<strong>Crimson Dove</strong><br/><br/>“You can beg, if you like, or plead, or pray.” The sorceror's voice had regained its tranquil, disaffected quality. “It's tears I want from you. But, since you've been a good girl...”<br/><br/>He swept the mirror off the table and held it up to her eyes, revealing a visage Dove knew almost as well as her own.<br/><br/>The fullness of her lips was hidden, with the richly colored lipstick only at the center of her lips and the edges of her mouth blurred with concealer, giving her mouth a stern (some might say cruel) look. Dove's eyes had been dramatized with a double line cat eye look, ancient and stylized, that gave her gaze a depth of wisdom and power the young Exalt did not have yet.<br/><br/>The illusion was not perfect – it could not be perfect, given the tools at hand – but it was close enough. The Scarlet Empress stared back at Dove from the mirror. This was not mere deviance; this was<em>blasphemy</em>!<br/><br/>The mirror settled back onto the table with a gentle clink. The sorceror's arm drew back; muscles rippled under taut skin as the tails of the whip blurred through the air, this time aimed with cruel precision.<br/><br/><br/><strong>Nellens Daga</strong><br/><br/>For a long moment, Tepin Arisu sat still as a statue, as though surprised that her fire could not topple a mountain.<br/>Then the corners of her eyes crinkled, and the cigar slanted away as her lips crooked into a grin. Her palm turned upward, and the balls of her fingers trailed across the magistrate's skin for a brief second before returning to the wine bottle.<br/><br/>“Well, well. A magistrate who isn't a frightened rabbit. What a wide world of miracles.”<br/><br/>With her other hand she beckoned the courtesan over; the Tengese woman glided across the distance as though pulled by invisible strings. “Pretty thing. My friend here has decided to put an end to his troubles. Do make sure he enjoys his evening.” Jade coins clattered across the tabletop. “I, on the other hand, have other duties to attend to.”<br/><br/>A dollop of rice wine splashed into Nellens Daga's delicate crystal flute. “To the Empress,” the officer said, raising her own.