Private Tales She Who Dares, Wins

[Favashi]

The Twins did not disappoint. The Furies of Love and Lust found their passions took them across the globe on many adventures. The spoke with great relish how their particular talents had created empires only to set them aflame. Lijuan was far more sombre with her own injections of her travels, though she rolled her eyes when she commented on how often her job had her trailing after her sisters work. Favashi was unusually quiet, though maybe it was common when with such strong personalities. Her only additions to the conversation were the odd quip, a laugh, or a smile that seemed to say far more than it did.

The evening drew on and in the end - after several rounds of constantly shifting and changing courses that involved ice cream before salmon - the sisters bid their hostess and her guest a goodnight and made their way out into the night. To ensure the house did not shift on its axis whilst Vaer wandered it's halls, Favashi walked him back to his suite.

"So, what did you make of my sisters?"

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

It was amazing how Favashi's home wound itself around and through itself. Vaer was once again in awe of the oddity that his friend called home and was grateful for her escort. Even with the image of his suite in the forefront of his thoughts and its owner at his side, the house offered a wild offering of temptations. Ornate doors, open archways, and yawning intersecting halls all beckoned him to explore – and get lost.

As he had proved earlier, when totally sober it would have been challenging but not impossible. Slightly inebriated from leisurely drinking in the good company of duanann whose biological tolerance for spirits far exceeded his own? He might have reached his bed by midday.

Walking beside her, Vaer cut Favashing a sidelong glance. He had been smiling to himself for the past few hours without ceasing but his lips found more room to curl at her question.

"I think I should not have invited them to meet my mother and sister," he replied, watching her. He waited a beat before adding, "They may get along too well, and my mother will get lofty ideas when Pandora and Persefoni start batting their lashes at me."

He rumbled with amusement, the sound coming easier with his edges blunted on spirits.

"They are lovely, Favashi. I hope that I do not bore them too quickly; I rather enjoyed their company. Though I should like to see them when they mean to be frightening. The Long Night will be very fun this year with them on the hunt."

 

[Favashi]

"I fear your Hunt may be over too quickly with them at the helm," Favashi shook her head in admonishment but her smile was sincere. It was clear that she cared quite deeply for the three women who had just left them, even if they had bickered for most of the evening. They had been on particularly good behaviour this evening, but the Fury of War knew that it did not take much more than the scent of blood or the thrill of a chase to turn them all into their true, darker selves. There was a reason after all they were Furies and not welcomed members of Midir's Hunt.

"Perhaps you have brothers or cousins I can set them up with, it seems that Persefone in particular has become enamoured with your kind," Shucks were not common outside of the Winter and Autumn Courts, and as such her sisters had only met them in passing. She no doubt saw Vhaer as some new delicacy she wished to sample - and try her particular set of Magicks on. Of course, she would never do such with Vhaer. Not when Favashi had so clearly staked her claim where he was concerned.

Her fingers curled a little more firmly into his forearm as they walked arm in arm.

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

“No brothers, unfortunately, and in keeping with my brotherly duties, I must declare my sister strictly off limits,” he laughed. “I do, however, have cousins in droves. A few are black shucks, but most are cwn annwn.

“The two species are particularly close, sharing similar cultures and traditions. We all love running and barking at livestock,” he mused aloud. If Favashi was overly familiar with cwn and shucks, he doubted she’d spurn the chance to hear it again from someone native to that culture. He absently laid his hand over hers as they continued walking at a leisurely pace. “The only true difference (besides the obvious) is that cwn live in their multi-generational septs while shucks prefer their family dens limited to individual families. We are all the same, however, in the eyes of our mothers and matriarchs, always looking to shack us up under someone else’s roof by any means possible. Only two of my cousins are considered Matriarchs of their septs, and they’re constantly gifting one another kids and cousins back and forth and complaining about too many ‘pups’ underfoot. One word to either of them or any of my shuck aunts, and you’ll have so many options for Persefone she’ll be scheduled out with dates for months.”

Vaer smiled broadly, amused at some memory.

“Have you been inside a sept before?” he asked.

 

[Favashi]

Favashi had been vaguely aware that the dog-fae had governed themselves in some ordered fashion, but she had never really paid much attention to it. Order made her yawn. But she politely listened to Vaer explain it to her because it sounded as though he were proud of it. Why, she was not sure. Chaos was so much more liberating. If it had been any other fae she might have simply walked away and said goodnight. Maybe Lijuan was right and she was growing soft. Her sister would not be too pleased if her work suffered as a result. His question was a reminder of exactly what her work was.

Favashi winced.

"Not... by invitation," the memory felt dusty which indicated it was over a century ago, but the Fury of War remembered every kill made in the heat of battle. She had savoured the joy of every one; man, woman or child. Yet standing next to Vaer she felt an unusual sense of shame in her actions even if War was what she was. At least the dog-fae's short lives meant there was little chance she would bump into someone who remembered her actions.

"Perhaps you should consult with your Matriarch we are... welcome first. We're an acquired taste."

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

She winced. Vaer only noticed because he had already been watching her, eager to converse with her about quite literally anything. He should have been more scandalized by how readily he tried to share his life with her, but he was pleasantly buzzed and ignoring that. Instead, he watched her.

And she had winced.

Vaer didn't have to work too hard to understand her meaning. He winced, too. He wasn't certain if apologizing would make her feel better or if it might instead make her feel worse. It wasn't like her to show remorse over who and what she was. This was totally unfamiliar territory and it unsettled him. As always, however, he rebounded with grace

"Thankfully my family has good taste. Most of them." Vaer gave the hand on his arm a gentle squeeze and he leaned in to lower his voice as if they might be overheard.

"If it would give you peace of mind I will speak to my mother, and, as I promised, you will have the chance to meet her and Hallori prior to the Long Night festivities." His eyes were warm and sparkling like her dawnish wine. "My family is not easily frightened or offended, Favashi. They will adore you and your sisters."

 

[Favashi]

Favashi found herself unable to tear herself away from his eyes. They had been one of the first things that had captivated her about him. Such a unique shade that changed with every type of light. Walking the lantern lit halls however made her decide it was by firelight she liked them best. The strangely intimate moment as he opened up his family home to her had her on the backfoot. She had invited him here, invited her sisters, to see him squirm and run from her yet the whole evening had had the opposite effect. She was not sure what to do with the new terrain she found herself playing on.

"I... would like that. Very much," and with a start she realised the words were true, for she would not have been able to speak them otherwise. This game was turning very dangerously into something beyond the simple pleasure of the flesh which had spurned her on to chase him across the years. Her head canted to the side as they came to a stop outside his rooms. Her fingers trailed down the feathered boa wrapped about his neck.

"Has it finally stopped bothering you? What I am? Are you ready to stop running, little pup?"

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

In one conversation, Vaer had somehow managed to conjure both a wince and hesitation out of Favashi. His level gaze watched her, nearly looking away out of some strange mixture of regret and sorrow before she answered.

Perhaps he was pushing too hard, or maybe he was opening up too quickly. Favashi was his friend and one that he wanted to keep in his life for as long as possible. Their friendship had worked just fine the way it was, only recently stumbling in moments like these. What was he doing wrong?

What was he doing right?

Not that. Anything but that. Keep them at arm’s length; that was the rule. Favashi shouldn’t have been an exception. He didn’t want another Samara situation on his hands. Once bitten, twice shy.

Vaer smiled and nodded, happy that she agreed – happy that she was happy. There was a bittersweet twinge in his chest.

As they reached the door, Vaer turned to meet her and she did the same. He should have expected this and yet he looked down at her with brows arching in surprise and question as Favashi stepped close.

The energy between them was palpable. The soft pull of the boa across his neck and shoulders awakened every sense in his body and he was all too aware of her proximity. Again. He shouldn’t tease her like this. He shouldn’t have put himself in this exact spot over and over again. If he didn’t want it, didn’t want her and everything those dusty gold eyes promised, it might have been easier.

But he did. That was the problem.

“I have never feared what you are, Favashi,” he replied softly, his voice a rumbling timbre as he blurted out the first words he could form. They were recklessly sincere. She was as terrible and beautiful as a force of nature. She shook and awed him the same as wildfires and floods. There was nothing she had ever done or could ever do that would not change how he saw her, how he respected her.

Vaer swayed closer against his better judgment. His knuckles brushed along the bare, velvet tract of her upper arm. His palm splayed over the curve of her shoulder and continued its slow creep upward until he was cupping her face, his long fingers lacing through her hair at the nape of her neck. His thumb traced the line of her jaw while his resolve waged war upon itself.

Her breath was sweet and he wondered if her lips would taste like the wine they’d shared at dinner.

With that, Vaer’s resolve wavered. Not long, but long enough. He closed the scarce distance between them slowly like she might shy away – like he might. His lips pressed against hers, as warm and soft as he’d not dared himself to imagine.

It was a disappointingly chaste kiss, and yet that simple act left him burning alive. His skin was flushed as he withdrew and it took several full seconds for him to open his eyes. His dark purple tongue slid along his lower lip.

She did taste like the wine.

He finally managed to hobble his senses together into something that felt like Vaer… but Vaer was born to run. The same twinge as before ached behind his ribs, and this time he didn’t do so well keeping it from his features. His hand slipped away and a crease formed between his brows when he smiled.

“Six days left. I look forward to the fresh torment tomorrow,” he laughed. So far the worst torment he’d experienced was taking a measured step away from Favashi toward his door.

 

[Favashi]

I have never feared what you are, Favashi.

The Fury of War raised a coy brow and a mischievous smirk tugged at the corners of her lips. There were multiple examples she could conjure without prodding where Vaer had looked nothing but afraid of her. It was very hard to deny the pounding of a heart. But, the fae could not lie. Had it really not been fear of what she was but what she so clearly intended to do to him that had made him so nervous? The thought was oddly humorous: she had not taken the Shuck for a sheltered male. Before she could tease and play their usual game of witty quips back and forth, Vaer did the unexpected.

Favashi froze as his lips collided with hers. It was disappointingly chaste after the years - centuries - they had been performing this back and forth. Her, goading and pushing him towards this very kiss and he running or twisting from her whenever she was close to springing the trap. She had just always imagined that it would be her who finally stepped across the line first. So whilst chaste and tender, a fleeting sweetness better suited to maids, it set her blood aflame. For this, however small, was Vaer letting go of his rigid control. She dare not move. Dare not do anything but return the kiss with equal tenderness lest she spook him like a deer in the forest. All the while that part of her that was so intrinsically Dawn and Chaos roared in triumph.

It took every fibre of control not to step after him when he stepped away.

Slowly, Favashi ran her tongue across her swollen lip and then grinned a wicked grin. The hunger in her eyes clear.

"Until tomorrow's torment," she purred and with that turned and left for her own rooms.

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

Sleep was difficult to grasp that night. Vaer had taken a very cold sobering shower, during which he had thoroughly chastised himself, and his mind had continued to turn long after he had laid down to rest. The moment he closed his eyes he could picture Favashi as she had been at his door, her gaze burning with anticipation and a certain feral glint that he refused to give a name to. Naming it meant admitting that he understood it.

The shuck rose the next morning in a rare mood. He dug through his wardrobe thrice and still nothing felt right. His hair wouldn't lay right. He had three missives waiting for him between, none of them bad news but not necessarily positive either. He had a mild headache.

Worst of all, he felt anxious. His heart thundered at the thought of stepping out of his suite. He wasn't nervous about what Favashi had planned, but to see the woman herself.

Vaer finally settled the nerves, picked something to wear, and use a bit of magick to fix his hair. He drew a deep breath at the door before straightening and stepping out. He'd dressed mostly in his usual blacks, but he had pulled an emerald green tunic from his room's wardrobe. It was far too ostentatious. He kind of liked it.

With nothing else to delay himself with, he pictured Favashi in his mind and began walking.

 

[Favashi]

The House and Gardens bent to Vaer's desires taking him through three curious rooms - an armoury, a lavish bedroom with silk sheets that seemed to beckon, and a sunroom where an easel sat facing one of the large arched windows - before spitting him out onto the terrace. Wild blooms and ivy hung from wooden trusses and tiny birds flittered from wooden peg to wooden peg. An intimate table for two had been laid in the middle with the chairs facing out over Favashi's carefully tended to gardens of chaotic beauty.

The lady of the house was already seated, sipping from a delicately made tea cup that would have looked home in any nobles house in Dornoch. She glanced up when Vaer approached and waved a hand to one of the birds. They flew down and before they could alight upon the floor the bird transformed in a cloud of pastel pink into a feathered dryad. She picked up the tea pot and gave the Shuck a shy smile.

"Good morning," Favashi purred. She was dressed in a tunic reminiscent of ancient human civilisations and golden sandals that laced up to her knees. "Tea?" she offered, motioning to the dryad.

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

The house had taken him on several odd journeys, but this morning's walk piqued his curiosity. With an intent it had taken him on a meandering path. When he was fixated on Favashi?

The first room hadn't been all that strange, and certainly Not thought-provoking. Of course Favashi kept a well-stocked armory. He wasn't surprised. Vaer allowed his mind to wander, to imagine how many years she had had to collect so much. He dared not linger too long; he kept Favashi in his mind and walked straight through to the other door.

The next room was where the questions started. A bedroom. Vaer halted.

He had assumed the property conjured doors and halls at random. If not at random, then perhaps it was guiding him where he wanted to go? Vaer was not about to admit any such thing about himself, but it was clear the damn house knew.

His frustration hitched abruptly, however, and heat flashed through his chest. Surely it hadn't brought him to Favashi's room? Vaer hurriedly looked around and was grateful that she was not there. He gently closed the door behind him, made a sign across himself in prayer, and opened the door again. It led somewhere new and he quickly exited.

The next was bright and open. He took a long moment to linger there, grateful that, once again, his hostess was not here. Vaer passed through the room, looking curiously at the easel. Did Favashi paint? He paused to stand beside it and look out the windows. There, another question pricked at him. Were the rooms random, picking up on his thoughts… or were they about Favashi?

He thought of the precious everything he knew about her – what she loved, who she was. Favashi probably spent a great deal of time in the armory. She had not been shy about her open attempts to woo him into her bed. Or were these places she had recently visited?

There was only one way to find out. Vaer took one final look and moved on to the other door.

Favashi was on the terrace. It was green and buzzing with life and he immediately felt at ease. In the brief moment before she turned to him, she looked content, comfortable. Favashi rarely looked otherwise, but here she looked right. She was suited to these bright places, as golden as the morning light that filtered through the foliage. They could not have been more opposite.

"Good morning," he answered with a smile. He didn't have to force it; it came so easily. He'd expected to feel anxious and awkward, but instead he felt relaxed, glad to see her usual fiery gaze. He must not have fucked up too bad.

"Yes, please." Vaer nodded to the dryad and took his seat. He looked out over the gardens and his smile reappeared anew.

"Your gardens!" he breathed. "They’re beautiful." Even if he could lie, he didn't need to. Wild and chaotic, they were exactly the kind of garden he had expected her to have.

"Over years of courtiership, I have seen many gardens. I have also learned that you can determine a lot about an individual based on those gardens – or lack thereof." He plopped a second cube of sugar into his tea and turned to Favashi with a conspiratorial grin. "After we last saw each other, I was invited to Lord Pauuish's home on business. He bought Elmsdowns from Lord Gisela last year, and he demolished the garden. It's just an empty grass lawn now. Utterly horrifying. I knew he was a terrible person."

He added a third sugar cube and finally set down the tongs and began stirring his tea.

 

[Favashi]

Favashi watched in bemusement as he took in the gardens. The previous night when they had dined outside it had been in the more orderly part of the garden, specifically kept clear so guests would not have to fight their way through venus fly traps to get to a table. The rest of her rolling lands she left to do as nature saw fit. Occasionally she might order another type of plant be added that she had seen on her travels, but not touching it had resulted in a wild arrange of blooms that hadn't been there to begin with anyway. Of course, it helped that the very soil the garden bloomed from was laced with its own level of sentience.

"Would you like some tea with your sugar?" the Fury raised a brow after he finally set the sugar pot down, her lips curved to one side in an easy, teasing smile.

"A lot of fae like order and the smallest blemish on that can drive them insane," she picked up a platter of pastries in shades of deep violets, blushing pinks, and duckling yellow. She took a couple of the latter for herself. "To live as long as us and be such a way seems dreadfully boring."

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

“No, thank you,” he chuckled, stirring his sugar with tea and then sipping it to make sure it was to his liking. Vaer sat back for a moment, contemplated, then added a drizzle of honey. He suffered bitter wines all the time. He’d be a corpse before he ever drank a cup of tea that wasn’t sickeningly sweet, and therefore pleasant.

Vaer waited for her to select her pastries before selecting a purple one. He could have argued for the sake of being contrary, but he agreed.

“I like my routines, but the world is made of chaos. Life feeds on it, from queens to worms.”

He sat back in the chair with his tea to look out at the gardens. It surprised him once again that they had known each other for so long yet knew so little. He resolved to rectify that. Not all at once, of course. She’d be suspicious and Vaer ventured to assume that she was dangerous when suspicious. He liked her like this, relaxed, grinning like a cat basking in the sun – his polar opposite.

“Do you choose the plants yourself?” he asked, turning back to Favashi.

 

[Favashi]

Favashi stretched her golden legs out in front of her and settled back in her chair, raising her own tea cup to her lips to savour the taste and draw out her time to think on her answer. After last night Vaer had started off a whole new game. Cat and mouse had turned into something far more exciting; chess. She certainly couldn't let a Shuck win a game that was based off of war.

"Sometimes," she waved a hand as though it were no big deal though it was a fact known by only the staff within her palace. "When I visit other lands, if they catch my eye I bring a sample back. Sometimes past lovers have given me bouquets and I have harvested the seeds. For the most part, I let the land grow what it wants. Even in Leogaire the Fae like to try and exert their will over the land when they can," her lips twitched in amusement. It was not that the Dawnish wanted order but rather to demonstrate their power by mastering the sentient land they lived on. Favashi preferred to treat it like an old dear friend.

"I thought we might go hunting today," she took another sip of her tea and over the rim met his eyes.

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

He listened studiously to what she said while his eyes scanned the garden. There was such a variety. He recalled the globe she had shown him yesterday, all the books in the library. Once more he felt a twinge of yearning. All the time, all the things she had learned and the places she had seen. The garden was another narrow glimpse of her part of eternity. His fascination was renewed, he searched the garden for things that were especially peculiar.

"Oh?" Vaer gave Favashi an assessing look. There was no use hiding his suspicion. He had lost a bet to be here and She had promised torment. So far the worst torment he'd experienced was the frigid shower he'd taken the night before.

"And that is to be our quarry?" He managed to keep a straight face, his features slack in his best look of courtier disinterest.

 

[Favashi]

The impassive expression only made the tigers grin grow.

"A mortal - a hero if the legends are true - keeps praying to me in the Old Ways. He has asked for me for my favour in the battle in which he fights today," she waved her hand as though it did not matter the semantics of the situation then twirled a big of her high pony about her fingers. "Mortals can be quite surprising in their skill. They have such little time to become true masters but it is possible, I've seen it several times," it always delighted her. It was one of the reasons why she did not share the view that mortals were worth less. If anything they were more precious for their fleeting moments.

"Come with me and Hunt the field, find a true challenge not just some boar or deer," fae were better of course but she had a feeling Vaer wouldn't follow her on that Hunt without the Erlking's precious list to guide his hand.

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

For once he wasn't that surprised. This was more in the vein of what he had expected to do on this trip. He doubted Favashi had much interest in hunting game, given what he knew about her. An animal, as she said, posed little challenge to one of her ilk, to one of his. It didn't think, didn't strategize. There was no thrill in conquering what couldn't understand its defeat.

"I will," he replied simply. He held her gaze for a moment longer before sipping his tea.

"How exactly does one pray to Favashi, in particular?" His crooked, boyish grin curled past the edge of his cup and he flashed her a playful glance that danced like gold coins. "Waiting on the post is most inconvenient."

 

[Favashi]

Favashi was almost disappointed he had agreed so quickly. Or was this his move? Could she guess his next move by this slight show of hand? She sipped at her tea and watched him like a tiger watching its mark.

"Oh, there are plenty of ways," her lips curved in that slow, dangerously inviting manner like she had the night before, and let the heat simmering beneath her skin light up her eyes with a predatory glow. When she blinked it vanished and she sipped at her tea again. "I've been around a long time, different races have different methods. This one caught my attention because I had thought that particular clan had died out some centuries ago. He killed a bison, bleached its skull, then painted it with his blood," she did so love when they were creative.

Her head canted to one side as she regarded him over the lip of her cup.

"Do people pray when you kill them during The Hunt?"

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

"Very creative. I'll improvise, then."

Vaer took a bite of a pastry to briefly give his face a task while she looked at him like that. It helped. Sort of. No, it didn't.

"Most do – when they have the time. Though it is never to me. The breath would be wasted on my name, even if it did have power. No, they beg, mostly. Some don't do either, going out of this world as violently as they lived in it. Those are my favorites. It makes it easy. The begging makes me feel… dirty, I guess, is the best way to describe it. The praying is just embarrassing."

Vaer spoke matter-of-factly, only frowning at the end. He had been a Hound for some time. One did not simply earn a title from Midir without seeing a great deal of death, and every one of them went differently.

"Early on in my career, I Hunted a particularly nasty elf. I remember thinking he was so vile that this must be what evil incarnate looked like. He was fascinating, to be completely frank. My first serial killer. A butcher and necrophiliac, but so very methodical about his work. It was odd, finding things that I respected and appreciated about him. When I finally caught up to him, finally got to mete out his death, I remember being so angry at him – for the things he had done and the lives he had wasted, but also for making me feel like him, like we were somehow the same."

His laughter broke, then. It was an odd moment for laughter, so he pressed on, chuckling over his words.

"The moment he saw me he pissed himself and started crying like a child. This man, who I had thought so unfeeling, so evil, sobbed and begged me for his life. In the coming years, I'd really learn to discern the sincere from the false, and his was genuine. It was so embarrassing that I didn't even want to kill him. I ended it swiftly, reluctant to hear more of his pathetic drivel. I couldn't believe I'd ever thought him menacing. It certainly changed the lofty delusions I had of my work as a Hound. Piss on my paws really sobered me."

He shook his head in amusement.

"What about you? Surely they must. The kind of people who charge into war are so different from those skulking in the shadows. I bet you get those wide, adoring eyes in the final moments – the gratefulness, like it's an honor."

 

[Favashi]

Favashi found herself leaning forward, enthralled by this tale of blood and vengeance. Her tea sat forgotten on the table growing cold, her pastry half eaten. Her golden eyes were focused entirely on the male before her. She clasped her hands together and propped her chin upon them like a child would when listening to an elder tell a story. No matter how many wars or battles she witnessed she would never grow weary of hearing them. Each person experienced it differently even if they were stood side by side for the duration of the fight. There was so much to learn from a persons reaction when faced with that fundamental choice; to take a life, or have your life taken.

Vaer's retelling told her many things. Some that she already knew, like his dedication to The Hunt and belief in Midir's work, but some things she did not, like his ability to admire a serial killer. How interesting.

She leant back when he turned the question back to her and ran her finger round the rim of her teacup.

"Not always. I have been cursed. I have had them beg. I have had them turn and run, throwing down their arms. Others have welcomed the challenge," the approval in her voice at the latter was hard to mistake but it burned in her eyes all the same. "Not everyone who takes to a battlefield does so because they want to. Most are made. Those that will it often barely take part themselves, they like to hide in their tents safe behind their armies."

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

Favashi offering sober counterarguments? She had been utterly rapt by his story, but he had a difficult time reading her now. Vaer gave her a measuring look, ultimately deciding she was being as forthright as he had been. What a subject to be frank on, at that. Vaer had chased down quarry that had left a bitter taste in his mouth on Hunts, people whose only guilt had been being in the wrong place at the worst time. He didn't reflect on that much now that he was Titled and had the liberty to choose his targets, but he knew exactly what she spoke of.

He scoffed at her final remark, lifting his tea.

"Cowards," was his only remark. Vaer lived with the assurance that, should either his King or Queen call him to serve, they would stand beside him. He couldn't say the same for all fae, and many throughout history had run afield at the coercion of their superiors.

"Where will we be hunting today?" he asked, not quite changing the subject but steering it back toward its original destination. "And what form am I permitted to take when we get there?"

The look Vaer took on as he surveyed his host over his tea was almost as predatory as hers, calculating in a different way. This was her prize week, he resolved; he'd treat her to whatever she wanted.

Almost anything.

"I'll be a good boy and not frighten the mortals. Unless you'd like me to."

 

[Favashi]

Favashi threw back her head and laughed. The suddenness of it caused the nymph who had been standing nearby to attend to their needs as they arose to jump, though she covered it up quickly. Indeed a smile seemed to tug at the maids lips as though her mistresses laughter were an infectious thing or she shared in the joke her lady found so amusing.

"We are Gods to them, be whatever you wish," she waved her hand over his form from head to toe then wiped a small tear from the corner of her eye. Bemusement curved her lips into a sensuous smile. "If depends how much fear you would like to inspire for future generations. I can just imagine the stories now," her eyes sparkled with glee at the possibilities. The Goddess of War with her Black Dog. That would certainly be an image that haunted children for generations to come and in turn ensure her continued worship.

"The war is taking place on the Steppes. A good old fashioned brawl between travelling hoards."

 

[Vaer Nhimei]

A good gamble. Her amusement pleased him as it was far preferable to any more smouldering. Satisfied he had deflected last night's errors, he took up another pastry. This one was a little tart with an odd undertone he couldn’t quite place. He frowned momentarily and set down the remainder of the pastry to remind himself to ask her what it was.

Vaer held his remarks about being gods among mortals. That was absolutely true for Favashi, but not quite for Vaer. It was true that he would wreak havoc unimaginable among their ranks. Black shucks were feared and revered spirits the world over and this escapade would cement their presence in the Steppes. He was also far more vulnerable than she was. The presence of an ounce of silver on the field would be as offensive to him as iron and burn just as hot.

Ah, but what a pair they would make. He reflected as she did, letting his mind reach to imagine them both on the battlefield. It gave him chills, imagining Favashi where normally Midir might stand.

A little treasonous, too.

“What weapon do you prefer? It would be gauche for me to wield the same.”

When in the company of his superiors (few as they were) Vaer always chose a weapon that would complement theirs. Nothing was going to take away from Favashi’s glory on the field, but mortal minds often made errors, and he didn’t want today’s legend to be skewed by something as horrible as inconsistent story details.

 

[Favashi]

Favashi drew her braid back over her shoulder and began to play with the ends by twirling them across her lips.

"For the Steppes?" she mused aloud as her eyes took on an almost vacant look. Memories of her previous adventures to those war torn plains filled her mind. How long ago had it been? She could still see the bloody battlefield of the Crimson Tongue - a name the battle had been gifted owing to how red the river next to it had flown. She had wielded nothing more than a bow that time. It had been carved beautifully by one of the young men who had led the charge. His horse had been a mean thing...

Favashi blinked the mists away because they could fully take hold.

"My bow perhaps. Or I have a delightful new axe I picked up a few moons back I haven't wet with blood yet... What about you? What weapons does a shuck enjoy?" With the last question her eyes returned to his with keen interest.