Page 55 of The Heart of Nym (The Twisted Roots Duology #1)

The guards were not hard to manipulate. They took their chances joining their game late, but the moment they saw the pouch full of coins that Aziel procured from his pocket, their eyes lit up. It was hard to say no with so much money hanging in the balance.

Nymiria tried her best to ignore the eyes that lingered on her figure, some of the guards looked at both her and Aziel with absolute disgust, while the Warden and the guard they were currently talking to hadn't stopped looking at them like they were some foreign oddity to ruin.

Here as foreigners, they were protected by laws of trade that the Yaarboroughs had put in place.

Because while Mystics were supposed to be imprisoned upon first contact, travelers from other continents were off-limits. So long as they were spending money.

She was perched on Aziel's lap by the end of the third game, merely a witness to their depravity because the guards had drawn a line when it came to a woman playing their game.

Even their own women, their dates for the evenings and surely not their respective wives, sat behind or beside them, their eyes downcast with solemn expressions.

When the men were distracted by their own stories, Nymiria slightly turned her head, her lips brushing against the curve of Aziel's ear.

His hand moved from her hips to the place just below her breast, her heart giving a flutter at the small movement.

"Those women are far too silent, Aziel. Something is wrong. " She whispered.

Aziel's fingers lightly pinched her chin when she pulled away, his eyes searching hers before his lips formed a gentle smile. "Thank you, love."

"What're you two lovebirds going on about?

" One of the guards with a big toothy grin and broad form let out a drunken laugh, words slurring as he spoke.

Nymiria fidgeted on Aziel's thigh, his fingers now moving in slow circles on her hip bone.

She shivered, turning away from him the moment her cheeks started to heat.

Aziel feigned embarrassment, waving his hand as if to change the subject. "Nothing you should worry yourselves about, my friends. The wife's drinks have just seemingly gone straight through her."

A boom of a laugh made Nymiria flinch, her smile faltering just slightly, but Aziel's hands were now moving up her back, fingernails scraping over her shoulder blade as chills ran over her arms. "Your woman looks like she'd like to say something.

" The guard cocked his head to one side, eyes raking over her form and settling on the swell of her breasts.

"I'd love to hear what she sounds like."

The guards didn't seem to notice, perhaps they were too drunk to care, but the putrid smell of Aziel's death was slowly filling the room.

Nymiria fidgeted again, only to still when Aziel's hand moved back to her hip.

"What do you say, love? Would you like to talk with our new friends?

" He asked. She couldn't see the look in Aziel's eyes from where she was sitting, but given that his death was an ominously invisible figure in the room, she could only imagine the burning look in his eyes.

They hadn't once left the guard as he spoke.

"It's no bother," Nymiria started, shoving her fingers into Aziel's locks. "It's just… your women are very pretty." She hoped that he would understand where she was going with all of this. She prayed to whoever was listening that she hadn't just ruined all of Aziel's plans.

The longer she looked at those women and saw their fear, the more her stomach churned. The more she started to feel that familiar rage twisting its way through her body.

Aziel stiffened underneath her for just one moment, but when he smirked up at her, she knew he must have understood. "Darling, we've only just met them."

The guard looked amused, eyes bouncing between both of them.

"Let me guess, she's wondering why the girls don't speak.

" Curiosity got the best of her, her brow furrowing as she leaned closer to the guard.

With the Warden having vanished from the table only minutes before, she figured now would be the perfect time for him to loosen his lips.

"We cut out their tongues so they can't rat us out, nor can they enchant us with their spells. "

Her heart sank. Outside she was merely a foreign traveler who was marveled and in awe of all she was seeing, inwardly Nymiria was screaming.

Aziel noticed the change in her body, the uneasy shift in her emotions.

He ran his fingers over her back once again, smiling at her.

"We'd love to have one with us for the evening. " He stated.

Nymiria pulled in slow breaths through her nose, doing the best that she could to remain calm.

Slipping her arm around Aziel's neck, she leaned into his touch.

It was painful to sit still. It was painful for her not to lunge across the table and pluck that guard's large and horrible teeth from his mouth one by one.

But she would not ruin this—she couldn't. She'd already been enough of a disappointment.

“I don’t know,” the guard sighed, running fingers along his greasy, pimpled chin.

By the slight twinkle in his eyes, Nymiria could tell that he was considering—so close to caving in that one line could seal their fate and they would be leaving that camp with three hundred Mystics in tow.

“Me and a couple others almost lost our ranks a couple months back for selling some of the girls.”

Aziel took this as a challenge, obviously sensing the same thing she had about the fool.

His sinful smirk was all too telling, that he’d found just the right story to feed the guard to tip the scales in their favor.

“Ten thousand granites.” The assassin leaned forward, his fingers digging into Nymiria’s waist to keep her from tipping out of his lap.

Her body moved on impulse, her arms hooking tighter around his neck and pressing herself closer to him.

So close that if he turned his head, his face would be buried between her breasts.

Her body was on fire, skin tingling in the place where his hands held her firmly in position.

“You see, it’s my wife. She loves to watch me.

” Upon the words leaving his mouth, Nymiria discreetly grabbed a thread of his hair, yanking it just hard enough to have him jump underneath her.

He looked up at her then, cupping her chin affectionately, both of them baring their teeth with anger.

“And she’s been dying to watch me with a Mystic. ”

Beating him within an inch of his life was starting to sound like a good change of plans.

Nymiria drew in a deep breath, pressing her smile wider across her face as Aziel and the guard rose to their feet, exchanging handshakes. Aziel turned to her as the guard walked away, his triumphant look turning into a look of amusement.

“Dear gods, that smile is frightening.” He chuckled.

Her smile vanished. “You told me to look happy.”

“Indeed, I did,” he laughed harder, tugging her towards the exit. “But you are smiling like you’re happy about murdering someone. It’s rather terrifying.”

“Well, pardon me, in this situation I actually do crave slitting some throats!” She hissed. As soon as they reached the threshold, she yanked herself away from him and started down the dirt path back into town.

Behind her, Aziel whistled lowly. “Beautiful and deranged. Just how I like them.”

Nymiria whirled around with narrowed eyes, her fist acting faster than her brain ever could.

She watched with wide eyes as it connected with his sternum.

Aziel wheezed another laugh, her humiliation quickly returning to anger.

Her foot flew, going for any part of his body that she could reach, but when her toes were almost an inch away from his privates, Aziel’s hand shot out and wrapped around her ankle.

One moment she was standing and the next, she was looking up at the twinkling night sky. Grinding her teeth, Nymiria didn’t even try getting off of the ground. She would die in that spot if she had to. She laid there, arms folded across her chest until Aziel’s face replaced the stars.

“Now, moonflower. You should know better than to kick me there unless you plan on kissing it better.” He extended his hand.

She swatted it away, immediately jumping to her feet. “You’re disgusting.”

“And you are annoyingly dramatic, as always.” He dusted the sleeve of his tunic, peering over his shoulder just as the tavern door creaked open.

“Now, please, if you could just look at me like you love me and don’t plan to murder me in my sleep, we should probably finish this and be back in Yaar by tomorrow evening. ”

Nymiria let out a scoff, rolling her eyes as she brushed dirt off her skirts. “Perhaps I do plan on murdering you in your sleep.”

He didn’t bother to reply.

The guard approached them with a broad, toothy smile, foam from his last mug of ale still clinging to his mustache as he twirled a set of keys around his index finger. “Boss said to make it quick. I’ll sneak you in, let you get your pick, and you’ll be on your way. Is that understood?”

Aziel nodded his head, smiling devilishly as they began in the direction of the forest.

Nymiria watched and listened as Aziel and the guard exchanged small pleasantries, which was more of Aziel asking the guard questions about his job that the guard certainly was not supposed to tell anyone.

All of the ale Aziel provided him definitely loosened his lips.

Either that, or the guard was incredibly daft and one of the worst camp guards in history.