Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ Flam Gush ❯ Chapter 3

Flam Gush 3Gourry held Lina as she drifted off to sleep. Part of him wondered why he was still awake. The other part of him was too busy replaying recent events to think about anything else. Somehow, a one-time merc job had accomplished something he had almost thought impossible, that Lina would ever see him as more than a sidekick big-brother type.

He deliberately squelched the stray thought that it had all been some wild and crazy dream. Making love to Lina had been beyond imagination. The reality was that it should have hurt her. Given the way she always went on about her “maidenly innocence,” Gourry would have sworn on the Sword of Light that she was a virgin. The fact that she had experienced no pain at all kept niggling at him. Of course, it was possible that Lina had just hidden the pain from him, but somehow, he thought it was unlikely. That meant that he wavered between feeling grateful that she had not been a virgin so that their first time together could be so wonderful, and plotting to hunt down the bastard who had taken Lina first.

After a moment of reflection, Gourry concluded that he could easily do both. Once he found that bastard, he was going to challenge him to a very long and drawn-out duel—not to hurt the guy or anything. No, he would be perfectly satisfied with shredding his dignity. Maybe his clothes too, into tiny little pieces—about less than one inch each should do it.

With that decision made, Gourry sighed softly to himself and put thoughts of mild vengeance out of his mind, at least for the moment. Instead, he let the image of Lina, writhing under his touch, capture his imagination. As he drifted off to sleep with Lina in his arms, Gourry knew that life could not get any better than this.

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Gourry jerked awake violently, and started pawing frantically at the masses of red threads that were on his face. It was only when he heard Lina mumble his name groggily that he realized he had been dreaming. Awareness of reality returned, and he recognized Lina's hair, remembered that they were in bed together, and why. He tried to calm his racing heart with a few quick breaths while he murmured something reassuring to Lina.

It must have worked, because she snuggled back against him. Within moments, her breathing eased back into the regular pattern of asleep. Gourry, on the other hand, was wide-awake. Once he was certain that he would not bother her by moving, he gently disentangled himself from her and covered her with the peacock-blue comforter that had been folded at the foot of the bed. Content that she was still sound asleep, Gourry got up.

He had dreamed about his home and Lina, but now that he was fully awake, the details were fading fast, leaving him with a vague sense of unease. He went over to the valet and slipped on his pants. They were still just slightly damp, but not too bad. He looked around the room, and although it was large, suddenly it felt confining. He knew it was unlikely that anything could get through Lina's spells, but it also meant that he was stuck inside as well. At the moment, all he wanted to do was get out into an open space and distract himself from the after-effects of his dream with an intense bout of swordplay.

Instead, he helped himself to a liberal shot of whatever was in the decanter sitting on the mantle.

The amber liquor was stronger than the ale he was used to. It burned as he swallowed and did little to dispel his edginess. It had been such a long time since he had last dreamed of home . . . he had thought—hoped—that it was finally behind him. In fact, he had barely even thought about the events that had led him to become a mercenary since meeting Lina. Why were they coming back now?

And that was when he saw it. It was so obvious; he wondered how he could have missed it earlier. No wonder he had dreamed about home. There, hanging on the wall above the mantle was a tapestry showing two golden-haired youths crossing swords. Behind them, rose an old-fashioned motte-and-bailey style castle, with a white central keep rising above the timber palisade. To the right of the central image was the Imperial Crest of the Elmekian Empire; to the left an emblem he had never thought to see again: the ancient device of his family.

Gourry ran his fingers over the embroidered hair of one of the youths. That one was supposed to be his older brother. The other one, of course, represented Gourry himself. He remembered very clearly his mother and her ladies working on this tapestry, how they had gaily chatted as their needles flicked in and out of the cloth. Once it was finished, his mother had asked him and his brother to hang it over the mantle in her sitting room. She had said it would remind her of her two boys when they were far away. How in the five hells had it come to be hanging in a whore's room, halfway across the known world?

In his mind's eye, he could see the white keep gleaming in the sun. Every summer, the entire family had joined the villagers in applying the new coat of whitewash. It was a hot, messy, and sometimes dangerous job, but everyone pitched in with good humor. All the children ran around, sometimes fetching more whitewash or cleaning brushes, but mostly just barely staying out of the way. Everyone knew the kitchen staff was working just as hard, and the feast would begin as soon as the job was done. At the feast, the sages would retell the old stories, but Gourry and his brother had never paid attention; instead they had fought each other for the best of the food.

Now, there was no one left to whitewash the keep or tell the old stories. The last time he had seen his ancestral home, the timbers of the palisade were rotting and falling over. The small village that had grown up over the years on the bailey was abandoned, and the once pristine keep was a gutted shell stained black with soot.

One thing was certain, Gourry could hardly bear to see the tapestry hanging there any longer. It belonged to his family. It belonged to him, now that he was the only one of his family left. He took the tapestry carefully off the wall, folded it up, and then as an after-thought, wrapped it in his spare tunic. He would show it to Lina later. Maybe she could figure out what it was doing here. She certainly seemed to like solving puzzles and mysteries.

Feeling a bit better, Gourry set the bundle down by Lina's cloak. Then he noticed the remains of Lina's clothes scattered on the floor near the tub. About the only things that had survived were her tunic and the yellow band. Gourry wrung them out and hung them up to dry, before turning back to consider the rest of her clothes. The tank-top and leggings were ruined, without a doubt. He wondered how much it would cost to replace them. But even if Lina extorted a fortune from him, and knowing her, she probably would, it was still worth it. He rolled them up into a tight ball and stashed them in a corner of the room. For some reason, his eyes were drawn back to the yellow band. It was amazing how much flatter she looked with it on. He tried to picture her without it. What had she said? That she did bounce, and the band helped hold her in place. If only they had the room for the night. Thinking of Lina bouncing around made Gourry want to wake her up for another go. A repeat performance, though, would probably leave him wiped out for the rest of the day, and there was also Deremar's greasy steward to worry about . . . Gourry sighed and pulled a chair around so that he had a good view of Lina as she slept, and he could also watch the villagers as they went about their business.

*******************

Lina woke up very slowly and very reluctantly. The bed was soft and cozy, and just a little bit more sleep seemed definitely to be in order. She tried to ignore the sounds of Gourry moving around the room. Figured he would be up before her, he usually was the first to wake up. She cracked an eye open to see what he was doing. The blue walls of the room had taken on a golden tinge in the light of the setting sun, and Gourry stood by the window, backlit and limned in radiance. Lina felt her breath come a bit faster at the sight of him, staring out the window, clad in just his pants. Something about seeing him without his shirt made her want to call him back to bed.

Not that she had never seen him like that before. There had been countless times that she had healed various cuts and scrapes, the results of minor, and major, scuffles with bandits and monsters. This time, though, she saw more than her partner and companion, she was also looking at her lover. Lina shivered at that thought. Such a simple word to depict something otherwise indescribable. Somehow though, silently calling him her lover seemed to be the fulfillment of their long relationship, rather than a new phase.

With a wistful sigh, Lina gave up on the thought of the two of them coming up with new ways to fulfill each other, at least for the moment. Gourry looked over at her.

“Get enough sleep?”

“No,” she replied with a pout. “It's unjust to make us work all night and then not have a place for us to catch up on sleep!”

Gourry smiled slightly. “I thought justice was Amelia's thing.”

Lina sniffed. “It's still true.” Although Gourry was bantering with her, it seemed like his attention was elsewhere. “What's up?”

“I'm not sure,” he replied with a shrug. The casual gesture was at odds with the concern in his tone. “The villagers are acting funny.”

“Funny how?” Given his tone, Lina really doubted she would like the answer.

“Well,” Gourry hesitated briefly. “It kinda looks like they're getting ready to burn someone at the stake.”

“What? Who?” Lina felt sick in the pit of her stomach, and she started to jump up out of the bed. One small detail stopped her, however. In spite of the intimacy they had shared, Lina still felt distinctly uncomfortable about Gourry seeing her parade about without any clothes on. “Um . . . Gourry?” Lina blushed. “Could you toss me my tunic?”

For the first time since she had woken up, Lina had Gourry's full attention. His smile was one part mischievous, one part lascivious, and one part pure joy as he scooped her tunic off the floor and threw it towards her. As Lina reached up to catch it, she understood his smile. Not only was her tunic still rather wet, but when she grabbed it, she ended up exposing her upper torso.

Lina glared at Gourry while covering her chest with the tunic. “You did that on purpose,” she accused.

Gourry just laughed while he went over and grabbed her spare clothes from where she had set them out to dry. He rolled them into a ball and tossed them smoothly into her lap.

“Don't look,” Lina ordered, and then started to dress once he had turned the other way. She made a mental note to herself to make sure there was a towel or sheet or something close at hand next time. After glancing over at Gourry's smoothly muscled back, she hoped “next time” would be sooner rather than later.

“Okay, you can look now,” she announced. With the demands of modesty addressed, Lina walked over to the window to see what the villagers were up to. About halfway there, she noticed that Gourry was looking at her. She had never noticed him looking at her like this before, and it made her feel as if she were still undressed. It was both exhilarating and a bit uncomfortable. She considered saying something to divert his attention, but by that point she was over by the window.

Gourry was right. It did look like the village was getting ready to burn someone. There was a stake set up in the middle of the square formed by the inn, the mill and the smithy. Bundles of straw were strewn about the foot of the stake, and off to the side were piles of logs. There were clumps of villagers milling about in small groups, and some small vendors had set up rude tables to hawk their wares. Groups of children were weaving in and out among the adults, and as Lina watched, they mock assaulted another child and dragged her off to the stake. It was pretty clear that they were playing. The girl stood by the stake and screamed theatrically for a few moments before collapsing in a heap. Then she stood up and ran off laughing with her friends. There was definitely a macabre combination of the tense waiting and festival atmosphere that often accompanied public executions.

“Well, what do you think?” Gourry was frowning while he watched the group of children who had just staged the mock burning.

“Yeah, it looks that way to me, too,” Lina replied with a sigh as she pushed her hair out of her eyes. “Maybe we should try to sneak out through the back exit.”

“We could probably stop it,” Gourry suggested with a gesture at the square.

“Yeah, we could, at least for today. Even if we do, though, they'll just try again as soon as we're gone.”

“We could take whoever it is with us.”

“We don't even know what's going on. Maybe they've had this execution planned for weeks. Maybe they've got a dangerous criminal, a murderer or a rapist or something. Maybe whoever it is deserves to die.” And even if they did not, once the blood-lust of a small settlement like this was aroused, nothing but blood would satisfy.

“Lina,” Gourry said sounding sick, “no one deserves to be roasted alive.”

“Try telling them that,” Lina replied harshly, thrusting her chin out towards the crowds of people below. The whole situation made her feel just as sick as Gourry. Still, something was off. Yesterday, and even this morning, the atmosphere of the village had been rather pleasant and open. There had been no murderous undercurrent, or anything to suggest there would be an execution today. She wondered what had happened to change things.

Gourry did not reply right away. Then he clenched his jaw. “Fine, I will.” He snatched his tunic off the valet and started pulling it over his head.

His reaction took her completely by surprise. “I didn't mean it literally . . .”

“Well,” he bit out while tucking his tunic into his pants, “I'm not going to sit by and watch someone get burnt at the stake, whether they deserve it or not.”

There were certain issues where Gourry flat-out refused to compromise—like taking a bribe. Lina sighed. As a merchant's daughter, taking bribes came as naturally to her as breathing, but Gourry had absolutely no tolerance for it—but on the other hand, his unswerving dedication to his principles was part of his charm, and since he let her have her way most of the time, she could afford to be generous, even in a situation that promised to be as messy as this one.

Lina picked up her cloak and slung it over her shoulders. “It looks like it's time for us mighty bone-crushing heroes to get involved.” Lina flexed her muscles and struck a pose.

Gourry flashed a quick look of gratitude as he buckled his armor in place. While waiting for him to finish, Lina gathered up their few belongings. Mostly it was just their laundry. She wrinkled her nose at the sodden ruin of her leggings and under-things that had been wadded into a ball and shoved into a corner. Even without examining them, she knew they were beyond repair, which meant that she had no back-up clothes. Well, she would just have to hold Gourry to his word and make him buy her a new set.

“Ready?” Gourry asked as he fastened on his sword.

Honestly, no. She knew they could deal with a bunch of bloodthirsty villagers, but she was definitely not looking forward to it. And something about the entire situation just felt wrong, somehow. With a mental sigh, Lina pushed her misgivings aside. “Just waiting for you,” she replied with a shrug.

*******************

Gourry watched while Lina took her spells off the window and then the door. He was glad she had agreed to come with him. Sure, all he had to do was wave his sword around a few times and stand in front of the stake looking threatening, and that would probably prevent the villagers from roasting anyone today. Lina could probably deal with the whole mess much better, though. She always seemed to know exactly what to do, no matter what kind of weird situation they found themselves in.

Once Lina finished with the door, she turned around and leaned against it, looking at him. He could not quite tell what was going on behind her eyes.

“What?”

“Come here a minute,” she replied, crooking a finger.

“What?” He repeated as he walked towards her.

Lina straightened up and snaked her arms around his neck, drawing his head down. She kissed him quite intently, her mouth opening just slightly for her tongue to flick out an invitation for his to follow. After a moment, she sighed against him and released her hold on him. “I won't forget your promise,” she commented idly while rapping her knuckles on his breastplate.

“Which promise is that?” Gourry had no idea what she was talking about. He was too taken off guard by her sudden kiss. Not that he was complaining, but for some reason he expected Lina to be more shy about their relationship, not so bold and upfront. Especially after she made him turn away while she dressed.

Lina smiled up at him, a sweet innocent smile, but he could see her eyes dancing. She turned and opened the door. “The promise to buy me a new outfit,” she said over her shoulder as she started walking down the hall.

So that was it. Gourry snorted as he followed her out of the room. “I never said that!” Typical Lina move, to see how much she could extort from him.

“You most certainly did! Right after you ripped my shirt!” She sounded like a maiden affronted, full of righteous indignation, but the look she threw at him was one of barely suppressed mirth.

Gourry grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stop at the head of the stairs, and turned her towards him. He hooked his fingers into the yellow band she had tied around her chest again. “Tell you what,” he said guilelessly, “I'll buy you a new outfit if I get to pick it out.” Fair was fair, after all. She had gotten to dress him up a couple times, so he should get a chance to return the favor.

He could see the wheels turning behind her eyes while she considered his offer. She started to answer, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a blood-curdling shriek from outside. Gourry bounded down the stairs two at a time, with Lina close on his heels.

Out in the square, the mood was decidedly ugly. All the villagers' attention was focused on the center of the square, just to the side of the stake. The shriek they had heard was repeated by a tall woman, who judging by her clothes was probably noble. She stood hunched over the bundle in her arms: it was the body of a young girl, her white shift was torn and bloodied in several places. Beside her stood Deremar's greasy steward, and he was talking very fast. There was an unholy light burning in his eyes, and he shook his fists at the sky to emphasize his words. Gourry heard Lina gasp beside him, just as the steward pointed directly at the two of them.

Almost as one, the villagers turned around, and with a roar, they rushed forward . . . straight at Lina and Gourry. Gourry stared at them for a brief moment while Lina grabbed his arm and started tugging him back through the doorway of the inn. Suddenly, his instincts took over, and he slammed Lina into the ground, rolled over her, and came up standing, his sword drawn before him. An arrow quivered in the lintel of the doorway; had they not moved, it would have taken Lina through the throat.

While they had been evading the arrow, the mob had pushed closer. Several of them were armed with crude weapons: mostly cudgels, with a few pitchforks and butcher knives. Gourry waved his sword in warning, and the crowd hesitated briefly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lina stand up and draw her dagger, and they stood shoulder to shoulder before doorway to the inn. He noted that the crowd seemed a bit thicker on her side. Again, his instincts took over, and he jerked to his left just as another arrow streaked by. Unfortunately, he had not moved fast enough, and he hissed in pain as the arrow embedded itself in his upper arm, the force of its impact forcing him back a step.

“Gourry!” Lina shouted with an edge to her voice as she turned toward him.

The mob surged forward and surrounded them—like a wild animal going in for the kill when its prey is weak—as yet another arrow hurtled towards them. It just barely missed Lina, tearing through her cloak in the process and pinning it to the wall of the inn. While Lina tried to rip her cloak free, Gourry lunged forward to intercept a man who was taking advantage of her distraction. Lina danced out of his path just before the man struck with his cudgel. A flick of Gourry's sword disarmed the man, and then Gourry punched him in the stomach with his uninjured arm, knocking him out.

The crowd snarled when the first of their number went down, and started to press in closer. They were avoiding Gourry's sword and massing on his left.

“Fireball!” Lina shouted and the stake in the center of the square burst into flames.

The crowd turned as one to stare as the fire licked eagerly at the dry rushes, and Gourry turned to look at Lina.

“Guess we shoulda gone out the back door, after all,” she muttered under her breath.

Gourry had no time to answer. The tavern owner was rushing at them through the doorway and another arrow shattered against Gourry's shoulder guard. And then the villagers were on them again. Gourry felt something sharp slice into his calf and he kicked out instinctively. His foot connected with a young woman who had just stabbed at him with a gutting knife, and she went flying back into the crowd. He waved his sword again, and the mob backed off just a bit. Although the arrow in his arm hindered its mobility a bit, he was more hampered by the fact that he could not bring himself to kill any of the villagers, regardless of how hate-crazed they seemed.

“Sleeping!” Lina yelled out, and the tavern owner along with a few people next to him fell to the ground. Gourry could hear a few sawing snores, and a quick glance confirmed that they were sprawled in the doorway. Anyone who wanted to attack them from inside the inn would have to pick their way across a whole lot of bodies, and he took advantage of the situation by putting his back towards the doorway. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lina quickly do the same, ducking an arrow in the process.

The crowd, as blood crazed as they were, could be dealt with. The crowd plus a hidden archer was a completely different situation. The arm that had taken the arrow hurt like hell and was losing effective mobility. The tip of his sword kept dipping towards the ground, and it was getting harder and harder to hold it steady. So far only one arrow had hit, but it was only a matter of time before another one struck home. Something had to be done about that archer.

Apparently Lina had come to the same conclusion. She ducked a bit behind him and let him cover her. Pretty soon, another arrow came streaking towards them. Lina dodged in one direction, while he went the other, nearly impaling himself on a pitchfork. With a grunt and a well-placed kick, Gourry sent it hurtling into the bonfire Lina's fireball had set off. Meanwhile, Lina sent a slew of flare arrows along the path of the most recent arrow. Gourry just happened to glance up in time to see the curtains in a second story window burst into flame.

“He won't be firing any arrows out of that window any time soon,” Lina stated smugly.

“We'd better end this soon,” Gourry grunted out. His sword arm was nearly useless, and he switched his blade to his off hand. Two men at the front of the mob took this as a sign that it was time to press the attack, and lunged at Gourry, one with an old short-sword, the other with something that looked like a cross between a pick and a hoe. Both learned rather quickly that even with his left hand, Gourry was an accomplished swordsman. Two flicks of his wrist, and the short sword went flying into the crowd and the other man was holding a short stick instead of a farm tool.

Suddenly the crowd gasped and backed up a step. Gourry glanced over, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lina step forward, her cloak billowing dramatically from the force of the magical energy she was summoning. Although he kept an eye on the crowd, out of habit more than anything else, most of his attention, like that of the villagers, was fixed on Lina.

A change always seemed to come over her when she used magic. Somehow, she seemed to be more complete, or maybe she was just more in tune with herself. Her eyes were closed as she moved her hands in those gestures that seemed to be a part of spellcasting, particularly for the really big spells. Then she opened her eyes, her jaw set tightly in concentration. The crowd backed up yet another step just as Lina unleashed her spell. “Flare bit!”

A cluster of small fire balls streamed from her hands, scattering into the crowd. Those who were hit went down, and in some cases their clothes caught fire. Everyone panicked at that point. Gourry could see Deremar's steward gesturing wildly. He seemed to be trying to refocus the crowd, but if he was saying anything, it was lost over the chaos.

“Ray wing!”

Just as Lina cast the spell, Gourry's eyes met those of the steward. The hate he saw there struck him with the force of a physical blow. And then Lina scooped him up, and Gourry had to concentrate on not making a fool of himself as the ground swept away.

*******************

Lina flew the two of them beyond the unofficial borders of the village deep into the forest, her mind churning furiously. Why would Deremar's steward have set the villagers on them? What did they hope to accomplish? All Lina knew for certain was that it was very important not to permanently harm any of the villagers until she knew what was going on. It had all happened so fast, but she was glad Gourry had held back as well. Once they had gotten a little bit of breathing room, it was almost comically easy to cow the crowd. A Diem Claw to cause her cloak to billow dramatically, some impressive hand gestures, and even Gourry had looked a bit on the nervous side about what she was casting. She probably could have cast a Zelas Gort on them and had them fleeing before her. As Xellos had said, if you can fool your friends, you can fool your enemies. The situation would have been comical, if not for that archer. Lina set her jaw and looked for a suitable landing place, selecting a clearing close to a small stream.

Once they were on the ground, Gourry shuddered, and sat down hard. “I really hate flying,” he muttered to no one in particular.

Lina ignored him, and focused instead on his arm. “Let me see,” she commanded.

A trickle of blood ran down Gourry's arm, but there was not much bleeding—not a good sign. It meant the arrow had gone in pretty deep. It was amazing that Gourry had been able to use his sword with that arm as long as he had. “I think it needs to be cut out, first. Then I can cast recovery.”

Gourry nodded. “Yeah, that's what I thought, too.”

Lina drew her dagger, and cut away the sleeve of Gourry's shirt. She took a deep breath, her stomach feeling a bit queasy at the prospect of cutting into Gourry. “Ready?”

Gourry clenched his jaw and looked away. With another deep breath, Lina sliced into his arm, as close to the arrow as she could. Gourry hissed, but other than that, he gave no indication that she was hurting him. Once she was pretty sure that she had cut deeply enough, she tugged gently on the arrow which came free with minimal resistance, followed by a great gout of blood. Lina tossed the arrow aside, and put pressure on Gourry's arm to stop the bleeding. Her heart was racing, and she took a couple more deep breaths to calm herself down. Gourry's blood continued to seep under her hands.

“Oh, blessed and humble hand of God,” Lina felt her tension and anxiety melt away as she called on the magic, “life and breath of Mother Earth, come before me and show your great compassion for Gourry.” She could feel warmth welling up inside of her, flowing through her and into Gourry. “Deliver us!”

Time had no meaning as Lina channeled the healing magic she had summoned into Gourry. In an abstracted way, she thought there was something different about the way the spell was functioning, but mostly she concentrating on maintaining the energy. When it finally seemed done, she opened her eyes and lifted her hands. There was a faint scar remaining, but other than that, no sign of injury.

Gourry flexed his arm carefully. Then he smiled up at her. “Good as new,” he announced cheerfully, although his eyes were thoughtful.

Before Lina had a chance to reply, her stomach gurgled insistently. She groaned theatrically. “We haven't eaten since breakfast, and here it is almost sundown.” She surveyed the area. Although it was less than ideal, it would serve as a temporary campground. Gourry's arm may be healed, but he should probably avoid strenuous activity for the rest of the day. “You stay here and rest. I'll go see if I can find us something to eat.”

As she turned to go out in search of food, Gourry called out, “Hey, Lina! See if you can't find some eggs.”

That stopped her cold in her tracks. “Eggs?” She asked incredulously as she turned around to face him. It was a really odd request, considering that they were in the middle of the forest, and neither of them was picky, eating whatever they could forage. “Why do you want eggs?”

“Um . . . I felt like them?” Gourry offered after a brief pause.

“You . . . felt like them?” If anything, that made Lina even more curious. It was uncharacteristic for Gourry to prevaricate like that. “And could you explain to me why you happen to `feel like' eggs, right now, when we're in the middle of nowhere, and the closest chickens happen to be in a village that just mobbed us and tried to burn us at the stake!”

“Why do you think they did that, anyway?”

Lina sat down, clasping her knees to her chest, hunger momentarily forgotten. “Did you hear what Elfred was saying?”

“Who?”

“Deremar's steward.”

“Oh, him. No, I could tell he was shouting at everyone, but I wasn't paying attention to what he said.”

“Gourry, you never pay attention to what people say,” Lina replied in exasperation.

Gourry just shrugged.

Lina heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Elfred said that we had viciously murdered Lucilla. And before you can ask who Lucilla is, Lucilla is, or was, Deremar's niece. The one he was `entertaining' in his chambers last night.” Was it only last night? Last night seemed so far away now.

“The blonde?” Gourry asked in a sick voice. “Was that who that woman was holding?”

“Yeah,” Lina felt just as sick as Gourry sounded. “I'm pretty sure it was her. I think the woman was her mother, Deremar's sister Monara.” She drew a circle in the dirt by her foot.

“Maybe you shouldn't have asked for that extra money after all.”

Secretly, Lina wondered the same thing. Was it her fault that Lucilla had been killed? “Oh, c'mon Gourry, do you really think Lucilla was killed because of that? It wasn't that much more money, after all.”

“But you didn't just ask for more money,” Gourry pointed out. “You also threatened his reputation.”

Lina mulled it over, her finger continuing to trace a circular path in the dirt. “No,” she said suddenly, “it just doesn't make sense, no matter how I look at it. There's no reason to kill Lucilla, just because we threatened to tell about their little affair. They should've tried to kill us instead.”

“They did try . . . well, sort of.”

“Exactly, they tried `sort of',” Lina replied with a snort. “Like an angry mob could have ever gotten the two of us tied to a stake. No, there's something else going on here . . .” She stood up and placed her hands on her hips. “Now, why was it you wanted eggs again?”

It was barely noticeable, but she was pretty sure she saw Gourry twitch at the question. He regarded her cautiously for a good long moment before answering. “You're not going to let it go, are you?”

“Nope!”

“Well, don't say I didn't warn you.”

“Gourry!” Lina was fast losing patience, especially when her stomach rumbled insistently again.

“Okay, okay,” he muttered. “My mother told me I should always eat a boiled egg to restore my vittle energy after . . .”

“Vittle . . . ? You mean vital energy?” Lina interrupted.

“Yeah, whatever.”

“What's the big deal with that?” Lina considered for a moment. “Wait, then how come I've never seen you eat a boiled egg after being injured before?”

Gourry looked at her strangely. “Because I'm supposed to eat one after sex.” He wrinkled his nose. “I don't really like boiled eggs all that much, but . . .” He shrugged. “My mother actually said that my wife should cook it for me, but I've usually just done it myself.” He shrugged again.

Oh. “Well, in that case, I'll see what I can do.” Before Gourry could reply, Lina Ray Winged her way out of the clearing.

Several thoughts whirled through her head, all competing for her attention. The first thought was to return back to the village and steal a couple eggs and chickens—would serve them right for mobbing them. The next was shock at Gourry's tacit admission. Not that she had thought that he lacked experience . . . . Actually, she had never thought of it at all, but now that she did, it made her feel a little weird. She wanted Gourry all to herself, and irrationally, she felt like she had been forced to share him before she had even known him. Combined with completely unfamiliar twinges of jealousy, was the fact that something very strange was going on with Deremar and Elfred. Or at least with Elfred. Who knew what Deremar's role in this situation was? One thing was certain, however, and that was she was going to find out, and whoever was responsible was going to pay. No one messed with the name and reputation of Lina Inverse!