A good soak....

[Paks]

"Grossly misinterpreted your orders" the ranger explodes at the older man whilst holding a sword in a threatening manner towards Burcanto, "I assume you know he killed a friend of mine with this dagger to her heart" she says, taking the very dagger from her belt and throwing it to the floor, "before leaving a note for me and if that wasn't enough, he almost killed Joe just for the fun of it. And you think missing a couple of fingers is harsh punishment? Somehow, I don't think the girl he killed to get my attention would agree with you and for that matter neither do I."
She takes a deep breath clearly trying to calm herself. She glares at Burcanto with more contempt that she thought she possibly had before turning back to the older man, "You have no idea how much I want his life ended for what he's done and the fact that he doesn't even seem to care.....he doesn't deserve to live." She begins pacing, anger clearly radiating from her. She looks over at Joe, her expression turning to frustration as the realisation comes to her that she can't actually order Burcanto's execution without personal ramifications.
"Get him out of here" she says to the old man, her voice furious, along with the rest of her.

[Zee]

The smugness Burcanto displays as he receives a nod from the older man that he may leave is astounding. His nose in the air he walks past to the door. No sooner than his back is turned to them that the throbbing Joe felt as sadness in his heart at seeing Paks hurt and physically in the clenched fists with his fingers almost digging into his own palms translates into action. Both blades loosened from their sheaths he plunges the first into Burcantos back, square into his spine, the force enough for the blade to protrude through the mans front. Twirling the other sword underhanded he leans in and snarls into Burcantos ear. "Were it not for my woman here your end would be much prolonged."

Joe pushes down as he slams the pommel of his free sword down on the back of the blade buried in Burcantos chest causing the blade to cut deeper into the man. Burcanto lets out a wailing hiss as he grabs the front of the blade sticking through him, having to use enough force to stop it that it almost severs the rest of his fingers. Pulling the free blade back Joe swings it at Burcanto removing his head. With a kick he shoves the beheaded body off his blade as he spins around to face the older man and Paks.

The older man holds up his hands indicating he means for nothing further to occur. "My orders to him were to simply get your attention so you would have to follow him. Were he not as useful as he was I would have slain him myself." He backs away to the door "I will leave you two alone to recompose yourselves. When you are ready Ingto will see you to the table." He bows politely and steps out the door closing it leaving Joe and Paks alone in the room. Joe looks at her, his face still red and his teeth clenched as clearly he was still fuming.

[Paks]

The ranger is surprised for a brief moment when Joe leaps to his feet and ends Burcanto's life. Her continued fury pushes the surprise away quickly enough though and she watches with some satisfaction as the murderer is paid his due. Standing in the room, just as angry as the bard, she merely looks at the corpse as tries to compose her temper, letting it simmer below the surface rather than have it written all over her face. She eventually sheaths her sword and walks slowly towards Joe halting just infront of him. The ranger looks deep into his gray eyes before she puts her arms around him and holds him tightly for a very long time. When she does release him she rests one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his chest as she looks to him again, "Thankyou" she all but whispers to him but her gratitude and love is clear for him to see.
Paks waits until Joe is ready and then slips one hand into his and calls out to Ingto that they were ready to proceed.

[Paks]

Instead of heading back to their room, the ranger lets Joe know that she'll be down at the stables for a while. Kissing him on the cheek, she smiles and asks him to see if he could round up some more of those bathing gems for her. Tracking down Ingto, she expresses her wishes to see Clyde and lets him lead her to where he's being housed.

Upon arrival, the chestnut gelding sticks his head over the stall door. Reaching him, she lays her head against his neck and sighs in relief, the horse could always calm her. Giving him a quick hug, she then looks him over to make sure he's been taken care of. Satisfied with his condition, she pulls out some brushes and gets to work grooming him, the constant work calming her anger further until it's finally mostly gone.

After a good hour or so, Paks finds somewhere to clean her hands and then indicates to the servant that she's ready to head back to her room, her thoughts turning to Joe.

[Zee]

After the woman is led back to her room she finds Joe sitting at the table with a book opened, quite the consternated look on his face. "It seems our new friends are trying to make amends for your friend. Ingto said both of these were manuals you would find useful." He says as he closes the book and motions to the other one as well. "But I can't make heads nor tails from them." He stands up and motions to set of three boxes wrapped on the bed. "Apparently those have some magical properties. Ingto said we would find their use and how to activate them written on a note inside them." He shrugs before continuing. "I thought I would wait for you to get here before I opened them. Oh he also gave us three of each of those bath jewels. Ingto said they are reusable but he gave us some extras incase we lost them or what not."

[Paks]

"I guess they are going all out huh" she says, eyeing the treasures. Picking up the books, the ranger carries them over to the bed and sits them beside the boxes. Sitting on the bed and crossing her legs, she motions for Joe to start unwrapping the boxes whilst she picks up one of the bath jewels. Holding it up level with her eyes, she gives the gem a genuine smile of pleasure before placing it back on the bed covers and picking up one of the books. "Something that actually has you baffled, this ought to be good" she says with a laugh, opening the books to see just what they contained. "So what do the mysterious boxes contain?" she asks after a few minutes of browsing the books, then as an afterthought, "And how do you feel about all this anyway?"

[Zee]

Joe nods as he opens the boxes in question revealing a pair of short swords and an elongated hand and a half long sword. He holds the long sword up still in its sheath before sliding the sheath down some to reveal an icy looking blade that gives a chill to the area. "Appears Kevin has done some tinkering in magics himself. It seems this blade can create a cone of frost on a daily basis." Setting the blade back down he turns to the two short swords reading their notes. "One of them creates a defensive barrier around the wielder the other..." He pauses as he looks at it before continuing. "Can apparently remove limbs or heads on occasion as easily as a knife through hot butter."

As the ranger looks through the manuals, the first one she finds pertaining to brewing in all manners, everything from the best type of hops to use down to the preferred wood for the barrels. The second manual seems to be related to woodsmen a collective set of notes and theorycrafting by an old ranger.

Joe shakes his head at the woman. "I'm not really sure. I do believe Kevin though when he says that he had no intention of having your friend harmed." He stands from the bed and walks over to her standing behind her he runs his fingers through her hair. "And as poor as the circumstances were it did bring you back to me. Maybe that was the point."

[Paks]

Placing the book carefully on the bed, the ranger turns and throws her arms around Joe, hugging him tightly. Resting her head on his shoulder, she presses a kiss just below his earlobe before speaking in a soft voice, "Maybe it was. I would have come looking for you soon enough though, I just had a slight detour I wanted to make first. But that will have to wait a while, and that's ok. I'm happy now I have you, you won't get rid of me easily." Giving him a loving smile, she gives him a lingering kiss on the lips before turning back to the bed and it's goodies.

"Although, from what I saw of these books, you may just loose me to brewing for a while," holding the book excitedly she opens it again, giving Joe the impression he was going to have to pry it from her hands should he want any real attention from her. "How about you decide what weapons you want" she suggests, waving her arms absently at the swords, "I don't mind, you earned them too."

[Zee]

Joe turns to the table and takes the long sword up removing the sheath from it, giving it a heft he takes it in both hands with a nod. Turning to the woman he uses the flat of the blade to turn the book downward then dextrously loosens one of the ties at the top of her shirt with the tip of the blade. The area around the blade more than a little could though not uncomfortable. "I think this one will do quite nicely." He smiles devilishly at her as he waits for a response.

[Paks]

"Now, now" she says as she carefully puts the book down and moves back from the sword, "This shirt is new and whilst I will definitely be hitting them up for some more, I like it. Let's see if I can keep it undamaged for at least one day shall we?"

Sliding off the bed, careful to avoid the bard's new sword, Paks walks slowly around to where Joe stands and removes the sword from his hand. Feeling the weight of it in her own for a moment, she looks up to see him watching her. Putting the sword back in the sheath she then lays it on the couch before turning her attention to his shirt. She slowly unbuttons the shirt and slides it off his shoulders until it falls free from his body, catching it to lay it beside the sword. Running her hands softly over his chest, her eyes mark the fading bruises before her fingers trail up to his neck, pulling him down for a kiss. As the kiss finishes, she smiles a little sadly at Joe, "Back in company tomorrow, guess there will be no more of this, better make the most of it."