"The Moonlight Bandit" by Gwenivere Stephan

The dark elf walked into the tavern, her head low and her hands tucked into the sleeves of her cloak. No one looked up to stare at her, no one seemed to notice her. She smiled, her white teeth flashing against her almost-black skin.

For that matter, the whole place was VERY quiet. Eloise Cooper, a sort of working mercenary, walked over to the bar, leaning on the table. The bartender looked at her angrily, frowning.

"What’s going on?" she asked in a low voice. NOW people looked at her, putting their fingers to their lips and turning back to a door on the opposite wall than the one Eloise had come through.

"We’re waiting for the story teller," the man at the bar told her, waving her away.

"A storyteller?" she started to protest, but the door swung open. Eloise closed her eyes, resisting the urge to scream and distract everyone. After all, she had spent the day with three bumbling idiots and a very attractive man who was obviously NOT attracted to HER.
All I ask for is a bit of directions, since Red lost our map… again, Eloise thought. But, obviously no one was going to answer her, so she took a seat at the bar and turned to look at the man. He had seated himself, and the children in the room ran toward him. This was obviously one of the cleaner taverns, and Eloise was actually thankful for that. No drunken pirates or whatever to deal with.

The man was not young, but not old either. His hair was dark and his hands were large, browned. The children crowded around his knees, their wide eyes full of admiration. Eloise wondered if any of them were his own. She leaned on her hand, watching the event solemnly. The other adults in the room were smiling indulgently, but they leaned forward when the man started to speak.

"So you want a story, do you?" he said. Eloise felt her right eyebrow arch. His voice was much more beautiful than she would have expected of such a large man. I wonder what he sounds like when he sings, she thought.

"Yes! Please, Mr. Ooly!" they said. Chuckles ran down the rows of adults. Eloise tried to ignore it.

"Alright. What kind of story?"

"Oh! Oh!" cried one little boy, his blond hair cut long and bouncing as he hopped up and down, his hand waving in the air. When ‘Ooly’ looked at him he spoke in a rush. "A robber story, Ooly!"

The man laughed, his eyes sparkling, "All right, Daniel. You’ll get your robber story. Have I ever told you the tale of the Moonlight Bandit?"

Eloise sat up, her eyes opening wider. Her hand hung near her mouth, limp. The others didn’t seem to notice her, although an older woman cast her a scornful glance.

"Well, well, if you all quiet down, I will tell you of her," Ooly was saying.

"Her?" said one girl, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she spoke. She was older than any of the other children. "There aren’t any female bandits. That’s silly!"

"Ah, but there are female bandits! One of the most deadly, terrifying ones is female. Now be quiet," he said sharply. Then he leaned back and closed his eyes as if drawing on memories.

"Not so very long ago, there was a very rich king who very much liked to drag himself, his court, and lots of his jewels around the country to show off. Although he had been threatened many times, his multiple guards had run off every thief and vagabond that approached. Soon, no one dared to look at the king sideways for fear they’d be killed. The king became very arrogant, and traveled with more gold even farther from his home. He doubled his guards, however, because no king is stupid enough to think he is THAT immortal.
"It is said that he was sent secret messages months in advance, from an unknown person who signed all the letters as ‘The Moonlight Bandit’. They told him that the bandit was annoyed with him, and that if he did not stop killing people, some of whom were just crossing the streets in front of him, and parading around, that the bandit was going to get him. No one had ever heard of this bandit, though, and the messages were ignored.

"One night the king was going home again, to drink his own wine and to increase the taxes again. The moon was full, and the night was silent. Everyone was feeling pretty relaxed. The guards were not even paying a whole lot of attention. No one thought much of the strange sounds that occasionally came to them. But then, suddenly, a figure stepped from the woods to the road, directly in front of the party."

"What happened then?" whispered someone when he paused.

"The caravan stopped, of course, and the king came out of his coach to tell the stranger to go away. When the figure didn’t move, he ordered his guard to dispose of the person," he stopped again, looking at the eager faces of the children before him before continuing. "The moonlight glittered on the blades of the men as the advanced. Suddenly the person stepped out of the shadows, the moon seeming to dance on her pale hair, dance on her skin the color of ivory. And slowly, she drew two daggers from her black pockets.

"’Who are you?’ the king asked, amazed that anyone, let alone a woman all by herself, would challenge him. ‘My name is the Moonlight Bandit, and I am here for your gold!’ she told him, and before he could blink she rushed at his guards. She ran like the wind, her blades striking the swords of the men out of her way. She seemed almost to fly, floating through the air with the grace of a bird.

"And then she was before the king, her dagger poised at his throat. His guards, one by one, had fallen to her deadly daggers. Her hair shone like the moonbeams filtering through the trees. She demanded his gold, and he was forced to give it to her. She mounted the wagon carrying the mounds of gold and silver, and smiled at him. And you know what she said?"

"’Thank you, your majesty,’ and tossed him a coin," Eloise answered, without thinking. The man looked up at her, and smiled.

"Yes. One copper coin, from her own purse. Of course, the king was very angry, and to this day a price of 50,000 gold pieces sits on her head. His son, in fact, who rules his kingdom now, lowered the price from the original 100,000 pieces of gold. And it is said that she robs the nobles on the road at night, quick as the moon and pale as the clouds," Ooly leaned back. His voice left silence in the room, as everyone seemed a little entranced.

Eloise leaned back in her seat, trying not to smile. Ah, the Moonlight Bandit. Such a tale she had never heard spoken before. Of course, she’d never heard it spoken in her presence. Others had told her about hearing it. It was really a very interesting story.

And hardly believable. Since when did the Moonlight Bandit have pale skin? The hair she understood (she thought this as she fingered a strand of her own white hair) but the skin? Her black eyes twinkled with mischief as she told Ooly what she thought of his story.

"Ah, miss, but that’s the truth! I’ve never heard it any other way!" Ooly replied, smiling.

"Well," she said, standing up, "I heard it very differently. I heard that the Moonlight Bandit came out and challenged the king, but only his guards approached. I heard that they captured her and dragged her before their captain. I heard that she deftly talked her way out of the clutches of the guards, THEN killed them. And I heard that she had to ask for help to get the wagon with the gold moving. Oh, and of course, she was not pale, she was black as night."

"Well, that isn’t a terribly nice story, is it?" one of the men in the audience said. But Ooly was looking at her with intrigue.

"Ah, that’s what I heard. Probably you are the correct one," Eloise shrugged and made her way toward the door.

"Dark like the night?" Ooly asked. Eloise paused, biting her lip. She should not have said anything. "Dark like the night with hair the color of cream. How interesting. I would never have thought the Moonlight Bandit to be a dark elf."

Now she smiled, "Yes, well, I would not have thought the Siren of the Storm to be a storyteller in a wayside inn, either." And she left, listening to Ooly’s strong laughter in the background.

The night felt oppressive, the humidity wetting her face like a rag. Out of the shadows stepped a man, a little shorter than her. For a moment Eloise couldn’t recognize him, then smiled as Red walked next to her.

"What’d they say?"

"Oh… they have no idea where the Cave of Wonders is. Sorry, Red. Guess we’d better just keep going the way we are going," Eloise lied. The stupid young man nodded, not noticing the catch of humor in her voice, and led her back to the other bandits.

Well… at least I learned something tonight. I had better watch my step if I ever go back to Rittiva again… she thought, sitting down next to the fire to break the news to her fellows.