GDRP - Book One: The Caspialga, and the Tribal Wars

From across the room. I had the strangest sensation. It sent shivers up my spine. I looked towards where the chill seemed to emanate from. Driven by curiosity I walked through the crowd, Azera following behind, to investigate this feeling of mine. I weaved through some nobles less than courteously, and received some scolding and harsh words from them as I left them behind me. The feeling was familiar. I could not place where it was familiar. As soon as I thought the feeling was familiar, I suddenly felt this sense of deja vu. I had been here before. Walked through this space, done these things.

I must have done something like this in a past life. I stopped walking for a second to do a reality check, I pinched my self. It hurt, and a rubbed the bridge of my nose. These senses were running wild. In a short time I beheld what I thought to be the source of my chill. The Ljnn I had seen earlier was speaking with a boves girl. Strange, I had not seen someone else from Boveskrund in years. I don't think many of them come here. The climate is too different. She was pressed closely to the Ljnn, and I got the feeling, by gazing upon the two, that this was not in her wishes. I walked around them, amidst the crowd, until I could come up behind them. I heard much of what was said between the two. Though it was none of my business, I would play the fool here.

"You're a long way from Boveskrund." I said as I approached the two from the rear.

"...Make it quick. I'd prefer you don't use your...broadsword...but I doubt I really have a choice." She muttered. "And fine. I wasn't going to ask you to let go." She kinda pushed his hand down on her ass. "If you'd consider lessening your price."

She then heard the boy, and trned her head. "Hm? So are you, friend." She said.

Instant negativity emanated from the woman. "Well child," I started off in my usual tone. "I've lived here for most of my life." My tanned skin should have revealed that. She does not appear to be the sharpest spear in the pick. "What brings you into the arms of Izantin, boves?"

Cejiso smirked a little, his eyes sparking for a moment at the words of Saorise. Victory, just like last time.
But before long, his pleasure was cut short, at the voice of a man behind him. Cejiso looked back and frowned.

He remained silent, before hearing the young one speak again. Cejiso smirked, holding Saorise tighter. The arms of Izantin? Hardly. More like the arms of a Ljnn.

"Listen, welp. You will not address me as child, no matter how long you have lived here. I'm probably five years your senior." She glanced at Ceijso. "And if you hold me any tighter, I might lose my ribs." She grimaced.

I laughed, the laugh was not loud, but quiet, and it was like a grandfather laughing as his grandson performed some memorable act. I always thought it was funny how the young disrespect those they deem lesser. However, the fact was also saddening, and it was my hope that with age the young gained wisdom. However, I knew that was only true for some. "My my, such vicious words. What have I done in our brief encounter to anger you so?" Such childish words. Responding to a man wearing these vestiments. Surely even a foreigner to these parts would see the religious clothing and think twice before snapping at him. I was wrong, however.

"You have insulted me by refering to myself as 'child'. I am no child, and I will not be talked to as such."
Looking at him, she frowned. Looking him up and down, she rolled her eyes. "Of course. Religious types. Holier then though, son of bitch, prouder then the rulers of hell. I have no care for religion. So save your 'child' speech for someone who believes."

At her response, I laughed, it was hearty laugh, one born of great amusement. "My my, you think I'm a priest of some religion?" She was such a firm believer in something so transient. "Ho oh, my child, how is it you presume to know my title, my age, and my station, without me telling you?"

Cejiso snapped for a moment, looking at Saorise and then at the visitor. He was not having any of this. If the man was able to get in here, then certainly he held some weight, and Cejiso was not going to allow his companion to embarrass him.
"Ignore her, my friend. She is just on the grumpy side right now. We've been talking and there are many problems she is having with her life right now. Of course, if she calms down for a moment, they may just go away."

His words were laced with intent, as he gave Saorise a stare for a moment, his hand still nestled on her backside, which he gave a quick pinch, before whispering to her.
"Calm down, Videnet. There's no point getting all worked up, not yet."
Cejiso looked back at the man, eyeing him many times over.

"... Where are you from? I thought you had come with the convoy, but I don't recognise your garb of those among my consort."

Saoirse growled but remained silent. Bastard. She'd cut off his Ljnn dick one day, and she'd personally burn him from the inside with her most powerful spells.
The pinch ignored, and she listened to him but remained silent.

"Ahhhh, I was not a man in your consort, this is true." I said, nodding. "I am a hermit, I dwelt in the desert near Uzedual, by the the lonely mountain, a days travel from Az." I smiled, the hairs of my beard, moved and irritated my skin, so I stroked the strands to keep them from irritating me. With a twinkle in my eye, I said "I am also a herbalist, an alchemist, a healer, a wiseman, a mage, and a scholar. I have many talents, dear Ljnn, and the one that brings me into this place, is one of medicine. I cured the illness of a young man, the son of one of the nobles who takes his pleasure here."

Cejiso raised his brow, no smile on his face as he listened. Az was a small village, far from Jiyiyad, but he remember passing by it on the journey. Hardly anything too impressive. That this figure had been called by a nobleman, and of Uzekidan and Uzek, was very impressive. The Ljnn thought for a moment - the healer of a noblemans son. There was some power there, definitely. With a smile, Cejiso prepared to make use of it.

"It is nice to meet you, dear guest. I am Cejiso, Jazierih of Halid and Cantai, and a close family friend of the Exarch. Might I ask for your name, then?"

Cejiso jabbed at Saorise for a moment, glaring at her from the side, urging her to introduce herself.

"Saoirse McKenna, Grand Vidanet of the First Aerial Brigade of the Boveskerund Miliatry and currently Standing Ambassador of the Royal Family of Boveskerund." She said flatly.

"Nice to meet you Cejiso, and Saorise. I am Nikolaus of Uzedual. and I must say, I have forgotten the length of titles used in Boveskrund. It has been a long time," I looked into the crowd, "A long time indeed."

Cejiso looked at Saorise, and then at Nikolaus, raising his brow again and thinking of the Boves people he knew in his time. They looked nothing like this hermit. He wondered if he was misinterpreting the words of this man.

"I'm sorry for my confusion, but... are you from Boveskerund? I must say you bare far more resemblance to an Otaizen than to any Boves I had met in my times."

"Oh I know, dear Cejiso, I know that quite well. I am of Boveskrund, yes, but I was not born there. I daresay, once you've seen the boveskrund people, you might see a few like me, for my visage is far from uncommon. However, the tint of my skin might be what is setting me apart. I have lived here for nearly all of my life. I daresay, my own people would think me a foreigner." I spoke clearly and with amusement. For I enjoyed the bafflement of those who have not experienced the people who have lived in a foreign place more than their origins.

Cejiso feigned a smile, before shaking his head a little. This man held himself so very highly, or at least that was how it seemed. The Ljnn scratched at his neck for a moment, sighing softly and speaking up, his voice quite as clear, but far from as amused.

"Oh, I have seen my fair share of the Boves people. Beautiful, in their own way, and infinitely different to the Otaizen people. Perhaps it is that beard, then, and the head of hair that has me so shaken by you."

He looked up at the Exarch, and then around at the other Otaizen around them, smirking.
"It isn't hard to see how closely you resemble these people."

"Ah, but one must adapt to his environment, I have been surrounded by the Otaizine peoples, and I have adapted to learn about them, by being as they are. So your observation is correct, but it is also false." I was imparting wisdom, the difficulty here, lay in the ground work of Cejiso's life. I knew not his past experiences. Nor his history, but I knew his type well enough. He is not the first of his kind, nor will he be the last. A part of me knew that without proper introspection that my statement would make little sense. but I ignored it.

Talmira, watching the crowd, saw that some weren't just looking at her, but looking at the bird of prey perched on her shoulder. She gave a small grin at the thought. Ah...they've never seen a beast like this in their lives... Then the Ljnn archer hit upon an idea of sorts. She felt it was somewhat appropriate, given the situation.

Don't think I didn't spot you, Man-whore of Cantai. Time to have some fun with you...that, and it's time for, a bit of theater.

She then motioned for Vietor to climb onto her arm to which the falcon happily obliged. Talmira then raised her arm and whispered in to the bird in Ljverjyin "Seek out Cejiso. Buzz him and the people around him." The bird cocked its head and seemingly nodded, prepping its wings for flight.

Talmira then threw her arm forward, saying once more in Ljverjyin, "Fly." And the falcon surged forward in a flapping of feathers, many members of the crowd riveted by the sight of Vietor taking flight, surging toward his objective.

Vietor, after a minute or so, found the Ljnn in conversation with the Boves duo. The bird the soared down, wings spread as it flew between the three with an avian grace. Vietor's wingtip came close to smacking Cejiso in the face as the falcon buzzed him.

Talmira turned her head and watched the display, snickering. This of course, elicited a great many laughs out of the crowd as well. She let a smile appear on her face as Vietor completed his circuit, now coming back to his master.

Mission accomplished...

As Vietor swung around the room, a dark aura emanated from behind Talmira, washing over her. The aura was filled with anger and disappointment.
Some guests actually backed away, as if they could feel the anger and not just see the nine snow-white fox tails held up and obviously angry.
A few words of the Kayvan language was barked out, and Vietor faltered. He began to head to Talmira...and Akihira moved even closer to her back, tails touching Talmira.
"Despite your dislike of the Man-Whore of Cantai, this is a party for the rich. Some might have snickered, but you have acted inappropriately and I dislike the fact you have brought your falcon." She grew angrier. "You almost hit the Heavenly Blade of Hirsch, who harbors slight dislike for him too. So stop acting up, and act like you're five."

Akihira pulled away. "Behave, or you will be thrown out."

Saoirse looked over, then sighed to herself. Oh dear.

Meanwhile....

Thesia cried out in pain. The Princess' lip curled nastily, dragging a fingernail gently up Thesia's spine. "Aww, does it hurt when I do this?" She did what she had done again, causing Thesia to scream in pain.

She was on Ajah's lap. The Princess was twisting her nipples painfully, grinning to the melody of sorrow.
"Does my pet want it to end?"
"Yes ma'am." She said.
"I'll be a bit merciful." Thesia felt herself pushed against the Princess' chest, and her hands roam over her.
"I'll be nice...for now."

Talmira's shock was only for a brief moment, the gravity of her actions hitting her pretty quickly. She bowed her head in apology, her face reddening from shame. She said, "My apologies. I'll restrain myself in the company of this audience."

Vietor gave a mild squawk of complaint as he settled on Talmira's shoulder, and the Ljnn gave him a pat on the head to calm the beast down.

Cejiso had watched the bird as flew around, messing with him and risking hitting him over and over again. For a moment, Cejiso contemplated attacking the bird, putting it down and making it an example - but spilling blood here would be a major problem.
And it seemed Cejiso was lucky as someone else managed to bring the bird tamer to sense, as the feather buzzard returned almost as if frightened.

For a moment, Cejiso closed his eyes, trying to regain his composure. Being made a fool of was something that he did not like, especially by some bird.

He looked back to Nikolaus with a smile, and bowed momentarily, letting out a faint laugh. Something about it was more than a little disturbing, hearing Cejiso laugh.
"I see. Well it has been very pleasant, knowing you Nikolaus. Perhaps we will meet again, sometime. But right now my colleague and I have some very important business to attend to. I'm sure you understand."

Cejiso shook the hand of the nomad before turning and leading Saorise with him to the back of the hall, grinning evilly.
"Would you prefer this be done quick, or done in private?"

Saoirse followed.
"Both, Man-Whore of Cantai. Quick. Private. Or is that too much to ask for, this blackmail be paid so my dignity can remain intact and relations between Otaizin and Boveskerund not tempered by me having harmed their darling posterboy." She replied icily.

Cejiso grinned to himself evilly, his canines giving off a far more intimidating look than he was aware. He took Saorise by the arm and led her into one of many separate rooms within the large castle. Cejiso assumed it was some form of broom closet, judging by the tight space. Not that it really mattered, he'd made do with far less.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy this just as much as you did last time, dear Vidanet."

With that, Cejiso began to work the only magic he had truly mastered.

The corrupted Ljnn stepped away from me. To have his way with the boves woman. I turned to my new assistant, Azera, and asked her what she thought about the exchange, as she stood off to the side as I conversed. She was confused by the both my spoken word and the consequence thereof. As I listened to her, I look around for a place to sit, and there was one close by. So as she voiced her thoughts, I led her to the bench that was open. We sat down, and as we did, her dress loosened, since the dress was designed by men who like to behold women in their barest of flesh, her dress did little to conceal her. She stopped talking shortly after we sat down, "You look sad." she said, I gave a small smile.

There are truths in this world that many men do not know. I spoke to her, telling her what these truths meant, and how they were everywhere and yet nowhere to be seen. After explaining my observations and thoughts on these truths, for I knew only a few, I began to tell her what I discovered about myself. I was an old man in a young body. She thought this was silly, of course, as how could an old man be a young man? This brought a smile to my lips. I am an old soul, I told her, it is not something that many understand, but it is also not esoteric. I spoke to her of the age of souls, and of spirits. Telling her of these things before she was ready, I knew she would not remember it all. For how could she? Teaching such a philosophy, one enveloped in spirituality, was not easy to learn or teach. This philosophy, was one that I had come to understand through my own life experiences, through my own study of philosophy, and through my own philosophizing.

Like the study of magic, you need a teacher at first, someone to show you one way, but it is up to you, the student, to find your own way. To make a new path, follow the untrodden road, you might suffer pitfalls, or errors in judgement, but you'll have gained something from these experiences. You will have learned something new. Every journey, teaches us more than our destination. Just like these journeys, the soul goes through a journey, a journey across time, living many lives, gaining many experiences, and after hundreds of years, or thousands of years, or tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years, the soul will finally be on its last journey. At this point in the journey, the soul has grown old, and it carries memories of where it has been and what it has done. The souls, in their final journey, have seen and done so many things, that they are world weary, and they are tired of being around people, they are often hermits, like myself, or they like to be in seclusion for long periods of time. This gives other people the misconception that they are anti-social, or have something to hide.

Azera looked at me strangely as I revealed a part of this philosophy, and I guessed what she was thinking, "what about me?" She asked, and I told her that it was not for me to know at this time, nor is it time for her to know. Then, relating back to my earlier question to her, she asked me about referring to the other boves woman as "child". "I am an old man in many ways, except in physical appearance." I said to her, She is young, and in her prime, and though in age we may be differ, she may be physically older than I, but when you live in the tribal lands, the lands were the Boves empire does not reach, there is a respect for those with inherent wisdom, and as we grow up with our elders, we learn to call others "my child" or "child" and it is not out of disrespect of their station, but out of a habit in which the old refer to the young. Not every person does this, and not every person understands this. This is why I was not shocked at her response. She is young, she is brash, and she does not understand the wisdom of old men. There is a difference in how one is raised, whether it be of their own hand, or of the hand of another. There are values that are instilled by our parents, or ourselves, and there are values that are inherent. That are simply ours, ungiven by others. Azera was taken aback by this. "what man is this, that thinks he is older than others, by virtue of his soul?" she thought to herself.

I smiled, and put a hand on her shoulder. "I am not going to be like any one you have ever met, nor will you meet another man like me." To further explain, I told her to think about her past suitors, and the people she met in the past. How many of them were born into nobility, and how many of them worked their way into it. How many of them were like Cejiso, fueled by his own lusts and desires, or like Saoirse, who climbed her way up from the bottom, and despite her actions, she is still not of nobility. There are many kinds of people, but there are few individuals. People are the same in ways that they do not understand, and in ways they do not notice. We have parallels. There are people in the world that are just like us, but different in some way. They might be taller, shorter, thinner, fatter, diseased, or sickly, they could be in many ways different, and in many ways the same, but they are still parallel to you.

At this point, I knew that I had gone off on tangent, the discussion of parallels would make no sense at this point in time. Nor ever, in my lifetime, would it make sense to anyone other than me. Such was the burden of many philosophers, their work could be lost to the ages, only to be rediscovered by one person, who makes sense of it, and reveals it to the world for the world to make sense of. Such is the fate of man, and all that is intelligent, no discovery is true, if the public does not like it, or understand it.

Together, Azera and I talked about these things, and when the topics grew small, I stopped talking. For unless the topic was deep, I could not put effort into speaking it. We sat and watched the festivities. The world moving in front of me, like a memory from some distant lifetime. From a time where I enjoyed these events, where I would be dancing with these people, enjoying life as I had lived so little of it. The sense that I had done this all before was so great, that I drifted into sleep on the bench, dreaming of this past life of mine.

Cejiso stood in the main hall again, a smug grin across his face, as he watched Saorise return to her sister. He had to admit, it'd been more fun that he remembered.

The Ljnn scanned the hall slowly, frowning to himself. Something had changed, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. There were less people, yet... more? As the Jazierih looked over the crowds, he realized the bizarre thing he was seeing; the mercenaries and traders from outside had been allowed in. Some were even selling there wares in here. The dancing had escalated, which meant the Exarch had allowed the nearby traders in to of course, trade, with those who chose not to dance. Waters, wines, fruits, all manner of food and drink were being traded.

Cejiso saw, however, that many of the traders had taken to the floor themselves. Though the Exarch did not mind, likely due to the council of his 'beloved' wife, Cejiso hardly felt the same way. As one of the merchants came up to him to sell their wares, the Ljnn grabbed an apple and pushed the man away in disgust, taking a bite and frowning to himself.

Perhaps the few other guests here were having more fun than him.

Saoirse returned to her sister, again taking her hand. The two moved off, Saoirse smiling carefully for her beloved. She leaned over to kiss her sister's hair.
"Sorry, had to go...relieve myself."
Buying it, Ana smiled and nodded. Saoirse breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, arms encircled Ceijso's waist. "Hello." A voice whispered. The Princess had decided to make an appearance, and around her wrist was a rope. It trailed behind her to the slave, Thesia, who was clad in what could only be described as a golden bikini. The rope went to a collar around her neck, and the bikini bottom had a dress-like addition that ensured some measure of modesty.
Ajah pulled Thesia forward. "Wish you feel how smooth her skin is after a nice bath?" She teased.

Rúcina hadn't really done anything since arriving. Took one or two purses and then sat in a tavern. There wasn't much to be done right now. Rumors were that there was some kind of gathering going on. Bunch of higher ups.

Rúcina didn't care. He was here for the riches he'd heard about, but since arriving. It was clear they were lies.

Lora watched from the corner of the dimly-lit tavern as the patrons went about their business, laughing, jeering and boasting. She was particularly interested in the latter of the three, as drunks tended to boast about things that would usually be kept quiet, and that was exactly what she needed, an individual who was part of a not-so-legal profession.

She kept an eye on the quiet ones as well, the shifty-looking ones with quick fingers, not just because her own purse was quite heavy.

Rúcina stood up off of his stool and tumbled backwards drunk, knocking two pints out of a larger mans hands. Rúcina turned around, stumbling and raised a finger.

"Now then. I'm sorry"

He gave a little bow as he said it, still staggering. The man's face was filled with rage and he raised a fist to hit Rúcina.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah,woah. Think. If you punch me and I fall over then the man who got punched might not be able to buy the man who did the punching a drink to make up for it and so avoid being punched. Instead, the man who got punched will then, most likely, end up punching the man who did the original punching making him into the man who got punched. Savvy?"

The man took a few moments as he tried to think about it. Rúcina took the advantage to slip his purse from his belt before leaning in close, still staggering.

"Thanks for the drinks".

Rúcina span on one foot, raised his leg up 90 degrees and went to stride out the door. Instead he hit one of the beams of wood that connected the floor to the ceiling  and fell over. The man had by this point realised his purse was taken and that he still hadn't punched Rúcina.

"Ah."

Rúcina rolled to the side as the man's boot came slamming down where his head was. He grabbed it and pulled, bringing himself up onto his knees as he did so. The man fell backwards, smashing his skull off of a nearby table.

"Should have taken the drink, my friend."

Rúcina turned around again, picked a tankard up from the nearest table, drained it and stumbled out.

Lora decided she'd found someone, and left the tavern after him. If he could manage to steal a coin purse that easily while he was too drunk to walk, he could more than likely help her a lot sober. She put a hand on her dagger as she walked out of the door, and held a throwing knife behind her back in the other, and approached him, noting that he was a Ljnn.

"Might I ask your name, thief? Or shall I just keep calling you thief?"

Rúcina span round quickly and looked the woman who had spoke up and down.

"You can call me Susan if it gets me into bed with you faster."

Rúcina grinned at her and stumbled over onto his ass.

"What do you want?"

"Your name, first of all," She answered him, "And don't think you'd be getting into bed with me, what I'm after is strictly business,"

Lora slowly weighed the knife in her hand, making sure that she could throw it in a heartbeat, if needed.

"Darling. Sex is strictly business, depending on your line of profession."

Rúcina laughed.

"Tell me what you want, then you can have my name."

He lay down in the dirt, staring up at the sky and giggling.

"What I want is for you to break into a party for me," Lora said, loosening her grip on her dagger, but keeping the knife ready, "Do you think you could manage that? Or do I need someone more competent?"

Cejiso laid a hand on those wrapped around his waist, smiling, only barely listening to what the princess said before he looked down at the figure in the corner of his eye. In shock, he spun, pushing Ajah back a little to avoid the eyes of the Exarch, who'd taken a lapse in watching Cejiso.

"Ajah, dear princess, what is this? You can't treat a slave like this. In a privat function, perhaps, but there are both Boves and Mokol folk here, and neither would take too kindly to... that."

Cejiso looked down at the girl, sneering; despite having bought her and handed her over, still he saw her as worthless for being a slave. To him, slavery was a way of putting the worthless in their place, whether they had functions or not. Workers, warriors, or just chained up wastes of human flesh, to him all were pathetic.
And Thesia was no different.

"At the very least have her stand up. And put a robe on her or something."

The Ljnn looked around for a moment, trying to spot a Kayva amongst the crowd.

"Details. What party. Where. Are there guards. How many. Why. What's the payment. When. What kind of stuff will I be dealing with. How many doors or windows or locks."

Rúcina sat up, considerably sober.

"These things are important."

"I'm sure you've heard of the party, in the palace?" Answered Lora, "Yes, there will be guards, and the payment will be 350 Gerns, plus whatever you might steal inside. One window, three doors,"

"350 to break into the palace."

Rúcina laughed and pushed himself onto his feet.

"You have almost five times that in your purse, not that I'd get to it with that knife behind your back of course."

Rúcina walked towards her confidently.

"500."

"Deal," Lora answered, she was being paid more than that anyway, an increase in price wouldn't be a bad thing, "You'll get the money after I'm finished, understood?"

"You pay me now, before we do anything."

Rúcina looked her up and down again.

"Put the knife away already. It's not going to do any good."

"If I pay you now, what's to stop you leaving with my money?" Lora answered. She kept hold of the knife, having no reason to trust a thief.

Rúcina strode a little closer to her, almost within breathing distance now.

"If you pay me now, I won't go to the guards with your little plan. If you pay me now, I won't take all that gold from your corpse."

Rúcina smiled at her.

"You don't want to trust a thief. But you really don't have another option."

He moved quickly, dropping down and sweeping his legs at hers in an attempt to take them out.

Lora saw the attack before it hit her, having spent years of her life in situations more dangerous than this, and jumped, only too late, and one of her feet was caught, causing her to lose balance and fall sideways. With her free arm, she looped her elbow around his neck, either to catch her own balance, or bring him down with her.

Catching her own balance, she pulled herself close to him, and brought the knife around,
"Don't trust a thief, and don't fight with strangers," She said, holding the knife close to his throat, "I'll give you half of it now,"

Rúcina brought his leg up behind him, aiming between her legs whilst simultaneously twisting the hand holding the knife around and away from his neck. He danced to the side, drawing his bow and notching an arrow, raised it and stood there.

"500 now. 350 later."

His neck was bleeding from a shallow incision there.

Lora smiled,
"Your price has gone up," She observed, "You can shoot me now, but you risk getting killed yourself, or you can help me for 500, and I won't play the damsel in distress and have the crowd in there help me," Lora held the knife in a throwing position, watching the other's moves carefully.

"You can cry out, I can shoot you, take your gold and be gone across those rooftops before a single person has even left their seat."

Rúcina smiled at her yet again.

"500 now. 350 later. Or do you want to test my boast?"

Ajah snapped her fingers, and a robe was drapped around poor Thesia...of course, way too late, as the very dark emanating presence of a pissed off Akihira just friggin appeared behind Ceijso, like it always does.
"Good Ljnn. I take it you also see the vile thing slavery is and are vying to ensure such a thing being taken care of? If not, then I guess what I do see is...a cover up." She finished, watching Thesia hug the robe around her. The nine gracefully fox tails arched around, and Ajah blinked to hide some uneasiness.
Obviously she didn't realize the Kayva were around.

"Dear Ceijso, what did I tell you about surprises?" Ajah said. Akihira looked to Ceijso. "Yes, dear Ceijso, what have you been told?" She asked somewhat politely, the mock clearly there but oh so left out. She looked to Ajah, one hand on the ever-present curved Mohol blade at her side.

Thesia watched with fear as, from behind Ceijso, Saoirse and Ana watched with supreme amusement.

Cejiso had seen many things in his short time as a war consultant. He'd seen children butchered and slaughtered and worse, he'd seen men brought to their knees by their own pain and suffering at the hands of their enemies, he'd seen cities razed to the ground with no survivors to speak of. The ravages of war, famine, hatred, were all so terrifying to see.

And yet nothing terrified him more than a pissed off female.

He stood straight, looked forward, took a deep breath, and stepped back, so both women were in his view.

"There is a difference, Emissary, between proper slavery and... this form of slavery. And I'd like you to take note, Kayva,"
Cejiso stood close to her, looking down into her eyes.
"That I do not actively support nor oppose the act of slavery. Do not attempt to send me on some pathetic guilt trip; I am not as weak willed as your ilk."

The Ljnn turned his gaze to Ajah, frowning angrily as he stepped towards her.

"Dear princess, duchess, monarch of the future generations - what made you think it would be right to parade her around like that? She may be your slave, but she is still a feature in the public eye, and the representation of such a woman in the eyes of the empires of the world will be far less than pleasant. Be glad your father has not yet found out."

Cejiso looked back up at the throne, the Exarch now, surprisingly, gone, leaving his wife there, standing and watching over the festivities. Considering his new gift had not shown her face since arriving, it wasn't hard to assume where he was.

Cejiso closed his eyes, frowning, preparing himself for the lashback of these two women.

"350 now, 350 when it's done," Lora said, "I'm sure I could find another thief in this place, or I could find another way in, it's your choice whether or not you get this money,"