Hours bled into lazy days and thrilling nights within the city of Theiri. The king had passed away and the entire city was mourning in its own way. The taverns and gambling halls were packed, rumors flew in every direction and through it all Sanguine sewed the seeds of discontent.<br/><br/>During the day, Sanguine explored the shops and smiths of Theiri. Making certain his armor and arms were all honed and repaired to their optimum abilities. He even paid a tailor to cut a suit just for him, though San had no clue exactly what the overall impression might display, he felt confident that for the price he’d paid, none would question his sensibilities among polite society.<br/><br/>Eyes disagreed that the expensive suit would be a winner.<br/><br/>The nights became a reliable opportunity to fleece drunken braggarts out of their coins. Sanguine always had a talent for games of chance, calculating as he was, the subtlety of chance and odds appealed to him. But due to the sheer nature of gambling, San greatly preferred to play with his own set of specially loaded dice to gambling on sheer chance.<br/><br/>“Come on Reynold, we’ve been at this all night, why not take what you’ve got left and buy yourself some breakfast?” Sanguine pleaded, the dice game had lasted all night and into the day. “We both need to get some sleep before the Aserit party arrives.”<br/><br/>“Bullshit!” Reynold spat back, “I’ll be damned before I let myself get swindled by a blind fool!”<br/><br/>The red-faced man shoved the remainder of his coins forward into the center of the table, it sounded like three-quarters of a gold coin, but Sanguine counted anyway. He sighed as he held up the cup and the pair of dice, the cup in one hand and the dice between two fingers on the other.<br/><br/>“Watch carefully.”<br/><br/>San threw his arms at each other, whipping the dice into the cup and slapping it down on the table hard. He listened as the dice rattled to a stop under the leather cup. A four and a three, Odd number. Sanguine had been trying to lose back enough to the man that he could feed himself some solid food to top off all the booze he’d consumed, but some people just won’t leave until they’ve lost everything. San just wanted to get this over with.<br/><br/>“Even!” Reynold declared, slamming his fist on the table between them, staring into sightless eyes. “No, wait! Odd! No! Even!”<br/><br/>“Which is it?” Sanguine asked flatly, trying so hard not to lose patience with the foolish drunk.<br/><br/>“Even! Definitely even.” Reynold said conclusively, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest.<br/><br/>San lifted the cup, showing Reynold that he’d lost. Cheating hadn’t even been necessary to finish off this guy’s pouch. Just then, the sound of horse hooves and rolling carriages came into the dusty tavern from outside. This place had been chosen due to its proximity to the city gates. The Aserits were arriving at last.<br/><br/>“Better luck next time Rey.” Sanguine smirked, sweeping the coins and trinkets off the table, stowing away his dice safely. “That’s my ride.”<br/><br/>San straightened his suit as he stood up, which only made Eyes whine and cover her snout with her paw. Both strode out to meet the procession, doing their mutual best to look distinguished. They approached the procession hoping to be recognized right away, they were not.<br/><br/>“Hold it right there, you lout!” A man shouted from inside an echoing metal helmet and from atop a horse. “Don’t come any closer, what do you think you’re doing?”<br/><br/>“My name is Sanguine LeChance, I’m trying to deliver a report to Prince Henrik at His Majesty’s own request.” San said loudly, holding his hands up and doing his best to sound “official”. “I humbly request an audience.”<br/>