever admits to going there. Just walk past there late one night and you’ll be amazed how many of the town’s great and good make a sneaky little visit. Or else they send their servants in for supplies.”



She sat in silence for a moment.

“I never thought of that... That’s an idea. I wondered if he was... oh, never mind.”



“Forget about him, Ardaline. You’re the sweetest, most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, and he treated you like a whore. Not all men are as bad as him. Even I’m not as bad as all that.”



Suddenly, she smiled. “You’re not how I thought you were, at all. I always thought you were quite arrogant. Yet you seem to put yourself down an awful lot.”



“Don’t get me wrong, I can be arrogant sometimes, but I know I was too pushy with you. I got off to a bad start, and then nothing ever went right between us any more. Maybe I have offended Dibella in some way.”



“Maybe I have, too.” she said thoughtfully. “It would explain a lot.” She was looking down at him, and he could not read her expression. Suddenly, she smiled. “You know, you look quite sweet, lying there all helpless.”



“Do I?” The words came out slightly strangled, even though his vocal chords were back to normal. She thought he was sweet? That was good wasn’t it? Or did it mean she looked down on him? He didn’t know whether to feel hopeful or dispirited.



Then, to his surprise and delight, Ardaline leaned over and kissed him. Just a soft, quick touch on his cheek, but she did not move away immediately. He longed to kiss her, and he lifted his head off the pillow slightly for a moment.



“You can move!” she said, with some surprise, but she did not jerk away from him.



“Only my head and neck, so far. My chest and arms are beginning to tingle, so I hope they will be free soon. This spell is damnably slow to wear off.” Even as he spoke, he tried to flex his fingertips, and to his relief, his fingers twitched slightly. It was a start.



She straightened up, but she held his gaze. Did she find his own eyes intense enough to make her go week at the knees? He hoped so.



“Tell me, Varon. Why were you listening at the window? I need to know.”



“I was walking past, and I heard your name, then your voice. That was enough for me. I didn’t really think about what I was doing, or the rights or wrongs of it. I just wanted to know how you were.”



“Yet it’s been months since we last spoke,” she said softly. “Unless...”



“I stayed away, just as I promised to. You never left my thoughts, but I didn’t spy on you.”



She was silent for a few moments, then said “When you stopped coming around here, I thought you must have found another woman.”



“No. Just this evening, a woman made a pass at me, but I turned her down.”



“Why?”



“Because... she wasn’t you.”



Never taking her eyes from him, Ardaline moved closer again, and this time, she kissed him on the mouth. Her lips were responsive, her skin was soft. It was almost too much to bear for Varon Vamori, kissing the woman he’d fantasised about for months on end, and then she shifted her weight, slightly, lying fully on top of him. He tried to move his arms: they were still stiff, but he could move them upwards onto her back. His palms came to rest just at the lowest part of her back, where it flared sharply upwards to shapely buttocks. If she noticed, she did not seem to mind at all. Her robes were voluminous, but thin: he could feel her slender but curvaceous body through the silk, and she didn’t seem to be wearing any underwear. His long-held dream seemed to be coming true, but there was just one thing to mar his delight: he could still feel nothing at all below his waist.