Oath of Steel

30 |Sweet or Sour?|

A driver stood seated on top of his brand-new C.A.R, waiting right outside the high golden fence as he waited for his employer to come out and pay him the hefty amount he'd promised after heeding his call.

One hand on the mechanical levers- four in total, and the other gripping his hat close to his heart as his thick moustache twitching from the cold under the dark grey sky. The first snowstorm had already passed a fortnight ago, and all citizens had run praying to the Helian Temples all around Lowen to ask the divine to spare them from getting buried under a fresh pile of snow.

He'd crooked his nose aside after the well-dressed man had asked him to drop him in front of the Imperial Citadel; nobody who'd rode with him had ever asked such a daring request. And judging by how the guards had immediately opened the gates after catching a glimpse of him made the driver understand that this wasn't the first time he'd been invited there.

Not even time to think about how much to ask for extra compensation as his shadow emerged from the light mist, dark trench-coat floating in the wind as he took large, confident strides towards his own person.

Rapidly approaching his C.A.R the gentleman apologised for the waiting, taking his hat off before bowing in sign of thanks. The driver did the same, only the heavens above knew what this man could do.

That was when the gates opened for a second time, the mist concealing a hooded figure as it swarmed past the guards, throwing at them a simple greeting before stepping outside of the palace. Her hood coming loose as an elegant braid fell over her right shoulder, the silvery colour of her hair shining as if the moon itself had come down to earth to remind them again of her splendour.

The young woman soon approached his client, a feline smile playing on her thin lips before raising her gaze to meet the diver's baffled one.

A beauty in her prime. Nothing like the courtesans that filled the brothels of District Street, or the luckier ones who'd secured themselves a position inside a noble house. Even luckier if they'd succeeded in producing a bastard they knew their lovers would have not thrown out.

Her eyes, the colour of the freezed lakes in winter. Her pale cheeks, candid like fresh that could only be found on the tops of the mountains during Rowlians' cruel winter. She wasn't little in stature as the many female clients he'd fetched around the city, standing a good feet over the average height he was used to.

The woman caught him looking, tilting her head as her feline smile widened slightly. the ends of her mouth curling as her eyes quickly seemed to grow darker- like when the moon overlapped the sun in a mesmerising eclipse, bringing forward the stars locked like painting inside the astral sky.

The gentleman turned around to greet the dame, who scoffing lightly gestured to the driver to open the door of this C.A.R.

"Where to this time, sir?" The diver asked quietly. Stuttering even as he saw the woman climb inside his C.A.R, not even deigning him of a half-glance as she made her gloved hand slip around the gentleman arm, helping her board his C.A.R.

The gentleman halted midway at the driver's question, one foot on the ground, the other one already inside his mechanical carriage. "To the intersection between Merchants Road and Market Place, I'll double the fee if you take us there in less than thirty minutes." He said before closing the door.

"Are you really so fixated on doing it this way?" The driver heard the woman ask, a chill travelled down his spine, cutting it in two at the coldness laced between her words. Nothing even remotely close to her angelic appearance.

"Don't tell me you want to barge in like a bear running after his stolen honey." A daring yet amused chuckle accompanied him inside the mechanical carriage as his partner quickly slapped his hand away from her braid, the sound of her beige-day lace gloves hitting his darker skin clear as a rain stop hitting a lake.