Avallac'h

Pillars and large, open windows revealed the beautiful architecture of dusk setting over the elven city outside, but this only seemed to interest Anise. With her in tail, Avallac'h strode toward the end of the throne room, only to be disappointed at the sight of Eredin standing beside the empty throne.

"Aen Saevherne," Eredin hissed in a low voice. "You have returned to Tir Na Lia, I see. And with a guest, no less—how droll of the king to miss this sight."

"Where is Auberon?" Avallac'h asked darkly, with equal disregard for courteous greetings.

"The king is away."

"Clearly—where has he gone?"

Eredin's eyes trailed over to the woman. "If you tell me why it is you've come, perhaps I will send for him."

Avallac'h glanced over his shoulder as the woman looked back from the windows, meeting his gaze before peering over at Eredin standing beside a throne. He turned to respond, but before he could speak, she strode in front of Avallac'h.

"You've a problem."

"Anise," he mumbled her name, and she gave him a sidelong glance.

"And what problem might that be?" Eredin asked, a subtle grin tugging on the side of his mouth.

"For the king's ear only," Avallac'h interjected, stepping forward carefully and laying a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Come," he added quietly.

Anise narrowed her eyes at him, and glanced at Eredin once more before turning to walk away with Avallac'h. The sound of Eredin's clanking armor faded as they stalked further away from the throne, where she finally turned and looked at the elven mage.

"That was a little strange. And abrupt."

"You're not to speak before him again," Avallac'h retortsed sharply. "Not of anything I don't permit you to speak of—nor of anything at all, if I instruct it, while you're here. Do you understand?"

The footsteps stopped beside him just outside the palace doors, and he looked over to see the woman peering down at him from the top of the steps, arms crossed.

She sighed as she trailed her eyes around the area. "You know, I'm not sure I like the weather here."

He furrowed a brow at her. "What?"

"I'm not sure I like it here, in fact, I'm not sure I'd like to stay."

Avallac'h parted his lips reluctantly, understanding the game. He stared intently as she descendsed the stairs. "Let me make one thing clear to you, Aen Saevherne," she lifted her chin up proudly as she closes the space between them. Something dark passds over her expression at first, but with a brisk decision flashing across her eyes, it abated to a gentler assertion. "Order me like that again, and I will explicitly go out of my way to do the opposite."

Avallac'h frowned. "I would rather have you think me rude, than dead. Eredin is the last person in this palace I would trust—or advise you to trust. You think me rude, but I am merely trying to act on the best decision. There are those who would seek to abuse the power you hold, I know you know this. It must be preserved."

Something sank in the woman's expression as she peered up at him—so abruptly, that it roused a quick twinge of discomfort in Avallac'h's chest. He watched for a moment, observing her delicate profile as she shook her head.

"I wasn't clear—you must explain your decisions to me, and discuss them with me henceforth. I understand you wish to preserve my blood," she said disdainfully. "But there's also a person living within it that must be preserved, and I protect her first and foremost—I protect myself, and I am more than capable of doing so. From all manners of harm."

"I don't doubt that you do," he nodded. "But in other matters, especially those of Tir Na Lia, you will need to trust my judgement."

She blinked upward, meeting his eyes for a moment. "I will decide which of your judgements to trust, but I ask that you respect me enough, then, to discuss your thoughts with me. I walked in there blind to the danger you speak of now. If I'm to work with you in any way, you must at least try to consider me a partner."

Avallac'h raised a brow as a sense of approval sets in—perhaps she'd be more cautious than he thought, though she hadn't particularly demonstrated it in the throne room. "Very well."

A glimmer of movement flickered through her cheekbones, and she took off in a steady stride ahead. An amused grin tugged on Avallach's lip as he watched her, "Do you know where you're going?"

She paused, and her head moves side to side as she glanced about her, and then pivoted toward him. "Well I'm sure you'll tell me, and then I will," she said smoothly.

Avallac'h shook his head slightly, and gestured in the direction of the le

Anise

Anise slowed somewhere at the end of the path, allowing the mage to surpass her, and trailed behind him through the streets of Tir Na Lia. Glinting lamp posts, pristine water fountains and pointed roofs—everything was just as she remembered it from the last time she'd been here, while training to use the transportive powers of the elder blood.

She slowed behind him as he came up to the door of a house, conjuring a key in his hand.

"Is this your home?" she asked, scanning the modest height of the little home.

"Yes," he answered flatly, unlocking the door.

With a wave of his hand, a fire appeared in the far corner of the room, illuminating the sight of papers and books strewn across fine tables and shelves—even the ornate chesterfield sofa. And, on the other side of the room, a small dining area and staircase led to a higher level.

Anise watched as the mage strode toward the stairs, and stopped at their base. She shuffled across the floor a bit uncomfortably—she hadn't expected to be staying in the man's very home.

"If you follow these stairs," he gestured to them. "You will find a bedroom. You may stay there for the time being, I will sleep here."

Anise furrowed a brow, sparing the couch a sidelong glance—did he intend to sleep on that? Certainly, he couldn't expect to sleep with her in his bed, if that was his offer for her lodging. Still, she'd be crass not to appreciate being given the more comfortable arrangement.

She nodded as he walked by, and met his silvery gaze for a moment. "Thank you."

"Nothing to thank me for," he mumbled.

"You're offering a stranger your bed," she said, turning toward him with a smirk. "And not in the pleasant way. It's more than I've ever gotten."

Avallac'h glanced at her before lowering himself into the chair beside the fireplace, and shook his head. "I find that hard to believe."

A painful memory flashed through Anise's expression, and she smirked at the flames beside him. "Try shackles."

Silence hardened between them. "Who imprisoned you?"

"My family," she said. "But… I suppose shouldn't have brought that up. I'd rather not talk about it, if that's alright."

The mage nodded. "Yes, that's alright."

Anise loosened a bit.

"You should go," Avallac'h said, nodding his head toward the stairs. "Get some rest—I saw how that incantation taxed you."

She grinned. "I should, but it wasn't all that taxing."

"Did your family teach you such magic?" Avallac'h asked abruptly, as though he'd been waiting for the opportunity to ask.

Her smile faded a bit as she bobbed her head. "Yes and no—we knew many practitioners of it. When my powers were discovered, many were asked to help me learn to control them."

"A wise decision."

"Perhaps," Anise said. "I'd call that debatable."

The mage furrowed a brow. "How do you mean?"

"Their methods did not leave me unscathed, in more ways than one."

Anise held his silver gaze for a moment, and crosses her arms as he looked about her searchingly. Finally, he responded softly, "I see."

She lowered her chin. "Mhm," she murmured, turning to shuffle slowly toward the staircase.

"Anise," his deep voice called her back. She stopped, looking back in time to see a glimmer of reluctance in his expression.

"Yes?"

"You'll find a tome upstairs, about the royal family and the monarchal structure of Tir Na Lia. I suggest you read it before you go to sleep."

She nodded. "I'll see if I can find it. Good night, Avallac'h."

"Good night."

The stairs creaked beneath her weight as she climbed them, arriving at a doorless room, with barely enough room for the bed laying underneath the window—much less the bookshelf at its end. She climbed onto it slowly, noting its cold stiffness from a lack of being used, and sat by the window for a moment—forgetting Avallac'h's instructions to find and read the correct book on the shelf.

Another job—that's all this was.

At least the city view was nice.

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