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(Page 3 of 4) Ivaris - Chapter 3 by Jennifer Raney
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Escaping horrible death does funny things to people.
Well, I'll skip over most of the mushy stuff, but it's important to the story for you to know that we fell madly in love with each other, starting with that night. It was bound to happen, of course. He was attractive and strong and always put me first, whether I realized it or not. I'm not at all sure what he saw in me, but I tried not to overanalyze my success. When a good-looking man as well-balanced as Seroan finds genuine interest in someone as plain as me, one does not ask too many questions.
That night we lay together, and I finally told him what was in my memory, and what had happened to the Dean after we spoke. The frightening experiences still held sway over me, and Seroan held me close for comfort. Eventually I think I slept, but he lay awake well into morning, thinking about what I had said.
The next day we woke around midmorning, and decided, considering the mountainous terrain that it would be safer now to travel by daylight. As we were packing up our camp I could tell by Seroan's troubled expression that the cogs were turning in his mind. My terrible story had had quite an effect on him, and when he finally spoke he said, "We're going to find out what's going on." I stopped and waited for him to continue, "This thing isn't small potatoes, and the best way to make you safe is to figure out what's going on, and stop it."
"Yeah, suppose you're right there," I said. We finished packing our few possessions and headed east again. "So, how do we go about that?"
"Jovraan is working for the Itriscians (the enemy to the north I mentioned earlier) and must have been planning something with Varren. Maybe we should find out what we can about Varren, and see what he was doing in Parliament," he suggested.
"Yeah," I thought for a few moments. "Well, there are a lot of sides to this thing; it's going to be hard to get them mussed out. I mean, Jovraan had nothing to do with the assassination, that was something else entirely, wasn't it?"
"Must have been, or your assassin wouldn't have hesitated when he saw him there," Seroan agreed. "I mean, if Jovraan was in on it, why would he have even sent an assassin to Varren if he was going to be there that night anyway? He could have just done the job himself."
"Yeah," I agreed. "So... why are we leaving Enora? Can your friends help us?"
"We need to disappear before they catch us. Once we get there we'll get things sorted out."
"Ok, if you're sure..."
"I'm sure. Don't worry, we'll be alright."
* * *
"Define ‘disappeared'," Jovraan hissed.
The young assassin started to speak, changed his mind, and looked at the floor.
"You saw them, in the pub, all three of you?" Jovraan asked.
Dolgren felt the sweat gather on his forehead and neck, "Yes, sir, and we followed them out but they must have known..." he stopped.
Jovraan T'resh was not a large man, barely six feet in height and thin, but anyone who knew his reputation knew he was as dangerous as any hulking warrior.
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