Prompt by Get Prompted:

Your old adventuring party left you in the ancient dwarves' mines to die. Your now-wife and her clan rescued you. After some years, you find a retired member of your old party in the tavern. 

And a thank you to Pug for the names used here!

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The bartender has just given me my mead when I hear her voice. 

"One beer and a stew, Joe!" The voice is coming from my right, and when I sneakily look into that direction, I see that the previously empty seat is about to be filled. So much for a relaxed evening. I turn my head into the opposite direction; maybe I can get out of this without any interactions. She may not recognise my me after all these years. 

Unfortunately, she seems to be in one of her talkative moods. No change there then. "So, how are you on this fine evening?" She sounds happy, giddy even, as if the latest heist was even more of a success than expected. I can't help but wonder whether she sounded the same after the heist that drove us apart.

I try to ignore her, but her presence is turned on me. I huff in answer, hoping she won't think it familiar. She doesn't seem to be paying attention, only striking up a conversation so she has someone to brag to. Something about a bounty with a plentiful reward, which I remember to be code for stealing gems, jewellery, and other valuable items from someone in a position of importance. 

As she finishes her story, she takes a swig from the beer that the bartender has brought her halfway through. With a satisfied sigh, she slams the mug back on the counter. My head has not turned towards her once as she has been talking, not have I given any audible indication of my investment in this interaction, but she still seems to think our conversation is ongoing. Out of the corner of my eyes I see her turn fully towards me, paying attention to me for the first time since she sat down. I hear a gasp and close my eyes. May the Gorses be damned.

"Igor? Igor Mugsenthroat? Is that really you?"

I open my eyes, put on a smirk, and turn towards her. "Emilee Twoply. Don't think I've ever seen you look shocked. Didn't think you'd see me again, ey?"

"What... But... How?"

I grab my mead and take a slow sip, just to make her wait. I didn't think I'd ever see her again, not ever sure that was something I'd wished for, but now that I have the opportunity, I'll use it to the fullest. "Did you think those Dwarves would kill me after finding me in their mines?" I shrug, "As I said during the planning stages of that heist, you really don't know those people as well as you think you do."

"But those were dwarven mines. They're mercilessly protective over those. Acting first, asking questions later, if at all."

"The Southern Dwarves, maybe, yes. The Dwarves in the East less so. Of course they don't take nicely towards those who steal from them, but they are familiar with extenuating circumstances."

"Extenuating circumstances." She pulls a face as if she tastes something disgusting. "And you were one of those? Mind I remind you that you were fully aboard? If I remember correctly, you were the one who suggested something of the likes."

I shrug. "I was barely fifteen and didn't know any better."

"And now you do?" 

"Now I know not to believe the every word of a pretty woman batting her eyelashes and promising a better world if only we have the means to make it be. How is that coming along, by the way? By the sounds of it, you're still a long way off target."

She scoffs. "So then what? They just let you go?"

"Of course not. I paid my debt by allowing myself to get educated by them. Did you know that, even if they take circumstances into account, they still hold mean grudges?"

The stew on the counter is all but forgotten.

"It took a while, but I earned their trust. And then I met someone. Hair like fire, eyes like ice, but with a personality that couldn't be more even-tempered. Unless we're talking injustice. Like leaving a child behind to get out with stolen treasure."

"You told on us!? After everything we did for you! We took you in and raised you as our own!" Anger burns like a raging fire in her eyes. I used to be so afraid of this, afraid of this rage being turned on me. But I have grown, while she has not. She is still stuck in the same, hate-filled mindset, while I have found healing, love, and family. Her fire no longer threatens to burn me, and I smile.

"What you did for me is show me how anger can colour your world in darkness. And I thank you for that lesson. You'd be wise to heed it yourself as well."

"I will take no wisdom  from you, traitor."

"Suit yourself. Just remember what I told you about those Dwarves this time."

She gets up with a growl and briskly walks to the door. As she leaves, I vaguely see a wisp of a familiar shade of red. I smile again, turn towards the bar, and finish my mead in one go. Then I get up and walk out as well. A debt that has been open for a couple dozen years is about to be settled. This may not have been the relaxed evening I had come here for, but it will be a very satisfying one.

Written in January 2024