.5 The meeting
Menacing eyes looked her up and down, and for a moment Elissa wasn't sure whether to pull her weapons or to run. When she reminded herself she was still wearing her carnival mask, she decided to play her part. She stood still in her footsteps, and only moments later the gloved hand grabbed her shoulder to pull her inside.
Being slightly shorter than her, his presence seemed to fill up the room. His irises were a beautiful but piercing grey. It took Elissa what seemed moments to notice that his left eye had been cut open towards his cheek; soft rims of flesh curled outward, revealing peach colored scar tissue that led all the way to his jaw. His frightening appearance was oddly balanced out with his beauty, and the provocative smirk that played around his lips.
"The crows tend to pick elves to join their ranks, because they are considered beautiful by humans. You can imagine the advantage this has in our profession."
Zevran's voice seemed to cast off the spell she was under. This was not the time to seem conspicuous. She smiled and pulled her gaze off her captor's face, looking over his shoulder to determine the source of the conversation.
In the middle of the room, close to a large window overlooking the garden, stood a short plump man winged by two Antivan guards. On closer inspection Elissa noticed they were dressed similarly to the elf that let her in, and carried a comparable scarred appearance.
The Orlesian nobleman looked as nervous as he sounded, his face and neck covered in a fright or liqor stricken blotch. Obviously opposing little threat, the men hazardously intruding his personal boundaries must have been aiming to show him that at this time, their guest was not the authority. Needless to say, they succeeded with little effort.
His word was directed to a delegation of people casually leaning against the walls or on the furniture. One of them was a rugged looking man who intently listened to the story. His posture revealed an unmistakable hint of awareness of his surroundings, yet he ceased to pay his new visitor any attention.
His crossed arms were broad, broader than those of the male elf cautiously standing by his side and almost looking disproportionate to those of the small elven girl dressed in a similar tan leather as her fellows, standing a few feet away from the only chair in the room occupied by a more stately woman dressed in red. She seemed bored, and looked to be one of the guests who accidentally wandered into the situation but didn't seem to be able to find an excuse to go back and mingle with her kind downstairs. She held an embroidered fan, once she flipped out as soon as she noticed Elissa glancing at her. The woman's matters reminded her of those of what the Orlesians call a maitresse, a woman to accompany one man besides his marriage or several working in a whore house.
Elissa quickly looked away, finding herself captured into the piercing eyes of her elven guard once more. She had to remind herself it would be impossible for him to recognize her; with the mask covering most of her face and wearing an entirely different attire, the description that would have been used to distinguish her as their target couldn't have been more off. Yet the penetrating observance she felt subjected to now was exactly the reason Zevran had taken a massive share in the planning, but would be waiting for her at the servant's entrance without being at risk to be recognized as a former member.
His eyes didn't rest on her but darted across her features, allowing the same smirk to return to his face. Being recognized or no, Elissa started to feel uncomfortable nonetheless. Without moving his glance he eventually spoke.
"Master, it seems a new client has made her appearance."
The rugged man did not bother to look up when he answered, either. "We're almost done here."
The nobleman had taken the opportunity to pull out a handkerchief and wiped his brow, but when silence fell in again he continued his nervous babbling. Elissa folded her hands and looked down politely as befitted a young noblewoman, not for the least to avoid the piercing eyes of the elf still standing in front of her. His breath made the loose strands of her hair brush across her shoulders, and when she stole another look from his face she reminded herself that she should not get easily intimidated at this early stage. Instead she focused on the task at hand.
"The leader of the Crows," Zevran's words sounded through her head, "is unknown to most of it's members, for the obvious reasons considering the order's questionable loyalty. Nonetheless there are near to never reasons valid enough to take our aim at our master, simply because he alone manages the contracts and therefore the payment we earn for our services."
What Zevran had stated next during their meeting in Denerim that now seemed a distant memory, was what made them undertake the journey that brought her here in this dangerously crowded study.
"You see, when the leader of the Crows is assassinated, all current contracts are inescapably lost. Including whatever price remains on your head."
Elissa was shaken from her train of thought when the now heavily sweating nobleman approached her. She swiftly stepped aside and watched as his short legs carried him through the corridor as fast as they could manage. Her vision finally got obscured by the door that closed behind him, leaving the only person that brought her the slightest sense of reassurance time to escape whatever would come next.