***A month and a half after Jameson and Jaxie meet***
Jaxie and I have only been traveling and selling our skills for a little over a month, but already had been making a name for ourselves in the county to the west of her village. Typically we'd either see notices up or hear rumors of people seeking the aid of 'Frostflog and the Crimson Tigress'. Apparently we had been given names by our first client. It was fitting, however. My morningstar was worked on by a marvelous smith to have a shiny tint to the metal, blue nearly as bright as ice. Jaxie was honing her agility and acrobatics, she was as deadly as a tiger now. My father's clan of Orcs did place a large bounty on my head with all tribes in the country. But we were able to make easy work of the ones that showed up. They were starting to get more numbers though, and I was starting to wonder if we shouldn't try and recruit more people.
"Gods, it's good to finally be in another city. As much as I love adventuring with you, I hate sleeping on the ground," Jaxie groaned as we approached a tavern. "The Drunken Dragon Inn... Let's go on in."
I followed her into the tavern and we both took a seat in a booth in a darker corner of the main room. "I don't mind sleeping on the ground much," I said as a server dropped off two paper menus for us. "As long as I get to fuck you first, I can sleep anywhere with you by my side."
We both ordered a pint of ale that arrived at our table rather quickly. Before I could drink a drop, a man who was playing a lute pranced over to us. "Can I help you, bard?"
"You two... Hold on, let me get a good look at you... Yes! Yes, that's it. You, my rugged, rough looking friend are the Frostflog. Which means that you, my lovely, exotic lass are the Crimson Tigress. I've heard so many tales of yours and have been spreading them in the most wondrous songs about the county," he said quickly, managing to get all those words out before I could stop him. "Might it be alright if I sit with you and hear more of your adventures?"
"Fuck off, bard," I told him bluntly, drinking a large swig of ale.
"Come now, let's not be too rash," he said, sitting down and shoving me further into the booth.
I pushed him to the ground and stood up, looking down at him. "Sir, I believe you need a nap. I mean, really, first my lover is taken hostage by a crazed menace, now a man who I thought to be noble is pushing me around."
"What?" I asked. "Your lover was kidnapped?"
"I mean, I- I uh... Yes. Yes indeed she was. One moment I left her in our room, a few hours later I see her being taken in a cage and I had no choice but to flee," he replied, failing to sound confident in his answer.
"Mhm... And where were you when this happened?" Jaxie asked him.
"I was..." he started. Jaxie peered at him with squinted eyes, letting out her claws. "I was sleeping with the daughter of a powerful person in the town because I didn't think it could be done. But I was caught..."
"So you fucked another woman and got caught, then your lover was likely just arrested for your misdeeds. And you fled like a coward," I replied. "I'll say it again, bard. Fuck off."
"Please, just help me get her ba-" he began saying before I punched him in the nose. He dropped to the ground and was snoring.
"Fuck, Jameson... You sure he's alive?" Jaxie asked me. I kicked at the bard's leg and he let out another loud snore. I smirked and nodded, raising one eyebrow. "If I may ask...Jameson sounds so...well, not Orcish. Was that your given name?"
"No..." I said slowly. "My given name was Jok'thar. My father called me that until I realized I was different. A half breed. I was only thirteen, and demanded he called me Jameson. I had to spar with him for him to agree. He kept calling me Jok'thar throughout the fight. Finally I had enough, I kicked his leg in and tackled him, punching him hard until I was pulled off. He called me Jameson from that day on."
Our food finally arrived, along with a sketch of the two of us. It was one of the notices I'd heard about. "Frostflog and the Crimson Tigress can handle any problems you have," Jaxie read. "That's quite something. But this sketch, there's two little tusks that were drawn on your foreh- Hey!"
I snatched the sketch and crumpled it up. "They aren't tusks... I have horns. I try to keep them filed down as much as possible. But when that was drawn they were fuller than they have been in years. It's hard to file them all the time," I told her.
"I never knew you had horns, Jameson. I don't understand why you hide them. I love everything about you," she said. She uncrumpled the paper and held it up at me. "I see beauty in this drawing of you. It captures your rough pale green skin, your fiery yellow and red eyes, your sweet half tusks, your gorgeous scars. And I love how it captures the silver streaks in your dark brown hair."
My heart wrenched as I smiled softly at her. "You want to know why I hide them...?" I asked. She nodded slowly. "Because they make me feel the way I look. Like a monster. I'm not stupid... My mother was most likely a slave. Probably raped by my father. But I don't know. He never told me anything about her. But he made me in a sadistic, evil way. And he used me... I was his torturer, executioner, his murderer. I would interrogate slaves and torture their husbands, brothers, fathers. I'd burn their skulls with my hands, and if the slaves refused to join him, he'd make me kill them after he raped them. I'm a monster. I feel it every day. I'd rather not have the horns to look the part as well. I'd get them removed, but then I'd just have gashes on my head." I chugged the rest of the ale and slammed the pint glass down hard. A number of patrons looked over at us, startled.
"Jameson..." Jaxie said softly. I looked up at her, a single tear dripping down my cheek. "You know that's not true. You aren't a monster. You're kind, soft, caring. You've done horrible things, sure. But you were forced to. And you stopped yourself from hurting me when the choice faced you. You wrapped me in your cloak, and when you bit me after I was fighting with you, you felt terrible. You are a good man. I love you..."
