<div class="floatleft">(http://imgur.com/RcjBCPf.jpg)</div>"Fantastic. I will see to it that your things are loaded onto my carriage in the morning. You will love it at my estate. I take<em>very</em>good care of my guests." Isabela smiled a broad smile, seemingly taking Imriel's roundabout way of saying 'We'll see' as a 'Yes.' Besides, what man could resist her? She had everything - charm, money, beauty - and she wasn't above leveraging any one of those traits to get what she wanted. Imriel would see things her way. She was sure of it.<br/><br/>But the musketeer's talk of monsters that crawled out from the mist was met with the same skeptical look that all of Mathieu's eastern hocus pocus suffered through. Skepticism slowly melted from her lips to be replaced by a sly grin as the countess covered her heart with her hand in mock distress. "My dear musketeer, you wouldn't be trying to scare a lady with ghost stories on a night like this would you? I should count myself lucky that I have a strong, handsome man such as yourself to watch over me." It was pretty clear that Isabela wasn't taking the whole thing very seriously, even using the story as a way to sneak in some more harmless flirting. She did<em>technically</em>have two bodyguards at the moment, even if one of them wasn't beholden to her and her alone. With those two, Mathieu, Thomas, and her own secreted skills and the dagger tied to her thigh with a bit of frilly lace, it was hard for Isabela to feel anything other than completely safe. Still, her smile faded when she saw it wasn't going to be matched by Imriel; he was either a really good actor or he was truly spooked by something.<br/><br/>For once, Isabela wasn't really sure what to say. Monsters? Here? Ghost stories were told about other people, not attractive countesses in expensive dresses. Imriel seemed to think otherwise though. Thankfully, the awkward silence was broken by another voice, one that was far too feminine to be one of her servants returning to check on her. The woman that approached appeared to be just as out of place as Isabela was given the style of her garb. Isabela imagined Mathieu would probably get a kick out of it if he bothered to look toward her; his travels east were one of the few subjects he talked freely about. "Imriel here doubtlessly has more stories to share than myself. He was just telling the oddest story about a creature he's been tracking. Isn't that right, dear?" Isabela leaned forward and cupped her chin her hand, looking toward the musketeer expectantly with a slight smirk crossing her lips.