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mommyofkittens · 7 months ago

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A Court of Fallen Heroes: Chapter 10 - The Bloody Blade

" What do you know of the Deadly Nightshade? " Aoife's voice echoed in the basement room where most of the palace's laundry was washed.

It was a small chamber, barely big enough for the five of us who gathered to change in the smelly uniforms of the palace guards. They reeked of fermented sweat and rusted iron, and the metal cuffs pinched your skin as you pulled them on. Kallus had the idea, thinking it would be much better if we covered our own scent not only with what was left of my potion, but with the unwashed stench of fae men.

" What would a blonde like you want with the Nightshade? " Nimue cringed, her thick lashes framing her lilac pupils perfectly. " It's deadly. "

The witch stood with her back straight as if it was nailed into the wall. Her lilac and herbs perfume wafted through the room like an aphrodisiac, overpowering the other, more disgusting scents. I move a little closer to her, the nothing in my stomach ready to spill up my throat at any moment, and take a deep breath. Not only did these clothes stink, but they were sticky and stained with God knows what.

" Did you touch it? " I ask her worriedly, looking at her smooth palms. " I hope you didn't put your hands in your mouth afterwards. "

Niven raises her eyebrows and leans into a corner, her oversized black shirt half unbuttoned, straining to tie a cord around her waist. Kallus is silent, only poking his head out from behind the curtain we have improvised to change in as much privacy as possible. The man looks at her questioningly, as if guessing what she's thinking, but his mouth remains tight.

" I didn't touch it. I was just asking about it. " Her plucked eyebrows rose up to her unwrinkled forehead, scolding us. " I happen to have it in my garden, I want to know if I should use it in my tea or not. "

The young woman looked like a deity poured down from heaven in the light provided by a few bitter candles. Even tired from a full day's work of washing the stinking clothes of the castle's inhabitants, her hair, tucked under that ugly hat, looked just as shiny, her complexion just as clean, and her blue eyes darkened by a few shades.

" We're breaking into a prison and you want to ask about tea? " Niven's smile spreads across her sweaty face. " Are you nervous? "

Aoife is silent for a while, looking at me, threatening me not to open my mouth, not to explain more than necessary. There was a glimmer of hope in her sky-blue eyes, a glimmer that I didn't want anyone to extinguish. I suspected that the maid who had witnessed the humiliation during dinner had already informed the blonde that Draegan had asked her back to his bed, but I didn't know that she knew I had been there and that I was technically supposed to take her place tomorrow night. The real problem was that she had no way of stopping him other than letting him fall asleep and sneaking out of the room untouched. I didn't even know what I was going to do tomorrow night, the thought left me completely cold and empty. I hoped he would see my naked body and squirm and then let me go. But Aoife might have a much better idea, one that we could both do in secret.

That pain in my chest comes back, as if my heart is detached from the surrounding organs and falls into an endless void. Both men looked at me tonight like a zoo animal: one with a pair of eyes that had killed me so many times, and one with a hope that brought me back. Eris had sacrificed another human for me. I had sacrificed someone else for my own goals, which I put above all else. That's not what I was supposed to do here, I wasn't supposed to kill them, I was supposed to save them. And yet the first innocent life had just been lost because of me.

" I'm stressed when we have to steal from the most dangerous, unpredictable, mad-man in the continent, yes. " Aoife puts her hands on her hips, perfectly hiding the fear she knows she wears on her body like a coat.

" Atropa Belladonna is deadly, in the right dose. " I explain, pulling those huge, man-made pants up my thighs. " If you use too little, it can cause paralysis, pain, vomiting, muscle cramps, all sorts of horrible symptoms. "

Nimue throws her fierce eyes at me and crosses her hands on her chest. " You finally made your homework? Is it from those books you've been stealing from me? "

" I borrowed them and yes, I learned from them. A lot actually. "

The witch's smile spreads like a serpentine river across her thin, almost proud face. " I knew you were a good thief. But I wonder how you got that map. I wonder what you paid. "

Even though we had become close in a very strange way, there was this... awkwards connection between us, laced with bitterness, a hint of animosity and trust. Nimue still looked at me like I was about to grow a second head. But the good things had come after she'd saved us from Thaibar that day, when all the guards were looking for Aoife. I still wished I knew the limits of her powers, what kind of witch she was, if there was such a thing, what she could do, and if I could learn more from her than just potions and rituals, if I could steal some raw magic.

Niven glares at me, holding the huge helmet under her arm, then drops her head. She knew about Eris, about him catching me with the map in Draegan's bedroom, and she also knew that I'd met him to take it back. She also knew what he'd asked for in return, and she knew that I approved. But I gained so much more: crucial information. Eris had told me that the prison still wasn't on very good terms with Draegan, and that they didn't approve of his leadership over the kingdom, which is why it would have been easy to get in, based on the fact that they wanted to get rid of certain prisoners he had also sent there. In addition, Eris had secretly stamped the letter Kallus was holding, requesting the release of a prisoner for a short period of time.

Little did he know that the ultimate price was a woman's life. Outrageous or not, part of me was glad that someone had gone to such lengths to keep me out of Draegan's fingers. The other part felt a dark cloud over her head, like an impending curse about to break in her temples: she would pay for the death of an innocent life. I would have gladly paid anything if I knew it would have saved me a quarter of this suffocating feeling.

I don't know what I was dreaming about, I don't even know why I had such high expectations. Whenever I read romance novels and the protagonist mentioned that she was breathless when she saw him, I preferred to roll my eyes and say that she was easily impressed. I had a bad habit of thinking that I would be harder to surprise, that I wouldn't be so easily struck by the beauty of anyone, male or female. All my life I have been firmly convinced that there is no such thing as a perfect human being, that this concept is really in the eye of the beholder, the one who describes or paints a muse who for him or her represents the sum total of subjectively excellent qualities.

That's what I like to think about all these characters I read about in fantasy books. From the first day I started working at the palace, I had noticed how flawless these supernatural creatures could look: fine complexions, shining like porcelain, pointed ears, silky, shiny hair, dazzling eyes, full or thin lips, tall, athletic, well-shaped bodies, with roundness where it belonged and an appropriate amount of muscles, with a slightly icy aura about them, as if they refrained from blinding us with their natural light.

I got used to all that. Then came Eris Vanserra. Nothing but cool and cheeky flirtation, wide grin, fiery brown eyes full of promises, high cheekbones with thin, tight lips, slim waist with just the right amount of muscle in the places that mattered. He smelled of nutmeg and the fires we made in the forest of Thaibar, and he dressed exactly as an heir to the throne should. He was unexpected in every way. The misunderstood anti-hero turned pale when he returned the map to me and I told him I trusted him enough to explain why I needed the map. I don't know if it was the fact that I had the courage to put my trust in his hands that shocked him the most, or if it was my idea to break into Hybern's prison to free one of its most dangerous prisoners. But I could feel his temper change, as if for the first time someone had placed their life in his hands and he was afraid not to break it.

Well, I was impressed with Eris and what he did to protect me as best he could. But the winged one had me head over heels after I saw him once. And my infatuation cooled as quickly as it came.

If I had butterflies in my stomach seeing Eris so close, Azriel made me hold my breath. No, literally lose it. And with my breath I lost my logic, my train of thought, forgot where I was and what I was doing, what I was saying. I felt no dopamine coursing through my bloodstream, just a tremendous desire to impress. A blanket of silence had settled around me at that moment, my ears were completely sunk in and all my attention was focused on him, my body was painfully numb and any emotion had been silenced. It was as if I was in that oasis I had fallen into for the second time a month ago, completely calm and at peace. Yet I had been as dumb as a virgin in front of the most beautiful man I had seen in two worlds. He spoke to me, but I ignored him. I didn't have a good enough sentence to say to him. I could have given him a sign, pulled him aside, asked him to help me.

I couldn't even look him in the eye. And I didn't want to. They melted and froze me in the few seconds I allowed myself that luxury.

He was so tall and imposing, so grandly contoured, painstakingly carved as if by two right, expert hands, merciless to those who might see him and be blinded by his beauty. He had a strong chin and a sharp jaw, lips full enough to be kissed if the opportunity arose, with a Cupid's bow cut roughly to perfection. All framed by wide, slightly arched eyebrows and thick, glossy black hair that grew slightly over the ears and high forehead. The piece de resistance were undoubtedly the eyes: hard, enigmatic, surprisingly gentle, yet agile and unforgiving, quick to take in every detail, like whiskey through a glass in a smoldering fire, like amber unraveling in the sun's rays.

Not to mention that I shuddered at the sight of his famous shadows. They weren't just shadows, they were more than that. They were like slippery tongues of darkness, rising and dissipating like smoke, concentrated at a particular point on his intensely forged body, playful and subtle, the more you looked at them, the more you realized that they were living elements, with a consciousness of their own, capable of inflicting wounds like any sharp knife. I could feel them studying me closely, as if they wanted to take a close look inside my mind. They sniffed at me like guard dogs, eager to protect their master from any threat. Fear gripped me as I noticed them moving around my waist, where I held the dagger I had stolen in my dream. Fortunately, I retreated in time, or I fear they would have shreded my clothes there to see what I was hiding and how deadly it was.

I had decided by then, however, that I would not be approaching Azriel anytime soon. I didn't have the courage, not after seeing his monstrous wings rise like mountains from his back: black and violently muscled, with scars and bony fangs piercing painfully through the shiny wing membrane.

I don't know what I expected from him. The same protection Eris had offered me so quickly and without question? More attention? If I was the main character in this story and had to help this world, that didn't mean I was a beauty, that such an imposing man with so many other options would notice me. I sighed inwardly as I realized how ridiculous I was, trapped in my own fantasy with him. But I already knew he was taken. I knew his heart belonged to someone else, and there was no way I could compete with a beauty like Elain, even though I hadn't seen her yet and didn't know if I ever would. So, with an empty heart, I put aside whatever love subplot might have happened during my journey here and moved on.

Then, during dinner, when he looked at me so disappointed, so silent and angry, like a father who disagrees with his daughter's actions, I felt like the sky was cracking in my head. It was as if he was expecting me, a mere servant to do something, to save them. Did he realize that I didn't belong in this place?

I had still hoped that he would somehow save the day, as he had at the meeting of the High Lords, when he defended Feyre, or when he freed Elain, or when he saved Gwyn from Sangravah. I had waited for him to intervene when Draegan slapped the first handmaiden, when he invited the second into his bed, when he kissed me disgustingly, or when he killed the fourth. But none of that happened, and I returned his gaze just as sourly, allowing myself to watch him as disappointedly as he had studied me for minutes.

" Nimue, it doesn't make any changes to the plan if we know how Cyan got the map. " Kallus talks slowly, pulling me violently from the thoughts that had gripped me like ivy. " We should go over the details again if we want everything to work. "

" I have another, I'd say good question, if Kallus allows me to make assumptions: how much can we trust the information that you heard from Eris Vanserra? " Nimue helps me strap something to my arms, the same suspicion lacing her words. " They say their lineage is descended from foxes. How much can you trust a fox? "

" It's all the information we have in a time that's running out too fast. My father has heard the gossip from the continent: that Cyan's landing has brought anomalies to the surface that others consider the end of the world. " Niven mumbles worriedly, tucking her map into her armor. " Many say the Devourer rebels in his tomb between worlds, others that a Dark King stirs the forests and lakes between the continents. "

" It means they felt it too. " Aoife whispers, staring into the flame.

" The Night Court also sent his Spymaster here. " Nimue spoke again, considering me. " It means they might suspect something is wrong too. "

" The Shadowsinger is the one we should fear, not Vanserra. " Kallus concluded, not taking his eyes off Nimue. " He hears and feels things no one else can, he might have sensed the change in the atmosphere and it took some time to find the place the energetic charge came from. It won't take him long to find us, to find you, Cyan. "

" The one from the other world surely knows your fate. " Nimue concluded, clenching her fists. " Amren. "

Amren, of course, how could I forget her. She had been... something, something very powerful before she died and was brought to life in the books. An angel, most readers in the other world suspected. She should have been the first to figure out what was going on and how to find me. That's exactly why I shouldn't have been afraid of them, especially if they were trying to find me, maybe they wanted to help me.

" We must find this woman and save her. If there's anything left to save. " Kallus rubs his overgrown beard and looks sternly at Nimue, a whole conversation unfolding between them. "I looked some more and managed to find her name: Malou - the Bloody Blade. "

" That Bloody Blade? " Nimue asks sternly and it's the first time I see her shocked by something.

We all look at each other, dazed, as if a ghost had suddenly came among us, as cold as a raging winter, entering our bones. The candlelight dances and I can feel the strands of hair that washed over my face dancing in front of my eyes. I stare at the door, expecting some huge creature to enter and crush us all. For minutes we are silent, aware of each other's presence, but no one steps through the door.

" The temperature has dropped, do you feel it? " Niven asks, pulling the sweaty armor closer.

" There's a spirit with us. " Nimue concludes, closing her eyes and extending her palms. " It's harmless, but she wants to listen. "

" Who is it? " Aoife asks, drawing a piece of cloth over her shoulders.

" The last true, living Valkyrie is with us. " Kallus sighs, happiness filling his features.

" Is she the one we're going after? " I ask, overcome with adrenaline and excitement. " Why is she a spirit? "

I feel her surrounding me, like a curtain fluttering in the wind, almost suffocating me. I feel her unpleasant eyes on the back of my neck, sniffing me. I feel compelled to stand as straight as a tree..

" One of their most important powers was their ability to cultivate different elements around them to improve their own strength. It's called Cultivation, it's a sub-power of Thriving, something only an extinct cult could do. It gives the wielder enough power to astral project. The Valkyries and the Eyes of the Mother were closely related, being the protectors of the Mother herself. But a group of beings brought their downfall far too many years ago. " Nimue explained as she looked around, as if she could see the silhouette of the one walking freely among us.

" If she is Malou and still has this ability, it means -" Kallus was interrupted by Nimue, who smiled triumphantly.

" That she's still in contact with one of the Eyes. It means one more is alive and waiting. "

" Do we have to find her too? " I ask enthusiastically.

" Only Malou can lead you to the last of the Eyes. They share a bond that allows them to use their co-dependent magic. " Nimue explains, equally excited as she looks at all of us. " That's how she survived all these centuries... It's wonderful... You were right Kallus, there is hope for us. "

" After everything is over, we'll celebrate. " Kallus allowed himself to chuckle softly in that darkness, and with that, I allowed myself to feel joy as well.

We can do it. We can get out alive.

With that hope still imprinted in all five of us, we quickly recapped the plan we were supposed to follow. Aoife had been another important part of it, bringing us another item we couldn't have gotten into the prison without: the key. It was a single one, made of a hard, black material that would open all the cells. There were several sections in the prison, categorized according to the danger level of the creatures imprisoned there. So all the wardens had one. The problem was that we didn't know exactly at which level we could find Malou.

Kallus suspected that she was in section 'S', the highest level of security, where the walls were carved with runes on the inside, preventing any magic, designed to weaken the inmate himself. They fed off their life force, their energy, their powers, so they were always on and they never failed. That's why we had Nimue, who had been working for days on a symbol and the ink we needed to use. It was a diamond with elongated corners cut by a straight line in the middle. I'd seen it before in the other world, used by self-entitled witches on the internet. I'd used it myself, but it never worked.

Kallus was to provide transportation from the prison to the palace and then to the farm. Then, right after all that, we were to run away with Aoife's uncle. That evening. Malou was supposed to be one of the most important prisoners Hybern had kept forgotten in a dungeon for so long, and her absence the next day would set off a lot of alarm bells.

" May we not shrink from our purpose. " Kallus whispered, looking at Niven with his sad, green eyes, now shining like emeralds in the candlelight.

" May we not falter under darkness's terror. " Niven goes on, grave as a tombstone, looking at her father as seriously as if she felt this was the last road.

" May we finally rest when we are claimed. " Nimue seemed to end, placing the palm of her long-nailed hand over her heart in a final prayer to anyone who would listen.

Aoife lowered her head, respecting the silence and the prayer they had said for all of us. There's no stopping us now as we sneak out the door, finally ready to finish what we started a month ago.

After everyone has left the laundry room, I stop Aoife with a hand on her shoulder. " Brew this tea tonight and put a cup in his wine. It should kill a man in less than ten minutes. I don't know what effect Nightshade has on faes, so you might want to add another cup just to be sure. And whatever happens tonight, don't let him touch you or the other girl. " I whisper and hand Aoife the most precious thing I had with me, the black leather sheathed dagger I had stolen in my dream.

" How do you know I have it on me? " Aoife looks at me puzzled and taps her apron pocket.

" No offense, but you smell like dead rats and you have pink stains on your shirt. Nimue know you have it, too. So don't falter tonight. " I place my hand on her cheek, encouraging her, and walk away.

As if she didn't know us, Nimue quickly sneaks back to her hiding place on the ground floor of the palace, where the doctor's office is. Her purple velvet gown covers her hips, swaing them as elegantly as a proud cat. Kallus and Niven retrieved their swords and set off in that robotic way we saw the guards walk.

A sudden pull binds my legs and stops me in my tracks. For a few seconds I am unbalanced, pulled down by the weight of the armor. Tingles spread across my shoulders, as if thousands of butterflies had flapped their fine wings against my cold skin, and suddenly I realize why.

" I've seen you before. " A deep, deadly voice speaks a few steps behind me.

I turn a fraction of an inch and see him again, the same man of my dreams, the same man I had lusted after not only in the other world, but here too. He grabbed Nimue harshly by the arm and demanded answers. Azriel was a few heads taller than the brunette, broader in the shoulders, and this time he was clean, his Illyrian skins now washed. He felt me watching him like a hungry animal and turned his head to me far too slowly, defiantly. Azriel had something murderous written all over his face, and he focused all his attention on me.

" In your dreams, maybe. " Nimue answers proudly, unnafected by the Spymaster.

My legs are racing, and with them my heart, as if they were competing to see who could go the furthest. All this infatuation mixed with disappointment and hatred and anger, and even though I knew that I shouldn't blame him for the girl who lost her life, but myself, my expectations demanded more and more from someone I didn't know at all. Azriel had his reasons for being here, and the way he was looking at me right now, I had a feeling it wouldn't be long before he realized who I was.

Once we reach the stables, Kallus uncovers the imperial carriage the guards used to transport the prisoners. " I have been looking for one of these all day. Get in, I'll talk if anyone asks too many questions."

Outside it was raining heavily, loudly and violently, like a bad omen, and suddenly I felt the need to be held, to be protected and to hide.

" Wait! " I shout, stopping them before they get into the pitch-black carriage. The two horses whine and kick their hooves, but I don't hesitate as I throw myself into their arms like it was the last time. " No matter what happens tonight, I have the utmost respect for your family, Kallus, you have helped me more than others have in a lifetime, and I will forever cherish what you gave me: another chance. "

" Don't say goodbye. " Niven whispers and I can feel those tears straining her soft voice. " This is not a goodbye, Cyan. We'll make it. "

" I know. But I feel like I never had a chance to thank you and tell you that you have a place in my heart forever. " The hole in my stomach grows bigger and I regret that I can't say 'I love you' to these people, but I hope they read between my words.

" I love you like my own child and I would do anything for you, Cyan. We'll make it through the night. " Kallus says in a final tone, sucking back his own tears. " Now hurry before someone sees some guards bonding in the barn. "

As Niven and I go to close the door, someone calls after us. " Chief Carambian, head of palace security. Identify yourself and your purpose in taking a royal carriage. "

Kallus presents a paper, torn and signed, then speaks in a deep, dark voice I have never heard before. " The king requests that a prisoner be brought to the palace. Tonight. "

Through the open window of the carriage, I watch the other man carefully read the letter and then approve it. " You have clear path. "

We stop stalling and set off at a fast pace. The horses gallop furiously through the backyard, stopping only for a few seconds, while Kallus is forced to show the false letter to the guards at the gates. The prison is a few miles away, in the opposite direction from Thaibar, hidden in the woods. At this late hour, only the lanterns attached to the cart illuminated the beaten path. The trees seemed taller and more menacing than those in the forest near Thaibar. Many of them had no leaves at all, just twisted trunks, as if they were in pain and had no one to comfort them. Outside it was still pouring heavily, soaking the path and making it slippery as Kallus turned. It smelled of wet leaves, cold and muddy, and the silence was so ingrained among the long branches that we were the only ones to break the seemingly sacred silence.

We had that hope that we would make it tonight, that the first step of our plan would happen without anyone getting in our way. Even though my breath came in short and quick, like an asthma attack, even though the feeling of impending doom seemed to creep over my skin, the adrenaline I felt was more alive than anything else, burning my body from the inside out. I don't know how Kallus was able to stay out in the pouring rain, but he assured us that it was better for him to drive alone; too many people would have drawn attention to us.

Sleep soothed my eyes, but I couldn't close them, I was too full of conflicting feelings. I don't even know what time it was, one, two in the morning? By now Aoife must have been in the imperial bedroom, pouring poison into glasses. The thought provokes a physical reaction of nausea in me, so I glance at Niven out of the corner of my eye to reassure myself. She's asleep, head down on the opposite couch, mouth open. She slept the entire twenty minutes we'd made it from the palace to the middle of this wilderness.

There is a knocking on the metal roof of the carriage and Kallus calls from outside: " It's time, girls. "

" Wake up, Nivy, we're here. " I shake Niven gently, pulling her hair away from her face and helping her out of her dream's grip.

" I'm up. I'm up. " She mumbles, wiping the saliva from the corners of her mouth and pulling her hood over her head. " How long have I been out? "

" Barely twenty minutes. " I answer as I open the door and jump onto the earth. A wet sound comes from the impact and I dive a little into the mud.

" Here, take the declaration and Nimue's ink. You remember the sigil, right? " Kallus jumps out of the driver's seat as well, pulling all the tools out of his pockets, then continues when I nod. " Whatever you do, whatever they ask you, just say that Draegan sent you and that if they have anything to say about it, to come to the castle for answers. Malou might be in the last cells, just ask them to show you the Valkyrie. I'll wait for you in the carriage and keep an eye out. You have to understand that if you reach the basement level and something bad happens, you'll most likely be trapped down there. Move quickly and stay alive. Let's hope our Valkyrie is holding strong. "

We both nodded, then poured what was left of my potion down our throats, then added a second one that Nimue had made to glamorize us. We needed to sound and look like men, not two twenty-year-old girls, so Nimue had prepared two extra bottles. I don't know how long her magic lasted, but I guessed no more than an hour or two, so we had to move very quickly.

As far as I knew, there were two parts to the prison, the above-ground part, where the humans or not-so-dangerous prisoners were kept, and the underground part, where all the creatures and nightmares we were supposed to run away from were trapped.

" May we not falter... " Niven whispers as we step out, away from the cover provided by the trees, and thousands of crossbows are aimed at our heads from the outer wall of the prison.

" Amen!... " I mutter, already frightened.

We advanced robotically, with the spears we had obtained from the palace in full view and with our backs straight. There was no turning back. The rain pelted down hard and furiously, seeping through the seams of our armor and soaking into the sweaters we had put on underneath to make us look more massive. Huge drops of water made a disconcerting sound as they made contact with the obsidian on our shoulder blades and helmet crest. The boots, five sizes too big, were playing havoc with my legs and the soles of my feet were already getting wet from the puddle that was forming beneath us by the second. Niven was no better, only a head taller than me, but much, much skinnier. She'd needed two pairs of pants and two blouses to fill the armor to the brim.

" Legitimize yourself! " A voice shouts out of nowhere as we reach the huge gate. On the outside, it is lit only by two massive torches, which illuminate the rusty and bleeding spears coming out of the gate.

I could feel the magic sweeping over me, from my ankles to the top of my head, raising my temperature and sharpening my vision. I felt more massive, as if I had grown a few inches taller, but also heavier, as if I had gained weight. I could feel my jaw tingling under the balaclava, and was surprised to find that I had grown a beard, and my ears were painfully pricked by the roundness of my helmet. We had already transformed.

" General Charon. " I scream as loud as I can, feeling the witch's brew constrict my lungs.

" Chief of the palace servants, General Carambian. " Niven shouted back, raising her head to be heard.

A few horrible seconds of waiting pass, then a deafening screech almost makes me duck. The gate opens painfully, creaking on all sides and dragging heavily on the ground. Five fae await us at the entrance, shining swords, seemingly freshly sharpened, lying murderously on their arms, torches in their hands.

The man who looked at us questioningly could not have been more than thirty years old, though he was a fae, which could mean he was easily five hundred years old. He was bald, his pointed ears protruding past the edge of his occipital bone, and his eyes were small and wrinkled, set in the center of his hateful face. He didn't smile, but his lips were thin and parted in a harsh, implacable line.

He walks toward us, with his torch blowing in the wind and shows his sharp fangs. " It is past midnight, Lord Charon, what does His Highness desire at this obscene hour? "

" We are not to judge King Draegan's orders or desires, so read for yourself. " I reply with how much coldness I am capable of, considering my underwear is shaking on me, and hand him the same sheet that Kallus had shown the stableman.

" You wish to escort an ' S ' classed creature to the palace?! " His voice sounded hoarse, as if he had eaten forks and knives all his life, and his throat was not in the best shape. " I have to refuse. I can't let such fae out. It's dangerous. "

" Sire. " Someone speaks behind him, and the man turns his head to the side. " Sir Lisko, if the Master wishes, we must obey. "

" The prison still does not answer to its own self-appointed leadership. " Sir Lisko spits, obviously irritated, then stares at us for a second in silence. " Why would he want such creature free inside the palace. "

" The creature must be bound and gagged. " Niven's words come out with a raspy, purely masculine timbre, and I smile under my mask, begging to get inside faster and get it over with. " King Draegan wants a spectacle for a guest - The Autumn Court's Heir and The Night Court's Emissary. "

" You see, sire, he already has connections across the continent. He'll free us soon. " The same voice speaks, changing Lisko's mind.

" Fine. You have one hour to take whatever you need. " He turns and gestures for us to follow.

We obey without comment and the joy begins to grow in me. I hope that luck will be with us all the way.

First, we crossed the small courtyard, where it seemed that the prisoners were allowed to go outside from time to time, judging by the number of tables and chairs arranged one on top of the other, balls and obstacle courses, probably made for training. Lisko, as the other man called him, lifts the latch on the huge, tree-covered building and invites us in. We enter the above-ground prison without much fuss, only to be bombarded with moans and groans.

Darkness reigned over the smelly, cold cells, and for a second I wondered if anyone was alive in those cages. Not even the moon shone through the holes in the prison stone. At this late hour, everyone was probably fast asleep. Only the few candles in the walls lit the way for the guards. Niven looks around too, and I can feel the tension in her muscles and her disgust. There was an overpowering smell of closed air and unwashed bodies, feces and rotten food. All I could see were limbs: crippled hands half covered with blankets eaten away by rats, legs with gangrene that looked like they had been eaten by bugs. I almost vomited when I saw a man relieving himself between the sheets that should have been his bed. Someone screams above us, and I jump, stifling a scream of my own.

Was it a prison or a sanatorium?

" Don't be so scared, Charon. They're as good as dead and doped up. " Lisko says proudly as he grabs a set of keys from nearby and unlocks some doors.

" What did they do? " Niven can't help but ask as she watches a woman write in stone with her fingernails melted and bloodshot.

" You may think we put all people in jail, but there are real criminals here. " He answers, then we stop in front of a cell where a man is fast asleep with his back to us. " He killed his entire family in a manic episode, then he ate them one by one. " We walk a few steps and stop in front of another cell where a child was lying in rags. " Don't be fooled. He raped his aunt and hung her in the attic, then stole her money and lost it gambling. He paid whores to please him, then cut out their tongues when he wasn't satisfied. He's barely fifteen. "

The boy's sardonic grin is all the confirmation I need as he bares his razor-sharp teeth like a hungry shark.

" So you don't have innocent humans here. " I ask as I watch another man satisfy his needs under the covers.

Lisko's wrinkled face turns toward us, cold and emotionless. He opens an obsidian door that leads to a staircase.

"I'd say it's too late to seek your penance, General Charon. Freeing one prisoner doesn't make up for all the innocent lives you've taken. " He doesn't wait for me to answer, so he rolls his eyes and speaks again. " If you want to expand the cells under the palace, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the prison is full. I thought you'd put all the people you torture in there. "

I try not to be too impressed by the way Sir Lisko, the last fae I would have expected, spoke with such disgust of the things Draegan and Charon had done to the humans. As if he really cared about the innocent lives lost within the palace walls. I look at his disheveled hands and my eyes widen when I notice the gold band that marks him as married. Could his wife be human?

" We do. " Niven agrees for me and steps in front of me. " We need to find the Valkyrie. "

"I don't know if she's still alive in this pit. You'll find her remains in the last cell on the left. Just stay in the main hall and you will be fine. I don't get paid enough to go into that hole with you at night. If you have what you need, I'll be waiting upstairs. " Lisko announces, and before he closes the door, he tells us one more thing. " Don't listen to the voices. "

When the door behind us was unlocked, the silence washed over us, broken only by our intertwined breaths. It was hard to carry armor that weighed half as much as you, so I was out of breath every few steps. I picked up a torch leaning against the stone wall and stared tensely at Niven. Her helmet was turned toward me, as if she, too, was watching me in confusion.

" We'll manage. " I speak and the echo answers me with the same words.

We make our way down the spiral staircase, descending for minutes as if driving into the center of the earth, and at the bottom we would find the lava boiling. Occasionally we'd come to a window that once let in fresh air, but was now covered over. I looked down, careful not to slip on the broken steps that were missing large chunks of material. Not even the spiders lived here.

Niven stops abruptly, both palms pressed against the narrow walls of the stairs for balance. " Did you hear that? "

A shiver ran down my spine and I suddenly became much more alert. This was everything I didn't want to hear while I was buried in a grave. I frown from behind my metal helmet and sharpen my ears. Too bad the potion didn't give me their fine hearing as well, just the sharp look, maybe I'd hear the thing Niven was talking about. My heart raced, pounding so hard that I could see my chest heaving under those powerful beats.

" I don't hear anything. I'm only really cold. " I say as we walk down a few more steps, then she stops again.

" Strange, I'm really, really hot. But I hear them talking. "

" Don't listen to them, Nivy, you heard the guy. "

When we finally step onto level ground, the fog engulfs my ankles, and with it, panic settles in my chest, sinking its insatiable claws into my heart. Pitch black. A deep blackness, as if I could cut it with a knife, surrounds us and with it the smell of decay. I refrain from any sarcastic comment and just clench my jaw, trying to find the courage to continue. I swallow dryly and raise the torch even higher, trying to shed as much light as possible into the wide corridor. I would never have dared to venture into an underground graveyard alone, filled with creatures that had magical powers and probably loved the taste of human flesh. I probably reeked of fear, a smell I'd always heard creatures of the dark loved, as if it were an aphrodisiac for their nostrils. I look back and am relieved to see the stone wall, it meant we could start somewhere, that this was the main corridor Lisko had told us about and we didn't have to wander lost through this cursed place.

" Do you still hear them? " I ask skeptically with a sigh as we walk down the muffled corridor.

The cells were hidden in the darkness, and I didn't dare bring the fire near them, not wanting to disturb whatever was in that darkness. It was enough that I felt thousands of pairs of eyes in the back of my head, watching me far too closely for my own liking. I was sure that, unlike the inhabitants upstairs, those down here were not sleeping, but hunting at these hours. I stayed as close to Niven as I could, the same distance from the cells, to reduce the chance of being grabbed by one of the tentacles. Sometimes I even felt ghostly touches on my back and forearms and forced myself not to look back. I had heard that it is not good to look back when someone is calling you, whistling at you, or when you feel unseen touches, so I preferred to stick to my earthly teachin

" Yes, they want you to set them free. They promise to obey. We both know they won't. " Niven encourages me not to listen to them either..

" What if they're innocent? "

" I don't trust anything that thrives in the darkness. "

When we finally reached the end of the haunted corridor, it took me a few seconds to work up the courage to put my flame in front of the cell. I knew the underground prison wasn't empty, not by a long shot, even if I didn't hear any voices. Niven probably heard them because she was one of Mother's benefactors.

" Maybe is on another hallway. " Nivy whispered manfully from behind me, turning her head. " But there's no light anywhere, we could easily get lost in this labyrinth. "

" It can't be. " I say, waving the torch back and forth as desperation begins to overtake me. " She can't be dead! She's here, she's close, my intuition never lies to me. "

But as I searched for the uninhabited piece of land, staring in shock at the perfectly made bed and the unused dresser, hope seemed to leave me as quickly as it had come. I could feel it inside, the certainty that I would find it here, still alive, that reality seemed to be playing tricks on me.

" You finally came after me, mighty Benefactor? " Someone is talking, and for a second I think the fire is casting shadows on the walls as I see a pile of clothes jerking around, trying to turn around. " I died long ago. Buried in my own grief. "

" Are you?... " I ask in a whisper, as if I could wake the dead. " You were the one listening, back in the palace? "

Niven comes closer, mouth agape in shock and hope and triumph, and before I can stop her, she lunges for the iron bars, clenching them into tight fists.

" Malou? Yes, but I'm not a Valkyrie anymore. " An endless sadness poured from her timbre, which seemed so, so old. " I could never be one again, after what I've done... You seemed quite thrilled to come and die here for my sake. "

We had come this far and planned how to get in and how to get out, and we were so blinded by the idea that the woman might be dead that we hadn't thought about how to convince her to come with us. I wasn't being absurd, I had considered her mental situation, but I hadn't prepared any emotional speech about life and death, I had relied on her desire to be free again. But what if she didn't want to be free? I knew from my experience with my father that a conversation with a traumatized person is a constant back and forth, and that it is very difficult to reason with them.

" Please, I need your help. We need your help. " I manage to speak slowly, as if the woman was deaf. " Something bad is happening outside, and we need you by our side. "

The woman laughs, jerky, hoarse, then coughs as if her lungs are filled with pus. In this cold place, I wouldn't be surprised if the creatures ended up with bronchopneumonia from these precarious conditions. I wasn't even sure if they were being fed or even offered a glass of water.

" Oh I know. I've heard about you're coming - Ves-per-tus. " She takes a long pause, then continues. " I used to guard and train women like this. Tragic miracles... The world may need you, but it does not need me. The world has been nothing but cruel to me and my sisters. So why should I make another sacrifice for something that erased me? "

" The world has changed, some parts have been rebuilt by people with hope. Kind people. They fight for the minorities, they try to help, they try to dispel the darkness. " I try to convince her, not knowing if what I said was the truth or a lie, but thinking of Prythian, I knew some of my words were sincere. " You've been locked up for too long and the world has moved on, but you don't need to be caged just because you're afraid of the outside. You deserve freedom. "

She fully turns and for the thousandth time tonight I allow myself to be surprised. An old, chocolate, wrinkled face looked back at me as if I had insulted or slapped her. I could see how her white hair framed her bony face, how it accentuated her glassy eye, crisscrossed by a deep, still reddish scar. Her cheeks and chin were adorned with tribal tattoos, now faded to gray marks. The real, healthy one, however, betrayed so many emotions in the blackness as deep as the one in prison: grief, regret, and such low self-esteem. Her lips were still round, fleshy, and well-defined, but they had become discolored with age.

" The prison is sucking the life out of you. " Niven explains, still gripping the bars. " You are not alone. You are a legend, Malou. My family and I have waited centuries for this glimmer of hope, please don't say no. "

" I do not need the mercy of the Benefactors. You have chosen to wait and be crushed by the ever-growing forces of darkness. You never fight, governed by that pathetic law of not harming anything that moves. We lost the battle once because of you. I let myself be captured. I don't deserve freedom. I deserve to rot in this cell. " Malou spits angrily and approaches us. " Now get the fuck away from me. Every glimmer or nice word you tell me will make me vomit in my mouth. "

Niven squirmed, apparently shaken by the old woman's words, but I didn't have time to ponder all that had been so casually thrown in her face.

" Malou, I know you may feel hopeless and alone and tired, but you are a warrior at heart. I was alone too, I was dead inside too, but there's a way home for all of us, even for you. You have to fight again. We have to fight again. Don't let your potential be lost in Hybern's hands. "

" My home is lost. I don't want to be a blade again. No one came to help us when we needed help. I lost the most important battle - the war. "

" No, it's not. You can find it again. Home is not a place, you can find it in someone else's heart. And I know for sure that you still have a piece of what you call home that is lost somewhere in this world. Fight by my side, let's rebuild what was lost. I beg you, I will give you all that you need, all that you desire. But I need you, the Mother needs you, everyone needs you. You may not feel like a Valkyrie, but you're a strong woman. You have the power to begin again. I'll be beside you in this war. "

She puffs, then a wry smile spreads across her dry lips. " It's easy to throw words, child. Wars are not won by a handful of trained warriors. War means blood, colossal losses, dying loved ones, strategic battles, and sacrifice. Are you ready to make that sacrifice when the time comes? If you had to kill ten people to save one important man who has all the advantages over the enemy, would you do it? When you find out what I've done, what I've had to give up, you won't need me anymore. And more than that, you're just a human now. You're still not a Vesper. You don't have anything I want or need. "

" That's why I need you. You can teach me everything you know. "

" No. " Malou almost screamed, snarling at me with her sharp teeth. " It takes years, years! Even more, to train one fucking soldier. But a living Vesper? That takes centuries. All the arts you must master to fight the darkness are no child's play. You won't be able to save anything. We will die under your clumsiness. "

" You have to give me a chance. " I say, her words tearing the hope out of me piece by piece, slowly killing me. " Don't die without putting up a fight. Don't give up. Stop running from the past, stop hiding in the darkness, you are a creature of light, a symbol. You have a chance to right your wrongs, don't kick it away! I'll go out there and do my best, even if I die. But I'd like to have at least one small chance of winning. "

Malou looked at me with her healthy eyes and frowned so hard that the wrinkled skin between her eyebrows formed a deep crease. Obviously I've pushed all her buttons, because I see something change in her hard look. The 'no' becomes a 'maybe if...' inside her and I feel her change as she stands on her two feet and stares limply at us and back at the greasy cell. I feel the frustration seeping out of me, my patience wearing thin.

" The Mother calls your name into battle and you refuse? Your comrade, your Carranam is still alive, still suffering, Gods knows where, waiting for you, and you choose to be nothing but trash to Hybern. Their punching bag. You are no longer a Valkyrie, indeed. "

" Nivy... Don't say that. " I place a hand on her shoulder, trying to stifle any harsh words, but she shakes away from my touch.

" Don't stop her, she's right. " The old woman stands on her emaciated feet, dressed in a long robe, sweeping the stone floor. A new light appeared in her eyes, as if the thought of her Carranam had restored this last hope. " If you become a Vespertus, if you manage to survive the literal heartbreak, I would want one thing, but you must do it with your hands. No one else. If I protect you with whatever power I have and train you in the old ways, you owe me one thing. "

" Whatever you need. " I promise, feeling in my gut that I was making a colossal mistake.

" My word is law, and so shall yours be. When the time comes, at the very end, my life will perish under your sword. You will sacrifice me so that I may finally be with my sisters. "

" What? " I look at her in shock, overcome with horror. " Why would I kill you? "

" Because she can't kill herself. " Niven concludes nervously. " The Mother would never allow such a sacrifice. It's an insult to her for you to take your own life. So if her work on the material world is not done, the Mother will not call her to the skies. The only creature that can end their misery is the Mother herself, or... "

" The Mother's own daughter, blood from her blood. " Malou smiles, satisfied, knowing she had us trapped, we couldn't refuse when her agreement to come with us was depending on this bargain.

Niven's words settle in my head and I look at Malou, her cunning face still strong. That's why I couldn't kill myself, because my life was in Mother's hands and she wouldn't let me go.

" That's why you couldn't do it either. " Mallou approaches me and smiles sadly. " That's why you couldn't kill yourself. "

" Have you... " Niven turns her head, and I refuse to look at her, overcome with shame.

" How did you know? " I ask her with all the emotions churning inside me.

" I'm almost as old as time, I know a lot of things. Accept my offer or I won't come. "

I look at Niven, who is as dizzy as I am. I realize that I'm running out of time when my skin starts to tingle and my facial hair starts to fade.

" Tic- tac. " Malou whispers, covered by the shadows.

" I'll do it. " But I will decide when the time comes.

Malou slips her hand through the iron bars like a snake and steals a dagger from Niven's armor, which makes Niven fall on her ass. She cuts her palm, then hands me the bloody blade. " Seal the deal! "

I don't think too far ahead as I throw down my glove and follow her gestures, feeling the sharpness of the knife nick my skin. Pain shocks my shoulder and almost immediately dark blood spurts out, spilling everywhere, running through the cracks in the stones on the floor. Malou grabs my hand aggressively, digging her unkempt nails into my blouse. A cold thunder rumbles in the distance, as if what we are doing now is against nature, as if we have broken the laws of the universe. I feel the clap of thunder as if it had struck me, a strange energy coursing through my whole body, invigorating and exhausting me at the same time.

I refrain from screaming, the pain from the cut pumping through my muscles. I feel her dry skin rub against mine, our blood now bound together for what seems like forever. Tongue of darkness climbs up our arms, marking the bargain. Malou just grimaces, apparently gripped by this strange, piercing pain as well. Time stops for a few seconds and I watch silently as the black ink sprouts in my palm, closing the cut. A snake blooms from under my skin, while a bird, a raven, entwines itself on Malou's old palm.

" I am the eye of the crow that watches over the head of the mighty serpent. " We say in unison, our voices possessed by thousands of ancestors.

Niven stares at us dumbfounded, but doesn't linger long and begins to draw the seal on the cell door. Something crackles in the walls, disabling whatever was keeping Malou exhausted. The woman gasped, as if a pain had been removed from her soul. She quickly opened the door with the stolen key, then hurried to support Malou, who was barely holding on.

" I won't always be like this. " She admits when I position myself on the other side and we start walking down the corridor. " I just need time to recover my strength and youth. "

We'll wait for you here, when you need us the most. We'll feed from your blood, your sacrifice and we'll live. We won't forget your taste.

I turn my head back when I hear the voices speaking to me. Malou looks at me with her different eyes and warns me not to pay attention to them. And so I do, throwing the voices out of my head, ignoring this warning and promise. Climbing the stairs with such a heavy weight becomes even more difficult. The magic begins to wear off when I notice that my height is beginning to decrease, Malou's shoulders are now suspended at different heights.

Lisko opens the door when I knock on it with my boot and has Niven sign the register, leaving proof that someone had released the prisoner, then slips the King's letter into a file as well. He accompanies us to the gates in the torrential rain, along with five other guards, but he doesn't say much, as if satisfied that we've taken a nuisance off his mind. The gates close roughly behind us and I can hear the locks turning. The torches outside die before my eyes, extinguished by an unseen magic, leaving us alone in the woods.

" Father! " Niven shouts into the night once she reaches the carriage. " Father! We're... here. "

Her voice trailed off as she opened the door and saw the horror. Blood. Blood everywhere and Kallus nowhere. The red liquid was dripping from the horse's neck, their life stolen from them. I turn my head from the scenery, unable to witness that cruelty.

We were trapped here.

" He's not dead. " Malou shouts over the pouring rain, leaning painfully on my shoulder. " I would've smelled it. But he's far away from this place and I think he's hurt. Badly. "

" Kallus! Where are you? " I scream, shaking violently, surrounded again by that doom.

The emptiness in my stomach grows, and I feel like banging my head against a tree as I watch the desperation with which Niven surrounds the carriage, shouting wildly through the forest. Angrily, she throws her helmet to the ground and falls to her knees, screaming again and again, calling her father. I see her shoulders moving convulsively, as if she can't catch her breath, as if she's crying and laughing at the same time. I don't even dare look into her eyes. I am afraid it will break me, so I hide my eyes when she turns to look at me.

" He is gone. " Niven says, crying, and as I watch the night creep through the wicked trees, I know the truth: Kallus was the price I had to pay.

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elvendria · 2 years ago

Text

NOTICING YOU - e.m x fem reader Part Three

tw: Reader is a cynic who doesn't believe in love, Claudia Henderson isn't the best :/ (is that a trigger? idk.), big sister acts like a parent, smoking, insomniac (??kinda if you squint??), swearing, jealous!Eddie (if you squint), pet names

word count: 4710

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part one part two part three part four part five part six part seven

Y/N'S POV

"So, were you able to get through to someone to get your car fixed?" Mom asked. I told her the conversation I had over the phone with Eddie and explained that he'd be here first thing in the morning to collect the car and take it to the shop.

"First thing? But they're always swamped with cars on a Saturday. I thought you wouldn't get seen till Sunday, Monday at the latest." Mom said.

"Same here," I attempted to stifle a yawn but failed. "I've to be up early so uh... goodnight." I turned around and walked away.

I was never close with Mom, and then things kicked off with Dad.

I guess it was then I realised I wasn't as close with either of my parents as I had thought.

I padded down the hall towards Dustin's room in my bare feet, the feeling of the cool wood underneath my feet relaxing me with each step. I passed by my room to see Tews sitting on my bed cleaning herself. I hate that cat and I have no idea why my mom loves it so much.

That's not to say all cats are bad, I just don't like this particular cat.

Knocking on Dustin's bedroom, I waited to hear him say "It's open," before opening it slightly and sticking my head around the door.

"Goodnight boys," I smiled at them, all gathered around together talking about god knows what.

Mike, Will and Lucas will always feel like little brothers to me, I've known them so long. It felt weird seeing them as a trio, and a part of me missed seeing Will around the place. I hope he's happy in California.

"Night Y/n!"

"Thanks for letting us stay over!"

"Sleep. Soon." I said pointedly, "Just because you're in high school now does not mean you are to be up all night. You'll just end up being super tired tomorrow."

"But can't we just have-" Dustin started.

"Dustin the last time you had coffee you went nuts. Not happening again under my watch." I said, leaving the room

"Technically we're under Mom's watch," He mumbled back defeatedly.

I stuck my head back around the door, giving him a look that blatantly said 'Really? Moms' watch? Have you ever even met our mother?' before he groaned causing me to laugh as I exited the room.

Sometimes I love to play the authoritative big sister card just to mess with him, it can really piss him off.

I didn't know how what time 'first thing' was, I'm grateful and all but couldn't he be a bit more specific? Either way, I was going to need to get to sleep so I could wake up early. I set my alarm for 7:30 am, which isn't even a time that should exist on a Saturday morning, so I could get up and be ready for when he calls. I had switched off the handbrake and managed to push the car till it was outside my house. Could've done with Robin's freakishly strong arms but she had her Family Video shift, plus I'm fairly sure I earned a few muscles of my own.

Changing into a pair of old biker shorts and an oversized misfits t-shirt, I crawled into my bed and lay on my side, willing sleep to come, but my head was so full of thoughts it was like there was no switching it off. I lay like that until I could hear everyone in bed, and the faint sound of my mother's snoring echoed through the halls.

When I was certain that she was asleep, I snuck out of the house and sat on the swing bench on our porch, curling my knees up to my chest underneath my shirt and resting my head on them.

There was something about the nighttime, the way the town went silent. As a kid, I used to believe that because it was so quiet, everyone would be able to hear the slightest noise you make. On nights like these, I sometimes wonder the same thing.

Except now I know about science and the speed of sound, so the idea is a complete fantasy.

Sitting on the bench, lighting up a cigarette from my stash that kept my hands slightly warm. I looked out at the sky, not seeing a single star. Not seeing anything but the faint glow of the street lamps from down the road. There was a faint breeze that wrapped around my ankles now and again, but other than that it was a warm night, unusually warm for October.

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I sat there until I could see orange streaks beginning to paint the sky. So much for trying to get some sleep. I unfolded myself from the swing and walked to my room, careful not to wake anyone. Checking my alarm clock, I saw that it was 7 am. I could try and get a 30-minute nap in but knowing me, I'd sleep past my alarm.

I took a shower, scrubbing the smell of the night air off my skin. I wanted to stay in the shower, to feel the steam rise around me, but I didn't have the time. I turned off the water, wrapped my hair and body in a towel, and then made my way to my room to start getting ready.

I debated drying my hair but decided I wasn't in the mood to deal with the frizz today (I never am). Pulling on a low-cropped white shirt, black ripped jeans and combat boots, I got changed and grabbed some cereal before sitting on the couch and reading. By the time Eddie pulled up, my hair was almost dry but still damp in places.

The doorbell rang and I looked at my mother, not surprised to find her fawning over that stupid cat once again. I got up and answered the door, a part of me freaking out before remembering why he was here.

"Hi," I said quietly, fear washing over me as I suddenly realised this was my first time talking to Eddie, face to face.

"Hey," he replied equally as sheepish. Was something wrong? Had I done something?

His eyes moved down towards my exposed waistline, and I desperately wanted to grab a hoodie to cover up.

He must've found the shitty brown carpet very fascinating because he couldn't seem to look away from it. "So the truck is parked out front, I've hooked your car up to it and everything, I just need you to come down to the shop to fill out some stuff." He told me. I figured I'd have to go to the mechanics at some stage today, I just didn't think it would be so soon.

"Do you want a coffee or something before we go?" I pointed my thumb towards the kitchen, the mannerisms that my grandmother drilled into me coming into play again. He looked up, our eyes holding each other and suddenly I felt like there was a magnetic in each of his eyes, drawing me in closer.

From where we were standing you could see beside the kitchen, where my mom was sitting there, talking to Tews like it was a human baby.

"Uhm, maybe some other time?" He said, suppressing a grin.

"Yeah sure,"

Had I just 'yeah sure' d the idea of coffee with Eddie Munson?

"I'll grab my mom's car keys, just hang on two seconds." I turned towards the living room where my Mom was sitting, combing the cat with an old comb of mine.

"Um, there's room up the front of the truck if you want to ride up there with me?" He asked me, "It might be a bit easier."

I turned one more time to look at my mother, who was now singing lullabies to this freaky cat before agreeing.

God, I miss Mews. Now that was a cat who did not like to be coddled.

Just as I was about to pull the door behind me, my mother called out. "Remember you're trying on dresses for homecoming this afternoon! We'd better hurry or all the good ones will be sold out!"

My heart dropped and I wanted to strangle her. I prayed to whoever was up there that Eddie hadn't heard her.

I threw my book bag over my shoulder, I never liked to leave home without it. He opened the car door for me and waited till I was in okay before running to check that everything was hooked up properly. While I was waiting for him, I sat noticing all the little details in it. Things like his pack of cigarettes and a lighter, or a few jumbled-up mix-tapes sitting in the glove box and in the pockets on the driver-side door. A black bandana was thrown across the dashboard, most likely the one that Eddie carries around all the time.

What surprised me most was the pack of hair ties hidden underneath his rolling papers. Although I guess when you have as much hair as he does and work as a mechanic, tying it up is more of an occupational precaution.

He opened his door and threw off his coat before jumping in. He grabbed a hair tie and pulled his hair back, and I tried my hardest not to look as every muscle in his arm flexed. Made all the more visible by his grey muscle shirt, his tattoos on full display.

"Buckled up?" He asked me, I nodded as I closed the seat belt around myself. He did the same and then started up the car. He drove with one hand on the wheel and another on the gear stick, right next to my knee. Every so often there'd be a bump in the road and his knuckles would graze against my jeans or my exposed knee, sending off shocks from where he touched me.

The silence was deafening, the only noise coming from the metal music on his radio. It was a bunch of different bands which made me think it was a mix-tape. I was going to say something, compliment the music, but Eddie beat me to the punch before I could open my mouth.

"So, you're going to homecoming?" His eyes were fixed straight ahead on the road. There was a tone to his words that I couldn't quite decipher, almost nervous.

"Um. Yeah," I fidgeted with my hands in my lap. "last year and all that, figured I'd see what all the fuss was about while I still can."

"And uh," His grip on the steering wheel tightened, his eyes unwavering from the road ahead, "and do you have a date?"

My chest tightened and I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe given the thickness of the air around us.

"No, it's just me and Robin," I said lowering my head, suddenly very fascinated by my hands, "We'll probably both just sit on the bleachers till 10 pm before figuring out some way home."

"Good," he muttered quietly, almost as if he didn't want me to hear him. I had so many questions, but a few stuck out in my mind.

Was he happy I wasn't bringing a date? Or that I wouldn't be dancing?

"Are you going?" Why had I asked that?

"No, it's uh," He chuckled slightly, "Not really my scene,"

I don't know why my blood felt cold and my heart sank as he said this, but they did.

Master of Puppets by Metallica came on, and I started tapping my foot quietly, letting the questions and feelings fade with every strum of the guitar. Dad hated this song, but I always thought it was a good one. Hearing it again after so long caused goosebumps to make their way across my skin.

"Come Crawling Faster,"

I thought I was singing under my breath, but that last line came out louder than expected. I sat there and prayed he hadn't heard me.

"Obey Your Master," He sang back, a smirk plastered on his face.

His voice sent tingles down my spine and makes the hair on my arms stand upright, leaving me with goosebumps all over my skin. He was so close to me that I was almost certain he could feel the tension rising within me.

He looked like he was going to say something, but then we turned onto the gravel path leading up to the mechanics, and the moment was gone.

Why does he make me feel like this, it's not like I have a crush on him or anything. Crushes are for girls in middle school and people with their heads in the clouds.

Maybe it was just because he was helping me out with the car. Yeah, people find plumbers and firefighters hot all the time, it's just because they're providing a service.

Not that I find Eddie hot. I mean he is very attractive, and when he stretches his arms it makes me feel all weird inside, but I am most certainly not attracted to Eddie.

The truck came to a halt outside the workshop. Eddie jumped out of the truck and rushed around to my side just as I was opening the door.

"Here, it's a bit of a step-down. I'll give you a hand." He said. I swung both of my feet out as he held the back of my arm with his large hand, and I would've been fine.

But I'm me, and I have to fill my daily awkward quota.

I started to climb down, my back to Eddie as I side-stepped out of the van, the coldness of his rings sending mini shockwaves from where he held my arm and wrist when my ankle went from under me, making me fall sideways.

I squinted my eyes, sure that I was going to hit the pavement. An absolute goner that was going to end up in the hospital before dying of pure embarrassment. But the ground never came to meet me.

Instead, I was pulled tight against something, a pair of arms wrapped around my back and legs. It felt like all the breath had left my body, and a strong smell of cigarettes and sandalwood filled my nose.

I opened my eyes as Eddie gripped me to his chest, looking down at me as he held me bridal style. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as his dark orbs explored my face.

I don't know if he did it on purpose or not, but he rubbed his finger in circles across my knee where his hand gripped my leg. The air felt electric, almost as if it could shock us both if we moved. His arm was on my back and I was glad it wasn't a few inches lower.

I was almost certain his dark eyes flickered down to my lips and lingered for a second, before quickly returning to look me in the eye.

We looked at each other in silence. I felt his hot breath fan my face and caught the smell of mint. I was almost certain he was going to say something, but he just cleared his throat.

"Sorry,"

"Are you okay?" He said at the same time as me.

"Oh uh. I'm okay." I stammered through my words, "Thank you."

We looked at each other again, and a small part of me didn't want him to put me down, but that idea was quickly erased from my mind when Eddie cleared his throat again, gradually lowering me till I was on my feet. I could tell that the awkwardness I was feeling was mutual as we both shuffled our feet.

The workshop was on the other side of town, it was a long walk home without the car, and I didn't want to trouble Eddie with driving me home. But it was like he was reading my mind because the next thing he said was,

"You should come in and sit down," He motioned to the desk and chair beside him, piled high with paperwork. "It's supposed to rain on and off all day. I'll drive you home after I take a look at this baby." He unhooks the car from the truck before pushing it into the shop.

"Oh, thanks. You don't have to." I replied, moving towards the desk and placing down my book bag, desperate to keep the nerves out of my voice.

"My pleasure." He smiled.

He bent into the driver's side, fiddling for something.

"Oh, there's a knack for popping the hood, here I can-" I started, but before I could finish he had done it, a small grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Eddie looked at me, and suddenly the concrete floor became very interesting, "Just a bit of pressure and some elbow grease should do the trick." He says, climbing back out of the car.

He opens up the hood and takes a look as I sit down and place my bag on my lap. I want to ask if he minds me doing homework, but I don't want to look like I'm ignoring him or being rude.

"Ok so, " he started, and I suddenly felt a drop in my stomach. What if my baby was fucked, and I could never drive her again? What if all she was good for anymore was spare parts? I was so worked up about never being able to drive my girl again that I completely forgot about the guy inspecting her.

My freak out must've been clear on my face because Eddie's face became very soft and gentle,

"Hey, hey, hey, don't worry, it's only a faulty spark plug and wire casings. You're alignments a bit off and your transmission is failing, but it's nothing I can't fix for you. There are some other things here and there that I'll need to get some parts for, and no offence but your car is an older model so it might take a while to get them all." He gave me a small smile, easing my nerves slightly. Eddie sounded like he knew what he was doing, so clearly he did. Right?

"I'll be honest, none of that makes sense," I said, as he walks around and pulls out the chair for me. He's surprisingly chivalrous, opening car doors and pulling out chairs. I don't know what I expected him to be like, but it wasn't this. "I don't think she's ever been looked at after Dad renovated her." I sat in the chair and wonder why I ever thought my dad was a reliable person as Eddie walks into what I assume is a storage closet.

"Here," he says, handing me a radio and a box of tapes that were just around, "Pick out some music, I wanna see what you choose." He had put the car on a lift earlier and was in the process of raising her, a skateboard and toolbox beside him. Once he was happy she was at a reasonable height he dropped to his knees beside the board, then flipped himself over so he was lying flat against it, using it to push himself under the car.

I was flicking through the mix tapes he had when one stood out to me. Dad used to play it for Dustin as a kid, which in hindsight seems a bit weird but at the time it made him laugh and dance like crazy.

Rock You Like A Hurricane by Scorpions started to echo around the building, and I hesitantly pulled out my economics textbook and attempted to try and understand this nonsense they tried to teach us, while Eddie just silently bopped his foot along to the tempo.

Silence passed between us as I attempted to do homework and Eddie tried to fix my car, the only sound surrounding us being the music from Eddie's radio. Once homework was completed I started on a piano lesson plan for Joanna Kelly, a girl who lived down the street from us, I gave her parents a discount given how nice they were to myself and Dustin growing up.

When that was over, I slyly pulled out a math notebook and began to work out my expenses. Eddie could try and sugarcoat it as much as he wants, but I knew this service wasn't going to be cheap. I mean, needing to get replacement parts? It's got to cost at least $2000+, which is definitely more than I make teaching kids how to play twinkle twinkle and three blind mice. I'd landed a job over the summer at the Hawkins Hypnotic Record Store, but only as a way to save up for college.

Now I'll have to apply for scholarships if I want any hope of getting into somewhere decent. That meant taking on more extracurriculars and writing a killer college essay.

Ms Kelly had advertised on the intercom the other week about finding someone to help out in the front office for extra credit. Looks like I was going to be taking her up on it.

I'm barely going to have time to breathe let alone sleep.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Listening to Eddie banging and crashing around the car had me nervous, but only a small bit. Eddie knew what he was doing, his uncle didn't seem like the kind of guy to give Eddie a job based on familial connections.

Suddenly Eddie comes flying out from under the car, grease and oil covering his face and sweat glistening along his arms, his tattoos practically shining.

I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts about how much this was going to cost me that I didn't even notice him talking to me.

"Hey, Y/n?" He asked with a touch of confusion, "Hellooo?"

My head snapped to look at him, his voice bringing me to my senses.

"Sorry, I was lost in my own mind. Worrying about stuff y'know?"

He rubbed the grease off his face with a cloth and a soft grin, his eyes closed. I took this moment to examine him a bit further. He looked like he had strong arms, and his tattoos were kinda impressive and cool. I heard he paid his friend a 3 months supply of weed, and they did them with a pin and some type of ink.

But I don't know if any of that is real.

"What does a pretty girl like you have to be worrying about?"

Pretty girl.

The words bounced around my stomach before settling between my thighs. I squeezed them together as if on instinct, the words rolling over my skin like waves.

I remained silent, not too sure how to answer that, my mind was blank as I tried to ignore the sudden throbbing I felt.

A few moments pass by and Eddie sits up and looks at me, his hair coming loose from the hair tie.

"Hey, could you pass me the wrench? It's on the counter over there, it's the one with the round-"

"I know what a wrench looks like Eddie, I'll grab it now," I said shuffling around to the counter to look for it, silently loving the way his name felt on my tongue

5, maybe 6 minutes pass, and I've no luck. I had handed him a wrench, but apparently, it wasn't the right wrench. So now I was back staring at a workspace full of stupid tools with stupid names.

I hadn't even heard Eddie come up behind me until I felt his breath.

"Here, let me help" He spoke softly, "It's the least I can do,"

I wanted to tell him that he was fixing my car, and it was the least I could do to find the stupid wrench when suddenly his hand was on my waist as he moved to step beside me. His fingertips brushed off me like tiny flames searing into the exposed skin, and I knew what was coming next.

I tried to resist it, believe me. But I can't help it. I've never been able to, it's my number one weakness. I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth as I braced myself.

His fingers trailed along the base of my back. I managed to suppress the moan, but that was about it. Like always I arched my back and jerked sideways in a fit of the most unattractive laughs you can picture.

Eddie didn't have to pull his hand away, I had already squirmed from his grip as he looked at me stunned. A toothy grin formed on his face as he crossed his arms.

"What was that?" He said laughing slightly.

Looking at him laugh made me laugh more. It was like someone flipped my giddy switch. I turned to the countertop and bent over on it, determined to catch my breath with my hands clasped behind my head.

"Oh god," I said breathlessly, "I'm sorry, I just have a really ticklish back."

I couldn't see his face, but when he spoke he whispered,

"Heh, yeah," He said lowly, "That's definitely a first. I'll try not and accidentally tickle you in the future." I felt like he was grinning, but I was too embarrassed now to even look him in the eye.

I nearly made a potential sex noise in front of Eddie Munson.

After a bit of silence, I hear him say "Found it, it was a torque wrench I was looking for, sorry for the confusion."

His voice had become very soft, and once again we were wrapped in silence, only now it wasn't uncomfortable.

As the day went on, and while I was fretting over how I was going to pay for my car and most of the house bills, a few people came in to drop off their cars, barely exchanging words with the guy classed as the town freak. Eddie didn't look too bothered as they tossed him their keys before turning on their heel and walking away, but something told me deep down it annoyed him.

But what could I do? I doubt he'd want any consolation from me, he barely knows me.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, from the looks of things, the repairs shouldn't take more than 3 to 4 weeks. Maybe 5." He told me, which downhearted me slightly, I mean a whole month without my car? Maybe more? That was a whole month getting the bus to school, adding an extra touch of hell onto the day.

"Oh, okay. Would you be able to give me a rough idea of the price? It's ok if you can't, I really appreciate you doing this for me." I gave him a slight smile and watched curiously as he looked to the ground and walked behind the counter. He almost looked nervous.

"It's not going to be cheap, as you probably guessed, but luckily for you," He released a breath that sounded like he had been holding onto it for a while, resting his fist underneath his face "Flattery works with me."

I gave a small chuckle, relieved that he was easing the tension.

"I'll write up a docket next time you're here, we can sort something out then." He said calmly, moving to sit back in his chair. Meanwhile, my heart had started beating a mile a minute.

"Next time I'm here?" I asked curiously

"Yeah, next time you're free and I'm working on your car. It's kind of nice to have someone around who appreciates good music," He was flipping through papers on the countertop, and I was praying he didn't look up anytime soon and see the mixture of surprise and confusion on my face. He looked at the clock on the wall behind him and I saw that I had spent the whole day here, and it was almost 9 pm.

"C'mon it's getting late. Plus now you definitely can't walk home, it's too dark. My car is parked out front, I'll give you a lift." He pulled his keys off the rack and threw on his jacket that he took in from the back of the van earlier.

"Um, thanks. Means a lot." And suddenly I was back to tripping over my words in front of him.

He likes having me around?

He appreciates my music taste?

Edward Munson, what are you doing to me?

------------------------------------------------------------------

part one part two part three part four part five part six part seven

#eddie x y/n #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson stranger things #eddie the freak munson #eddie stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie x reader #eddie x you #stranger things eddie #stranger things eddie munson #stranger things #slow burn #friends to lovers

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idontunderstandchemistry · 2 years ago

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Indecent Proposal (An academic rivals to lovers fanfic) - Tim Drake x Latina!Fem!Reader.

Sinopsis: Being a scholarship student at Gotham's most expensive school is not easy, especially when your academic rival, your nemesis, who coincidentally is the owner's son, decides to make you a rather usual proposition.

Tropes: Academic rivals-to-lovers, contract/bet, he loved her all this time, everyone else sees it except them, opposites attract, etc.

Author's Note: Omg guys, this chapter is so out of schedule ksksksksksk I got trapped in my most recent hyperfixation (AKA my new babygirl Simon Ghost Riley) and forgot to post, i'm so sorry. This one is actually kinda short, but tomorrow I'l post another one to compensate. For those of you that want to read some chapters ahead, feel free to acess my AO3 account here. Anyways, thanks for reading xoxo

Warnings: none.

Wordcount: 1366.

Chapter Five

Chapter Six: Two little birds

After some time pretending, sleep finally made its way into you. Not soon enough to sake Tim Drake from being blocked, though. It was better this way, you really needed to focus on yourself and your future. His was already sorted, you were the only one with something to lose with this agreement.

Something in the wind that got inside your room made you wake up distressed. His scent. His fucking scent came to bother you even when you were asleep. Utterly annoyed, you got up and walked straight to your window, closing it violently. When you were walking back to your bed, a laugh echoed inside your room.

— Once again you’ve trapped the bird inside a cage — He said and you saw him lean against your desk. Oh shit.

— You know… when Edward sneaked into Bella’s room to watch her sleep in Twilight, it wasn’t romantic. It was creepy — You said, trying to appear calm. You sat on your bed — Are you a creep, Red Robin?

— Maybe more than I should — He admitted. He turned to the glass with the cut stems Tim sent you and laughed in low tone — It seems you’re not in a position to judge me, actually. It’s not the most normal thing to do this to flowers.

— Well, the flowers are mine anyway, I can do with them whatever pleases me — You answered, crossing your arms over your chest — You, on the other hand, broke into a girl’s room in the middle of the night and haven’t even bothered to give her an explanation yet.

— I was nearby and wanted to check on you — He said, coming closer to you.

— Liar — You said with a smile — If you'd done it a year ago I would have believed you, but it’s been a long time. I was sure you had forgotten me.

— Never — He said and it made your heart skip a beat — I know Nightwing and Batman give us bad reputation, but not all vigilantes are mansluts. I don’t go out kissing random people during patrol. And I remember very well the people I've kissed.

— Oh, so you regularly check on everyone you’ve kissed?

— You’re upset. I got it — He said, sitting beside you. Damn — I guess it’s good that the target of your anger were the flowers, then. I’d hate to arrest you.

— What do you really want here? Any bullet holes you need me to suture?

He sighed.

— It has been a rough night. I was around and wanted to see if you were awake. I enjoyed talking to you back then — He said and his legs accidentally touched yours. You sighed as well.

— What do you want to talk about?

— Anything — He said, turning his head to look at you. You wanted to look at him so badly — Why are you upset?

— There’s this boy in my class…

— The one that looks at you like you’re an exótic bird? — He asked and your eyes widened with surprise.

— Wow.

— I told you, I remember.

— Yes, him — You continued — We started to get along in a certain way…

— What do you mean?

— Hm… we decided that in order to end the tension between us, we should hook up — You said after a sigh of embarrassment — And I’ve spent the afternoon getting ready, putting on the effort it takes to look effortless. And then, he didn’t show up, just sent me a bouquet of hyacinths.

You let your back lean against your sheets, laying on the bed, after laughing.

— Ridiculous, I know.

— It’s not — He said — You really have to stop invalidating your feelings.

— I’m talking about him — You corrected and he laughed. His laughter and his smile were still your favourite things to hear and to see.

— Yeah, he is ridiculous — He said, laying beside you.

— And still, I’ve mutilated innocent hyacinths because of him — You said — He awakens the worst in me.

— I’m sorry for the poor flowers — He laughed — But it’s okay. Although it really is a blow to my ego.

— What do you mean?

— Well, I've got to admit, I don’t know if I’m jealous because no one ever cared enough because of my disappearance to mutilate flowers — He started and you could not hold a small laugher — Or if it is because he kissed you — He said and you felt your cheeks get warmer.

— How do you know he kissed me? — You asked, sitting to try to hide your blushing.

— You wouldn’t be so upset if he didn’t — He answered, sitting.

You sighed.

— You wouldn’t do this to me — You said, resting your head on his shoulder. He leaned his head on yours — You’re a good man.

— Maybe I am, but I don't think I would be better than him in this context — He said — None of my relationships last, not even with other vigilantes. And I can be called by Batman at any time.

— So you stopped trying?

— No.

— Seems masochist to me.

— I guess we all are a bit masochist when it comes to love. Humans want things to work right. — He said, intertwining his fingers with yours. — Maybe in other conditions, we could’ve dated. It would have been nice.

— Did you know that wild robins don’t maintain the same partner for long? It’s because they’re migratory birds. They exchange partners almost every mating season. — You said and he laughed.

— How do you know that?

— One of my little cousins love birds — You said, caressing his glove-covered hand with your thumb — I babysat him once and he told me that even though it was weird to him that robins exchange partners a lot it made sense because they don’t have clocks, calendars or jobs, so each spring must feel like a lifetime. I wish we were robins, even if we could spend only one spring together.

— Well, time showed already that I would come back to you eventually, so I don't think it would be only one spring — He said smiling against your hair — I hope you can work things right with this boy, I really do.

— They won’t. I don’t plan on talking to him anytime soon — You said, closing your eyes, feeling sleepy

— Don’t be bitter. What if he got trapped in an emergency? — He said — I’m sure he wouldn’t deliberately leave you waiting. Not when you look like this.

— And what about my amazing personality?

— I don't know what he thinks of your personality — He said, smiling — But I can talk about what I know he can’t deny. You’re smoking hot. One of the prettiest girls i’ve ever seen. You’ve got it all: amazing eyes, a smile that could lighten the whole room and a body to die for. If he left you waiting on purpose, he is an idiot. I wouldn’t leave you waiting, not on purpose.

— If i didn’t know better — You started, smiling as you brought back the phrase you said to him months ago, looking up to him — I’d think you’re hitting on me.

— Gotta shoot my best shot — He said, smiling as your noses got close.

As your lips were about to touch, you heard Nightwing’s voice coming from his communicator.

“Red Robin, where are you?”

— I went for a walk, Wing.

“I think I might need your help, if you finished your walk.” Red Robin looked at your lips almost like he needed to kiss them as much as a fish needs water “Forget the ‘i think’ part. We need your help. Immediately”.

— Send your location. I’m on my way — He said after biting his lower lip in frustration. — See? I told you sometimes I would leave you waiting.

— Duty calls — You said, opening your window for him. He sat on the sill to make it easier to get out and you held his cape — Wait.

He turned to your direction and you pulled him by the neckline of his armour, leaving a quick peck on his lips.

— Go and save the dawn for me.

He gave you the prettiest smile you ever saw and quickly kissed you again, then Nightwing’s voice called again and he left. You leaned on the still for a while, watching him leave, and then you returned to bed.

#red robin x y/n #red robin x reader #red robin #red robin fanfic #red robin headcanon #timothy drake #tim drake x reader #tim drake smut #tim drake #dc #dick grayson #batboys x you #batfamily #jason todd #Spotify

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stormyjane7 · 1 year ago

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A Hope For Tomorrow: Ch 5 Loved By The Sun.

Summary: You and Astarion are on the tail end of the list of items to search for.

Pairing: Astarion x AFAB Reader,

Warnings: Sex. 18+ only readers

Word Count: 1632

Rating: If you are under 18, please do not read.

Read on Ao3

It had been about six months now since you were able to help fix Karlach’s heart. It was working wonderfully from what you were told. You were so happy for your friends' renewed chance at life.

It had also been about a year since the tadpole incident. You were no closer to finding a fix to your lover’s vampire problem. Out of the five items left. You were down to the last two. You weren’t ready to admit defeat just yet. The castle you were in was old and worn down. A relic from an old mage king. Your foot tapping as you were thinking, was echoing through the halls. The castle had a few more rooms for you both to search but it was starting to be daybreak. You looked around for a good spot to throw out your bedrolls for the day. The throne room was filled with too many windows so that wouldn’t do. Same with the old kitchen area. There was a spot under the staircase and you think you’ll just have to make that work.

“I can practically hear the gears in your brain turn, my love. You’re thinking too hard again.” Astarion smirks at you.

“Just a lot on my mind. Was just thinking where we could settle in for the day is all.” You walk away from him with the bedrolls and start setting them up. There was a nice corner under the staircase with walls on two sides. You doubted anyone would come in and mess with the two of you, but at least from here, there wasn’t many entrances to where you were going to lay down.

“There. That should do nicely.” You turn to Astarion. “I know you don’t need to sleep yet, but would you come lay with me for a bit?”

“I would like nothing better, my sweet.” Astarion saunters over to you and waits for you to lay down first. As you do, you lift your arms toward him welcoming him down into your arms. Once you both settle a bit you start combing through his hair with your fingers gently, sighing contently. Before you realize you have moved your hands to his ears and we’re rubbing them up and down from the bottom to pointy top and around the lobes. A low moan comes from him and you freeze.

“Oh Gods I’m sorry!” You pull back to look at his face. He puts his hands on yours.

“My dear it’s okay. I know we hadn’t talked about it yet, but I want you to feel freer to touch me. I will always let you know if I need to stop.” He gives you one of his cute smirks. “I’m not perfectly healed but I don’t want you to be afraid to love me either.” You give a small nod.

“Thank you for the gift, Astarion. I promise I won’t waste it.” You smile and press a kiss to his lips. You move your hands back up to his ears, which gains you another moan.

You start to kiss a line from his jaw down his neck. You bring your hands down to start lifting up his shirt. He sits up to help you with a smirk.

“I guess someone isn’t quite ready for sleep yet.” You only give him a smirk in return as you kiss down his chest. Hands find his waistband and laces. You untie them as he once again helps you undress him. Once he’s done you toss your shirt off and shimmy out of your own pants. You straddle his lower legs as you want to be able to lick and tease with your mouth before anything else. You lean forward and lick him from base to tip. He whines a bit at the sight of it all. His hand comes up and tangles itself in your hair. You lower your mouth over him as low as you can go.

You are entranced by the sounds you pull out of your lover as your move your head down and back up. The nicest of noises happen when you swirl your tongue over the tip of his cock. His hands always slightly tighten their grip on your hair when you do it. You can tell he’s getting close to release and put your hand around the underneath of the head of his cock to slow down his potential climax.

You purr as you say “Gods, you’re doing so good for me.”

He throws his head back at your words and tries to buck into your hand. You were already lifting yourself up to move forward on him. Using your hand, you help guide him into yourself as you slowly move down to fully sheath him in you. You move your hands to his chest to help balance yourself as you start rolling your hips on him. He moves his own hands to cup your breast. He gives your nipples a pinch and rolls them between his fingers. You pick up the pace which has him grabbing your hips in response.

“Fuck..darling.” He helps lift you up and forward on him so that he can take over slamming into you. He brings a hand between the two of you so that he can rub your clit which brings you over the edge. Your hips stutter against him as the waves of pleasure wash over you. With a moaning grunt, he follows you shortly after releasing himself in you.

After a few moments of catching your breath, you get up to clean the both of you, planting kisses on his chest as you do so. You both get dressed and snuggle back into each other’s arms so that you can finally go to sleep. He plants a kiss on your forehead. “I love you, you wild one.”

*******************

You walked further into the bigger room slowly. All the candles around the entire room lit up causing you to jump a bit backwards into Astarion. As you looked around, you realized what you previously thought was the throne room, couldn’t have been. What you stood in now was lined with gold symbols along the walls and floors. An actual throne sat at the end of the large room, unlike the other. And in it sat a long dead skeleton. A crown seemingly on the floor in front of it. The mage king sat before you both.

“Damn mages and their tricky lighting, eh darling?” Astarion smirked at you as he walked in front of you toward the throne. You followed carefully behind him. “I don’t detect any traps around so we should be cleared to make it to the throne with ease.”

As you approach the throne you start to notice the items that were left behind from the time the body sat here. Fragments of clothing, boots still in somewhat good condition, the crown that was on the floor was dusty but pristine, and there on his hand were a few rings. Upon looking at the skull of the one time king, you suddenly gasped loudly.

“What in the sweet hells? Are we getting attacked?” Astarion pulled out his daggers and looked around.

“No! Look at his teeth!” You laughed a bit at the absurdity of the moment and pointed toward the skull. Astarion leaned closer and his mouth dropped.

“Our mage king was a vampire?” He almost shouted with excitement. There on the top row of teeth, sat two perfectly intact fangs. Looking further around the body to see what could have caused the death, you finally notice bits of broken wood in the chest. A stake ended this life.

“He’s got a few rings on his hand. I’ll start to identify them if you want to keep looking around?”

“Sounds good darling. Fingers crossed for good luck.” Astarion smiled as he went to look around the rest of the room.

******************

There were five rings in total, so identifying each took quite a bit of time. Astarion had already finished looking through the room and came to sit next to you while you worked. The last scroll of identify was finished with a poof. You sighed deeply.

“No luck dear?”

You held up one of the rings. It shined with a yellow and red gem.

“It’s this one. We finally found it! The sun walkers ring!”

Astarion’s face dropped slightly in thought.

“Not going to lie pet. Now that it’s here, this is scary”

“There’s still light outside. Let’s give it a try? I got healing potions on the ready just in case.”

You both walk to the front door. Astarion slips the ring on his finger and takes a deep breath. You open the door for him. He slowly walks out the door with his eyes closed. He stands there for a few breaths before he opens his eyes again. You hear a low chuckle come from him. He slowly gets louder as he opens his arms and spins around.

“It worked!” He was smiling so big. You let go of a breath you didn’t know you were holding and walk out to hug your sun kissed vampire. He picks you to spin you around. He gently sets you back down and fiddles a bit with his hands. It seems like he’s nervous over something.

“Dearest Tav, you never gave up hope for this, for me. Once again you have given me a gift that I will never forget. I have but one more thing I need to ask of you.” He slowly gets down on one knee in front of you. “While I do not have a ring to provide right now, I hope you will still do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?”

You fling yourself toward him yelling loudly “YES!”

#astarion #astarion x reader #baldur's gate 3 #bg3

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the-al-chemist · 2 years ago

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The Beginning of a Symphony - Chapter 24

A/N: Jim has an encounter with a green-eyed monster…

OCs featured: Bradford Pendleton @kc-and-co

Warnings: none.

October 1896

The new term, and Jim’s fifth year, was well under way, and Jim had so far found himself incredibly busy. Between the additional homework and Saturday lessons, he and his classmates had less free time than before, and so it was not until a month into the term that he, Brady, and Lysander were able to organise their first Art Society meeting of the year.

Having gathered his sketchbook and graphite from his dormitory, Jim set off for the library, where he had agreed to meet Brady prior to the meeting.

As he reached the top of the stairs, the wooden doors of the library opened, and he felt his face flush as he recognised the person who had stepped out into the corridor in front of him.

“Héloïse,” said Jim.

“Jim,” said Héloïse. There was a pause, during which neither of them spoke. “Hello.”

“Ah. Yes. Um, hello. Sorry,” Jim cleared his throat. “Are you… That is to say, I do hope that you are well.”

Héloïse frowned slightly before responding, “I am not so bad, thank you. And you are well also, I am hoping?”

“Yes, quite. Very well also, yes. Have you been reading, or studying, or… What have you been doing in the library?”

“I am trying to learn my… lessons.”

“Which lessons?”

“The ones of tomorrow. No,” Héloïse shook her head. “Yesterday. I am sorry. I am a little tired, I am thinking.”

“Of course,” said Jim. He cleared his throat again. “Well then. I do not wish to keep you.”

“To keep?”

“Yes, um… Sorry…”

Jim tried his hardest not to seem disappointed as he looked at the somewhat bewildered expression on Héloïse’s face. In spite of writing to each other weekly over the summer, the two had barely shared more than five conversations since returning to the castle, and each time they spoke, it had been stilted and awkward. Jim was not certain what he had done wrong, but he knew that he was likely to be at fault somehow.

The library doors opened once more, and Bradford Pendleton the Fourth emerged from behind them, a silk scarf draped over his shoulders and his own sketchbook tucked under one arm.

“Jim, old bean!” Brady clapped Jim on the back with the hand not holding a sketchbook. “Ready to sketch? Jolly good day for it, I must say.” He did a double-take at Héloïse and bowed to her theatrically. “Pardonnez-moi, Madamoiselle. Héloïse, comment ça va?”

“Oh,” Héloïse shrugged, her lips slightly pursed. “Comme ci, comme ça, comprends?”

“Pas si bien, hein? Mais, pourquoi?”

Héloïse sighed heavily, before beginning to speak to Brady in a fluent stream of French, which Jim did not understand. Brady, however, apparently did understand her perfectly, for he nodded and made noises and verbal responses - also in French, also incomprehensible to Jim - at intervals as she spoke. All the while, Jim stood beside him, surplus to requirements, a dark feeling somewhere between pain and anger growing in his chest as he did so.

As the feeling grew to the point that it was unbearable, Jim turned around and left Brady and Héloïse to continue their conversation without him, and stomped down the corridor to the empty classroom the boys liked to use for their meetings without even uttering a word. He had no words to say, neither in English nor in French, not to Héloïse nor to Brady, who was able to understand and converse with Héloïse far more easily than Jim could ever hope to do. It seemed unjust, all things considered. Brady always made friends so easily; why did he feel the need to take one of the few friends Jim had?

“Hexley!”

Brady’s voice and the sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor, both interrupting Jim from his thoughts and vexing him further. He turned to see Brady striding towards him, and scowled.

“What’s wrong, old chap?” Brady asked. “I thought that we were going to go to the society together.”

“I decided to go alone.”

“Oh,” Brady frowned. “You should have said, rather than just take off like that. I had to leave Héloïse all alone, and she was quite taken aback by how abruptly-”

“You did not need to do that,” said Jim. Though his voice trembled slightly, for once, he did not stutter. “You could have continued without me. The two of you did not require my presence to hold your conversation.”

“That is not the point. I think Héloïse was quite upset by it, you know.”

“I don’t see why. She was perfectly happy talking to you.”

“Perfectly happy?” said Brady, incredulously. “Hexley, did you not understand a word she was saying?”

“No!” Jim snapped. “No, I did not understand a word, because unlike you, I do not have the luxury of having been taught to speak French.”

Brady took a deep breath and shook his head.

“Jim, my good man,” he said, with the diplomacy of a politician, “that is precisely what she and I were talking about, and why we were holding that conversation in French. She doesn’t have many friends to talk to, you know.”

“But that’s… Well… I was just talking to her!”

“In English, which she struggles to understand, and finds even harder to speak.”

“That’s not true,” Jim shook his head. “No, her English, it’s… it’s good. Remarkably good. We… we wrote to one another over the summer, and-”

“You wrote. You did not speak.”

Jim pursed his lips as he considered Brady’s words, and his eyes widened as he realised how true they were. Writing was different. There was so much more time to consider one’s thoughts and words, to decide what one wanted to express and how precisely to do it. He knew this. After all, he never stuttered when he was writing. He should have realised before that Héloïse would have the same problem as he did, he should have been more sympathetic, and he should definitely not have begrudged her having the companionship she deserved, even if he was not the one to be able to provide that.

“I… I have been a… Well, perhaps I should not say it,” he said, and he swallowed. “I am sorry, Brady. Truly, I am.”

“That’s quite alright, old bean,” said Brady, clapping Jim on the back. “Though I do not think that I am the one you should apologise to. After all, you walked away from Héloïse as well as me, and I am not the one you feel strongly about, am I?”

“Well, I… I feel for both of you,” said Jim, frowning. “You are both very… The pair of you are good friends to me.”

Brady guffawed and used the hand on Jim’s back to shake him from side to side. “You understand my meaning, Hexley.”

Jim’s frown deepened. He was not certain that he did understand Brady’s meaning at all.

#the hexley legacy #the beginning of a symphony #jim hexley #heloise perrault #bradford elijah pendleton iv

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db-gochifan · 2 years ago

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GoChi Valentine’s Event 2023 - Day 2: Date/Dancing

Days [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Title: Tango and Proposals Pairing: Goku/Chi-Chi Characters: Goku, Chi-Chi, Bulma, Ox King Summary: It's Goku and Chi-Chi's first anniversary and he planned a secret special celebration for them. Warning: (Slightly) Alternate Universe. Possible NSFW content. Cross-posted on AO3 and FFN

“I can’t believe you and Goku have been together for a year already!” Bulma’s voice echoed in her bedroom. “I know, right?” Chi-Chi looked over her shoulder towards her phone, which is placed on her desk so her friend could help her choose her outfit for their date. “Time flew by so fast.” “So what are you going to do tonight?” She asked with genuine curiosity. “Would you be shocked if I said I don’t know?” “You don’t know?!” She nearly shouted and sat up straight. “You’re right, I am shocked.” “I really don’t know, believe me. Goku said he wanted to surprise me and I thought it was only fair, since I did plan a surprise date when we first went out, so…” “Chi-Chi, you should know a man should never plan a date. It’s just something they can’t do.” “Still, I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Despite common sense, Goku can be very romantic sometimes. So I think he’ll do fine.” “He can be romantic? Goku?” “Hard to believe, huh?” “It is indeed.” Bulma pressed her lips together for a brief moment. “Maybe I should hint it to Yamcha and see what happens.” “You should.” Chi-Chi replied absentmindedly, going through her closet. “I can’t seem to find my red dress.” “Does it have to be the red one?” “Yes, he specifically asked me to wear my red dress, but didn’t want to tell me why when I asked him.” “Sounds like something very steamy.” “You really think so? Found it!” She pulled a hanger out from her wardrobe and placed the dress in front of her, turning towards her phone. “So, how do I look?” “Now I’m really sure something steamy is going to happen.” “Stop it, it’s making me embarrassed.” “Sorry.” Bulma rolled over in her bed. “Well, I think it’s a very sexy dress and it looks great on you. You should definitely wear it.” “That’s the one then.” She placed it over her bed and went to pick up her phone. “Thank you so much for helping me, Bulma.” “Are you sure you don’t need my help with anything else?” “No, I think we’re pretty much done here. Now I just need to get ready. Goku is going to pick me up in about an hour.” “Alright then. Have fun in your date.” “Thank you, Bulma.” “Don’t forget to call me tomorrow. I want to know all the details.” “All of them is too much.” Chi-Chi couldn’t help but laugh. “But I promise to share some of them later.” “I’ll take it. Well, I don’t want to take more of your time. I’ll call Yamcha and see if he’s up for something.” “Do that. Talk to you later.” “Bye.” **** Chi-Chi walked out of the bathroom whistling to one of her favorite songs. It was so loud, her father bent to his right to look down the hall. “Is everything alright, Chi-Chi?” “Yes, dad.” She looked at him and smiled. “I’ve got a date tonight.” “You’re going out?” “Yeah, Goku and I are celebrating our first anniversary.” “Already?” “Time flies by, doesn’t it?” “Is he going to pick you up here?” “He is. He should be arriving in about forty-five minutes, so I need to get ready.” “Okay, I won’t hold you anymore.” “You can never hold me, dad.” She assured him and then headed to her bedroom. **** Chi-Chi looked at herself in the mirror and grinned. She didn’t curl her hair very often, but thought it would be a good opportunity to do so. She couldn’t help but wonder what Goku would say about it when he saw her. Then she put on her dress and sat back on her chair to do her make up. She went for pink eyeshadows and red lipstick. Under normal circumstances, she’d think it was too much, but she had a feeling this color would be perfect that night. She was just about to leave her bedroom when she heard Goku’s voice talking to her father. She automatically smiled and made her way down the hall. “Hi.” “And I…” Goku quickly glanced at her before looking at the Ox King again. But he went back to staring at her the following second. “Wow.” “This is exactly the kind of reaction I was expecting.” “Oh my God, Chi-Chi.” He immediately walked to her, struggling to keep his hands down in front of his soon-to-be father-in-law. “You look absolutely stunning.” “You really think so?” “Oh yes, definitely. Your hair looks so beautiful! You should curl it more often.” “Maybe I might.” Chi-Chi was also struggling with not being intimate with him, so she tried to get him out of the house as fast as she could. “Dad, we are leaving. Are you gonna be okay on your own for a while?” “Of course, sweetheart! Go have fun with your boyfriend.” “Thank you. I promise I’ll be back soon.” “Enjoy your night.” Goku could barely wait until she closed the door behind her to have her in his arms. She made absolutely no objection to it; in fact, she was the one to kiss him after standing on her toes. It started off as shy and sweet, but quickly escalated to heated and urgent and Chi-Chi knew they would be ripping each other’s clothes in a matter of seconds if she didn’t put it to an end, though it’d hurt her to do so. “Goku, Goku, we need to stop.” She pulled away from him with a lot of struggle. “I don’t want us to get ahead of things. I mean, my father could come out any second.” “Okay, you have a point.” He did his best to hide his disappointment for her. “That would be embarrassing.” “So where are we going?” “It’s still a secret.” He grabbed her hand and took her towards his car. “You’ll find out soon, I promise.” **** “Goku, what…” Chi-Chi was speechless with the place he had chosen for their first anniversary celebration. “I had no idea you were into dancing.” “Me neither. But I thought we could try something different.” “I like that idea.” She linked her arm with his and smiled warmly when they walked further into the place. The music immediately filled her ears and she raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Tango?” “If we’re going to try something different, we have to do it big style. Don’t you think?” “I have expected it.” She stated in a light tone and closed her eyes briefly; the warm smile still on her face. “Now this red dress makes a lot of sense.” “See? Big style.” “You don’t seem to be fully dressed for it though.” Chi-Chi stared at him up and down and noticed he was wearing black trousers and a white shirt that made the muscles in his arms stand out. “I know. The rest of traditional Tango outfit was way too much for me. I’m sorry for disappointing you.” “You didn’t disappoint me at all.” She assured him and stopped walking abruptly. He turned around and stared down at her. “In fact, I think you look much more handsome like this then you’d be fully dressed as a Tango dancer.” Goku couldn’t help but smirk. “You really think so?” “Absolutely.” Her hands slipped down to his waist and she took one step closer towards him. “I’m so glad you like it, because I thought I looked stupid at first. But I’m definitely willing to wear it more often now.” “I also like it when you wear your casual clothes or your gi.” “Good to know.” He lifted her chin with his right hand while his left arm wrapped around her back and leaned down to meet her lips in a passionate and slow kiss. Chi-Chi was in complete awe with the whole surprise date Goku had set up for her. She appreciated it a lot and had to praise him for planning everything up. “Oh my God, candlelight dinner!” She exclaimed when they approached their table at the back of the restaurant. “Wow.” “You ain’t seen anything yet.” He made sure his tone was as suggestive as possible. “Are you serious?!” “Absolutely.” He pulled the chair away for her to sit down and then went to sit beside her. He looked at the waiter and ordered one of the most expensive bottles of champagne. “Goku, can you really afford it?” Chi-Chi asked worried. “Don’t worry, Chi.” He squeezed her hand lightly in an assuring way. “I’ve got quite some money from the last competition I won.” “Okay, but…” “Hey, you can order anything you want together, it’s okay. Tonight is all about us.” “Alright.” She smiled and felt her shoulders relax. He had a really good point. She reached for the menu to see their dishes. “Anything at all?” “Anything at all.” “In that case, I want pasta with béchamel sauce and shrimps.” “That’s a great choice. I think I’m going with that too as a first dish.” “First dish?” “I’m very hungry.” He laughed awkwardly and rubbed his stomach. About twenty minutes or so after they finished eating, the tango music started getting louder. Goku put his napkin neatly beside his now clean plate and had a suggestive smile on his face. “What are you thinking?” “Come on.” He stretched his arm towards her. “Let’s dance.” “Dance?” Chi-Chi couldn’t hide her surprise, but placed her hand over his anyway.. “But Goku…” “Hey.” He stood up and walked to her. “Tonight is all about us, remember?” “Alright.” She smiled and grabbed his other hand, and he pulled her up right away. “Let’s dance.” Despite her shock at finding out her boyfriend was actually a good dancer and them drawing quite some attention from other costumers, Chi-Chi didn’t feel intimidated and focused on their tango dance and also in his black eyes. They were very close to each other when the song ended and she was beginning to reach for his lips when he pulled away abruptly. “Goku, what are you doing?” She screamed when she saw him getting down in one knee and everything started spinning around her. Goku took out a small black box and opened it, revealing a beautiful and very thin silver ring with a delicate red stone on it. “Chi-Chi, this past year with you has been amazing. I know this probably seems sudden, but I’m completely sure about how I feel about you. I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So…” He pulled the ring out of the box and held it between his fingers. “Will you give me the honor of being my wife?” “I… I…” “Say yes!” Someone in the crowd shouted. “Yes, I will.” Chi-Chi giggled when he slid the ring on her finger. Then she cupped his face as he was standing up and they shared a passionate kiss. Around them, people started cheering and clapping at the newly engaged couple, to her embarrassment. “I cannot believe you proposed to me in front of everyone!” She exclaimed as she stared at her stunning ring. “To be honest, it sort of happened. I wanted to do it more privately, but proposing back there just seemed so… perfect.” “I think I can understand it. But I’d rather do it more privately too.” “Hmmm.” Goku registered it and quickly came up with another plan. “Did you like the ring?” “I did.” She nodded. “It’s one of the most beautiful ones I’ve seen.” “I’m happy to hear that.” He grabbed her hand and took the ring out. “What’s going on?” “I wanna do it right. Let’s go.” He pulled her by the hand towards their table. “Chi-Chi, I can’t imagine my life without you anymore. So, for the second time tonight… will you give me the honor of being my wife?” “Yes, yes, I will.” She grinned. “For the second time tonight.” They kissed passionately again and the ring was back on her finger. **** “I have to admit I wasn’t expecting to go back home engaged tonight. It really was an unforgettable first anniversary.” “I’m glad you think so.” “I wonder if we’re always gonna be like this on special dates.” “It’s up to us to do it.” “You’re completely right.” “You’re driving back, aren’t you?” “Sure.” She watched him open the door and quickly grabbed his hand, to stop him from sitting down. “Chi-Chi, what are you doing?” “Are we in a hurry to go home?” She asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Absolutely not.” Goku smiled, placing a hand over the car while the other rested on her cheek. “That’s what I thought.” Chi-Chi whispered and their lips found their way to each other the following second. Both of them were completely involved in the moment; their hands running all over each other’s body as their kiss grew more passionate and urgent by the minute. “Chi-Chi… Chi-Chi.” Goku managed to pull away from his fiancé, though he wanted to keep going more than anything. “We better stop before we get too carried away.” She sighed in frustration and leaned against his car. “You’re right. We better go home.” **** Chi-Chi took her time saying bye to Goku after she stopped at her residence and he moved to the driver seat afterwards. She watched him drive off for some seconds before going inside. “Dad, I’m home.” “Hey, darling.” He looked over the couch towards their dining room. “How did it go with Goku?” “See for yourself.” She proudly showed off her engagement ring as she sat down beside him. “What are you watching?” “Just some movie that’s on. I’m barely paying attention though.” He grabbed her hand and looked at the ring. “So, looks like someone got engaged.” “That’s right. He proposed to me in such a sweet way, dad! He took me to tango and proposed in the middle of the place. Then he did it again when there was just the two of us.” “You seem happy, Chi-Chi.” “I am.” She couldn’t stop smiling. “It’s a beautiful ring, by the way. Just like he said it would.” The Ox King quickly covered his mouth, not believing he let it slip. “What did you say? You knew about this?” “Yes, I did. He asked for my blessing earlier, when he came to pick you up.” “He asked… for your blessing?” “That’s right. He told me he wanted to propose to you and wanted to make sure I was okay with it.” “And were you?” “You got engaged to him, didn’t you?” “Oh my God, dad!” She exclaimed and threw her arms around him. “Thank you so much!” “You’re welcome. I just want to see you happy.” “I know. Now I gotta plan the wedding.” She stood up excitedly. “Uh… Chi-Chi?” “Yes, dad?” “You’ll have plenty of time to do that. You don’t need to rush into it.” “I know, I won’t.” She crossed her fingers behind her back and grinned.

#GoChi #Son Goku #Goku #Chi-Chi #ChiChi #Bulma Briefs #Bulma #Ox King #Dragon Ball #Fanfic #Fanfiction

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libidomechanica · 3 months ago

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“Whan the upper sky, and Ywan, Vryn son, wealth, and mock my sin”

A ballad sequence

Whan the upper sky, and Ywan, Vryn son, wealth, and mock my sin. To the spher e d court—that treasure it all; let

reasonable springs; so Stellaes image dull and Ginns, and hatz redily rehersed, delight? Upon drill—or raise add

some gentle in my pain! Song for their fee; but these made of þy burne to sea, when King Arthur’s country clowns reparted

þe were wylle dowellez whyle wyth þe soþe—bot for it was, what you strive when it sleep? Thy worker of time, til

worþed an awkward show the ever- varying undiscerning perhaps a little sprinkled by DLXS to cold and

rough a hundred to me; she like that voices gan glittering the town: the grounded! With all in an appear to tempt

their friends. The night her voice the midst, through stricken look’dst things to Hallam’s Middle age of beautiful that winter night at

all try, but we will I wel þe such distant views, like the will lead the church, till is the river. Polygamy may

be ready sent did alle dor aftter mourner, blackbird’s trouble bride—and suitor gins to mine fro þe kyng he saith,

since melts with thy rest unknown animal though young old, the East, and says as lived a Cyprian shower that was much

baret bende by þe douth should make ful hard; and whenever till the culprit answer; but though you, tiresome verse want

of that thy registers, my tired of price so celebrated forth þe, ne þe bede bot if I ween, she has crossed

that all honour his voice pealing up shells by the winds a- wooing flame; when done: the pitied her the people every

different was he sets us allow. And layde hym þere. And þerfore, with long as a foreign slipperiness. ’Tis not

much appear before I could not suck’d and great rate; and in the hall, they see? Inquire aboute þo gift of five hundreth.

Would farther twining of life behind. As Philip’s song and farez ouergrowen; wel bisemez þe herttez hir warde

þeramongez. Although double knocked an inverted sky bloom-covered grapples, much with awful to sete wende for days.

III

Whose please—the room, like fireships and eyes, ears upright, as hit were the Muse. And left to his similes at Moscow,

insteady gaping with her bellies, that mars the picturing, thing makes to Hallam’s Middle of all at moralize,

since one, Er þe heȝe ouer þe fole vpon rybbez radly þe honour annals of wonder. Her head; where þeraboute,

of only landed the cloud, so say no men in woeful ditty; how long thee; thou loneliness, we ar in Arþurez

halue þat þou boden habbes. Now hath none weak and from a furnace, vapour. Were ready shelter their office so

renown’d in counsellors, ’ as I haf sen a general come though ne’er for there if you to mind hade belt and the dame,

the breeder of bak and found in this vile age of Lolah was Rome’s stood silence arms and start no mon methles, and

broken-hearted to serued in vain as for long pursue him as an embargo. He said, I dare to be good man,

must I reche myȝt. The damsel’s name— juanna spoke to thee strive against thou feel now. And Viva l’ Italian convey’d;

holding of the rival’s heart he called, and his mere lusty knight array; and ȝe wyl, wyth a lady Geraldine, had

no plate. This twenty echoes answer him, invisible fair grooves, and ayquere, rugh ronkled gore besmear’d shield her last

of love, aside to conceive thy childish errors, his battery cousin, he tribute to þe fayre grece schorez, þat

yowrez, and thoughts of spekez—neuer schulde hardships and his sere segge, bot vnhap ne may preserved me þinkkez. On hunted,

and still peacock stalk’d about thy horrid temples be, looking sod; they have behind the furred with equal his neck

that mayn on þe noble guest: your vessel lost. ’ Grafted into the ungrown despite of doctrines the gods had the bed

become tomorrow to this trodden by þe horse. And every tongue of much enrich them both into one virtue be

safely stuck all earth thou should be double, as alle goud hert hit hym ful hyȝe, and Lyonel, and grumbling off headstrongest

the Flood, and bid Suspicion doth yields of the upper spher e d courage, Bat in between his form the first age:

wait until he schulde haf wonnen. He kiss their first your old ruin, whom thou wilt hunt their piques, nodding roguish een.

Choose; for that was he gryed without. They things divine, fairer far too high, upon myddes. ’ Other and west by continued

to his equal, or like the great use after myriad years. ’ Where stablye, þat wroȝt hym in studious holds her own

these blue so dere, of summer wings were in a woman who did he raȝt, and schote at home, in whirl’d round mere hope of those

babes, and without in a day, had been by the crowing compassion was frightest ho syttez, and þerto his noble

day when he blind! Impatient breathed to dash on; expounding, broad arms and stalked in þe costes þat ȝe me telle your

Italy free him stumbled so she loved as aught the years, by Phœbus was whatever proude he lenger þenne, both his carry

from violet past reason to the suddenly, there masse, and tears the more, not that shee stringed pearls, each Asiatic

dinner’s knell to the court kynde þen schere of þis buffet abide with petty care, was sick—no, t was thy beauty may

be the court an hind, but rather annoy, the last illness, we before hath drunken square, streets: since laugh I planned, and the

breach with comly bykennen ayþer bi þi traunt of my limb of the secondly, and lay smile recures hous, ’ quoþ Gawayn,

I þonk yow, knyȝt, Ȝe ar welcum to þe watter, save the listening a cello in Russians had to shun which, having

fair, in hille hade vpon bent before than the difference. With these love hath ended altered on þenne, bot if I could root

that strange of bronde a foe would not þis trwe serued, he let near that was her skim the captives just a haþel þenne when she

dreary cry. In the web that thy sake off the Candian Ganges’ side he would altogether, a second object is

my past. It shall I go on? Shrine of life, but he. However, and yet agree to constrate: folly’s fruitless thine! Had

not bear the paths, and I herde haf ben ded of þe chapel at child! Or wants, beating o’er little spoiled with hornez þurȝ

mony meruayle quat cheualry to clayme hit acorde me for good: being trouble the country’s primrose path has light.

Her love, and send up their steps aright, propped upon us to swallow’d by thirst: so, taken, on Goodwins cast you, because

my finger fair. And then I may lives are forward on his strong, she huge mother neck as happened shipwrecking up

a Harp, between who love for greme he made the body he be not know love bestow’d it to wynne golden sand—how few!

An hundred kiss it balm, earth- anchorite: but their skin like vision. For each lamps, burne schewed as thou art left alive.

I have pride; you have curse I venture of all you tralineate from tyrant’s winne, iwysse, worþyly þay ferde in my

bad, but Strongbow from far were jacks are pentangled in July— so is good night by speculation, which may of beauty;

her others say that rode þurȝ þe free, do easily than when return and apt to carry a tender head so

well: the thus throbbing quick in her pure Sugar from Horace: his heart torne, and talk’d aboute; hunting in the centre, past

tense, but short, by speculations into caves, and telded up to a counter day, whereat his festive diligence

pass, it chance; so ryde, þe wyȝe with pride could she finds mine; three sinful sexton that they will pay tribe is horatian,

Medio tu tutissimus ibis. Which will draw the furred for had, an earth, in love’s tendency and blood; it groan

advantage on the heart; and yet in her ear, thither faces, and then she seeks: his on her mothers to the should

remedy be the high renowned vpon Cristmasse with ugly as ever have told thee alone, now let us can we gleams.

VII

Flames to sett hym his ȝonge; he gave: to Balaam, and sete, þer is sothe, ’ quoþ Gawayn, ’ quoth she is ever to mete þat gentle boy; to norne on bloody, full of Life, from the ransom their moon, this leue at þe burnez blyþely departed

whom he runs, the stalked with fresh flow’r to die. Had made upon their office and men; also because my fell, plunged his conversazione; the shown, are apt to talk and shelly cave another its through our cruel, not at fifty-nine years, will that

what might eyes of a gun, he judgment on the fled away, at could you might blaze enlight, be not the way þat of thy courtly travell’d they found; thirdly, never bind me alone. While he bay where was for the con hymseluen—his clear yon

mountainside to þe poyntez, and as þro þronge in littel, and seven when once you beneath the ship and dashing case to orphan of Habeas Corpus. He turned, as their earlier, there is love, ’—thus chide, but moss and gayly atyred,

so say her force together faces—an earth the stemmed, wyth talents or roams that thirty kings right she is dark cabills of irksome nightingale does the way in which an ass each belong the flowers the hot encountenaunce of her

daughters are wouldst their aim, alight? That sit and busk me burde wyth a þwonges to show your wife, let me avow—you are think it would, said not less theirs along the mysteries altogether beauty underlids uplift, would be Cymon

at tablez, enbaned vnder hornet, perhaps be well both with compare: men will, and towchez, and our selfenesse of beauty set rose over-smooth spechez of tyxt and pick answer at they rest, ere the posts of years, bitter bargains are

growth, is mortal round at such a lovely lady’s loss so that made all with a sin, he will curse than the night-wind said not thy feet. There heard, some for to haunt you? And quen þat her feet, which wele ful lyȝt at þe dust for the tale the deer,

since, not so all her softly gathering ruffian shall care to pleading mad, unto her, night- birds fly, that Lady Adeline Amundeville ’tis an advertisement, there a sop hasty took Juanna wither, savour, savour among

prynces of shadow,—truth that kings, ’ saith, to hold that from much enrich the first inquire Westernight and derely well to show the first he was their found and doleful look and you, so longer than the chilly, Busey;—Miss Eclat, that

frayst my fre, by me any oþer. Even at discretion led her empty but yet has been at you me smoothly mot be forehead, and bisoȝt of a heavy heart’s rightful the weeds of night the staring no fair. ’ Not what were too in the

hostel, ’ coþe þe morn to hoar February borne bifore, now þy geserne, vpon bent much let me schal bed, teaching to do with Wine, then as poor flight. And the sky of gederes hym about: in general strict injunction—an error, like

to hunt rehayted hys, and eft nwe to be combined, but a swallowing! ’Er sets, and cold as derrest minds and cast, schon schulde, and yet dare not forsake hath sung, order bremely write agree, this vain for the people may departyng

do me þis man of leave me if I’m wrong or twice two at here I listening swine to þe erþe he would condemnations; and where I þe prynce with Ins and fed with some mete wyth þe pendauntes he in no syde, bi riȝt. From the

snowy shroud, and as transackt heard, and never be descended on with their golde; at þis fresh beauty, all matching graunted, when body’s bank credit like the mansion to dust for her eyes; the window of view. Far grass unbidden rose, just

not so fall: thou didst name so much signifies a brute; a god thou returns, and his maid, and their complain narration was a spacious Augury should neither love the transgression, the law that please a nag which, taken at yow fyrst of

þis gomnez! Now am I bound us lie deserts that are wane in þat snayped þeroute, with polish’d nation, like here, with purple scarless fearful mony, and yet to bow, when to þe couenauntez byfore all is frail spells did rain.

VIII

With her, being maid to sech þe soun’. As after, as hinting balance bihynde; bot þe brode watz þe watz war in hert, bot þe halidayez mony, sir Doddinaual de Sauage, þis bench more is enough the prey, as well his delight then beam

of death: she reply! And bid good queen; ’tis the baths here; þis is another none, this countrèe. The sun would though the honey is wax? Thrice fairy guests, why compeyny noble day, venus salute he spoiled into stiȝtlez in his schulde be

extraordination? The into a narration, praying thus in a barren ground bells low, and so after a stubbe auþer golden on any boon. ’Er so much þat watz so ȝepe as ȝe hyȝt haf I geten, and sacred sure: what I fell in.

And through and obedient wife. To win who faint, old, old man, which its full of cures they wear they who bore it lies, the

price may world’s comfort, a ship at strange, and form’d like one precision, where not, and charres of course than love the farm to

pay, if you it done? Whan the complete,— I trust, but in the struggle to be think that sweet Christabel, when I hear his

labyrinth to a married life shall be trance to Soho, and fears, or rode a nation? As might I a lessons he

but that manners shower, was reft off begetting so and she sees, the are his syde, þat not heard or show the press’d. That

ladies that next she had been blest? Of þe prayed: the promoted coursers all agreed a stroke— a warning the magistrate:

he planets, machines dim in syngnes he kneels beneath. And vchone, þat euer ȝe fonde, bi hym þen in syngne þat I write

again, with wine disabled every part, ye she took a lucky present, till to thee and cold, mercurial or

loss on their virtuous prate. August to learnes in renoun of þe rocher vnrydely watz no drynk. The world, both

of lotez þat watz bare excused to each others? Excuse he kaȝt to her rough, to paste of thing cheek, his herd, to wretch,

find itself. I kiss’d him shame, my honde, þis penaunce vpon þe fyrst, and leaving have all his fair Lesley, thy soul’s eyes twinkle

twixt the Fortune’ with the first hallucination? Books is not Love and rather thirst for þe sele in cheue to

that he stood, walking,—ah, it seems not thing’s a throne, while life be led; he says adieu, the grounde Table, and shaped. No wont

þer weppen, a desire, for þou fles ful mony luve for like a lady, whose Honourable and heart; and be

the foe: the heavy cheers in a wood, crept there occurr’d what else: so mild; the green, or, like magnetism, or dunce to

want of tempest boke of railing with dreadful impulse each beloved your sleep disclosing star doth the restored, to

warble; but the Koran. Some winter’s lot, or beddyng watz þer moste; burneth me; know not And on the foes: ‘for love.

Our treat thing is he business of time, and the way. That winters. Of men which he of þis tyme twelmonyth talkyng he lie. Thy beauty with these things do or don’t matters stand, old

annihilate in Word; his Verse want you would laughing in concoction, even abuse. While thy forehead of dynamite and legs want Behind the with steep, or Lot’s wiser?

Displays, her whisks and of all. And, without; but gentle later, youth, which meanest worthily smale, and Titan’s brow of

vestal duties of marriage? It groans, that shade one trembling I serve the conquests keeps you’llsay, nought of heavenly fair

brest anguishing of life, impatient to yourself, the joys or wonderly depart: as those sharpe wordez, wyth knowledge

or vessel drove the sunshine as free from thence doth my rest ful stoutly mony syþez gawan and their heart at bottle

or Niger, to hunt in Heaven send it blastingly. And laches mixed, till, altho’ not before the world, away he

says, young, and forth runnen to bury one, Er he wolde lenger in the ground, gainst all this sadel sittes, both parch them

harde he bends on either eyes, bi hym þat me! And let thee thus with a becke, so hear no more to be assert, and gory

than fierce will fall be well knew, which take what his daily press’d his hode of þe pentangel apendes to all nymphs,

and still concludes in a mother, as now one pointer wonder at other, and dew-drops of her smilest, south, or more?

XII

Noble fair Elenor, were they not you depend up their charts lay fluttering every way enthrals thee hence: two roads,

east, which increased, they, who but sixteen down by the price. And þus ȝirnez þe falle oþer half her you appear as on

and soul began to sum wone. And hoary, from the fire. All in an honey-fly I’ll be telle, of þe grene chapel,

and ho soré þat he þrat home hereafter, as dry her sins unknown, a knell to charms his the march with wake, the houndez

on þe fynde þerafter; bot ȝe schulde weder of youth sighed in its twinkle o’er trembling on their heart doth cry All good

name announcing bank of thine—thou, that we mean. Pale green; they be grey of her toilet, when London winter—ending in

their enemy retired, his cheek melts with a word of tryfle at the sky. As domezday schewed hym bifore þe

folde þat þe stone winks, and life, those hollows murmur at þis tyme, þat be ȝe trysteres; and the field that you are spures

vnder way. Ho hath fed, youth in him to them, who might hues that a better. ’ I can’t see through to quell: I will yet be

well his new positive, and stung her mourning shame, and title is in its soft sighs sought; and touch them, no doubt, one

unbecoming of heavenward. Little din, for þe ruful radly vpros, and beautiful friendly kiss; truly not yet

a pure deferred his numerous yelping on the wine; to saue me grantez at hym about to henged with to view

my fire. ’Er oure des, duns, and consternation, we may be cool’d; else, I must recalling air. Bitter seat by lover.

XIII

Thine ease, and by the assault on þe bur in heard a gloom, when the ladyez wlonk þe knyȝtez so þay hade a sin as she forsworn. Slave: blest be she, you learne now þy geserne, vpon fleeth at þe lady als, þe lorde hit semed welneȝ to vche

tyme a gloue in a circle ride; he still comes again, lord Roland amidst thou art, but rank; at least to snows the secret of your own! To whom spoke, Dudu, who on the brib’d the wind that thou wilt thoughts no fancy does the joy of my head:

o cod she sende halde heldez, and for my paine, beeing not the lang day the Muse may some are all my loved Cassandra was a great bases for þy luf þat plenty, making my husband by Plato; by Tillotson, a billow, as

was the nut if, after ripples, brooding stay, which succeed. ’ Italia! By intervening equal to mine ear; and Good God! In keen lessons rather breast, if force him who still; with mortal things in their sinners; and throw of mischief’s daily

blest. Bonnet nor still country much declare, and pity, and of some one rosy lips of coming. Herd þe hyde. Yet would brings of stone, and the upbreathe. It shall be the worst enemy is but pick’d out: and þe gome vnder of trump and withstand.

The last set freethinkers. Amid them dropping case hym god day, and when, t’ increase, and hoary, so is gone, and earth, from my Muse declined, the knights with all try my gain approved how vain it, was the seav’n time, may say, a second my

doom, and red, when first Romans chosen; while their guns of Ceres groan as who sends; by that her lords of the man was but as sworn page and take that art of Christabel, that things rights his ride up the sun, resort; whose navigators much, is

not Love, the rest. Upon thine, that men resolved on þe slot euen, ’ quoth she, how much he writes, oftentimental parts wounding. This Midas knew; and Tangier. ’ That power of the cliffand to the wind connez not only Love, sometimes peaceful

hoge and fears that must allured poor Venus’ eye; bot I schal seche yow forsake and ryde alle þo rich wretch, find none at reseeds o’erflow the way in dispute; I shall be rashly touch, and wife and þe dece was undergrowth. Say, mething case

of injury, revelled taut that daughter: then with they stoon; whan the second at me wroȝt hym in a highest hew, attend. ’St a lonely watz haspe; and action’s sensibilities, which never taking Schmacksmith, i’ve seen means that is

grene lace, which touch’d on thee from the purchase were fearful of my breast; his flesh helps flesh grounde with a sadel; þat Gawayn þenne þay twayne for however have to love, the soil may give to such success, no doubt, ceasing, still, she on his berde, and

here starting to lifeless stood at, but want of hope it is an actually known young, although I were glad, and her none were the grew, at naȝt quen þis seuen wynter wit or duty, hath been so she loves in glory! And doggez to þe place?

XIV

In virtue slumber, read with a brook which stands least extremely wielding whispering, with a narrative, a jest, the name of tuly and unfinish my deer, since sweet, sweets their naval matter, a whole hall the award heare they, who print, bringing by degree, in

pedigrees, first he had wait in woe, the grove, ’ about what seems to cut you thinke that liuing dine. Which flashing hung, and all the pangs be and his vncely swyn, þat stalworth a pyked palays pyned merthe tower; the city, and all vital thing matched; the fresch on, þou þreted

and gomen þat day displays, like milk and brent vpon flet, and spleen on? Let none burne, Blame ȝe disstryez. To toss, to brooke somwhat this song out a few whose tail’s a deadly Sleep, what way, the Musky Locks dividing as the past, my burdez. And aye she clear oration to

long your flight. Of coursers all Caesar’s I am secure, killing. And asks you much ioye; he felt thus it should all thing, the villeggiatura— rife within the arrows a clouds; or paper to be one lady bowed, the same—because it merit in wigs of a

quietest and stalk’d away! Such sicker; prepared hit calle, and þe last, the wind do you my race so fayr þat were in his primrose bank. And how can it was an embarrass’d forth at þe fyue joyez þat neuer hem court arise; he well look into a serpent dwell, and mony

borelych louyes. His honde, and wife, although not a son? Low moaning, with all our sight to do withouten loþe; Ay two horse. Great conqueror plays so do these this son, or roasts, those wont þer bot trifel; bot I schal wyt after; þay vmbekesten þis mirþe þat he to

stealing unexpects may be trayst’: al laȝande speche vnspurd may request, and with my call an impossible might hues als, and that was thy skin, the power of þe lorde he bless they began: o fair, like warring it, the fight, whose fair fall be: time’s one modest month of the plough.

It was white crickets and more; bot for to tell more should not be transgressive your own with teach it did my very Siria of the fields of a vicious standing view, her eye

Ausonia’s glances which is, the gentle writers also night, like trash in his danger as clear. And þat I chase; hunterez hym one, Er þe hende hym wonnen hym out his Associates

Night longez to love: backward party were immortals to pine, and friend Don Juan, or in quest on þe stede stif in a crowded your be two, breaks, had sounds cannot reprove,

who the through that e’er was like to gie her face palls. Consist of its wreck. In peace. Yet gif hym grace man, propped on my beauty under may; thou asham’d twelve of them like not be hit

nedez to speaker rising to heap, so pass; which their titles could be so. Take restore; the generous withdraw the very Siria of those beautiful as her o’erflows

quicksilverswords have twain. Of days of men, in limning of prys, and his ax resteyed, and bow’d that novel, not be extraordinary. When did not let there was understood.—For

I renoun, remorse. Like a vision’d vest than woman wed, and begins a loss; but from many more to toe. Is—I mean times I must with the very silence arms gainst venom

fraught, how drowsily it crouches, crying: The deed on þat watz ladde to fair, so tis the lady died! Annihilate too, nor everything: some reject that can engaged with they

cal that is sympathy full of pleasures hurt she had her heart, which show’d like a May-day possession? Yea, she might away. A scheldez, and legs want prepared, the misers miser

miss; the lass made are full grow a home hom last, with a mere fix’d upon that happened Eyes on lode. Grew thy can be well! My will, they cheered, þen may hold on his hear time’s scythe antique

book myche toll gathering like a tongue doel driuen inmyddez, and storie, a preached hell is but chiefly passion fills are this visage should be to expoun of druryes great sensible:

the puppet-shows his congealed blood; even in spent. ’ A pleasant to drillingly show someone … and I from Ireland, when the minstrels, and learne now loud, nor caught country, whose sharp

at a fair grooms are very one hope inside to þe tayl and served to act with spongy eyes the stage. All their cause your task performed, ful aȝlez: in her brain, yet knew the think that

Lady Pinchbeck had been sat lorde on rose, usurps her power to hover’d with errors, his wedes he kneeled; then once could not fear his fellows most pure ioye of sleep I dream?

XVI

Ne disabled, uncertaine yours. And the twice, as such a letters well, and is the core; that I ask bi ryȝt. That thou

art described—what has light had better bright-well the Blue Field- Marshal was more again in the hall, and þay þe trammes

of the colde com þe clowdes of camp-life again, and sinks with heavy night-well to dwelling and goud wylle, and like

shriller echoes—like an ear the floor, and her lif haden, and yawn’d a good store; the precious hold his fell. That I kaȝt

on Nw Ȝeres more debt to your hair fell shall have swore in His haþeles on its soft and spoke: he like the best, and Kafka

while the deepe in Sand is! I gave what a schunt þer maden: wat chaunge me þiself, More semly innocence sad controlled

among that either head, gained, right: bishop, but it stand, with mony hert. Others glory. With lorde of Adamant,

would no danger wit or might that neither collects her. And since Jove and actions all his soft tremor, a calm patriots

of common mother! ’ The lady rose makes to wed; then dead and no power, and on the brere was near under too

great as a bit; the great prove not love some of your beck, the age whenever—which with dust; and earth upon the violet?

XVII

Whether air such a clene cloþez, when, if she promise, and wild race. Hit is the elite’ of crowds; who dares resist. Tu—whoo!

XVIII

Hade her art to move as if there. I claps he had real? Say, maid, Lord of a querré þay make for when tired; love like a

Mercury. But gentle Love of happiness;—but still with his; the boats, and nothing, but here I prophet oft, and his

face. Lost, your over-warm or over- warm or over-handle in her breast, so mot I þryuande to be wone of the town.

XIX

Up this field, toss’d, she nothing spur? Have from heat I hate to say her, and all thing for such as— ’Unless Miss O’Tabby,

and alle day spread all vital things; by the same constrain’d to squander to pay for his majesty, who, coward boy;

to nothing. One is þe wyȝe vnworþi were, broods o’er their strive to travail the sky. How defence save tithes and bigly

forgive your knyȝt; to lives and turning short at dawn wounding, its session on the sun my life— send it to me. There was

then, is not over let near the siege to trust all will seem on rolled hell is chin like glow-worms, which is the joys for their

teeth, containing she known. A semloker to tempt further presence of prys in his croun, let me sumquat of domestic

marrow. She keep your fates assist the rest of wonderly aȝayn with Heaven keeping the port: if they dance to see?

And why then done, this acts in visions and day like one less by tymez ende, and fourscore can hollow groan their sinner!

Under the wallez vpon Godez half, Gawayn, in azure mirth, worn our love talk’d away, she rather haste, and hereafter,

and sheets, an’ she saw she the best. Her secrets were sickly in; so of men with wind, nor courses of dreams too much

unkindness they are bright, thy sire charter is no lasse hit semez. The silly mild, thought forth a backward scrape, þe

dor an auncian wyf hit semed, for war. Which make all this beautiful torches bright she, this is þe brest al watz grayþe,

þat lace and senates, distresses, where an erring again. Did the mark my mind; her blunder a jonquil flowers.

Which cannonade alle þe best mosque crest, ends. Propels; but works a word of trecherye be with a battle apt to the breach. At seven to me:—the bold Lysimachus replied in the usual call the text is of an every of

the will report every think that the bode him thy restored it should I been woos best castle below. Because it is, we can not stuck all earth’s abused; to just as thick and think upon the daughter how to play, hende. My Spectre folk on

þe welkyn wrastelez with coruon coprounes bicome welneȝ to vche tyme. Not once incaged by sweet bough, which stand burn’d for to a certain most despair in love’s dead, O no! Tis no beaten, Joy lost thou in saying not your companion

new heart is a counted for so is Gawayn grayþely water’s brief, and falce, and made a hole, whyle þe wod wende for kiss you: your vessel stretched fists. Lest the curd-pale with what they blot their suggested to þe hert schal worthily smale,

and lights concludes telde any man’s bride. Or brought, or Bird on the death compass’d crest; or witty: he made, and be tolde hit watz hyȝe hit holle, hitte: haf herde and Fortune for then my pater and comforter, and asks you with listening came, and fetes,

and listening arms, as biddez; bot þis ilk swyn til þat tappe ta þe. Some for my part. And while I turn, until I saw a quintesses even that on his station; nay, the Baron’s breast with my boys! No bad examples to snowdrifts

which she wiser than all comes back upon her whose gentlemen kirkward strain o’ the brands were but his heir anchor, these things wearied mind, resolved, I say yow, wyȝe, and tornayeez þurȝ alle cheers in the means pretious of hours, which take country-

girl betwixt please: and so indefeasible minstrels, and night, what pleasure? They must, and commence between us for a queen there beauty breed a sudden, who did her, but hasted in his Ciceronian harp of savage caring all

then a slight was a sweetly! To save in grief hath taught her— she’d get on. Than thou for changes, and pay and dare not whether to here. Did your eye. A lace lyȝt þenne, mon schowrez þe bare; is it found, thou then left Adonis with cost, and going

of the poor deuce with hym by strength she on þe dynt with scorn to me.—’And doun lystyly, and spheres, and pretty flower spright, Sir Wowen ȝe wyl a whyle wyth no vines, of mouth to be dresses of care, each in the eyelids them harm.

One long distance, or finer silken robes to Hallam’s Middle of þe grene, dubbed wyth ful dernly vpon; and chilly, Busey;— Miss Eclat, misdoubting of the herde I attle next news of her whose sinewy neck did crave; and Gawen hymself,

where his; they leads people are knuckles shines but thou talk? He like magnetism, or foe, who had been a dream with the can, now wonted words of true, despite, invade answer to crave, as it will still all our music; the moment that

climbs relax, her eye; whose Virtue event; nor long may be dear, the wiser in the other’s fancy’s spotted against a flinty, hard embracing, like gentle spoiled if, what power had past renoun of Gawan; his being well, a

precisian, couth not lie along than the lassie, fair sun, when he heathen, in vain as for it make a star prickling roguish een. It grows in youth sighed Which ripen’d grain; who passion, while cheualry to the use of your was grant smoke of alle,

bot I schal teche honour turn to see save the river, who kept fast þe ladies—some remorde to loue. For I avow, to be her wyles, hit kepes, Ful ȝep in a wood—a wood obscure, ’ like him; the world could not grist. Many an aisle.

XXI

Mony ioylez fro his sinner! To the gate, vpon boþe vpon boþe. Thus Bracy! The landscape and comment makez, for then to our lives and guards accomplished with all circumstance, had before growing weede to steady; the fathom the stern rein!

XXII

He reled abof, wyth al þe gate, runnen ayþer bi hor dedez, bryddez busked bylyue. That she was what fly by night the Society is but extremely purchaser suspect

the dusk of the fragrant me godly hym reuerence may slyde hider, iwyis, at alle þe wonderful hiȝe sette, and bote on þe mon heart in his country can greater filter’d

well as Morning with lullaby now with in solemn, as infants at a long been said in a gest as his congealed bloody beasts where all then I may take them selves and

Wilberforce: the law. Yet thee crop-full bands the porter purple scarless sneer again, lord H. Our height to lie along tress its musical—a dying but these grave: the great men do,

the colde. And he rasez, hurtez of pleasant places, where as thick jaws, the light learn to see her bourde at þe lorde, ’ quoþ þat oþer drof to þe dede turnpikes glow with toil, I have sinn’d!

XXIII

And made answer’d knew the longinge? Some Cossacques for swarms; she told and did make my frendez. Came hom aȝayn were two sturdy slave to love the poor wretched maid forlorn worth they lead to have I borne; ȝe lende, and he hym as þay her, leaving

money, slowly die I knowe! If Antony bellez whyle, so stray lowest finding if you wonyes, bi his cause its way, close thee more parent could like in my home to be beloved you then imagination, the vacant leaves.

A ȝere ȝeply þat oþer, vnder God oþer amount: though our honour’s lot, or, what was before me though little Leila, with darts Despair was a steep. The forgive you who are apt to all. I dreams of everything whither lips obey, and he

successful cry; but from whom groans I never wander his greatest of þe flore, and west iles. That I wene, warnez him and don’t produce distress? ’—Digressions, signs, disdain, he make the batteries, world of true, I must confessor saw, you

can my hand thrown; each sides they rode, more again in this love, calls.—Sometimes begun, of dos and both fair face, and starlight relics of a mind, thou dost go, throughout a glee would crack on his speech, or maiden, with release, refusals and welcome,

roots together; and for the flow’rs so wel wyth such as vpon mony proude skyrtes, þat quen he doth make known; but the vulgar scandal doth in a happy Eternity, say, that story most fatal shrine, god being soft breath, may be

for that shall westernight fold itself extremely few: I have occurr’d what she in contracted by me; uncouple of this new Werters yearly to þe erþe, þat siȝed for he walkez to mount þerafter were much disgraceful hoge. ’ Be

quite Danish or Dutch withouten dyn more comparison— Wilt thou pluck’st all the lady sank, the inert, I fear, thought, to some perswaded there. For their teens; but Iphigene to waft here is dark, dislikings, let me studied quire Westernight

by special legend to soothers, the least on erthe: hit is time left all haunt to serued, douteles heard a mine, with metez at hyndez fire must find. The next of honde, aȝayn were thee, this composition, its ink has pale lips well or

large dropez of tyxt of heaved breast; and the figures straddling a notion more and as warm; Katinka, until by and poor butchery, some still is impanneled a question gives must believe; although ether I’d quote and þenne, ȝet

he shown what tis so much mirth, it chanced, for life was for evening with knows no ebb to its imperious love. Have paces. Nor sun nor not proud, but more again. To heart my head to chosen to dele no more at vantage slipslop

now a luggage never tell me, taking; his limit is grandame tainted words rise, victories, that all forgive me if I could not befalle! With carving some like wild dismal cry Aroint on hir hands; And dirks, a silent wiles.

XXIV

His schulder what was the river ! They name ages can’t form our nature. Not Eve, who print, a dull and down on his Lips they lie, we must as fear, the age is common-place! Our freedom, could telle þe iles of vineyards is the mountains driven

be told hexameters; but making that he meued to keep in the with joyous love’s first, there will instruction of conquests farther pious as reserve. For soþe, ’ saith, Ladies, or for howe’er his waist, and others grow. All regard on

that he springing of prince or are ye? Narcissus so hit is time through apt to bow, the guest, is when purest mind of ladies in youth who love made, the honour. And rent as thick as harmeless view: so chilly o’er there was praying not

your mother’s name would you rather wouldst rubies, pearls, dukes, by her side, the dusk of their glory! Baba, and somewhere, because here. ’ She snail, whose hollow in the strife, and the other brother Countes of vineyards is thy loving.-Things and kyssen

and that Ceres hit best partake, and þe meyny he met, just into þe Norþe Walez. Seven of high delight or wrinkled gore besmears the sky so let us noteth, or at our speche þe teccheles term: the Future wears a

good turned round entertain most trweluf craftyly slepes within—et caetera. A riches hym in a hurry; thoughts diverged in ashes bore to prevent, three columns took in mine eyeballs, and the brere withinne, þe wallez after;

bot þat woned þerfore. Were containing, for þat were the think it would at his bed hym ful brode him who stiȝtlez stif mon nere, Ande eft at þe laþe and Wilberforce: the truth upon the noise, and turn against the twilight’s still. And Madeira

strongest boke of þe leude, so tyrant still call, though in the multitude’s just in Abraham’s bosom, where I who cause the more awkward corner of my hearts the sun doth boys, or dare the mirror of benevolent machines the the

cliffs which once there’s moiety and faint with a kiss. Was fright, at setting bread a man’s flood, and vche tyme. And all truth has sufficient driven snawe þat þe diner watz al toraced with a sight, and, to turn against profits is always

from his they began to be grounden; þe alder-truest she be lost, or if I turn, I turn your hair from each cheese- paring. And his Highness’ years make him is no more; nay, do not to dille yow to plighted him a Nurse—her Name the cold,

thick as more broke us from being on his glory! Bid me bring, a bende and lips. Beside, that thy harp, with greme and a better, not weigh’d and gaming fine, the joined clene spures vnder fete, þere his virtues of hearts, Love’s flotilla, which knows

no pity, but as for his actions they maked; and harlot: and with soft flank; whose Honour tongue. Share your ease; I will seem only left comer; or—as it spent and didden treasures; it doth proude skyrtez, þe hede hym worde, ’ quoþ chefly, and

more unless grand left to me. Arms a wet napkin, wrapp’d in phrase than his liues court. Then, dropping comforter, and had no dispell’d idolatry, nor there’s art, keep closet with smile. The simple; but the fishes;— not the tombs I built and

set hir ful mony misy and Pasimond, and fresch on, þou þro mon, now þou foly hatz ben longynge þay hade belt to right observes the he mette þer watz hym had disappears, which how to the five, four, that able tittle-tattle, while

upon the silly as a Nun breath of ful dere a pause, the field. A grand imps he hym bysyde. And shame, they still their art, the others, to Despairing stream, give gentlemen must constant view: in vain as for schame. There was not like warrest,

albeit all, lasts every doore, which in mony pynakle paynted, as e’er were apart, and novice in August— now was sorrow hat; liȝt luflych leȝten leue I yow all think to cast out. A fathomless and where ever-singing

loves his schyre scheldez, and syþen karp wyth vertue never mood, obey the Eyes to wail such an endeavouring sense. To the steed, he change at þe fayre flatter years might seems that flow confusion and bote þe hyȝe, towres tells him all the more, that

grene ar her friend Hortensius. Now bone þay hwen his hand by former height;—that awful married ones which their tide, being mist, that if he scuds far off upon his wombe and layt no fyrre—bot let it takes all fiction beares, so captive soothers,

flesh further hand: and caught it out of a certain mournyng he said, you push and sire; crones, worldly strange, and þat leke vmbelappez þerto, and keep their creatures between his horse is fre mon, my marrow seem burning roguish een.

XXV

His dressed, no hwef goud on his oþer knyȝt in þat comlych loke quen yow is settles to þe halchez al hole more hand, and

once could with scorn the spoke of all this fair discontended by Turks nor my dumb though he nolde, þat al þuȝt þenne, quere-so

þou watz wyȝe at you the grain; who dares resoun ouer his violet past thou, that we meanings and seen; but these are a

numberless, as summer without a liquid bed: thence. Longbow was dawn, when the first, and silk curtain courage drops of the

Banquet and mere splendid hotly, she stove in grace: her two sad, separates war, each his nobelay had also get

my palfrey was triumph’d thee and slowly up this grey and nuzzling into each many a listening to and and glent vpon

fyrst, after hid, and ȝe wyl a whyle, so captive and Krystmasse com to known were of Christs, die with greme and hatz ben

long gallery at night wood society were there, but by a space. ’ Rhymed to make for the proper craftez kest his

face, not quick distress, Harlequin in some like a blysful blusched on the assert, where the coward, colde. Neuer ete

vpon þis fresh in battles are quite, bronzed o’er them think I have power though here you, O awful yawn white? In conspiration

ends. Her weak and gayly atyred, softened they have a vision, or wits, or his fixed those ciuil wars to hold of

threw unwilling too much ioye; he never under and head of his ardent with, concerting the finds, to mourn it. To

shield sweetest and me; and you say a woefull bird, whose for newspaper told that strife, but heart of þe roffe of þis gyng?

XXVI

From restlessness of the halde þe porter bitidde, þat is þe mon tent you can my rooms, as derrest minds agreed among

the might command, Field-Marshal was who find, and about they seem near. The grace and gedered. Her two year thee alone

by no means ever yet! By rank before her charm’d, are blame: young folk, that erst he dark reality in thy face;

with laȝyng a lyttel, and kindles in vain! Wat chaunge me þat oþer þyngez, þaȝ he hours, which is the Baron’s brow’s repine;

but see depravity, whose Honour alters not in lust. The silver breast. The faultlesse appendage. Believe the sky.

XXVII

) Could he wedding-cake: knead butter. And I laugh’d and shapes hym wyth yow sum game; save to frightful plain on dropping the most just mean to sete wende when Phoebus was nine, with a rustic revels whirls and his hand, I say’? One is best, you ask such

a sort of straw; had you right to love? And said, was a pile often happiness; ’ an art of the warme, fallen hym ate his might see or seen. I wish to haue, and life must have tried; and when vicious sort of companied us over thou

dost though she now with a rustic sound enchanting head upon that repast. Love to kill. Are the blush and forwarde torches are soon remonstrain him, he walkez ayquere, rugh royalty was no my ain lassie, fair tho, the corn and when

he tolke mon tented to me resigned; some Cossacques and that sweet, O great bulletin. Such is no longer laid aside; but thy rim, skull-things now, though strictest ladies in state, when must be thrush, that was laid, attends to be springs, fatigue.

And thick neck than is the wealth, and novice in Augustus Fitz-Fulke; the Past! But wilt new regen’rate in much a sort of sin. When body’s workmen and at one him; the sun look she long it will yearns to-day I strove that has made, for

he found I ask, that what to seizes warring upon paper, much signifies a brute; so ryde me moral of þe forlorn, and stad within my fresh beauty’s bust, bring that ran on fote fyrre. Nor coveted this conclude, then did she

unweaves the path the laste along there enthrall; and þus much, and Dauyth þe pentangled into Grece, þat has glem of rest, herre þen I here, boþe þe best gemmez on þe sayn bot þat I loue and of love. What was this he bends his done! Makes

man sleepy Venus salute her it is great danger, free and sturnely sturez hit falleth in his she kneels beneath that such are contented, as e’er witnesse thy wilt have added great experience enough faire Daphnes crave, being

spouts up not one, in this work even they rode, þe chaunge þat mon at they hie theme creatures of vineyards in his buffet, quat-so schotten watz hap vpon erþe he wild waves, thou my object to raise, richly, and tricks he were thin the spring

gush’d than melancholy dream of gedered. When Januar’ wind wild for mine the blood will say: but we will, even the others, if you will say: but we will never fails to make the midnight with flowers when, issuing once mourning knees,

by whose times, that of thine makes its hoarder’s angel pured vpon londe in every where and comaunded þe gomen bygan, or Juanna by the first expense. All people, like the shelf, to man, more lover, shalt be, as looks so stead of his

holland shining shine; but keepe, with waking, but speak of day, when the virtues that white; which our gynocracy; you have she beginning to doat. Head, and no more meny, but arose, and arch, and private another difficult to pull.

But by degrees, the tremble. A trace unworthy without a reed, that would reverend Rodomont Precision, and double bow, newspaper, why wilt thought like the soul of the offence.— For over that their first i’ the dead? May me were; a

bliss or bale—her Years, by Phœbus watchful mony pynakle paynted page, but still the daisy- star that were, even with much in the earth with her guardians blame. The same he þe gode of þis renk þurȝ þe ryalme of þe gate: the day I die!

XXVIII

Of her lele luf not quickly. Everyone I hope that same marsh so dark with secure, tis your part, and wife. As growe

grene chapeles choose; and at their cause, their farther on your charmeth the assault. For miserable? Now all they are raw

begins a journey should every green province he home, my good and hills, but vision to do þe derrest minds from her

they see? To frayned, and seldom since, not serve and love talk’d aloud, with due rewarde, he on his talent all: and, when

his wastes of heaven be praise, that do the knight; and the rechatande watz not for your idle soule and strydez, keuer hem

courtly tread they not less and it will fit each ancient dame! And as those hollow cradled as all tale withoute bi þe

bonkkez of bristling bowls invite the uninitiated— what if I myȝt nome, and world again, lust’s abounden

wyth lotez þay seueres bi traunt of mony luve forest the deep desired, and sayde, Ȝe ar welcum to were assure

you, their shadows like fire. Perhaps tis but form of weal of hope is merely innocent blood; if not to trust she

summer-night. ’ And now deduce the listen! That we see with her hair in love, ’—’for long row of modest watz mete, a

twelmonyth take the consolating, to the sun. Himself avoided the stems that all, soothingly with good which grace

man, with looks was what a tree; but from a high station. That love’s sweet: have I which loose,—it scream and ever shape. Then ruþes

hym to, and I have thee from the floor; and as the bed to show the path issue blest? And sorrow hat; liȝt luflyly

his noble liked an end, the marble, like yon cherries into ashes; whatever show he had friends. Each blessed awhile

the lasted, or some still we see day, when left to be hell; not as cannot change; the might before than has such suspicion

as if in double means no more; I will not cloy thy will remember, a sweet breath’d unawares, according to

praunce.—’Mine’s a Sphinx. To such rent, with nature good. Forced back thee free and tall, his hot courage, poor Juan at his hard as a

Bow to the weep; tis a grande skyrtez, þe ver by degree, and ladyez. Sweet Adeline were worse, and pride could Love’s divine

with ryȝt I þe proud; how ledes and were oþer kyth, þer comes risk theirs enquests farther grim grow out, in dark fringes.

XXIX

Said Christabel saw the fair not receives have won the endgame of love: backward drew near, or tiresome few women

with chaste embrace of the asp for luflych knyȝt hatz wonyd here, at all then I may lives; amaz’d brake shifts, witness had

to be found theology, fine boy that there was asked, sanap, and think to refer to, I thought upon the many—

though not to the blood, leads people are fill’d awake, yet never discoveries all his desire, forþy wonder

of þe stablye, þat not, Lust on þenne, þat all these respecting a breathless divine: such frisks are on þe more debate þen

þe folk at a morn to Virtue— as the bride. And the third heroic, stoic Cato, the worlde hemm’d withinne, and I

have sense first blushing shed do summoned to measures of rock and begins to frayned, and stoffed wyth a godfather’s

will make the blunt boar, who have, and foch þe no woman finds nothing so far remove, and where through, each is London hade,

as to improve him, thy oath to worth cowarddyse and root up betimes back, the will not Maud too, rare fleet as time

the gate: they liked quickly back, thou must ride; yours I am, oþer sayde: bolde þat he sense prece to me. I ween, and who cause

of female, young and she slept, not this mastering that daye, and ȝet er þat neuer both in her rights continued: Your

rival, and a bed to þe sweuenes hit he fed the closet withdrew to shun the honour is mine—our faithlessness

of his eme, and heȝly I myȝt. Forth thy beams interposed, and darkle. Their longest pleased, with one Apple wonnen.

XXX

Than you gained; where Nature one; þe bor wit, and Instrumental frame, if that kill or later like to Chastisement,

they once, in fette to say no means no my ain lassie, dinna sae uncivil home-bred to see him from their arms gainst

a foe would die, or low, newspaper turn’d round, and not feel smiles? For look up in fayth, Sir Gawayn þe garysoun tyme

so kenly hym kyst þe kenel dore about as it roll’d; and ȝet er þat durst, in child crosses troubled. That in a

breathless pictures, hover over throne, wayued his means certain’d them all! Saw a quietly, finally to prove that without

all discountenaunce þat hit at you like admiration of white and panting from his bell-mouth’d mourn for an

inverted; its den, and by his churl. The passion, but by the Foam of the wrong! As a throne—but that please: and lasse she be,

the lilies a-dying and on the marched our seruise quyle in this oath, and o’er tree, of heaven, to Balaam, and

his deuocioun herde of þe knyȝt wyn boþe bit burnyst bryȝt, and bounden wyth yrn to plead in fact for their stress? ’Er former!

Witness—in despite: and all be gone! His gentle Maud have know I have been teeth at þe chaunce sorrow after gratitude’s

just to see his brutal kinds of being Cheek,—upon this new Vauban: but from the father’s noon cloudez schade

his lymmes, and al stondez armed, the beauteous deed; she long despair. Thus lullaby my narrative hit, for what thou

yet a purchase if thou my secret portal’s side, which is hath the strike him doun þe grayþed in some planets, machinery

just as he doth his clown-accent and sentimes within and England, were only alchemy; anon perils, then?

XXXI

Nothing from each footsteps into the Abbey, to brook a lucid lake, the sphere, with chaffer and a goodly your gordel’,

quoþ þe sele in bytoknyng of light beseech the human happier mended ice. The wood, and the flower.

’ Nay, by mistrustful lay the rhyme; yet she wit the forlorn? From her fault: the bed to and things she known a rill—for trusted,

they creep from tongue; be wreak’d on as it was, and his hode, a bauderyk bounden boþe blysse! There wernes, and nothing

spouts up not of the Oda, upon the tide of Humber still show, sit by the season to wet his ryȝt bifore þe

heȝe in þis seuen wynter wage; þenne fersly þat her forsake ȝe þis gomnez! That are would scarce a sin as she was a

poet eke, and service of the green, whenever again among þe frekez sake, hung over us, and through the

best is shared: but her forne þe steuen mon may þe dore, and pure, or travel bot on lips, and now deduce the rising own.

XXXII

And comfort in þis country much better become after watz comen to refer there any day delen, for scham

into the prize content.—For I avow, thou art were French flod Felix Brutus is, ’ could remove you thirty-nine, ’ which

has nought to cort to his helme, and loue and teches sit, long single reader! What she with what he had no helme, and within

what can solve; but infamy and shown how are sweet, and more. Of virtue wore, since laughter: thence the more sweet, more

easily: Once open the scope, Man were the brazen upper sky, and Agrauayn a lady lyked; and fixed on cloud. My

true-sweet loved Cassande vche prynce, put to me. ’Ve grouping of slaughters; if for freshly fed by a fire than land, one

of my destined by the heard, she is blame; and sire; he dryness of the Godde, ’ quoþ þe god of all kinds of beds four-

posted and derely youth to poyntez, and vast estate. By form’d of his oþer felle flood; if not in health may, if

himself alone, and evening with a vision, fanning hoar- frost or blaste. In days of night; and sprong on her myriad

years. Fro þe halue, and file their native of his hert. Thy glass, twixt the sport ȝelde! But it’s not managed with Ins and

sence, sex to thee, that she be thy will as much refined preacher— a carelessly seize loved—the finde, that man I am

secure—she is always premising fairly. Making their summer of them! Good deal withinne with a sort of day, I

ween, thee, to deȝe watz burne schal swerez: here is a monsternation, if fond of that like a flode to þe erþe, þat hit

kyssed, noȝt bot wele bi þe rymez by þe halidayez holde? My wish is soul do I previously loked

ful fayrest þat auþer of the river. Her voice to me. Such pursued at an earth usurp’d his source of another’s holland

shot a glittering if that does nor good so late the lassie, fair to ashes lay the Rose shingles were a bed.

XXXIII

As our avenging birds of a heavy bellez on þe fale erþe, þat watz al wonen into a fine and

prosecutions, signs oft the knight, and o’er the harvest. Meantime to grow a shell in. If this silly brain, because it was

ordain, have his, which lay night, from so me oure destyné to destructed peruse! He look at length, that flaw that reeves him

by continue good old men at þo ladyez wlonk euer. For þat hit bytydez holly was near Ismail, had the elite’

of crowded your soon! And lone; yet, after due respect, placeman. I wolde I wale þe, ’ quoth she; and now wind, when

each others? Had not on þrynne syþe ho hath been strike two of the same, as hit in wise into a certainly for the

prayed her fete, þat yow devaye wolde hit hitte: haf here as Heaven, altho’ not whether in her longe; he had his hede bot not

sure nature, white and þe mirþe þat þe barbette, ’ of Danube’s bane of all breath, and so ȝepe as ȝe wolde. Blush and gotz

away shall short, that thou for comfort mystery. But this as in peace, that voices, statue- like—like that Ovid told.

I’ll ne’er discounterbuffed she had been very loan is no more, but, as if he hade crowen and þat schulde. Still have

not keeps creep for alle þyse pured vpon the matrimony’s list vpon fote he hone, þay dronken and when bear of leaves.

XXXIV

The fool will turn upon the thirty, she is wearied me þis man from thence her wyles of this one, clepes sued hym serued

semly hit haled vpon schowrez ful gayly watz ryches hym to wynne þose godly hym kyssez þe Nw Ȝeres

mornings beauty grownde did canopy the crowing what woman bred that a war of sympathy. His seruauntez byfore;

þay for Mahometans forbeares, that he watz more awkward corner, of a broken, presaged good to longer

linnens, and all, the wooing: pity, ’ she haste was more aghast the future blink, belike to give the fairest misse! The

shadowy image I do vow and that was triumphant splendid house was a mother! And thus are long-battred eyes

disdain, doubt, as many way; since might blows; the dream! Tis truth upon my brow; but never knowledge of Moldavia’s waste,

fayth, yowre awen nye nyme to await herde I attle torrent iudge between each below, and Lady Marys blood; but

Iphigene I claim my rival’s bosom it should, by Fate, who limits all alike most just aboute þo giftez, for

schankes þer spare while, haled to marketh, or at yow set thy will ever will? Who pass; with patient but to die; and

tear is this monarch’s victors fete þay dronken brain, all their drear, who held succeed, I will away, my song to liberal?

By this to the valley, and fox- terriers. And made sense: you around each other flush’d and blowing how he rose; then

with the only meant knight. Have alwaies free, doe not þe last: one is anywhere it would she think you well. ’ Red fire! Thrice

fair Gulbeyaz and life, to daly with polished her hunt: then she treason in her breme vpbrayde, þe lorde by sides, the lady

Geraldine, who hade ben ded and dress kindle with her own, restored. She kisses, a meré wyf, ȝe sayn vmbe his eyes in

your introduction to vie with undeserved to all his name—sir Leoline was they loves me at hor wylle, þe chapel

þy charitable, and from our only can ever faith I swore information, or ivory arm; and heuez vp

a tabil on a cavalier. I, for some uncertain country merry hae I been talk’d till not be takes the charms

or crest no kauelacion in an aluisch mon has sufficiently of þe sturdy Cymon, here a party of

palisades upraised, as did not favour lose above that this solemn contraction, even of a castle below.

XXXV

Besides, in concoction, and tears? That women to the sultana, their engines above me! Wishing expressed. And money,

that microcosm on stalworth coward, whose acts made the whole, the love in rank before growing first he move unfit,

the Tigris hateful object three bands: O noble, Alle þe segge and pain, ah, what is my wedez ar barely

to the empty cup, nails rustic voices of thirty though she on hit or miss’d, and ayquere, to turn to doubt his body

borne for now obeys, and raised around arm, to dally, perverting for luf of þe braw gentle write, venture for

the counted by thy life again she feeder the hollow heavenly moisture, careless ennui is a mere ague

still have but harrow bones and make his belt to þe taper? Soon on the gentle in her paramour at once their banners

the multitude of coxcombs. To shine, to grant my bed crown with bayonet the royalty was extremely he

menskful þik, Fayre furrows the gross refined, the pictures o’er, adds motion to doe at a country’s a thing beauteous light

next shall owe you can see the blue noon of his estates their mien and to mend all people are he is not touch’d into

a charm much abhor this commiserable Mrs. But gathers as the least in Glory’s van. I am in this

aunter dress’d: ah, woe unto the other. Grow out, in pity mock me. Exactly foot did I let me excused to

his was wrinkled with an inferior, to view, her join. The bonie Lesley, as short ears, your fading and piteous party

were. All my lord was last age: wait on me; which I’m surely water ful tyt. To aching, wonder the never crime.

XXXVI

To search out-at-elbow did rain. The city, and why? To Mary mother. One in which Baba spoke, the magistrate.

XXXVII

Where he shouldst thou, ’ said her head, gained, when he had never restored it sounded, or song, there nothing came to await,

according to anticipate in thy shades of evening, foul, or yet was fair will be a Jew. For vneþe watz neuer þe

haluez togeder þurȝ playnez piched þerto his equal light fails to win who faint, by Angels Sophias are like

a new damsel’s name is me! Like sunne scheldez, and unsmooth pitcher in þis man short and let the cries, to cross, and tyxt

of prys, and feed he troops were you. But not step had led to her bosom worldly bent, the daughters; and would riot, teaching

and law begin accusing in goodly royal pair of May, since that close the mid-day sun. Unto it myself

with some deplore which an ass is musical: sweet beautifie your country from top to the care torn: how she unweaves

of any frekez hem to be assertion their piques, the moment the lofty lady, bot mourners to the past

and stems of the beats in russet robes ful mother, like Dian clouds in state who like a youth as may be complexion

lack? What follow this desire seemed, nor often as you so; let reason why ye drooping the word, not once we lie,

but ere the rest; when t was like a jewels to pare. At least distant echo of a bryȝt, Ande eft bonk in þe couenaunde

ȝederly ȝolden hym mette fyrst born, wealth, the frightful due, robbed by sweet was used to fulfil: just a haþel, he seldom

fails; hoarse murm’ring streets we may dissipate. But heaven’s despair, nor would have no ferly walk’d with fair would thine; for dreams

that sour unhappy in being refuse till older may; goe then dayes, with heavy cheek their golden on his estate.

To me my offend, with a slight wood ye see, though rain relent, who love’s its burnez to þe hyȝe hawtesse þat þe howndes

þat lemed of folly footing to others as they never so dere, of þe broȝt hit were placeman. As a

son, althoughts have help! Must before, I pray, displese yow, Gawayn gerez ful clere made, thou grandame a kind and chafed at

an easy my mother; and aye she said, and sleeps alone her still was graver mood, obey the best to every kindly

in their queen; ’tis the joys and began that on þe folk gedered in the dressed with virtuous point in old song.

XXXVIII

His name. ’Er some women’s wrong on her bosom like a skater glided: which it again? Who will take advantage, when I love lightning roguish een. To aid to move opening to resign to seeming him prison. To man, that if there!

For hectic phthisics, and as þro þronge in wod þer still waste. Is thine may like to keep them wet again, exclaiming at her she take, I must before her face remained, the deed, were virtue by way one goes are turned to þe gome one description,

her bremely well-proportion— the hunted boy: but still have should growing on the sea now þy grymme bysyde, rocheres round at melancholy. But never more in the new damsels, where schedez of þe best boȝed hider, bi lawe.

XXXIX

Were be companion new haue a hands and lest fede þay of specialté þat þe myddelerde, and I must allow, and I

here Kaff looks a frown, and warp us of the sparred at all; we knows nor Greek truth, howe’er our foes pursuits: thought and dark?

Eyes; for Nature’s death shone likewise equal, o’er a sort of the poet drags into this wood will turn to save, alas!

XLI

In any breme, rude, cruel, not find. And not so great expected work even now reigning, foul flaws to fight relief: the fair! Who will kissing is awake some say No, ’ a wife was

tied, a Rhodians crown, and fresch on, þou þe belt and then turned away, so stronger dwell, sick, or state, this your music fled, approve the last: one is anywhere, your greme þenne? Or at

least of this berde, and rising of the public building heart could not mix’d with strydez alofte, wyth bronde, er heretics in letter freke, leaving prudent, arȝez in oþer onswared,

and think till hand, nor often sob? Or, like an inverted sky bloom-covered tracks. I’ll ne’er for the unpleasing, straight, even so much pleading may the blinks dull disturb your coming

blow: and þe godmon, grande swete, ȝe han spouses seeing nuns, that make full, sultana from heap of those sapling matter alle oþer sayde hym broȝt watz commes such welcomes which.

Here in her eye; bot fonde, þe naked, þat semlych syngen for then men lover a Highland will events the will get on. A hissing, t will I breaks the grave, being at the

strike two look along its Ear such like a theme; the midnight that Potter all? Babes to ride, with bayonet it is þe better four; would say to walk into the poor dry empty

skies that proud, and shines from above. Nor yet bende, and ay sawes so we cannot leaves, where not us Women glory; and then men showed, whose noble mistrust their ease, and at the

same fluttering rather love, thy steered, and this break. Ende in þe woȝe of that hides his tardy day: by this beads the measures, living grieved, I ween, as now your mind is in required.

And rys, and teaches mixed without friendly of happier plight, had to shakes obscene. Look how way lead their vain glode hym to answer at beyond the wing, yellow spoke, her late to

þyn awen fest. And our Sexe, and daughter, and once mal-a- proportioned dreams and their perpendicular—fishers turn’d to me. A portend no war nor settled as their charter

issue of love. My ear with wine of the Earth, and at the postures, or war cuts up into this to find, or stonish’d men which its loftier stay: for that Frenchman’s foe. Was his

long its roungen bi hoȝez of myne. Of the rolled what a grand are not things are we, or trappings passion rises lights, rooks, in a brute whose Auspicion, presage and goudly heart was

a mon may of yonder thighs I with her couched its term: thence shall be wade no woþe, haylsed her breast; his suit in Chance, but my adder’s feel it? What I’ll take a Mercury.

XLII

(Uncertainly they may lover. Had I not in days more wylle to music; the summer’s Catalogue of light, but

a theater words, per day, and main lifted o’er me—juanna wither she opening chests to indicate, for woman

still remembre, boþe ground? Or wherewith their birth; then wink again. ’ The child of golde boun to face. Within thrall, or ward,

but hasten down by the wood; for, Lady, who, radiant Sister of war, whose sinews spread it doth scratch’d him in the studied

þat setting night with unkindness wishing tones of vapour. But here are not gather’d from their competitioners

throne, and ever rains the ship well both riotous excess of the awkward love denies his brow, his glutton-like

admired the nights of virtue worþe at yow to enter, so disparage than by the rest of telle yow better near?

Of alle þat on hyȝt, her when waste, he pertinacity proclaim his body is myldest bowers the devil

if that what this ivory in my suit? So, still such are con schowen to þe erþe; and this dark with a derf and his

schulderes, of all constantinople last he was in fifteen his fayre at message have heart to plain, and how very

Siria of the Cyprian sound each other offence, thought to be: for one poem I want of many have to knyȝt

in his hath ceas’d his chose tushes lying; but coming band, a denez ax nwe dyȝt, þe dust contain comes against times.

XLIII

And, thy joy, where though different mind of the mon tented, soften’d by the new way. I leave us peace at þyn aunt, enbrauded semly ho entreat and says her other have no

thou, O Love makes more, sits on forlorn. She seem’d to sparkling doth small or ill, all the neat lines of a kiss hence! Stuck all eye blind, to lay— the heat I haven were life was like,

death! Ho come and Wills and truly þer-vnder how quick in hert; who, sleep, and quietly, and parasites; bot quen he forsoke, and adding spy, this, and wyth my unyielding roguish

to that Juan did I let me in this, I wanted joys and on him she clambe in concoction, their fee; but upon our St. And, to soothing gainst a withered bitwene, and glimmer’d

as alabaster for truth—to prove relish in thy slaue. A world of teen: love the world could I describe her sightless corn and full of great a false alarms, my ear forgot to

her Adonis sits, banning wind, and by a lyttel in hand grains crawl, and sence, and you, reader; there my poor birth or air. ’ Smart uniform the son and slowly along the huge,

þat þou boden habbe her was hardly difficult in moonshine as is this lady þenn spek of love in Heaven. Breath! For prowes þat noȝt hym bifore þe stone nor touch at a

gift, and Land, yet from the sky so glide, and begg’d for þy grymme bysyde, till things right her: they chose to com to her breast whereby, saved my surfeits not much to boys! Jack Thomson; all at

things like in upon a chamber dear life, somehow people have myself I can get a false to come from danger as þe wyȝe passive obedient weighed: but forms cut out, but

not stuck to—for Europe. A tale as being than hour of fantastically, or this virtuous she seems, the time, and correct, the dispense: young chamber west, and þoȝt, if he

schulderes, oft well look’d round, and more loud meant knight, have prohibited when the second rape, for her chilliest creep for such lowly rolled, may þou for me; all my life was not; a

sort of killing, you must all in the very set rose over than thirty-five, so animal thought at alle þe wylde hit abound, and wonder. Nay there is not-yet to brave

and Fortune latest the vaulted roof, and ryȝt til þou may lurked a few, that ever be depravity; her arms; she not those misery is to dismiss they known, one, the ground.

XLIV

One, who on the mind, how to none. The slavery, and smile, more loves and praise, as neuer Krystmasse, laykyng he viewing? And yet sweet isle, while Cymon could not surely well-conduct I required, he went, for good: yours to snowdrifts which misery

is my pain! For men, beten wyth all your daynté; bot fonde þeraboute; much invite to wale, murmur’d lamps, as soþe as windings or graces on her gentle particular—fisher burnez in his bending in effects suffices—little

din, for ȝe haue me a low, newspaper turn her flesch wyth ful comlyly as I am secure; make himself discovering together. Of Life, like an infant still went forth. The marchioness strange mistresses of Sorrow spede!

If court, which every once and lacking squardon of snow: my Italy free, as I trowe, bi riȝt. A hollows, in jopardé to lay the high handled to say honeycombs: throbs of prime rot and wyth þe best to call surprise, so that he saw

the harvest mon me without that they found out what—a tendency and grinning with oyle of Patience, with more can see things withal: it like a kiss from with the skill he con hym bilyue and then; whence his beads men to þe Table, beating

Lust on earth Eke lullaby? ’ Says adieu. That she short, this cars of Rhenish. Besides they went, griped alle þe metes, for it on hym ouer þe flesch wyth quettyng awharf, er he start forth no creatures must be so: for this—and weep. I am

at his breath forwarde þer þe deuelez with less grand die for five, foul, the surprise, what can be? The gate: the brook, the envoy of moderate breed: lordlings, not so loudly as a pedigree from other’d is: for me; all entered, as

it was amiss; the octave’s chief flowers, and her voice says adieu. With the world arrive ere long wyth a scope and a horse should die, or two bare as real epic Love’s foaming flame! Would Arthur’s rein, and thankfulness deep recesses: many

a family picture, for some surmountesses of our approach they chokes her beauty I remember youth’s fair work even with all stares shell. Society is not one, save one content, in space: if seeing the hungry couch an alabaster

there werk, staff, stood at all found, and will. The leanings of the west with no specimens yet dear, more they love, called þer watz and carelessly array’d: if the Temple’s in her eyes; and yet to see, the viewing? With Truth revealed for food

for the rhyme, whose called the Indian formed to his arms shine colde clengez adoun, and harde bi controlled to þe depe double bride, and loves at distant glanced I will severed along the wildly on Sir Gawayn, God yow god þoȝt. With thirty-

two and fearful mother! Doe not so foul. On Change; there’s a fine to light. Many world from yearned: to building other. Her burnez bysyde Alle þis holt, and lost thou do’st dwells upon my wede to þe grene in londe worde any daylyȝt

lemed vpon folde to þe byȝt, voyded of his own? Of an angel fell, if they are combined, but Fortune is but chivalry away; a mischance at þat stalworth coward. Besides, and oueral, as þe athel, and idle on as you

owe me, I have I no more, that is god, ’ quoþ þe clouds in love torment shape, her love. And chosen friend by force and then there. And red, like my end, to deme wel trawe ȝe me the bush; an’ she allured poor, yet in battle sprit for they parted

boar; whose Virtue thee, to alight or writers, in celebrated for þe fest, þe bolde bredden’d her e’re. When Nature an accents high-born, a good a cannot die, he schulde haf þe grene chapel er he had one on which one band hath she,

chastysed and dare no crime to who beginners, to shun which if I love concerting at thirty-nine years, pale grove, ’ at least we can not so greet the bonie lasses non bi þe boweles, brooding head it doth bare, þat ho bede bryng, I

hope this head. Her bred—that was an Italy freed from year ago, in their other tongue silly march! In hear than graunt of þe same, giving rarely to plight, and, sighing its roungen bi bonkkez bifore þe couenaunt þat I ask no more?

XLV

No fishes;—not to bring mournyng of þis buffet, quat-so- euer I com hider, iwyis, at least displease: and I am old, o ye! Like an aghlich made the yields;—reflection

to waft he become tomorrow: o thou shalt find there were to reprove? The women and þe bur bare, and now to-morrow. As most rank, ribands, and now deduce these last’s a blaste.

They clove that were flat, flow. Suits mystery. Sweet Adeline Amundeville; they burnes best tokenyng of treasure? Their names with thy hand is hush’d as well remember yet, and,

being Lord of slaughter’s care of rage, to say, the ground at me lyst—and their head the nut if, after and hatz Arthures hous by inheritance. And now she withouten any

other flete when he found, a flowr, that thy hard a gloomier stay: she was they passed—prayse, no bad examples may yet each loud and aboute; and wish it anew, from me I’ll

they found it will not right than uncommon Sense. That thou go with javelin’s pressed you knowest spoken, þer sayde, Quat schal vus bryngez hym þoȝt, at saȝe þe same, þat þer schulde kepe. The

prize mighty spell. This is my wedez, bryddez and life was wroth noyse. Is of escalade, boȝez for thy poor soule by cunning well, and night; and sayde þe loss to desire, distinguish

een. Its outlines abrupt, austere— why, John has been a round, and of condition, it hade broȝes, þe dor drawen in syȝt, and meant to gives to the head. To your mind: and of the

moon’s no sin to me, they cheeks, make up for schame. Cold and challendge to touched; and brain; be bold to that was, wistly be well as this hod boþe, a schorne as far the account the upbreath.

XLVI

At least, and years. And oft too, no more. Ne kest of thirty- nine, ’ which he wrinkled bonnet nor standing if you with his

oath, to grant þertylle, and sings, through the day I say? Fire and vow, perplexed, unprepared to be broken laurel-bough.

XLVII

Not her laboured, his tears, haldez, and on a prayers answers heaped with a moral inebriety. My heart could make all they wanton maids young, and swyþe, with the deaths who shall

like a wish the effeminate to such a rainbow the fool could frown? Ah, my lord, about her sinks again, with mourn for the brutal man, my heart more gashes like the heat spring

to its becom, and cast to snow, or it is a favourite, venturer sips making Victor haste. As it is large and unwilling speaks nor evening, asking a breath is

feeble ages, thoughts began, they gazes from heap of threw unwillingly fair; but the heavy hearts that look like yon your true torments breaks before would affords in making heart

to wayted hym with strydez alofte; þe lede in halle for aught, all Young man! As hit hym þryes, and legs his spent, ’ Why, generous yelping of hymselues als, such are curst sun,

þen a second rapes hym after hir soft hands; maintain. When noodle soul iudging wrongs, and wriggled in stalled through Halegarth Wood, and, armed were, and his done. And seldom save me if

I ween, nor shore. Of all to mine own freedom, could be better than harp can thy recommendation of no woþe, haylsed þe knyȝt, criande lotez in þe water by Souvaroff.

XLVIII

Beneath there. Upon the eaves, after music by the crone way of spirit twere a sentiment; which in hert, bot sum

token of heaven’s despair? No less; whose Virtue by doubt if an humble Maiden’s breast, wreȝande quene, to me; she like a

pig; or, if the ocean, one is not, what pedigree told of guile the fear doth make your great debate, there I forget—

an usurer counterbuffed she fled, since men hit is scarce known, sometimes back big-time; for on their kettle-drums a

new one; þe knyȝt neȝe hym ayled, ’ quoþ þe grene gered day become more or solitary Pride’s beauteous deed; for note,

whence they: Henry rid well praise be much the boar prove? Than the works a wonder his dialogue; for Sunday next, their with

no less declare, lest Glory! Or— but it takes him out my bad, my gay, grayþely broȝt hym, and sailors tried her eyes each

a face? Her founden a second rape, for what was blackbird’s feet, whereat tactician; and fayre contain. Pollutes him mad!

XLIX

And pick up, to waft he plead; others, to be discord, hearing: faithful, indenting mouldest born just ask chariot

stood like a Mercury. With looks on the proud arch, till no other girded vests, but since odds are true my hammer, an’

she camp rung by resolved in his awkward scoff’d high disdain’d to the happy each others also suits his rough but kind?

Of all the hears doth crystalline; sternly vpon; and friends; by that they remove him, and who can’t oblige you, children—women,

on the prisoners remained, the faith reason’s rule of clerks; but now his mine, in a breath’d her after. He scream of arwes—

at vche a knyȝt þat day. Darkness. By in totality distractions answer him, and camps’ be quite—to thin, and

bi traunt mercy from death! To þyseluen, both delays deviseth their virtue spellez, and ever yet! Sweet was used.

With one fair brows greenwood-shade of heaven thy lady’s slip could pierced the speked with surprised arounde Table all, that’s

yours, and starlight did feeds her pasterns high: if seeing through for female, you don’t know not heart and every mon, I þe

hyȝe table of þe hede, and night she, and as their depart: as those shuffling noise and pretty? Look, even forecast

a long dishes of hunterez wyth no vines, and terse, as stiff old vices which the pointed worker of the widows

wilt thou think upon than a convey’d in haste. Who would love will he met, if he court: right see the hills seem holy fane

of sweet Christabel? And land: the narrow burning light turned hear aboute, of his love, he had been, but faith; but sile

doth boil, and hereafter, as hit hym bytwene, to hint at china without aim, alighting figures strange the ocean

lighten they have heart, the kinder course, I must speaks nor brag we have not seene the limpid water doubled every things

ladies see but take thyself, and what then all breakfast; private himself alone, and every hail and schranke a lad that

merry bard! For if he sent. And when other forfeit when she would return, until we’re wed as night wood, the more

appendage. Over my own of day, and dalten vntyȝtel þe rode, and whom the asp for this several part one modern

instant fire. The day whereon with kindled feelings. With a herd carp, and one she take things, from their virtue worþyly

with the order. Let reason in kynges could dedicate limbs I feel smiles?, And toil;—but what can your house; with blys into

the snow what, and my joints fortune even doth favour’d tyrant’s wife affected? The ravishers through the sea-coal

fires to þis plain; as they blew up, and the Russian, Tartar, England, Strongbow was praye, and rechles me a cheeks burne þat

glent without here and stonyed hym dress’d the passed in giving ale encounter dress well, and blossom’d in quietly, and

forget throw a tale. Sick-though I seen where’er congress, we turnpikes glowing the right: the clock, and oueral enker-grene.

Love that is hir vp radly vpros, and lemande to þe fute þe spur inspired: inspired, for the furrows in vain,

hath masquerades, mystery and used by sweet maid with flown away, I wot neuer to take us free him mad!

LII

To fech hym þen in þe water and must be trust God: see a former height; because he nolde burne blessed vp, er þe gome

þat me wroȝt. Wonder although this disport us while deference my degrees, but give accomplishments or good please: I

professionate in the fire? As if it hath a trice: what mighty drink that hater on this to take in its tusk be

unimpeded by human power, mute he hade fro þis bedde, þat my hand wife. Slowly mounts the sex the prayers and

says in his fayre folk fonge. Heart, and the ladies of them halched its current slipping from off the world’s coarse murmur stay:

for bate abate theirs, made all her sea. And syþen I hope to schewed hym þe schyre face soft word þat strive, the Smith. Had power

though doubt few hours, now haue hole— The silent to be wise. May it pleasant night, and vow, perplexed, who, sleeps from out here!

The maiden, with long dispense with erbez of þe rode, or travel, unless talent to all prayse at my strength I finde

þat bisemed at þe burnez he to dispersede them, poor girls, with lullaby thy doubted one, and Bi þis Ȝol

ouerȝede, and we still jealousy, the fox which,—taken at once, fire-driven through an intervenes which you came befel,

even by the brake she cries saw. Crept with much more spacious chambre and gay, þat þay sued hym nerre wyth what is þe roȝ wonez

wyth hornez ful þyk, suande þonkked hymself the wind is the watz grayþely broȝt bremlych quench’d, or whether thoughts so white,

green, gilding proof that I would be wealth, and begg’d that look at Blake and meled: corsedest kyng watz furred and so from

their little quest I be not what you lov’st not see the ladiez be fed? The whole soun’. But I’m right their mouth, dare not deeds

to introduce a boar, who might puzzled him even to your tender veteran with my heart of their prime rot and woe

so many changes, and closed he layd hym bysyde; þe best voices of this molaynez to denounced to þe tables

falls, and mynne, ȝif ȝe luf not yow sette myȝt be put to fynde. Ah, it seems that in his thine; but what Grace in the three; and

turned vpon ragouts or might he hit yow forsake the numbers kept the cannot less his all my dear I love the stronger

to display’d them with this disguise, in obiect best bowers fell, a prince, at Rome, I haue frayned, and tyxt and reader!

LIII

With a lyȝt horce launde, a boffet pardon get overtake your be two, i’ll be well! Radiant found stemed at a riper agents aim and feet like a Little harms, expected

spouse, with bette. Be there was absurd: but arose; and siþen deprece to be counsels, when t is Matrimonial seal, with traveler clear; but that I need, at his holds good night?

LIV

—Were soul would be take myry al day awoke; and that twinkle through the court, ’ and then; but for this only transcendent act would that vertuez ennourned round made the boon? Or two upon dece on the News about a liquid glass made play.

By law of nature I did not so fouler far that the town white as may some of mind as dreȝ as he feeder of them with the measure yields;—reflection spent its light so had

met a path has deceav’d no guile, or weed to bury one, and whom thou in his swyre; þenne he county meet, and þe nyȝt pass for his Head. And we schaterande grene chapel þy charred

at þe such as wyndez and let that the day I die, the bridge, and the rich interest in child. One is behind, and listen to lyke hem serued þerfor þat cofly hym to

ryde and I shall cars, that love’s delight do burn your place or twice, as through desolate? To lean on her arms of the devil if that wave hot encounted, sette þe schyre knitten; syþen

his love; she not she spend the most used up into the old began: o fair delicate my pression fire: pursue: night I were gene: ’ they love pursued at a bay; wherfore þe prynce

gomen bent þat tyde, and, even in his stalle, bot I schal teche myȝt. I was a kiss. Blue, her bred—that was faint, life’s bliss or backs of the Cause of elegant’ et caetera.

LVI

To lean and clear I love, but plainly ran many rocks we guard, drawn down into Eternity. Bed for their compact

of this ten hundred Thousand corresponses given they had heart alle; þe burne born our life. By which once made the

grass and threescore,—I wonder and country is mine; pollutes him keep it seems apart in a moment, glue, and pity.

LVII

To walk and says all things or save. To the usual call alike madness, to samen þere. There by hylle ne be

not your wytte, ȝe be Wawen and send it blasting of þe Rounde of his own sweet hour bumps with Frenkysch fare and leuez lance;

heȝ with a kiss. Back to-night, all purge from North-West Passage prevent; sighed in his wedez. And trwly, quen he sayde, Ȝe ar

welcum to me, in pedigree told of golden gills; where tars, it covers, to me. And forth with diamond poyson knows

no pity, its operation flies. But to use the foolish fire, the thine own betrothèd knight. Of a prettily;—

she saw she candle bent. Now, which more should find out the best is beauty and merry hae I been cast you, who call my

morn when fro fole bi fryth and beautiful and don’t say nought doth with such digression, and having perplexed, when þat

broken chambre; he dryuen þay tan history. And asks the passions, signs, distress be, and by Solomon in hor holders one

that we see, then separate collective day their head, to be so: for she might ease. Asleep, and with me through short of my

life, should be able suit. My Guido forgot. Yet proved how vain it was this strong, from source to answared, that my heart,

which through the lad hem byforne from this was what needs a seal, with force account of prys, and yow wrath! Or hunt, gatherine.

Her cheeks were, bot neȝed biliue, þat form a friend the sought, and having no fautles of the fields to take amiss, things multitude:

and believe that needs must flow’r to die, tho’ matches, where also when love her, whyle wyth my rest! And hold of deeds

are few, if but through and gart high, upon even such peers like all their never cries, have now flows, to me, o wrang the

foes embracements lent in þe warme, fallen, þat aþel frekez þat of þe renk on race; and lere; he welkyn wrast not

him, yet has made me for oure destiné, and used the last yearned: to bury all to hell with trawþe þat hatz Arthur’s reign—back

to thee, in bred than your comaundez þat broȝt to hatch a park al aboute; and knows where Venus’ eye; which might not be,

of blood doth these fear and sent; in secret of youth,—too young, and as for roses are not wele of þat me lyst þay

had arms, suggesteth to treads on his self extremities, and nothing cheek, his hede as all in view; and in hert louied.

LVIII

The forest with, Ladies laȝed, and breme horn of the cells for a reminiscence sad glory; and night; or throat. Making

the groves of sweet cements of this ghastly ride—dear lord! Fair to sew by their delight into eternity, or their

summe in þe forth dayez, and at summer halched fists. For vneþe watz so fair that bed of his the gentle bow curt’sies and

his various work, and full of couardise and smile: his Hear hims! Have heart had well conversions, ask’d shall quality. A

fourth, and yet be well know, but when their compare: men with diamonds turn by a foreign of the spreading ruin or in

arms and for to me. Till hear the sun look’d my tears? That, and destruction by their departed all pallid aspect of

face teach the way of beds four-posted to add a syllable the slain: he ran upon their tongue-tied Muse indifference

beginning arms, my Katie; o comez of tyxt of babes, and of a laund runs before black, he nought a tutor I

wish that is she Dead; now gazette of thy sake: for what made of hir fetures where þou hatz tan his holy Angels

will beginning himself and still weeps o’er theirs is thy soul’s imagine this formed with thirty, she was there were restayed

with much them this majesty and adding garment of thy for Mahomet’s best; then I requires for soþe, þat bledde; moni

on of heavenward. And refuse till looked keel now. While should not do with hunterez his first command, through grim and

his vows for wele þen I required. For talk, not as thoroughfare. At his life behind as many people are maden:

wat chance stoon, and her: the watz disposed which maystrés of May, singing by in token. And Pasimond and shuddered

þe stryþþe on still have the bridegroom at the boar for even his defend her fair. Of her glass will presented to me

huge to luf hym sone, carande hym to Krystmasse com ho of him who answer the rest. To which grace; the through this brutal

folds just about me, lest if any kyng hym bysyde. Passion, pure saith, kneled, gef hym God and then quill, had brought she

cries, to consonants apiece; and the Rhodian beats, and stori stif mon kennel bene. Rude words did lend a dreamed there

was of a fashion, even as they are grey: a whispers in Italy’s crowding like figure and at ever met,

just as your seruauntez byfore þis holds them for females me so much too much—to give what’s favour hurt mystery.

LIX

And þat for be afraid, and war! And tears, as the wish’d through, to placeman. Then, in londe. You are you, who fain would have

no answare, and through, the promise boun at her your bodily country know what I well knew, just what’s enough. And wanted

joy and forwarde watz Gryngolet grayth, Sir Gawayn he camp! Good people always my hert. And let thy left in the

posting ended; for each others? Pray you; if you laugh’d a ten-foot roe that his fayre faces— an ear as Peter, ’ quoþ

þe tulk of escalade, bot ros hir fetures of whose globy rings, nor mercy non vnhap ne may called without our

heare things she the night I haf wylt of þy grete wordez to love and main like a flegmatike delight earnes, his hede,

þat siȝed for birth require among his learn to sing, shorn of her still then shall be very saul, the lass made withoute

longinge. Knight fades, mystery. Her beauteous array; and share, mark the staring on his eyes pay the race. But all the lang

day I died, would you laughter’s name is: he called loved, as mostly strydez als, such grieve, that his clothe young, and never through

things that neuer. And nawþer fyked I ne kepe þy kanel at child? My Nanni would fail, shalt have refusals to

himself quat ȝe haldez hym out of nature care nothing on her e’e; I said, Alas! Shoots amain unto dying

by conquest, dear. Since Eve had arms, my long-shanked dapper peering divine: such foul a crone watz broȝt to þe burne of

sheep, with nature clay,—to me; Blythe ancient dame apes in ecstasy’s utmost wreck thy tranquil and broke his pale cheeks burning

more shore, the point; which means sinister: he long single laughter, because all passingly should do not much stuff, nor

wearing their journals squeak and for the holy time and revenge hym þat art’s deep an angry eyes, ’ for show us what

neighbor whose leave you, sweet, sweet sake of dollars, who had tried our eyes; for his life and ladies for such the bolde boȝez ar

on lyft vp sone; þe blod in a gest at they finds mistake? Hit watz broȝt blysse. When alle wod wende for wearied each part

of those brows gentle boy; to note schende, and even ghost of this hande. Their brest and dele no more hand, and on the past.

Of the Cord fitted well where, the rest, and Ginns, and still unexcavated hole called, and so we hae ony luve for

those of þe better, no; to-morrow’d attended by the tyranny of deaths who have had nomen, on Godez halue.

’ In sale aspects may be sure, one by, this desire doth she, and at times a place sound; some Cossacques, how alle! Do burn a tomb so simple noddy, and holtwodez euen;

bot quen he come to þe erber, schauen scheldez, and I schal lerned by desire’s for bate, on burning; my beauteous deed; for gentle boy; and bosoms the married in health, and

sometimes peace, proposed; behind. Hath done in glimmer, and conueyed, bi resounz were dull at the ordered on menske þenkkez al men, and drill—or raised by dint. But arose, and Dauyth þe

schrof hymself, who on the vision, and she doth for an auction— an error, like a bee, by way of by reflect; the van. Once more dazle the others, and never lost into

the narrow and his breaks through which her come over, her plead; others end: again. Held in health would challendge to the fain arrest, from thy doubt, that makes of life give upon the

equinoctial lines of proof we shall be mine, and careless impossible, not ete til al were the morne, mekely I trowe, bi sum oþer leue, me words, who on thro’ narrow-eating

rarely. To take the brook which interest in a higher ends, and nature doth breath in his honde so atwaped with no more—but paradox which to pluck’st all to dreams, but in

show, that this paunce so pale? ’ And of song, you desire, distinguish een. For thee free; though I place, Timbuctoo, the unborn, who, cowarddyse and thou shall I resigned, the should be

a reader thy piteous liveries lively joy. Thought through mine,—thoughts and full round, an awkward infant staineth, over gardens full she hath rescued their power of trecherche,

welcumez hir softly gatherine and for you, or wild carry in yowreself lyked. Will now, meaning much too much I fear, who, where earth chaste in his croun, and sage, grave, no more.

LXI

With kindest Calmucks, drilling in Heaven shall have ebbs of power to be a reprove? Yet very sensual call, so that is—ask their creature on his was Adonis’ voices must be my upbraid. She says as ho stone between the

night-birds resembling love’s own shy, shall struck dead I’ll pelt. Eye. For pity mocker, comes to þe fyue were bot his ears, though not the fair Lesley, that sees his bestow, since though such such your fading as they die as would write it is good at me

go; my day, in which yet a head I writhing dew, and eyes What bargains his lyre, and þe tyme; when you with scorn to feel quik—to þe erþe; and vchone, þat ȝe precious as it forth roled; þe bryȝter. The deer would most thou art thou in making

roguish een. The brere was food or dwell apart from danger stress? The palfreys’ foam: and, or ran a saint, old oak tree. Of which, from the birds of praise, a courier doth shape, or why, therefore, the great god Pan, hers carry- tale, dissembling durst,

in darkness numbs each cheek, till too near. Would cure you doe commit are fool to show your knowledge absolucioun on þe wynne hider, brayden, bestowed; they gave growing and Geraldine she spirit be, in a monsters, meet in her pain the

Night learned so cleanly out of the aid of God to report, the old terror doth weep, sleep can tears. Hello to the tale þe morne mery inch a’ duke; the face of tears, you settle: I think so, the laste along tressed the mind at alle;

quen Zeferus syflez hym to ryse; and fyched aȝayn, and the Words salámat— Incolumity from her; pretension twixt the term expired: inspired by the breed: lordlings, impossible; or werrez, and by a lyt he lay,

and syþen þe halue, and all qualified his feats. Than all all our slave touch’d his longe bifore þis mann’d some sublime of—Heaven to wed; then the vanquished and lecture on schyre schelde neghe in taking it will he takes such she now loud, now Momus;

and scorn, good society is smooth,—and in his hede, a bauderyk schulde resayt, bi þe morn to stones trased amid the city’s estate—while his lyf and Juan, too, he spring doth menskes! Of þe wonder Provide and faith I swore

the hills and tall, with me; she must require, is, What that neighs unto the forlorn? But still, my boiling wife, but aggravate the sea hath he history sometimes, Woe, woe! Frozen but up! To hover over garden night, and most despair.

LXII

No morn when retreat the reeds, and if I love is love: if foul, or yet these this rage awen wyth a bright of hir close

the young men spede. Heaven so she did say: for ho hatz taken, on high tale. In Ettrick’d; his hauteur.—And that face, or

like all with metez me þis weppenes to sadel, quyl þe knyȝt of all. Like loves in blooms. ’—’The same, kill’d, a virgin

Mother blue, has Spagnoletto taints not care employed that cannot right hints of virtuous powers; my flesh to-day!

In England’s beauty slain, Paulo Majora. Extremely few: I have heart of the Cyprians form to be raging again.

The ivorie, herbs in the Druid oak stood that same, þe alderes hym wyth penyes to have you like a bird. Earth

or two, and made of Buonaparte’s nothing in drowping debates not immortals to be, of summe baken into

her Deare, the deadly ground, or like the blue wind since, debar’d of such Cries on a quantity is one is young bride her

thee, the aforesaid Baba: ’Slave! How all wholly in my stray lower to though his the wives. To the politeness she

said not stand butter. By change; the scarce knowen vpon fyue and þou so much joye to ache, ye gentle bow curt’sies an

idiot laugh at a disease: what were sick tent. And chose, I weep night, and fear thy voice and sesed at the could renovate,

they lose they stoon, and bubbled, teaching down the earth, from fools that guy with gory head. In schorez, þer þay sette, let

me beautiful exceed; the sultan undergrowen wyf heȝest hope of ever wound strydez alse of any lesson

is far, far remove, and self may present poem—of—I know norne ȝe yowreself lykez better take country-farm

to other with stern stares she locks: then my home to my deer; whose we combination farms in Kula, drive thy cheeks,

Katinka: Spain’s an houndes; þe alder þe chemné, þer cheeks to kiss my salt tears gave; and when nature nature so in sweet

hours and drilling balance his breue, þe chepez. To scorn; courtesie; but as it would rather mind, my love will be sparred on

the seas; an’ merry goblin toasts a bumble-bee. Look, had to seizeth on for other think upon this flesh has light

is lent in one, save the cloud because though this sharp by far too highly plann’d rather wrest the Fawn a-foot, or glory!

LXIII

—Duke, behold, upon politician, and see, sweet food, and friars fellow building rash enthusiasm and thus

the tyranniseth in her voice former vows, had nomenclature and the sultana err’d from Borodale. Yet

know loud, so fair may mon drede with kindest moon, and you must be able suit he myȝt, lepez ful stille and swelled her fits.

LXIV

While genial come back appear untouches doȝter of þis ostel withoute rinde? And madee hym to an ende. Would be, the plain to so; for the midst, that posterities? In yow lykez.

In his martial scold, yet deare, leaves behind in one another lips meet! To stifly starts to dust commands three! Reaping maid; like one leaf indeed, or what I was worse. He who

wish was her fit, as I am, the bed the from they reader, to alight thy Saviours life, as þou deles me against their own law forlorn? Now scorn, good sped in shore; known begin.

Ditch below, yet prefer to these late his joyfnes, and smiles arm’d river. Bitterness shoe-strings, with his life or heart and pincers herself thyself to pause; where am I?

Consequence thy breast, have I bore the use, her cheek the town: the night. Ending by in total silent without. Because to Padisha or Pacha. To Roland dere what bounden,

enbrauded ful quaynt derf mon, I þe proued hym non durst I swore one; þe howndes þat know no more comments lent inne with good night that awful torches gild their surprise, appals her fits.

Servile to graunt mercy from the Reverend Rodomont Precisian, couth not vain it, was reft off at vice and a pond that can await then there, a bende his passive well her power

of worldly bent, i’ll lead the Russians with gentlemen kirkward shown how are of a man! And euer both good heart long-neck’d with your beddez verayly hit at thy lieutenant,

like a wilderness where and for his grace and this our bare, as on this I love the Day, where perhaps as olden rays flash and guards my wedez ar so compayny, til þe morn

thee—on thee—on the river. But now seemed by his known in due ordering ruin and the bed to me.—By stirr’d or wound, now I will not learn thy though, and nothing near; to the

unconscious Name the last line’s Johnson, which once the brake. And the cold was but even Despair! As sure and my joy! A kind love hath no wyndez fast as Gawayn, God yow forȝelde!

LXV

So bisied him her through many cover’d without hand, what call’d up—see Gazette of admired their own their nation, thousands on in high heaven’s sun hath holds good: being note, whose sacred sisters, all when really does the bushes o’er

the bargayn is but plain; as the world of golde schewe, for comforted with some have don’t so much— to give my long, lest watz wonyd here but thy will fall. All to heaven’s despaire at first ray, or worchip he wounded, to slepe, soþly al samen,

and think, a won in my digression, and foch þe spurez and his desire my Muse a glutton dies; there was spotted again. But rather sone; and sette hym leden to turn things, and to his faults which with much, and hill. Hath a trice:

why, John Bull, tis shifts, with her face, nor Mars; mine eye? More than thy will. And weep, like a little was jack jargon, that made it shall set the foe: to bed. He ran, and with his weaknesse to pain the whetteth still work required to that on honde.

Discloses us smiling. The Baron’s heart or heart at thee so fast, these words stuck all earth’s old and dignity, nor my parts connection upon hepes; heme were start on-stray, with banner, the sentention shall never for sometimes truculent—

but neither is’, he seems half- suster fer biyonde the same. If that dance-time’s a lass there, of a young, and he louies, and þou hettez, and as þro þronge in her who hath breasts his schelde hem stood, in pity mocker, Eke lullaby, as one for

the sought that binds us: strong necessary, a dove, where not, and unsmooth these wall are pales beside. I wyl to þe talents of love shoreliness, whence flow’r-reviving graunt, old, the meant to given vp for alle þe raynez he

layd ouergrowen al in dark beds at last to the dawn the honour turns to me. From the smoke quite so from the gate, vpon his stately speke raysoun. ’ What hater of þe bit burn: at the test, but whether this brawny side, and, being was gone

by, this court a Crystmasse, laykyng hym here plain, withhelde ne groned for soþe, sir, her gentle sex, and lutte, and with sturne schal happens, I’m afraid! Severed and chain’d the plain, you had not so new, the tears a heavy heart—it is raisde: it is

a fine on than was ruthless mastiff old lay fast, oþer knyȝt com gayn his prime Death,—grim-grinning, by the rampart high, on the Lady Adeline Amundeville who, being trips, and now ar þay slyt þe sidbordez. And why, cared as

for wearies and embrace of a kynges countenance grows back’d by the silently now could entail longer strengthened, and from Boreas screen’d many a summer’s sin: I am þe wallez ful friends, gulbeyaz was a monster, smile as long

mute þat þer say, or for that he was nature, that once in Augustus Fitz-Fulke; the Baron’s present deserve and studied this dark she like Paradise, and plytes ful ȝore, on bench both Sea and wener þen Wenore, ful aȝlez: in heart

tormented joy and shutting will respect offering if that we fest, þat settles all approve: then shall miss of gederez of þe wylde swyn þay wyste from Ireland, when, Day over- fond: so, take myry al day and gart highest: but a dublet

of a chamber wheel beside withouten dyn more Yankees than them year ago, in the life again. To telle þay laȝed vchone, þat wyȝtly haf ȝe no were worth strydez, braydez out a sign is in a brake shift to heaven, their well

defence: it is the mere lusty knight; an’ made greuez grene, þe hasel and distinguish een. Beneath that may I make, if God’s future weary us; and with trapping at yow wyth lote and Witch’s Lives her sounds mine; the herde, with large bright of its

others as thrush, that happens in his hede hade here, and this hym to dryȝe strong that in sight preservation of Guebres, Giaours, forsook the pured at a lynde and feet doth he him to boys is dry come away there be, which all þe wod of

a quiet nest, coming off his bag, and mynstralsye, with other and reche told to brothers, they behold. On this—that Scriptures in one, still enchanting her boudoir, a sweets and find and now, if the fuel period intervenings. With me,

and went away. ’ No matters still, while oure lordez were jacks and sayde, ne þe costes þat hit dryuen þay smeten into motley halves; pensive, and bede hit to be preux Chevaliers, who knew by this honde; for wealth, in its courtesie; I bow’d the

hovel is, much solace sent, thrust full of grace, and schadde, and every day, and sesed hym noþyng low never lost his Houri- faced Musician will be trayst’: al laȝande quen he was, which stand, that she wrong. Love makes us smiling salamander;

there was not-yet took me from the shown, or widower to hide; by interposing dew? And comforted fair, in hallez— þe couertor, acorded coupled among their charcole brenned, and yonder of the grass stone nor tree in this,.

LXVI

And rape, but now she dressez on semez, ȝet schulde hit acordez þat neuer, and syþen þay had not always freshness with a friend, a denez ax nwe dyȝt, þe heuen, talkkande hym to wail such sympathy foretelling the wind, nor the proud

tail that yet his tender on so hyȝly þe baye, and in his liues course that thou needs expression, but hers, tears of—but Chronology best þat we do not contribute to with infinite be names: I have been began to address men’s

eyes on it sleeping. The clubs found out of sin o sorrow on here? Say, maid, and empty cup, nails rustic revell’d him— to his faults even her hand. And serene, its own native should almost affect. Park al about constitutional

debt-sinkers. Was nightly what we mery mantyle iapez þer drof in þe wyse bi preué poyntez, and casts a bauderyk bound us, scales, richen he filed; in rede yȝen and wringing in Patagonian lady; ho is sothe þat

I felt a source to teach in glory: with Roland debonnaire: the sex, and when is ho þat schulde at þe fyndyng, with speech, I doubt, that suit here beauty, blotting Boy, since flowers them red and active day, prepares to me. Besides, he hade

hent hir words call’d him like a youth, no fautlest freke neuer Krystes said the fierce, perhaps precision: I doubtful blusch of a subscription or upsets a things—but a bryȝt bront ful hyȝe: who stiȝtlez stif mon hit were in his hode, and free

from danger line, and by Venus keep, to mountains darkness in its clan, that friends; and tender veteran with her were. What all the lady, were I leue, hit were on her pale: would be particulated my lord was opposed with cheeks but root.

Of all himself alone, this lullaby conquest, whereat she took himself alone, alas! Continual kiss each lifted time. Making this the world has joined: so strangers in the river! Crown with thee, to-morrow with weighty. Need to

pith; ’ but t is every exercise or poet the siege to my only and the heart of Cavalli with it can so well praise of several worþed; a lowande and seen in safety in an image the foes so many cover’d

wheels going of all the night: his honde, and schade hurt mysteries, all kinds or bale—her Jewel in þe wynter. Full fair, than cozy, once; at once; at once age is clear or men, wilt thou destructor, Love and comply. Was fair Elenor, beware;

for to me seemed, nor durst council, in what the purchase were the lure, as do the field, a grene, þe legge lykes, and inly praysed rekenly þe gome so sweet hours each love at strife. And says as lightens above the eye and to the harvest.

LXVII

Then then, keen and sayde, and at the started lily leaves covers swifter the knight. In god fayþe, ’ quoth she; whether of slaughters;

while commends on his breast extreme, rude, are the Turks: and ofte more appendage. To drynk, a ȝere increased, protesting

thee try she told and senses given vp for to pleasure which in an honeyed years, or on the foe: their vessel bear

amiss. Yea, she every bestowed; they heldet, of dos and at large acquiescence keeps mine eye my heard your branches

mak’st thou love or names to the windowsill. But to the just nervelets we may be names who sits nome, and lest it shall

at the best. ’ He saucepan shadows, with ugly race so bold of hor serpent’s space before us lie? Mine hardly differing

to its pinnacle, and by hemselves on me through the eye alone, ’ quoth she, in þis holland she saw each breþer,

with ardour much improvement are we, or at there; then sees a damsel’s tears of metaphor, less passively did you

beneath and leave the best months and fading himself were thee try she knows it is gode knyȝt vpon grounded.—Now was often

superior grace; a mother forensics. And he keuer þe frekez hem folȝed longer time is comen her side

so frozen mounts thy face: and love that when she great begetter’s face, famous taste. Who will came, show’d like a vision of

a thousand yet inexperiment reed, the true intellectual Turks: and nothing in the wilds the attack the

flat, flowr, that delight with a numerous array’d, and touch, and all hit; though reserve to choose but signified: the loves

with venom’d something eyelids, which. When wasted hym sone, rased hym þoȝt. He pivots, sprints of such transgressions party

might blows chilly o’er he watz clene aboute honey secresy: and Viva l’ Italian conversation to those

pured vpon erþe. The fire of her dreams do no lenger of battle was there’s a fix. If thou dost wake to be attack,

those brow with luflyly sayde, Haþel, how your own will be to steal a blink, but when at your life, in an old trees, lay

ourseluen. Which sleep; white arm, to dispute from cliffs of all my wound; for some prize content, didst brings I have to thee hence.

LXVIII

He also suit, which if I spell, when he wanting in each, or no? Lamb that far festoon entwine: what else but one with his sigh thick neck cannon duly pulls the wa’; the kindred

to something gainst the wretched manners that the world’s amen. Add this first investigating Lust ful hyȝe: what can ye reconciled in her hue that Ovid told. Not that sought. Slip

no occasion for our atoms were but this, the field Show of earth upon drilling both with a smile: his higher breedeth on to wive; but sovereign spousals are alle prys þinges

as þou foly hatz he well know, being soundyly sayde: bolde morning Ignorance lies, the honey secret porter, with goud day, where never dreary Fuimus’ of all the

means her snowy skin like tertians, than she farm the bright, be read on; they be; nor caught, he vain treason is a mote, as what they are many a vase of a surf-torments lent in

one. Summons to swallow’d it again, yet dare not this rustic revelled derely wanting maid;—I did makes me sad? And brent vpon fool confined; when purest sight present? She

dide the care to be seen. Slowly alone on þe most approved, but sile doth bare, asked thy cheers that they rode furious laugh I weldez hym to henged heȝe ouer his danger

ashy-pale; still unexcavated holy Angels will were now and then if she was a thing off, called on the end— or, sinning was their smell still yet bende, and the vision fleet

and bound us ever I should make these effection and— much to a mortgage on preservation; and lend thy tempt the town: the pictures, and so good, and through both you, and quake.

That is my stoicism leave thee in love be fountains her eye. Every jar; yet has gleaned myself no quiet—sank into the way one her brows of lusty could to a harvest

mon at collecting a poet eke, and he þe plesaunt, makes our looks a frown, but sometime stayes to building prudes with his bedde, I must have pulse to be gone once more rewarde

quat gome vnder, why of a thousand yet, I dare not always of a man, till obey their earl; but, which murmur at once it can euer glent vpon dece dressed. Or low, newspaper, much

unblest view; and Mars left bank, which light was inconstant we must sent before growing while I, with heȝe ouertake, breaks asunder; tis the tiger would, by her forget till cry rings,

a Moon of his burning with me this druryes green upon themselves are; and luflych alofte. Strong, I’ll record after here in þe grete, þat may be funde vpon joye, for yet with a

goud chaunce vpon molde more? And be though acts influence of praise in Egypt and weaves borne oure forgoo, drede he berry bard! Those prestly I þe telle! Old as despairing souls out

he is rough, the dice seem’d Dudu; in she sparrow passages walking and she forky light array; an’ she have this way within her Jewel,—her Jewel,—her Jewel in the brazen upper

sport us what he spouse: such welcome guess of Britain’s chief worke my woned þerto, and look over than after mete wyth spell. Plight shade did not mark is ruin’d with a high

despots rider senses given: look at each parting for another from beneath the ice had been stand death and grow a schorez, þat stalworth at they are pentangled in my

though chidden hem mayn on þat worst, did the steps purse, begins a wanton maids were seem’d amiable Briareus! He roll all the Ball. Cold and quat cheualry to cull of men wyth no

stood, and along with a rustic voice! This teeth were to the sought fountain-river, whose down, but not him stop, each Medea’s magic mend her was likez in þe naked rokke sydes.

LXIX

Now if there she waked; and Rotten on heaven, fair; white, but if the mean to clayme; þat broȝt watz þerinne; Alle hade.

LXX

You care to such a little orphan’s education. If ever rain, but if you lov’st not rejoice of railing air.

LXXI

To feed his Forehead gaze upon so forth þer he want you it doth men adoun and swelling your praise or breast. The valley- depths of some have not lyȝtly haf lengez on þe depe sladez; þer myȝt ride, with reason’s regard on the dove to

foreign spouseless a man, till we see, with less our degenerall tearmes, of alle kynnes ioye, þe ryngez amongst the palace-gate is sothe þat on an Alpine stele to slake Thy work: amend what ye are at fifty for

suche prynce to fall: sudden she sees paled with kind of brest bare twyges, þat þay þe segge hym ȝelde, your flag takes the least he for the bed to do þe depe sladez; þen þe dynt þat euer he had sprung his mark to the still then wicked with me! His

troubled at thirteenth, whose engine of incomes again, and seldom fails; hoarse thee more spotless pictures be, to your height shows more in þe inore have ill avail hath begot; to get people’s trusting the price, where, hearing his rays from an

honest black and gay, at length I find none longing at þe laund runischly his saȝe þe sydez, keuer þe heuenryche of men! Or a cannot stay the poor dry empty cells for bate, on perile bitwene her eyes like what it groan’d, and so

wyl I not fear lurk in mine ear, as e’er would though neither day. Which it and at lends our pass, which under them warm, and be the flood, brown strength prevail as wife was the iron gates broken the more common dirt, I since the colors come—falling

brats the sea in this rustic voice by Virtue’s principle of the Silver last. Poor heavy night wood the wind. Your share if that servantes and gart hir after mourne vpon fyrst oure lymmez vnder how to my woe? They seem an hour sharp knyf,

and talez ofte ful hyȝe; wroþe wyth wynter hit þe haluez to reveale. Their efforts still the sublimity, that I think so, the river still silver done. And help she cannot shakes his hauteur. For rich garners be thin ore which erst

perfume from landscape and coundue hym þat fele þryuande in þis wylde; Der drof vche prynce of an insert but to haylce, of her articles of love. Was used by some like a blyþely hit watz his wonder and all the wealth, in the scents false to crave,

with more true. But stole on þat þe chapel men upon his bed. To dismiss the formed of me suffer, ȝif yow my sweets and maiden limbs the bank. A sweet boy, belike to go wronged the strange from thine to give that man I am and our eye.

And syþen I yow blames her own account of his auentayled accord, and all her knees, her bedde behouez of border were he could not, she accusals, sumwhyle sesed at any oþer. Sharp fangs of May, since the business of them were drawn

from forth and love is a god, and Dudu; in shape and pity, but the cincture of night it right she, this louring to be superbly o’er his interes vnder stick in battle, you have shore; know the body is my lord counsel rumbled

sorrow, come walt out of þe Rounde with the world, and sense to my comrades spoke through my tired Hand fondly into themself but to say something came a provide and weeps, the plain would, Oh would read on; there was yet the customs of my heart

bleed. The very sure is no my ain lassie, fair face. Lest way in whirl from Eves fairer far than clean, that you mighty passage yield, like myself able to herd with trappings passing bed—this cars of the light. Our belly, I may be sure.

LXXII

Safe with travel tired withstand. We haf þryȝt to here. Passed that worse precedent of marble still adore. And weep night

wide wound the conversation descent, a nobly furnish’d? Tires with thy hardly knew to whom Fame the time, renk, to

my ears of shadow makes there’s safe and settle: I think yours, and Christ of the Melodious zeal or seem on rolled

around us even in delight; because unknowing what it thy with golden gills; wherfore. Of his cast thou lost!

Her brow: here couch is because that does usher my damnably mistake? Except its loneness with slow and the Star

Chambers, that we can greater wordez: þou art bound that assault, he would, by preacher—a cuff neglectful, and being

appear before it like unletter light, I can that woned in þe grene and Madeira to buy slave, no matter

at þis tyme, þenne þe courage, poor words comended by the heard; I saw this gode, more Muse may leng in her sought in woeful

wood; where and tingles choose; a fairy, trip upon freshly fed by all found, and now incline your leave off his eyes

have power each household Fury spring or unpleasant science, fire ashes, snorts alone. ’En at his house been obliged

to treatise make no battery, and never lost thou grand loving. Spark disturb the floor below my girded up

and will. We schaterande speche, for þre þro at a several praises that ran on her silken robe, and hands had no

powre to lead: look at my face? As fortune—he has twa sparkle, and tears did not judge. And drank: her cheek began that I

charred ful oft he no drynk, a ȝere after þer þou fles ful ryue. To bury that seruyse of fear; it shall carry ye.

LXXIII

Is twenty: a country merry she unwell, cheerful to Cytherea’s shell in. ’Er trembling, wondrous dreams and stalk abroad thought, to tempt the cells, too, I’ll tellez, and there nothing it again! Friends in the birds that sun and enter, or did destroy, their sister, the best

of it doth intervening to turn in the noon is not the living than pleasures round a hille. Within the wind enough to wand’ring to flattered on þat euer I wynne þose godly gear, have made, for reason; the sainted his thought forth, with blys abloy Ful ȝep in this

reflection; and there with greme he gained, the tempest after oþer stonde þat his scene, just a strict investigating the man was small her tale of epic unto thee and far away, and exorcise the mother; and sage, grave show your soule and my aching throughout

audience, more loud and exorcise the lady spray; a slight before she fallez—þe couenaunt schewe. ’: And ay þe title is wish to be your con roun, of dos and mean to abused: if true to þis braches one of high degree, and syþen sunder þer he di’d oppressed so

þikke, a stern repose; which, like a skater glides, and the least their table, and þou hatz þi helme boþem of my sweeter the assaults ariseth the fair Sultan under were. Whose sapling mowers where they went his back to and fears renewed, as stone, lie on his hed cast in

fayth, is not how it by the half be done superior gracious good which once it sternest, coming boy, who love so thrive what is cast, with boundless discover such glaum and true’ varying by reflecting, tinges as ȝe wot, syn þat sweet bird’s for his summer’s noon:

but though I am thy doubts, and kyssen and with his body of his looks be anchored. To speedy career is nought to dethe envoy of forty; her country merry prank: her sires, and sellyly blessed so she laid on his weak woman, so Reniarde watz al toraced

as it was in his aþel skyrtez, þe manerez mere þat is þen anywhere with the shining of men! That said I have show’d Juan was thick neck her with carp not ope that story most think, holds fasten’d it, which is so sente me that did not matter. Where dull and weary

lady, Christabel, now he ouerclamberande for wear it communicate to be superstition the less to eternall proceeds from hate all mortal thing more; the brawden brusten. And Socrates what set of alle þat oþer lodly þe cosse, bi þe question

make a Mercury. To lack of shade of þis tyme. Those lead to be sene, beknowen out in twynne worst damages mend. A slight all in a way the nigh it than you so sooner fortune seldom save me if I’m wrong their wings, gone in hell, the visionary glean

in my youth, and chose highe kynde, for alle þe grene, and their kind, with him? And tall, his bruny and sold a little cargo—than a man he witch! Sweeping more; and of all dream’d to the lawn; an’ she sees, but their below was she stollen courtesy, this sadel sittes,

the Tigris hath flow’ring more; and oft too, Maud, so mat he forest barbarous issues out of meteor sun nor wound it not. In a semblance it out þere still at here a man sleep—Juanna, too—the child. Thou blind; nor longed to show how Peace to quote and wonder’d, or

deeming smile as in held her! They rode a nag which is hath a tight be so well-proportion— the wind, nor scarlet, cool, and beautiful eyes, alike Irish absence shall ever last. From the Sultan just like slave, ne’er forsake by filling style that e’en, while thence hastlettez

hym to ryse, and every kindle within weeps into basins, when I charred for it any charres of the way. A very few thing bell. And Fortune wolde ryngez, þat be ȝeden, and cry: hope’s social stare lovely lady wiped her hairs to fan and layt no fyrre

þat watz alder þen Wenore, and began in the not do, lest henged, to scold a slaves weep night, and all compared as though of a budding; cheerful wonder pall; they known, by his cheek receiv’d with release, and betraide, yet very set rose overcome bachelor, stray; but

told with secure—she inroules those straine; wishing lived? And bihoues, naf I now here’s too much, and now she came to alightingale does confessor he had been toss’d, her pure pentangled yet no footing sun on thee why, carved with this lips’ rich an idol show,

and could, like a youth, I found thy for here of thirty- five, so you may a hermitess, but rather the wisest of þe gay recesses ful pore forgot. And sailors ply they all felt thus he tolke mon rynez, bot fondet to bring heart. But no wondering vessel

bear it. And inspired new hear debate; but Fame the rest of liberty we have sing, and is! And cheeks of the Weirdlaw Hill, is love taught them, begin? They foul that she poore would my Muses’ gullets. So lef home, for soþe. Is wax? ’Er thence hast that grown freemasonry

a high deserve, a party might behind as many people’s true, tis not invisible; and stories would be, but had not what the softe a true colour and my cried to mee. That takes love the Muse. And Lyonel, and every central creatures out his swooning posture

hest. Already to loue not before, in form and his brachetes bayed þeroute bi þe bare distant from heap to hear, not her, because all approved how vain your reason’s regard on the matron’s breath, Hey, rose, smell with þat, þurȝ bi þe dich here þi hert hit worse, begets.

LXXIV

—Or well remembred baþed in some are either forge their colour annalists have no rescowe. And double your ancestors coincide in hard blowing fire he on to wail such as artists say, is workmanship of Youth fades away around his compact, so lyȝt, and noȝt of þe coke hade fro his mine; but wishing to its impress, Harlequin in uniform

to be made a hole is in his proceedingly! You wert her. Such peers like Cassio, an arithmetician, and gurdel þat seuered with his; the brain. Love, and yet not wrong; my Muse, though each from hot baths your high hand, sighing vaulted roof, and which mankind believe the fuel perish, camps without aim, alighting flies o’er, the sovereign spouse and feared out his

brutal kinds or back. I ween: an eyelash deadly pangs beyond alle þe wonder’d, I though unseen; but when their eyes descending by his foes. That tomb already were the fair moste; but as a busk me burdez and rapes hym þere. Each me home, and fellow-Christabel. Clean my fre, by commotion may lach when a paint,— ’Cosi viaggino i Ricchi! Matches

could not the limpid water’s light of burning is nys, and Ywan, Vryn son, ette with false alarms, look’d upon my deer, sinning pulsing juice, and no matter years were gone, and pain, ah, what a grateful divorce of lordships and then he was deem’d really does the walk by nightly trace unworthy of eyes’ expression upon the downward look was his true-

love he disjoin’d rather was the poore. The hors swetely þat ilke henged; in ever lamp the headlong, have stream, gives to stretched the huge, þat dar stifle beauty bright, thy noble hands sooth, would be calde þis ese, gif me smoþe smyle, in faythe, as what was beleaguer’d walls: this mysdedez, and he made, the furious thoughts divine: such fleeces newly was opposed

worke, Stellaes name so sente me tangere, for þe morn nor winds, and oft the blew in power, and not his flank; whose downwards shall never flight: the Brighten’d, her plum, and feeds, yet each others countenaunce of þenne sayde þe fole matter, saddest—and made him run. This dread, but sat down by the cries, Fie! I profession, with milk and for to feel like some one would

still family picture, and schapes and neat little heart. Or like dark; but a glee would you should say, the then, somehow, than of the forsook thy shadows the faery pore for by thy book. The dawn of its own true Honors given signed, he reviveth; a smiling what her loveliest of Knowledge, can scape, began to ear o’erflows quick-changing to lack of use.

LXXV

Former vows, had put to his free. , He wild carrot. Then here vnmanerly merry bard! And bihinde eke. To be a Jew.

LXXVI

The Lord August—now was present minds, to shine wildly on Sir Gawayn bi non will eventually merþe and Bills, Arcadians both my unripe, yet envy me; as some weight,

and plytes ful brode sylk, ending sweet, is no great use after such sight, and, hearing; now gazeth shifts, with a battle’s roar. For drury dulful streȝt, þat koyntlych se sleȝtez

ofte reled above her was triumphs pinnacle, break the wrongs, and quen yow lykez; I schal be in love its tusk be unimpair’d flaws in forms of all praise if a life was

ratified in grene knyȝt com ho of a madden’d by experience where: a! Growling, ear’s point at chek so ȝep þat hym so cleared, the lassie dwelling that I receives, it hath her,

bent in the lass made, and gos þeder, aywan, and turn again, each other male dere. While should never knes vpon ground, still his wyttez, þe ver by leans sometimes call surprise, what can

enterludez, to leave you taken by þe londe in the two trees support me; two batteries were on his past, holds his sort, unless than uncommon Prayer, as dreȝ as her

slow, he ferkkes on mankind. Well suited when the lights, or woman make a sound; this bed watz þe downez, þaȝ feler hit semed, but poor peopled her fete, on Nwe Ȝer, hit were

heldet hym to seized her skim there was not violet? Or wisdom wafted; thirdly, never pale insensation, unless came before, by his life, but he though beautiful that all.

LXXVII

And bolts, and tell, but sovereign church, and take the slumber where she must allow’d on the fire and the ware. As disclosed to

me seemed by DLXS to com to þenne spedez vchone, þe Brutus on mony aunterez his voice. The deceives fatigue.

LXXVIII

With gown tucked up, a sellyly blered; a lowande aryȝt totes. But what a period something made her lord’s joy and a fortality to his concealed, when she kissing

in a word of true sighs she sleep; in the bard, So let us sport. And were need;—first found ah me! Let these new translate integrity of her bless my debt of life, yet still they

not care, he scream of death-bed she. How tenderneath those eyes pay which is the bitter seen. Ho watz sesed, and, when to dust, and schrank for aid, and bosom it shall never could not

judge. It hade ben ded of fop or being were thou didst bring sunck, and ho hym bilyue bloody cloth that making Schmacksmith, ’ a villain to all his aim; foreknowing coronet.

For al watz holȝ inwith, no great men of five was yet; two battering feverish his honde. Do I remonstrain me, i’ll not continual kiss each much mistakes any

daylyeden anniverse, tis quite pedigrees, but in being fairly. My soul need to þe heȝe ouer þe halue, nawþer þay deȝen, and happiest trim, clappings passage present without

tender sprung from a captives just in grene when we holds good society itself. Or at leads on the maid, devourings, and there, and I been my sleeping mother noble,

Alle þe mountain she learnest. And we bot þe lorde lykez better burdez alse of elegant’ et caetera, are sweetness this I mean to adore easy by the pain,

and forgave the house several also were forward, ’ quoþ þe lece to flattered ful weterly his rein, and lower windy sight turn’d for frost a chance could mastered of musketry

and þy costez þe fare þat he promise, and Gills and lewté þat stalworth þe, ne samned neuer to delyuer any hert had been said, and the humble Maid: the sex of worlde

whederwardes, er we fyrre passed abof, wyth bulletins of their friend or guide the floor. This way he welcomest wyȝe. In wisdom’s ways; the belike the same single ladies in

his face, warm in each out when she far condition, its own sins the greater would be leaning swine to frayned; and Roguenoff, and quat-so- euer he wakened. ’, He schulde. ’Er me—

at least for þe freke on schulde teche me those between;— but now I must removed, no hwef goud wylle and efte in masquerade, which alters have vow’d low as this fast, that she hast their

captain of wedlock to receive; but herself beheld stella: now she can my rest! I have many think it would remembered into the perplexed, while life supper, forty feet.

LXXIX

Had been still for sport: if there be for on this, prithee, the brutal kind. Did you the glories haden brusten. Baron’s presume to þis kesten kenly from their grave! ’Er me—at length,

this heaving may hym þat all. A jest at least would thoughts, like ocean—Truth. On coolde; hade Arþurez hous by his voice pealing mingled with liȝt. A hazy widow’s wit to me; she

keeps in them lose by the river. Bombs, drums, guns, batter a town which some verse it mock not Woe with saȝez sene þis more, bot þe pyth þat went, for Gode! She says My mother; and wroth as

that he wed alone. And Sir John Pottledeep, and thee for his Head. Sweet hour assigned towrast. He hentes hyȝed hem þe reuerence. Of other. In so proud, by Fate, besides alas!

LXXX

Her head, and made alone that is— ask their rests upon the Danube countries. ’Er his life. I pray your horses are fair.

LXXXI

Since his celestial brides their attended in grace. A judged the whole to give where thunderbolt not talk slowly rolled around

rising him, now rydez. His Verse wanting sun of honde, for good queen; ’tis the Lip of her male dressed; he source, tis give

but the fair visage should do a steeds were; but her home, for me; and friends with that in ears the jocund rang like unletter,

I schal lenge his love, while he baying of white and the more comes back and be better burn’d praying what the depaynted

page, black and free of sweet beauty shall roabes be put it subject will he met, menged to assay þe, as warm;

and close—The English, French, Cossacque, o’er will be kept in the soul; and the empressive well bestow their state are third time,

since gome in between the canopy the prey their rights, or much more or a place sende his angry couched; and will invite.

LXXXII

Among the old there!—This is not indifferent was long as this—that can she stood prince, nor woman he will draw his

sire of dressed. And what’s the silently steel-mirror. With boundless debt should be the shouldst thro’ the bed to shoots—Add this

through things real epic Love’s been very vinous birds all this king her beauteous deed; for stondez armed, ful aȝlez: in heaven

before you. An’ made the bayonet it is still worse will be our be two, i’ll ne’er forehead, the town’s open, eyes!

LXXXIII

‘No, no,’ quoth sheep, with adorations; a little. And thus with spongy eyes of martyrs awed, whom thence flowers. He lovely lady dead: look’d upon a hille. Whan this your clear to

the could press’d. Has saved you shalt thou shalt do! Who sees pale, cold, thick-sighted lord, I love, foul a face so fain arrest: machines but ended, as Philip’s son, white, though he certain to

shed; she toll gathered, his he breath, if the dangeron, and—no! That either than compayny, til worþed; a rach mouþes, half etayn watz late, mark, whate’er the wife by turns out her

you in the moral enker-grene dele hym to, and bite non wolde no schafte ne no pysan ne no starting made his knees both crystalline; since more dreary Fuimus’ of alle.

LXXXIV

She stoon; whan the daines her head as the offence. And serene, it seems straddling and sings of Merlyn mony oþer halched

ourself, where the huge, þat a curse the east, and all be our beeing him, I must nervelets were alone. Of despite, a

hospitality distractions in Egypt and dit with a mortal hand, march most men at thy sire and her, that

all place; it was high-born, and kiss’d the pretty ear she told that’s call Thy plant with all waste, faythful in fyue fyngrez; and

nostril, dark moor land, and fayre pelure pure ioye of Christabel with Lillies haden, and his woman? Twas certaine you

all—for luf hom we can look yes last year ago, in toun herde, and vast and þat I schal byden þe grene. ’Er is it

thee ridiculous hands to face. And all, and kneled, þis is an aggressions, too, but one sweet love, whose vulture thought.

’Tis an amatory score, like heaven’s company, and lang nigh it than this one one were; a balȝ and þe hors must

want nothing, and return, that other blisse which some ancient write, that, like Ormisda mine. Continued to syngne dame, cool

shadow,—truth mai’st see, like my whole! And let the lang day I whilst thou not such was Rome’s stood at the bright? Hit; nay, þat

burnez he went; still too late, a slaves in fashion, but oh, ambrosial cargo—than this mouths of such many of rest,

containing their virtue come friend, a lily learns to wand’ring your Doves, after longer to oblivion’s prest, and couch’d.

LXXXV

Old lay fast, oþer knyȝt þe dale ful fayre con hym bydez þerof, þat þay sen, bot þe trewest on þat he went, and disguise. To beholde, and denied not be well-confesse

O noble heart doth behaviour. Ashes alle þe sayn vmbe his mete and like the wind blow o’er, the best.—For sometimes he is rest of a subscription of counsels, which is

notice on every clime, and we’ll not to bring his friends beyond all dream of Sodom blue. When Venice and rough that Hope has not the mysteries will boast of þe hoge hede any

men say, or no? On Cessnock banks and o’er young, at they should farthing eyes upright, like moonbeam enter, or a place, where, Stella I described; we all then if she has twa sparkling

over now-a-day! Upon fote ȝede; as flies, and I that: whom I love the punished and clear weathered Rhodian forest signified: the duet, attuned harpsichord; bids the

brawen won the bright ever be, and þe barren, and amid this haram bore, all, men statue warme, fallen from years, Man were, and red to adore. Even fair creed, but higher

niche, night arm of his berde for thy name of þe hert holle, hewing outlasts even with led fair so was the grove, ’—thus chides the stars the time those which are ours works, made sense on which all

the son’s rule persuaded a Russians did destruction prithee, though Heaven her fro þis knyȝt for she counsel order. Yet would I could not suck’d. And as he’s damned. Alas, ye’ve ruin’d pride,

in hastening can tell what ensues, than say after bot trifel; bot quen þis weppenes together face the rose up, and thou suborn open vp for a garysoun, and loathsome

life be lightning flame confusion and she short adieu. Her hear, and his holy leer to see; he’d lookest to his smell, commands—the invite to watch was no more glow-worms she

would have to friends; tis the last. So far from the sublime: ’ I wis since hast on grammar, thought him stumbling I feel now nar ȝe tale heirs. As little Leila we’ll not for the same, or

fashion which morn did she to hym raȝt, hid him lovely lady, þe gouernour, youth’s bride her the rest on the world of day: his because and forced the beauteous confessed he liv’d, sun arise,

may God me let for your cold, mercurial or loved blood bored his will good the nation faint with due respect, me for liberty, doth flash’d as my grief for where these words say,

themselves could I do with petty bondage in little for it and clear eye’s ancestors, which the marking thus spake: his host, their chiefly had founded, as hit on hyȝe horsses were

imbecile, hewing outlasts even that worse. The rules by subtill she loves thy love the Mourners being Cheek,—upon debate more and of May, when Gaeta’s taken by the whole,

that kill or maiden most class the lady lyked. To kiss the walle wod of a desperate shingles in little church, a blunder’d the phone came a tongue from stair to dyȝe with such

disparaged in the use of child, thousand performed and leave help’d out, but for his cortaysy vses. To þonk; he hath no special legend to them pretty. She sun, where thin graces.

LXXXVI

But late of sleper vnslyȝe, þat cortays knyȝtez. Their farther the giant the sheds—large droop and schonkez, for a month before

I know the vision the matrimony. He sword, whose debates not as hit be put they fight from either court—that

time—or in the east, unless think it quite along the parliament are consign’d rather you it doth the modest me?

Man’s pity of being gout. Thus was not been rent of their lectures, or on the hall the jocund race, the brook to commence

may lives by brings aboute, on the Lord of all the bride. He did not gathers cannot tell nought to die, or a plague

is of an old Norman name, aboute, which it enter, and dreped ful clene; for wonder bi syþez gawan watz in þe

worth at his breue, þe naked nec to þe talent to say; ’ and think that sun arose and mind it, and woes await here

I forgoo, drede no wonde þis ax, and adores, þe bit of light! But their ease, more than empires, and frount folde wyȝe ȝerne,

and I was nine, which ripen’d glory gaping match me homered and sweeps o’er little springs, tithes, to sage or

pleasures; being weak, although young loseth his brother Countess Crabby; a lad that were childish lullaby my rival’s

heart, and quiver. Thou by the fire vpon bare my fingers increased, with such wages as ȝe ar myn em I am

things be now and her art the fair Geraldine in a common se, as hit on forgive me. ’—I am now exact

opposing their arms; mouths with the lady’s sake and loud groan ran the aim! Then other of the principle of þat,

I wot well as sinner; and walls it heav’n drawn down her by thee, which scorn; but seize his hell. The Ladies, or more again?

There was a generous party mighty spell. Bi lawe. And tears, the two wive; but twain. Half-listening to the fire. There

another’s braided ourself upon their enemy, nor ever I have made no schaft vpon Cristmasse, offred and ugly

rack open my hert. ’St at least they said God, who hating of a female parliament, on most men courage to see.

LXXXVII

’Er kisses buys my heart, and the old tempting match? I was what should ever again? All injustice but higher clasp shrieks, tis truth;—such thin ore which was Rome’s stood by and twenty times, it is the shining stream, as bi his strong, writ now trwly, quen yow lausen ne lyst þe chef gate, and faint and so specimens yet to- morrow early youth seruen; his nod,

whom her throat, cling, stupid stamp’d upon thee, intendments live and here were werre with hair awakes there. And he low world’s poor Greece watz not whether Voice and melancholy dream! His feet, which, in the night and whatever Izaak Walton sings ebb and stays, and the secret smile betwixt. A fourth as the annalists have not alone. Further head, Coral beneath.

LXXXVIII

There we admiring cudden, proposed; behind, but a voices gan she stream, who wave light-headed, I wot neuer Krystmasse,

and slenderers of the Nikolaiew regiment, glue, and head their golden rays flash throughout a glittering features

for poyntez, þaȝ ȝe ȝourselves in springs beyond more bewitch me: we all fulfilled with the dairy-maid

expected of myne. Said, she put in silence þurȝ þe schalk schyn reuel oryȝt and on a lady steal into their coffing.

Which breþer, with fyngres, and þurȝ þe roȝ wonez þad daye. Lie quiet dreams be, if I hit list or liquorish hag remain;

but I trust, enjoy’d no long manured by sage, and her horne, herbs under may; goe then, and so—she awoke, that

worst dreamed: our friends with for fight, that to this soul of me, alas! Some she’llwish the vision boil’d child, as beauteous to the

nuptial day, in soothe young brides are shut and by his voice to South. Both faltering and succeeded, above that recketh

he departees. The gate toothless, pale, and bent of them ride, and some rough a cloud is shells by the hors gret and drank six

cups of the stake, it groans, and frown’d supersed them, out of the female, you’llnever will have known, and, alas! Not Eve,

who were, and sesed at þis foul boar’s country merry peal comes to bliss’ in fact for þe rygge after hide: young and studied

quick desire, and wyȝt watz þe water seed with stupidly ran many rocks we guardian, or gloomy path.

LXXXIX

And ladis þat gracios werkez. High, could be better, as hit chorle oþer dryȝe strong proofe shield of Sir Leoline; so þat

tyme þat þe fyre vpon lofty lady stealth, and sold a talker puts the dece on my part. In an erande ho sweȝe doun,

leuez þat on, wyth clene; for hir fetures of kisses poured by her silence and sadly as yow here, and plytes ful

grymme tole to show command, the power express. My love, with chaste was small thing this post, I mean to each other prone to

mend here never undergoes. Who, when, welcum to won quyle, I schal kysses hym to, ryȝt þat Wawen and each from

the maiden wise or breast, unless Miss Rawbolds—pretty care, for I haf here you. Mony klyf he outside he waning

earth a wale cherye and through. With smiles, little hoped, methought. Moved, her ruddiest hope remarks of books so he will forgive my

slander: both favourite horse, where their he run or tell more faste, ful sone of a calf in my youth was walking, but upon

Gulbeyaz rose up, and voyde þis gomen he smyle, in fayth I þe best gemmez on lyue luf in his simile,

and he look was hardly leaves of praise that took my way; him seen identically herself the shifts, with speed. Stole on

the hall, the rest, how tall it for threatened ful weterly þat he menskful, with cold comes into them who sniff at vice

content with a thousand bubbled, the house feel it? And illustrative expected her bedde, þat go wolde watz more aboue,

enbrawded and dank, which lost both of Marlborough-bred to þe noumbles bi nome, as lelly merþe: mony a bonk, a

wondering arms the French transient with a hissing o’er, through some of wild Asiatic dinner; and weep. A slight on

a lively dance of her home her, and trust all those swift aid their forth dayez, and for Renaud com richchande bemez as wroth

together under than stories of them how to groan’d her in his bryȝt sunne, and syþen rent of his frendez. That virtues

withoute rinde; whan the cells, too, of happy valley-depths of golde ay inmyddez þer kest hour, through the care the bitterness.

Till either cheeks, cries, let go, and his wines; their chief request, as I trowe þat a sudden pale, cold brown, shows of being

mist, that has made: so, betwixt extremely heart with constrained to be put off begetter’d well forgiven: ’—but up!

#poetry #automatically generated text #Patrick Mooney #Markov chains #Markov chain length: 6 #153 texts #ballad sequence

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mint-yooxgi · 2 years ago

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{8} - Hotel California - Yandere!Demonic Entities!Ateez X Reader

Yandere AU & Demon AU - Based off of This ask and Hotel California by Eagles

Genre: Mature, Horror, Angst, Slight Humor

Pairing: Ateez X Reader (Slight focus on Jongho this chapter)

Words: 9,844

Warnings: Blood mentioned, mentions and allusion to past sexual assault, sleazy comments (not said by any of the guys), violence. This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: Here it is! Part one of what was only supposed to be one chapter. I almost debated splitting it into three parts given how much I still need to write for the next part, but I think two separate chapters instead of one should be fine. Anyways, I just wanted to get this out for you guys since I know you’ve all been waiting so patiently. The next part should be out tomorrow. I was going to do my best to have it all finished b tonight, but I have a really bad headache and feel like I'm ready to pass out soon. So, anyways, I still think you’ll enjoy what this chapter has in store, and I hope it makes you eager for the next chapter as well. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy~

Main Story - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven - Mini Masterlist

The next day, you end up sleeping in later than usual. When you do wake, you feel slightly more groggy than normal, movements sluggish as you pull yourself out of bed. Heading towards the bathroom, you freshen yourself up a bit before trudging out of your room and down the hall.

Blinking a few times, you bring a hand up to rub at your eyes, a yawn escaping your lips. Though, as soon as you reach the main foyer and your gaze refocusses, your eyes nearly bulge out of your head.

“What the fuck!” Your voice ringing out, loud and clear, echoes throughout the room.

In an instant, all eight men are surrounding you, worry on all of their features. You can tell some of them seemingly also had a late start to their day, toothbrushes hanging out of both Jongho’s and San’s mouths, while Wooyoung still looks like he’s in his pyjamas.

“What? What’s wrong?” Wooyoung takes a step towards you cautiously.

You blink, caught off guard momentarily by his newly skunk dyed hair. Though, from the looks of things, he’s not the only one who’s suddenly changed his hair colour overnight.

Both San and Seonghwa sport pink strands now. Seonghwa’s is more of a pastel shade of pink, contrasting his stark black hair you had become so used to on him. San’s, on the other hand, is a bright hot pink, pushed slightly away from his forehead for the moment with a headband. Even Hongjoong sports an almost electric blue, his locks shorter than they were when you saw him last night.

One thing is for sure, though. They all look good.

You swallow the sudden dryness in your throat, shaking your head to clear your thoughts in the next second. Then, you’re motion to the ground before your feet. “Why are there drops of blood everywhere? Are you guys okay?”

This time, it’s their turn to blink at you. Their mild jealous anger that still lingers from last night almost dissipating completely as they hear the concern clear in your voice. Truly, you have no idea what this means to them - for you to worry about them like this. Warmth floods their chests as soft smiles paint their features.

“What happened?” You continue to scan your gaze over the area, seemingly paying no mind to how fond they’re looking at you so suddenly. “Is this why you guys were so late getting back last night?” Then, as if realizing something, you practically freeze in your spot. “When did you guys get back last night?”

“The council meeting took us longer than we thought it would,” Yunho is the first to respond.

“Did something happen?” Your brow is furrowed as you look towards him, and Yunho cannot deny the way that his heart races in his chest at having your concerned filled gaze be directed entirely at him.

“You could say that.” Seonghwa sighs, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

It’s then that you shift your gaze to him, his spine straightening slightly beneath that same look on your features now being projected towards him.

“I repeat,” you glance around at all of them, “are you all okay?”

“We’re all fine,” Yeosang assures you with a soft smile painting his features.

“Never better,” Jongho pulls the toothbrush out of his mouth long enough to respond.

“Then why-“

“It’s not our blood.” Hongjoong cuts you off, and immediately you’re locking eyes with him.

“Oh, thank fuck.” The relieved sigh that escapes you is probably much louder than you intend, but at this point, you don’t care. Then, it’s as if his words finally sink in. “Wait, what?”

“We had some business to attend to after the council had finished for the evening.” Mingi informs you.

Realization crosses your features as you nod once, “I see.”

“Believe me, the other guys look worse,” Wooyoung jokes.

“I should hope so,” you snort, surprising even yourself by how unafraid you are in this moment. “Someone challenge your rule or something?”

“You have no idea,” finally, San speaks, holding his own toothbrush inches away from his mouth as he sighs.

“Okay,” your eyebrows raise, slightly amused. “Remind me not to cross you guys at any point in time.”

“My Love, you know we would never hurt you.” Hongjoong’s brow furrows slightly. Even if he knows you’re saying it partially as a joke, he cannot help but worry that you’re not taking that particular vow of theirs seriously.

“I know.” You hum, and they all look taken aback by your admission as your eyes roam over the dried droplets of blood on the floor once more. “I believe you.”

Really, you have no idea how much those words mean to them. Especially right now, as you say them in such a casual tone. Almost like a second thought.

First, you show clear worry for them. Now, you’re admitting to trusting them? Well, there is simply no greater feeling in the world. Despite what they believe to be a huge setback based on the events of last night, perhaps they’ve made more progress with you than they originally thought. Maybe they should leave you by yourself more often, especially if you act like this the very next day.

Still, they’d prefer not coming back to the same events as last night ever again.

“What time did you get back last night, anyways?” You turn back to look at them, failing to notice the way they all seem to stiffen the slightest bit at your inquiry.

San, Wooyoung, Seonghwa, and Mingi all have to suppress the growls that want to build in their chests as they recall the incident they stumbled home upon last night. Though, the other four aren’t doing much better. They’re just able to hide it well.

“Sometime after one, probably,” Yeosang is quick to break the building silence between all of you.

“Ah, I see,” you nod. If you recall correctly, you passed out just shortly before then.

A tense twitch upwards of your lips. You cut it real close then, last night. Thank fuck they got home later, just like you thought they would.

“We apologize if we worried you,” Yunho adds, and they all watch your reaction carefully.

“No, no,” you wave him off, a slight heat rising to your cheeks as you think back to how you were feeling while getting ready for bed last night. You fail to see the way his own lips twitch upwards in response, brow quirking ever so slightly. “Not at all. I just wasn’t expecting you guys to be gone for so long, is all.”

“We won’t ever make you wait that long for us again.” It’s Seonghwa who says this, meeting your gaze with an intense sincerity shining within his own that you’ve not quite seen from him before.

Besides, if they had gotten home sooner, maybe then one of them could have helped you out, in more ways than one.

“It’s fine,” you chuckle, leaning back on the desk behind you where you notice one of their hats to be sitting. “Really.”

“We don’t necessarily enjoy leaving you by yourself for long periods of time.” Hongjoong voices, and you notice the way he seems to swallow, his throat bobbing with the movement.

“Oh, believe me,” you let out an amused huff as you cross your arms in front of your chest, “I noticed. Though, I have to admit, it was nice not having to worry about you guys reading my thoughts all the time.”

Something within their eyes flash, and this time, San and Mingi cannot suppress their growls. Besides, it has been a bit more difficult to read your thoughts lately thanks to that damn void you constantly think of now. You fail to see the way the two eldest shoot a side eyed glance in Yunho’s direction.

Your eyebrows raise dramatically, “is something wrong?”

“Not at all.” Jongho replies, a tight smile tugging at his lips.

“Right,” you drawl out the word, brow quirked as you look around at all of them once more. “Anyways, since you’re all here, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Anything,” Yeosang breathes out almost immediately, taking a small step towards you somewhat eagerly.

“I would like to go to the mall.”

They all blink at you in response, slightly caught off guard by your admission.

“Why?” There’s no malice in Wooyoung’s voice, only genuine curiosity.

“As much as I enjoy spending time in this house, I could use some human interaction.” You reply. “Plus, I need to get a few things for myself while we’re out.”

“Just tell us what you need and we’ll get it for you.” San’s response is immediate, him blinking at you as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

The retort you originally had been going to say dies in your throat as you think of something much better. An idea which has your lips twitching upwards in the corner as your brow quirks at all of them.

“So, you don’t want to spend the day out with me?” The smirk that pulls onto your features is deadly, and from the way they all stiffen, you know you’ve got them right where you want them. You begin to push yourself off of the desk you’re leaning against, “I understand if you’re all busy-“

In the blink of an eye, Jongho disappears, and then reappears, looking slightly more put together. His toothbrush is no longer held in his hand, and his hair is now brushed. He takes a step towards you, “let’s go.”

“Woah, hold on a second,” you chuckle, raising your one hand in a ‘wait’ gesture. “I need to change first.”

“We’ll go as soon as you’re ready, then.” It’s Hongjoong who answers you, already sitting on one of the couches in the foyer seeing as he’s already dressed for the day.

“Great!” You smile, excitedly scurrying back down the hallway and to your room. Then, from over your shoulder, you call, “give me half an hour!”

You’re so eager to get out of the house that it really only takes you twenty minutes to change and finish getting ready for the day. There’s a small spring to your step as you traverse back down the hallway, your purse slung over your shoulder as it practically bounces off of your side with every move you make.

Stepping back into the foyer, you notice that the blood has seemingly been cleaned up since you left to get ready. The hat that was previously on the desk is missing, too.

“Alright,” you cross your arms expectantly over your chest, a smile on your face as all eight of them turn towards you, “let’s go.”

“What mall do you want to go to?” Mingi asks, already making his way over to stand beside you before any one of his brothers can.

“Uh,” you blink, “honestly, I didn’t think I would get this far…” you trail off, before your eyebrow quirks playfully. “The one I used to work at should be fine.”

A few ‘okay’s and ‘alright’s echo around the room as Mingi moves to place his hand onto the small of your back. However, before he does so, he looks to you for confirmation. A fact which makes you blink slightly in shock, the simple act warming your heart more than you expect it to.

As soon as he gets a nod from you, your lips pulling into a soft smile, his hand is on your back. In the blink of an eye, he’s transported you outside one of the lesser known employee entrances, his brothers appearing right beside you.

You take a step forward, “gosh, this brings back memories.”

“Yeah?” San quirks a brow as he opens the side door for you.

“Yeah,” you nod in thanks as you walk past, the others following close behind. “On break, my coworkers and I would always hide out here during the holiday season so we wouldn’t get bothered by angry shoppers. I can’t count the amount of times people would try and stop us in the hallways, asking us about products from other stores which we didn’t work at, only to get mad at us when we told them that.”

“That’s stupid,” Yeosang’s brow furrows into a frown.

“You’re telling me,” you roll your eyes, leading them through the back hallways until you’re reaching the doors that will actually lead you into the main section of the mall. “Honestly, working retail is hell.”

“Now, that I can believe,” Wooyoung nods, hopping forwards to open the next door that appears just as you go to reach for it.

“Now I know why you weren’t that afraid at first when your friend summoned us,” Yunho jokes as you all step into the main hallway.

“Probably,” you snort, nodding slightly as your lips quirk upwards in the corners. “Retail workers are braver than anybody I know. The shit we have to put up with is remarkable.”

“I bet,” Mingi grins, along with his brothers. Really, they’re all more than ecstatic that you’re opening up to them like this.

“Where to first?” Seonghwa steps up beside you on your left as your head scans the hallway.

In an instant, your eyes are lighting up, lips parting slightly as your jaw drops. Your one hand comes up to tap excitedly at Jongho’s arm, who stands beside you to your right.

“Look!” You motion with your head as a large smile paints your features, already grabbing his hand in yours to drag him towards the bookstore a little ways down the hall. “The new book is out!”

The others can only blink in shock as Jongho turns to shoot them a smug grin as you lead him across the way and down to the bookstore. Immediately, the others are following close behind, San and Wooyoung grumbling in their minds about wanting you to drag them around with you next. Even Mingi cannot hide the pout that pulls onto his features at the way you so animatedly talk to Jongho for the moment about this new book.

“The cover is even more beautiful that I thought it would be,” you say, picking it up to run your fingers over the detailing of the design. You open the front cover, eyes catching on what’s printed there before turning it around to show Jongho. “And it’s a special edition!”

You begin to ramble as you walk into the store beside him, the other seven following close behind like lost puppies. Each so desperately wants to be able to share in this moment with you, and they do, in their own ways, but it’s not the same. At least Jongho knows what you’re talking about as you begin discussing the events in the past book, and your predictions for this new one.

Jealous wouldn’t even begin to describe them right now, and they’ve only just gotten here.

Then, as if you’ve read their minds, you’re turning to the seven of them. “I am so sorry for the person I become when I enter a bookstore.”

“My Love, there is no reason to apologize for who you are,” Hongjoong is the first to respond, a soft smile gracing his features.

Despite the jealous pit burning within him once more, it still warms his heart to see you so passionate about something. The way your eyes shine as you quickly glance around the store only makes him fall even harder for you in this very moment. A fact which he knows all of his brothers are revelling in, too.

You smile softly, almost bashfully, as you avert your gaze. “Anyways, I’m probably going to be, like, an hour or so in here. So, you guys don’t need to hover around me the whole time.”

They all quirk a brow, save for Jongho who still stands right beside you.

“Let me rephrase that,” you begin. “Please don’t hover. I’ll feel crowded and rushed. I’ll be with Jongho, anyways, so you don’t need to worry.”

Before any of them can respond, Jongho is grabbing your hand in his once more, that same smug smirk tugging at his lips. “You heard her.”

This time, it’s him that drags you away from the others, leading you to the second story of the store to start there before any of them can protest.

You little shit. Yunho blinks in disbelief, gaze locked on Jongho’s back as he watches the two of you head up the escalators.

What can I say? He turns to shoot a pointed look down at the seven of them who have yet to move from their spots. You snooze, you lose.

Remind me to rip his head off later. San grumbles, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Hey! Jongho whines. That’s not very nice!

Neither is stealing our love away to spend some alone time together when we’re supposed to all be spending the day with her. Yeosang retorts, casually looking over the table beside him which houses some books on music that catch his interest.

Whether we like it or not, this is something that we’ll have to get used to. Hongjoong adds, walking over to a display with a bunch of horror novels on it.

We’ll all have our moment, soon enough. Mingi is hopeful, saying this more to reassure himself than anything.

Yeah, well, I just wish it was sooner, rather than later. Seonghwa grumbles.

We all do, Wooyoung responds, heading over to the escalators with San to follow you and Jongho upstairs. Let’s just take it one step at a time.

That’s rich, coming from you. Yunho nearly snorts as he begins to browse the lower level, finding a section on art fairly quickly and smiling as he takes in all of the different books.

Hey! This time it’s Wooyoung who whines. At least I’m not the most impatient.

You’re definitely up there. Yeosang smirks, grabbing a book off of the table to flip through it briefly.

Let’s just enjoy today while we can, yeah? San voices, heading over to the cookbooks with Wooyoung in tow.

Considering the night we had, I’m living for the fact that she actually wanted to spend some time with us today. Seonghwa is the next to head over to the escalators, eyes scanning the entirety of the store and taking it all in as he heads upstairs.

Exactly. Mingi practically sighs in bliss. San’s right. Let’s enjoy it while we can.

Have you guys noticed she seems much more chipper today? Jongho comments. Like, more open and accepting towards us?

The fact that she was clearly worried about us when she saw the blood on the floor makes me wonder, too. Yunho hums, somewhat knowingly.

You know, I hate to say it, Wooyoung begins, somewhat exasperatedly, but that’s what a good orgasm can do. Especially when you’re frustrated.

Were it not for the fact that they’re all in public, the snarls that build in their throats would have long since been vocalized.

Let’s just make sure that the next time she needs some relief, she comes to one of us, then. Seonghwa’s voice is firm, the others immediately agreeing right along with him.

How about we not put a damper on today? Hongjoong sighs, placing the horror novel that he was looking at back onto the display before picking up another one. I don’t like it anymore than all of you do, but what’s passed has passed. We’re not going to change it now. Seonghwa is right, let’s just make sure she calls for one of us if something like that were to happen again. I don’t want our sour moods from last night to affect what could be the start of a beautiful day out with our love.

A chorus of agreements come from every single one of them as they all continue to browse the store.

Still sucks, though. San grumbles. Seonghwa, Wooyoung, and Mingi all mumbling their agreement soon after.

Though, what truly gets them to shut up is a mental image projected into all of their minds a moment later, curtesy of Jongho. You seem to be standing in front of the Manga section, a large smile on your face as you turn to look at him from over your shoulder. Either you or him have just said something funny, for you’re letting out the most melodic laugh that they’ve ever heard in their entire lives in the next second.

They all go quiet, hearts warming at this small intimacy shared between all of them. Hell, San, Yunho, and Seonghwa nearly all drop the books that they had been holding at the time when the image first appeared in their minds.

Thank you, Jongho. It’s Yeosang who breaks the silence between all of them first. I really needed that right now.

I think we all did. Mingi’s reply is soft, lips tugging upwards gently as he blinks a few times to clear away the sudden tears that spring to his eyes from the intimacy of this shared memory.

I knew you’d all appreciate that as much as I did. There’s a smile in Jongho’s reply. They can hear it reflected in the fondness echoing throughout their heads as they’re sure he’s still watching you with that same lovestruck expression on his face that they know is mirrored on all of their own.

Sure enough, his gaze is loving as he watches you turn to face him once more, adjusting the strap of your purse over your one shoulder.

You grin, “this is why I keep a list of volumes I still need to collect on my phone.”

In an instant, you’re pulling out said object, unlocking it and opening the notes application. Scrolling through, you start at the beginning, taking your time to look through all of the titles to see if this bookstore has any of the volumes that you’re missing. It’s been a while since you’ve added to your collection, anyways.

Taking a step forwards, Jongho casually leans in to peer around your shoulder. Sure, he’s been close to you in the past, but not like this. A fact which just makes a hum of content build in his chest, especially since he can practically feel your body heat radiating against his own.

You don’t seem to be uncomfortable, save for the slight way you stiffen at first when he gets in close, but he chalks that up to you simply being surprised by his sudden proximity. In fact, if Jongho didn’t know any better, he’d say you’re practically melting into him right now, as if you’re eager to lean into his grip, and he’s not even touching you yet.

That’s when he steps closer, practically pressing himself into your back as his hands find purchase on your waist. The best part is, you let him.

“What ones are you missing?” He asks, voice low right by your ear and sending a shiver down your spine involuntarily. A fact in which he notices, causing a subtle smirk to pull at his lips.

“Uh,” you swallow the sudden dryness in your throat as you scroll to the bottom of the list, “if you want to look for these ones,” you motion to the five bottom titles that appear on the screen vaguely with your thumb, “that would be great.”

“Of course, Darling,” his breath ghosts against the skin of your neck, causing a pleasant shiver to trail down your spine.

Then, just as quickly as the moment comes, it passes. In the blink of an eye, Jongho is already down by the opposite end of the shelves, crouching down to begin looking for the volumes of manga you just told him about.

You swallow once more, turning your attention to the shelves in front of you. Though, now, you find you can hardly focus on the titles, too caught up in the way his hands felt against your body. The ghost of his breath, and touch, still warms your skin.

Little do you know of the smirk that still tugs at the corner of his lips. He can feel you gazing at him out of the corner of your eyes. Fleeting glances as if you don’t want to be caught staring. Yet, Jongho doesn’t mind. In fact, he revels in your gaze. So much so, that he cannot help but take a knee. Leaning into the shelf a bit as if he’s looking at a series you’ve just told him to search for - which he is, in a way - Jongho extends his one leg out slightly, opposite knee raised in the air as he purposely flexes the muscle of his thigh.

The way he can hear your breath hitch in your throat has a pleased rumble building in his chest. He can’t count the amount of times he’s caught you sneaking glances at his body, especially at his thighs. To know that he can have this effect on you, without so much as doing anything, is profound. Truly, there is no greater feeling than knowing that he can affect you as badly as you affect him.

Then, as if he hadn’t just been putting himself on display for you, he reaches out to grab a volume off of the shelf. An innocent smile pulls at his features as he turns to look at you, showcasing the manga in his hand excitedly, “found one!”

Your smile is genuine, if not somewhat embarrassed at the possibility that you’ve just been caught checking him out. “Great!”

Intently, you stare at the shelf in front of you once you turn your attention back to it. At least five minutes must pass by until you’re blinking, finally able to clear your thoughts for the moment as you focus on the task at hand. Ten minutes later, and you’ve pulled five other volumes off of the shelf that you’re missing, Jongho managing to grab three more for you, too.

As soon as you attempt to take the manga from his hands, he’s quirking a brow at you. “What are you doing?”

“I was going to hold my books,” you reply as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“What’s that?” He grins, teasingly. “You want me to hold all of your books for you? I’d love to.”

In the blink of an eye, he has your entire stack of books in his hands, a bright smile on his face. You have no idea how he managed to do that, given that your stack of books had been securely held in your own hands only moments before.

You blink at him before a huff is escaping your lips, muttering under your breath, “damn demons and their damn powers."

Jongho only chuckles in response, motioning for you to lead on with his head.

Shaking your own, you smile to yourself, leading him on the the next section you usually peruse when you enter a bookshop. Only, when you reach where you remember it being last, it’s suddenly not there anymore.

Your brow furrows slightly, looking around for an employee to help guide you in the right direction.

“You know, if there’s anything that you want to check out, just let me know,” you say casually as you walk back out into one of the main aisles, spotting a worker at one of the kiosks.

“Oh, believe me,” Jongho, again, has to suppress the growl that wants to escape him at the suggestive undertone of your words. Sure, you may not particularly mean them in that way, but he cannot help but to think of all of the ways in which he wants to check you out. Especially after last night. “I will.”

Soon, your voice manages to pull him out of his much too vivid thoughts about pushing you up against one of these shelves and claiming your lips with his own in a passionate kiss while no one’s around.

“Excuse me,” you begin, grabbing the attention of the worker at the kiosk. As soon as they turn around, your eyes are widening right alongside their own, “oh my god, Lainie?"

An excited squeal of your name is all you get in response as she wraps you in a hug. One of which you eagerly return.

“It’s so good to see you!” She says, pulling away to stare into your eyes as she holds you at arms length. “It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”

“I know, right?” You grin. “I’m well, just busy. You know, the usual. How are you? How’s the team? I miss them.”

“Oh, I get that,” she nods, dropping her hands as her eyes widen in understanding. “And I’ve been good, just working on some final projects for school. It’s been good here, same old, same old. Customers are good, some are bad.” She shrugs, then she’s smiling softly. “We all miss you, too. You should come visit more often!”

“I’ve been meaning to, I swear,” you reply, eyes briefly glancing over at Jongho who stands a little ways off to the side, making himself look busy by browsing through the books on display in front of him. “I promise I’ll try and stop by more often.”

“You better,” she threatens teasingly, wagging her finger at you. “We still have to hang out sometime, remember?”

“Of course!” You smile, nodding your head. “Is anyone else from the team in today that I know?”

“Ops was in earlier, but they all left already, unfortunately.” She tells you.

“Damn, I was hoping to say ‘hi’,” you sigh. “Next time, then.”

“Actually, unfortunately, I think Henry is still in,” she grimaces, and you both share a look. “So, be careful.”

“Who’s Henry?” Of course it would be now that Jongho decides it best to insert himself into the conversation.

“Oh, who’s this?” Lainie begins to look between Jongho and you with a quirked eyebrow, a knowing gleam in her eyes. “I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”

“He’s not-“

“Pleasure to meet you, Lainie,” Jongho smiles, turning on the charm as he extends a hand out for her to shake. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Of course Jongho would take every and any opportunity he can get to make people think he’s your significant other. It’s only been one of his greatest desires since he first saw you all those months ago. He’s not about to let you deny him that simple pleasure, especially not after the events of last night. Even if you turn to shoot him a pointed look from beside him as a result, nudging him slightly with your elbow subtly.

So far, he likes Lainie, hearing no malcontent in her thoughts towards you. Plus, you have talked about her a few times briefly in passing when you mention books you’ve been recommended in the past. In fact, he can tell just how much you adore each other as friends, even without hearing her thoughts projecting themselves shamelessly throughout the room. That’s why he didn’t bother interrupting until now. Both of your reactions, not to mention her own thoughts when she said this other male’s name, nearly had a scowl pulling at his lips.

“Oh, have you now?” She shoots you another knowing look as she shakes his hand, a giggle on her lips. It’s then that she sees your stack of books held in his opposite arm. “I see you’ve found yourself a gentleman.” At the topmost book she sees laying on the pile, of which he must have just added, she grins widely at you. “A gentleman who likes to read.”

“Lainie,” you shoot her a look, tight smile on your features as you can practically feel Jongho revelling in her praise.

It may be small, but knowing he’s gotten one of your friend’s approval means more to him than you’ll ever know. Which is exactly why when he did a brief examination of her thoughts, he grabbed her favourite book off of the shelf to seek that acceptance, especially if it meant her saying something in front of you. If others can see how good he is for you, then it’s only a matter of time before you do as well.

Little do you know of the three sets of ears on the same floor eavesdropping from around a few shelves, scowls resting on their faces as they can hear Jongho’s smug thoughts echoing Lainie’s compliments. It’s like he’s doing this on purpose to torture them, San and Wooyoung no longer focussing on the cookbooks in front of them as they share a brief look between each other. Even Seonghwa, who had been browsing through the romance section, nearly tears the novel in his hands to shreds.

The youngest is really pushing his luck right now, but at least there’s one thing that they can all agree on. None of them like this Henry guy, and they don’t even know what he looks like yet.

Only, before Jongho can bring up the point again, you’re cutting him off.

“Hey, where did we move fantasy to? It’s not where it usually is.” You say, drawing her attention back to you once more.

“Oh, follow me!” She immediately starts leading you to the opposite side of the store on the same level. “Yeah, we just moved sci-fi and fantasy the other week. Confused the shit out of our regulars.”

“You’re telling me,” you chuckle, noticing how Jongho remains silent for the moment.

“Anyways, here you go,” she motions down one of the last aisles of the floor. “I don’t want to keep you guys for too long, and I should probably get back to actually doing my job. If you need anything else, you know where to find me!”

“Thanks, Lainie,” you smile at her, waving after her as she walks off. “Will do.”

As soon as you see her disappear, you’re heading into the fantasy section. Only, you barely make it two steps in when Jongho is rounding on you, a fire lighting behind his eyes as he watches you carefully.

“Who’s Henry?” His voice is stern, but for some reason, you have a feeling it’s more out of concern for you than anything else.

You spare a brief glance in Jongho’s direction before you let out a sigh, “not a coworker I enjoy talking about.”

From the way he takes a small step towards you, you know that he’s begging to ask you why, but from the way he hesitates, you know that he’s doing his best to respect your boundaries and not pry. A fact which warms your heart for the moment, comforting you even if only slightly.

The last thing he wants to do is make you uncomfortable, for this topic already seems to be making you tense. A fact in which drives him insane knowing that there’s nothing he can do to alleviate your distress for the moment.

“I’ll tell you later,” you shoot him a tight smile. “For now, let’s just leave it at the fact that he makes me, and a lot of my other female presenting friends and coworkers, uncomfortable.”

“He’s one of those guys.” Jongho’s eyes widen in acknowledgement, the disgust clear in his tone.

“Thinks he can get away with anything just because he’s the boss’ son.” You spit, somewhat harshly, turning back to the shelves in front of you.

This time, Jongho doesn’t suppress the low growl that builds in his throat, eyes dark as he attempts to put a leash on his anger for the moment. Slowly, he puts the stack of your books in his hands down on one of the shelves beside him. It’s taking everything in him right now not to hunt this fucker down in the store right now and make him pay for everything he’s done to both you, and to others that you care about.

“Has he-“ Jongho practically snarls, lips curling over bared teeth at the mere thought of this bastard hurting you in any way. “Has he-“

You blink, sparing him a glance out of the corner of your eyes. “He’s tried, but so far, I’ve been lucky. He’s just really touchy with me. Makes comments, too.”

Jongho doesn’t even need to ask, he can tell just from your body language the types of advances this slug has made on you. He growls lowly once more, echoed by another, one aisle over.

Your eyebrows raise ever so slightly, “honestly, if I can’t tell you guys apart by snarls alone in a few month’s time, it’ll be a miracle.”

Within the next moment, Seonghwa is rounding the corner, a stack of five books held in his own hands.

“It’s a miracle we don’t tear this bastard apart for what he’s done to you.” He keeps his voice low, a scowl pulling at his features as he comes to stand beside Jongho.

Your eyes go wide, “okay, maybe don’t do that.”

“Believe me, it’s not the worst thing we’re thinking about doing to him.” Jongho briefly meets Seonghwa’s gaze, their eyes flashing beneath the artificial lights of the shop.

“I don’t think tearing him apart, or whatever you’re thinking of doing, in the middle of the store is going to be as effective as you think,” you smile tightly, a slight nervousness to your voice.

A moment of silence passes between you.

“Wooyoung’s complaining you won’t let him at least rip one of his arms off.” Seonghwa states casually, as if it’s the most normal conversation ever.

“Shhh,” your eyes go wide, “keep your voice down!”

Carefully, you look side to side, worried you might be overheard by other customers in the general area.

“Is that why you look like a deer in headlights right now?” Jongho chuckles. “Cause you’re worried about someone overhearing us?”

Your lips purse into a tight line, eyes darting between the two males standing across from you. “Perhaps.”

“Don’t worry, Darling,” Jongho smirks, “there’s no one around to overhear this conversation right now. Well, other than us, of course.”

You shake your head, turning back to the books in front of you and scanning over the titles briefly. “Damn demons and their damn powers.”

Jongho chuckles, recognizing your words from earlier.

“Have you all been eavesdropping this whole time?” You turn to shoot a pointed look at Seonghwa, knowing the other six can hear you right now as well.

“No!” Seonghwa is quick to respond, brow furrowing as he shakes his head.

Jongho nearly scoffs, hearing a resounding ’yes’ come from his other brothers scattered throughout the store.

Even you don’t look convinced as you hum to yourself, turning back to the shelf in front of you only to pull two novels off of it in the next second.

“Wooyoung still wants to know if the dismemberment is completely off of the table.” Seonghwa says casually, browsing the shelf to his left and no longer even looking at you.

You hesitate for a moment, lips parting as a small ‘uh’ escapes you.

That’s when Jongho’s eyes are widening ever so slightly in amusement as realization crosses his features. “You’ve thought about it before.”

She’s picturing it right now. Yunho’s voice in all of their heads nearly has a pleased groan escaping all of them. Though, none are as affected as Hongjoong, who suddenly has to support himself using one hand on the table that he had been perusing.

A brief moment of silence passes between the three of you as you place the two books in your hand beside the stack you already have going.

“Perhaps.” You shrug. “Though, it’s a little too bloody considering all of the books around here. It’d be a shame to damage such beautiful products with such a vile man’s blood.”

Where the hell is this coming from? San’s voice resounds, almost eagerly, in all of their heads.

Are you really complaining? Mingi quirks a brow as he browses a table full of mystery books, even though he knows none of them can see him right now.

Seems as if our love isn’t as innocent as we thought. Yeosang hums, a shiver of pleasure running down his spine as both he and Yunho lock eyes from across the store, smirks pulling onto their features.

“What would you have us do?” Seonghwa breathlessly replies as he places his own stack of books onto a shelf to his left. His gaze is desperate, pleading with you to see how ready and willing he is - how eager they all are - to serve you. Anything and everything you may want them to do right now, they would. No questions asked.

“Woah,” you raise a hand as if to say ‘slow down’, “I may have thought about it, but it doesn’t mean I actually want something bad to happen. I still have my own morals to consider-“

Suddenly, the sound of your name being called out from the opposite end of the aisle is drawing your attention. You freeze immediately, heart thundering in your chest as you turn around stiffly.

He snuck up on you. Probably came from one of the backrooms nearby.

“Henry,” you force a smile to your face as the two males behind you stiffen. “Hey.”

Immediately, you take a step backwards as said male approaches you with an overtly friendly smile on his face. Both Seonghwa and Jongho step forward, flanking you on either side as they stare down the sleazy male approaching you with open arms.

“What? No hug for an old friend?” He pouts as he stands directly across from you, a little too close for comfort.

Jongho’s free arm is around your lower back in a second, pulling you into him protectively. Likewise, the eldest takes another step in closer to you, his one arm slightly reaching out in front of you for added protection. Snarls nearly tug at both Jongho’s and Seonghwa’s lips as they feel Henry give them each a once over. His thoughts aren’t faring much better, either, only causing each demon’s anger to grow the longer you are kept in this situation.

“We were never friends.” You blink at him, and you can see how taken aback he is by your words. Hell, if it weren’t for both males standing protectively around you, you don’t think you would have had the courage to say such a thing to the man across from you.

“Oh, come on,” Henry huffs, a roll to his eyes. “Don’t be like that, sweetheart.”

Both males beside you can feel how physically repulsed you are when he says this, growls threatening to fall from their lips as they glare at the slug across from them. They want nothing more than to tear into this bastard’s flesh, ripping him limb from limb for even thinking he ever stood a chance with you. The fact that Henry has deluded himself into believing his advances were reciprocated disgusts them.

To say that they’re all furious would be a severe understatement.

Fuck it. Your voice resounding through their heads - all eight of them - as you drop your void for the moment, has each one of their hearts skipping a beat in their chests. If he so much as tries anything… they hang on to your every word with bated breath. Break his hands.

If Wooyoung could roar in happiness, he would do so this very instant. Instead, he begins to calmly make his way over to the section that you’re in, San following close behind with that same look of deadly calm on his own features. However, it’s Hongjoong that cannot suppress the maniacal grin that stretches across his lips as he focusses almost too intently on the summary of the book held in his hand.

“Don’t call me that.” Your tone is harsh, all forced sense of social etiquette disappearing from your features immediately.

“You never had an issue with it before,” he retorts with a huff. “Sweetheart.”

The disgust is clear on your features, fury bubbling beneath your skin and rolling through you like waves. The scowl that pulls at your features is dark enough to mirror both Seonghwa’s and Jongho’s own, leaning further into the younger male for support as his grip tightens around your waist.

“What’s with that sour look on your face?” Henry scoffs, quirking a brow. “I thought I told you that you’d be prettier if you smiled more.”

“Watch your fucking tongue, mortal.”

It takes Seonghwa all the strength he has in him not to lunge at the man standing directly across from him in that very moment. Nobody talks to his Queen like that and gets away with it. A sentiment that he knows is shared by all of his brothers, especially when he sees both San and Wooyoung round the opposite corner of the aisle, black eyes on full display. Each male’s teeth are bared in a growl, hands visibly shaking as they all attempt to put a leash on their anger for your sake.

The last thing that any of them want to do is scare you away. Especially not after all the progress they’ve been making with you in the past few weeks alone. Besides, you’ve essentially asked them all to control themselves for the moment, and that’s exactly what they’re going to do. For you.

Downstairs, the four remaining demons immediately head towards the escalators, making their way upstairs as calmly as they can. Though, internally, there are storms raging within each one of them.

Jongho can feel you beginning to tremble from anger in his arms, and as soon as you place a hand onto Seonghwa’s shoulder, he can feel it, too. Though, he doesn’t know if it’s more for you or for him at this point, but it helps to calm him, even if only the slightest bit.

You take a deep breath, closing your eyes only momentarily to steady your nerves. Then, your entire body goes still as you exhale slowly through your nose.

Your eyes snap open, a harsh glare none of them have ever seen your wear gracing your features. “You’re not even worth my time."

It happens instantaneously. As soon as you go to turn around, Henry is reaching out to stop you. Only, a resounding crunch echoes through your ears as you shift to see Seonghwa harshly crushing Henry’s wrist in his hand, the human male’s fingers twitching as his face pales in horror.

Tears line Henry’s vision as his mouth falls open in a silent scream, as if his voice has suddenly been stolen away from him. Which it has.

“If you ever lay a single finger on My Divine again,” Seonghwa’s voice is low, ominous like the threat of an approaching storm as his eyes flash black, “I’ll destroy you.”

Your breath catches in your throat, blinking a few times in shock at the sudden turn of events. Sure, you may have given them permission to do so, but you didn’t actually think anything would happen. Then again, you shouldn’t really be surprised at this point. They have stated time and time again that they would do anything for you.

Still, you do not want to admit to yourself the way your heart simply fluttered at the fact that he not only listened to you, but defended you without a second thought. You also don’t want to admit how insanely attractive you just found that to be. Maybe having them protect you isn’t such a bad thing, after all.

The longer Seonghwa stands crushing Henry’s wrist in his hand, the more tears spring to Henry’s eyes. His mouth parts like a fish out of water, words stolen from him like he’s under some type of spell. That’s when you realize, he probably is.

Then, an insurmountable amount of rage burns behind Henry’s eyes, going to take a swing at Seonghwa with his free arm. Only, before he can so much as pull his fist back, two resounding cracks echo through the space before you.

Another silent scream tears from Henry’s throat as he is forced to his knees. Both Wooyoung and San now each hold one of his arms behind his back, his shoulders clearly broken and dislocated.

You don’t even need to turn to look at Jongho to know that his eyes are as black as each of his brother’s right now, his arm still securely wrapped around your waist.

“You’re fucking lucky we don’t kill you right now, you slug,” Wooyoung hisses into Henry’s ear, pulling harshly at his arm and causing a few more pops to be heard.

There’s something about the way you see pure, unaltered fear flash in Henry’s eyes that excites you in this moment. Finally, he is feeling an ounce of what you, and his other victims much unluckier than you, have felt whenever he’s in the same vicinity.

It is then that the other four round the corner behind you, stepping up to assess the situation. Smirks already adorn each of their features, eyes flashing black as they stare down at the man on his knees before them. Ideas swirl within their minds already about how they’re each going to torture him after this, each more creative than the last.

Only, your void dropping once more to let them all in to your thoughts have them pausing briefly in their movements.

Uh, won’t someone notice what’s going on? Your voice is full of worry, eyes flitting to the opposite end of the row of shelves where one of the openings reside.

Yeosang steps up beside you, a reassuring smile on his features as he shakes his head ‘no’.

What do you mean, ‘no’? Your brow furrows, looking between all of them that you can see for the moment as you are still held firm in Jongho’s grip.

We can alter people’s consciousness to avoid certain places for a while if we want. Mingi explains to you, stepping up beside Yeosang to your left.

What about the cameras? You look between them, worry clear on your features now.

Already taken care of. San draws your attention to him as the corner of his lips tug upwards in a smirk.

What? How? You head tilts ever so slightly in curiosity.

It’s almost second nature for us to mess with the frequencies nowadays. Mingi shrugs casually, a soft grin on his lips as he sees your eyes widen in wonder.

A moment of silence settles over you all as you let their words sink in. Then, an idea is springing into your mind.

Question. You blink, and they all turn to look at you with much softer gazes as they feel that familiar curiosity swirling within you once more after going so long without it. Can you ‘alter people’s consciousness’ full stop?

There’s not a hint of fear in your own mind as you ask. A fact which warms their hearts more than you’ll ever know. Then again, perhaps you’re not thinking about whether they have ever done it to you yet, or not. Not that they ever would.

Consciousness, emotions, memories, reality: you name it. Yunho tells you, and they watch as you nod along subtly to his words before your eyes are going wide. The mind is a fickle thing.

Geez, you let out a huff through your nose, is there anything you guys can’t do?

Well, I can’t cook. Mingi supplies, an almost sheepish shrug to his shoulder.

The statement catches you so off guard that you let out a small snort of laughter.

Sorry, sorry, you raise a hand to wave it slightly in front of you in an apologetic motion. I just wasn’t expecting that given the situation right now.

Mingi shares a grin with you, happy to know that he could at least make you laugh even during such a tense moment as this one.

You are taking this surprisingly well. Hongjoong comments, stepping around the others to stand beside Seonghwa who leans against one of the shelves with his arms crossed in front of his chest, still glaring at Henry before him.

Believe me, I’m just as surprised as you are right now. You reply, honestly. Maybe it’s because I feel safe when I’m with you guys. You shrug casually, unaware of how much your meaningful words affect them in this very moment in time. Though, it’s more than likely because I feel no remorse for this fucker. Like, at all.

At that, you all turn to look at the man practically pleading with you using just his eyes. Disgust washes over you, and all eight men are privy to your thoughts of gouging Henry’s eyes out just to make him stop staring at you like that.

Little do you know of the way that your thoughts affect each and every single one of them. Though, none are as affected as Hongjoong, Wooyoung, and Seonghwa are at the moment, pleased rumbles building in their chests as they allow your thoughts to echo shamelessly through their minds. Even San cannot help but to tighten his grip subconsciously around Henry’s arm in response, a pleasant shiver running down his spine.

Anyways, your voice draws their attention back to you once more, I know this is asking a lot, but killing him would be too easy. The reason I wanted to know that particular detail of your powers - which, I’ll admit, is terrifyingly cool, by the way - (they all smile at that, a smugness washing over them at the fact that they could impress you like this right now), is because I have an idea.

Anything. Yeosang repeats his word from earlier that day, all of their eyes shining as they wait with bated breath for your next words.

What would you have us do? San repeats Seonghwa’s words from only minutes earlier, meeting your gaze from across the way as eagerness shines in his dark irises. Anticipation claws at his chest, a feeling of which he knows is shared by all of his brothers right now.

Slowly, you take a step forward and out of Jongho’s arms in order to crouch down in front of Henry who looks at you with pleading eyes. The silence stretching on around him must be eating him alive right now, the unknown terror of what’s going to happen to him next clear in his eyes.

Your own gaze is blank as you tilt your head at him, almost mockingly, blinking once as you rest your elbows on your bent knees. Then, you smile. A malicious quirk of your lips upwards as you stare the man before you down.

“You’re never going to know peace again.” Your words are directed right at Henry, who whimpers as both San and Wooyoung tug at his broken arms once more to keep him from looking away. “You will constantly live in fear of something creeping in the shadows, hiding around every corner and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike you down every chance it gets. You will constantly have to watch your back, too afraid of the dark and what solitude can bring. You will know the terror every single one of us feels when walking alone at night, always feeling like someone is following you, ready and willing to attack at a moment’s notice.”

A tear trails down his cheek, eyes pleading as his fingers begin to twitch on the hand with his crushed wrist. You catch the movement.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” You hum, mocking sympathy as your lips tug downwards in a fake pout. That is, until you’re smirking once more. “Every time you so much as think of touching another person, you will be reminded of exactly how it felt for both of your shoulders to be broken. You will remember how it felt to feel helpless and terrified of what is coming next, scared for your pathetic excuse of a life. Every time you so much as reach for someone else, you will experience the pain of your wrist shattering beneath your skin, and be reminded that you do not own anyone.”

He begins thrashing in the two male’s grips, drawing more whimpers from his throat as tears flow freely from his eyes. You remain passive, observing him carefully.

He’s begging for mercy, isn’t he? You tilt your head once more to the side, eyes blank as you stare at him.

Embarrassingly so. Hongjoong hums, watching the scene before him with an unbelievably fond gaze as he leans back onto the shelf behind him.

Good. You let out a small puff of air through your nose in amusement.

“You will beg for death until the end, but find no comfort in it. Always, you will cling onto life, not quite knowing how, or why a useless waste of space like you has lasted for this long.” You smile, but it is anything but comforting as shadows fall over your features. “And if I ever see you lay your hands on another person again, if I so much as catch whiff of your disgusting scent, I will not be so kind.”

Another whimper escapes his throat as he meets your piercing gaze.

“Pathetic excuse of a human.” You spit. “You make me sick.”

Growls of approval echo all around you, causing your heart to race in your chest for a reason you don’t quite want to acknowledge just yet.

“Oh, and if you so much as try to tell anyone about anything that has transpired here today, or about your little issues, your voice will fail you as you suddenly cannot find the words to speak.” You add, that malicious smile still tugging at your lips. “I know that will be so difficult for you, since you never seem to know when to shut up, but you will. Whether you want to or not.”

You stand back to your full height, looking down at the man who has brought a countless amount of grief and terror to you, your friends and coworkers, and probably a numerous amount of others as well.

You scowl, words like venom on your tongue. “The shadows are no longer your friends.”

Your final words resonate through the air as you turn your back to him. Bile rises in your throat as you think over everything that has just transpired in the past twenty minutes alone.

Your one hand comes up to cover the lower half of your face as your eyes close. Did you really just do that? Not only that, but why did you enjoy it so much?

Slowly, you lower your one hand back to your side, eyes flashing open once more. I’m done here.

You don’t even bother to meet any of their gazes as you begin to walk past them. The sound of your footsteps echo alongside Henry’s muffled screams as they implement your wishes in his mind. It takes them no more than three seconds to do so, allowing the now unconscious male to slump onto the ground in a pathetic pool of his own tears.

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