Darius’s eyes widened for a moment. The pieces of fire this woman, Shira he corrected himself, showed seemingly at random confused him. It was the embarrassment that got him, however. He had, until this point, been treating her like Adrian during his transition from shut in scholar to adventurer. It was an action decidedly unfair to her.<br/><br/>“I did not mean to upset you. It has been a rough couple of days for me and mine and my manners are not the most sophisticated during good times. Please accept my apologies, lady Shira.” He reached out his hand, offering to help her up from the floor. He decided that she could not be human, not with eyes as fascinating as hers. “That said, traveling alone is dangerous for anyone. That statement only becomes stronger when applied to elegant creatures such as yourself. The world is not kind to your gender, m’lady. You have spirit, that much I can see. But I would humbly suggest caution. Do you…” Darius paused for a moment, trying to find a gentle way to word his question, one that might not catch her fire. Shaking his head, he couldn’t find a nicer way. “Can you fight?”<br/><br/>Darius was concerned, though his expression did not show it. He rubbed his thumb against his forefinger of the hand he did not offer to help Shira , a small nervous action that kept him from pacing around the room. Adrian was late. What if he had been caught in the crowd? What if the Ogre had found him as a helper? Adrian was learning how to fight well enough, but he was not where he needed to be to fight the Ogre, let alone him and his friends.