Private Tales Take the risk or lose the chance

[Varys]

"Not him?!" Varys panted, looking back over his shoulder at Lottie incredulously. "Then who in the blazes would---" Again he was interrupted by another volley of arrows, and what sounded like solid stone colliding with the walls, shaking the brickwork like thunder, pinpricks of light peeking through the sides of the Embassy as the projectiles began to chip away at their only cover.

"Questions for later." He mumbled in agreement as he rose back to his feet. If Lottie didn't think that this was her fiance, Varys was inclined to believe her. That only meant they were dealing with an unknown, and he couldn't make any assumptions about their intent. "Come on, let's get moving."

Moving as quickly as he could with what energy he had left after building the makeshift window barricades, Varys clambered up the stairs, his nose wrinkling as he tried to ignore the stench of death around them as they found themselves running past at least a dozen dead rangers, if not more. They'd been shown no mercy, every wound on their body meant to kill.

He'd little doubt they'd be treated differently.

"Do you see any way up from here? A window?"

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Who, was the big question she pondered as they scrambled up the stairs. At least being on the second floor gave them some reprieve from the onslaught of arrows and crossbow bolts. She didn't have enough fingers to count how many people she had pissed off over the years by stealing from them or making them look a fool. Which of those were inclined enough to pursue her this far south however, narrowed the list. Still, she didn't think anyone would try to kill her. Everyone knew about the bounty the Prince would offer if she was delivered alive.

And who would kill Rangers like this to do it?

Lottie couldn't help but glance at the bodies as they passed, her stomach churning and twisting into knots she knew meant breakfast was coming to say hello again, but she pressed on.

"I knew I should have worn trousers," she muttered quietly to herself. Why was it, whenever she wore a dress, something disastrous happened? As Varys pulled up short when no other stairs presented themselves Lottie cast a look around the ceiling. There had to be another level, the place was-- "There," she pointed to a small, easily missed square that didn't quite line up with the rest of the ceiling panels. An attic hatch. Uncoiling the whip from her arm she flicked it up towards the tiny handle and tugged. The door groaned but opened, spilling down a retractable ladder.

There was a crash from downstairs then the angry sounds of voices. Without a second thought Lottie started up the ladder.

 

[Varys]

They'd been so focused on trying to get Lottie's magic in order that Varys had forgotten entirely about her skill with the whip she kept coiled around her arm. With a skilled crack against the handle of the loose hatch in the ceiling, it creaked open and a dusty old ladder fell out with a thud against the floor. Even amongst the turmoil erupting around them, Varys couldn't help but let out a whistle.

"There's something I didn't realize I was into until just now..." He mumbled under his breath as Lottie wasted no time ascending the ladder. As soon as they got out of here, he was going to buy her three dresses to replace the one getting dirtied with blood and debris. Grasping the ladder and climbing up behind her, the two of them emerge in a dusty crawlspace underneath the rooftop of the Embassy building. Underneath, the sounds of shouts and crumbling stone signal a pursuit far from over.

"Hold on." He grunted through his teeth as he turned himself around in the tight space, retreiving his dagger and cutting the ladder they'd climbed loose, causing it to call completely to the floor below and splinter into wooden segments; they wouldn't be following them that way. "There, that should buy us some time."

There wasn't a window to be seen up in the snug crawlspace, the only light coming from the hatch underneath, and even that was dim. Not too much of a problem, though, Varys placed his palm against the ceiling and, pushing out the very last of his energy, dislodged the bricks above them enough to push them out of place and create an opening out onto the flat rooftop.

The elf gripped the edge, poking his head out just enough to confirm there weren't any archers perched above waiting to take shots at them. Looked to be clear enough. Turning to Lottie, he smiled.

"I was going to suspend the rooftop running portion of your training for a while after last time, but..." He raises an eyebrow. "Last one back to the inn washes the clothes?"

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

The whole thing was so absurd that Lottie sound herself in quiet hysterics. She covered her mouth as best she could to muffle it but the peels of laughing kept coming, shaking her body with their violence. Here she was, covered in cobwebs and dust from the small crawlspace, covered in tiny cuts from flying glass, no doubt her hair was an absolute mess too, in a dress no less about to go out across the rooftops to flee an enemy. Again. Did anybody on Arethil have such bad luck as them?

"I'm... sorry," she huffed between laughs and pulled herself out into the sun after his lead. "This is just..." she shook her head unable to finish amongst the hiccupping laughter.

"I shouldn't have worn a dress," she brushed herself off and glanced across at the nearest rooftop. From the noises they could hear their enemy were focused on the ground floor or perhaps the first level up. They hadn't accounted for the roof but they soon would. Lottie didn't plan on sticking around for when they happened. Forcing herself under control she rolled her shoulders and then with a sudden start she sprinted along the roof top and leapt across the six foot gap to the next.

 

[Varys]

The absurdity of the situation didn't really dawn on Varys until Lottie broke down into subdued laughter only a story above yet another mob of angry folks wanting them dead. You know, only a few days after they'd been kidnapped, which had happened only a few days after they'd run away from a city after setting a party ablaze. To say their luck was ridiculously skewed would have been an understatement, and yet as the beautiful thing in front of him fell into hysterics, he couldn't help but follow.

Despite all of the madness, all of the rotten luck and pain they'd gone through, there wasn't anybody else in the world he'd rather do it with, and somehow being in love with the woman who seemed to attract trouble like flies to a cowpie made it all worth it. Hell, he'd been in love with her for years, it was just that now he could openly revel in it.

"Absolute nonsense?" He finished her sentence, grinning from ear to... the other side of his face. "Yes it is, but if I'm being honest? I'm having the time of my life, getting through it with you." There would be time to be mushy later, he supposed. They had a comfy room and a warm bed waiting for them, and he didn't have to worry about getting distracted there. Of course, this also meant it was likely they'd need to skip town soon and find a new place to base themselves.

One thing at a time.

"Don't worry about the dress." He offered as he followed her to the edge of the rooftop, taking a quick peek over and bringing his fingers to his lips. With a whistle, the horse pulling their wagon let out a huff and began moving down the road back towards the Inn. With all of their assailants inside, Varys wasn't concerned about it being followed. "I took my peek when you were climbing the ladder, so I won't get distracted, promise." He grins cheekily, watching her was she took the first leap across to the next roof.

Varys took a few steps back and followed, tucking and rolling into a sprint to keep pace with her. He could hear shouts behind them, but unless they had brought a ladder along with them, they wouldn't even be able to see the pair up here, let alone follow them.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

How absurd that in the middle of death she could find the nerves to blush at his words.

"How un-gentlemanly," Lottie gave a very aristocratic sniff. Delicate yet with enough venom in social circles it could very possibly injure a persons entire position. It was a rare reminder of where exactly Lottie had been born. The cheeky grin that followed however was anything but sophisticated and she didn't give him the chance to offer a follow up before taking a running leap for the next roof. In this part of the city where buildings had been positioned far enough apart to give their occupants some semblance of privacy each leap was a calculated risk. Jumping to early could see you plummeting into the streets than hitting the next roof. But as they meandered their way back towards the inn and the poorer parts of the city the gaps grew less and the jumps easier - which was just as well as Lottie was growing tired.

Eventually they landed on the inns roof itself and Lottie put her hands on her thighs and bent over to draw in deep airfalls of lung. Once she got her breath she stood up and began to walk to cool herself off. As she walked she spoke her thoughts aloud.

"I think we might have outstayed our welcome here. And... we should probably tell your friends what we found. I'm not sure who has the balls to kill a whole band of Rangers like that but... I don't fancy meeting them alone."

 

[Varys]

Varys wasn't entirely certain whether or not it was a good thing that the pair of them had grown so used to being in mortal danger that they hardly fretted over it any longer. It probably spoke to how many people had eyes for their heads, but he couldn't help but be thankful that even while running for their lives across the sun-baked rooftops of Fal'Addas they could smile and laugh with one another.

In fact, jumping from ledge to ledge without a care in the world with her felt so natural that he forgot entirely about the 'race' aspect of things, and it wasn't until Lottie made the final leap to the rooftop of the Inn they'd been staying at that he smirked and let out a playful swear, landing right behind her. "You've got me going soft. I should have taken a turn and gone through the lower district." He snickers, approaching as she catches her breath and places a hand on her back. "A lot of those buildings are connected by roots and branches, I wouldn't have even had to jump. I guess I'm washing this dress later."

She made a point, though. If people were hunting them inside the city, it wouldn't be long before they narrowed things down to this Inn. Varys was confident that they could handle themselves regardless, but old man Hassel had been good to them, and it wouldn't be right to put him in danger just because they didn't want to leave. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, peeking out over the side of the building down to the streets.

"You're right. I dunno who those guys were, but I don't want them wrecking Hassel's place looking for us." As he spoke, he saw their wagon in the distance, the horse carrying it dutifully back to where it had been staying for the last week. Good, no stragglers tailing it. Turning back towards Lottie, he nodded at her suggestion. "Let's go clean up. We can leave in the morning, then. We'll head for the Falwood Portal Stone and take a jump to Alliria." If this group was slaughtering Rangers, he wasn't about to risk sending a letter to a place that might be compromised. They'd deliver the news themselves.

"You ever been? To Alliria, I mean?" Varys headed to the side of the building where their room was and lowered to his backside, sliding over the edge and opening the window above their bed. "You think the bookstore here was impressive..."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie slowed her pacing whilst Varys picked their own locked window, but whilst her body felt good her heart was still hammering against her ribs like it intended to break free. She had been hunted before but never like that before. Never with such a clear intention to kill.

"I've never left Oban," she reminded him in an absent minded manner as she waited for him to slip through the window into their room. Once he was through she was able to sit on the roof and lower herself through too. Though the glass would do little good if their enemy found them, she still locked the window again behind them. When she'd convinced herself it was secure, she hopped off the desk that sat under the window she'd just climbed through.

"Surely all that noise would have drawn some kind of... guard? Or is blowing up buildings like that common in Faladdas? Maybe they've all been caught...?" she asked with the type of false optimism one had when they knew the answer was going to be no.

 

[Varys]

Varys didn't waste any time in beginning to pack their things up. The room was still a bit of a tossed-about mess from their earlier escapades, and the last thing he wanted was to scramble about looking for missing bits and bobs first thing in the morning.

He winced at Lot's gentle reminder that she'd never traveled before leaving with him. Being around her was still... well, it muddled his thoughts a bit. Sometimes he found himself trying to come up with small talk to stop from being the awful flirt that he knew himself to be. It was a work in progress.

"I definitely heard the City Guard among all the commotion, but you're right, they weren't as on top of things as they should have been." Varys agreed, folding discarded clothes and stacking books. "If I had to venture a guess, they had a plan to keep them busy for a while, maybe drew them away with more ruckus elsewhere. Either way, they knew what they were doing." Fal'Addas was a relatively peaceful city, so it didn't have nearly the pronounced guard presence as other cities its size. There was only so much ground the small contingent could cover.

Once he had things sorted in such a way he could easily take them and go at a moment's notice, Varys tied the sacks and peeked his head out of the window. All quiet... with any luck, they wouldn't be able to pick this place out until they'd had a chance to clean themselves up and prepare.

"I doubt they've been caught, but I imagine with all the noise they made they'll be busy for a little while. The city will be on watch for them, and they can't stroll up to this place like they did the Embassy."

The embassy... all those dead rangers. Varys let out a sneer and closed the window, sitting on the mattress and picking bits of rubble out of his hair. "Fuckin' assholes. To do that to an entire building of people. I should have been there faster. If I hadn't slacked off, maybe I could have helped them."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"It wasn't your fault, Varys," Lottie set a hand on his arm drawing him to a halt in their hurried packing. Her jaw was set and her brows drawn in stubbornness. If her sisters had been there they would have warned him there would be no changing her mind on the topic when she had such a look on her face. If it was his fault, then it was in part hers too, and she refused to let a thing like this tarnish that memory. Affectionately she pulled another bit of rubble from his hair then ran her hands through his long locks.

"They were prepared. If they took out the Rangers I'm not sure what we could have done to help - there were mages in there too," which meant there were probably mages in their enemies cohort too. Good ones or many of them. "The positive is that there can't be that many groups out there who are slick enough and powerful enough to pull off something like this. The Rangers must have an idea, plus," she reached down to her boot and pulled out one of the crossbow bolts she had squirrelled away.

"Can't be that many people who can afford weapons like this. This is a high quality bolt, not what a common mercenary would carry."

 

[Varys]

She was right, obviously. It didn't make much sense for him to beat himself up over it when in actuality they'd probably narrowly avoided getting caught up in the worst of the attack themselves. Still, Varys had been the focal point of so much bad luck for those around him that it had become difficult not to blame himself when misfortune found those he cherished most.

If anybody could get it through his thick skull though, it was her. Varys tilted his head back against her hands as she tidied his hair, the sensation of her fingertips running through it bringing a soothing sensation that he just couldn't find anywhere else. Closing his eyes, his troubled grimace slowly flipped into a soft smile.

"Yeah, yeah... You know me though, love asking for trouble. How I found you, isn't it?" The entire reason they'd met was because he'd been sticking his nose where it didn't belong. If being a headstrong moron brought him something like Lottie, there had to be some merit behind it, right? Opening his eyes a tad, he catches notice of the bolt in her hands and barely holds back a laugh. "Once a thief, always a thief. I suppose it worked out in this instance. Maybe we can get that looked at by a professional, see what they can tell us."

A long shot, but they didn't have a hell of a lot in the way of leads. Leaning back against Lottie and letting himself relax in her calming presence, he closed his eyes again and continued speaking in a soft, almost sleepy voice. "You're on the money. I don't think the Rangers would have been so worried as to call in the favor I owe them if they didn't think something was up. Any consolation, it'd take a lot more than what they have here to even get close to the headquarters in Alliria. I don't think they're in any danger..."

A pregnant pause was followed by a slight frown.

"But there are more embassies elsewhere. I'm worried now."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie continued her soft caress of his hair as he relaxed against her. As much as it seemed to soothe him, it soothed her too. There had been a moment back there when she had feared she might lose him and being able to touch him, to hold him, reassured her that she hadn't. This new fear was one she would need to leash least it make her reckless and in turn put them into even more danger. She forced herself to put on that carefree, confident smirk when he named her a thief. Only one of them could have a breakdown at once and she supposed it was Varys turn. She swirled the bolt then slid it back into her boot where it would be safe.

"Then let's get going to Alliria, they'll be able to warn the other Headquarters, and unless this group was mobilised across the whole of Arethil then they had time before their next attack." She tried not to linger on the fact she wasn't convinced in her own reasoning. She pressed a kiss to his brow then finally drew back.

"Let me change real quick, I can be packed and downstairs in ten. Go tell your friend we're leaving early."

 

[Varys]

Varys had rather been looking forward to a bath and a nap after another unexpectedly stressful day, but Lottie's fire was infectious, and with a little help from her smooth lips to his brow and gentle hands in his hair, he found his weariness worked out of his body in no time at all. By the time she'd finished spoiling him and proposed they leave tonight, he'd forgotten all about the bath and the bed.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan." He grinned, springing up to his feet with far more pep than a moment ago. "Roads are a lot calmer in the afternoon, so it'll probably make the trip go faster anyways!" That, and they didn't seem to be constantly attacked when moving between towns. Varys didn't want to say that part aloud, for fear he'd somehow jinx that trend.

Some fresh air without the danger of being pelted with arrows would help clear his mind, and Lottie was right; the chances that the Rangers of other Embassies were in imminent danger was slim to none; There wasn't any reason for him to get so antsy. Varys let Lottie change while he packed and readied the rest of his belongings. They'd only been in Fal'Addas for a little over a week, but it felt as though this room had been their home for months.

It was almost a little sad to leave it, after all the memories they'd made here.

"Checking out, Hassel!" Varys called behind the counter as he dragged his case down the stairs, tossing a sack of coins onto the countertop as the old Elf poked his head out of the back. "Appreciate you putting us up, old man. It's been fun."

Hassel scoffed, but there was a little bit of a smile on his face nonetheless. "Thought you'd never leave, kid. Thanks for actually paying me this time." While he'd been quite prickly to Varys when they'd first arrived, there was a fondness in his voice now. The little urchin he'd once known to break in and use his rooms without asking, always looking for trouble had grown up. In some strange way, the old innkeeper was proud. "Stay safe, will you? I know it's asking the world of you, but..."

Varys waved him off with a grin.

"I'll come back again someday. Just keep this place running." Tapping his case on the bottom step, he called up into the room. "Ready, Lot?"

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie clattered down the stairs a moment later. She had arrived with a single, sad sack of clothing and now found herself heaving down the stairs a rather large trunk, two smaller trunks and a hat box. Over her shoulder the sack now appeared to be full of books instead. Her cheeks were flushed from the exertion when she reached the floor but she flashed both elves with a triumphant grin; human girl 1, elf boys 0.

"It's alright babe, I got our stuff," she said in her best deep-throated impersonation of his own voice, then spanked his backside with a wink to the innkeeper who snorted a laugh. Before Varys could retort she threw her arms around the old gnarly elf and pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you for letting us stay," from what Varys had told her of the past there had been a real chance he might have told them to not so politely go away.

As she pulled back it revealed Hassel had taken on a bright red hue. He tugged at his collar and cleared his throat.

"Well, I knew I would be paid this time that's all," despite his gruff voice he was smiling and even loitered to wave the pair off as they lugged the luggage down to the wagon and set off for Alliria.

 

[Varys]

"That was adorable. I thought he might actually tell us he'll miss us." Varys teased once they were finally back on the road. Usually it would be hard to hold much of a conversation until they were out of the city, but Varys had taken them down an alternate path through some of the lesser traveled backroads so that they didn't have to pass the section of town where the Embassy, or what was left of it, was. "I don't think I've ever seen him blush like that before."

Already there was one of the books that the lovely Arilette Albrecht had recommended for Lottie opened between the two of them. They had quite a trip ahead of them, and Varys knew Lot was beyond eager to continue her study of his language. Barring any further terrible strokes of luck, perhaps this next leg of their journey would finally give her time to progress.

"Hey, look over there..." He nudged her with an elbow and nodded to the right as they turned back onto one of the main roads. On the side of the road stood at least two dozen city guards surrounding an overturned wagon, several men restrained and lying on their bellies, and even more being dragged from the vehicle. "Looks like one of the ones that came after us. See anything that rings a bell there?" Varys didn't recognize the design painted on the wagon, or the strange, greyish outfits the people being hauled off all seemed to be wearing.

Lottie had sent they weren't her fiance's men, and Varys was inclined to believe her. That left a very troubling question mark, even as they headed towards the edge of the city and left that question mark on the horizon behind them.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie laughed as Varys mused over their hosts reaction to her farewell. The old innkeeper had been a little rough around the edges, but she had grown to like him over their short stay. He didn't ask questions and he made a very good cup of tea - something she had feared she would never taste again after leaving Oban. Upon her lap sat an open notebook which was already a third full of the cursive script the elves used alongside the plainer looking Obanese translation. Every correction Varys made on her pronunciations when into the book. She was just copying down his latest correction - her pronunciation for the word diamond - when he drew her attention to the roadside.

The guards only briefly looked up as the noise of their wagon approached and one gruffly waved them on in case they had been thinking of stopping. Lottie tried not to look too nervous or afraid though her heart began to pick up in its rhythm. Instead she schooled her face into one of open curiosity like any nosey traveller upon seeing an arrest before them.

"No," she murmured back, relaxing once they were past. "I didn't recognise the sigil so it cannot be from Delradia at all," certainly not Oban. Lottie had been taught to recognise every noble family and their major offshoots since the moment she could read. "I don't think anyone from back home would dare attack the Rangers anyway, and I had no connection to them before.. It wouldn't make any sense to kill them like that. Do the Rangers have enemies?"

 

[Varys]

Varys gave a thoughtful hum, but the look of cluelessness on his face likely revealed his answer before his words did. "I couldn't tell you. I wasn't ever really a member, just a mage-for-hire." The elf shrugged his shoulders, cracking the reins again as they sped out of the city and back into the dense forest paths of the Falwood.

Lottie hadn't been concious for this leg of the trip last time, and she'd missed out on some incredible sights because of it. The forests teemed with life, creatures of all shapes and sizes made the trees and the foliage around them look as though they were moving and breathing. The rays of sun that cut through the thick treetops came down in dramatic beams, small spotlights that accentuated every inch of life that flourished in the elven lands.

"I was... uh... involved with one of them for a month or two while I was volunteering. That's how I got most of the information I do have. Even then, she was pretty tight-lipped about most of the inner workings, and the group we were fighting at the time has since disbanded, I'm fairly certain."

Varys hadn't heard anything about Geladryx and his warband after that battle at Farreach, so he assumed they'd been dealt with. Good riddance; that Dragon and his cronies were some of the biggest pains in the ass he'd ever gone up against. If it hadn't been for the Rangers, he'd have been cooked.

"I guess there's no point in us worrying about it now. I know these woods better than I know any city. Used to live out here for... a long time. If anybody tries to come after us out here, I shouldn't have an issue dodging them."

Varys turns to Lot, giving a cheeky little grin.

"Which means you can finally get some study in without worrying about getting shot at all the time."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie ignored the unfamiliar pang of jealousy when Varys mentioned a former lover. It wasn't as though she didn't also have a past after all. But we're not attempting to help one of our exes, a vindictive little voice murmured in the back of her mind. She shut it down before it could fester into something worse. Just because he had been involved with the group they now rushed to help didn't mean they were undeserving of their help. The Rangers and their work was well known even as far away as the Kingdom of Delradia. She'd even once seen a band of them travel through the Widow Woods on some mission or other.

She turned her thoughts to something less ugly, like the odd way their pasts mirrored one another. Her lips twitched.

"So forests are where both of us are more comfortable," she mused, her eyes drifting every now and then from the book in her lap to watch one of the curious animals that crossed their path, or when a sunbeam alighted on a flower she had never seen before. "Perhaps we should just find a cabin out here somewhere and vanish. Avoid cities," that seemed to be where they really got into trouble. But even as Lottie jested she knew she could never commit to a life of solitude; she loved the bustle of life too much.

She looked back down at her book with a sigh.

"I forgot how hard languages were. I thought Dornochian was hard but this is..." she scrunched up her nose.

 

[Varys]

"Unnecessarily complicated?" Varys finished the sentence for her, grinning. "You're absolutely right, welcome to elven culture, where everything has to be more complex to display how sophisticated we are." He waved a hand as if he were painting the phrase in the air between them, snickering. "This is why most elves planning to be involved in anything outside of the Falwood make sure to learn other languages, because finding people who speak elven outside of this part of the world is like finding a needle in a haystack."

Varys had never subscribed to the elven superiority beliefs that many of his kind did, even if they suppressed it. Then again, he'd also never spent too long living among other elves in general. Perhaps their general snootiness hadn't rubbed off on him, or maybe he'd spent so long looking after himself that he hadn't had the time to pay attention to the way they acted.

Lottie's idea of finding a cabin to settle down in briefly brought a smile to his lips, but it didn't last very long. As much as Varys wanted to lead some kind of a normal life with her, he had a suspicion they'd both go crazy from boredom, even with each other's company.

And besides...

"That's how I lived for a long time, in a little cabin not far from here." The tone of his voice suggested the memories weren't particularly fond, but then his memory was such a mess that even he wasn't sure how he felt about it. "I don't recall too much about that time. Probably because... you know." There wasn't any need to recount the inhumane experiments his past self had conducted on, well, himself. "But I remember it burned down in a wildfire, and that's how I wound up in the streets of the city."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Varys' all too apt description of the elven language wrung a laugh out of Lottie, dispelling the frown that had been permanently etched between her brows since opening the book.

"It is so pretty though," she sighed once their jesting subsided and they settled once more into a companionable silence. Pretty things had always been her downfall. Even in the depths of Widows Wood she had ensured their camp was filled with the luxuries they had once enjoyed in their manor home. Silks and pretty lace, gold and jewels... there was a reason her sisters had fondly nicknamed her Magpie. Lottie managed to work her way to the end of another sentence before Varys spoke again. Instead of offering cheap words she reached over and squeezed his hand.

"Cabin's are too beneath us anyway. We should aim for a castle, on some dramatic cliff top overlooking the sea," her lips twitched. "I've always wanted one of those Sky Doors, where you can kick your enemies out to their death, like in the Song of Flame and Shadow."

 

[Varys]

Varys, despite his somber tone, was doing his utmost to disallow the memories he'd recently come to terms with from bringing down his mood any longer. Even so, the comforting presence of her hand on his was more than welcome. He looked over to her and smiled, leaning over to place a chaste kiss to her cheek.

"That sounds less like a home and more like a lair." Varys chuckled against her skin, pulling back to place another on her lips. "But I'd be lying if I said I didn't like the sound of it. I think a nice little spot by the ocean would be great. I've always wanted to try my hand at fishing, as silly as that sounds." Niv had been an avid fisher, and some of the stories he'd told Varys in days past made it sound like both a relaxing and invigorating experience.

The title she threw out was unfamiliar to him, but a look of thought did cross the elf's features as he pulled away from his lover and leaned back in his seat, allowing the horses to slow to a more gentle trot for a moment, giving them a reprieve.

"If everything is okay in Alliria, I'd like to give you some time to explore the city, not worry about being hunted for a little while. You've been working hard, Lot. You deserve a break." There was a touch of guilt in his voice, that he'd promised to train her and instead, they'd been constantly waylaid by problem after problem. His tendency to be a trouble magnet hadn't faded, and it was even more complicated now that she was more than a pupil to him. "And if I'm being honest, I've never just... been a couple... with anybody before. It's always had strings, always been in the middle of trouble, or in between catastrophies. I'd like to... just be yours for a bit. Be normal. Even if it's just for a little while."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Yes... a lair, that sounded much more befitting for a would-be-princess. Maybe when she told this tiara in Alliria the money she made could go towards whatever home her and Varys ended up settling on in the end. Though... she would definitely make sure it had some kind of moon door. She was nothing if not theatrical.

"I deserve a break?" Lottie snorted. "You're the poor bastard who keeps getting caught up in my shit. You deserve a break. No, fuck it, we both do," she threw her hands in the air as though the matter were decided. Their 48 hours of honeymoon bliss didn't count. That had been raw, painful and beautiful in a whole different sense. She agreed completely with Varys; they could do with at least a week where nobody tried to kill them, kidnap them, or where she accidentally robbed the wrong person and got them chased out of town. She would be on her best behaviour.

Sort of.

"So, err... what do normal people do? Oh," she gasped and clapped her hands together in sudden delight. "Can we go to the theatre? I've heard the most wonderous tales of the one in Alliria!"

 

[Varys]

Varys smiled, a bit of happiness breaking through that momentary bout of guilt he'd been feeling. Maybe it wasn't right of him to take all of the blame for the contact troubles they found, but neither should she. Anybody who traveled with him could attest to what a magnet for problems he could be.

Even so, the image of having an ordinary night out, of taking Lottie out to a theatre, and perhaps somewhere nice to eat did make him feel as though all of the constant headaches were worth it. When it was all said and done, the chance to just be with her, to lead his life without the constant fear of a blade or an arrow trained on his neck, was something he would have faced any danger for.

"A break... would be nice." He nodded slightly. "I've had my fill of adventure for two lifetimes. I'm certainly not opposed to the idea of settling down for a bit, keeping my nose clean." A coy smile spread across his face, as he looked somewhat pointedly at Beaufort. "Well, as much as I can with two troublemakers like us being together."

Varys cut Lottie a deal; he would take her to the theatre if she could learn how to ask him to take her in Elven by the time they reached the Portal Stone. It wasn't a particularly hard sentence, and he made sure to guide her towards which pages she would need. Despite her struggles with the complexity of the language, she was making strides faster than he'd expected.

"I've never actually been to a theatre myself, you know?" Varys paused, and then corrected himself. "Well. I've been, but never to see a show. I was always helping with the act, or assisting in the performance. It'd be nice to actually see it from the other side."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"What?!" Lottie exclaimed and twisted in her seat to stare at him with wide eyes. She couldn't imagine never having seen a play, or an opera, or a ballet. She had gone every week when she was young - twice when her father began to show her to society though she hadn't known it at the time. She'd been too enraptured by the performers. "Even when we left to live in the woods, I used to sneak in to the city to watch every new play," a secret that she hadn't told her sisters. They would have killed her for taking such a risk. "I would sit up in the rafters with some of the popped corn they sold outside and pretend they were performing only for me. I wanted to be an actress you know, when I was younger," before she had realised her father had already written away her future. Before she had realised being a Princess was not a fairytale. The memory was bitter sweet, but oh that dream to be up there on stage... Lottie had never lost that. Not in all the years of sleeping on forest floors or robbing the rich.

"We have to go," she declared with a firm nod.

 

[Varys]

Varys replied only with a smirk, as he nudged the open book between them again. "You'd better get to work on that sentence then, yeah?" He'd probably end up caving to her desires either way, but the elven sentence he was using as a goalpost was rather good motivation, provided she didn't see through his bluff.

Who was he kidding, of course, she did.

"You remember what I was doing when we first met? As work, I mean?" It had only been a few years since they'd first crossed paths in Oban, but it seemed like a decade with all that had happened since then. "Using my magic to put on light shows for the ever-so-haughty noblemen of your home city? That's what got me into the theatres in the first place. I would help out with practical effects for some extra coin, when mercenary work was lacking."

It had also seen him attend a number of political balls, royal gatherings, parties of the rich and famous... but he was always on the outside, a member of the help. It hadn't helped his self-esteem all that much.

"Maybe I'll see if I can land a backstage gig at an Alliria play,, take you with me so you can poke around behind the curtain." Varys chuckles, only somewhat wary at the idea of letting Lottie run around with a backstage pass. "You know, a lot of those stories take on completely different meanings when you watch them from behind." He joked.

As the lights of a small cluster of buildings grew closer, the settlement surrounding the Falwood Portal Stone always somewhat active with travelers coming in and out, Varys thought more about what he'd just said. The whole 'taking Lottie backstage' thing had been somewhat of a joke, but...

"I do know a guy... maybe you can audition for a part, if you think you'd be into that."

Lottie Beaufort