Heather sighed, thinking to herself, 'all the rich ones are taken' as the blue haired night Geoffrey strolled by with the princess cinched to his arm.
She'd recently been leeching money off of that poor romantic sap Gatrie, but that had ended abruptly when Shinon had discovered where all of his friends gold had been running off to. She'd ended up with about two hundred gold and an arrow riddled tent to replace.
You really couldn't blame a girl for trying.
Though she covered it up pretty well Heather was down-right desperate for the cash it would take to care for her dying mother. She had far too much pride to say this though, so she fell to gold digging, which had really done a number on her reputation.
. . .. . .
Neasala knew first hand what a shitty rep could do to you, and although he had his reasons for his repeated treachery there was no good way for it to be stopped, at least not if he wanted to keep his kingdom. And he absolutely DID.
He was dragged from his inward sulking when he bumped into a rather busty woman stopped in the middle of the road looking wistfully towards that bubbly Crimean wench and her lapdog. "Watch where you're walking, woman." He sneered. And that would have been the end of it had she not huffed and flipped her hair around, the sun making it shimmer like gold. GOLD. Neasala was never one to pass up something shiny, so he said, as apologetically as he knew how "that is, you wouldn't want to get hurt by some of the massive oafs galavanting around in that company of yours." He was still a bit sore from when that overweight knight had hurled a javelin at him and nearly lopped off his head.
"I wasn't even the one walking. Maybe you should watch your step, or better yet go up on those fancy old wings of yours and leave us Beorc in peace." Heather knew he was trying to win her over; he looked like a downright casanova. But Heather was hardly interested in men, truthfully. They just happened to spend their money a bit looser. If she had her way she'd be back in her tent watching that sweet little sage Illyana stuff her face with stolen rolls. She realized that , in her thought, she'd missed what he said just now. "What's that?"
'Insolent thing' Neasala's mouth twitched down a bit but he simply said. "My apologies." and then "let's both be a bit more careful in the future. " He gave her his most winning smile and held out his hand.
She didn't move to take his hand. "Why not?" she said. "see ya, bird brain." she walked off nonchalantly.
For a second it didn't register to the raven king what had happened. Then a word came to mind. Rejection. It made him want to vomit. never before had he thought the word would be applied to him. Any normal man might have cut his losses there, but to him it was personal. That woman didn't know it but she'd begun a dangerous game of cat and mouse and he WOULD have her.