There at last, relief and assurance flooded back into her with every heart beat. The moment their lips parted, Leysa forgot how to breath, until her lungs ached to expand with breath it truly needed.

"Forgive me," she whispered, her eyes fluttering closed a moment as she continued, "I believe the pressures of my family to marry have bled into my affections and love for you."

Her lips pursed, a furrow appearing between her brows.

"I wish I could be strong enough to walk away from this life." She laughed, although it was coated in sadness at the very idea. "I just... cannot bear to think of leaving my siblings. Of watching them grow and go about their lives." The entire Caretarius family were close, always spending time together in their homes. Even the Count seldom stayed away for long. "Otherwise I would go where you go."

They spoke of it once before, a life they would live. Leysa spoke of seeing the sea, of going into an airship and seeing the rest of Ilica. Perhaps even cross over to Suldaza and see the desert with her own eyes. She would mend and embroider to sell, earn coin that way, but they both agreed they would live on a farm in a small village. Leysa wanted ducks, and chickens, and too many cats that roamed their home and the farm.

"Please. Show me what you wanted to surprise me with tonight." The smile was weak, but insistent all the same.

Make me forget the responsibilities I have to face one day.
 
There was a change in his eyes as she spoke of woulds and coulds. It was cold water on whatever heat that kiss had brought him, a reminder that this secrecy, the fleeting nature of their relationship, was not something that would ever truly go away. Leysa's status was not a job or title, but an eternal contract written into her blood. She would always be important, and he would always be a world apart from her.

Even still, he couldn't stop flying back to her, perching outside her window seeking the crumbs of affection and companionship she could offer, between meetings meant to steal even that away from him.

Always had been a glutton for punishment, hadn't he?

"I don't expect you to follow me." Carradine muttered as he took a step back, looking down at her hands as they rested in his. "I certainly don't want you to go the places I do." Even were she so bold as to flee from her shackles, he'd only be dragging her to a world dark and depraved, where death was money and money was blood. It wasn't a place meant for her, but it was one he would never escape from. "You have your path, and so have I. That I can deviate you even briefly is a blessing I don't deserve."

But he'd take it, nonetheless. Just as he took her hand now firmly in his own and turned to lead her back into the crowd. Forget her responsibilities, they would, but before they ran from the Crown, they had to approach it; Carradine's lead took them closer to the city's heart, where those of similar cloth to her tended to reside. Where he'd be far less welcomed, and where the sight of their hands entwined would start quite a few rumblings.

He'd be careful.

"I've never shown you how I get around at night without being seen by the night watch, have I? How I make it to your window so easily? I think it's time I expose myself, just a bit." He turns, offering a cheeky smirk. "In only the most chaste of ways, unless you request otherwise."

@Leysa
 
Instantly, the ability to see a glimpse of Carradine's life pulled her focus. Leysa delighted; a smile spreading across her face as her eyes brightened at the prospect of seeing the world how he did.

"My blackbird," she laughed softly, "I would love nothing more to see things from your perspective."

He rarely spoke of anything in his profession, but told her enough that it frightened her a little to think of him capable of things beyond her mind's imaginings. Of course, Leysa had gone to seek out her own answers, and the whispers and talk she heard around the Blackbird were...

"And here I thought you were simply flying up to my balcony on ebony wings."

She forced a smile, her hand leaving his and a distance now between them when they turned towards the district where many noble families resided. They had an act to uphold, that of body guard and lady important enough to require one whenever she was outside of her family's home.

Leysa always spoke with her guards. She was the type to make connections, to make others feel appreciated and comfortable, regardless of the difference in their social standings. Speaking to Carradine like this would not be out of the ordinary for her.
 
Unfortunately, even the illusion of being a noblewoman’s bodyguard wouldn’t suffice here. Where Carradine meant to take her, being seen was out of the question, and there’d be no excuse she could give if they were. As her hand slipped free of his, his touch lingered briefly at the small of her back, his head bowing close to murmur in her ear.

“Take your time. Keep up appearances. Follow my lead.”

And then he was gone, vanished into the crowd as though he’d never been there.

The distance the streets forced between them never mattered; Carradine’s guidance was as subtle and unmistakable as a whisper in the dark. Leysa knew his ways better than any soul alive. Amid the press of perfumed nobles and chattering sycophants, she could pick out the signs laid for her eyes alone: a strip of black cloth fluttering from a shutter, a familiar tune carried down a narrow alley, a sudden flock of birds bursting skyward behind a tenement.

Step by step, the trail led onwards until it led to the looming silhouette of the clocktower. Once the city’s crown jewel, it now stood forgotten, overshadowed by newer palaces and manors, its grandeur reduced to a relic brooding over the cathedral’s quadrangle. Officially preserved, technically forbidden, but long neglected by clergy and citizen alike.

By the time she would reach its shadow, the grounds lay hushed and empty. That same hand that had left her back in the crowd returned now, slipping around her waist, drawing her into Carradine’s embrace. His lips brushed the back of her neck, warm against the cool evening air.

“Clever girl,” he murmured. “I knew you’d find me here.”

There was no lingering in the open. He steered her forward, toward the chained entrance of the tower. A sign warned in bold script against trespassers, its authority already brittle with age. Carradine only chuckled as he bent to the lock, his movements practiced, effortless.

“I don’t think that warning applies to you, does it?”

@Leysa
 
To be left alone in a crowd was the briefest blade of panic that pierced through her chest. Leysa experienced a momentary loneliness, but her eyes followed him moving. Her blackbird had a way of hiding his presence when he wanted, and despite the fact he had been sure to teach her where to look to find someone, Carradine left her a great many of breadcrumbs to follow.

And so she moved on, collecting the telltale signs of the direction he had to too. Each sign she saw had filled Leysa with a sense of satisfaction, a cleverness that she possessed in order to find her love.

When he stepped out to claim her, the prize of a kiss to her beck, Leysa turned towards him. She looked to him with quiet admiration and soft affection. "No, I do not suppose it does."

She followed him, going where he lead her in order to show her just how he could always manage to find his way to her window without being discovered. Even Leysa could not sense his presence outside her window, and often times his gentle knocks on the window panes gave her fright. She could recall one such occasion that she spilled her tea on her skirts or that time she stuck a needle through her finger at the sound of his knocking at her window.

That old wound seemed to throb, and Leysa tightened her hand into a fist.

"I must admit, I am intrigued how the clock tower comes into play with the route you take, my blackbird." She whispered, unsure if the tower was manned or not.
 
Carradine held no such uncertainties.

The innards of the clocktower had long since surrendered to time’s slow decay. Whatever upkeep the Church once promised had been quietly abandoned. The shaft that rose above them was a hollow throat of damp stone and rot, where the evening light, though plentiful through the upper windows, seemed too weary to reach the ground. Dust hung in the air like thin fog, and the smell, mildew, rust, and age, clung to every breath.

He didn’t answer Leysa’s teasing question. To reveal his method now would spoil the theater of it, and Carradine was nothing if not theatrical. Instead, he only smiled, a glimmering secret tucked behind his lips, and offered her his hand. Together, they stepped onto the creaking spiral of wooden stairs that wound around the interior wall, each groan beneath their feet another verse in the tower’s long lament.

“From what I’ve gleaned,” he began as they ascended, brushing aside a low-hanging strand of cobweb, “the clergy tasked with maintaining this relic quickly learned they were not craftsmen. And…” he glanced over his shoulder, the smirk almost boyish, “the noble family who owns it refused to pay for proper repairs. I imagine the church would rather let the heavens fall than admit poverty before their flock.”

The higher they climbed, the less oppressive the air became. The faintest draft stirred from somewhere above, carrying with it the cool breath of the open sky. The shadows softened, touched by shafts of gold that broke through the grime-caked windows. By the time they reached the landing just beneath the clock’s massive heart, the gloom had turned almost gentle.

The landing had been transformed into a home of sorts, a secret aerie built among gears and forgotten prayers. Against one wall, a small table lay strewn with Carradine’s unmistakable mess: half-drunk bottles, scattered sketches, a deck of worn cards, and the glint of something jeweled. A rug, far too fine for such a place, spread over the rough planks, and a cot sat beneath the window, its sheets suspiciously well-kept. Shelves bowed under the weight of trinkets and curiosities, all of them shining faintly in the muted light, none of them useful.

“Of course,” Carradine went on, spreading his arms as if presenting a grand estate, “the Church could never admit to such neglect. So they closed the tower to the public, claimed it was unsafe. Safer for their reputation, I think, than for the souls who built it.”

He crossed the room with an easy familiarity, dropped onto the cot, and sighed like a man who had just come home. The wood creaked beneath him, dust motes danced in lazy halos around the window, and his grin softened as his gaze found hers.

“Oh, forgive me, my love,” he said, gesturing invitingly to the spot beside him. “Please. Make yourself comfortable. What’s mine”,his smile deepened, sly and sincere all at once, “is yours.”

@Leysa
 
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Her eyes could not leave the details of him alone. Leysa turned around, kept an eye on everything as he spoke. She was seeing a side of him not many seem to have witnessed, but it felt more... special to be standing here in his made quarters.

"You live here?" Her voice was breathless, still taking it all in. This all belonged to him! And the scent... truly matched his whenever she drew close.

Leysa smiled, finally looking at him lounging on his bed. "This clock tower is still a ways from my home." She drew closer, one dawdling step before the other. "The Church does not keep secret tunnels? Perhaps a shroudspell to render you invisible to travel from here to my window?"

She kneeled before the bed, turned to sit on the comfort of his rug and leaned back. Her shoulder grazed against his leg. She could see the entire room now. Leysa fell silent again, taking it all in. Honoured, that was how she felt to be invited into his private quarters. He kept so much from her to keep her safe and not worried about the details of his job, but this... this made her heart swell.
 
"Live here? I wouldn't go that far." Carradine's smirk was audible as he laid back on his cot, resting legs that had carried him across the city three times over already that day. "I live where I want. This tower is just one of my safe havens. Although..." His hand moved to where she sat at his bedside, fingers weaving gently into her hair, savoring the warmth and familiarity the sensation brought to him. "...I admit I've been spending more nights here than anywhere else."

Carradine wouldn't consider this his home, but there was a strange feeling in his stomach, somewhere between excitement and anxiety as he watched her gaze about this makeshift hideout in wonder. It was still his world. An assassin's hideaway. That Leysa was here broke every rule both of them had set for themselves when they'd decided to start seeing each other in secret.

This was forbidden. This was thrilling.

His hand slid from her head, and he sat up. No, better not start getting hooked on this feeling. Tomorrow would be another suitor, another parade, another fresh set of eyes on her bedroom door, and another call to the Blackbird to take away a problem in the way that only he could.

"C'mere. I'll show you." Carradine stepped off his bed and strode over to the opposite side of the room, to the cluttered table against the wall. The old wood was concealed by weapons, tools, faded parchment and whatever else Carradine couldn't be assed to organize properly.

Squatting down, the assassin reached underneath the table and, with a bit of a clatter, retrieved some sort of weapon from a case hidden beneath. It resembled a crossbow, but there wasn't anywhere to slot a bolt. Instead, a long reel of black cord was affixed to the underside of the device.

"Tell me, love. You aren't afraid of heights, are you?"

@Leysa
 
Leysa stared at him.

"Heights?!" Her laughter was short, almost a scoff. Did he dare to do... what she thought he would do? Take her even higher, show her the world from an angle only the brave or the birds should see.

She was not brave like him. Leysa could talk herself up, but never had Carradine called her on her bluff so outwardly before.

Despite her hesitations, she moved closer towards him. He had not spoken words that made her distrust him. In fact, it was herself she was unsure of. Her eyes fell onto that contraption he procured, and her brows knitted together in a furrow.

"My blackbird... what does that do?"
 
Her fear wouldn't stop her. It never did. Leysa, who’d followed Carradine wherever he beckoned, through shadowed rooftops and rain-slick streets, never once asked why. She didn’t doubt, didn’t waver, and for that, he adored her all the more.

If she was going to be afraid, she wouldn't have gotten this far.

"Oh, I think you've some idea what it does, my dove." His voice curled around her like smoke, soft and warm, but dangerous to breathe. She stepped closer, fearless, or maybe just too enchanted to care, and his arm coiled around her waist, pulling her flush against him.

The scent of smoke and rain clung to his coat. The brush of his breath ghosted across her neck. When he spoke again, it was half a growl, half a promise.. "I may not be warming your bed, but I do intend to take you for a ride." The words came out like a teasing snarl, a hint of the darkness he withheld from her. Dangerous, volatile, tempting.

He didn’t let her go as he lifted one boot onto the windowsill, the wood creaking under his weight. Beyond them stretched a jagged line of rooftops bathed in moonlight, the city sleeping beneath a silver haze. In the far distance, behind towers and temples, stood her family’s estate

How many nights, he wondered, had she stood by her window, staring at this clocktower, never realizing that it had been staring back?

“Hold me, now,” he murmured, twisting slightly to glance at her over his shoulder. His grin softened, still wicked, but threaded with something more tender. “Don’t let go.”

His eyes gleamed, dark and wild as the night itself. "You're gonna fly with me tonight."

@Leysa
 
She had always been nervous or scared to do anything daring, but the moment Carradine came into her life, Leysa began to trust the dark and quiet for Carradine always embodied that. When he called, it was in velvet. Something she knew well, loved feeling it's texture and warmth, but dark colours had never been able to entice her until it came in the form of the Blackbird.

When his arm curled around her and held her close, instinct had her arms wrap around his shoulders.

He was an alluring thing, like a spider that caught something sweet in it's web.

His words... it should shock her, make her blush at the sheer talk and topic, but Leysa found herself smiling.

"Then let us both soar, my love."

Leysa held on tight, the tightest she ever embraced him before. It felt right and safe, to be pressed against him so hard that no space was left between them. She felt the movements, felt that sudden drop into air before his contraption caught them and sent them on their way. Her face buried into the crook of his neck, still unable to face what exhilarating thing he convinced her to do.
 
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