Completed Pyrokenesis

[Thraah]

It had been three whole days since the Dance and Thraah had taken to spending her spare time in the old ruined chapel. There she would burn things and occasionally sweep the floor, try to make it ready.
It helped to keep busy and keep away from the Academy proper. She wasn't typically one to dwell on such things as happened at the Dance but this particular incident hit her a bit differently. She had heard after that folk were feeling pretty good about it, warts and all.
That didn't particularly help her mood.
Maybe it was because she was trying to be nice that it annoyed her more.
"Last time I do that."
She scolded herself as she jammed a broom into the corner to upset the spiders living there who scattered in all directions for fresh shelter from her floor sweeping armageddon.
Then she saw something through the door, outside on the hill there was a person sitting under a tree.
Selfishly she had begun to see this place as her hill and her tree so she huffed and stormed out to meet this intruder. Fists balled and insults already blistering on her tongue.
She stepped out into the sunlight and marched like a bull down to the figure.
As she got closer her pace slowed a bit. She feared she recognised this person. Even out of his very nice Dance clothes Maseno Luana was very noticeable. Especially still with his crutches.
Thraah froze.
*What was he doing up here?*
*Who snitched me out?*
*If he's here is that bint from the dance here too?*
She scanned the scenery for sign of some unseen company he was keeping but there was nothing she noticed.
Boys like Maseno didn't just, wander up and take rest under trees by old run down buildings... Did they?
She straightened out her tunic and patted the dust off best she could then ran her fingers through her hair a half dozen times.
Somehow she felt worse after making an effort.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself she marched onward and when she got to the tree rapped on it three times with her bare knuckles.
"Hi there!"

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

Boys like Maseno did, in fact, wander out to rest under trees by old ruins. Finding new places of solitude had become something of a pastime for him, especially as the Academy's buzz of activity continued to pick up. The latest news looked grim for several individuals and it had many in a state of concern. Initiates missing, presumed dead - but not by mission and, certainly, not by Proctor. At least that was the hope.

While investigations continued, it meant many were growing anxious or angry. The wealth of emotional energies in the Academy grounds had become somewhat suffocating, and he wasn't even a proper empath but he could feel them all the same. Made meditating difficult, though Zana would likely tell him to see it only as a challenge, but he was tired.

And that was hard to admit.

He was also distracted by something. The event at the dance that played frequently through his thoughts of Beatrix sending Thraah off so inhumanely, as if she were some mongrel beast. Even if he'd have never done such a thing himself, he still felt guilt for how she was treated after helping him. So he asked around: where might one find Thraah when one couldn't find Thraah? His good graces and kind demeanor to all certainly helped, because someone did snitch.

That old ruined chapel, she hangs out there sometimes.

He knew of it but that was about as far as his knowledge of the place went. So he'd made the trek down to the hill and was taking a moment to rest by the tree. His leg was healed, but only just. Phantom pangs still followed him wherever he went and he was sure it was all in his mind, but somehow he thought it was linked to this guilt.

Thraah managed to catch him lost in thought, wooden crutches neatly resting over his crossed lap, and he blinked from his musings to look up and find just the person he was hoping to see.

"Thraah," the Initiate offered her an easy smile over a quiet tone, "there you are. I have been looking all over for you." Back in her training wardrobe, of course, just as they all had returned to normal life following a night of gifted fantasy.

"Would you join me for a moment? I seem to have sat down and do not wish to stand up again just yet," Maz gave a mildly embarrassed chuckle. The fatigue of healing really was potent sometimes.

 

[Thraah]

Thraah's face quirked into a one sided smile.
*He was looking all over for...*
"Me?"
*badump...*
"Uh, yeah I can sit, with you, Maseno Luana... for a bit. Here heh."
She fell into a cross legged sit and gripped her hands to her shins. Rocking back and forth.
Thraah didn't need to be told twice to get comfy, or sit or even fall asleep. Doing less was always a plus and well, it didn't hurt at all who was currently asking.
The grass was cool beneath her and even in the sun the breeze was chill.
She had thought a bit about what she might say to Maseno when she next had a moment and all those very sensible and well thought out things seemed to blow away with that chill breeze. Leaving her just staring at him. Wow he just didn't even look tired despite his persistent injuries. She had reckoned he was being brave at the Dance but didn't exactly have time to follow up on it.
*Follow up... heh*
*BADUMPUMP!*
"So eh... you got, something on your face-mind? Something on your mind you *ahem* wanna get off...it?"
*AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
Thraah's body temperature was warm with embarrasment and anxiety. Similar to the dance but tempered by the naturally cool environment. Never the less her round cheeks flushed visibly.

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

She had a curious pattern of speech for certain, enough so to raise the boy's brow and draw a faint smirk of intrigue. Nervous, it seemed, to speak to him. He wondered why...

"This is a nice area you have found for yourself," he began, nodding once as he gave their surroundings a short look around, "peaceful. I have been looking for more places like this to meditate in."

But this was her place and he would respect that. Sure there were other peaceful trees to sit under elsewhere. They all needed their space from one another.

"I wanted to apologize to you on behalf of my cousin and what happened at the dance," Maseno's voice rumbled over a long sigh, hands closing lightly around the crutches on his lap, "I do not recall clearly what was said, but I do know you were treated unfairly. For that I am sorry."

 

[Thraah]

"Yeah I like it actually I..."
Thraah cut herself off. The plan was almost ready, couldn't spill now.
"... I just needed a place to get away from all the noise y'know?"
Wow he really is just that nice!
"It's okay!"
It was not okay, Thraah was still angry but that anger didn't belong to Maseno so it felt true because it was okay that he was here and being nice, that was okay.
"I don't even think about it... much."
Thraah had thought about it exactly 76 times in the last few days.
"I'm just glad you're okay, you are okay right?"
Her eyes wandered to his crutches then back up to his face. Thraah had in fact wondered a few times if Maseno was going to heal quickly. She had seen small accidents be more than they should for folk who were already recovering and she was certain that part of Maseno's very nice way with people was a stern and brave, well sculpted face. She wanted to know for true he was well and even then knew she wouldn't be satisfied with "I'm fine!" You don't walk about with crutches this long if you're "fine".

 

[Maseno Luana]

He nodded in understanding of wishing to have respite from ... everything. He was getting better at finding his inner peace among the chaos, but some days it was nice to not have to work so hard at it and focus only on the peace.

Oh, but those words of hers were just the standard issue acceptance of things. For too long they'd had to fool themselves into thinking that what they suffered was okay simply because they knew nothing better. Maseno was adamant now that they all deserved the chance to learn and come to terms with how very not okay things were. This incident they shared was just a small drop in a vast ocean of long-passing incidents.

He was certain she thought about it far more than not much, especially when he did.

Then the topic was back on him. Avoidance.

Maz glanced to her with a weary expression, "Truthfully? I am very tired," the remnant pains were not so much painful anymore as they were exhausting. He could have slept for a week straight, but he was meant to ship back out for further Taskforce training any day now.

"And I am disappointed that I could not partake in the dance as I had wished to. It is so rare that we get moments like that to see each other differently, enjoy one another's company, and it is not okay that your evening was made foul. I intend to speak with my cousin about how she treated you. I understand your dress did not come out unscathed-" he recalled hearing whispers of how Thraah's dress had gone up in flames like kindling when she raged but, for all his efforts he could not remember it, "and I wish to make reparations. How can I make it up to you, Thraah?"

 

[Thraah]

Did Maseno, get it?
"Oh, well that sucks. You sure you shouldn't be taking it easy and not hawling your ass all over looking for me?"
This was easier, easier to talk. The nervousness gave way to an easy calmness. Must have been Maseno's relaxed personality.
*Certainly saw you in a different light bud!*
Mention of her dress brought a pang of fresh pain to her and the vibrant heat faded a bit but not from the wind and then "reparations"?
How could he make it up to her?
make it up...
make...
"Ahem." Thraah fought back a cough as her stunned attention allowed a drop of errant spittle to worm halfway down her throat and get caught.
"Oh, uh really..."
*Badump* A fresh wave of warmth emanated from Thraah's core.
"That's really great, I eh... I dunno... what's typical for this eh. I mean you lost out too, not getting to dance and all which I think is a shame because dancing is like, the best thing really."
*Stall, STALL and don't ask him to just never stop looking at you.*
*BADUMP* That heat from the Dance, the one that felt like a hearth fire you're getting slightly too close too had returned.

 

[Maseno Luana]

"Oh, well that sucks. You sure you shouldn't be taking it easy and not hawling your ass all over looking for me?"

Maz offered her a knowing smile. He'd not looked too terribly hard for her - the smarter, not harder way of life had been ingrained in him quite early on. It was part of the reason the Luanas were so terribly good at anything and everything they put their minds to.

His smile broadened faintly as she continued and he turned to give his crutches a quiet look.

"Well," and with a short huff of breath, he moved to lean forward, driving the crutches off his lap and using them to pull himself up. He still wasn't moving at full strength and his mended leg did remind him with a fresh surge of deep soreness, but Maseno was not going to allow it to interfere. He took the crutches next and leaned them against the tree, then offered Thraah an open hand, "a dance then."

His easy smile returned as he looked down upon her, "What is it they say ... two birds, one stone?"

 

[Thraah]

Thraah watched Maseno Luana, THE Maseno Luana stand and offer her his hand to dance.
*Badumpumpumpump...*
Her hand in his was warm and when he raised her up to stand the next wave of heat rustled leaves in the tree above them.
"Okay, but I don't really know this kind of dancing... I'm more of a solo kinda person for dances..."
Did, she have to get close now? She remembered the other dancers getting close, like handsy close.
Thraah took a ginger step forward and straightened her back. Back straight, she knew that much from watching and ladies hands on arm so she put it there... on his arm... his toned arm.
Thraah was grateful that she was kicking off enough heat to evaporate sweat harmlessly as soon as she created it because she could not imagine a more sweat inducing thing than this.
"Is this... is my hand right or uh..."
That heat kept coming, warm and pleasant. Like a summer sunrise over a chilly mountain. It was easier to not look at his face right now. The offer had been so nice pretty dashing really and if she looked at him now, really looked then... shit she didn't know what and that was more terrifying than Proctor Evangeline's assault course.

 

[Maseno Luana]

Solo kinda person for dances. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but it made him wonder if he'd missed her moves on the dancefloor for being so caught up in his conversation with Trix.

"Is that right?" he said kindly, allowing her the moments she needed to gather herself and estimate the appropriate placements. Somehow the night felt warmer than before - surely just a southern breeze he thought politely to himself as he smiled downwards at her.

"That is one way, yes," Maz glanced to the hand now on his arm. Warm. "And this one in my hand," that same hand he'd offered her up from the grass now swiveled to clasp her own while his other moved to her waist. Warm.

"I will teach you the half-beat waltz," it was slower, uncomplicated, typically one of the first dances taught to the youth of nobility. Maseno hadn't been brought up in the standard way for his very early departure to the Academy, but the pull of the Luana name held a great amount of sway. He still learned the ways of his class alongside the ways of death, destruction, and magic manipulation.

"Watch my feet," he began, "and follow with your opposite foot. I step back, you come forward," he stepped back with his right foot and at the same time gently squeeze her hand and side to guide her along with him, "then I stepforward..."

 

[Thraah]

"So I move back,heh, okay!" Thraah said as she made the step.
This was fine. Better than fine even. When Maseno stepped she just had to make the opposite step and his body was already moving that way so she just had to uh... go with it... with him.
Typically Thraah abhorred giving up control but this was okay. Dancing was an exception since you had to act and react to another's moves. It was engaging with someone else, especially with someone like Maseno.
She followed his feet and then noticed his arm about her waist... when did that happen? Her face snapped up to ask but then he was there. Right there. Almost painfully close with those damn fathomless eyes, just, looking at her.
A fresh heat wave radiated from her.
"Uh... This is... *Ahem* how am I doing?"
*Is he staring, am I staring?*

 

[Maseno Luana]

It was always genuinely nice to watch a fellow Initiate learn something new, something out of their comfort zone, and forgive themselves their ignorance or weaknesses. Let themselves just show up and do their best. Thraah's effort and willingness was endearing in a way. He did not know her well, but Maseno assumed she held herself to a high standard of both success and control. It was like this for most of them, only Maz had learned a bit earlier than others that it didn't have to be that way.

When she looked up it was to an amiable smile. His feet continued to move in the square pattern of the half-beat waltz, slowly and steadily so she might learn all the more readily. Dreadlords often scoffed at learning things the easy way, but why did everything have to be hard? Even the easy things?

"You are doing very well," he replied warmly over a chuckle, "how about a spin?"

With his left hand he lifted it upward and inward toward himself, "Just release and follow," Maseno instructed as he slowly lead her in a spiral before him, "there you go, well done Thraah."

 

[Thraah]

Thraah was worried about seeming too eager in front of Maseno but his smile kinda let all that flop away a bit.
"Spin?"
*BADUMP-UMP*
Before she knew it his arm was leading her up and around.
She followed the turn and was positively beaming when she returned to face him and threw her arm over his shoulder this time. Toned, damn.
It was pretty thrilling. Dancing in the night... With Maseno Luana.
The warmth she emitted now made her hair move as if caught in a soft breeze.
"Thanks." Praise was always appreciated, and rare as gold dust in the Academy.
"Eh, Maseno..."
Thraah felt the need to speak, to say something. To ask some question or maybe answer one not yet asked but could not think of what it was.
"... I like this, dancing, with you I mean. I, it means a lot. That you looked for me and apologized and... Thanks, Yeah."
She threw another smile up at him which she hoped was encouraging and pleasant but could not help think might look like more if a sneer.
She realised she was about to start scanning his face for signs of disapproval so she stopped herself. The Proctors, hell the other Initiates had huge tells and Maseno, well he looked confused a lot but that wasn't the same. Even when he heard her put her foot right inside her mouth he just raised an eyebrow and, well Thraah thought that was kinda cute honestly.

 

[Maseno Luana]

"Friendship is the only cure for hatred," Maseno replied after a few moments of consideration, still carefully leading their dance, "the only guarantee of peace. I wish not to stoke the embers of hatred and malice in my peers, but to sooth them even if it was not I that set the light. How can we ever hope to present a united front to protect our people if we cannot find peace amongst ourselves first?"

These thoughts he had meditated on time and again for every slight against himself, of which there were countless many. Their lives had for so long meant one thing: survival. Of this world, of their enemies, of each other. Several years ago he had been shown a different way and, as serendipitous as it all felt, Maseno could not have been more grateful for the revolution and the opportunities at a new way of living it brought to them here.

"And," he said after a brief pause, "the dance provided me a moment of clarity where you are concerned. You are a kind person, Thraah, and I am glad to know this of you now."

 

[Thraah]

Thraah felt her knees go a bit weak.
Damn it was so easy to get lost in his voice.
Her cheeks felt warm, wildly so. Was she blushing? She knew she was.
His words were like something from a book. A good one too not just the smut she had stashed under her cot.
"That's, profound!"
Brains as well as looks eh. What a package and he made sense, kinda wishful but yeah. A united front is a better defence. Getting along is easier than not.
Wait he was saying more. She kicked off more heat as she listened, letting her body follow through with the simple dance steps.
"Heh. Yeah... I mean, eh, really? You think, I'm kind?"
That was a new one.
Lazy, annoying, loud certainly. Dirty, spiteful, mean, bossy she got it all but nobody outside family ever accused her of being kind before. Nobody in the world.
Thraah's head went light with the compliment and between Maseno and the dancing and his nice words she was feeling more than a bit overwhelmed.
Then, Thraah lost her balance and promptly fell over still holding onto Maseno's hand as she went.
"Woah...!"

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

"I think all people have the potential for kindness," he responded, taking note of the way her hair now seemed to float. How curious and exciting! Was that part of her powers?

"But not everyone is given the opportunity to-" and down she went, sort of. On the mend he may be, but Maseno was not without his strength or his quick reflexes. Combined with a steady hand and his own gifted powers. Thraah's stumble became part of the dance as instead of meeting the ground, she found herself twisted into a dip instead.

"-to show it," Maz continued, eyes wide over a broadening smile as he looked down at her, "you're getting better at this." With a flash of pearly whites, Thraah would find herself lifted back to a stand as her dance partner released her to take a step back with a bow and a kiss to her knuckles.

"Thank you, Thraah, for your forgiveness."

 

[Thraah]

Thraah's mind had generally stopped working as she was literally swept off her feet by Maseno.
However a word managed to make its way to the surface of her mind as she looked up at his smiling face.
*Under*
Then, soon as it happened she was up again, standing.
She had entirely blanked his last sentence.
*Don't let on, be cool. BE COOL!*
But then Maseno Luana kissed her hand and heat like a bonfire erupted from her torso, lifting her hair up more and even wafting the loose parts of her clothes. Around them the grass gave way about her in rippling waves and the leaves above rustled in the hot air as it passed, then it died down almost as soon as it had begun and her body went back to emitting that stable inviting warmth from her core. Thraah's eyes darted left then right and then back to Maseno.
*BADUMPAH, BADUMPAH, BADUMPAH*
"Uuuuuh, That's normal I think."
She had no idea if that reaction was normal and was a bit alarmed by it but the whole thing was kinda alarming if she was being honest. Her heartbeat was changed as well, gone was the frantic and hurried beats of anxiety and fluster, replaced by the heavy and rhythmic emanations of a calm but unyielding new power. Eager to move on she answered his thanks with her own.
"Thank YOU, for, this. This was..."
*Amazing, brilliant, the best night of my life, only the beginning???*
Thraah shook her head to try and stay in the moment against the tide of her thoughts.
*Just say what you mean, you do it all the time.*
She took a deep breath.
"I had a really great time dancing with you and..."
A step closer to him and she smiled.
"...if you wanna come back sometime..."
Repayed his kiss to her hand with a peck on his cheek.
"mmmaybe we can do it again?"

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

Amusement colored his expression as he witnessed the fluttering of her hair and wardrobe that must have matched the fluttering of her heart. Though romantic relations had never been a priority for him, he was not so innocent to them that he didn't notice attraction in others when he saw it. Nor did he shy away from earnest shows of affection. Even still, the kiss to the cheek had been abrupt and unexpected, leaving the young initiate blinking in surprise.

In turn, his warm smile drew back across his lips and his fingers gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "That would be very nice. I give meditation lessons in the observatory on weekend evenings to those who wish to learn, please feel free to join if you are so inclined. And Thraah," Maz released her hand, "if I may ask for one small favor?"

That hand then gestured toward the tree where his crutches presently stood rested against. They suddenly toppled and floated to his palm, "I would like to give these..." he eyed them dubiously before holding them up between he and Thraah, "ahm - useful tools a deserving send off. Might you help me do the honors? I believe your flames would be perfect for the job."

Maseno would never openly complain about anything. Never speak ill or poorly of the world. But he would, indeed, find creative ways to express his most glorious disliking for those damned crutches and sending them up in flames rather appealed to him.

 

[Thraah]

"Heh, yeah. Watch this!"
Destruction was fun, especially something that reminded people of something bad.
It was a driving force for tearing down a lot of statues during the revolution. Thraah tried to get to as many as possible back then.
So with expressed permission to light something up, she didn't need asking twice.
Raising her right hand she shot a jet of flame out from the base of her palm and engulfed the crutches entirely. She kept the burn going for a few seconds then stopped, letting the well lit and still burning remains to become charred sticks.
The smell of smoked wood hung in the air, Thraah was visibly enjoying it.
"Hey if you ever need me to burn more stuff you know where I am."
Maseno's invitation to meditate was kind but Thraah didn't know if she'd be any good at it. Still it was not to have the offer. Maybe she'd check it out.
Her smile was wide and joyous now, filled with the glee she got from the destruction of personal property.

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

The vigor and enthusiasm with which she obliged his request was respectable. Maseno quickly held the two crutches out, letting them leave his physical grasp to hold them only with his powers as they lit up like dried kindling. He could not help but laugh at the sight of it - not that he enjoyed the destruction and it wasn't catharsis he was chasing, rather just that Thraah found such enjoyment in the act of it.

"I will certainly keep you in mind," a broad smile of his own arrived on his expression as he watched the inferno devour the crutches, slowly turning them to ash and cinder until he could release his hold and watched them crumble from the air into the last remnants of flames.

Thraah certainly had proven an interested sort - far from what he'd expected of her.

"It has been good getting to know you," Maz remarked, "since the revolution I feel I have discovered something new about the other Initiates every day. Have you found the same?"

 

[Thraah]

Thraah did not know how to respond to that.
He just kept asking her things, like how she felt and what she was thinking. Was that normal?
"Eh, no. I... I mean I've learned a lot about you. You're not what I expected from a son of a noble house. You're more like, I don't know, something from a story y'know?"
She struck a pose that suggested she was fencing at the tree.
"Ser Maseno. Has a nice ring to it."
It was all play but it rang true for her at least. Maseno seemed like the kind that would rush into a burning building to save someone at a moment's notice.

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

"From a story?" Maz wasn't sure how to take that, and offered Thraah an awkward but trying smile. That could mean so many things! At least she hadn't said from a nightmare.

Ser Maseno. Has a nice ring to it.

"Oh," now he understood, and the laugh that exited him was perhaps not the most charming given the uncertainty of her point and his own misgivings toward the expectations of him as a noble. "I suppose so, though I hope that is in the good fashion of a Knight...not that I believe I am very Knightly...."

He wasn't about to tell her that technically his true title was Lord Luana. As the last surviving male heir to his house, it was a role he would not easily shirk once graduation came and went. At least his older sister was taking care of the responsibilities thereof as Lady Luana. Once she was married and had children of her own that would take a great weight from his shoulders.

Until then ... great expectations were held for him by many. It was quite unnerving.

"I prefer just plain Maseno, though," the awkward nature of his smile filtered away to something warm and amiable, "what about you? Do you aspire to be a titled woman beyond that of Dreadlord?"

 

[Thraah]

Thraah gave Maseno a reassuring punch on the arm.
"Yeah, you'd be a good one. The kind that does his best to be fair and doesn't tax folk into destit...destitu... poverty."
She tried to imaging him in a gleaming set of armour, the thought looked good but she had a hard time thinking Maseno would look bad even if he was wearing a potato sack. She smiled at the image.

"I prefer just plain Maseno, though,"
"Okay then, I promise to NEVER call you Ser Maseno or any other title. You're just Maseno to me."
Her smile widened, it wasn't high wit but she liked the idea of deliberately NOT addressing someone by title and this was practically permission so it was a real win.

His next question took the heat from her heart a bit. There he was with his questions again.
"Me? Uh, I..."
She bought time by tucking her hair back away from her face as she mustered the courage to be as honest as she dared.
"I'm going to get a commission, Military Service if I can. I heard it pays well."
Did that make her sound greedy?
"It's not for me!" She blurted, hands up in explanation in case Maseno got the wrong idea.
"It's my folks and sibs. They need me to do well here so I can provide for them. See I'm the only one with the, magic, so it's on me to help us move up in the world."
What was she saying? She wasn't supposed to let anyone know. What if they found out about why she has magic?
What if they looked into her family?
Maseno wouldn't, she believed that much or at least she wanted to.

Maseno Luana

 

[Maseno Luana]

He almost helped her with the word. Destitution, he thought to himself, but held the word back as she worked it out in her own way. How easily people could figure things out given the chance - she needn't speak in large words more common of his own level of society to be understood or respected. The very fact that she'd decided not to use titles with him was enough.

Maz chuckled and quietly thanked her, then fell silent again as she continued. Curious, all the things one could learn about another if they only asked ... and then actually listened.

He hadn't known she came from a poor family, but the fact made no difference to him.

"That is a noble goal of yours. Family is so important," at this his expression turned faintly dour, "you would make a great warrior for the army. I imagine you could even find your way into the ranks of the Anirian Knights." They were powerful, specialized, and highly respected. Well paid, too, from what he knew.

"And there is no shame in wanting to do well for yourself, especially when it is born of wanting to do well for others. Your family is lucky to have you looking after them. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know. The Great Houses are only great when they look after those who support them."

 

[Thraah]

Did Maseno honestly expect her not to get belly worms at that?
Maseno Luana had in one short night, looked for her, apologised to her, danced with her, kissed her(sorta) and now offered to help her with her family.
"And you say you're not knightly. heh."
There was a bit of lump in her throat now.
Oh gods, don't cry in front of him. DON'T.
"I mean, if you have the time, when you're a big shot Dreadlord and all that, you could maybe..." Don't cry "... spare some time to help do up the slums and the eh... elf quarter. Those are pretty bad."
If he wanted support then there were plenty of folk there that could use some reason to support a noble house. Houses of their own would be a start. Thinking about it made her feel low so she cleared her thoat and kept going.
"Ahem, What about your family? I saw Houri humiliate Leander and I "met" Beatrix but I honestly don't know anything past that. Fill me in?"
Blatantly changing the subject wasn't something Thraah was particularly shy about doing. Especially when it bordered on personal stuff.

Maseno Luana