The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker & Silent Wayfarer)
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		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Human Solos =&gt; Topic started by: Eren on 23-10-2008, 16:51:45</h2>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 16:51:45</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The Red Spider sat on the windowsill and whistled "God Save the Emperor" to herself as she waited. <br><br>Just a few minutes ago she had been climbing up the sand-colored wall of the palace, careful to avoid any detection. They might have had an arrangement, but decorum had to be kept, and this meant that she was supposed to get in with no one understanding how it had been possible. It was, since people were more blind than they thought and she was faster than they ever could have imagined. <br><br>The luxury of the bedroom was so overdone it had become tasteless, even if the details separately were quite beautiful. It might have been a joke on his part to tell her to show up here. She knew things, but she had never figured out why the Emperor had such a lacking sense of humor. He would keep to the time, she knew it. Their truce was precarious at best, she having already shown that she could walk away any moment, leaving him flopping like a fish with nothing to do about the issue he considered so important. <br><br>She heard hard footsteps and straightened; ready to jump from the window if needed. A good fighter always had an exit to escape through when the giving got too harsh. <em>Run away to live and fight another day, </em> was the maxim and she knew how to use it. He imagined the Great Old Man would have a heart attack if he were alive to hear that his words were used by the very people he had fought against. <br><br>Emperor Zelin entered, a large hulking man of more than fifty summers, but still hale and healthy. He had the manner of a boar stuck in courtly clothing, and the strength to match. Behind an exterior of harsh fire hid a cold calculating mind. She knew, the court did not. As Zelin closed the door, she kept on whistling.<br><br>"Stop," he said.<br><br>The Red Spider cocked her head and continued. <br><br>"Do you want to hear about it?" Zelin asked, and set himself on a chair that creaked very faintly. She was not surprised. New songs about the Emperor's corpulence cropped up every day on the market. They should have seen the Lord Priest of the Falachi. Now there had been a corpulent man. And his small army of bodyguards. She had a scar on her hip from that mission. <br><br>"Do you want to tell me about it?" she asked back and slid off the sill. She stood then, hands resting on her belt. "More than - bring me the Flame Sword."<br><br>Zelin smiled, as if satisfied with himself. "Of course, but I hate to repeat myself. This is why you have to wait until my nephew arrives. Good boy, he is. Just had him called to meet us."<br><br>"Your nephew?" she did not sound amused. She was not. She did her work alone. It meant that she would only look out for herself and had no need or wish to babysit any nephews, imperial or not. Besides, she had killed the boy's father. <br><br>There was a knock on the door. <br><br>"Come in," Zelin called. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 17:10:05</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				"Your Majesty," Daren Reiksgard saluted as the doors swung open. A young man, barely into his second decade of life, he was bereft of armor as he presented himself to his Emperor, with only his court sword by his side. He was not handsome - no bards would extol his looks in the meadhalls - but he was healthy, well-formed, and as of right now, rather taken by the Red Spider. Women were a rare enough part of his life, and so she was more of an unusual specimen to him than an actual human being.<br><br>"My nephew, Daren." The Emperor's mighty shadow quavered against the tapestries of his bedroom ever so slightly as he spoke. Daren knew better than to mistake his bulk for mere flab. More than one assassin had found - much to his chagrin - that Emperor Zelin was Zelin the Bloody-Handed before he ascended to his current position, and underneath that portly exterior lay muscles like steel cables. <br><br>The younger man blinked as his name was called, then he turned his gaze back to the great ruler.<br><br>"You summoned me, your Majesty?"<br><br>He holds his tongue, but it's obvious that he wants to ask about the Red Spider...<br><br><br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 17:25:35</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The Red Spider looked at the newcomer. Fine. She would test him and adjust her strategy accordingly. She knew why Zelin was doing this, he did not trust her. Maybe he was trying to play with her, since the young man reminded her of his father, strikingly so. Would she truly have to stare in the face of the man she had killed long ago each day she was on this quest? <br><br>Zelin knew that introductions were not needed. She knew who the boy was.<br><br>"We call her the Red Spider," the Emperor said, pointing towards the woman who stood next to the window. She was about the same height as Daren himself. She wore a sand-colored light robe with a hood that had been pulled down. The layers of clothing she must have been wearing did not do much for her figure, but she seemed to be slim and wiry with a stance that even Daren's sternest tutor would have found satisfying. She was not Eleren - her skin was a creamy coffee, and her braided hair dark brown. Her eyes were a piercing hazel, set in a proud and symmetrical face. There was a harshness around her lips, even though she would not have looked out of place on a contemporary harem painting, except for the fact that she most likely would have killed any man than been a concubine to him. <br><br>She seemed to show no deference towards the Emperor, and definitely not the kind of obeisance that was required from a woman who belonged to the Second class of citizens in the Empire. However, she was the Red Spider, and that was most likely Daren's uncle did not demand. <br><br>"You have been working so hard to be inducted among the Hawks. I have a task. Accompany her and bring me back the Flame Sword from the temple of Prathien in that little province we conquered just a few weeks ago. Then I will name you a Hawk." <br><br>The Emperor looked quite pleased with himself, knowing that neither of them would want to refuse him. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 17:32:46</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Daren's heart raced. <em>The Emperor himself would sponsor him to the Hawks?</em> That most elite group of knights, heading the Army of the White Phoenix, itself one of the most potent formations the Empire could field? <br><br>"I...I am honored by your Majesty's generosity," Daren stammered, bowing in deference. "If you wish me to accompany Madam... Red Spider to retrieve the Flame Sword, then I will accomplish my mission with all my heart."<br><br>He glances to Red Spider, then to the Emperor, and then back to Spider again.<br><br>"My lady, I am Daren Reiksguard, knight-aspirant and nephew of Emperor Zelin. I-I hope our task will be accomplished swiftly, and without incident."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 17:40:08</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				She held back her snort and simply said nothing, as she watched Daren suck up to the Emperor. Of course, it was not as if she could fault the young man for it, considering that Zelin liked to be worshipped and a happy Emperor was the best kind of Emperor. She met Daren's gaze with no hesitation, cold and unyielding. <br><br>"I gathered as much," she replied. There was a slight exotic accent to her voice, but she pronounced the Eleren dialect as well as they did. "Be ready to go at daybreak and dress so that you will not be recognized." <br><br>She and Zelin exchanged a glance.<br><br>"I will be going now," the woman said, turned around and quite literally jumped out of the window. At least that was what it looked like to Daren. In truth she was sliding down the rope she had tethered earlier, so that she could make a quick exit when needed. Once she got to the ground, she pulled the rope free and made her exit from the palace proper, into the dark night. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 17:57:20</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				"Y-yes, ma'am... ma'am?"<br><br>The Emperor permitted his nephew to look around in surprise for some seconds before having a hearty laugh.<br><br>"She'll find you, boy. Best return and prepare yourself for the journey. Like she said, incognito. If I'd wanted my agents to be recognized, I'd have sent the Band of the Hawk instead."<br><br>Ah, direct orders. Those, at least, Daren felt he understood.<br><br>"It shall be done, sir!"<br><br>He salutes, pivots on his heel with perfect military precision, and marches out of Emperor Zelin's bedchamber. His head is swimming. <em>The Flame Sword? Recover incognito? And that woman...</em><br><br>The red of her clothes seems seared into his mind, no matter how he tries to remind himself that he's a knight-aspirant, and he should not be obsessing over women...
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 18:08:24</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				It was in the stables at dawn when they met again.<br><br>This time the Red Spider was dressed in loose black clothing, head and face covered. Only her eyes could be seen, and that was not enough for the stablemen to recognize that she was a woman. She had ridden inside and gotten down from her little brown mare. It did not take her long to find Daren, who was apparently getting his horse ready.<br><br>"Reiksgard," she spoke quietly, having slipped beside him. <br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 18:12:20</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Still drowsy from the lack of sleep - thinking about an exotic woman in red all night did that to a man - Daren didn't notice Red Spider until she popped up behind him.<br><br>"Wha- who?" he exclaimed, as he whirled around. his movements only slightly slowed by the armor he was wearing under a dun-colored travelling cloak.<span style="font-size: 10pt;" class="bbc_size"></span>The black-clad figure was unfamiliar... but the voice was not.<br><br>"Madame... Red Spider?" he ventured. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 18:16:09</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				"Quiet!" the woman hissed coldly. Luckily the stable-hands were far enough so they had not heard it. She leant close to him, and whispered: "You will call me Sharan. Any other name and I will send you back to your uncle with your unworthiness carved on your face. Understood?" <br><br>No one had ever spoken to him quite like that, his position as one of the likely heirs was strong and he was well liked. <br><br>She did not particularly care. She would have done the same to Zelin, luckily the Emperor was a bit smarter. A bit. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 18:21:58</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				"Oh! All right... Sharan. Sorry. I am not used to these... incognito missions. I was always taught to stand up and take responsibility, to be proud of who I was. The knight's code, essentially. Although it would seem it is less than ideal on this mission... In any event, you will be leading the way? Perhaps I should ride by your side, as your escort..."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>23-10-2008, 18:27:55</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Her glare was mocking.<br><br>"Follow, because apparently that is all you can do without ruining anything." <br><br>The knight's code. Yes. It had been what had killed Batram Reiksgard, and could kill his son if she was not careful about it. The situation did not amuse at all. She had to retrieve an artifact from the other side of the Empire as fast as possible, and she had been saddled with a youth who could not keep his mouth shut. Was he useful for anything?<br><br>She headed to her horse and got on. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>24-10-2008, 02:32:31</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				As Daren mounted up, he took a few moments to consider Sharan, the Red Spider, more closely. The few women he'd seen were housemaids or noble ladies. They were either subservient or well-cultured - nothing like this abusive specimen before him. In some ways, she reminded him of his drill instructors; ridiculing you to push you onward.<br><br>Perhaps that was her way of showing that she cared?<br><br>"Lead on, then," he said.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>24-10-2008, 14:53:21</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				"I will." <br><br>Sharan set a pace that would take them out of the city in less than an hour. They were fine looking enough to be able to get down to the lower levels without having to wait like many others did. The capital was a place of both beauty and filth, beauty at the top and filth at the bottom. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>25-10-2008, 14:26:27</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				On his part, Daren veils his consternation at the state of the people at the outskirts of the city. He'd trained in mud and squalor of course, but that was in simulation of battlefield conditions. Did people <em>live</em> like that all the time?
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>25-10-2008, 19:09:29</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The sun made the city's high spires gleam, and washed glitter over its many rivers. However, it also illuminated the small huts that served as homes for many of the city's poorest. The usual way to exit the city was the Mazalan Way, a wide boulevard that eventually turned into the highway. However, Sharan had obviously chosen a route that was shorter and took them to the direction they actually wanted to go to. <br><br>Sharan rode like a man - while ladies were also expected to know how to handle a horse, they usually rode sidesaddle. As for the military, women only had occupations that did not include direct fighting. The Eleren way had been to keep their women in skirts and at home. In contrast, Daren had learned from history that several of the now conquered lands had had quite capable female warriors. It might have been that Sharan had secretly been bred by the same tradition, which had mostly been extinguished a hundred years ago, but could have lived on secretly. <br><br>Sharan occasionally glanced back to see that Daren was following him. She had to say that she was not happy with the situation. Now, if the boy could learn and keep from making a gaffe such as that again, something may come of it. Sharan was not sure how well he could keep to it. He was now also one of the few who knew who she was. Zelin knew more. Zelin knew too much, and was marked for death, but it was not yet his time to die. <br><br>In an hour they were on the southern highway, which stretched out to most of the Empire, different roads covering the lands like an intricate web. Even still, there would come a day when the road ended. Kelinder was just recently taken and thus they would need to navigate a land controlled only by Zelin's occupants, with no infrastructure to speak of. To land with people whose languages neither of them were able to speak. Sharan herself knew quite many dialects, but she also knew that the Kelinderians were too different, and their language too secret to be learned. <br><br>The sun was hot, and shone down on their heads like a burning torch. Sharan herself did not feel much of it, considering that she was only dressed in light clothing, and even with the leather armor on, she had become used to it. She did not know how Daren must be feeling by now. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>26-10-2008, 13:25:47</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The sun beat down on the young squire like the lashes of an irate slaveowner. Its heat was compounded by the fact that he was wearing well over thirty pounds of metal on his body, with a heavy cotton surcoat underneath and a dark-colored travelling cloak on top of it. <br><br>It was hot. It was tiring. But Daren gritted his teeth and carried on. He had been groomed to be a knight - and endurance was merely one of the many lessons he had to absorb through days, months, and years of training. More importantly, he realised that the Red Spider, or "Sheran", as she preferred to be addressed, was probably studying him for any sign of weakness. No doubt she was one of the Emperor's special agents, and would dutifully relay any failings of his to her master's ears.<br><br>Daren would not have that.<br><br>He did, however, have a waterskin from his saddlebags. That he downed, slowly, to make the water last longer.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>26-10-2008, 13:29:50</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				They finally came to a small town, and near an inn Sharan stopped her horse. She got off effortlessly as if the weather was not hell on earth at all. Yes, she had a good deal of money left. And while she engaged herself in some very questionable activities, she preferred to be law-abiding when it came to business. <br><br>As long as it was convenient, of course. <br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>26-10-2008, 13:37:40</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				A place to rest. Though he'd never have admitted it, Daren was grateful for some respite to the endless heat. A stableboy led his horse and Sharan's to watering trough, while he in turn fell in step behind his companion.<br><br>"Will we be staying here long?" he asked. He didn't really need to know, of course. He wasn't trained to ask questions, but the silence between them... discomforted him. If they were to be allies on the road, it would be well if they could build some kind of rapport. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>26-10-2008, 13:40:50</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				"A lunch, and then we will be back on the road, until evening," Sharan spoke quietly. <br><br>They stepped into the inn, and it was there that Sharan took off the cloth covering most of her face. While the lines of her face were undeniably feminine, she was intimidating enough for the innkeeper to take her as the buyer instead of Daren. She ordered them both a proper lunch, paid for it and went to the corner, to a table from which she could have a good view of whoever either came in or went out. She sat down, eyes wandering, as if she was trying not to look at Daren. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>26-10-2008, 14:06:29</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The bench creaked under Daren as he put his full weight on it - fortunately it held, unlike that one time in the capital when he'd accepted a seat on some fragile, antique furniture in his battle garb. His cheeks burned as he remembered the laughs of all those around him, watching as he struggled in vain to regain some measure of dignity while seated amidst splinters of ancient wood.<br><br>In an effort to distract himself from such depressing thoughts, Daren turned his eyes on Sharan. She was pretty, in her own way. Her faces weren't rounded like the maids he so infrequently saw, nor haggard like some of the beggar women he'd passed on the way out of the city. She looked so... strong. He wondered where she got that strength from.<br><br>"Sharan, I... if I may," he began without even thinking about it."What do you do for a living?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>26-10-2008, 14:45:37</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Sharan almost snorted, when she heard the question, but she was impressed that the boy had learned to call her by the name she had provided, instead of the more dangerous one. <br><br>The innkeep wandered over to bring their food, some meat along with rice and sauce. Steamed vegetables were served as a side-dish, and there was beer for both of them. <br><br>She looked at him, perhaps amused, then said quietly: "Remove obstacles."<br><br>It was the most polite way to say you killed people for money, without actually coming out and saying it. While Sharan did not look like a person who would have been afraid of speaking the truth, proclaiming that you are an assassin in the middle of a large crowd had never done anyone any good. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>27-10-2008, 02:06:17</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				"Remove... obstacles?"<br><br>Could she be a sapper? That was the only profession he could think of which removed obstructions for a living. But then again, maybe she didn't mean it literally...<br><br>He wanted to ask her more, but it was fairly obvious that she was a private person, and perhaps more conversation on the road would be a better idea. He tucks into the meal, barely chewing it. It was a bad habit, he knew, but he found that it saved time.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>27-10-2008, 14:11:37</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Yes, remove obstacles," Sharan replied, a bit cross that he had not understood. <br><br>She was the Red Spider, was it not obvious that she killed men for her daily bread? While that was a bit dramatic, it was more or less correct. She paid no heed and started eating as well. At least it was serviceable, compared to the many different dishes she had been forced to eat in order not to go hungry. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Silent Wayfarer</strong> on <strong>30-10-2008, 15:19:46</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				It was difficult speaking to the Red, pardon, Sharan. She seemed so guarded, so prickly. It almost seemed as she considered him a burden, rather than a companion... though he would not begrudge her that. His knowledge of the world was limited - perhaps the Emperor wished him to learn, with her as insurance.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: The Conquest of Eleren (Deathstalker &amp; Silent Wayfarer)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Eren</strong> on <strong>01-11-2008, 11:50:49</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Sharan did not pay Daren much attention. The boy was loud, well-meaning and a bit bumbly, nothing too surprising there. At least he was not cowering in fear, and that was something, considering the tales that were told about her in the Empire. Then again, she figured that they used a painted replica of her in their bow training, just to have something interesting to shoot at. What no one had understood or figured out was that there was a reason why the most wanted person in the Empire continued to work and do her things even well beyond the patience of the Emperor.<br><br>She was the only one who had lasted so long. Most of the other fighters had been caught and most likely languished somewhere in Zelin's prisons, in the tender care of his torturemasters. <br><br>She briefly considered telling the boy to chew his food properly, but found that it would make her sound too much like a mother, and that was something she had never been and would never be, either. 
			</dd>
		</dl>
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