<div align="center">Loras<br/>Day 1, Estaris palace</div><br/>"Ooo, a rogue mage, how very fancy." Loras shrugged and started on his way toward the doorway he'd used on the way in; it didn't sound like there was much more to discuss. He had his contact token, he had his starting job requirements, and he had a king clearly eager to get this done at whatever cost a mercenary could possibly ask. What else was there to talk about? "Pity you couldn't have sent me word of all this two weeks ago when I was<em>in</em>Nor. Would've saved me a trip. Works out anyway."<br/><br/>He stopped near the portal and half-turned back to the king. "I'll leave my force here. Have your city guard let them inside. They'll have their fun in the taverns and whoring about, generally making the noise a mercenary band is like to make, and no one will think twice but to assume I'm still here with them. The ride to Nor's not so dangerous I should need an escort going there: I don't look rich enough to be worth robbing. Your man Brawn will hear from me when I'm back with a new friend. Shouldn't take more than three weeks at the outside; I'm sure you'll be holding your breath."<br/><br/><br/><div align="center">Ghin<br/>Day 1, eastern edge of Moloch Mountains</div><br/>Ghin couldn't recall having seen any groups of people nearby when she'd flown over the hills, but it was hard to be sure at night. If this elf was a scout and a colonel she was likely far from her nearest support, but she was distant voluntarily. That meant she wouldn't be missed right away. Scouts were intended to range far and return late with information from their travel.  She had time, but not too much. Maybe if she weren't an officer she'd have longer. A colonel, though? She'd be noticed missing eventually. What if her mount was already going back to her people? Maybe the fear it showed was part of its training; maybe it was told to return straight away if its rider was endangered. So many possibilities, all of them posing risks to the traveling maiden.<br/><br/>"Maybe you are right," she said. "The mountains are dangerous, and you must be a skillful archer. I have heard many good things about the skills of the elves of Estaris. Those who live in the mountains of Nautali put our veteran archers to the test in challenges, I trust those who live here must be at least as proficient. I would doubtless be safer in your company." Her face, youthful and gentle, sobered somewhat. There was a tightness around her eyes, a discomfort tempered by determination, as she said, "You should come with us."<br/><br/>Bako lifted upright behind the girl, showing off his size in straightening until he stood the height of a small tree. When he spread his wings a cool blanket of shade spread across the mountain grasses, covering the two young ladies as completely as a cloud passing beneath the sun.<br/><br/>She held a hand out toward the elven officer, that serious though apologetic expression adding years to her appearance. It was not her way. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She didn't want to force this issue...but she couldn't have a scout going back to report on having found a Windrider and a great eagle in the mountains. One way or another the king would hear of it, she knew that much, and if that happened it would only be a matter of time before things became worse. She didn't want to make her stay, but she couldn't afford to let her go.<br/><br/><em>Please</em>, she thought,<em>please don't run.</em><br/><br/><br/><div align="center">Amarin<br/>Day 2, Nautali palace</div><br/>To compensate for the previous day's shortened court appearance, Amarin called it back to order just after dawn the next day to resolve those issues that remained unheard. By the ninth hour, after hearing another thirteen matters of law and nation (mostly mundane, though there was a report of renewed goblin activity in the far western regions that called for further investigation), the king enjoyed a healthy breakfast alone to decompress and review the judgments he had made.<br/><br/>The serving staff reported the village representatives had eaten well, as had the ladies in their chambers.<br/><br/>When he had finished eating, the king decided he would take a walk in the palace gardens and, remembering her fascination with the flowers there, sent a page to invite the lady Calles to join him. Bo was present by the time he reached the gardens. She greeted him with a smile and an embrace and they began to walk the myriad paths of the gardens side by side, not touching. It wasn't that they were distant; it was simply too much bother to remain arm in arm when she would so often be pulled away to more closely examine this or that plant growing up far from the path. The king had his own affinity for the gardens, but it was more for the place as a whole than its individual parts. He appreciated the fine architecture of it: the thin silver arches over limestone pathways; slicing crescents of obsidian providing ledges for overhanging ivy and ferns to shade subtle blooming shrubbery below; the curving web of glass panes facing the mainland, too high to see the city but safely faced away from the sea. It had taken his grandfather nearly his entire reign to construct this wing of the royal holdings at the base of the main tower. The entryway from the gardens to the palace proper was as fortified as the rest of the structure, but not here. Here the king was as good as outdoors. Better, in fact.<br/><br/>"Amarin?"<br/><br/>Bo was standing beside him. She'd found a yellow flower somewhere and stolen a blossom to weave it into her sandy brown hair, making the normally understated gold tones in those wavy locks burst out of the baseline color. It added a sense of the exotic to her tan skin with its smattering of small moles for unique texture, a quality helped along by the deep blue drape she wore. The garment was little more than a lengthy flap of cloth with a hole cut for the collar, hanging down from her neck in front and behind, sideless with a slim band of material linking front to back over either hip to leave a tantalizingly wide line of flesh visible from shoulder to flank. He very much approved. Somehow non-existent cleavage didn't seem so stiflingly modest when it was so easy to reach underneath...<br/><br/>She smiled. "That is more like the king I know. You were miles away. I thought I might be losing your favor."<br/><br/>"Ah, no, nothing like that. I was thinking about my grandfather."<br/><br/>"Romantic."<br/><br/>Amarin pursed his lips to ward off a smile of his own. "This was his creation," he explained, gesturing ambiguously around them."<br/><br/>"Yes, I remember you telling me. Amarin, is there something wrong? It isn't like you to forget a thing like that."<br/><br/>The king touched a hand to her cheek, shaking his head. "I am king, Bo. There are many things wrong and many things right every day. Some days I think of them more than others. I am afraid I may be worse company than I had thought I would."<br/><br/>"No, not at all, my king! I always enjoy our time together. I was only concerned." She paused midway through her thought, looking past the king to the man who had appeared around a bend in the garden path.<br/><br/>Amarin turned and waved the page forward when he saw him. "Kesmon sends word, my king: a visitor from Estaris to see you. She is currently being made to wait in the audience chamber."<br/><br/>Estaris? Fate had curious timing. Whether fortuitous or unfortunate, only time would tell. "My apologies, but I must address this."<br/><br/>"No need to apologize, my king. May I stay here a while longer?"<br/><br/>"Of course." The king touched a hand to the messenger's shoulder to indicate he should stay and keep watch over his guest. Too exposed out here to leave her entirely unguarded. There were, of course, guards all around the gardens, but one could never be too safe.<br/><br/><br/><div align="center">Lyra'nuviel, Day 4</div><br/>"Who are you, and what in Onul’s blessed ass are you doing in my place?!"<br/><br/>Jacob waved an arm at Darr over the ledge. "Shh-shut up," he hissed down at the mage. "By dragons' fire what do you<em>think</em>I'm doing here:<em>hiding!</em>And not for long if you keep shouting like that!" Okay, maybe not the most diplomatic greeting for a break-in, but...better than trying to ambush him, I guess?<br/><br/>The redheaded man started to add to the comment when he abruptly disappeared from view, dragged backward away from the edge of the platform. After a few moments of vocal commotion a different face appeared where Jacob had been peeking over, this one younger-seeming and definitively female. And flushed. And bare-shouldered. The wood frame kept her modest but all indications pointed to her being topless, and possibly more than that. Oh good, some idiots had broken into a random home to get their rocks off.<br/><br/>The young lady pulled her hair back with one hand and grinned down at Darr in clear embarrassment, giving him a glimpse at distinctly elvish ears for a moment before her hair covered them again. "I'm so sorry about this! It's all my fault. We had a few drinks and a few lucky dice and I just didn't want to wait, so...it was the closest door when I told him I was in the mood, and... I'msorrypleasedon'tthrowusoutmyfatherwouldkillmeifhesawmelikethisandI'malreadysolategettinghomeandwewon'tbein<br/>thewayIpromisepleasejustletusstayhereawhilesoIcansneakbacklaterandnotdie?"<br/><br/>Lyra bit her lip nervously, her fingers curled tight over the edge of the wood frame, peering down at the rogue mage with genuine anxiety about being found by whatever was waiting out in the dark. It just wasn't her father.<br/><br/>Behind her her bare legs stayed wrapped around Jacob's struggling head to keep him quiet while she tried the diplomatic approach. It wasn't exactly an idea of which he approved.