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[Eclyse Christian]

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“Buy ye a drink, Lass?”

Eclyse looked up from her journal, shaken from her reverie by a stranger with light eyes, the colour of aquamarine, unfathomable in their depth. So little a hint of blue, she wondered if it was her imagination. He smiled and raked his fingers through his honey-coloured mane in a maneuver that she imagined the beginning of the end for many a girl’s lost virtue. She had certainly never seen him around Minoc before.

“Mm.” Eclyse eyed the bartender thoughtfully. “Ale, if yer buyin’.” She gave half a smile and shut her journal with a snap. “Awfully kind o’ ye, at that.”

He took the bottle from the bartender without taking his gaze off her. Deftly, he uncorked it and handed it over to Eclyse with a wink. “Kind or not, I’ve always got my motives.” His eyes wandered across her fitted and tailored attire.

Eclyse blushed and smiled brightly as she took the ale and tipped the bottle to him. “Cheers, Mate.” She upended it and took a draught.

From somewhere behind him, the bartender chimed in. “Don’t waste yer time, Dominick, she don’t court.”

The stranger looked back in the direction of the bartender and grinned, his eyes sparkling mischievously. “She just hadn’t met the right man yet, friend. But good of you to point it out -after- I bought the ale.” The bartender laughed a booming laugh and went back to wiping down glasses with a white barmop.

“I’m twenty-one now. I can do what I want.” Eclyse laughed defiantly. “An’ I will do what I want.”

“Tell me then, Lass.” The stranger moved in closer and brushed her long black hair back from her forehead with the backs of his fingertips. “What do you want?”

Eclyse smiled and ducked bashfully away from his touch. “I’m goin’ to Stonegate. Tha’s what I want.”

“Stonegate!” The stranger laughed. “Why Stonegate?”

Eclyse set her jaw. “Like-minded souls. The chance to be more’n just a housewife sitting on her arse and raisin’ babes. The chance to make somethin’ o’ meself more’n what I could ever be ‘ere.”

“Don’t fret, Darling,” the stranger cooed, his eyes melting through her steeled façade. “I meant no offense. But Stonegate’s rough territory. Can ye even hold a blade?”

Without hesitation, Eclyse drew her sword from a sheath hidden in the soft folds of her velvet robes. She held it vertically in front of her face and watched beyond the highly polished steel at his shocked expression with a smirk.

“All right!” Taken aback, he raised his hands in mock surrender. “Fair enough! Stonegate it is!”

[Eclyse Christian]

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From his perch atop a stool, the bartender almost swallowed his toothpick as he clambored down to intervene. “No blades out in the bar! Take it outside!” He turned to Eclyse and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you make me tell your father you’re causin’ trouble in ‘ere.”

The honey-blonde stranger smirked mischievously and put a hand over hers, gently pushing the sword aside. “No need for that, Sir. The lass is just fiery. I love that about her.” He smiled brilliantly at Eclyse, and she could feel her face burning hotly.

“Tell you what miss…” Dominick paused expectantly.

“Eclyse,” she offered with a hint of hesitation.

He smiled. “Perfect. Tell you what, Eclyse. Let’s do as he asked. Let’s take it outside. A friendly match. Loser buys the next round? Unless you’re unsure of your skill…”

Eclyse was already up off her stool and standing tall. “You’re on!” She set her ale on the bar and followed him enthusiastically out the front door.

Outside, it was darker than she’d thought. Minoc twilight was settling darkly into the eaves of the buildings and the swallows were twittering as they swooped to catch their last meals of the day around the warmly-lit windowpanes.

The two squared off on the cobblestones, swords held at the ready, and began to circle one another. She parried a few strikes as he tested her defenses, and she began to get a feel for his attack. The duel intensified, each blocking and parrying, landing a light blow here and there. The two seemed to be evenly matched.

Then, without warning, he grabbed her elbow and spun Eclyse around, knocking her balance from beneath her and quite effectively putting her on the ground. He knelt on her chest, pressing her back into the cobblestones as she lay there stunned. Dominick grinned, sheathing his sword and pulling a dagger.

“Nothin’ personal, Lass. But did tell ye I had other motives.” He winked as Eclyse began to struggle against his weight. With one deft move, he reached under her robe and cut the leather cord that tied her coin pouch to her belt. He pulled it out and hefted it, jingling the gold inside merrily. “Thank ye kindly!”

Without another moment’s hesitation, he stood and fled into the night, leaving Eclyse lying on the cobblestones. She rolled herself over and stood to dust herself off. With a huff that was half sigh, she looked off the direction the man had run, then looked back to the tavern door, remembering the ale she’d left sitting on the bar in her haste to prove herself to the handsome stranger.

“Ahh rubbish. Guess I ‘ad that one comin’.”