#whatliesbelow

Tagged by @indecentpause tagging @chaos-reign @nightskywriter @forlornraven @reeseweston

Isaac wished he’d never left the ship. The stench in Lowen had nothing on the odour hanging in the air in the Riverlands. Everything tainted with the scent of rotting fish and an underlying hint of shit, no doubt flowing from houses lining the water’s edge. 

Day 1 of 7 Tag List: @oceanwriter @indecentpause @ratracechronicler @forlornraven @reeseweston ( @katywritesbooks here you go :P ) The first page or so of my Nano project

“What about him?” Isaac followed the direction of Oliver’s finger. Distracted by the dried meats on display in the market the man was attractive enough, but Isaac doubted he’d be interested in wasting the day away in a brothel with a couple of whores.

“No.” Isaac pushed Oliver’s hand down before the man turned and spotted them staring. Isaac gave him an innocent smile then turned his back, leaning against the low wall behind them.

“Come on.” Oli arched his back over the wall, a mischievous glint in his eye that had yet to fail getting them both in trouble. “With that accent and that ass, you could persuade him.” To drive his point home, Oliver slapped Isaac’s ass, smirking.

Isaac grabbed his wrist and growled, “I said no, Oli.”  

“You’re no fun.” Oli tugged his wrist free but said no more, something else having caught his attention.

They’d been lingering on Castle Road for the better part of the afternoon and Isaac’s clothes had long ago been drenched in sweat. He longed for the relief the shade could bring, but Lord Byron had been firm in his orders, as he so often was, and Isaac had no choice but to stay by Oliver’s side until they’d found someone with deep pockets and nowhere to be. As good as Oliver was at pleasing the men and women seeking his company, he’d never been particularly good at discerning between those willing to pay and those with the means to pay.

Isaac watched the water flowing past on the other side of the wall. It ran clear and cool through the entire city. A courtesy bestowed upon the citizens of Lowen by the grace of the royal family. Isaac had never ventured long enough, nor far enough outside of the brothel to see how far they extended. He doubted the rumours of them running all the way to Storm Harbor were true. 

Dipping his hand in the water, Isaac sighed letting the water run between his fingers. It did little to cool him down, but the tension that had been building up in his shoulders eased. He cast one more glance over his shoulder at the bustling market. Today was supposed to be Isaac’s day off, he’d earned it. But Lord Byron had caught sight of several large ships docked in Storm Harbor the previous afternoon and ordered every available person to work.

“The sun’s getting low, Isaac.” Oli pushed away from the wall, stretching his arms above his head. “I don’t much fancy going back empty handed.”

“We won’t.” Isaac grinned at Oli and nodded his head towards someone a few feet away. The man had his back to them, but Isaac could see enough of him to know he had plenty of coin. His black hair hung loose in tight dreadlocks, and the pink scars peppered up his dark arms had obviously been made by swords. His voice carried across the street and the gruff words slurred together made Isaac shiver. A pirate. He was sure of it. 

“You can’t be serious? Have you forgotten what happened last time?”

 Isaac didn’t give Oliver the chance to question him further and maneuvered his way across the bustling street, barely avoiding being trampled a horse and cart as he subtly inched closer to the pirate.

Feigning interest in a butcher slicing a rather large carcass, Isaac looked for the pirate's purse. It hung from his belt by his hand, conveniently resting against the handle of his sword. The pirate didn’t seem too concerned about his coin, making him easy pickings for anyone, including Isaac.

He reached for the purse. A hand gripped his shoulder, forcefully turning him away from the pirate. Without a word, Oli dragged Isaac in the opposite direction. 

“Let go of me,” Isaac growled, pulling his arm free.

“Are you stupid? You know as well as I that stealing from a pirate ends one way.”

*squints* what is … happy?

“What about you?” Isaac asked slowly, his focus slipping between the hands running down his back and the questions he’d been longing to ask since boarding the ship.

“What about me?” Pax murmured. His teeth grazed Isaac’s shoulder sending a violent shiver down his spine. Paxton chuckled and shifted away from Isaac, leaving him shivering from the sudden cold instead of desire. 

Pax propped himself against the wall, staring down at Isaac. Isaac rested his cheek against his crossed forearms, blinking away the exhaustion. “Why piracy? You’re a crowned prince of one of the largest countries in the world.”

“The largest,” Pax corrected. He sighed, dragging a hand back through his hair. “I’ve been on the water for as long as I can remember.” He reached across Isaac and pulled a roll of paper under the window. Carefully he unfurled the paper. Isaac hauled himself up to sit beside Pax, opting to lean against his shoulder to peer at the paper. It was a smaller version of the map sitting behind Pax’s desk, except small islands had been added in the empty space reserved for the ocean. 

Isaac traced his finger around one of the smaller islands. It had no name, no lines to separate countries. At least, not yet. “You found all these?”

Pax nodded. “I want to find everything I can out here. If there’s two large land masses already what’s to say there’s not another, or three. The maps all stop in the same place.”

“The edge of the world,” Isaac whispered, his fingers running along the edge of the paper. 

Pax caught Isaac’s hand, tossed aside the map, and pulled Isaac onto his lap. The spark of excitement in Pax’s eyes and the boyish grin plastered across his face was too contagious and Isaac couldn’t help laughing.

“We’ll go there. Beyond the map, where no man has ever gone.”

“We?” Isaac shifted, straddling Pax’s waist. “You mean you’ll take me with you?”

tagged by @forlornraven tagging: @ratracechronicler @chaos-reign @riftversus @indecentpause @nightskywriter @type-writings

“You’re more than welcome to come. Marcus and I will be picking up our next contract. It’ll all be rather boring.” [Paxton]

“Contract? But you’re …” [Isaac]

Tagged by @writingmyassoff @reeseweston and @forlornraven twice :P tagging: everyone back, obviously, and @riftversus @ratracechronicler @nightskywriter @indecentpause   

cw: blood

tagged by @forlornraven <3 tagging @type-writings @ratracechronicler @reeseweston and @reining-in-the-fire-writing

Tagged by @writingmyassoff and I’m tagging you back because this is the cycle I wanna be stuck in (I’m writing because of this tag) tagging @forlornraven and @reeseweston because if I have to suffer you have to suffer.