Page 51 of Tusks & Saddles

Chapter Twenty-Four

Beatrix

O ne thing was clear to Beatrix.

When she made it back to Irongarde, she would owe Kay a drink for the frost magic.

The second, was that despite the now frozen Giant Sand Slithers, Beatrix’s keen eye could tell that her bullet had hit vital areas.

Even if the creatures melted under the hot desert sun, they would still be dead.

The threat of this particular monster was over for now.

And finally—

“Welborn!” Beatrix cried, tossing Gambler’s Luck to the ground as she sprinted to him.

She collapsed to his side, hands working to turn him over.

All the while, Beatrix scanned him for any injury.

When his tired face stared back up at her, Beatrix could have wept from relief.

His glasses were broken and there were minor cuts along his cheeks, but there were no major wounds.

No large swaths of blood to contend with.

He was safe .

“You’re a pretty good shot, Miss Eaves,” he said with a sheepish smile.

“I could have blown you to bits, you foolish holy man!” Beatrix snapped.

Though her words were harsh, there was no hiding the tears at the corner of her eyes.

She had fought like hell to stay alive, all the while her heart had raced with terrible fear.

Not for herself, but for him. For this silly, impulsive man who had stolen her heart in a week’s time.

Not an easy feat, considering her affection for men didn’t extend farther than her own familial ties.

“You did have that thing aimed at me, huh?” Welborn said with a grimace. “It wasn’t my intention to get in the way. Honestly, I was just asking for a miracle. If any other had been there, I’m sure I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“I have good eyes,” Beatrix huffed as she helped him sit up.

“I can tell,” Welborn grinned, reaching up to pull his ruined glasses from his nose. “I might need you to be my eyes for the journey home.”

“Happy to help,” Beatrix said before leaning in and kissing him.

Welborn let out a startled noise, freezing partially before melting against her.

His lips were dry, but Beatrix didn’t mind it at all.

Kissing Welborn was a different kind of relief, one that tugged at Beatrix’s heart.

Beneath her hands, he was real and whole.

They had escaped the deadliest of monsters in the searing wastelands.

Nothing else mattered to Beatrix, not even—

Abruptly, Beatrix pulled back with an almost sheepish expression on her face. Welborn appeared dazed, but she couldn’t keep the confession inside any longer .

“I’m a wanted woman, Welborn.”

The young man blinked, confusion making his browns knit. A question was on the tip of his tongue, but Beatrice’s tongue was faster.

“I come from a noble family, Welborn. A family that has responsibilities—politically speaking. And part of those responsibilities require unions between families. Families that also have certain political leanings,” Beatrix let out an exasperated sigh. “What I’m trying to say is…well, I suppose—”

Welbron’s hands rested on her hips, a soothing weight that brought Beatrix’s mind back to center. Kind, yellow eyes gave her the strength to confess the thing she hadn’t dared share with anyone.

“I left home because of an arranged marriage and my family has put out bounty hunters to bring me back.”

“I—” Welborn let out an astonished sigh. “That’s…well that’s something.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Beatrix frowned down at him. “If I’m caught, they’ll send me back home and have me married off before I have a chance to breathe!”

Noble life wasn’t for everyone, but Beatrix had long said her goodbyes to it.

Wanting freedom meant giving up her old life, giving up comforts that had always suffocated her.

Beatrix never wanted anyone’s sympathy; poor little rich girl wasn’t what she wanted to be known for.

It was why she had worked so damn hard to make a name for herself.

Why she had dedicated so much of her life learning how to master firearms—a skill not many people had that was easy enough to turn into a lucrative trade.

She didn’t need her family’s gold when she could earn her own.

The idea of playing good little noble wife to a man who had little respect or care for her—the thought made her ill just thinking of it.

But that was the reality. Not all women in Beatrix’s position could be as lucky as her mother had.

Balthazar wasn’t the expectation, he was the exception.

There was no kind, noble man waiting for Beatrix back home.

But there was one in front of her. A kind man whom Beatrix was ready to spill her entire love story to if he so much as asked.

“Miss Eaves—”

“Beatrix,” she corrected. “Save the Miss for when we’re in bed together.”

The dark green that flooded Welborn’s face was quickly becoming Beatrix’s favorite shade of green. When he gulped, the bump in his throat bobbing—well, Beatrix couldn’t help but find the poor thing charming.

“Beatrix,” he said, uncertain. “I didn’t mean to be dismissive, I’m just surprised. I imagine that’s a lot to have to deal with. Arranged marriages, nobility—having your family put a bounty on you… it’s all so big.”

“I know. And I know it’s a lot for my family, having a daughter who…well, is like this…”

Beatrix had long since accepted what she was, but that didn’t lesson the guilt. Not for running from her marriage, but for being born different. As the only daughter in her family, her marriage was a tool—one that even her father had little choice in the matter.

Lower station or not, expecting Welborn to accept the complexity of her station and her choice to be on the run…

well, Beatrix wo uldn’t blame him if he preferred to keep their relationship strictly for the bed.

Professional, even that much she could accept.

But the thought that Welborn might reject her completely left an awful hollow feeling in her chest. Odd, given she had completed many quests in the past—with many people—but she had never felt so attached as she did then.

The realization hit her harder than any bullet would.

Welborn is the exception. The only exception in my entire life .

It brought tears to the corner of her eyes that Beatrix hadn’t noticed until they slid down her cheeks. Visible panic tore the tender expression from Welborn’s beautiful face. He dropped his hands, as if she had burned him.

“Oh, no, Miss Eaves—I mean—” Welborn exclaimed, voice suddenly much higher in his distress.

“I didn’t mean to imply your problems weren’t fixable!

I’m sure we can come up with something so you can live your life without the threat of your family’s bounty hunters!

There are a lot of religious texts that imply that marriage is outdated—a lot of people choose to live without!

In fact, you know a lot of clerics and paladins opt to devote themselves entirely to their god. Maybe you can do something like that!”

His platitudes—even wrapped in such panicked kindness and consideration—only seemed to make Beatrix cry more. The tears were heavy, but dried quickly beneath the hot sun.

“Oh, please don’t cry, Beatrix,” Welborn murmured, pulling her frame against his. “I hate to see you cry. ”

Such gentle words.

The kind that Beatrix could only vaguely remember being said while her father patted her head.

Beneath Welborn’s hands, Beatrix couldn’t deny the tender look in his eyes as he pushed the tears away.

Had she really been this starved for affection?

Was that where the emotion had come from?

Or perhaps, it was rising to the surface because Beatrix could no longer deny the truth.

That this silly orc cleric had completely—

Perhaps it was a moment of clarity from the exhaustion of survival.

Or maybe the sun had done something funny to Beatrix’s brain.

She supposed it could be debated later during the reception, a story to tell the close circle of guests that would be attending.

Either way, the decision had been made and Beatrix was never one to deviate to far from a plan once fully realized.

“Are you feeling better?” Welborn asked.

“I think so,” she whispered.

The cleric nodded, satisfied with the answer. His hands fell to her shoulders, leaning close as to properly pull her into a hug. Beatrix’s raised her hand, pressing gently against his chest. He paused—because of course he would—and waited patiently.

This is madness, Beatrix thought. But I suppose there are worse things than—

“Welborn?”

“Yes?”

“There is one way we could stop my family from pursuing me…”

She hoped he could take the hint as he became thoughtful. Suddenly, his eyes went wide, the dark green coloring his cheeks.

“I…um…are you asking to…to—”

“—to join the temple of the All Seer as a—”

“—marry me?”

Oh.

“Well, there’s also that,” Beatrix cheeks warmed. “I was thinking more of pledging myself to your temple as some kind guard and dedicate my life to serving as a way to avoid marriage.”

The heat that radiated off of Welborn rivaled the sun.

“I—” he lowered his head, staring down at his lap. “Of course—I didn’t mean to assume—”

“You weren’t—”

“—you’re an incredibly independent—”

“—I do enjoy my—”

“—and me? I’m just a cleric who failed to save the High Cleric—”

“—you didn’t fail—”

“—why would you ever want to marry me?”

That ignited frustration in Beatrix. Her glare was heavy as she quickly snatched the symbol of the All Seer into her fist and dragged Welborn’s face toward hers.

“Welborn Larokson, cleric of the All Seer, do you really think you aren’t good enough to marry me?” Beatrix demanded.

She could admit his idea was a lot better than hers.

Long term profession or no, Beatrix wasn’t certain she could devote herself to a deity the way Welborn and the other denizens of Ordia did.

They existed, and knowing was enough to sate her own curiosity.

Tying herself to Welborn, on the other hand…

“I—” he gulped. “I hadn’t really thought about it…

well, no, that’s a lie. I have thought about it.

About my parents—my father is a widow…twice.

He didn’t have long with Boone’s mother or mine.

Ten years. Barely any time at all and time feels so…

precious when I think about it that way.

But I know my parents were happy, even in a modest cabin in the woods. I don’t want to assume but—”

“Welborn, ask me or I will.”

He cleared his throat, reaching a hand up to wrap around the one holding the stone at his neck. Welborn stared into her eyes, pupils large, and face open despite the nerves at the corner of his mouth. A slight strained muscle that he did his best to conceal.

“Miss Eaves—”

“Lady Tel’vera,” Beatrix corrected.

She could tell him her full title later, but alas the noble traditions were still rooted deep in Beatrix’s mind. Unorthodox proposal or not, some things were hard to shake.

“Lady Tel’vera,” Welborn licked his lips. “Will you marry me?”

The question was irrational, that much Beatrix knew for certain.

The woman she was over a week ago would have politely but firmly shut him down.

But Beatrix wasn’t that woman anymore. She wasn’t entirely sure what kind of woman she was now.

The bounty hunters would still come, the same as any wild beast in the Searing Wastelands, but with Welborn at her side?

Beatrix felt like she could take on the gods with him.

“Oh, sweet boy,” Beatrix sighed. “I will. ”

They shared a smile, before Welborn closed the distance between them with such enthusiasm that Beatrix nearly lost her breath. She was so invested in celebrating, that she failed to notice the shadow that loomed over them until it was too late.

“Congratulations!”

Breaking apart, the newly engaged couple looked up in surprise.

Welborn’s horse, Sandy, stood beside them and on her back was a sunburned, grayish goblin man in torn vestments of the All Seer.

Strapped to the back of Sandy’s saddle was a tall, humanoid shaped body made of metal that appeared to be missing a head.

“Sandy!” Welborn crowed. “High Cleric Gnaul Swoth! You survived!”

“Barely,” the High Cleric chuckled. “I got stranded up on the water tower after I came to the wastelands to investigate the tremors happening near the town. That’s when I ran into our friends back there.

Have to say, if it wasn’t for the guidance of the All Seers visions, and a whole lot of luck, I wouldn’t be here right now. ”

“How did you get off of the water tower?” Beatrix asked as she took Welborn’s hand to stand.

“Oh, it was the funniest thing. I had a dream that there was a metal man stuck at the top of the water tower. Low and behold, when I woke up the next morning, he was up there. Well, his head was. But that’s a story for another time!

Congratulations on your engagement! I don’t suppose you’ll be having the wedding at the temple?

We have a bit of work left to do, y’know? ”

“Oh, I know,” Welborn said, before sharing a look with Beatrix. “ But I think it’ll be worth it.”

Beatrix smiled, leaning in to plant a kiss on Welborn’s cheek, “Where ever we have it, I’m sure we’ll be in good company.”

The End