FULL NOVELXO Chapter Twenty-Six: Marley
“Come spar with us!” Pipèe shouted as she held a sword in her paw, fighting Figus as if she had some grudges against him that she was slowly getting out with each hit. “I need a real challenge!”
“Am I not enough for you darling?” Figus questioned with a smirk and a taunting tone. “You didn’t say that last night while we were-”
“Finish that sentence and I will end you!” Pipèe growled, attacking him again as he dodged and counter-attacked.
Marley watched them with a small smile on her face, gripping the handle of her sword to regain the feel of it again. It had been so long since she last held this weapon and in between that time she knew that she wasn’t the same person who entered this journey anymore. The old Marley was angry, naive and stupid. The old Marley opened her mouth without thinking and would constantly talk to strangers to annoy her father but this new Marley had more of a brain. She felt confident and strong. She felt like she could do anything she set her mind to and for that reason alone is why she joined the two feline lovers in their battle.
She stood over them as if she were a giant as she pulled out the trusty dagger that Ava had given to her so long ago and began to spar. Figus kept shouting ‘on guard!’ and making himself look like a fool while Marley laughed and dodged his small blows. She unknowingly decided to help Pipèe win as she figured Figus had opened his mouth and said something wrong again. That tended to be their relationship, arguing over the fact that Figus opened his big mouth and said something he shouldn’t have and from the looks of things Pipèe was getting tired of it.
Marley wondered if they were mates or if companions even get mates at all. She has seen so many companions in the guild from the short days she has been here. From flamingos to rats, she has seen it all and their owners match them perfectly and from that, her curiosity towards Ziggy grew. You would have to be one special person to have two companions.
“Care for a real challenge?” Sawyer questioned from behind her, she felt a cold blade touch the nap of her neck and shoulder while she felt her heart jump with sudden adrenaline, dropping the dagger and taking out her sword as she turned and removed Sawyer’s blade from her skin.
“What is your wager?” She questioned back, eyeing his small smirk. It was getting hard to look at his face without jumping into his arms to kiss him again. After one kiss, she found herself craving more. Even in that moment, her body will heat and parts of her yearned for him entirely and those feelings were getting stronger and stronger as the days passed.
Sawyer hummed, waving his sword around her chest as his answer, causing her to roll her eyes and attack him first. He swiftly moved and avoided her attack before he threw one of his own almost hitting her in the arm while she twisted her body and laughed. “I didn’t know that we were playing dirt!”
“I wasn’t but if you want to play dirty,” He chuckled, tilting his sword so that it would tangle in her freshly cleaned dress, and made her fall on her back with a grunt. “Then I will play dirty.” He finally finished as she glared up at him with a huff.
“You are an ass!”
“Doesn’t stop you from looking at it!”
“Wow, you two have changed,” Figus stated in disbelief whilst he used his own sword to lean his body weight on. “I remember when you barely looked at him because he gave you the cold shoulder and I remember you looking at her as if she were made out of glass and would suddenly disappear if you blinked.”
“In short,” Pipèe rolled her eyes with a sigh. “We are glad to see that you both allowed the mate bond to work its magic.”
Marley didn’t know what to say as she stood and placed the sword back in its spot along the straps she placed around her waist before relocating her dagger and placing that back on her person as well. “You can only fight the mate bond for so long.”
“That I do agree with,” Pipèe said as she eyed Figus and then turned back to Sawyer and Marley. “Are you leaving now?”
Sawyer nodded. “Yes, we need to before I change my mind about her doing this for me.”
“I will be fine!” Marley fought, she found it a little humorous that he thinks that something bad is going to happen but at the same time she felt it too. Marley didn’t want to admit it because that would mean that she was accepting the feeling but she also felt like something bad was going to happen once they find the opening of the cave to the dragons. But she was never going to say it out loud, not now while they were so close to the end of their journey.
Sawyer sighed and shook his head before they said their goodbyes to Pipèe and Figus. Marley would have said goodbye to Ziggy and Simon as well but they were nowhere to be found again so she left it. She felt her heart drop at the thought of leaving, out of all the places they have been The Guild of Assassins was the most friendliest and nicest place to stay. She would have never thought that the land of killers would feel like home to her.
Marley looked up at the towers one last time as she waved at the cats with a sad smile and softly mumbled to herself whilst Sawyer was distracted. “I am fine, I will be fine. I have to be.”