Private Tales Take the risk or lose the chance

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie sighed guiltily and looked back down at the book on her lap. Before she could turn her mind fully back to her lessons however, Varys tempted her away with yet another story of his life. She collected the little tales like tiny pearls, stringing them together to try and create the story that had made him him. This one she found herself particularly drawn into with the stories of the theatre. How ironic it was he had briefly lived the life she had only ever dreamed of.

"I had an audition or two when I was younger," she said in an unusually shy manner, leaning back against the seat and bringing her heels up to her backside, the book squashed between her thighs and chest. "My tutor thought I had real promise, especially in the ballet," she had loved the dance as a girl. Had worn her shoes to ribbons repeatedly. "When we lived in the forests it was part of what I really loved about sneaking into town. Coming up with a persona, a whole character. I would plan out our backstories, costumes, even accents. It's just so much fun to escape as another person. You have to watch it, from the audience this time. It's like magic how they draw you in."

 

[Varys]

Varys probably should have gently redirected Lottie back to the book she'd wanted so desperately to learn from only a scant few days earlier, but it was difficult to spurn that infectious enthusiasm that always seemed to exude from her, and he couldn't bring himself to interrupt her. Truthfully, Varys hadn't ever had much interest in theatre, let alone ballet, but the way she described it, so romanticized and poetic, the elf wondered if maybe he'd missed the point of it before.

Yes. He'd like to give it a second chance. With her.

"Okay then." Varys smiled, keeping his eyes forward towards the lights ahead of them. "You've convinced me, but you have to pick which show we're seeing. You're the connoisseur of the two of us, after all." He couldn't help but wonder if Lottie would have ended up an actress or performance artist in another life, one where she hadn't been preyed upon so cruelly by fate. She certainly had a flair for the dramatic, after all.

Maybe, he thought to himself, she could try again when all of this business was said and done. He'd like to give her that chance, that freedom... However long it took him.

"We're coming up on the stone." Varys nodded his head forward. "If you're tired or hungry, now's the time to speak up. After we cross through, I'm aiming to make as much distance as possible before I stop again."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie had settled back down to her book though her mind kept drifting to what type of play she would take Varys to first when he called that the stone was up ahead. It was so easy to lose track of time on their journeys which was still a surprise to her. In the past she had always annoyed her sisters with her impatience to simply be wherever they were heading. Jouney's had always dragged on for what had felt like weeks when they had taken hours.

"I'm always hungry," she pointed out as they trundled into town. It was almost as busy as Oban on a market day with carts heaving to and fro, groups of travellers walking or riding about the town buying suppliers or haggling for a bed for the night. Her eyes darted everywhere with delight as she drunk it all in. "But... if we are wrong and it was someone looking for us, this would be the next place I tried something. Maybe it's safer if we just pass through." Their luck had already been tested today with their escape. Twisting in her seat she rummaged in the bag she'd propped just behind the drivers bench.

"I think I have snacks in here..."

 

[Varys]

Varys let out a small sigh, and settled back into his seat. He'd been trying to take his mind off of the possibility that they were still in danger, but he couldn't pretend that Lot didn't have a point. They'd gotten so carried away talking about the future, it'd been far too easy to forget about the now.

"Mm.. S'pose you're right." There was some begrudgement in his tone, but he hid it with a crack of the reins over his words. "We wasted plenty of time back in town, may as well try to make up ground."

Actually navigating the little town was a bit tricky; Settlements near portal stones had a habit of getting congested with travellers, and there was a sales pitch every five steps calling at you from all sides. Beds, drinks, food, whores, useless bits and bobs, if you spit in the air it would land on something with a price tag.

Despite their desire to move along they wound up in what amounted to a queue for the stone, a neat line of travelers waiting for passage. They were forced to a standstill, inching forward every minute.

"Should've figured this would be a busy stone." Varys rolled his head back and groaned. "No reason to think it would have been any less crowded in the years since I've last been here. Least this time I have good company."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

In contrast, Lottie enjoyed every second of the slow crawl through town. She joked with the traders they went past and even dropped a coin into one sooty looking boys hand who was selling limp looking flowers on the side of the road. She had turned it into a small crown of sorts, adorned with a few of her own illusionary flowers, and had just set it on her head when Varys groaned.

"So it's always like this?" for some reason she got a small bit of joy out of the idea this town was always bustling and full of life. She wondered if she had lived here how many pockets she could have picked, and how many fat coin purses she could have made off with. Back home there were no queues like this for lucky thieves to take advantage of. "I've never been through a Portal Stone before... do you have to like... I don't know. Chant something witchy or spill some blood or something?"

 

[Varys]

"During the hot months, yeah." Varys nodded, still looking ahead to see when he could move forward. "Didn't use to be this way, though. You did have to have some knowledge about magic, enough to get the stones to work for you. For a lot of the more remote portal stones, you still do."

Varys still had nightmares about being stuck on the Isles of Sheketh during his first life's apprenticeship, with no clue as to how to activate the Sheketh Stone. If his Master hadn't caught wind of his misadventure, he'd have died on that island, he was certain.

"Eventually the trade companies got together and decided to place attendants to the more oft-used Stones like this one. The attendants know how to activate the stones for people who otherwise couldn't use them, and that allows for a much larger flow of traffic between the major cities of Liadain and Epressa."

It was a convenience, but one born out of nothing but greed. Still, nothing much he could do about it, even if the purist in him balked at the idea of using portal stones like any other ordinary means of travel. As they meandered forward, Varys smiled over at Lottie, happy at least to see her so glowing and curious. It was easy to forget how sheltered she'd been.

"These cities are even newer additions though, founded by those same traders. You wanna set up shop, they'll give you a loan to get started so long as they get a cut of the profits." He cocked a brow, smirking. "I can see it now... Lottie's Books, the last bastion of free thinking before you hit Dalriada."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie couldn't help but snort a laugh at the thought.

"I would make a terrible book seller. I wouldn't want anyone to take them, would probably make up excuses about them not being for sale," she could just imagine the small illusions she could make, of books flying at people's heads to scare them away, or snapping forwards them along the floor with teeth and eyes all of their own. The wickedness made her grin.

They managed to move forward another few wagon paces and Lottie returned to the elven book in her lap. By the time they were three wagons back she had managed to just about say in passable elvish the sentence Varys had requested of her to win her ticket to the theatre. It wasn't particularly pretty but he had only winced a little, so Lottie took it as a win and discarded the book in favour of standing up in the seat to watch how the portal stone worked.

Her new vantage point allowed her to see the guards but not exactly what they did on the stone. If she screwed her eyes up she could just make out them touching some sort of symbol and then the wagon who had been waiting vanished into a brilliant light. Lottie blew out a low whistle.

"Does it make you sick? Travelling this way?"

 

[Varys]

The idea of Lottie hoarding a building full of books like a dragon with a golden horde was admittedly amusing, but Lottie had plenty of time to settle on what she wanted to do with her life. He just couldn't help but feel like whatever it ended up being would be for the good of more than herself.

She'd felt firsthand what greed and selfishness did to those around you. Hells, the both of them had suffered through it more than either liked to talk about aloud. "Perhaps not a store then. Maybe something more relaxed, where people can come and read from your collection, learn things that might otherwise be withheld from them."

He briefly looked to his side as she spoke broken elven aloud, trying to piece the sentence together with the fragments she'd learned. "Maybe Madame Albrecht would take you under her wing..." The blush on her cheeks the entire time she'd been in the beautiful bookkeeper's presence wouldn't be forgotten by him anytime soon. Varys didn't blame her, that woman was something else.

By now, Lottie was up on her feet watching the last few wagons ahead of them as they appeared to blink out of existence. The elf too tilted his head up to observe the attendants performing the incantation upon the stone. Honestly, he could have done this himself and avoided the wait for a service he didn't need...

"Me? No, I've never had a problem with it. Some people do though, especially first-timers." He tore his eyes away from the stone and looked up at her. "Just don't go whipping your head all over the place trying to get your bearings as soon as we're on the other side. Look down at your feet for a minute, let your mind catch up with your body."

Finally, they were next in line. Varys carefully rolled the wagon up to the stone, pulling the horses to a stop just as they could reach it with their snouts. Slowly, the two robed attendants, dressed in silly robes that practically screamed 'look at me, I know magic.', approached the wagon.

"Your destination today, Sir? Madam?"

Varys leaned back and tried to avoid eye contact. "Allir Stone."

The attendant nodded and made their way to the stone, the second calmly, and silently, held out his hand to Lottie as if asking for something from her. Varys caught this from the corner of his eye and snapped at the second attendant quickly, "Hey, back off! It's her first time, so if you mess this up I will personally trek all the way back here and make you wish you hadn't!" The attendant reeled back, seemingly offended by the scolding from some random elven traveler. A scoff came from under the hood, and he turned towards the stone in a huff.

"Ready yourselves, please."

Varys reached over, taking Lottie's hand in hers and closing his eyes like he'd done this countless times before. Which, to be fair, he had.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"What?" Lottie could see the attendant mouthing something but either he spoke too quietly or in a language she didn't understand. Frowning, she went to lean forward to try and better hear, but before she could Varys stepped in. Lottie frowned as the acolyte shot her companion a dark look. Of course, there was little to see under the hood, but Lottie definitely got the impression he was scowling in the shadows whoever he was.

"I think he wanted a tip..." Lottie could think of nothing else a stranger would be approaching her about. She laced her fingers through Varys' but didn't close her eyes like him. She wanted to see every second of their porting journey. She fidgeted in her seat as the acolyte counted down.

3

2

Lottie glanced once more at the acolyte who had tried to speak to her but he was nowhere to be seen. She frowned, but before she could speak the scene shifted.

It was like watching the paint wash off a newly painted canvas. Everything blurred into a strange river and her stomach dropped as though she were falling. A thrilled squeal escaped her and she squeezed Varys' hand tighter. But as soon as it started it was over and the painting had reformed into a new grassy hill, a city clinging to a harbour shone far in the distance picked out by the setting sun.

"That was AMAZING!" Lottie shouted, startling the new pair of acolytes there to greet them. She jumped onto the seat to look behind them at the still shimmering Allirian stone, completely forgetting Varys' warning and nearly toppling sideways for her mistake. "Let's do that again!"

 

[Varys]

"An 'accuracy tip' is what he was asking for." Varys mumbled with no small level of disgust. "Some of these attendants try and weasel money out of naive tourists to ensure they don't 'accidentally' send them to the wrong stone." No doubt they'd noted Lottie's fresh-faced demeanor and gleaned she didn't travel much. If Varys wasn't so sick of getting in fights every other day he'd have tied the man's frilly robes around his waist and hung him up by his undergarments from the roof of the tavern.

Luckily, most of those types were too spineless when actually confronted, so he was certain his words had gotten across just fine.

Varys didn't worry about it one bit, leaning back in his seat and sliding his eyes shut as he felt Lottie's fingers meet his. The sound of a dramatic countdown caused his eyes to roll under their lids, but he squeezed nonetheless at the count reached zero.

Charlotte's squeal of delight was far more startling to him than the actual event itself. It was almost comfortable to Varys by this point, the way reality seemed to peel away around them, layer by layer. The rush of cold wind against his face, the feeling of moving thousands of miles in a single second, exhilarating and yet brief and underwhelming all at the same time.

The elf only opened his eyes when he did to ensure that his partner didn't tumble out of the wagon and scramble her head on the stone platform they had rematerialized on. HE reached out, quickly grasping Lottie by her sides to steady her. He should have been peeved that she didn't heed his advice but... he hadn't really expected her not to look during her first portal.

He'd done exactly the same thing.

"Sure!" He laughed, not hiding his amusement in the slightest. "Just let me flip around so we can spend another hour or two in line again, yeah?"

Pulling her back to stand straight, Lottie's back met with Varys' chest as the attendants gave them the customary moments to collect themselves. Looking out over her shoulder, at the glorious sunset sinking low over the water, and at the Allirian skyline, tall buildings that seemed to reach the clouds, his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Lookithat, Lot... Almost as pretty as you, yeah?"

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie couldn't bring herself to feel ashamed or annoyed at herself for not listening to Varys' warning as she swayed against him. She doubted that even if she had fallen on her face it would have done nothing to dispell the wonderment she felt not only at travelling with magic, but at the city now stretching before them.

"I'd heard stories of Alliria but..." Lottie's voice was a bare whisper but the awe that filled it was unmistakable. Alliria was often sneered at in Oban. Whilst it did well in trade and its navy was the source of much envy, Oban liked to think of how it had not had to rely on the skills of magic to make itself grand like Alliria had. Still, even with jealousy clouding their stories, the Obanese sailors had always spoken of the wonder of the city and its beauty.

There's no other place like it, one sailor had told Lottie once, when she had decided he had a kind smile and had chosen to spend the night with him. She couldn't help but agree now.

"I didn't think cities could be so... Big," it seemed to be triple the size of Oban and that was just from the sliver they could see this side of the harbour.

"Alright, move along please," the attendants called not unkindly, though clearly keen to keep the busy queues moving.

 

[Varys]

Varys grinned from over her shoulder, admiring the skyline himself. It was one of those few sights that didn't get old, no matter how many times you saw it. It is like the woman sharing the sight with him, actually picturesque and easy to get lost in.

"Not many places bigger, unless you fancy a trip across the sea to Malakath, or so I've heard." He slides back out of the embrace, sitting down and reaching out to gently tug her back into her seat so he can get them moving without sending her tumbling off the side. "Come on. Only so much we can see from this far out. If we're quick we can make it before morning, beat the early congestion in the streets."

Waving a hand to the attendants and flipping them an extra coin for their courtesy in letting Lottie catch her breath, the wagon lurches forward rolling down a hill between two rows of buildings not unlike the little tourist town they'd just navigated. This one seemed smaller though, with visible building foundations still dotted in empty spaces.

"Some nasty business with a real mean bitch a year and change ago. Took half of this place with her, and they're only just getting underway with rebuilding." Varys commented, remembering well the signing burns the strange pyromancer had left on his flesh. He'd heard Visha died not too long ago, through the grapevine. A shame, he still thought, that somebody so young and so talented had been lost to such madness.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"Malakath?" Lottie had never heard of such a place. When the new continent had been discovered she had been more occupied with robbing to survive and had paid little attention to the gossip of a land of monsters. She shook her head and made a note to ask more questions about it another day on one of their long journeys. It so often felt as though there was little time to learn everything she had been woefully ignorant of until Varys.

"I guess Alliria is not too different to Oban," she murmured as her eyes followed the charred buildings they passed. Traders were already awake and buzzing about the debris, preparing to start the next stage of the build. Lottie watched until they were out of view. "There's always someone who has to spoil it for everyone else," she had never understood people who looked to take up every inch of space with their personality and way of thinking, forcing others to get onboard or suffer for it. She shook her head and returned her attention to Alliria.

"I wonder if Wren Kingsley made it this far," she said softly, chewing on her bottom lip. Would she catch sight of her sister in one of these many streets? Would she find out why she had left her?

 

[Varys]

"A massive island continent, far to the east." He explained, joining her in watching the repairs as they descended the grassy hill. It was in a better state than the last time he'd been here, that was certain. "It was only found to be inhabited recently; for a long time, people either figured it was a myth or that it was uninhabitable." Varys had never been there either, but he'd heard his fair share of stories. "Some people even say Dragons live there, though I'm not sure I believe it myself."

Thankfully the trip out of this little settlement was far less patience-testing than the journey into Falwood's. In only a few minutes they'd made it to the hastily rebuilt gate and out onto the road leading them towards Alliria. The trip from here was meager compared to how far they'd come from Oban, a half-day if they were efficient.

"Wren... your sister, right?" Varys turned his head to Lottie as he settled back in for the final stretch ahead of them. "You've mentioned her and the other one briefly, but you haven't told me much about them. Being that one of the reasons you decided to come with me was to look for them, they must be important to you..." Varys had never had siblings of his own. At one point he'd considered Niv a brother, but Lottie had seen how that had ended.

"Are you close? To your sisters, I mean?"

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie wanted to talk more of dragons and magic, not about the pain Wren and Blanche had dealt her when they had left her. She drew her feet up onto the bench on which they sat and hugged her knees tightly to her chest, resting her chin atop them and letting her eyes drift over the scenery around them.

"I thought I was, but then they both just... left. Wren just vanished. There was no note, no warning, she just... didn't come back one day. I said we should go look for her but Blanche said she'd come back, thought she was looking for a sympathetic Rebel group to take the Royals down. She said to wait and they'd both be back and then off she went on one of her metal hunts and... well. Weeks, months, then a whole year went past and neither of them came back. I guess they just... forgot about me."

 

[Varys]

Varys winced, noticing the nerve he'd touched with that shift of topic. No doubt there was a reason Lottie hadn't spoken much of her siblings, and she'd briefly mentioned being left behind by them in the past, but to hear it recounted in such detail... There was a dull ache in his chest, a pain of sympathy for the woman he'd come to care so much for.

He closed his eyes and let the breeze tumble across his face for a moment, offering a small shake of his head as the sound of hooves and wheels on dirt filled the gap between her words and his. Varys was thankful that something did, because finding the right thing to say was a taller task than he'd anticipated.

The pain of abandonment was something he had some experience in, but it paled in comparison to hers.

"I'm sorry." He started, his gaze soft as he slowly turned his head to look back at her. "I can only imagine the feelings that run through your head, not knowing..." When Varys had been left behind, at least he'd had the privilege of knowing he was being abandoned. Lottie had been forced to sit and wait, to suffer her mind as she no doubt concocted scenario after scenario.

A living hell.

"From what you've told me, though..." Varys turns back to look ahead of them and straightens himself a bit. "They don't seem the type to just forget about you. The three of you relied on each other, leaned on one another, trusted each other like you could nobody else, right?" He reached up, stroking his chin thoughtfully, though it turned to an itch.

"Knowing Oban, it makes more sense they couldn't return to you." Blinking as he realized how dire that sounded, he quickly clarified, "By which I mean they found themselves in a situation where returning would put you in danger."

Not wanting to speculate further, for fear of slipping up again, Varys tightens his grip on the reins and sighs.

"The why doesn't matter. I already promised we would look for them."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie desperately wanted to believe Varys but a year alone had turned hope against her. Every argument he could have presented she had no doubt already had with herself - and lost. Even now she could hear the whispers in her mind: What, and they couldn't send a letter? Or a messenger? Leave one of their Calling Cards? Anything to let her know they lived?

She had to believe they lived. That was the only argument she hadn't lost. Perhaps if she had been left alone for another year she would have, but even in her darkest moment she couldn't bring herself to think they were both dead. Abandonment was less permanent.

"Wren always wanted to go to Alliria, if she's alive she would have at least passed through here I bet," maybe there would be some kind of sign. Then she could get the answers she dreaded.

 

[Varys]

Varys knew trying to turn Lottie's thinking around was a losing battle. Even to him, his reassurances sounded like he was grasping at straws. That being the case, he didn't insult her intelligence by pressing the issue further. Better to focus on the road ahead of them, both figuratively and literally. Alliria was only a hop, skip, and a jump away, and they had a very busy day ahead of them once they arrived.

"I'm sure we'll have time to ask around." Varys allowed his eyes to linger on at the looming city, eager to be within its crowded embrace, while also dreading what he might find inside. The incident at the embassy still loomed over his head, troubling him. The chance something similar had happened here was minuscule, but... Not zero. "Even if whoever those maniacs were follow our trail, Alliria is so huge they'll have a hard time tracking us down."

A smirk comes, as he teases over at Beaufort.

"Maybe no rooftop escapes this time though."

As they neared Alliria, one could begin to make out the layered walls that separated its several districts. On the farthest side, opposite of the gate they neared, stood the imposing Allirian Keep, acting as a benchmark for the impressive and innovative architecture that slowly dwindled to more modest structures the farther east one looked.

"We'll be passing through the slums first." He cautioned Lottie as the neared the gate to the marshy outskirts of the city. "Not too much to worry about, just stay in the wagon. This muck will swallow you up to your knees if you aren't careful."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"Hopefully they don't know who we are," Lottie grimaced. The thought of being trailed by someone with obvious money and influence was an uncomfortable one. She had enough high profile stalkers to be thinking of without adding another without a name. "People wander into the Rangers headquarters looking for help all the time, hopefully they think us scared off bystanders," or they were in for a turbulent journey until they could put a name to their attackers. And, more importantly, put a stop to them.

Lottie raised a single indignant brow at Varys warning.

"You realise, I was the person you had to worry about in Oban right? I'd spot a thief a mile away," she sniffed and cross her arms over her chest. Still, to be sure they were not noted as being of interest she took a breath and focused her magic on the wagon. Here and there she added a worn looking plank of wood or ripped bit of curtain. Stains and mud and a crooked wheel. Nothing of worth to interrupt.

 

[Varys]

"Oh? Sure you're not out of practice?" Varys teased with a smirk, remembering well Lottie's thieving reputation. She hadn't swiped much of anything since that caper with the tiara went sideways, but both of them had been focused on other things, between studies, staying alive, and... well, their feelings. "Been a while since you've picked a pocket, hasn't it?"

Lottie was right though; Varys wasn't giving her enough credit. Though she was new to the world of magic, this had been her domain long before he'd ever met her. She was far more capable of taking care of herself in sketchy areas than he was. Maybe she'd have to be the one to teach him some time.

"Warnings aside, these slums have some upside to them. Just because the district is poor doesn't mean the people here are all scumbags and degenerates. In fact, there's quite a lovely bakery in the Shallows I've been meaning to visit."

The trip through the slums was uneventful, aside from a few odd looks at the pair. It wasn't often such a gaudily painted wagon rolled through, after all. Before long the mud under their wheels turned to cobble, and the stench of bog turned to the earthy scent of rock and wood.

"Let's stop by the Rangers HQ first. We'll worry about anything else afterwards."

It wasn't a particularly hard place to find, far more prominent than the embassy in Fal'Addas, and marked with signage along the roadside to direct those in need to their front door.

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"Well this is very civilised," Lottie remarked, nodding to one of the signs. In Oban a foreigner would have to rely on the kindness of strangers to find their way around the city. Though, her home was far more organised than the chaotic rambling roads and side streets that Alliria seemed to be made up of. It was as though the city were always having to grow to accommodate more people. She supposed it was a very real possibility a person could leave and come back and the whole neighbourhood could be different.

As the wagon drew to a stop Lottie hopped out, glad to stretch her legs at last. She had never been one to sit for such a long period of time.

"Hey - Kid!" she called to the eldest looking girl in a group of dirty looking children who were playing a game of football down the street. She approached but with a wary look in her eye. At least until Lottie flashed a coin. "Make sure nobody touches this wagon - or any of the stuff in it," she added for children were often the best at finding loopholes. The girl nodded and held out her hand greedily.

"One now and one when I get back and find everything is where I left it," the girl nodded again more eagerly now she had tested the piece of silver between her teeth and hurried off to tell her friends.

 

[Varys]

Varys only watched after Lottie for a moment as she hopped off and went to hire some D.I.Y valet service. Better her than him; the street kids here weren't very trusting of outsiders, and while both he and Lottie had both been in their shoes at one point or another, she'd been a hell of a lot better at it than him.

He smiled at her back for a second, before sliding off his seat and dropping to the ground, knees stiff from all the riding they'd been doing. Kicking his heels against the cobble to loosen up a bit, he walks 'round to the back of the wagon and pulls the gate open, stepping up into the bed of the cart. It was mostly full of old fireworks now, a remnant of his previous profession, but the small shelf in the back held essentials, including a small cotton sack tied at the mouth.

Grabbing that sack, he quickly ducks back out of the wagon and meets with Lottie as she finishes bribing the locals, visibly amused at the ease with which she convinced them to do her bidding.

"You know, they'd have charged me three silvers up front." Varys snickers, slinging the sack over his shoulder and offering his arm for her to take. "It's a wonder I made it on the streets as long as I did, when you're so much better at it."

The Rangers Headquarters was built quite similarly to the embassy they'd last visited, but on a much larger scale. The overall structure seemed to follow the same plan, save for the addition of a third and fourth story, and walls of carved grey stone rather than the natural wood and rock combo the embassy settled for. The walk up to the HQ was far less foreboding, at least; signs of life eased Varys' nerves, people walking in and out of the building, both civilians and those bearing the sigil of the Rangers.

Flashing a smile at the Ranger posted by the door, an older man with his face mostly covered by a helmet, one could almost feel him roll his eyes as he recognized Varys, waving him along inside with one hand.

"Well, they haven't forgotten about me, then. Stay close, love."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"Why does that not fill me with the greatest reassurance?" Lottie muttered low enough the guard would not hear them but Varys would. "What exactly did you say your arrangement was again with the Ra--"

"Varys!"

They had entered the Guilds receiving hall. Much like the one back in Fal'addas it was full of a series of different desks but unlike the deserted one they had just left this one was bustling with life. Each desk clearly dealt with a different kind of enquiry and there were tidy lines of citizens waiting for their turn behind each one. A variety of creatures sat behind each of those desks; elves, dwarves, an orc, naga... and the centaur who now approached them. Lottie tried her best not to gawp at... well... everything.

"You have a lot of nerve coming back here," the centaur's laugh was a booming thing that clearly happened often for nobody paid the little group much mind. He clapped Varys hard on the shoulder. "Did you get my note?"

 

[Varys]

Varys felt his shoulders stiffen the moment the bellowing call of his name echoed obnoxiously through the receiving hall. There was no mistaking that deep baritone, or the sound of hooves against the tile floor that followed.

Lords, no. Anybody but him...

"Braig!" Varys reluctantly raised his face to meet the Centaur's gaze, stretching the corners of his mouth into the best-forced smile he could manage while wishing with every fiber of his being to turn around and leave. "Well, you know me, right? Glutton for puUuUUUF" The centaur's massive hand was broad enough that even clapping against his shoulderblade was enough to knock the wind out of him and nearly take him off his feet.

After a quick stumble forward, Varys found his footing underneath him and turned back to Braig with a gritted-teeth grin. There really wasn't time for this. Braig was as outgoing as you'd find in terms of centaurs, creatures who were naturally reclusive and introverted. The problem was that just because he was friendly didn't mean he knew how to respect boundaries.

Namely, Varys' boundaries.

"That was you sent that, huh?" The elf rubbed at his shoulder, looking around at the crowded room; They couldn't well shout the news of an entire embassy's murder out here, It'd be like yelling fire at a stageplay. "You, ah, conveniently forgot to sign it." Varys gave a light chuckle, looking back to Lottie for a moment before his smile faded and he leaned in close to Braig, tone growing serious as he looked up at the massive figure.

"Can we do this in your office? It's... sensitive."

Lottie Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"Sign it? Oh yes, I forgot you elves do that - HAHA!" he boomed and clapped the elf on the back again. "Oh alright, come on this way. The little lady too, I guess?"

Lottie was still staring with her mouth slightly agape. Of course, Braig didn't seem to notice, or perhaps rather he didn't care. The centaur seemed used to attention whether wanted or not. Still, her noble upbringing finally rallied and she found herself able to shut her mouth and blush at her own rudeness. Thankfully as the group started to head for a door behind the empty desk he had obviously just left to greet them.

Braig ushered them inside, holding the door open with one muscled arm, then followed them inside. Lottie was surprised to find it was neat and well kept. There was another desk in here as well as a few comfortable looking chairs and a pillow behind the desk where the centaur no doubt sat when taking private meetings. The walls were lined with scrolls carefully put away into their set pigeon holes. Lottie's fingers itched to unroll them and see what they contained but took the lead from Varys and slid into one of the chairs instead.

"So... did you find out why my comrades in Fal'addas aren't responding to their bloody messages?" the centaur asked as he walked around the desk.