Nightingale and Eagle; Why Not Experiment?

This is the third Nightingale and Eagle spin-off story, continuing the original Nightingale series and what happened during the 5 years where she actually fell in love.

Again, Nightingale is based on the original character created by Top Games in their game Evony; The King’s Return on both mobile and PC.  Much more than just puzzle solving, it’s also world-building.

 Nightingale, Nell and Duke fell into a routine since getting hired by Eagle.  It seemed so strange, but, yet, not, not moving on.  Yes, Nightingale still sang, but it wasn’t for any bit or scam this time.

 She’d been told she has a beautiful voice, and she knew she could entrance crowds, but, now, she was using it for something very different.  It seemed so weird, just doing it to try and calm the populace down when there was an unprovoked attack.  But it worked.

 Eagle rarely went to war.  It was just part of the policy not to.  He reinforced allies and battled unusual creatures, but never just out-and-out attacked another kingdom for his own glory.  Yet people saw him as weak because he did so.

 Not everyone.  This time, when they got news a raiding party was coming from somewhere south, one of Eagle’s allies, an older woman named Bea, came in to reinforce.

 And Nightingale had to admit she liked Eagle’s policies in the ranks.  Sure, he had many men as soldiers, but the vast majority of his generals were women.  It’s like he knew who were the better leaders.

 The Thieves, though, were waiting on the steps of the palace.  The raiders had been defeated, but Bea wanted to come and visit Eagle herself, claiming she hadn’t seen him in a while.  Nightingale corrected herself.  It had been 3 months since they’d been thieves, 3 months of being personal guards to Eagle.

 The carriage pulled up and Eagle stepped forward, himself, to offer Bea a hand getting out.  Yes, she was a bit older, but nowhere near as old as Nightingale herself.  They stepped forward, as they were expected, as Bea stepped out. “Oh, thank you.”

 Eagle waved them forward. “Bea, meet my personal guards.  This is Duke, Nell and Night.”

 As they stepped forward, bowing a little formally when their names were called, Bea suddenly brightened up with Nell. “Are they trustworthy?”

 Eagle laughed a little.  He knew their history, their long history. “Yes, I trust them with my life.”

 She reached out and slipped an arm into Nell’s. “Then let’s get going.”

 The dinner, of course, was fantastic.  Eagle had a policy of not having the three of them just stand around, but actually sitting and enjoying the meal with him.  Nightingale did often smile because, many times, it was just the two of them, but he wanted to pull everything out for Bea.  Still, a part of her did know one of the reasons, slight.  Even though he was very well liked, she knew Eagle didn’t take chances.

 But, if one of them died from poison, they wouldn’t stay dead.  It was part of their immortality.

 But she had to steal a glance and smile at Bea.  She had that look in her eyes, always looking at Nell and just smiling, laughing at something lame Nell would say.

 If Nightingale didn’t know better, though, she’d think Nell was flirting with her as well. “I’d like to talk to you alone when we’re done here.”

 Eagle snapped her out of her reverie. “Oh?  Oh, of course.”

 Her heartrate picked up at the idea, not knowing what it might be.  Still, a part of her always hoped.  But for what?

 Nightingale found herself in the medical center, Eagle explaining things as they went in. “I’ve been curious about this for a while, but I wouldn’t order this.  If you don’t want to, I’ll respect that.”

 She looked at him, a little huff. “What?”

 He sighed. “I’m just wondering what happens when one of you dies.  I mean, for us mere mortals, there’s pain and a sort of letting-go feeling, but what about you?  What really happens to your bodies?”

 The thrill went through her as she remembered. “It’s a sort of warm sensation, very pleasant.  As per what happens when our hearts stop beating, well, none of us really know.  All we know is that a couple of days pass and we wake up somewhere else.  Don’t know why that is.”

 Eagle sighed, handing her a knife. “I’m guessing it’s something about where you most want to be when you die.  But, if you’d be so kind, and if you want to, we’ll keep an eye on your body as you die so that we can actually know what happens.”

 Nightingale took a few deep breaths as she took the knife.  The sensation came back and she felt a different sort of thrill as she knew what he was saying. “Anywhere?”

 Eagle shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me, and it might help if you could describe what it feels like as you die.”

 She stopped a moment before she did it. “But how could I control where I wake up?”

 Eagle smiled at her. “I’m guessing that, if you concentrate on where you really want to be, that’s where you’ll be when you come back.”

 Taking a steadying breath, enjoying the feeling again, Nightingale plunged the knife into her abdomen.  The wonderful sensation of the pain and torture coursed through her body as she described exactly what she was feeling as her heart started to pump her life out.  She tried to think about where she wanted to be, but it felt more like instinct than anything else as she felt her heart come to a stop…

 ...Nightingale awoke, looking around.  The place felt very comfy and very familiar.  And she had something different on this time, something soft and delicate.  And lacy.

 It took her a moment before she recognized where she was and sat up as a voice came out of nowhere. “There you are.”

 Eagle lit a candle.  Yes, Nightingale was in Eagle’s bedroom, and in very different night clothes from her usual fare.  Eagle just smiled at her as she tried to get up. “No, it’s okay Night.”

 She looked at him, seeing the amusement in his eyes.  And the assured.  She always felt safe, even now, but it wasn’t proper.  She was his guard. “But I…”

 Eagle laughed, patting the pillow beside him as he propped himself up on his side.  Nightingale took the offer and laid down beside him, feeling her heart pounding.  For a moment she didn’t realize she was smiling softly before she covered it up. “So, what happened?”

 He sighed. “About 12 hours after your heart stopped beating, your body became a sort of mist, just dissipating.  That was about 36 hours ago.”

 That solved one mystery. “And then.”

 He laughed a moment. “I felt a sort of pleasant tickling sensation beside me about 10 minutes ago before I felt the heaviness of your body.  Before I could light the candle, you gasped yourself awake, fully back, and in that.”

 She giggled a little nervously before changing the subject. “So, what happened with Bea?”

 He laughed. “She and Nell have not been seen for a couple of days now.  Duke’s outside the door.”

 She looked at the door suspiciously before he seemed to read her thoughts again. “He knows about what we were doing.  I think that, when you go out there, he would be surprised, but not too much so.”

 The idea came to her mind unbidden.  What if the rumors started.  Still, Eagle made her feel comfortable, made her feel safe. “But it’s not proper.”

 He laughed at that. “Hey, we’re friends.  And we’er business partners.  I’m okay with that.”

 They talked for about another hour, Nightingale describing what it really felt like to die, before she had to admit she felt a little sleepy.

 And, as she drifted off, a part of her wondered what it would be like to really experience what a bedroom session with Eagle would be like.  She felt a great smile as she snuggled into the blanket.