Chapter sixty Eight: Blushing Scarlet

Waking up in the morning is a normal thing. Most living things will go to sleep and then wake up at some point, though there are variations, especially when concerning the class based races.

For example, [Tavernkeepers] tend to sleep late into the night and wake up around midday. That is normal considering their class and job. They serve alcohol throughout the night and sleep during the day where few if any customers would show up.

On another class, [Innkeepers] may need to sleep late and wake up early. Late to make sure guests are asleep and early to prepare breakfast. It is a class that tends to get skills which reduce the amount of sleep required. Another class that shares the same schedule as an [Innkeeper] would be a [Guard Captain]. They sleep late and wake up early as is their job.

But occasional mishaps can ruin that schedule, sometimes rather significantly...

Waking up slowly, Scarlet opens one eye and is met with sunlight. Her room has one window and it is located on the top of her bed. The light of the sun is shining through the glass and is pouring onto her face.

She groans at the light and the headache it gives. Normally, she would already be up before the sun even shines its first light, but she had overslept.

She attempts to lift her arms to cover her face but stops as she feels a weight on it. Confused, she turns her head and is met with the face of a man.

It takes several confused seconds for her to realize the situation and the memories to flow back into her mind.

She is naked and nestled in the arms of Rathos. Her body feels sticky and her heart rate is increasing in beat, accelerating even faster as her gaze is glued upon the muscular form next to her.

She had drunk, he had drunk, and now they share her bed. She remembers how she had started doing most of the work. Unclothing him, guiding him to her bed. Beginning it.

Scarlet’s cheeks turn a brighter red.

How he slowly began to take initiative and the lovemaking had gone deep into the night.

Scarlet takes a deep breath from the memories, her smile unwavering from her lips. Her gaze now so fervent upon the sleeping Rathos.

A good minute passes before she finally decides to get out of bed. She shimmies slowly, moving away from the sleeping man so as not to wake him up.

After a dreadful slow minute, she escapes his warm embrace and her feet touch the floor of her room. She frowns as she looks around at the mess on the floor; armor and clothing thrown everywhere.

Moving on her tiptoes, she begins to collect her clothing. The armor she leaves on the floor, moving such metal would risk too much noise.

Once clothed, she looks back at Rathos’s naked prone body on the bed. She gazes at it wantingly, her thoughts debating on if she should wake him, but ultimately decides not to. After all, he must be exhausted from the night. Instead, with a blush on her face, she moves to the bed and gives him a kiss on the cheek before unlocking the door and heading out.

She looks around and finds empty candle lit hallways. Not exactly abnormal. The [Lady] dislikes having too many [Guards] patrolling for some reason.

Cracking her neck, she quickly finds her way towards the castle armory. Two [Guards] sit on chairs and immediately stand upon seeing her.

“[Captain] Scarlet, [Captain] Scarlet,” they both quickly exclaim before taking a proper pose.

She nods towards them, “Deklan, Orfan, so you guys are guarding the armory today. Good, I need to enter and grab myself a set.”

Olfan, a younger [Guard], stays quiet while allowing Deklan to speaks up, “Is something the matter? Did something happen to your armor [Captain]?”

Scarlet opens her mouth to explain but stops. “You guys don't know, do you?”

The two [Guards] give her a confused look.

She smiles and waves after seeing their expressions, “It's not important, I just can't wear it right now. I’m going to grab some emergency armor from the armory.”

The [Guards] frown, “That may be a problem,” Deklan begins, “the armory does not have any full sets of armor. Those usable are already distributed to the [Guards]”

“I see,” she says as her hand goes to her chin.

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Deklan watches Scarlet leave. She turns the corner and goes out of sight. He scratches his beard before turning and looking towards Orfan. Orfan is sitting on a chair with a perpetual frown on his face.

“Hey, at least she only took your armor, though I think you should have worn more clothing underneath.”

Orfan glares angrily at Deklan before scratching his bare chest.

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With a skip in her step and a decently fitting piece of armor on, Scarlet reaches the entrance to the castle and finds four [Guards] standing. Two from yesterday and the two new ones that will be taking the shift.

Scarlet waves, “Good morning! How is everyone. Is everything ok?”

The [Guards] turn.

“[Captain] Scarlet,” they all yell except for Manos who frowns instead.

Manos looks at the three other guards, “Dennis and Argon, to your positions. Harrow, go home to your wife and do not speak to anyone of what happened yesterday night.”

Harrow looks at Scarlet, smirks, and then runs off home. The two other [Guards] leave to guard the gates. They give her nods as they pass her by.

Though she outranks everybody, she is not without leadership. Manos, though a [Guardsman], is also in charge of the security of the castle. His age and experience help her job be a decent bit easier.

“Manos,” she says with a smile.

But the man gives her an annoyed glare, his eyes roaming her and his frown deepening.

“So, you took Orfan’s armor?” he exclaims as both a question and a statement.

Scarlet blushes, “I uhhh, didn't want to risk waking him by picking up the armor.”

Manos rolls his eyes, “You drink on the job, ignore your own rules, oversleep, and now one of the [Guards] is protecting the armory naked.”

She opens her mouth to refute or say something but Manos raises his hand.

“I understand. You are young and considering that smile on your face, possibly enraptured with the man.”

He shakes his head, “I have a daughter so I understand what is going through your mind. But I am still going to warn you. Roth is not who he says he is.”

Scarlet snorts, “He’s not a [Knight], I was just saying that because he was carrying me.”

Manos folds his arms “He ordered me Scarlet. He made me open the gates and let you and him through. That is not a skill a [Trader] or even a [Knight] would have.”

Manos lifts his hand, clamping his fingers shut and opening them, “I am a level 48 [Guardsman], that means that not even the [Lady’s] skills should be able to fully affect me. But that man did, and he did so easily.”

His gaze turns to Scarlet, old and fatherly.

“I…” she begins but doesn't know what to say.

Manos sighs, “Just… just be careful.”

Scarlet nods slowly, “I will.”

Manos looks at her before turning and walking back home towards his aged wife in the lower district, but he stops and looks back, “If you have the time, talk to that damn dwarf about finishing up on fixing our armor.”

Manos turns away and continues walking.

Scarlet absorbs all that information, her thoughts moving towards Rathos… and then she blushes and smiles as those thoughts spiral into the gutter.

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With a happy gait, she strolls throughout the city, her job as a [Captain], nay, a [Guard Captain], consists of making sure her [Guards] are doing their job.

She really does not have too much responsibility. Minor things like thefts and small brawls can be easily dealt with by her regular [Guards].

Her presence is only needed when a big threat or fight happens. Like the bar fight yesterday.

That had been a bit of a disappointment considering it was over when she got there.

Her smile widens as she remembers a certain dwarf stuck in the wall.

And then an idea forms in her head which causes her to begin walking left, straight towards a building with smoke flowing into the sky.

“Working already, eh Garrus,” she says while picking up her pace.

Moments pass as she gets to the lit forge. A large thing made of thick stone and metal. She takes a moment to admire the rather dwarven architecture before heading inside. As she enters, she looks down and begins slowly walking and avoiding scraps of metal and stone on the floor.

Garrus is not the neatest [Blacksmith] but is easily the highest level in the city. The two other [Smiths] are only barely twenty.

She gets near him and slowly leans over his shoulder.

Her eyes watching him slowly moving with a piece of metal, scraping slowly with another larger peace.

She leans near his ear with a smile. Her mouth opens.

“GARRUS!”

The dwarf jumps and squeals in fright. A surprisingly high-pitched squeal from a man with a long dirty beard and normally deep voice.

“Goddammit Scarlet, me head already hurts. I don't need your damn screaming in my ear.”

Scarlet can only laugh at the dwarf as he holds his quickly beating heart.

“You’re gonna be the end of me one day,” he continues while leaning over the work table and massaging his head.

Scarlet smirks “Too much to drink yesterday night, eh Garrus? What happened to that dwarven stomach you were so proud of?”

Garrus shakes his head, “Don't know, don't remember. I remember drinking at a tavern with... uhh Ra-oth and then waking up on the floor of my workshop.”

Scarlet looks around and finds a chair. She moves to it, pushes items of metal and tools off before sitting down. She folds her legs, one over the other.

“Well Garrus, you got drunk and started picking a fight with others at the tavern as you usually do when you drink too much. Things happened, people got hurt, and my lover threw you halfway into the wall.”

Garrus lifted an eye, “Lover? You have a lover? Wait,” Garrus blinks quickly before frowning, “someone actually knocked me out?”

Scarlet rolls her eyes but can't help but smirk over Garrus’s bewildered expression regarding him getting incompacitated.

Garrus has gotten into several fights in taverns, most of which are his fault. Regardless, he was always the last one standing until yesterday night.

“Who the fuck could knoc-,” he stops and his eyes widen, “Roth!”

And then he blinks again and looks at Scarlet’s blushing face.

“Roth is boning you? Really? When the fuck did that happen? I was beginning to think that you were one of those girls only lovers.”

Scarlet goes a bit more red at the word ‘boning’ but begins to nod.

“We were drunk.”

*Snort*

“What?” she says towards the smirking dwarf.

“It must have been pretty easy getting a lightweight like you drunk.”

Scarlet folds her arms and attempts to frown but fails.

The dwarf raises his dirty hands, “Sorry, sorry, please continue.”

Scarlet takes a moment and relaxes her muscles, “Well, we were both drunk and I decided to escort him home since it was a bit late.”

She bites her lip, “But, well, I couldn't walk straight so he ended up carrying me home.”

“Ha, so you took him home and had your way with him eh. One day and you already consider him your lover. You sure it wasn't a one time fling?”

“Of course not. He was so passionate yesterday night.”

“And drunk. He was drunk. Did you at least talk to him in the morning about it?”

Scarlet scratches the side of her head, “Well, no. I didn't want to wake him. So I left silently, of course.”

Garrus looks at the lovestruck women and can only shake his head.

“So, you had sex with him while he was drunk and then left him at your home, alone, naked and without an explanation. That literally sounds like you used him for sex.”

Scarlet opens her mouth and closes it and then opens it.

“Shit,” she finally says before jumping out of her seat and running out of the building.

Garrus watches her run off. He sighs and shakes his head. For a woman nearing thirty, she lacks a great deal of common sense.

As her figure disappears, the dwarf turns around and begins to work. After all, he has many orders to finish first before he will need to begin his work for Rathos.

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Running past the two [Guards] at the castle gates, Scarlet makes a beeline through the hallways until she gets to her room. With a quick push, the door opens silently.

The floor is clear of clothing and armor. Her armor is on the wall racks while her bed has been replaced with clean sheets and has been properly made. Rathos is nowhere to be seen.

“No,” she exclaims before turning and running out of the castle, passing the same to [Guards] and heading straight for Rathos’s Mansion. Her thoughts are erratic as she begins to think about what to say.

Do I apologize? No, why would I be sorry? I didn't use him… but he would think I did.

She slows down to a walk.

What could I say. Would he be angry? Does he think of me like I'm some kind of [Whore]?

She stops and frowns. She is in a predicament of her own making.

“Damn,” she says before turning and running back into the castle. The two [Guards] stationed at the gates look at their [Guard captain] in confusion.

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Scarlet runs through the hallways, up the stairs, down another hallway, dodging a [Cook] before ramming through the door leading into [Lady] Rose’s room. She practically bursts into the room.

“I have a problem, a big problem. I-I-I made a mistake. I need help.” Scarlet exclaims quickly, her face covered in sweat, while her gaze lands on the large body of the [Lady].

The [Lady] is sitting on a very large chair at a table with a large drumstick in hand.

[Lady] Rose takes a slow bite, chews her meat, swallows, licks her lips, and then puts the drumstick down onto a large platter of mashed potatoes.

“So, you fucked him and then you left him.”

Scarlet looks on surprised, “How did you-”

“I know everything that goes on in my castle,” she says with a smile, “and I must say, Roth has quite a bit of stamina and experience. Though you really should have waited for him to wake up or at least have left a note.”

Scarlet turns a very bright ashamed red as she attempts to look away from the [Lady]’s knowing gaze.

“I-I- like him,” she stammers.

“I can tell, though I won't be able to kill this one.”

“What?”

[Lady] Rose shakes her head, “Nothing.”

The [Lady] leans forward and stands up. The chair she was sitting on squeaks in relief before she turns and begins walking towards the far side of her rather spacious room.

“I doubt I can convince you to choose another, so come with me and I’ll help you. Who knows, maybe he will be good for you.”

[Lady] Rose opens the closet in her room. The closet, if it can even be considered one, is filled with pristine dresses, beautiful boots, clothing that you would only find royalty wearing. Unfortunately for [Lady] Rose, all this clothing was taken from the former nobility of her city. Of which, all were slim.

“This is…”

“Yes, these are dresses made with the finest silk and have been created by some of the highest level [Dressmakers] in the central continent. Each is worth a fortune on its own.”

Scarlet gazes open mouthed at the hundreds of dresses, all packed into a room several times as large as her own. They glisten with various colors. Many of them are enchanted, even the boots. She knows little of what the enchantments would even possibly do, though something that would attract the eye, even increasing the size of a bust is not without possibility.

“What, what do I need to do?” Scarlet asks.

[Lady] Rose turns and looks at the distracted [Guard Captain].

She sniffs and frowns.

“Well, first of all, you will be taking a very thorough bath.”