Welcome to Gaia! ::

In a few minutes time, they had returned to her house, though it was not without Dapon's mind clouding with worry from the mark. Last time he had seen it engraved into the skin like that, it was on a small little boy, a small little boy who had died that evening in his mother's arm. The mark was one of an old magic, a dark magic that claimed its victim's life. Only two cures were known, though neither had ever been envoked. "Sit," came her voice, jerking her head towards the kitchen table and him out of his thoughts, before busying herself with some tea.

When she had finally settled herself across from him, she looked almost mournful. "I haven't told Mother or Amal," she said quietly, absentmindedly stirring a little bit of sugar into her tea. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention it to them, okay?"

He gave a curt nod, and repeated his question. He had to know what had happened, how she had gotten a mark like that, and why.

"His name's Soran, that man that you attacked earlier," she began, trying hard as she could to keep her voice casual. She never once looked at him, just kept her eyes on the swirling mass of her tea. "He came here a couple weeks ago, looking for something, or someone, I'll never know which I suppose. But he found me, and asked me if I could help him. No.. Ask is too light of a word I suppose.

"He told me that he needed help with getting something he had been looking for for quite some time. I agreed to help him even before he had told me what he had wanted. He seemed like such a gentle man... there couldn't have been anything too bad with what he had wanted, right? He told me the mark would help him keep track of me, so that if I got in trouble, he could come to my aid. I didn't even realize that it was going to engraved...

"He told me what he wanted. And I left. Not far along, I was attacked by some thugs, and turned back, intent on finding him and insisting he came with me. He was nowhere to be found. Today was the first time I had seen him since then..."

Dapon stopped her for a moment, cupping her face in his hand, and studying her eyes carefully. They were that same dull cast as he had seen earlier, something that had scared him entirely, and now that he knew why, it scared him even more. Though now, her eyes even carried more fear in them than they had earlier. "What was he looking for, Kuri? Maybe I can help.."

"A gem. A crystal or something. He called it the Shiney. Said it looked like a crystal lily coming out of the moon."

OOC: well... at least I determined what the shiney is for him? ^^;;

Those wretched gates, painted black with traces of gold and silver in some of the finer elements of the piece. The molding in itself was both beautiful, and deadly, though its beauty was scarred somewhat by the large wooden sign painted in a bloody red. "Visitors Beware" it said in spiky letters dribbling through the paint.

Inside, a tall fortress stood, giving off an eerie, and chilling aura. There was a single light in the left hand room on the bottom floor, flickering as though someone who lacked the lung capacity to do so was trying to blow it out. The light itself, however, did nothing to warm the darkness eminating from it.

It was here, standing just before the gates to the dark building, that Dapon had come to rest, his scarlet eyes scrutinizing every inch of the place, hoping to get a feel of what he was to expect from this man, this Soran. From what he had been able to get out of Kuri, this man had many secrets, as his own personage would suggest. And with those secrets came a deadly power...

ooc: Concubine! *AAAAAAHAHAHAHA*

Merro paced back and forth in the grimy cell, a cocktail of adrenaline, nerves, and panic keeping her from sitting still for more than ten seconds. The cell was secure, or at least secure enough to contain a weaponless fledgling mage. She was also nursing a throbbing headache courtesy of whatever villager had seen fit to crack her one as she had seemed to attack the Magistrate, and this only added to her irritation and fear.

They thought she was a murderer! Would they execute her? Revealing her identity would perhaps save her life - if they could be convinced that she was in fact who she said she was - but then instead of a scaffold or headman's block, she would be facing her father and who was to say that he wouldn't kill her in a fit of rage anyway?

She stopped her pacing for a moment to tug her pants back up. She had been stripped of her pearls and weapons, and with the dagger and sheath had gone the belt that the sheath had been attached to, leaving her dangerously close to pantlessness every few minutes.

She suddenly had a mental vision of swinging from a rope, her bare legs suddenly in plain view for all the crowd to see.

At this auspicious moment, a pair of guards tromped down the hall and opened up her cell.

"All right, time to go!" growled one of the burly men.

Her eyes widened and she backed into a corner.

"Get out!" she commanded in a high, unsteady voice. "Get out this instant!"

The guards rolled their eyes and went about fulfilling their orders directly, dragging Merro literally kicking and screaming down the hall and then tossing her to the floor in front of the tall dark stranger waiting by the Magistrate's desk.

She had had her eyes closed, but they flew open as she landed with an ungainly "oomph!" on her hands and knees. Rolling, she ended up with her backside on some boots and her head knocking back against a pair of legs. She looked up to see the guards and Magistrate - still alive, Saints be praised...they couldn't convict her of that murder at least - with slightly amused expressions on their faces. She looked further up to see a familiar stony stare.

"Oh, no," she breathed.

Merro's mouth opened, but shock and an additional bolt of fear at this new development served to silence her, so she simply snapped her mouth shut again and stared up at her new captor unbelievingly. The concubine bit earned Letalus a Look, but it seemed to pass his gaze unnoticed.

Merro's bruised head gave her a bit of a throb as soon as she was able to spare it any attention, and that put her to mind of other matters of concern. As they passed out of the building, she gave Letalus' chest a few panicked smacks and hissed,

"Wait, wait! My belongings! Those thieving peasants took everything!" A faint idea budded. "Put me down at once! I must get my jewelry back!"

And my sword. And maybe run out the back of the building while you wait. Yes. Perhaps she could escape both her captors this day.

Merro didn't know Letalus very well, after all.

Merro winced, partly from the pressure and partly in lieu of a forehead-slap of disappointment. Her wiles were getting her nowhere. She attempted honesty instead. She was always willing to try something new.

"Fine. I don't need the pearls. But I want my sword," she said, staring defiantly at those guarded grey eyes. "It's magical, it feeds on blood, and it's mine." This was not an argument designed to convince anyone of much, but she thought it might be enough to interest Letalus, even if it be on his master's behalf. She could argue the point of whether or not she would go willingly back to her father later.

ooc: *god modes a little for the sake of convenience*

Donk. Merro brought up a hand to rub her temple before glancing back up at her captor. What did her father feed this man? She waited out his internal musings and then sighed with relief as he set her down.

With Letalus following too close behind her, she quickly stepped back inside the Magistrate's office and peremptorily demanded the return of her belongings, backing it up with a snappish,

"My Lord..." curse it all, what name did Letalus give?! Alibaba? No, Abba. No, something longer...agh, never mind the details. "...who is not known for his leniency, will not look kindly upon this thievery." Take that, peasant scum.

The earrings and necklace were soon back on her person, but while she was allowed to belt herself back into relative pants-security, her dagger and the mysterious sword were quickly appropriated by Letalus. Seeing her options dwindle with alarming rapidity, she fell back upon wiles.

"I found the sword in a cavern during the storm a few nights ago," she said in a low voice as they gained the street once more. Might as well insert a grain of truth to establish veracity. "There was a bit of ancient parchment with it as well, but I've lost that long since. It didn't tell me much about this sword, save that it feeds upon blood, but it did mention a veritable treasure trove of such other things held at the sacred temple at Kiadawel. I...wanted to go there to put the sword back. I didn't want Father to have it."

Her invention began to peter our, and her story accordingly began to lame out. In a rush, she added in a louder voice,

"He'd just use it for his own evil! That's his way with everything he owns! He uses me and he's probably just using you as well and I'm sick of it all!"

She finished with this outburst of honesty and then fell silent, staring at the ground, afraid to meet Letalus' gaze for fear of reading utter disbelief in it. Not that she'd noticed him having an open expression. Ever.

She looked up, hope written across her forehead in high, bold letters.

"But we don't have to be!" she said insistently, her voice having a hard time deciding between a whisper and a shout. "I can claim sanctuary at the temple, and so can you!" The real reason for her wanting to go to Mt. Kiadawel, rather than her spurious claim of wanting to return the sword to its proper resting place. Had she known more about the temple, however, she would have found that she had in fact been telling the truth, as it had been used as a repository for sacred relics for ages.

She turned on a smile; not the genuine faux cultured smile that she used on His Toadship's guests at formal dinners, but the real deal that few had ever seen.

"Come with me," she said, suddenly hopeful of turning her captor into a valuable ally. "We can escape him."