#lucine

Added a new character to art fight! (Click here for her profile)

I have heard this before. From better men.

But very well. If you wish to call it curiosity, I'll allow it. You'll bare what I ask you to bare and hold still while I find what exactly your skin sings for.

I have a guess, of course, and I'll tell you what I'd ink on a man like you. A sigil for restraint. Inked low, where your armor hides it. It would very simply bind your want. Every brush of my fingers while I work, every breath between us, everything beyond this night until the ink faded -- you would feel all of it and act on none of it. You'd go back to your post, stand at your door, serve your king, and the sigil would sit beneath your steel like a second oath. Perhaps ensuring the one you already took, the one that demands you remain untouched. Chaste. Dutiful. Every idle thought, every quiet ache that finds you in the dark hours of your watch would coil tight along the ink and go nowhere. You couldn't quiet it with your own hands even if you were desperate enough to try.

You tell me your body is strong and your mind purified through prayer. I'd be curious to see how long that holds. I'd wonder if you'd settled your curiosity with this or if you'd be back at my door once you found the ink fading.

-- L., Alchemist.

Are these "better men" among those who come to you begging and whimpering? Excuse me if I don't find myself threatened.

If this is the extent of your powers then the rumors must have been nothing more than just that. Here I thought you might have been capable of something truly special. How foolish of me.

If they work, the reins you suggest may break a weaker man but I can assure you they would leave me no worse off. My oath forbids certain acts, but no such thing like this sigil of yours claims to. Nevertheless, there is no doubt in my mind that I would handle such a challenge without any issues.

I suppose it does make for a good test of your capabilities though. Trust that my virility leaves nothing to be desired, dear alchemist. Or don't; you're quite welcome to check for yourself. Regardless, it will quickly become evident whether or not your little markings have the effect you claim.