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Ben smiled and nodded as Vossler spoke and replied to his query about his father. In truth, Ben had heard similar things about Vossler's father, though not quite in the same words as Vossler had put it. Before Ben could speak however, his attention was captured by a woman who entered the building, whom Ben instantly knew to be Queen Judith Halloway. 'Ah hell...' he thought to himself silently. Ben was hoping that the Queen of Ater Nox wouldn't have shown up. In fact he was counting on it, though his hopes were apparently misplaced.

Though everyone at the table thought Ben to be simply a man of money and trade, he was much more than that, and the things he was involved in were much more complicated. Though he was the head of the Agency, he only had the position because his father, who originally started the Agency, had been killed at the hands of an Ater Nox assassin. And even though Ben had Ater Nox ancestry, he had a special hatred for the faction as a whole, just as his father once did, and it had only been fed by the fact that he grew up without really knowing his father. The conversation with Vossler only made him think about it more, as he watched the Queen take a seat near him.

Asher turned his attention from Vossler to the Queen, as she spoke. The wolf looked a little uneasy in her presence, and it was clear that the wolf mirrored Ben's true feelings regarding the woman. A low growl could be heard from Asher's throat, though Asher didn't open his mouth or bare his fangs. Ben reached over and stroked the wolf behind the ears to calm him.

He then noticed another woman who came over to join them, presumably Aiden Hymns, judging by her appearance, and by the man at the end of the table calling her by name. Though Aiden had never met Ben in person, she had done business with some of his representatives, considering that she was a weapons dealer and that the Agency had a tight grip on the circulation of Black Market goods. Ben chose to never do business on behalf of the Agency is person, rarely making an exception, for his position as the face of the Merchant's Guild was something he would rather not compromise to the rest of the world. All it took to blow Ben's cover was a weapon's dealer recognizing him as more than the Merchant Guild head, thus he chose to let his trusted men do his business for him. He also wasn't really fond of Ater Nox, and he knew this woman had ties to the faction.

He smiled at her with a drunken quality, acting as if he had no idea who the woman was. As he smiled at her, he noticed Chance walking over to the bar, now regretting his decision to come back to the table. He was growing tired of keeping his facade up, partly because of the alcohol, and partly because he was now at a table full of people that he neither trusted or felt comfortable around. The only exception of course being Ambassador Mairead, who Ben had taken a liking to. The girl, though only 16, was someone Ben had a bit of respect for. He had gone through many trials and tribulations at the age of 16, and he spent that entire year of his life trying to survive out in the West, along with the next 4 years after. He knew that as a 16 year old Ambassador, that she had quite the handful of responsibilities, the biggest being the responsibility of the entire faction of Armatus.

He glanced at her as she bowed in an Ater Nox fashion, in respect to the Queen. He then heard Aiden reply to Manson, who had just moments ago admitted that he was drunk. Which was no surprise. He didn't know this man, the one speaking to Aiden, and it bothered him. Something about the man made Ben uncomfortable, and suspicious. He couldn't place his finger on it.

Turning his attention back to Vossler, he grinned softly. "Your father sounds like he was an honorable man. It's unfortunate that he isn't here to join us, I'm sure he would be captivating all of us with his exciting war stories." Behind his well facaded smile, he wished that Vossler's father were here instead of the man who he was now looking at. In fact, he was ready to depart from this company at the table.

He turned to the queen. "Good evening your majesty, glad you could make it!" As he finished speaking, he lifted his almost empty glass of champagne up in front of him, a sort of toast to her presence, and then proceeded to down the last bit in the glass, exhaling sharply as he placed the glass on the surface of the table in front of him. He then stood up slowly, making sure to make it seem as though he had little balance from the alcohol. Grinning, he then spoke again. "Well it was a pleasure speaking to you all. I am fortunate to be in the same building with such fine company." He bowed slightly, in an awkward fashion that suggested that he was quite intoxicated, though that was his intention. As he rose, so did his wolf Asher, who was still staring at the Queen with an intimidating look. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think i'll go indulge myself in something a bit stronger than champagne." He smiled at everyone, and turned to Ambassador Mairead and winked at her, taking care to show that his smile in her direction was genuine at least.

And with that, he turned and made his way to the bar, now preferring the company of his friend Chance than the rest of this banter that was now polluting the table where Lady Aaren had been sitting. Asher followed at his side, and Ben could feel the wolf's mood lighten slightly now that they werent in the presence of so many people that Ben either didnt trust or just simply didn't like. Or both.

As he made his way towards the bar, however, he noticed Chance already heading in the opposite direction, with a bottle in hand, toward the grand staircase. Without breaking direction he continued towards the bar in a relaxed pace, thankful that he wasn't having to maneuver through a crowd. It was much easier to fein being extremely intoxicated when you weren't also having to dodge partygoers. As he reached the bar, the nearest bartender approached him, looking at him expectantly.

"I'd like that bottle of Thesaurum whiskey over there." He said, pointing to a round bottle with his right hand, while pulling out a large clip of Lucidian currency out of his jacket pocket with his left hand. The bar tender, just previously being the one to watch Chance Godfrey take an entire bottle after leaving a good amount of money, sighed and turned around to grab the bottle Ben was pointing to. As the bar tender set it down in front of him, Ben set down an amount of money three times the worth of the bottle. The bartender looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Thank you. Keep the change." As Ben spoke, he winked at the man, and took the bottle from in front of him. He then opened it, and took a sniff at the top of the bottle. The smell of the potent liquor reminded him of Thesaurum, and he smiled fondly. He then turned away from the bar, and proceeded to head towards the grand staircase, with Asher still at his side. He took care not to look toward the table where he had just previously been seated at, but did make sure to glance toward the area where his spy would have been. As expected, his spy that was disguised as a waiter was handing champagne to a guest, and was in the area Ben had placed him, which happened to be not too far from the table where he had just been. His gaze didn't last more than a moment, taking care to not draw any attention from anyone that might have been watching him.

He then continued forward, and up the stairs in pursuit of Chance. As he reached the second floor he noticed a familiar smell coming from the third floor balcony. Without breaking stride he continued up the stairs to the third floor, and immediately noticed the door to a third floor balcony slightly ajar, where his friend Chance was standing. The door to the balcony was slightly ajar, and the familiar smell was coming from the cigar in Chances hand, just as Ben expected. Ben opened the door enough so that him and Asher could exit through it, and once the two of them were on the balcony with Chance, he closed the door behind him.

He then turned back towards Chance and let out a long drawn out sigh, happy to be out of the company of everyone downstairs and in the company of two individuals whom he knew he could relax around.

"I could smell that bloody thing downstairs, you know." Ben said with a grin at the corner of his mouth, stepping forward and stopping next to Chance, looking out on the view of the city that Chance had moments earlier been enjoying alone. He opened his bottle of Thesaurum Whiskey, and took a long swig, enjoying the flavor of it as he brought it from his lips.

Asher padded up to Ben's side, now noticeably more relaxed than he was downstairs.

Ben glanced down at his furry companion with a half smile, reaching down with his free hand to momentarily scratch Asher behind the ears.

"I hate these damned parties." Ben grunted, returning his attention to the view in front of him. "Always with the bloody formalities..." He said with a hint of distaste in his voice. He immediately brought the neck of the bottle up to his lips, taking another swig of the Whiskey as if to cleanse his mouth of a bad taste.

"...and never short of tension." He sighed, taking another swig of Whiskey, now truly beginning to feel a tad bit intoxicated. He welcomed the warmth in his stomach, which always came just before one began to feel relaxed. He was happy to be out of that ballroom, and up here on the balcony of the third floor alone with Chance and Asher.