"Thank you Tera, your service is..."  Tehr stopped and shook his head, and when he spoke again it was with a genuine smile.  "Honestly, I can't even put into words what your loyalty means to me.  Had it not been for our chance encounter on that hunt..."  He trailed off again and then laughed, "I seem to be at a loss for words, something that doesn't happen often to me.  I'm sure you're aware that I'll be leaving town for a little while, and hopefully when I return it will be with some extra blades at my side.  If you have interest in staying on I'd like you to be the captain of my home's personal guard.  As a token of my appreciation, I'd like to give you a gift along with a few small duties this evening."<br/><br/>He pulled out the pair of matching gemstones that he'd been given as a reward by the master mage.  "I need to write a letter to House Saari and I'd like you to deliver it.  Also, I would like to get in touch with the Understreet, and I know that my direct involvement would be something that they'd likely mistrust.  Being a known consort of the queen means they probably want to steer clear of me.  But if you can get in touch with them, I think they might be a valuable ally, one that certain houses would never conceive of using."<br/><br/>Tehr took a risk with this, because if rumor was to be believed, the understreet had dealings with Drow, and Tera was an elf... drow and elves didn't mix well.  He was hoping that her mercenary life had given her a sense of pragmatism in this.  He also doubted that ir'Staro would steer him wrong in this.<br/><br/>"As for these gems, I'd like you to sell one and give the profits to Christina to use for renovations or as she sees fit.  The other is yours... consider it a bonus for your loyalty.  *  Now, I'll get to writing these letters, and I'll give them to you shortly.  Thank you very much my dear."<br/><br/>Tehr would make sure to write off a letter to house Saari thanking them for their sharing the information.  Then he would mention that he hoped to have some help coming within a week, but nothing was certain as of yet.  Then a letter of thanks to the archmage, with a promise that he would by the end of the month or early next.  Finally he wrote a letter to the queen, explaining that his hope was to bring halfling outriders and blades back to Londinium with him in a week, and the danger that was brewing in Londinium at the time.  Finally, he wrote a short letter to Ironna, explaining that the trouble with mercenaries was going to get worse before it got better, and that she might consider trading some poor quality meat scraps to the urchins about town to keep their eyes open for her.  The mercenaries who'd caused her problems before might decide to return with friends.  He sealed up all the letters and then went to find Tera.  With a hug and a kiss on her cheek he again asked her to please keep Christina safe, then gave her the letters to deliver.<br/><br/>Then it was up to his study again to pack.  He packed his traveling spell book, his spell research notes, ink, and papers, and all of his enchanting materials.  He hoped to get some work done with both spell research and with enchanting items.  He needed to create a messaging ring for the queen as well as the cleaning charms.  Once all the materials were packed up, he would make sure they were secure in a small hand chest and lock it, stringing the key around his neck for saftey.   Then it was off to his bedroom to see if Angelique had packed for him and if all was prepared.<br/><br/>He'd decided against taking Blondie, figuring that Christina might need use of the horse.  So that was one less thing he needed to worry about.  Upon finding Angelique he would make sure she knew to show Christina the secret door to the vault in the house.  She'd need to withdraw the funds to pay Lucas tomorrow morning.  Then once all the preperations were complete, and he felt that he was ready to leave shortly after first light tomorrow, he asked Angelique to have the bath ready at dawn and then wake him, as he expected Emily's carriage early.<br/><br/>Finally he shut and locked his bedroom door, confident that Angelique would only unlock it with her key and bother him in an emergency.  He stripped down naked and then noticed the bottle of wine on his desk.  His eyebrow quirked up.  Well, it wasn't even ninth bell yet, but he needed sleep, and he might have a visitor in a few hours after all.   So he decided that a little wine would help him sleep.  He poured half a glass and drained it in one swallow before refilling the glass.  He sipped at the second glass and noticed a slightly odd taste... a little bitter, not quite as if the wine had turned, but something else, something... herbal.  He blew out the candles in the room one by one, leaving the moonlight streaming through the only window as his light source.  He felt suddenly very very tired and he drained the glass before corking the bottle.  He stumbled as he moved to his bed, boy this wine was hitting him MUCH harder than it should.  But he slid naked beneath the covers and was drifting off before his head even settled.  He fell asleep with a semi turgid cock, wondering if he'd be awoken in the middle of the night.<br/><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">ooc</div><div class="spoiler_body">Tehr has an appraise of +10.  If the value of the gemstone is WAY WAY higher than a 'bonus' for a mercenary would be, change that sentence to read  *  <strong>"As for the second, I'd like you to sell it and keep a part of the proceedes for yourself as a bonus for your loyalty.  The rest I would like you to use as you see fit on bribes or purchases for the securtiy of the house and to make contact with the understreet."</strong><br/><br/>Roll Result: rhev rolled: 1d20, adding 10to the total<br/>Comment: <strong>appraise check</strong><br/>Result: 17, <br/><strong>Total: 27</strong></div></div><em><br/>-edit- edited the last paragraph to fit with your following post better</em>