They return to town to report.

Domic and Cerni walk in the hallway towards Captain Halle’s solar. It was a little after noon, after they had spent the rest of the morning trudging back to Pael. She had asked him a few more questions about spirits, but most were ones he didn't know the answers to. They come to Halle’s closed door. Domic knocks twice and enters upon hearing a gruff affirmation. “Ah, Domic, it’s good to see you, please sit down,” Halle says from his seat behind his paper covered desk. Domic takes the uncomfortable chair, squinting as the light from the window shines rather annoyingly straight into his eyes. “And, uh, Cerni? Will you be joining us?”

“Hello Father,” she says, casually walking in and beaming. She sits on the bench in the corner.

“Yes, it’s wasn’t that hard to guess where you were sneaking off to the other morning.”

“Who told you? One of the servants? Didn’t I bribe them enough?”

“No, you did not,” he smiles.

“Next time.”

“Haha,” Halle chuckles. “Well then, what did you two find?” Domic and Cerni relay their adventure – their journey to the caverns, encounters with the orcs and the spirit, and their return - to Halle, who listens intently and nods along gravely. “And you saw at least two dozen orcs there?” he asks, as they finish.

“Yes, at least that many,” Domic says.

“Hmm, indeed. Well, Torjo and I believe that this group is a scouting party of a larger group or clan. This group must have a map to the larger group’s location, and should be destroyed regardless, before they create any more trouble. So, I’m going to have Torjo prepare a group of men, and then first thing tomorrow, I want you two to guide them to the caverns to flush out the orcs and see what you can find from a thorough search inside.”

“Of course, sir,” Domic and Cerni say in unison.

“Good. Domic, you are dismissed and free to go home. We’ll be mustering in the courtyard at seven tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, Captain,” he says as he turns to leave. 'Armory' Cerni mouths to him, as he enters into the hallway, feeling Halle’s eyes boring into his back.

...

"Why am I here?" Domic thinks, as he sits on a bench on the edge of a corner in the armory. "What does Cerni want?" He's been waiting alone for at least thirty minutes, amongst the weapons and the armor, tracing patterns in the pine flooring with his eyes. The door opens and shuts, and he looks up to find Cerni staring down at him.

"Hello, Domic," she says.

"Yes, hello Cerni. What do you want?" he says. Her pale pink lips curl up into a smirk. "What's she doing?" he thinks, as she says nothing, but walks over to a shelf of a certain height, filled with burgonet helmets. "Uh Cerni?"

She looks at him from behind the shelf, only her head and neck visible. "How much of me did you see?" she asks, as she unclasps her speckled cloak and drops it aside.

"What?"

"How much of my naked body did you see, when I was scrambling away from that rabbit-thing," she says, as she pulls her guard tunic over and off.

"Oh great gods," he thinks. "Uh, none, none at all," he stammers, as his blushes betray him.

"You're sure? You're not thinking of me right now? How you want to see me again?" she coos, her big brown eyes boring into his.

"No," he says, closing his eyes and thinking of everything he had seen - how her breasts barely splayed to the side, the cute mole on the right one, the suckable nipples atop them, her tight and toned stomach, the golden triangle between her legs. He starts to harden.

"Really? Maybe I misjudged you Domic. Maybe you're not a rogue. I'd have to check if you're lying though," she sighs.

"How would you check?" he says. "She wouldn't dare," he thinks, opening his eyes to look at her. She moves a wayward strand of blonde hair from in front of her cheek to behind her ear.

"If you're erect, then I'd know. Can I check if you're hard, Domic?" she grins.

"Sure, come over here," he mumbles, already hard as iron, his cock straining against the front of his breeches. She slowly walks over - with one hand she clutches her tunic to her throat, obscuring the majority of her upper body, leaving only her bare shoulders and the curves of her hips visible. "That's still good enough," he thinks. She stops a step away from him, having kept eye contact the entire time. She reaches out and grasps his throbbing cock with her free hand.

"Oh!" she says with mock surprise. "I knew you were a rogue, but a liar too, Domic? Tsk," she says as she slowly strokes him through his breeches.

"Should I come clean?"

"Mmhm."

"I'm sorry, Cerni, but I saw everything, all of your beautiful body. And I wa-" the armory door handle turns. Cerni spins around the corner, hiding, while Domic falls to the bench, crossing his legs to hide his erection between them. An old cleaning lady slowly trundles in, carrying a bucket. He nods an acknowledgement to her.

"You alright dearie? Your face is all red," she says.

"Uh, yes, just finished running here - taking a break," he says, as the woman sets down the bucket and trundles back out the door. He spins around to find Cerni sitting on the floor, clutching the tunic to herself with both hands now, staring sadly ahead. "Cerni?"

"Don't look at me Domic," she sniffles.

"Wha? I?" he mumbles as he turns away again.

"I'm sorry, I was just having...I shouldn't have...what if it that was a guard? What if it was my Father? I don't think. I never do."

"Cerni, it's alright," he lies to himself and her. "Damn damn damn! What was I fucking thinking, doing that with her?" he thinks. "It was uh, was just a fun little dream, right?"

"Right - and soon forgotten?" she says pensively.

"Yes," he says, as he gets up and eagerly leaves the armory.