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Nakatsu studied the post one more time before deciding his route. He had been given a hefty amount of coin and a "The House of St...arman...something or other...thanks you and is forever...something..." He hadn't really paid all that much attention. He had guarded the nobleman for two months across Arafel and then Kandor, finally landing in Saldaea, listening to his whining and his praise for whatever Nakatsu had been doing that his predecessors had not. After a voyage like that, he wasn't ready to traverse that path again until he had rested some and eased his mind.

The post he had observed spoke of a job protecting some woman in her home. He didn't really need any other details, he just needed regular pay for a while before heading back home. The bulletin had also mentioned something about a "Mistress of the Night", but he was rather apathetic to the meaning of that. Storm trailed along happily after him, enjoying the attention he received from the passing lady speaking of his four-legged companion. He had thought he even caught a "Pretty little dog" in there somewhere. Shaking his head and rolling his unusually large blue eyes, he continued along the road until he could see the house mentioned in the post and made his way to the door.

Excited by the smells of all the different people in the house, Storm proceeded to bark happily and wag his tail. His announcement must have sparked someone's interest in the house because a liveried servant opened the door. When asked about his reason for being there, he presented the bulletin he had found at the inn, unable to say anything with confidence because of the huge mass of people wandering in the background. Noticing that he had unconsciously begun to reach for saidin, he regained control of himself and allowed the young man to lead him through the house to the appointed room. He was sincerely glad this servant was not a woman. If the title "Mistress of the Night" was any indication of what his future employer would be like, he needed to rid himself of his nerves and concentrate on staying away from the True Source and...

Light, who was he fooling?

After showing Nakatsu the door, the young servant, a boy not even old enough to shave, wished him good luck. Before he could walk off, though, he asked him if he would watch over Storm and make sure he behaved himself. The boy was rather nervous about watching such a big dog, but Nakatsu assured him that Storm was a friendly and affectionate dog, and he agreed.

The now very nervous swordsman opened the door and found himself confronted with not one, but two females. Why in the name of the Light are there two...? he wondered. The woman to the right was obviously Saldaean; her eyes tilted inward examined him with cold indifference with a touch of intimidation. The other had a smug look on her face. Something told him that was the one looking for a new guard. The Saldaean was dressed in a fine cut wool dress while the other was cloaked in silk and seemed to have paints...or...whatever women called it to make themselves up. He could hardly make the interior of the room out, though. The lights were so dim, he could barely see the whole figure of the table where they sat and maybe a chair in front of the two, but anything else was lost.

"...My name is Nakatsu Mandall, my lady," he finally said with a bow after a moment's hesitation. He had been expecting really anything but this. "I'm here to inquire about the guard position."

Syrandae had been bored most of the day. She had taken care of all her horses. None of her mares were pregnant. She had sold three of them for hefty prices with a small fee of one tiny hint to the future. With that money, she had bought a nicely-cut silk dress just in case one of her clients in the future turned out to be a noble. There were a few other occurences, but all these had happened a few days before.

Now she wanted to spend time with her close friend, Talia. There were a few good business advantages to their friendship. They could advertise for each other if the need ever arose...although she was quite sure Talia didn't need any advertising. Her friend had a strong influence on the community...be it good or bad. She had never thought she'd turn out to be friends with someone who called themselves the "Mistress of the Night", though. However, all that meant was she handled men differently than Syran.

There were some protests to the horse breeder attending these interviews at first. Talia didn't really see a need for it, but Syrandae wanted to help in any way she could, and she wanted to spend time with her friend watching these men squirm under their gazes. However, the most squirming they got was when one of the interviewees noticed Talia's beauty. Syran had gotten a couple leers herself, but she could never and didn't really strive to compare to Talia.

The first thing that Syrandae noticed about the Arafellin man that walked into the room was that his bells didn't make a sound. Well, that meant he wasn't a fool, at least. The courtesan next to her seemed pleased compared to her reactions to the other candidates. The man now calling himself Nakatsu presented himself as a gentleman, but she could tell he seemed...meek? Had the man been living under a rock all his life or was he just afraid of women? She did see a few images hovering over his head. A simplistic black flame showed itself. It looked familiar somehow...as if she was supposed to attach it to something similar...but she could not place it at the moment. The face of a serene noblewoman showed itself as well. Intriguing.

"It's such a pleasure to meet you."

The young business woman grinned at that one. She had to hold herself back and not outright laugh at it. Her grin turned into a lopsided smirk when she saw the man's reaction, though. This one was just too funny. It might have been the bad lighting, but it looked like his whole face bloomed in a deep blush.

He blushed. He was endearing, and uneasy around her. Good, better and better. Her lips smirked as he moved to sit, granted it could not be easy to sit with two swords strapped to his back, yet he still managed to be graceful while doing it. She was liking this man, he wasn't smitten by the site of her dressed out to full courtesan standards, well her standards anyways, she no longer indulged in the lower class of those in her profession. She was a lady in almost every sense of the word, excepting of course virtue.

Talia all but smiled as smug as a cat in cream at his avoidance of the word pleasure. So she had unnerved him had she? This was turning out to be far more interesting then she had hoped, far more amusing as well. She had never thought to torment a guard before, and with that she decided she would hire him, just for the fun of shocking him and flirting with him.

Nakatsu was his name, and he was from Afeala. Interesting facts both. She leaned back in her chair, her eyes half closed as she observed him. "As I'm sure you are aware I am the Mistress of the Night here...pleasure" the word dripped like honey off her lips "is my business. However things do go sour. Can you fight off a man who I may have displeased, even if I'm...nude...?"

She cocked an eyebrow, curiosity rampant within her. Her tongue peeked out and licked her lips slowly, she glanced at Syran, only an old friend could pick up the mirth and enjoyment in her eyes in this dim light but they were there all the same. Tali really was rather like a cat, she loved to toy with things. And Nakastsu had just added himself to that list.

Noticing the two glances the women shared with each other, Nakatsu supposed they were at least good friends. The Saldaean probably had nothing to do with the "Mistress"'s employees.

"Can you fight off a man who I may have displeased, even if I'm...nude...?"

Upon being posed the question, he immediately sorted through all the thoughts concerning everything else that he was trying to avoid and landed on the perfect answer. The only answer, really. Saidin was now at a safe distance away having found his niche in the interview. And...after finding it, he wondered why he had found it so intimidating in the first place.

"Once a battle is engaged, Mistress," he began, using the title she had given him and the one he had first found on the bulletin to show respect. "Nothing can distract me from my mission." He meant every word fully. Everything was at stake in a battle no matter who the opponent. And if this battle was part of his income, even more was at stake. Truly, all else besides the battle seemed like a blur, every amount of energy both mental and physical went to finishing his duty and winning the battle.

Just as he thought he had cleared his mind of all interferences, he heard a whining at the door accompanied by some consoling words from the servant he had left with Storm. Clearing his throat apologetically, he looked up at the two interviewers and asked, "Mistress...may I let my dog into the room please?" Most likely, Storm had heard the woman's voice and wanted to meet her. "He's rather large, but he has a good disposition." He might have even added that he had let the dog take care of his...business before coming in, but he didn't see how that would be appropriate in the presence of two ladies.

Nakatsu stood, his braids meeting his eyes for a moment as his father's bells announced themselves from his belt pouch very faintly. His nerves subsided a little more with the reminder of home. Striding to the door, he kept his attention to the woman interviewing him while opening the door. He thanked the young boy, saying that the Mistress allowed for the dog's entrance. Storm walked in happily greeting his owner before trotting over to his new potential friends at the other end of the darkly lit room.

"A man's dog is his best friend when not in the bed of his woman."

That was true enough for him. He had only bedded two women in his life, but the relationships from them were nothing compared to the brotherhood he shared with Storm. Nakatsu did not wish to continue those trysts because he could see the women had little other interest in him. He needed someone he could trust completely.

"Tell me, do you have a woman?"

The swordsman shut the door, letting the extra light from the rest of the house escape from the room. Turning back to her, his mind adjusting to the strange question, he said, "No, Mistress, I'm afraid my only best friend is Storm here." Dogs caused him less trouble than women or humans in general. The Saldaean woman furrowed her brow as if in surprise or confusion and turned her head to the large dog who had presented itself between her and the Mistress. Without really changing her facial expression, she leaned to the side and gave Storm a good rub behind his ears. His respect for the Saldaean went up a bit from that gesture as it had for the Mistress in allowing his four-legged friend to come into the room.

She had rattled him again, but he had recovered, much much faster then the first time. Interesting that. So was it that he was getting use to her oddness or that he simply was less nervous? Regardless she was going to hire him, if only because he was interesting, and perhaps, well he certainly did seem on his toes and less interested in her charming assets then any of the other males that had come through.

In fact he seemed completely untouched by them. It was good that she was so confident in herself, otherwise she would not have suffered his indifference to her looks so easily.

The dog was cute, she could give it that, and Syran seemed to like it and the man for that matter. Her fingers stroked over the fine textured surface of the table as she breathed in and out, feeling the stays of her corset move with the breath as she watched the man and his dog, drawing out a long moment of silence before standing and moving toward him, her hips swaying with seductive roll as she approached him, reaching to softly cup his cheek in hers as she smiled, her eyes glittering with amusement and she leaned in to softly kiss his cheek.

"Welcome, you got the job. Now, see the housekeeper, she'll show you to your room." She gestured to Syran to follow her then and left the room in a whisper of silk and a soft lingering of her musky scent, a hand pressing over her mouth to contain the laughter that threatened to escape. That really had been too much fun.

The red in his face wasn't really specifically from the kiss. Some of it was, but not all. The kiss had caught Nakatsu completely off-guard and sent his nerves into another bloody spiral. This spiral was harder to recover from, however. He did manage to stop it, but it was too late, he had latched on to Saidin. Oddly enough, he didn't shudder as his bones were chilled and boiled simultaneously. His muscles tensed and squeezed themselves, blood rushing to his face faster than it would have otherwise. The Saldaean stood and offered him a friendly laugh. It was good that he had brightened her day a bit, but he wasn't able to fully respond to her. He did return the hand-shake and nodded when appropriate, but nothing further than that.

The door closed again and the women left. Storm traipsed up to him and wagged his tail happily. He loosened up a little and told him he was a good dog as he scratched under the dog's chin. And with that, he ripped himself from Saidin. Now able to think straight, he analyzed the las few minutes. He had landed himself a job. Good. The Mistress hadn't given him her name yet, but he at least knew her face now. And he really could use a horse soon... The horse he had ridden from Arafel was on loan from the Saldaean nobleman. Horse breeders from this country were also known for their good horses as the soldiers were known for their cavalrymanship.

"...But wait...where is the housekeeper?"

The Arafellin warrior asked his mostly to himself. This woman kept a lot to herself. He had the feeling she was enjoying tormenting him so. Being used to it, he didn't really mind. She was nothing compared to a band of Trollocs charging at him from the dark. Although, he was sure she was worse on some levels. Either way, the Mistress would most likely turn out to be a good employer.

Nakatsu took the few steps to the door and allowed his eyes to adjust to the dramatic change in light before stepping out further. Finding the familiar boy servant again, they exchanged names, and he found that the boy's name was Dallan. Hoping he could help him again, he asked for the housekeeper and the boy said she was busy cleaning the parlor, pointing out the mentioned room. He smiled and thanked him once more. After finding the woman, she hurriedly showed him to his quarters, a room full of luxury in a simple style with a hard bed. Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, he let Storm into the room and set about acquainting himself a little more with the room. He had a feeling he'd never really understand the Mistress of the Night.