There was something underneath the flesh and blood exterior that added more to Miri of Sur than what met the eye, though she hid it well, and had since she was a small child, though the tidings of her past, she suspected, was what landed her on the House's doorstep to begin with. She had an Empath's sensibilities; she had a Healer's touch. And then she had more eldritch things that lurked there, unbidden and unwanted by herself. Because what can give Life can also take it away. Great pains had been taken to keep the woman called simply Miri hidden away, just as she took great pains now to keep Shahazen's child hidden away.<br/><br/><br/>As an adult, she learned to dampen her secrets, keep them locked away, so not even the most powerful could See the truth unless she allowed. Though Miri did not expect the dragon to approach her so boldly either – though that was her own ignorance. Of course, the ancient beings were wont to take as they will, being created before man was even a glimmer.<br/><br/><br/>Furthermore, she did not expect the power behind the simple brushing of lips against her own. Unbidden, her mouth parted underneath the siphon of power. Her nostrils flared with the shock of it touching her – not just in the physical sense, but the ethereal as well – and as time hung suspended in the air, she forgot to breathe until the kiss had faded and the other female had drawn herself away. The prickle of power that was left behind like a residue numbed her mouth, causing her to lift her fingers up to touch her parted lips with the same kind of shock that shimmered in eyes that were lake green and gold underneath the light of the room.<br/><br/><br/>Without even asking – and certainly not giving it away – she knew from the transaction between them that this<i>dragon</i>, as she revealed herself to be, had stolen a sample of some of Miri's long hidden away secrets. The one that took away life in order to add life to another. A trade, like the saying of an eye for an eye. She was the balance between life and death; take the life from something else living and give it to another. Or continuously give life to a one in order to provide them with the eternity of it. It was why her people had long since withdrawn from civilization to hide in their mountain nation until all but the unfortunate few were born with the curse.<br/><br/><br/>Something threatening swam within the young woman's eyes even as she forced herself to smile, not forgoing the politeness of her House for the intrusion. She bowed low now, hands pressed together in front of her, but watched the black dragon warily from underneath the fringe of her lashes. “There is a war that wages to the west, led by one of your kind, who grew possessive of the life he had captured and killed the hand that sought to keep him bound.<i>Dartanden</i>is the name he chose, but his true form is one of the black. Why should I trust one such as you?”<br/><br/><br/>Still, when she rose, the hesitation was brief between her words before she spoke again. And still she did not confirm or deny if she harbored Shahazen's babe in her House. “The rules of the House are simple. You will respect the house or you will be shunned. You will be served by the House but you will not take from the House or you will be shunned. You may request from the House but you will not force your will on the House or you will be shunned. Now, what is it that you request?”