A good many people walked through his doors. All of them were being assessed for their value, and to get to that, he had to go through their intentions, and either serve them up, or tempt them with what they desired. Her air was different than any of the pious here, which meant he needed to re-calibrate. Kell did that well. He'd done it so well nobody could possibly know he had stolen Jarek's kingdom. There was nothing to oppose his reign, since it was given to him by blood.<br/><br/>Nothing but the world outside.<br/><br/>The siblings had come from there after a time of spring for the cult. No matter how good they looked on paper, their timing would forever compromise them. He was weary behind his welcoming, open facade. She played her part too, reciprocating in his offered game of chit chat. It was pleasant, subtly interrogating the beautiful woman. Of course, if she'd been sent in as some kind of lure, being beautiful was exactly part of her purpose. He knew that trick too. He had a few powerful men and women under his thumb because they favored his good looks.<br/><br/>He swayed with her question. It was a bold move, wanting to include her brother too, but Kell gave away nothing while she unraveled a bit. "Men do like Charlotte." he answered with a meaning smirk. No trace of caution there. She'd not asked to be friends with Lotte, but knew to tread carefully before binding a man too close to her. Sharp mind. Political mind. "John especially." he agreed with light laughter. It wasn't anyone's intention to make John a joke, but it would seem his infatuation was becoming the punchline all by itself.<br/><br/>He could feel some of her tension flee upon receiving his hand. Either she was a monumental actress, or she wasn't immune to him. Good. He suppressed a grin when she rocked whatever emotion he had stirred out of her head. It flattered his ego, and let him see a way into her mind. He tried this from a few other angles, and the responses she gave were cautious, but clearly affected. He divided his concentration between the conversation, and the undercurrent of control he tried to put on her.<br/><br/>"I think this child is as much mine as it is the commune's." he answered and shrugged. Of course he laid claim to the baby, but he wasn't about to say that when everyone's belief was hinging on this promised symbol. He supposed he'd love it just a little less than Jarek had loved him, which meant Kell would hold it further from his heart than he held Charlotte. Would Tess like to hear that reasoning? Would she topple his reign with that tidbit, if she could?<br/><br/>Kell let his famous lips part at her story, suffering with her, visually. His mouth shrunk in some kind of contained fit by the end of it, and he sunk to his knees by her feet, where she sat in the chair. He still managed to be taller than she, even at half his height. He took her clasped hands in one of his, and held her eyes tinted with more know-how than Lotte's. His renaming hand came out to cup her cheek, to keep her from looking away, but also to establish contact.<br/><br/>"Not much to tell? There must be a million stories in your childhood, growing up like that." he said and made sure to dig his gaze deeper into her eyes. He wanted to posses her like the obsessed Reve and Ellen, and the other willing hearts of the cult. "We are happy you're here, both of you." he assured her and let his hand slide down her neck, his thumb ending up softly petting her collar bone. His face came closer to hers.<br/><br/>He had to consciously prevent a grin when she pressed him on more information. Clever one. "My father was a doctor, as you might know. He took care of all kinds of people. With such a grand scope, he happened across the little star that will now guide us." It was enough to lead a nefarious person in the right direction, but if she had anyone look it up through the hospital where Jarek had worked last, he would know about it, and Tess would have tightened her own noose.<br/><br/>"Are you fulfilled, Tess?" he asked after some silence. People knew about their rituals, but he'd noticed the siblings didn't go. It wasn't unheard of, not everyone could give away their abandon at first. "I never see you during our rituals, when the Oracle speaks through Charlotte." he smiled to himself, squeezing her hands harder and caressing her neck a little firmer. Support and control. It made the women in the cult soaking wet. He scooted until his stomach touched her knees, the pressure petitioning to part them as he continued to make a home for his eyes in hers.<br/><br/>"It's up to you, but its not good to stay too pent up." his lips were glistening with his breath and his voice was steady, low. "You need to feel your heartbeats and listen to them." A finger dropped all the way to that part of her chest, pushing carefully to point out the muscle he was talking about, to make intimacy, and to make her aware of her own body and blood. "It worries me when members don't take part." Face closer now, studying hers, like jungle cat reads the face of a sleeping fawn. "Would you like help with that, perhaps? Just you and me. No Carlton or Charlotte." Whispers now, because they were so close. "New friends."