"You there," said Scarface, to the little page coming down the hallway towards him from the direction of the suite Shavra Lyvalle occupied when residing at the palace. "Is the Lady Holder receiving visitors this morning?"
The little boy stopped dead in his tracks, his blue eyes going wide as he recognized to whom he was speaking. It was the first time he had been so close to any of the sevalles, and to actually be addressed by this one...!
"Y-yes, my Lord Scarface," stammered the page, and Scarface was hard-pressed to keep his smile from revealing itself. "Her Ladyship has but now completed her meditations and opened her receiving room. I am bid to inform His Majesty of this."
"Then do not let me keep you, sir," said Scarface, a twinkle appearing in his normally cold hazel eyes. "Make haste to His Majesty, and I will seek out the Lady Holder myself."
A soft chuckle escaped Scarface as the lad sped down the corridor, and his long strides made short work of the distance to the double doors leading to Shavra's suite. His imperious knock was answered by one of Shavra's attendants, a pert young woman with jet-black hair and dark eyes, who curtsied as she showed Scarface through the foyer into Shavra's office.
They entered a room filled with sunlight, perched in a palace tower, and dominated by an enormous picture window that afforded a magnificent view of Kuruda right down to the shoreline. The light warmed the figure of a tall young woman, standing before the window, gilding her silvery-blonde hair and revealing the merest shade of pink in the elegantly coiffed locks that coiled about her shoulders. The lavander dress she wore moulded itself perfectly to her magnificent figure until it reached her hips, where it flared into a floor-length skirt edged with intricate gold and silver embroidery.
Scarface heard the soft whisper of her skirt as she turned to face him, and felt the familiar pleasant shock of meeting her eyes - wide and thickly-lashed, the color of an Ashlianna twilight or purest amethyst - eyes that were celebrated the length and breadth of the Four Kingdoms for their beauty and direct gaze.
"My Lord Scarface Vy Low," she said, in her pleasant voice, sweet and low. She dropped him a curtsy, as was her custom, and Scarface bowed deeply in return. The formalities over, she favored him with a smile and beckoned him to a chair in front of one of the bay windows. "I am honored. Please - be seated. Gemma, see if we have any of that Lekhitor white left and bring us a flask. Don't forget some of that cheese from Baltor, either."
"Yes, my Lady," said the young attendant who had shown Scarface in. She bowed herself out of the room, closing the doors behind her. As soon as they were alone, Shavra tilted her head to study Scarface, her expression curious.
"So...to what do I owe this pleasure, Scarface?" she asked, settling herself in the bay window. "It is not often that you come to visit me in my den."
Scarface allowed himself to relax somewhat, for the chair was comfortable, and the room's atmosphere soothing. In his lazy voice he began to tell her of the scheduled meeting.
"His Majesty the King will be receiving certain persons in the Great Hall in ten days time," he said, "He wishes you to attend him robed as the Lioness of Kuruda, and I am to be your escort on that day. You are also to attend the special audience he will have after receiving them before the Court."
Shavra's amethyst eyes considered Scarface, openly curious. "Important guests, to merit a special audience, and His Majesty wishing to have me there in ceremonial dress. It is not often he wishes me to be seen in such a manner. Am I allowed to know who they are?"
"The King regards them highly enough," smiled Scarface. "They are Crimson, Shadow Skill, Black Howling and Black Wing."
Shavra gasped and grew pink at the mention of the fighting name Black Wing. "The Black...Wing? Is here in Kuruda?"
"He arrived with his sister Shadow Skill not six hours ago," said Scarface evenly, watching with interest Shavra's swift struggle for control. "You did hear of the battle at Blorhan, did you not?"
"Yes, it would seem that Gau Ban earned his fighting name of Black Howling in Blorhan," replied Shavra. "One sevalle apprentice was the equal of a thousand that day - and I am glad for him."
"Do you not wonder why that one sevalle apprentice was out there, when the battle was originally headed for Lekhitor?"
Shavra stared hard at Scarface, who returned her gaze levelly, without flinching. When the amethyst eyes flashed in fierce indignation, it served to confirm what he knew from the day Elle Ragu and the Lady Holder had met -- the affection in her heart for Shadow Skill and her motley crew.
"You sent him out there! You sent Gau alone out there to defend...!"
"Yes, I did, Shavra. The move towards Lekhitor was a feint to draw out Kuruda. They wanted Black Wing all along, to forge their weapons and fight alongside them."
Shavra sniffed her disdain. "Stupid fools. Dias Ragu is Kuruda through and through. They could not possibly have believed he would turn against his own country, and his sister the 59th sevalle of Kuruda?"
"Apparently they did, my Lady," murmured Scarface, and smiled at her exclamation of scorn. "You, on the other hand, seem to have no doubts about the character of Black Wing."
Shavra glared at Scarface. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Merely that for someone who has not seen the man these ten years past, you exhibit an unusual amount of faith in his loyalty. Trusting you are, Lady Shavra, but not a fool - that much I know."
"Well for you that you realize it, my Lord Scarface," she retorted, the gold flecks in her lavander eyes sparkling angrily.
"I must admit that you have piqued my curiousity. How is it that you know enough of Black Wing Dias Ragu to have given him such affection?" Scarface's voice was silky. "When the Black Wing brought you to Court, you were little more than a child. And soon after that, he was fighting battles wherever he could find them."
"As you yourself were," pointed out Shavra sweetly, and the two of them laughed. "I may as well tell you, then - because I won't be able to sleep for wondering how you'll piece the story together if I don't.
/tbc