Why isn’t anything ever easy?
Shael slammed the small ceramic bottle of sake down on the table, the clatter undoubtedly drawing the attention of the patrons around her. She didn’t care. The edge of her vision was blurred and the room rocked slightly whenever she turned her head quickly, as if she was still on the seas. Let ‘em stare, she thought. I couldn’t give half a shite.
It had taken five bottles of sake to get her roaring drunk. A part of her wasn’t sure why she was even still hanging around the hostelry. After all, even if the the messenger wasn’t caught, as soon as the herbalist made her way back to port, she would surely report her to the Sekiseigumi.
What would be the charge? Kidnapping? She didn’t take anyone at gunpoint. Sure, she did lure the Xaela out with a little lie, but there was no threat of violence. What could Nabi really accuse her of anyway?
Well… there was that one thing. Shael did try and lift whatever was in Nabi’s bag at the Watcher’s Eye Black Market. But she gave that right back! (Even if doing so was under the coercion of the large sword wielding bodyguard that was with the Xaela, could they really call that thievery? Besides, who would even claim jurisdiction in such a place?)
Shael folded her arms on the table and laid her head upon it. As she slid lower against the table, her arm knocked down an empty sake bottle, sending it rolling against the other four stacked to the side; it clattered against two, finally stopping with a loud clink. She just wanted to sleep and forget. It had been nearly a sennight since she was able to sleep, since she ran out of those precious herbs.
Nothing else had worked. She tried to tell Nabi that. She had tried so many other drugs, which was one of the reasons she went to the black market. She wanted something, anything, that would bring her dreamless sleep. Alcohol had long lost its potency, no matter the type; it just dulled her senses, and she had to indulge in increasing doses to keep herself from jumping out of her skin every day. Her eyes burned, her nostrils felt bone dry, and her tongue felt like it was coated with sand. Her body felt heavy, like iron flowed in her veins rather than blood.
“You are pushing your body to the limit with all these drugs! You must stop!†The Xaela’s woman’s plea buzzed through her head like an annoying gnat.
As if Shael didn’t know. She had access to all the drugs because she had smuggled them before. She of all people knew their effects, especially the bad ones. That was why it was always her policy to never partake in what she peddled.
Or at least… that used to be her policy.
Shooey would have never approved. He would have never allowed it.
But Shooey was no longer here.
“Two more bottles!†Shael yelled toward the bar. “I said keep ‘em coming, didn’t I?!â€
It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. So why not wallow in everything she could get her hands on until inevitability caught up to her?
“Make that three bottles!â€
Shael slammed the small ceramic bottle of sake down on the table, the clatter undoubtedly drawing the attention of the patrons around her. She didn’t care. The edge of her vision was blurred and the room rocked slightly whenever she turned her head quickly, as if she was still on the seas. Let ‘em stare, she thought. I couldn’t give half a shite.
It had taken five bottles of sake to get her roaring drunk. A part of her wasn’t sure why she was even still hanging around the hostelry. After all, even if the the messenger wasn’t caught, as soon as the herbalist made her way back to port, she would surely report her to the Sekiseigumi.
What would be the charge? Kidnapping? She didn’t take anyone at gunpoint. Sure, she did lure the Xaela out with a little lie, but there was no threat of violence. What could Nabi really accuse her of anyway?
Well… there was that one thing. Shael did try and lift whatever was in Nabi’s bag at the Watcher’s Eye Black Market. But she gave that right back! (Even if doing so was under the coercion of the large sword wielding bodyguard that was with the Xaela, could they really call that thievery? Besides, who would even claim jurisdiction in such a place?)
Shael folded her arms on the table and laid her head upon it. As she slid lower against the table, her arm knocked down an empty sake bottle, sending it rolling against the other four stacked to the side; it clattered against two, finally stopping with a loud clink. She just wanted to sleep and forget. It had been nearly a sennight since she was able to sleep, since she ran out of those precious herbs.
Nothing else had worked. She tried to tell Nabi that. She had tried so many other drugs, which was one of the reasons she went to the black market. She wanted something, anything, that would bring her dreamless sleep. Alcohol had long lost its potency, no matter the type; it just dulled her senses, and she had to indulge in increasing doses to keep herself from jumping out of her skin every day. Her eyes burned, her nostrils felt bone dry, and her tongue felt like it was coated with sand. Her body felt heavy, like iron flowed in her veins rather than blood.
“You are pushing your body to the limit with all these drugs! You must stop!†The Xaela’s woman’s plea buzzed through her head like an annoying gnat.
As if Shael didn’t know. She had access to all the drugs because she had smuggled them before. She of all people knew their effects, especially the bad ones. That was why it was always her policy to never partake in what she peddled.
Or at least… that used to be her policy.
Shooey would have never approved. He would have never allowed it.
But Shooey was no longer here.
“Two more bottles!†Shael yelled toward the bar. “I said keep ‘em coming, didn’t I?!â€
It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. So why not wallow in everything she could get her hands on until inevitability caught up to her?
“Make that three bottles!â€
