Captain Tristan Maelwroth of the Imperial Army was impatient.
Undercover missions were his least favourite. He preferred to be in the midst of a battle, where the action was. Instead, under orders of his superiors, he was sitting in a dank musty tavern, on the lookout for an elfin ringleader who was said to frequent this place.
He doubted she was going to show, he had her description and had thus far seen no stunningly beautiful elfin girls with long lavender hair. He himself was looking non-descript in his black shirt and leather pants.
He watched as the guardsmen he was on duty with refilled their mugs with more ale.
"Might want to hold off on that," He suggested gruffly, "Just in case the elf lass does show."
Ruggs snorted derisively "Not much chance of that, besides she's only one girl, we can handle her."
Hart chimed in, "I'd sure like to handle her, if she's as gorgeous as they say she's meant to be." The pair laughed loudly. Tristan rolled his eyes discreetly and went back to gazing around the tavern in boredom.
He raised his mug to his lips as his eyes drifted to where the beaded doorway was being brushed aside with a tinkle as a new patron entered the Tavern. He coughed on his ale as he stared at her.
She was a sight to behold. Her hair was a riot of lavender curls, spilling over her gracefully curved shoulders and down the back of her white cotton dress. She carried a basket holding bouquets of wildflowers, a rainbow of colours against the starkness of her dress. She glanced around as her eyes adjusted to the sudden dimness inside and she smiled at a few of the elf men who let out familiar whistles as she made her way to the bar.
"Quieten down puppies," She rebuked them in a soft voice that sounded like sunshine. She was standing at the bar right next to Tristan. She set her basket down on the bar with a sigh and rolled her shoulders. Her eyes flicked a curious glance to Tristan, his blue gaze meeting her emerald eyes. She blushed as he caught her looking at him and she looked down at the ground quickly.
Ruggs and Hart were quiet now, waiting for Tristans move. He signalled to them by taking a drink and scratching his head, meaning that they were to wait and let him handle it. He would let them know if he needed backup. His commanders had stressed this was to be a covert mission, no alarming civilians.
The barman moved to greet the elfin girl with an easy familiarity.
"Melitha my dear! How are you luv?" Strange, the report said the lead archers name was Talinka... perhaps this was her code name... no matter.
"Oh Horance, hello. I'm tired, It's far too hot today... The flowers are getting wilted." She said with a pretty little pout to her pink lips, making Tristan take another gulp of ale. He wasn't sure why she was pretending to be a flower wench, but that's what his job was, to find out... and he intended to find out everything.
The barman and Talinka made small talk for awhile, she enquired about his family and he pestered her with questions about if she was getting married yet. Tristan noticed that when she answered that she was still single, a lot of the elf men in the bar seemed to become rather quiet and attentive to the conversation.
He couldn't say he blamed them. She was quite the attractive little traitor.
The barman served her a drink and while no one was looking Tristan slipped a drug he had concealed in his sleeve into the drink. It dissolved instantly, leaving no trace.
She sipped her drink slowly, obviously enjoying the ice cold liquid on this hot day.
"Hot day isn't it," Tristan said to her, giving her what he hoped was a friendly smile.
She looked at him considering for a moment, then she smiled warmly at him and nodded.
Tristan had been expecting some kind of answer and was a little taken aback. The barman gave him a knowing smile that made him feel rather annoyed. He tried again.
"Those are lovely flowers you have there, what kind are they?" Her face lit up.
"Oh thankyou Sir!" She moved her basket so it was closer to him so he could see her flowers better. "Well all of these are wildflowers I gather near my cottage, which is..." She trailed off, obviously having second thoughts about telling a human male who was a complete stranger where she lived. "Near my cottage. Different flowers grow in different seasons, these pink ones see, they are ribbon laces and only grow in summer." She paused and glanced up at him for a moment trying to read his expression.
"Umm... If you are after some flowers for your lady, these pink ones are most popular, they represent devotion and romance."
Tristan felt his face heating up a bit. "Er, no, thankyou." She looked away and they returned to silence.
He needed to get her alone in private before she collapsed. She had finished her drink and was fiddling with her basket, preparing to leave.
"May I help you carry your basket?" He offered her desperately. She looked surprised.
"Well... It's not very far I should be fine, thankyou." She said, but sounded genuinely grateful for the offer.
"No really," He said, getting to his feet, "You've been carrying this heavy thing around all day in the hot sun, please allow me to help you. I wouldn't feel right letting you go off when you look so tired."
She pursed her lips for a moment, "Well... alright then, thankyou very much Sir. I do feel quite tired to be honest."
As they left he signaled the guardsmen to follow at a distance. Elf males by the door were glaring at him as they exited.
She led him down a path that went through a quiet alleyway. As soon as they were out of sight Tristan put down her basket and grabbed her arms.
"Wha-?" She started to exclaim but he put his hand over her mouth roughly and shoved her against the stone wall. "I don't have time for games, Talinka, I know who you really are. You will tell me everything you know."
She looked up at him in utter confusion and fear. What an actress he thought to himself and felt angry at her. "Stop the act!" He hissed loudly.
"What act? I'm not Talinka, I don't underst-" She was protesting until the drug caught up with her and she passed out, collapsing into Tristans arms.
The Guardsmen caught up with him and helped him carry her into the building. The heat had driven everyone inside so there were few passers by to worry about.
He carried her down to the dungeon and sat her unconscious form onto the uncomfortable wooden chair in the interrogation cell. He spared no chance and set about binding her to the chair so she could not move. From all accounts this delicate looking bloom was really a dangerous killer and he wasn't about to be fooled by her gentle appearance.
