Tiefling Boyfriend (Complete)

    As a mercenary, my job is really quite simple. I get paid to do whatever my employer wants, and I do it. Although, for a while now, it hasn’t been that much fun of a job. In fact, I kind of hate it. I’m bored with it all. I’m sick of people. No wonder my brother left. 

    Recently, I’ve been hired by a group of Gnolls who somehow survived the purge on Culuweth. The job is simple, I’m to kill Queen Mythri and her children with King Amit.

    “You know, I’ll have to charge extra for this,” I reply.

    “Anything, anything!” The Gnoll named Wulsi snarls. “Name your price, I don’t care. I just want that bitch and her brats dead!”

    For some reason, I feel really uneasy about this. “I understand what you want, sir. It’s just that after the previous attack I don’t think it’s going to quite so easy to get into the Rakshasa Court looking the way I do.”

    “I don’t fucking care! Just take care of them, Blink.” Wulsi almost seems to be foaming at the mouth over this one.

    I sigh and take my first half of the payment. I leave that evening, taking a ship across the sea to the shores of the Rakshasa Empire. I guess Tieflings aren’t too common here, because I am getting looks and stares from every angle. 

    Not that we Tieflings have that great a reputation anyway. My brother, Odd, used to tell me that people are just inquisitive. They want to know but at the same time don’t want to get close. He always had a strange spin on things.

    The first thing I do is start making my plan. The castle is under repairs, so that’ll make it a bit easier for me to sneak in. The war had done it’s damage to the place. Half the palace had been ravaged by Dragon-fire while the other half suffered under the hands of the attacking Gnolls. Lord knows why I would ever want to get caught in the middle of this catfight. Actually, part of me hopes I get caught, but I try not to think about that.

    Gaining entry into the castle will be easy, getting out, especially with four children, will be quite the feat. After making my plans and charting my entry, I put myself into motion. I sneak in with supplies and am carried in by the Rakshasa repairing the walls. 

    Inside, I feel like I have it easy, and then I see the guards. They’re placed all around the charred remains of the garden.

    “Fuck,” I snarl. I lean back against a wall and huff. “Ok so,” I look back out and count. “So six guards ok,” I grumble as I rack through plans in my brain. “I could use the darts, but I need those for inside the castle.” I search through my pockets, tossing things out in hopes of finding a miracle. All I find is some dirt, lint, my pipe, several pits of string, my old rusted dagger I really only use for marking, and then an old piece of candy covered with my hair than a dog.

    “Or I could just die,” I say to myself. “That sounds nice.” I stand back up and look over my shoulder into the garden. “Yeah, I’ll just die.” I then hear something. I turn, seeing to my left a Rakshasa maid is leaning out a window, tossing a bucket of mop water to the ground below. She slips back into the window, and I sigh. “Or I climb.” I think for a moment. “Die,” I hold out my right hand. “Or climb,” I hold out my left.

    I sigh, and my shoulders slump. “Climb.” I go over to the wall and start finding finger holes in the stone. I make a jerky, slow climb up and peek into the window. I see that it leads into a washing room. Maids keep coming in and out of it. My fingers are starting to ache, and I have no idea when the room will be empty. 

    I’m fixing to let go and give dying a try when I hear a loud, sharp whistle. “Ok, everyone! Lunch is being served!”

    The maids in the room start to file out, and the door closes. With a sigh of relief, I climb in through the window and stand there in the cold, soap smelling room. I look around the room and start going through baskets of dirty laundry. Perhaps if I can find a disguise, I won’t stick out so much. Unfortunately, the only thing I can find is the maid uniforms. 

    I look over the dark blue fabric of the dress and sigh. “Well,” I click my tongue. “I’d probably stick out more if I wore this thing.” I toss the dress aside. “Big dude in a tiny dress? I’d attract the wrong kind of attention.” 

I look through the window of the cleaning room door and see a hallway directly in front of me and to the left. I step outside and look around, hearing only the giggling of the maids as they leave for lunch. That sound comes from the hallway to my left, assuming that’s the way to the kitchen, I head straight forward.  

    Using what layout I knew from stalking around the grounds, I can tell this hallway runs along the side of the garden, this means it could come out into the solarium in the center that was crushed. Once I get there, I have to make my way around guards. Unless I could find another hallway.

    I’m able to move pretty quickly through the corridors. Only a few times do I really come across anyone, and by then it’s easy to hide. It seems, most of the staff are away attending to the city and civilians while most of the guards are serving Amit while he’s in Culuweth.

    Finally, I come to the hall with the bedrooms of the royal family. When I see two guards at the wait, I’m not surprised. Honestly, I’m surprised there weren’t more. There are a panther and a cheetah standing watch. All I have to do is get the drop on them, and I can get into the queen’s chambers.

I then see a Lynx coming out of the bedroom. The guards nod to her as she passes by. I hide in the shadows. I watch as she goes by, and then I slip back out. I prepare my dart, shooting the cheetah first and then the panther. They go down before I even reach them.

    I go to the bedrooms doors, preparing my knife. I hear the queen singing softly inside. Her voice is low and gentle, and I can hear the soft, pathetic whimpering of an infant. I feel uneasy again, guilty even. It’s strange, I’ve never felt that before. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. 

    I open the bedroom door and step inside.

    “Did you forget something Penelope?” Mythri hums.

    “Mama!” One of the little boys screams from the bed.

    Mythri whips around, she holds the infant princess in her arms. “Oh my god!” She screams, and she rushes for the little boys. “Himank! Hold your sister!” She urges, and she stands before the bed while the children cry.

    “Let it be easy,” I tell her. “I’ll make it quick for all of you.”

    The little boys are shivering and cowering while the infant whines and whimpers, crying because her mother let her go. The queen is glaring at me, fire in her eyes even as she cries. 

    “Please, why are you doing this?” She whimpers.

    “Nothing against you personally, your highness,” I reply. “Just a job.” I grab her, and the children scream. The queen fights against me, clawing at me and biting my arm. I’m hesitating. Why? I watch the children and see the screaming, crying baby. The little boys can’t be more than six. One gets up and starts to run towards us, and Mythri yells at him.

    “Himank, don’t!” She cries. “Himank please-” she sobs.

    “But Mommy!” Himank sobs as his brother pull him back.

    I lower my blade, and I start to release Mythri.

    “Get your hands off her you bastard!” A chair crashes down on my head.

    Mythri scrambles and runs to her children, grabbing them all up in her arms as I’m tackled and thrown to the ground. It’s the Lynx from before. Her paws wrap around my throat, and she bangs my head to the ground.

    “Stop it! Holy shit!” I grab her and pull her off and push her down as I get up. “Calm the fuck down, lady!”

    She wrenches her paw free and slashes me across the face with her claws. I scream and fall backward, clutching my bleeding face.

    “I swear,” she pants as she stands up. “I’ll kill you if I have to!”

    I drop my knife and throw my hands up into the air. “Stop!” I gasp. The room is quiet save for the crying of the children. “I surrender.”

    The Lynx scoffs at me. “You what?”

    “I surr-” I’m stopped. The sound of something zipping through the air and strikes my ears as well as my shoulder. I look down, seeing an arrow struck through me. “Oh shit,” I whisper.

    “Chiyo,” the lynx gasps as a woman comes into the room, aiming an arrow at my head. 

    “You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you through the throat,” the woman snarls. “Don’t move,” she commands me. “Who sent you?”

    I swallow and try to catch my breath. “Gnoll loyalists,” I gasp with a sputtering breath. The pain in my arm is blinding. “Wulsi,” I manage to get the name out as the pain starts to get to me.

    “Wulsi?” Chiyo snarls angrily. “The general?”

    “Yuh-yes,” I feel woozy and sick. “He and the others they-” I start to sway, and I fall to my knees.

    “He’s bleeding out,” the lynx gasps.

    Chiyo growls. “Get him patched. I want him fucking alive!”

    I blackout as the lynx runs at me. I wake up later and see the guard posted at the foot of my bed. The little Lynx is standing beside me, checking my bandages.

    “Oh shit, I’m alive?” I groan.

    Her ears flicks, and she turns to me. “Of course you are,” she says. “I’ve not lost a patient in ten years. Just because you tried to kill the queen and the royal children, you’d think you’d die?”

    “You’re being sarcastic,” I smirk and raise my weak hand. “I like you.”

    “You’re lucky,” Penelope hisses. “Chiyo and the Queen want you alive for questioning.” She huffs and shakes her head.

    “I was surrendering, you didn’t need to shoot me,” I grunt, feeling a throbbing ache.

    Penelope sighs. “Yeah, sorry about that,” she grumbles. “Chiyo didn’t know. She just saw you and her first instinct is shoot to kill.”

    “I get that,” I cough and whine as my shoulder starts to really hurt.

    Penelope comes to my side. “Easy, easy,” she whispers. “Chiyo’s arrows are massive. She tips them with some sort of poison. I’m not sure. It’s non-lethal but it lets you know it’s there.”

    “Fuck,” I growl.

    “I said hold still!” She snaps at me. “Geez,” she huffs as she offers me a cup. “Take this. It’ll help with the pain.”

    It tastes horrid as it touches my tongue. I grimace and swat at her. “Are you trying to poison me?”

    “Medicine never tastes good, poison always will.” She touches my shoulder, slowly rubbing it. “I’ve got to get you better for the trial.”

    “So, they really aren’t going to kill me?” I ask.

    Penelope sniffs. “I’m surprised Mythri hasn’t choked you to death at this point. The Gnolls have already tried to take her children once.”

    “Yeah, sorry about that,” I groan.

    “Once you’re well enough I’m supposed to-” I start sitting up, and she rushes at me. “Get down! Get the fuck down you red menace!”

    “I’m fine,” I grunt. “I’ll talk to the queen now.”

    The guard has come over and pushes me back down into the bed. “Listen to the doctor,” he snarls at me.

    Penelope huffs and frets. “You’re fucking crazy.”

    “Stupid,” I correct her. “And depressed.”

    She furrows her brow at me. “Depressed?”

    “Oh yeah,” I chuckle. “Kind of been taking these suicide missions as of late because if I die, I die.”

    “Oh,” she doesn’t quite seem to know how to respond to that.

    A few days later I’m taken from the infirmary and into the throne room. I stand before Queen Mythri. She glares at me, and I see her visibly recoil. Penelope stands with her, I suppose she’s a witness. After all, she did hit me with a chair.

    “Oh wow,” I murmur. “No wonder people think you’re a goddess, your highness.”

    Mythri frowns and shakes her head. “Penelope tells me you’re part of a plot to murder me and my children.” If looks could kill, I would be on fire and in stomach exploding right now. I would not want to be on Mythri’s wrong side.

    “Yes, your highness,” I answer. The guard holding me digs his claws into my arm. “I was hired by a group of Gnolls still loyal to Bethsabe.”

    Mythri raises her head. “Go on,” she whispers.

    “The leader is a Gnoll named Wulsi,” I answer. “He was willing to pay me anything. I mean, he was rabid about it.” I watch her expression remain stoney, but her eyes were full of fire and fury. “He wanted me to kill the children to punish Amit,” I continue. “And then, he wanted you dead because your presence in this world was unnecessary and the fact you’re being lauded as a goddess really doesn’t settle well with any of them.”

    Mythri takes a few deep breaths and clenches her fists on the arms of her throne. “Do you know the names of the others?”

    I nod at her. “I’m not supposed to, but I like to know the people who hire me.”

    “Do you?” Mythri snaps.

    I flinch in shock of her voice.  “I do, your highness.” If she’s this frightening, I don’t want to imagine what Amit’s wrath is like.

    “Then I’ll send word to Amit and Nadeem of this plot.” She turns slightly and looks above. “Chiyo?” She asks.

    I turn and see the girl who shot me sitting in the rafters with a bow and arrow in her hands. “Yes?” She asks, lowering the bow. I didn’t notice her before, because of her shooting me and all, but she bears an uncanny resemblance to Mythri.

    “Take Addor and return to Culuweth with word for Amit and Nadeem,” Mythri tells her. “Find this Wulsi and bring him here to me.”

    Chiyo climbs down from the rafters. “Just him?” She asks.

    “If Amit will allow it,” Mythri answers.

    Chiyo goes to Mythri and kisses her cheek. “If I will allow it,” she grins. Mythri returns the kiss to her cheek and Chiyo walks passed me and the guards.

    “Release him,” Mythri stands up as the guards let go of me. “Blink, correct?”

    “Ulysses actually,” I rub my wrists. “My brother and I never liked our names, so we gave each other nicknames.”

    “I don’t care,” Mythri sighs. “Write down all the names of the Gnolls who met with you. In fact, write down any name you feel could be of harm to my family of the new Emperor of Culuweth. For this, I will spare your life.”

    I glance up at Penelope who has been quiet this whole time, standing at Mythri’s side. “I have my life,” I say. “But am I allowed to leave with it.”

    “I’m afraid at this time, it would not be wise of me to let you go. Until the Gnoll loyalists of Bethsabe are dealt with, I’m afraid I have to keep you here.” She places her hand over the bandages. “You are lucky this is all you got.”

    “I have quite a few knots on my head from the chair the Doc smashed over me.” I glance up at Penelope. “But for me, that’s fair.” 

    I write down the list of names for her to send with Chiyo. Afterward, I am led to a new cell. Not one in the dungeon, but a small room with barred windows and guards posted at the door. It’s a comfortable enough room, better than most I’ve had in my life.

    One day the doors open and Penelope walks in. “Oh hey, it’s you,” I yawn as I sit up.

    “Have you only been sleeping this entire time?” Penelope asks.

    “What else can I do?” I say as I scoot to the edge of the bed. “I’m not allowed to leave and to be honest sleeping is better than feeling anything while I’m here.”

    Penelope pulls a chair up to the side of the bed and sits down. “I want to help you, Blink,” she replies. “I don’t want you to keep thinking that death is the right way to go.”

    I look her over. “Why would you wanna do that, Doc?”

    “Because it’s my job,” she says. “I heal people. I know the mind is a different thing than the body, but I did do a study on it in school.”

    I nod. “You can certainly try, Doc. But I’ve been this way for a long time. Not sure it’s something I can get out of.”

    “What have you got to lose?” She asks. “You have nothing but time on your hands.”

    “That and some hummus from lunch,” I say, looking at my palms.

    Penelope smiles softly and then hands me a book. “I want you to keep a journal,” she tells me. “Keep a record of your mood. Your feelings. You can even write down your dreams and aspirations as they come to you.”

    “Eh,” I look over the journal. “I dunno, Doc. How is that supposed to help?”

    “It’s good to keep a log,” she says. “Just try it. For me?”

    I look at her cute fluffy face and sigh. “Ok. I’ll try.”

    At first, I only do the journal idea every once in a while. She come and visits me every day in the morning and then again to have dinner with me. We talk a lot, and I tell her things about myself that probably only Odd would know. 

    “What happened to your brother?” Penelope asks me one day. “You talk about him often, but it seems like he’s absent.”

    I sigh and poke at my food. “He left,” I answered. “We had worked together since we were stupid kids. He just got up one day and was done with all of it.”

    Penelope adjusts her glasses. “How long ago was this?”

    “A few years,” I shake my head. “I’m not really sure.”

    “Was it around the time your depression started?” She suggests to me. “Maybe, your brother leaving was a catalyst for this.”

    I smirk. “Oh no, he gets credit for a lot of things, but this,” I tap my temple. “This is all me. He gets no credit for it.”

    “Yes, it’s always been there, but his leaving could have triggered the worsening of it,” she offers. “Maybe if you reach out to him and make up-”

    “No, no,” I growl. “I made an ass of myself when he left. I’m not big enough to get over that yet,” I grumble. I push my plate away. “I’m done.”

    A few days later, Mythri comes to visit me. She sits down and looks at me very sternly. “Chiyo brought Wulsi here,” she tells me. “He confessed to the plot. He admitted to hiring you.”

    I look her over. “And?”

    “You’re free to go. You can leave and go back to your life,” she says.

    “Actually,” I murmur. “Can I stay here?”

    She frowns at me. “I…” she shakes her head. “I can’t think of a reason why I would even agree to that.”

    “I don’t know how to offer myself to you promising anything more than what you see. If you want someone to be your spy or thief, then let it be me. You saw how I was able to find you. Imagine what I could do to your enemies.”

    Mythri sighs. “Let me think about it,” she says. “I was not expecting...this.” She says as she goes to the door.

    “I understand,” I nod. “Oh and uhm, if you don’t mind me asking, what did you do to Wulsi?” I ask.

    Mythri looks at me. “Chiyo and I fed him to Addor,” she answers cooly. “The dragon, I mean.”

    My eyes widen in fear.

    “I’ll let you know my decision later,” she says before she leaves.

As time goes by, I start to keep a better log in the journal. I write maybe once or twice a week, then once a day. Then as time goes on, I write something whenever I feel like it.

    I hand over the full journal to Penelope. “I hate to say it Doc but...the stupid journal actually worked. Or well, helped.”

    She takes it and smiles. “I’m glad, but you don’t have to give it to me.”

    I shrug. “I kind of want you to have it. You can read it too. Around the second month is when I started to get really interesting.”

    She chuckles. “I’m glad to see you’re feeling a bit better. You’re a much different person than when you first came here.”

    “I still feel it,” I say and place my hand on my chest. “It's this heavyweight, but it’s not the horrible stab wound it used to me.”

    “And it may always be there,” she says. “But at least you know now how to cope.”

    I smirk. “Once I’m back to normal, Queen Mythri says she wants my expertise. Her and Amit would like to know my methods of breaking and entering. I can’t imagine what they would ever want to use that for.” I laugh.

    “Things are changing,” Penelope murmurs. “The world is shifting, and they are constantly on their guard now. I can’t imagine what stress they must be going through.” She looks at my journal and sighs. “Well, it’s getting late. You probably want to get some sleep.”

    “Hey. Wait a second. Uhm…” I smile up at her. “Can I make a confession, Doc?”

    Penelope sets the journal aside. “What’s that?”

    “I love your cute, fluffy face,” I say, and her eyes go wide. “I love your whiskers and how they twitch. I love your flat pink nose and your cute little mouth.” I reach out, touching her cheek and rubbing my thumb along her bottom lip. “I’m pretty sure I just love you.”

    “Blink,” she whispers and takes hold of my hand with both paws. 

    “Don’t say anything,” I whisper. “I know it’s awkward. After all this time you helped me. But I haven’t felt this way about someone before. I think you’re funny and brilliant, you’re way out of my league.” I squeeze her paws in both my hands. “I still love you.”

    Penelope stands up and kisses me, placing a long, drawn-out kiss on my lips. “I love you too, Blink,” she whispers into my ear. 

    “That means I can hug your right?” I ask.

    She chuckles and nods. “Yes.”

    I grab her up and lift her off the floor. Her cute little paws kick in the air as I squeeze her like a beloved toy. I kiss her cheek and nuzzle to her soft fur. “Oh my god,” I gasp.

    “What?” She whispers.

“You smell like awful medicine,” I say, and she starts to laugh.

She kiss me, and I sit back down, so she’s in my lap. “I’m a doctor, what were you expecting me to smell like?”

“I dunno,” I chuckle as I kiss her sweet face. “I just wasn’t expecting medicine.”