Novon put her back against a wall that time, and neither of them held back. Someone in another room called for them to be quiet, but they weren’t, and they didn’t. The muscles in his back felt like iron, but rippled like the surface of the sea as he lifted her up and down. Vae threw back her head, but it smashed off the wooden wall with a thump and she started laughing until everything else robbed her of the rest of her breath and she finished with a panted gasp.
He poured her tea, later that afternoon, and they shared it at a small round table.
“What do you do?” she asked him. “You’re strong.”
Novon grinned. “Oh, we’re talking now?” he asked. He took a small sip of the tea, which tasted of mint and faintly of ginseng.
Vaenuth shrugged and wiped sweat off her bumpy ribs. “We don’t have to,” she said.
“Listen, Vae,” he said, quietly. “We can talk, if you want. I’d like that. I just want to make sure your heart isn’t in this, right?”
Vae hadn’t brought into this. This was fun, but hearing him speak so candidly wasn’t as much fun. “I’m from Numa’nakres,” she offered. “I’m probably going back there.”
Novon frowned. “I was hoping you’d be around here longer. As a friend. One who’s good at… what we just did.”
Vaenuth grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” She’d spent enough of her life training for it; she smirked.
“It was,” he said. “I’m a goldsmith, but that’s not why I’m strong of course. Father was a blacksmith, learned from him. I keep myself in shape, still.”
Vae nodded. “You married?” she asked.
Novon pursed his lips and set his tea down. His hand rested on his knee. “I am,” he said, quietly. “Is that a problem for you?”
Vaenuth laughed. “No. Your wife doesn’t have tattoos and slave brands, I reckon.”
“You reckon right,” he said with an uncomfortable smile. “I married for the money, I’ll tell you. Love came too. But not… satisfaction.”
“Whatever you say,” Vaenuth said. “I guess I’d prefer we stick to the lovemaking.”
“Alright,” Novon said. “You know where to find me, of course. Could I ask you some things, too? As a friend.”
Vae took a sip of her tea again, but she found the flavour too strong. “You can.”
“You’re a mercenary right? A contract killer?” Novon was frank with his words, and picked up his tea from the tabletop again. It was in a small white pewter cup.
Vaenuth grinned. “Something like that,” she said. “There is a caravan. Like I first said. But that’s not the business I’m on right now. All this stays between us, of course.”
“Of course,” Novon said. “What are you doing in Lo Mallago? Here to kill someone?” He seemed uncomfortable with it—he was just a jeweler—but he was clearly trying to treat it as plainly as his own business.
“Waiting to hear some rumours now,” Vaenuth said. “Or waiting for a friend. Fellow might just appear, anytime. Just waiting now. Pounding you as much as I can and waiting.” She smiled at him, and they brushed their legs together. When they heard from Hulean, or news of their failed attack in Wartha Mull, then Tagg and she would decide what to do. In the meantime, she had a married man to enjoy.