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mirian mounts up, Bigor is already turning toward the gate of his stall. He is eager to get moving, as it has been a while since he has seen his friend Dilda, Culpeper's horse. As soon as Miriam is settled into her riding position, he immediately starts to head for the trail leading to the Wayland Forest Road. once on the road, he shifts into a ground eating lope. After a short distancenshebstars thinking about her boyfriend culpeper. Damn smugglers interfering in my love life. good thing we got them shut down and should be free to have all the fun with culpeper that he can handle'. With that thought, she urges Bigor on to a faster speed. At a medium pace, Igor can get to Culpeper's cabin in about two hours.A little over an hour and a half into the trip, Bigor suddenly slows down, then stops, staring into the woods off to their left. He gets a little antsy and backs up a couple of steps. almost faster than the eye can track miriam has her bow up and a arrow knocked, "whoever you are, you might as well come out, i know you are there, you wont be able to sneak up on me". After a moment the bushes on the left side of the road move aside, and a young man steps into the road. He puts his hands in the air, stating, "I mean you no harm, ranger; I heard your horse coming and hid. You never know who you are going to meet on the road these days." Miriam looks at the young man for a moment, then remembers him from one of the local villages under her baron, Drolark. "Good past noon, sir. My apologies for causing you concern. I am riding through on my way to a friend's home. Please put your hands down." She undraws her bow and puts away the arrow she had drawn. "I am a little surprised to see someone from the Horndoff village. That is more than a day's walk from here." The man slowly lowers his hands. being careful to keep them out where she can see them. "Yes, ma'am, I and my feet know that." They both chuckle briefly at the humor before he continues, giving her a quick looking-over "I am a journeyman scrivener heading to the port city of Jaffa. There is a master scrivener there that has agreed to give me extra training in writing in foreign languages. I plan to be the best at what I do!" Mirian looks pleased for the young man and tells him so. "I am pleased to meet you. As you have already observed, I am a ranger. My name is Mirian." She reaches down from Bigor's back, offering her hand "My name is Hillman," he replies, reaching up to take her hand. "I am pleased to meet you also." They smile at each other, holding each other's hand for a moment longer than needed. They both looked a little embarrassed. 'He's a good-looking man; I could have some fun with him. I see how he's trying not to check me out...Culpeper, I am coming for you; I hope you are ready!' she thinks to herself. Hillman smiles down at his shoes, hoping he is not too obvious. Hillman looks up at her, saying, "Well, Ranger Mirian, it was nice meeting you, but I really need to get moving; I have several days worth of walking ahead of me." Mirian sits up straight in the saddle, accidentally causing her cloak to slip off her shoulder, giving Hillman a good look at her body. as she turns her bigor back in the direction of Culpeper's cabin, Mirian slowly trots away from Hillman, giving her backside a little extra sway for Hillman's benefit.Bigor is eager to move on and pulls at the bridle. Mirian knows Bigor knows the way to Culpeper's cabin and lets him have his head. After about another half an hour, they can see Culpeper's cabin. 'It is late morning. There should be enough time for a good meal and a better romp and to get back home before full dark.' As she finishes this thought, they arrive at Culpeper's cabin. As she dismounts, she ties the reins in a loose knot so Bigor knows he is free to go behind the cabin and visit with his friend Dilda.As she knocks, she hears a noise inside, then a voice calls out, "Who!?" "Relax, Culpeper, it is only me," she replies with a chuckle. With a much friendlier tone of voice, he replies to her, "Come." She laughs, replying quietly for him to hear, "I plan to!" Culpeper puts down the book he was looking at, coming to the door to greet her. They hug as old friends and lovers reacquainted. Culpeper pulls back, looking her up and down. "Are you all good? i always worry about you when you are gone on a mission. Since you are back, I assume the mission is over? Can you tell me about it?" She leans back herself and looks at him for a moment; she cocks her head sideways, really looking at him before replying, "You really do worry about me, don't you?" She reaches up and strokes his cheek lovingly with her index finger. "You knew when we first met I was and am a ranger. that life is fraught with danger. I do what I do because I am good at it and trained at it." he takes a breath in to say something, she puts her finger over hs lips in a shushing way. "I was hoping I could get a good home-cooked meal tonight. I have been living on field rations for a few weeks now. I will tell you the tale while you make the food." Culpeper looks at her with a twinkle in his eye. "Is food all you were hoping for tonight? It seems like the last couple missions you came home from, you came to visit, and I was the one who needed a couple days to recover," he says with a laugh as he leads her to the table he was sitting at when she arrived. He pulls out a chair for her, gesturing for her to sit. As he goes to get food out to prepare and cook, she picks up the book that he was looking at when she had arrived. "Don't you ever get tired of looking at plants?" she asks with a laugh. With a silly smile, he tells her, "Well, when you are not around, there is nothing better to look at...so why not?" Mirian gives a girlish little laugh, blushing, and replies, "Compliments will get you everywhere." Culpeper moved about, gathering up the ingredients. needed for a rabbit and bean soup. He also had some home-baked bread, butter, and blackberry jam to mop up the soup with. Mirian was always careful with how much she actually told Culpeper because she really did know he worried about her, but she liked to hear it anyhow. Due to her job, she wasn't often treated like a lady or even a woman; she liked it when she was. "Baron Drolark sent a messenger for me to come to the castle for an 'urgent consult.' We have had a real problem in the port city of Everport with drugs that instantly caused addiction and wound up killing the users. i dont really like city missions...but I am trained, so I do them when I need to. I had to go undercover; I couldn't even have Bigor with me, as he is obviously a trained horse. I was literally all on my own. As I was undercover, I was amazed by some of the folks involved in this corrupt behavior. humans, elves, and even some races I, as a ranger, couldn't identify. barkeepers, shop owners, merchants, and even sailors and city guards. i was so disappointed in what i found. I understand now why Baron Drolark needed somebody from outside the city for this mission. doesn't mean I have to like it."Culpeper stops preparing the food and goes to Mirian. He kneels down in front of her, hearing her disappointment, takes her hands, and lifts her chin to look at him. "My sweet, I know you like to see the best in people, but we both know that not all people are good like you are." He lifts her chin, giving her a gentle kiss, then silently returns to making their meal. Culpeper silently watches Mirian while he finishes making the meal. She sits staring off into the distance while Culpeper finishes the meal. He thinks to himself, 'She really is an innocent when it comes to the world. How can Nomar do this to her?' At last he calls out in a cheery voice. "Dinner is ready and served." he brings her a plate with a medium sized bowl with bean and rabbt stew. Also on the plate is a hunk of bread and two smaller bowls with butter and blackberry jam. seating himself next to her, he bows his head in prayer to nomar and the deity of healers, ragnok. 'Please, Ragnok, Nomar, look out for this woman that I love. She goes into danger not thinking of herself, but of the people she is trying to help'. He looks up to see Mirian is waiting for him to finish his prayer. They smile at each other, chatting while they eat. occasionally rubbing up against each other. "I found a new collection of mint and licorice while you were gone. I will brew up some tea for us later." "I look forward to later," she says with a special look, she reahes for him."Slowly, my dear, slowly; let us enjoy our meal before playtime." Reluctantly, she pulls her hand away, takes a few more bites of the stew, and then picks up the bowl, draining it. "There," she smirks, "I enjoyed my meal. Can we get onto playtime now?!" Culpeper looks at her and laughs. "You are a little vixen, aren't you?" He picks up his bowl and downs the last of it. He stands, holding out his hand for her; as she takes it, he leads her off to the bedroom.
Standing up, she puts her arms around Culpeper, giving him a deep and passionate kiss. Looking out the window, she says, "I won't be able to stay for tea. I only have about three more hours before full dark. I got my reports done; now I have to deliver them." Still holding onto her, he replies, "How long do you believe you will be gone?" Kissing him again, running her hand over his chest, playing with the hairs. "Jaffa is about a day's ride; I want to get an early start." She pauses, giving him a little peck. "Why don't you come to my cabin in three days? I miss spending time with you. It would be good for us to have some time together. We can go out gathering and hunting together." Smiling down at her, he says, "I would like that very much. Shall we say three days from now? I will be at your cabin for a few days?" She pulls away from him, agreeing to the plan, She gathers up all her clothes in the bedroom to get dressed. While he goes to the other room, preparing her some licorice tea, with just a hint of mint, to take home with her, knowing it is her favorite. as mirian is coming out of the bedroom, culpeper just about has the tea ready for her. "Go out to Bigor and get your extra canteen; the tea is almost ready." Mirian looks over at him, smiling. "i will be right back" she steps out on the porch giving three short, shrill whistles, three whistles tell bigor that it is not urgent. Shortly she hears the sound of bigors hooves as he trots around the corner of culpepers cottage. She steps off the porch, giving Bigor a pat on his shoulder. She takes the canteen from her saddlebag, telling Bigor, "Wait!" she returns inside to the waiting culpeper. Culpeper takes the canteen, fills it with the tea, and hands it back to her. "Time to go," says Mirian, giving him one last kiss. She heads for the door again. Culpeper follows her to the door, walking her to bigor. When mounted up, she wraps her cloak around her for warmth. Giggling, she looks down at Culpeper. "Culpeper, you are still naked! You better get back inside before our friend catches a cold!" She glances down culpepers body smilng at his obvious chill. "That's alright, he will get over it," he replies, with a laugh of his own. Mirian looks him up and down one more time, then turns Bigor to start their journey home. culpeper, shuddering in the cold now, watches mirian ride away until he can no longer see her, then returns inside.