Recent content by Gaheris

He looked considerate for a moment. This felt distantly like a bad idea. There were, perhaps, reasons for this. But a good meal had a habit of clouding the judgement of otherwise cautious men - and empowering urges that could otherwise be ignored, or reasoned against. Gaheris took his wine...

The back of his neck suddenly felt irrationally hot. She was implying something, and he did not like his suspicion on what that something was. Especially since he'd been squarely in the realm of 'dead wrong' last time Fieravene had implied something. Whatever that something was. Gaheris...

"Uh-huh." He did not seem particularly convinced. Fieravene in the regalia of a monarch? Ruling over subjects? He'd sooner believe an adult dragon could play the fife. Amber eyes flicked between his dessert and the alleged-former-empress. Gaheris itched at his chin, "Oh, just, uh, full. Is all."

His eyes widened in muted surprise, but the expression didn't last long. Gaheris decided that Fieravene must be putting one over on him. A former empress. How absurd. He reclined gently in his seat, now watching Fieravene with an amused flavor of skepticism. Like waiting for a punchline. "Of...

"The trick is to cash out before the treachery begins," Gaheris muttered, pushing some kheer around in the without commitment. "As I'm sure you've found, rich people do just fine anywhere in the world, empire or no." Run an empire for a few years, then abscond with enough money to make you...

Gaheris sampled the kheer with detectable skepticism. His brow furrowed, either in consideration of the question or the texture of the dish. Flowers were not a typical part of any journeyman necromancer's diet. 'Very poorly' was the expected answer, but Gaheris forced himself to answer somewhat...

Porridge with flowers? No, there was rice in this. And nuts. Rice porridge. With flowers and nuts. The marvels of fine dining would never cease, truly. Gaheris tested the substance with his spoon (the correct spoon, as there were no competitors), but did not try to eat it just yet. "Until the...

A rose what? He supposed a pastry would be considered foreign to the Kaliti. Whatever. Life was supposedly full of surprises. This could be one more. Better a kheer than a dragon. He leaned awkwardly to one side when a servant came to collect his dishes, as if attempting to put himself out of...

He returned his usual feeble smile. "I appreciate it. Truly." Gaheris glanced down and noticed that he had, at some point, largely cleaned his plate. Well, good. That was polite in most places - even a desert hellscape like this one. Dessert was a subject he had heard alluded to many times...

"By my reckoning, yes," Gaheris clarified, dabbing his mouth with a napkin. He reached for the wine now, growing more and more complacent with each morsel of fine dining. With enough good food, drugs and deceptions were hardly necessary. And there was a fact that would dawn on Gaheris only much...

Gaheris looked thoughtful, even has he continued with his duck. Bread he had in spades. Duck was the rarity here. “You’ve seen one burgh or farming hamlet in the Reach, you’ve seen them all,” Gaheris mused, sounding almost embittered by the fact. “I can’t say much for the Steppes.” Suffice to...

The Overbright sounded like some peculiar local term, but Gaheris did not dwell on it long. There was a look of pointed interest to consider, which he did by blinking stupidly. "That is," he ventured, slowly, working his jaw as if previously unfamiliar with the words, "Good to hear." Smooth...

Gaheris frowned faintly. "That can't be enjoyable." Of course, he meant the process of traveling itself. Not that the traveling was being done alone. Long journeys (or 'missions' as she ominously referred to them) were always sweaty, uncomfortable ordeals no matter who Gaheris happened to...

The help? Right, the servants. There must have been a small flock of them around here, the few he'd seen coming in and the one attending on them aside. Nobody had a mansion without a strike team of servants to keep it in order. And as far as he understood, servants always hated their masters...

Gaheris looked rather like an animal caught in a trap mere moments before the kill. Wide-eyed, confused. Not even enough time for terror. But it was a brief moment anyway. Then he remembered to swallow the piece of duck he'd been chewing on. "Oh, well, I..." he spoke too quickly and trailed...