Guardian (Sequel to Fearless)

Chapter Six

The whiskey lit Iris's throat in a wild burn, blazing a path all the way down to her belly. It was like the rogue had swallowed liquid fire. She couldn't help but cough at the suddenness of the sting. The two men --who Hench had introduced as Brawler and Cane just a few minutes earlier-- snorted at how her face puckered. Kayde watched with a bit of a cool smirk, and Hench was simply gauging her... testing her.

Iris gasped after it was down. Hench drank this stuff?

For whatever god-forsaken reason Iris's mentor enjoyed this, the rogue decided that Hench was made of tough shit, through and through. Everyone was silent --as if they were waiting on something to happen. After a bit, it did. A sort of warm, fuzzy feeling ignited in her chest. It was hardly noticeable at first... but it grew rapidly in her belly as the minute went on. Other than that, though, the drink did nothing.

"I see." Iris's tongue moved over her top lip, removing the last of the drink from its surface.

Hench poured another sip into Iris's tankard far before she could even recover from the first taste. Hench's eyebrows raised slightly before she spoke again, but otherwise, her face held no emotion. "Drink."

Iris braced herself better this time... and found that the whiskey went down only a morsel better than it had the first time. This time, it left behind a slight tingle in her throat. The rogue's brown eyes stared directly into Hench's throughout this one. The woman took note of Iris's confidence, and one corner of her mouth turned up ever so slightly.

Hench dispensed more liquid flames into the iron cup. "Drink."

Iris did. This time it was three large gulps. Same sensation. And afterward, Hench finally put the bottle of spirits down, satisfied.

Everyone's eyes were intent on Iris for the next few minutes as they talked amongst themselves. Iris could swear that Kayde's grin amplified with each passing moment. They looked like they were waiting for something, but what that something was, Iris had no idea. She almost asked them. Something happened before she could. Oh. Oh. The floor fell right out from underneath her.

The room went right into a spin, leaving Iris grasping at the table for stability. Oh gods... oh gods. Amused faces spiraled in front of her eyes, one at a time. Iris wondered through her sudden spell why they weren't panicking. The room was... it was... what was it doing, again? Everything went completely still. Blurry... but still. Just stopped. Voices came from all around her --so many voices. But what were they saying?

Iris could hear and she couldn't hear at the same time. The noises were there but they were so muffled, the rogue couldn't make out anything. Except for laughter...

Laughter...

Laughter?

LAUGHTER!

Oh gods, yes! Laughter! Iris wanted to--had to join! And she did. The laughter got louder! What was so funny? She didn't know. But whatever it was --it was so damned funny! And damn it all, she laughed as loud as the others. She wanted them to see that she was happy too, and oh how she loved being happy.

She found a face... a face she knew. Kayde. He was joyful too. Oh! He was laughing with her. She made eye contact, trying to figure out what he was on about. Iris knew what she was so amused at --wait, no she didn't. It didn't matter. She didn't find any trace of what the source might be in the guardian's eyes...

Had his eyes always been so green?

Iris stared hard into them, suddenly finding herself lost in a vast and verdant field of fresh-spring grass. It was then that she decided she'd always like the color of the countryside in early spring --light green just barely tinged with yellow. That was the color of his eyes.