Veleria looked down at herself. Her feet touched her own, though the Veleria that reflected back had soles wider than the ones she knew. With some curiosity, she held out her hand and saw the reflection had larger hands with visible veins running along its arms. She took note of their different skin color—hers was a light olive, while her reflection’s was a rich brown with maroon undertones.
“Aren’t you…me?” She asked.
The reflection merely smiled.
“Veleria.”
Hearing her name jostled her awake. She blinked a few times, looking up towards Adrian. Rays of sunlight pierced the canopy to give him a halo effect.
“Let’s get packed up. We should be near Rachdale… With a little haste we can make it before nightfall.” He said, helping her up. Once on her feet, Veleria searched her pockets for the aging compact she had taken from Adrian’s home. He watched her, though Veleria only needed to see that her complexion was normal before returning it to her pocket and facing the man. “Did you have another bad dream?”
“Something like that,” Veleria sighed, a shaken smile on her face. “Anything useful in Rachdale? Do you know it well?” She peeled away from him to begin packing her bedding. While she did that, Adrian downsized the rest of their camp.
“Unless something happened and nobody saw fit to tell me, then there should be a minor outfit stationed there. I’d like to get more water for myself, and more feed for the horses. Maybe a drink or two.” He said, prodding the beasts in question before strapping their packs to them. She joined him and they were off.
* * *
Rachdale was about what she expected. Somewhat backwater, with few amenities. Adrian was able to find his people without too much trouble, though Veleria relegated herself to shadowing him. Her benefactor drank more than he surmised, chatted up a few local women, and otherwise appeared to enjoy himself despite the local environment.
After spending so much time with the sorceress, and soon after Almor, there was little in Rachdale that Veleria found comforting. She nearly tripped on multiple broken cobblestones, there were leering men around every corner, and a cat nearly kicked part of a roof down on her head. That said, whenever Adrian was directly nearby most local folk ignored her. They would sneer and look away, mostly. She was thankful for that.
That was, until she got separated from him.
With a lady in one arm, Adrian was ahead of Veleria when she stepped back somewhat. They were getting a little touchy, and while Adrian had shelled out for two separate rooms, she wanted to give them their space regardless. They hadn’t yet made it back to the tavern. Adrian kissed the woman, so Veleria turned her head. She didn’t pay much attention to her steps, not noticing the man that had stepped between them until she bumped into him.
“Oh, so—“ She stammered, a gasp escaping her lips when he pulled her aside. She watched Adrian and his fling disappear around a corner, her eyes flitting between the space they once were, to the man who just cornered her with an arm to her side and the rest of his body threateningly close.
Her lips thinned as he spoke.
“Haven’t seen you around here before,” he said, his other hand reaching up to pull her hood back.
“I wonder why,” she sniped, her fingers gripping his wrist before he could uncover her. He was well heavier than her, and her grip on him barely seemed to register. Veleria grit her teeth, pulling with what little might she had while he easily pushed her hood back.
“Damn, Giarmund really does have an eye for the good ones. Think he’d mind sharing?”
He tried to use his leverage against her to pin her even more precariously against the wall of whatever building they had stopped by. While she tried to strengthen her grip, her teeth straining against one another, Veleria felt something. Growing heat, her molten blood converging into her arm. She couldn’t see anything beneath her sleeves and gloves, but she could certainly feel it; a strength completely alien, and yet completely natural. A strength that was right. Her strength.
And yet, it wasn’t enough. He slammed her back into the wall. Her wrist could have broken from the angle and immense pressure he put on it.
“Fuck off, I’m not some wh—“
She gaped, her eyes growing wide before she could finish her statement. A large gloved hand covered the man’s mouth and then, just as suddenly, there was a dagger in his throat. He gurgled in surprise, though Adrian pushed him down without taking his hand from his mouth. The man barely struggled before he drowned in his own blood.
“F-fuck, Adrian! You…You just killed him.” She shrunk against the wall.
“Did the idiot a damn favor. He should have known better than to fuck with me and my people.” Adrian said, wiping the dagger clean on his bracer. He placed it back in its sheathe on his belts, then offered Veleria his hand. “Come on, I’ll have one of my guys clean this up. Let’s get you back to your room.”
Shakily, she took his hand, and suppressed a gulp into two smaller, less conspicuous ones.
“I thought…” She breathed. “I thought you were just a thieves guild?”
Adrian gave her a sidelong glance. He held her hand while they walked, only stopping briefly to pull her hood up for her.
“Do you think you can steal shit for a living and not have a few heads roll in the process?” He asked her, rather pointedly.
“I…” She gave it some thought. While she didn’t like to admit it, he was right. “I guess not.”
Adrian squeezed her hand.