Jaliah, onetime Queen of Tyria, tried very hard not to suck her teeth as she watched her granddaughter turn back to her conversational partner - an elf, no less - leaving her grandmother like so much garbage. Her dark eyes narrowed slightly, then she performed the barest of curtsies (one might say passive-aggressively shallow) to her Queen before making a broader one to the Emperor. After all, she was a native of Annuakat, and he was the rightful ruler there. It was good to show respect where it was due. The old queen quietly withdrew from the proceedings between her granddaughter, the elf, and the god-emperor, instead approaching Achates.
The woman was of some interest to Jaliah. Clearly she was of some import to Gerra. That made her of import to everyone in the Empire, as far as Jaliah was concerned. Bowing slightly as she approached, Jaliah spoke with the wizened, gravelly voice earned over decades of harsh desert air and growling at courtiers. "I wish I knew what to call you," she said, a note of bashfulness rising uncharacteristically to the surface of the old woman's voice. "Surely 'Achates' is too informal to address someone so important to a god," said Jaliah, gesturing with a nod of her head towards Gerra.
Old though she may have been, she was sharp and clear-eyed, and so she was able to snatch a glass of some description off the tray of a passing servant. She hoped to the gods it was alcohol because she could really use a drink. "Unless it is a title of which I am not familiar?" The servant had stopped when Jaliah took a drink from the tray, allowing her to pass the first glass to her other hand and take another from the tray, which she immediately offered to the intriguing woman. Now that she was closer, the woman appeared to be more than that. Elfen, perhaps? Yes, Jaliah mused silently as she lifted her glass to give it a tentative sniff, there looked to be something about the ears...
She stopped staring and smiled broadly, tilting the offered glass towards Achates to make the offer more clear. "You won't make an old woman drink alone, I hope," she said, a cheeky grin gracing her weathered features.
The woman was of some interest to Jaliah. Clearly she was of some import to Gerra. That made her of import to everyone in the Empire, as far as Jaliah was concerned. Bowing slightly as she approached, Jaliah spoke with the wizened, gravelly voice earned over decades of harsh desert air and growling at courtiers. "I wish I knew what to call you," she said, a note of bashfulness rising uncharacteristically to the surface of the old woman's voice. "Surely 'Achates' is too informal to address someone so important to a god," said Jaliah, gesturing with a nod of her head towards Gerra.
Old though she may have been, she was sharp and clear-eyed, and so she was able to snatch a glass of some description off the tray of a passing servant. She hoped to the gods it was alcohol because she could really use a drink. "Unless it is a title of which I am not familiar?" The servant had stopped when Jaliah took a drink from the tray, allowing her to pass the first glass to her other hand and take another from the tray, which she immediately offered to the intriguing woman. Now that she was closer, the woman appeared to be more than that. Elfen, perhaps? Yes, Jaliah mused silently as she lifted her glass to give it a tentative sniff, there looked to be something about the ears...
She stopped staring and smiled broadly, tilting the offered glass towards Achates to make the offer more clear. "You won't make an old woman drink alone, I hope," she said, a cheeky grin gracing her weathered features.
