<blockquote class="uncited"><div>One of the more submissive guards that had fallen under Xali’s charms quickly grabs a wooden stool from the back of the second cart. Rushing it over to her he places it down beside the fire place right next to the beautiful leopardess “For you milady” He says, Putting his best charming smile on display, Hoping to win a slight bit of affection from her.</div></blockquote><br/><br/>Xali regards the charming bobcat guard warmly as she pulls the chair into position with her tail and slowly settles onto it. She'd been coyly leading him on for the entire journey now, always showing interest but never overtly reciprocating. His attentions were very gratifying, and he'd never displayed a hint of impatience or frustration. Perhaps he ought to be rewarded. "Oh Plaur, you're always so kind... such a shame that this is the last day we'll be together. We must... share a toast this evening, don't you think?" she said with a calculated pause.<br/><br/>With the guard's interest stoked, she turned to setting the game board up. This game was still in the early stages, too early to tell. The white pieces, under her command, had taken heavy losses in the early moves, losing almost all of her pawns, but her remaining pieces were in a strong offensive position. Alexei's black pieces were isolated and vulnerable. She toyed with a bishop between her fingers (a little suggestively), and as soon as he returned, she knocked over a pawn, putting a knight and rook in a nasty 'fork'.<br/><br/>"Hmm..." her eyes flick over to Kahimori as he does a bit of flirting of his own. He had such an easy charm about him that even she sometimes found her composure slipping a bit, her defenses momentarily dropping. The kitsune effortlessly invited others to underestimate him.<br/><br/>"Indeed, we must all do our upmost to enjoy the time we have," she says to no-one in particular, "because we will all have our fill of war soon enough. Hah, of course, we shall have 'our fill' in a pleasant way," she slowly runs a hand across her tight abdomen, "but they will also test the limit of our skills. Oh..." she pouts a little with questionable sincerity, "I know that the tribes of the Southmourne are great warriors, and I know that they... we... have done well in the conflict's opening stage. But do not forget that, as they advanced, Caleb's army was occupied fighting the wild beasts of the land as much as the wolf-lord's 'army', such as it is. Now that they have settled down and fortified themselves, I think their superior grasp of the arts of war will be too much for us to assault them directly."<br/><br/>Xali glances at Drir, Kahimori and the other particularly proud warriors present. "As I said, our kind are great warriors, no doubt a match for any human in single combat, but we simply have no experience in large-scale attacks. Oh, there have always been wars, but those are more about honor than capturing territory, are they not? The humans, though... they play to win." she slides another of her pieces across the board for emphasis.