Recent content by Xeraphine Yldore

"Appreciated, but sadly, I must decline, empress." No explanation was forthcoming as to why. Xeraphine took another sip from her wyrmwine, then ran a finger along the rim of her goblet, musing about the sweet and yet biting taste, seeping into marrow and blood more quickly than any surface...

Xeraphine gratefully received the wyrmwine and clinked her goblet against Vyx'aria's daintily, quirking a small smile to the side. Her dwarven attendant who had handed Counterpoint to Vyx'aria -- one named Durn Marsh -- near stood on his toes to have a glimpse of the famed wyrmwine, wiping...

Xeraphine stared with disbelief as Petrus' wound re-knit itself. Then came the punishing blow. This time she had the wit to leap back and barely catch the strike in a parry, sloping her blade downward to let his weapon glide off her side. A brief flash of sparks issued at the hard impact of...

Master Terniere's blade rested on her shoulder. Her blunted blade poked at his protruding gut. "You lose," Master Terniere had said simply. "Do I? It seems rather a draw to me." "No, it is a loss. It matters not that I lose as well. The point is not to kill your opponent. The point is to...

The brief glimmer of excited madness faded from Xeraphine. The queen offered her terms. Trade. New rights of import from the Underrealm, which House Yldore might see to securing. She should be glad. It was a genuine opportunity to rebuild her house, slowly but surely increasing its standing by...

Xeraphine knew her footing. She knew these grounds. And she knew what the merchant lord was capable of. It had been subtle, brief; but there. Her ankle strained, but yet she rose; in a slow swirl of fabric and lowered steel. "I took you for many things, my lord. But I would not have taken you...

Lady Yldore quickly noted Medja's approach. Her face remained still; too still, while her mind ran sprints in memory, of Amol-kallit's current allegiances. But then, after this mental gymnastics, she deemed it safe enough to continue. Her shoulders fell back to their previous poise. To think...

A faint squint of the eye revealed Xeraphine's calculation. So, she knew who her guide was. Perhaps he knew of the queen's knowledge as well, and had chosen this exact moment to make himself scarce. She suspected he might not be on as good terms with the queen as he claimed to be. "Your...

The dagger was held for parrying. The rapier for a thrusting offence. Her smile twisted into a silent snarl, going on the offence. First rule of Master Terniere's fencing school: whoever engaged first was at a disadvantage. Launching an attack was always more complicated than maintaining a...

"This is but blunted steel, my lord. Little better than pig iron. It hardly deserves veneration." And neither do you, she thought, expressed by an absolutely cutting smile. She noted the guard. The Fool's Guard, indeed. A faux pas to use against an experienced swordsman, to be sure, who...

Xeraphine's gaze trained on him like a crossbow. She couldn't believe who had stepped into the courtyard. Who had gone from a useful fantasy to terrible reality. Lord Petrus Ritus Iskandar himself. Her fingers clenched tighter around the grip of her rapier. An inscrutable expression went...

Dusk was approaching over the open courtyard of Master Terniere's fencing school. Its open, multi-storied arcades flanked her on all sides; shadow and dying sunlight diagonally slicing the courtyard in half. In its light side, the training dummy remained. Terniere's lesson was over and the...

The queen was seated and sated, a drow courtesan on her lap. Xeraphine knew that posture well. Still radiating strength. Still commanding the plaza. But now without the strict rigidity of formal procedures. The Iron Whisper saw her time to strike when the iron was hot. Even if Rae'twyn had...