Nightingale and Eagle; (Quest 1) Nordic Invaders
This is the 6th Nightingale and Eagle story, the continuing adventures between these two. Will it ever lead to romance?
This is also the first part of the Quest, which will be explained later.
These are based, somewhat loosely, on the Top Games game “Evony; The King’s Return,” available on mobile and PC.
As they walked up to the castle door, Nightingale looked over at Eagle again, still not sure about what he was thinking of. No, this wasn’t his kingdom. They left that, together, two days ago.
Still, her heart beat quickly, knowing that, in this “royal procession,” it was just the two of them. He only wanted her there. Did he know? Had he realized how she felt about him?
But she had to wonder something else too. Nearly everywhere she looked in this kingdom, there were cats. It seemed like they had free roam, chasing and meowing and everything. Still, she had a few centuries of experience, and she knew that every kingdom had their own little quirk.
As the door opened, an attendant recognized them and started escorting them through the castle. It had been 14 months since Nightingale had felt the desire to steal anything, 14 months since they found Eagle, but she still looked around. Precious things seemed to adorn every wall, seemed to speak of elegance. It would be easy to do.
As they entered the final room, Nightingale saw a woman who appeared only a little older than herself, kind of pretty. She grinned big when she saw who was beside Nightingale. “Eagle?”
He smile din greeting. “Hello Allie.”
It was all very proper, very courteous, as she came down. Nightingale watched, wondering what Allie was trying to do. Why was she here if Eagle was going to meet with another woman who thought as obviously highly of him? As Allie reached them, she turned to Nightingale. “I’m Allie, the ruler of this kingdom.”
Nightingale extended a hand to her, wanting to gauge her reaction. “Nightingale. Personal security.”
A sly look crossed Allie’s face as she turned back to Eagle. “Your personal security is extremely beautiful.”
He just smiled, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I know. But we’re not here for you to try and give me tips on romance.”
Nightingale’s eyebrows shot straight up. Tips on romance? Allie slipped an arm into Eagle’s, and then another into Nightingale’s. “Then come. Tell me what caused this visit, as welcome as it is.”
As they sat, Eagle started to talk about their mission as he’d described it to Nightingale. With how the frequency of undead attacks kept going up, Eagle decided they had to find the source, the wellspring of where they were coming from.
Allie listened, agreeing that the attacks had been more intense lately, realizing the same thing Eagle had. They were coming from all different directions. “So how can I help?”
Eagle touched Nightingale’s arm. “You know I have an extensive library, but it’s not complete. You have a lot about the old ways, back a thousand years ago. We’re here to see what we can find.”
Allie patted both their hands. “Of course. Feel free to…”
She was cut off as an impressive looking lady burst in. “Excuse me empress, but they’re attacking again.”
Allie’s eyes rolled as she groaned. “Okay, same pattern as before.”
Eagle looked at Nightingale. “What’s going on?”
Allie sighed. “We’ve had some constant Viking attacks the past couple of weeks. Our forces can hold them off, and we have a plan that seems to work….”
Nightingale knew a bit about strategic planning. She had a few centuries experience with it during their time as thieves. “Let me see what’s going on.”
Eagle touched Nightingale’s arm as Allie looked at her questioningly. “Trust me, she’s had plenty of experience.”
Eagle opened another tome, dust flying from it, setting it down between himself and Nightingale. As she looked at it, she understood it. At least a little. A part of her remembered that language from centuries ago, so she read.
As she did so, knowing that it was, perhaps, the hundredth time in the past couple of days, she reflected back on Allie. Of course, she realized Allie was just a very nice person, very warm, very welcoming, but she was also kind of cheeky. That was obvious from the fact that the room she gave them had just one bed in it.
But Eagle was always the perfect gentleman. She never felt coerced or manipulated and he never laid an inappropriate hand on her. Still, she kept it internal that she wanted him to.
As she read the text, she found a spot that brought her out of her thoughts. “It says here that there are 26 so-called dragon relics, locked in the ancient tombs to keep from being misused. These relics include….”
And she listed off what they were. They all sounded fantastic, impossibly so, but also stated that many went to try and retrieve the relics for these miraculous powers, and, although a lot of them returned empty handed there were some that never came back.
One of the dragon relics caught her attention, though. The Golden Medallion was supposed to grant the wearer immortality. Briefly, but only briefly, she thought of what that could mean if she managed to find it for Eagle, knowing that it could lead to them being truly forever.
Reading the rest of the description, though, she saw that it wouldn’t be what she wanted as it would, eventually, drive the wearer mad.
Eagle, however, wrote down what she read off, then mentioned that, the next day, they’d be ready to go.
Allie had to hug Nightingale. “Are you sure this plan will work against the vikings?”
Nightingale smiled and nodded.”Yeah. They love gold. I told you that. Getting enough gold in a place to trap them should save you a lot of heartache.”
She seemed a little put out. “Wish you guys could stay and see if it works.”
Eagle patted Allie’s shoulder. “Let us know when we come back through. We have to keep looking for a way to stop the undead, you know that.”
Allie bumped his arm playfully. “Okay. Now you two had better behave, but not too much.”
As they left, Nightingale had to wonder, again. Is it really so bad, spending all this time alone with the man she loves? Would he admit he loves her too? How would that work out?