#eowesoa

If it weren’t for the mixture of wine and champagne pumping through her veins, Thalra was sure the pain in her feet would be nearly intolerable by now, instead of just a dull aching throb that she could ignore. Mostly she wanted to take the heels she was wearing off and continue on barefoot, but that would hardly do her reputation any good. Already she’d had several former clients approach her to ask about her recent departure from Myrefall, and to inquire when she’d be returning to business. Thalra knew she’d have to go back at some point, ideally before her name lost all credibility, especially now that Nil had returned to her. Her eyes scanned the crowd for her brother, though if he was there watching her, he was well hidden.

Thalra didn’t want to worry about Nil tonight though. She didn’t want to think about the Order of Shadows either, or the threat of their retribution, which hung over the Hylune twins like an executioner's ax. Instead, she wanted to stay in this moment of celebration for as long as she could. Thalra wanted to dance with as many people as she could, as long as she could. So even though her feet hurt, and even though she was just on the other side of tipsy, she approached the first person that didn’t look engaged in conversation as the band started up a new, slightly quicker paced song. 

“Excuse me, lovely,” she said, stopping just in front of them. “Would it be too forward of me to request a dance?”

Location: Eowesoa, The forest south of Itresa.

Status: Closed. @xiketic

Efrain glided through the underbrush with practiced silence, the brambles pricking intermittently at his trousers. Behind him he could feel Mazek following. While he was technically a knight now, the true test was his ability to be a knight. Against all the odds, he had made it through the usual training and tests. Efrain had harbored several doubts to his competence as a warrior, though never any in regards to his intelligence, and was impressed with his ability to make it this far. He still felt that knighthood was not the place nor the position for him, however, and instead believed he was better suited to stacks of research and places of scholarship. Unlike many, he saw no shame in such positions, but he knew that Mazek’s family had harsh expectations for him. 

Today, of course, was Mazek’s chance to truly prove himself under the watchful eye of Efrain. His first mission as a knight, not an initiate, not a squire, but a true knight. The elder knights had their doubts and suspected the younger man of cheating his way through the earlier trials, but they trusted Efrain’s judgement in the matter and his say after today would solidify Mazek’s place as the latest Sir Grimm. Efrain had already been amongst the fold for the better part of four and a half years and as such had proven his competence many times over. As a result, he of course had a multitude of better places to be and greater responsibilities to attend to instead of supervising, but he had been formally requested. He’d dealt with his own irritation at the task before coming, however, and now he only hoped that the oddball of a man made it through with his dignity, and knighthood, intact. 

“Tell me again,” he ordered, stopping on the hill they were traversing to face Mazek. He crossed his arms as his gaze surveyed the fields that stretched out below them, spotted with farmland and houses. They were many miles south of Itresa and far from the closest plantation. Here their only company were each other, the ominous woods, and the beasties lurking in the shadows--some of which they had come to hunt. “Like you would a mission update to a commander. What we’re hunting, why, on whose orders, and so on. And quickly now.”

“-- so tragic really. Eobald and I got on famously, you know. Of course, you know. There were few who didn’t.” The tall, slender human woman sighed and her hand fluttered through the air like a broken butterfly before it landed on her chest, as if to keep her heart from splitting in two. Too dramatic, Thalra noted from where she stood a few feet away, hidden by an employee serving champagne. 

“And he just adored Marie-Thérèse,” she went on. Her hand then floated up towards her delicate, embroidered mask, her fingertips dabbing at some imagined wetness under her eyes. That at least was a commendable strategy. A crying woman nearly always made a man uncomfortable and more susceptible to manipulation. “We always talked of you two marrying one day and now-”

That was all Thalra could stand without risking a fit of laughter so she snatched a glass from the offered tray in front of her and strolled over to them, inserting herself into the space at Efrain’s side instantly. She let her arm snake around his waist, grinning up at him and offering him the glass of champagne with her free hand. “Hello, darling,” she said, tone intimate enough that it suggested she hadn’t yet noticed Efrain’s attention was occupied. “Don’t drink this one too quickly n-- oh!” 

Thalra finally turned her attention to the noblewoman, eyes widening behind her mask. “Lady Ainsworth, it’s been ages.”

Location:  The Masyarakat Ball,  Itresa Castle, Eowesoa

Status: @arthenni-s, @thejaderaven

If Thalra listened hard enough through the silence that permeated the room, she could hear the sound of laughter and music wind it's way up the stairs and under the crack in the door to the bedroom she and Arthenni were currently occupying. Thalra stood just behind the door so that if it opened, the person who entered wouldn’t see her at first glance. It was a deliberate choice, because if the person Arthenni said would be coming arrived and saw that Arthenni wasn’t alone, she’d be instantly suspicious and might try to run. Thalra didn’t want her to run, she wanted answers. And also, it would just be nice to see The Jade Raven again. 

“Are you sure she’s even at this event?” Thalra asked Arthenni, her voice hushed. It had been hard enough ditching Nil to meet up with Arthenni but they’d also had to be incredibly careful getting up here, as security was on high alert. “Even if she is here, maybe she can’t get past the guards to this room. Maybe we should switch locations.” Thalra wasn’t sure why she was nervous, except that it felt strangely like an ambush to be waiting in this room for her mysterious Raven. It also felt as if she was going to learn more about the woman she’d been so curious about for so long, and that she might not like the answers she finally got.