Tora felt his skin go cold as he studied the cuts on Pepper’s face. He could almost feel the dagger that made them, smell the poison they were dipped in that made Pepper’s leaves wilt so… see the sculpted rose on the dagger’s hilt.
*
“Why did you do that?”
Tora asked her when they were alone later, out in the swamp where no one could see them. Baya didn’t look at him.
“Do what?”
“Baya, you cut his eye out! And his face, he-” he felt sick. “That was your own special poison. He’s never growing anything back.”
“What did you expect me to do?” Baya asked cooly. She still wouldn’t look at him, idly tossing rocks across the water. “‘Beautiful eyes’, you said?”
“W-What-”
“Can ya blame me?!” She finally looked at him, fire burning behind her eyes. “What am I t’do with ya?! Yer so ready to jus throw sugar at the drop of a copper! I leave ya alone for five minutes and ya go off flirting with jus anyone! Yer no better than HE is!”
That stung.
“I’m not-”
“Yer not?! I already got me a weed who tells me lies and goes off t’be sweet on others, I dun need another!”
“I’m not Darach!”
“Do ya even love me? Why should I believe ya, when yer so quick ta tellin’ sweet things ta jus any young thing?!”
“Of course I love you, Baya, please!” His voice was pleading, how desperate he wanted her to believe him. “I love you so much it hurts. I… You’re my everything.”
He reached for her hand and held it tight. Her shoulders slumped.
“Always such sweet words. How am I s’posed t’stay mad at you?” She stroked his cheek with her free hand. “That’s the trouble with you though. Yer a real charmer. Don’tcha get it? Even if ya don’t mean nothin’ by it, it don’t mean others don’t get the wrong idea. What am I s’posed ta do?”
He hadn’t thought of that… He remembered Ebril with his too touchy hands. Had that been his fault? Was he really so clueless? And Baya… he thought of the staircase leading to her room, felt his shoulders shake from the fear he had felt back then… was that why she?
Can I get a “EWW BAYA”