“Is it… really that dangerous out there?” Cora asked, finding it hard to believe. Every city on earth had bad neighborhoods, but people were talking like they’d be walking out into an active war zone.
“Pretty thing like you?” Hawk cooed, still with that terrible smile. It certainly wasn’t doing anything to Cora’s traitorous downstairs. “It’d be worse than ol’ Soldier-Stache is making it sound. Back when I was the danger out there, we woulda grabbed you on principle, not even sure we woulda paid any mind to you bein’ noble, your house havin’ fallen so low ‘n all. If we’d even known you were, that is. I sure as shit didn’t know Linnaeus had a sister, you’ve got the street cred of a wet rat.”
Iain winced, but nodded. “Hawk’s right,” he said, “Seems like ye really don’t remember shit, Linnea, but ye weren’t one to leave the complex.”
“That’s… maybe not such a bad thing, right?” Cora said, grasping for positives. “Basically no-one will know that I’m any different?”
“Aye,” Iain agreed, “save for the few other noble and slaver contacts your brother still had. They’ll be real surprised iff’ ye don’t turn up with Kyra on a leash.”
“What is with that!?” Cora groaned. “Not, like, her being mad, obviously that makes sense, but I, uh, I woke up with her this morning and she seemed like a completely different person. Kinda person I could put a leash on, and not expect them to hang me with it.”
“I can answer that!” Hawk said, leaning forward, even more of her impossible bulk pushing Cora into the couch. “We’d been talkin’. See, I hadn’t decided yet if I was going to fuck you, or kill you, and I was testin’ the waters with Kyra to see if she wanted in. Not the fuckin’ part, I assume, but I thought your bed slave might know whereabouts you kept the goods. Probably the only reason you’re still breathin’, I am, otherwise that crazy bitch would’ve slit your throat the second dear brother wasn’t around to avenge you on everyone else once she was dead. As of this mornin’ I was still deciding myself. Thanks for makin’ the choice real easy, least for now.”
The implication of that statement was not lost on Cora, but it wasn’t something she was going to worry about. Even if Hawk was 100% serious, the giantess was, well, she was kind of doing it for Cora. And if that ever changed, none of these people knew how dangerous Cora Casanova could actually be.
Maybe time they found out, actually. Gotta set a standard.
Hawk was heavy, but Cora was slippery, and in a flash she’d twisted herself around Hawk’s ankle, dropping into an Achilles lock and yanking hard. Hawk roared in pain and shook her leg, which only made it worse even though she tossed Cora around like she was made of feathers. After a moment, she made the kind of laugh you can only make in great pain, and tapped against the side of the couch.
“Damn, kitty, you got claws. Kyra ought to pay better attention, she said I could kill you blindfolded.”
“Ye could have…” said Iain, eyes narrowing, yet another person wondering if maybe there was more going on here than some kind of weird stroke. A weird stroke that had somehow made Linnea grow a conscience. “Linnea, ye were always hot fuckin’ garbage in the few training sessions yer brother dragged you to, were ye fooking sandbagging teh whole blasted time?”
Cora had to stifle a grin as Iain’s accent got more and more impenetrable as he got upset. That, and the fact that Linnea maybe or maybe-not sandbagging during training was of more concern to him than anything else discussed during this meeting. Cora gave one more warning twist to Hawk’s ankle, before uncoiling herself from around the woman’s leg.
“I am not the woman you knew,” Cora said, wanting to elaborate but having the absolute knowledge she’d just sound insane. “The woman I am, has a few tricks up her sleeve.”
She followed that up with a cheeky wink to Hawk, just to make sure the giantess knew that as long as she was willing to play nice, Cora might not be opposed to playing along.
“Well, I’ll need to see more than a fancy ankle lock to believe it,” Iain said with a shake of his head, “but I’m well enough on my way. Listen, I’m of the mind we’ll not be making a lot of big decisions until Ol’ Mikey has finished lookin’ over yer brothers documents. Why don’t we head down to the training yard, put ye through yer paces.”
“That.. that actually sounds pretty goddamn good,” agreed Cora, hopping up off the couch. With a stretch that felt like it took up the whole room, Hawk followed.
“That it does,” she said. “I’ll be coming too. If Iain’s planning on taking you out on the town, you’ll want me with you. Plenty of motherfuckers round the streets of Light’s Fall that remember my pretty face.”
“Oh aye?” Iain shot back, holding open the door as the women filed out. Jocasta hustled off elsewhere, but Tania stuck with the group. “Remember ye in the fond kind’ve way? Or remember ye as the face they see durin’ target practice?”
Hawk grinned wide and dark.
“Probably more of the second one,” she admitted, “but that just means they know their hands’ll be shakin’ too bad to hit me.”
Iain scoffed, but seemed like he accepted the bravado and motioned for them all to follow.