Bloody, but unbowed

“Then what are your usual entertainements? You caught my interest,” 

She paused, a bit hesistant on the the tone she wanted to give to this conversation. The man seemed sincere, and she couldn’t agree more with him, but how much should she show? It’s harder than I thought…

“I admit it can be frivolous, but that’s the essence of parties no? Dance, drink, eat, laugh and forget everything else in order to feel alive… Ephemeral so it is necessary.” 

Yes she had learned well how to play the noble sun elf. Though they maybe wouldn’t be so friendly with a simple human. And a true lady wouldn’t feel or show embarassement after a compliment which took Rith by surprise. A soft coral colored her cheeks before she quickly regained composure. 

Lowering her gaze, she played with her fine necklace, before laughing soflty. A crystalline sound that could suggest many things. 

“Oh you know how it is, I travel where fate leads me. And sometimes I find some beautiful place to rest a bit. I appreciate to visit new regions, however I soon find myself longing for more.” 

Besides, she was pretty.

The man had come up to Sarenoch, after all. Bravery won points with Saren, always, especially when that bravery led to the corby making friends.

Danial had only just finished speaking when Saren waved his clawed, feathered hand dismissively. “I can find the herbs and roots myself. I have been there before. It is company I seek to deter the company I do not.” The corby could not grin, for he had no teeth, but he closed, as well as he could, his uneven beak and his eyes narrowed, wrinkling at the edges, as his cheeks lifted in his attempt at a smile.

{Danial is definitely the more approachable one xD}

Parties were strange things for Danial. Sometimes a party was a marvelous thing, all excellent company and good food, but sometimes they simply felt wrong. Usually it was the parties hosted by the nobility that made his mood sour. A celebration of life was one thing. Extravagance for the sake of extravagance, as in the ostentatious affairs hosted by most nobles was disgusting.

The current party was, to Danial’s disappointment, the latter sort of event. He was trying to enjoy himself, for the sake of the friend who had been kind enough to invite him, but his easy smile was more a facade than anything else.

Here it was mostly to keep a eye on the vast court of the city. And to occupy them. Bread and games, as the proverb said. 

The paladin retained a sigh. With her new obligations she had to go this time. It was kinda part of her new role. So she was all eyes and ears, listening to the murmur of the crowd carefully. 

A bit surprised by the salutation, she masked it with a gracious smile, saluting politely. 

“Nice to meet you Danial, I’m Rith.” She paused, searching instinctively for her pendant. She didn’t found the comforting disk of gold. She had to remove it. Instead was a fine necklace  which matched her silvery dress. 

“I suppose. This is a far cry from my usual entertainments.” He waved a hand as if to encompass the luxury and finery surrounding them. “It seems wasteful sometimes, no?” An accent, so faint as to almost not be present, colored his words and marked him as hailing from somewhere much further south than Neverwinter.

There was no point in explaining he had no interest in her in any other way outside of figuring out why she was there and where she was from. After all he couldn’t barely get any human to believe anything that came out of his mouth. 

“And I might be able to see you, but I can riechen, smell you.”

Such despair hangs around her; devour it. 

Raserei tilted his head a bit, much like an owl, “Are you verirrt? Lost?”

His lover’s grin was contagious, drawing Asher’s lips into amirrored smile both bright and warm, dark eyes filled with genuine delightedsurprise.

Of course, that would ruin the game.

After a moment’s consideration, the elf glided past Danial all trailing silk and perfumed hair. Circling behind the man, a fingertip tapping his chin as he tilted his head, Asher’s lips curved into a cat-like smile of appreciation, eyes riveted to Danial’s posterior.

The closer the stranger came, the more obvious it was he would not be one she could intimidate away. What Thorn could see of him under his hood was alien and eerie. His vicious look marked him a warrior at best and a killer at worst. He reeked of blood and offal, and the sheer darkness that seemed to ooze off of him would have been enough to intimidate almost any mere mercenary.

But Thorn had made a living hiding how she felt.

He looked around at the soldiers who were watching their interactions. Really the only reason the barbarian was bothering with this woman was simply because he didn’t want a brawl to happen; the sight of blood made him weak. 

She will betray you all. Kill her now. 

Raserei swallowed hard and tried to keep the voices in the back.

Does she scream different? Make her scream you want to hear her scream.

She had to have known there was a war going on, and this was not a good place to travel here, so why was she here? Mostly being this tense; was she looking for a fight?

“So why are you here?”

It was the smell of her sin that made him so bold and leery of her. Why his skin itched and his blood roiled inside him. 

“Is she one of yours demon?” A soldier said, finally asking the question that was no doubt on the mind of countless others. 

“Ja.” Raserei replied flatly and without hesitation.

His lover’s grin was contagious, drawing Asher’s lips into amirrored smile both bright and warm, dark eyes filled with genuine delightedsurprise.

Of course, that would ruin the game.