Jessamine hid behind Jax's large red robes as the Duke and her father spoke. There was something about her father that was always so… charming might be the word? You could roll him in mud and dress him in rags and the man would still let out vibes of authority and grace. Despite the Dukes richer clothing and tons of jewelry, he somehow looked small and modest next to Emperor Euhorn.

She, however, kept her eyes locked on Corvo. She caught him throwing a glance at her once, but he quickly averted his ice-like eyes away from her and acted as if nothing happened.

Rather, he allowed his eyes to wander all over the courtyard and fought the urge to ask the Duke to explore it. Dark green bushes dotted with small pastel-colored flowers laced all the walkways of the courtyard, giving it an elegant feeling that was somewhat, well, alien. Serkonos architecture was quite different; gardens were rare (there wasn't a need, vegetation was everywhere), and buildings usually weren't very tall- even the Duke's home was only 3 floors up. The needle-like buildings of Dunwall only added to his fascination. Dunwall tower might have not been the prettiest structure he'd ever seen (it's white walls looked rather plain in comparison to the bright, almost painful colors of Serkonos) but it was undoubtedly the biggest, and after spending a week on a ship, he felt like he needed to move around for a bit.

Euhorn had informed the Duke about the feast he had arranged to welcome him, to which the Duke did his best to sound overjoyed (as if he didn't eat twice his weight in a day already). They then spoke a bit more about things Corvo was too absent to worry about, and only when his name was mentioned was he pulled out of his thoughts

"I shall have one of my guards escort Corvo to his chambers, now. I'd like him to join us tonight, though" Euhorn spoke, his voice as thick and as sweet as honey. "If that's alright, of course."

He spoke to the dark-haired but the Duke answered in his place, "Of course, of course! Not a problem at all!". The Emperor payed no attention to the chubby man, but rather, waited for Corvo's wordless nod before signaling someone over.

Only then did he avert his attention back to the Duke, "Now, If you don't mind, I'd like to continue our conversation in my study"

Corvo paced around his room like an animal in a cage, waiting for something, anything, to happen. Dunwall was so strange to him, yet somehow...comfortable. Almost all the men had shaven faces, none of the women wore clothing that showed off their stomach, and everyone always had shoes on. It was so peaceful compared to Serkanos. No one was drunk, manners were law and everyone knew their place.

Simple was the best word for it. From the food to the architecture to the people- rarely were things over the top. He liked it, even though it was a bit, well, boring.

He then let himself wonder what being the Lord Protector would be like. Did the Emperor have many assassination attempts? Or was having a Lord Protector more of a formality to scare off potential assassins? Dunwall was very well guarded, it seemed borderline impossible for someone to get in without being noticed. Anyway, he hoped his job would at least be a bit exciting, though it was doubtful. Protecting a 14 year old girl didn't seem like too much trouble, even if she was to be the Empress.

He knew it might take a bit of time to adjust to his new life. After all, just over a week ago he was running assassination contracts for the Duke. Maybe a life with a bit less excitement would be best for him.

Maybe.

He couldn't take being in the room anymore. He needed some fresh air, and the small terrace just wouldn't cut it. He could get away until tonight. The Duke was probably too busy talking with Euhorn to look for him, anyway. Where could he go? Maybe find the barracks, they were bound to have training grounds somewhere. Perhaps he could spar with someone? Even though risky, the idea seemed as good as any, and before he could convince himself otherwise, he was out the door.

Finding the barracks wasn't as hard as he thought. Not wanting to ask anyone for directions simply because he didn't want to draw attention to himself, Corvo easily tailed a few guards from afar, careful to not lose them around corners and stairwells. A right here, a left there, and before he knew it, he had reached a ring aligned with a wooden fence, in which pairs of soldiers were already batting steel at each other.

He carefully approached the ring, taking his time to observe them. They fought differently than Corvo had been taught, clumsily swinging their swords around, worrying about how much force they could throw into a hit, rather than how they hit their opponent. It felt almost embarrassing to watch. Personal experience told him that moving quickly and using your opponent's strength against them was the most efficient way to bring a man down. They didn't seem to realize that it didn't matter if you hit your target with force, if it was somewhere tough like the shoulder. However, a short swing to a more sensitive spot as the stomach, or perhaps a bat to the face could very well determine who walked out as a victor.

Corvo watched them inelegantly move back and forth for a while before he feeling the weight of a rather large palm on his shoulder. He turned around and widened his eyes at the wall of a man that had just shown up behind him.

After his size, the first thing Corvo noticed was his thick beard- something that he hadn't seen a single man from Gristol wear yet. His bulging nose was decorated with a golden ring and his thick eyebrows only added to his brute-like look.

"Corvel, was it?" he asked, his stern, somewhat unamused attitude perfectly fitting his looks.

"Corvo, actually." The man was undoubtedly the same one that stood by Euhorn during the ceremony. Was he the Royal Protector? "I don't think I've caught yours", he asked, trying to sound as formal as he could.

"Jax,", he said coldly, "pleased to meet you, Corlo."

Close enough

"Tell me," he continued, "What are you doing here?"

Damn it.

"Well," Corvo started, trying to sound as innocent as possible, "I decided I'd like to see a bit of the Tower," he offered, "I needed some fresh air, really"

Jax nodded in reply, giving an expressionless stare. Shouldn't he be with the Emperor now, and not here? Then again, Corvo could ask himself the same question.

The pair watched the fight in silence for a while, but Jax broke it rather quickly. "I suppose you won't be doing anything until tonight, right?"

The Serkonian raised his brow, "I don't imagine I will"

"Care for a match, then?" he asked casually, and without giving Corvo time to protest, picked up two blunt swords from the rack. He wiped the dirt off of the blades and headed into the ring, tossing one to Corvo as if it was a rag. Corvo followed him into the ring, and before long, they had already taken their positions.

"So," Jax grunted as he threw the first hit to Corvo's side, "How long have you served the Duke?"

Corvo jumped back and repositioned himself, taken aback by his directness. "A few years I suppose, why?" He circled around Jax, enjoying the spar while he could.

"I'd like to know a bit about the man that's going to protect our Empress for the rest of his life," Jax threw his sword, slamming it with Corvo's, before twisting it and almost landing a punch in his gut.

Corvo rolled to the side and tried to trip the brute, but only caused him to stumble a bit. It was to be announced tonight at the party - on earth did he find out about that? Not even Jessamine knew. Perhaps he overheard the Emperor talking to someone? "Fair enough." The dark-haired man grunted, "What else would you like to know?"

Jax swung his huge palm, catching Corvo by his robe and pulling him closer, "How on earth did they convince the Emperor to let someone from Serkonos protect the future hier?" his voice snapped and hissed at Corvo's ears. He threw him to the side like a ragdoll, but luckily, Corvo managed to land on his feet, pushing the dust-like dirt back with him. The sudden change in atmosphere was rather unwelcoming

"Does it matter where I'm from?" He said, trying to hit Jax from the side. The Protector caught Corvo's sword with his own and twisted it upwards, until their blades formed a perfect 'X' and their faces were mere inches from each other.

"I'd imagine it does" he spat out through gritted teeth

Jax pushed will all his force, landing Corvo on his back. He lifted up his sword and swung it with all his might down onto the smaller man, and he would have broken a bone had Corvo not rolled to his side and and jumped back on his feet. In a few swifts movements, he hit the barbarian in the back of his knees, then twisted around and elbowed him in the stomach before finally focusing a punch to his chin. The large man stumbled back, and Corvo used the opportunity to land the handle of the sword to his nose. The brute fell down with a thump, signifying Corvo's victory.

He wasn't just done yet

He walked over to Jax(who was now covering his bloody nose with a hand), and placed the tip of the sword to his throat.

"Best someone from Serkonos protect her than someone like you." Corvo spat at him, looking him in the eye. Compressing his anger and ignoring all the stares of the soldiers around him, he left the ring without saying another word.

Jessamine sat in front of her bedroom mirror, watching her personal maid and close friend Ellia braid her hair. The brunette was assigned to her less than a year ago, and the two were almost inseparable since, despite Jessamine being told again and again that an Empress should have friends with higher social statuses. Why did it matter? Was she supposed to be friends with mean upper-class girls that only cared about their dresses? Should she only like rich boys that would cry to their fathers if anyone so as looked at them wrong? Even though they seldom had time to talk, Ellia meant so much to her. She liked her accent, her joyfulness, the way she always knew what to say. She even liked how she was two years older than her-it was nice having a friend that doubled as an older sister, after all.

"Were you there when the Serkonians came?"

"I only saw a bit fr'm the servant's quarters" Ellia said, quickly and elegantly intertwining hair with her short fingers, "I was quite impressed though. Love it if they'd stay a bit, quite a jolly bunch they are"

The younger girl agreed. A moment of silence covered the room, before Jessamine spoke up once more,

"Did you see the fellow that was with the Duke?"

Ellia raised her eyebrows, "'Course Jess, man stood out like a sore thumb. Why do you s'pose he's 'ere?"

"Can't say," she slumped her shoulders, "My dad was looking at him funny"

"Stay still Jess, I can't be doing your 'air if you're squirmin' all the time. But yeah, 'course he was, after all, he was followin' the Duke, right?." Ellia said without a care, "Why'd you asking?"

"No reason, I guess."

Soon after, she wondered why she was asking, too.