Private Tales Temptation

[Lottie Beaufort]

The comment on how she been dealing with the chest before made her cheeks and the bridge of her nose turn a shade of pink and she glanced away. So deadweight lifting wasn't her thing. That's what Rob was for. Clearing her throat and ignoring the burning sensation on her face she produced two tickets from the concealed pocket of her gown and waved them in his face. The names Lord and Lady Halforth were scrawled across them. She would let him take them if he wanted to examine them in further detail.

"I stole these a few days ago, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to use them but then the pair left the city a few days ago to sort out their daughters sordid affair or something," a light shrug. She couldn't remember what she had put on the urgent letter that had come for them. As they walked he would begin to feel the sensation of something settling over his skin like a lightweight fuzzy blanket. When they emerged onto the pathway gone would be the red skin and tail, replaced by fair skin and blonde hair that would have fallen to his shoulders if the illusion hadn't made it so it was tied back with a slip of black silk. He was probably roughly the same height as he had been and similarly built - perhaps a big broader in the shoulder and with a little extra weight around the waist.

Lottie's image had also changed; her hair was ebony black and long now, her skin darker more suiting to the southern bits of the kingdom with deep brown doe eyes. She was also a lot more slender, more willowy than curves.

"I think blonde suits you," amusement in her tone as she took his arm.

 

[Raziel]

"I hardly think it does," Raziel replied shortly. He knew that she was baiting him, but she deserved the small dig he supposed. Now that he had kept himself from it in magic, he couldn't help imagining how exquisitely he might have broken her.

"I feel that my waistline and your backside have not been so well treated by this illusion. Have we taken the form of this Lord and Lady Halforth or are we banking on them being unfamiliar to the guests?"

It was 'we' now, apparently. It was a scheme, it would leave a noble distraught and wondering how he could have possibly been robbed inside his own home.

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

He managed to startle a laugh out of her on his comment at their appearance. Perhaps one of the first genuine things she had done since their meeting.

"We have indeed. I have had the misfortune of being with these two at many a dance," a soft sigh. Another slip, another insight. "Lord Edward Halforth, is in the ship building business. You like good wine and good food, you have a great big laugh, you make scathing comments on your peers to try and better your own interests. Your wife, Marian, is a snooty woman and a terrible gossip. It's more of a business deal than anything romantic, you married me for my money and connections in the West."

It passed the time as they walked. It was a pleasant evening and it wasn't a particularly far journey.

"Does it hurt when you do blood magic?" She couldn't hold the question in any longer.

 

[Raziel]

"Of course it does. Every action burns off some of my own blood. Nothing is free when it comes to magic. You have merely seen parlour tricks, Raziel told her.

In some way, he hadn't expected her to turn to idle questions as they walked. Her curiosity actually turned to him and his magic, despite what had happened. Perhaps, he thought, she truly had suffered in her past. He was not yet about to rule out the ignorance of youth.

"You will need to stay close if his business associates are here. I can feign a great deal but may need to know how he would react to certain people."

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Those were parlour tricks? Lottie worked her bottom lip thoughtfully. Those shadows had been able to trip her, hold her down, and had hunted her like a blood hound. What on earth could blood magic do when he put actual thought into it? Did the pact do more than what he had said or was he classing that as a simple parlour trick too?

"Hmm?" she had been so lost in her own train of thoughts she almost didn't catch his comment. "Sure, sure. Stay close, be the gossipy bitch I was always destined to be," a dramatic sigh as she produced a fan, whipped it open and fanned herself for added theatrical flare.

They didn't have much further to walk - as Lottie had said the home had not been far. As they rounded a bend and the lane dipped down the hill towards the city of Oban in the distance, the manor they sought actually sat at the foot of the hill. From here they could see the acres of rolling land from perfectly trimmed lawns to a maze. The house itself was lit up like a beacon.

"Hold on, we cannot arrive on foot," she sighed, her eyes shutting in concentration. She hadn't been able to create something like this to carry them the whole way, but it would last enough for them to get to the door. In front of them a carriage appeared, ornate but tasteful with plump cushions inside, drawn by two white horses and steered by a driver dressed in the appropriate liveries. Only once the last bit of gold leaf appeared did she open her eyes and opened the door to allow him to climb in, following suit. The illusion was tiring and required a lot of concentration so she didn't talk much on their journey, rubbing her temple instead. But it didn't take them long to get to the door of the mansion where one of their hosts opened the door for them.

"Guess it's show time."

 

[Raziel]

Raziel was genuinely impressed by the depth of the illusion. If it could be called an illusion given that there was a physical element to the manifestation. There was detail and moving parts. It was seen by several other attendees who were marching up the white gravel track towards the house. Raziel stepped out and offered his hand as the footman moved back to greet the next coach.

"I cannot shake the thought of some commoners on the street seeing this thing vanish into thin air in a few moments, though I imagine it does not work like that..." he mused softly.

He could hear voices from beyond the house and assumed there were gardens on the other side. Music was being played, but the quality of the sound suggested that was inside.

"Anyone I need to recognise?"

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie took his hand gratefully when he offered it, her arm was shaking slightly from the toll of the magic but other than the tremor she was giving a good show of not feeling it. At his murmured comment she brought the fan across her lips and laughed softly under her breath.

"Oh no, it will just vanish when it turns the corner but people don't think such a thing is possible so their minds seem to just... twist it. I've never been able to figure out if it's a side bonus of my magic or if it's just the wonders of the lengths the mind will go to to protect itself. They don't like women using magic here so it's never something I've been able to ask someone about."

She kept her voice low as they walked where directed round to the back. It was a pleasant evening so perhaps he was hosting the suarie outside; at least the reception drinks. As they rounded the corner her eyes swept the scene thinking who the couple might naturally flock too.

"Ok," she squared her shoulders and took a breath. "We have the Osmalds over there - Felicia and Tyron - we hate-like them, their son snubbed our daughter years ago and we don't seem to have gotten over that. The Ilmarra's are good friends - David is someone you go shooting with, Laurie is the source of most of my gossip - and the Blackwells, Norman and Naeve - are also good friends. You and Norman used to go to school together as boys, you've grown apart in recent years but always say you must catch up. He's a Griffin Rider Commander so he's away a lot. And heading towards us right now," she murmured as a large rotund man with a walrus moustache and monocle made their way towards them, his arms outstretched as if to embrace them. "If our glorious host and investor in your ship building, Louis Baskeville."

"Edward, Marian, so good of you to make it!"

 

[Raziel]

"Or I could just murder them all, find the egg and... Louis a pleasure," Raziel said. The hiss outnofbthe corner of his mouth turning to a bold greeting quickly. He didn't know the mannerisms of the man he played so he simply added a slight slur to his words. Many changes in character could be attributed to a few glasses of wine.

Raziel mirrored the gesture and soon realised they were going to embrace with a short distance between them. Like two idiots hugging the air.

She hadn't been allowed to practise magic. Another little fact tucked away. Everything was a weapon to Raziel. If it wasn't then it at least might find material value somehow.

"And how industry?" Louis asked.

"You want to talk of work?" Raziel replied. It was such a vague questions but asked in a way that was clearly looking for a specific answer. He did not have specifics.

"The three new orders are..."

"Progressing well," Raziel replied. "Issues with the team coming up frequently but..." Raziel left a space he was certain Louis would fill. He took the measure of men quickly.

"Got to make sure those construction teams know who is in charge! Problems are for small people."

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie shot him a glare from behind her fan. Fuck she hadn't even thought the blood pact didn't expand to all these people she had just put a very dangerous man in a room with. If any of them grated on him just a tiny bit... or he began to get bored and it would be a blood bath. Now, she wasn't exactly friends with these people but killing unless necessary was not really her cup of tea. She felt like cringing as she watched the exchange, especially the hug. Most definitely the hug.

"Louis how is your dear wife?" she stepped forward, though to rescue him or Raziel she wasn't entirely sure, and kissed the man on both his cheeks. The attention seemed to make the gentleman preen and forget all about work. He took her hand and tucked it around his own arm, guiding the pair over to the wine. Lottie snagged a glass at the first opportunity.

"Oh she gets very tired, very tired now my dear, what with our daughter having just had her little boy. Oh they keep us busy all the time!" a chortle. Lottie was playing the game of how quickly in a polite manner she could down her drink.

"Such a shame, but a gift too. You must be so happy to have a grandson to take over the business one day. Speaking of which, I hear your fabulous collection just got a rather... interesting addition," she raised an eyebrow. The man waggled his own in return and said in a stage whisper.

"A griffins egg! I cannot even begin to describe how much it cost me my dear, oh such a gem, such a prized, prized gem. Perhaps I shall show your dear husband later when we withdraw to the study after dinner."

Lottie tried not to grind her teeth, but at least they knew now the egg was indeed in the study. As Louis made excuses to go greet more guests she fanned herself, smiling to the crowd then grabbed Raziel's shirt and tugged him behind one of the citrus trees.

"Don't you dare kill anyone here," a hiss.

 

[Raziel]

"Why not? How do you know these people? Who are you?" he asked in quick succession.

There was no spite there, but a deep curiosity. Having to avoid any murder seemed unnecessary, particularly if the Lord was going to invite a private few to his study. Raziel could work very quickly and quietly when it was necessary.

She was one of these people. Whilst he wasn't permitted to torture or murder the woman, there was nothing in the blood pact about dispelling her illusion in front of a house of nobility. In his head, it sounded like an amusing game to play.

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie sighed and ran her hands slowly down his shirt to smooth out the crumple she had put in it but also to busy her hands whilst she debated his questions and how much to tell him. Tilting her chin a fraction she looked up at him, caught his gaze, then stepped back a fraction with one last straighten of his cravat. Clearly whatever she had seen on his face expression wise had made up her mind for her.

"Killing is lazy, where's the art in stealing if you just murder everything in your path?" It wasn't her true reason for not wanting to see these people dead but it would probably jar his ego more. Lottie just didn't like killing. She had a code and it wasn't much of a code but she stuck to what was on it.

"I know them because my family are 'these people'," she waved a hand somewhat dismissively; it would serve her no good for him to know exactly what powerful family. "I left - not under the best of circumstances - and it would be a lot worse for you than it would be for me if anyone discovered I was here. That's all you need to know. Now, can we just get on with the job please?" Lottie tilted her head a little in the direction of the house where people were beginning to be ushered into for dancing.

 

[Raziel]

"So you had to marry the right money to keep access to the family fortunes? So you skipped away to be a highway robber who never kills? Or they tried to bind and cover up your magics?"

Raziel clocked his head to one side, glancing towards the dance floor. It was one way to avoid conversation, though he would have to temper his grace to an overweight shipping mogul.

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

He wasn't going to let this go and her short temper was beginning to flare as he reduced her history to a few cliche assumptions.

"I skipped away from my life when the man they chose to be my husband did things to me I don't want to relive, Raziel," Lottie wondered whether when she spoke his name he felt the same tingle she did when he spoke hers. Was that a part of the blood magic too or an older one? The questions kept her mind from going to darker places. "Perhaps I could have lived with my magic tempered when I would have had all of this, but I couldn't live with my body - even my mind - not being my own. That is why I do not care if you... flay the skin from my body or drive needles into my eyes. At least it would be my choice, my life. Physical pain is better than what that ... than how he... made even my own mind my prison.

Does that satisfy your curiosity enough, now?" She hadn't met his gaze the entire time she spoke, her arms folded over her chest as she watched the people mill past instead.

 

[Raziel]

"And this man, you killed him before you left?" Raziel asked, clearly not quite satisfied yet.

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"No, I didn't," Lottie's eyes closed. She wish she had but. "I was only 16 I didn't...." she didn't understand. Couldn't understand what he had been doing was wrong. How could she when this society taught their women they were nothing more than a pretty embellishment to life?

 

[Raziel]

"He's not at this party is he?" Raziel asked. Despite the illusion his eyes managed to flare in amber.

Suddenly, the griffin egg was starting to interest him less.

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"No," a soft sigh and when she opened her eyes, the illusion was gone, as was his. It was too much to deal with, this conversation and their act.

"My name is Charlotte Montcroix, Raziel, and my fiance is the Crown Prince of Dalriadia." If he was familiar with the kingdoms politics at all he would know her name - it was a wide spread story that her sisters had kidnapped her before the engagement could be announced officially, and if he liked any kind of wine he would at least know her surname.

 

[Raziel]

"You just became far more interesting," Raziel said with a dangerous smirk. Being interesting to Raziel was not necessarily a safe place to be.

"But you've considered it, haven't you?" he asked.

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Another startled laugh. Interesting was not what she wanted to be in the slightest.

"Of course I have," Lottie ran her hands angrily through her curls before finally she turned her gaze back to his. "Why, what does any of this matter to you?"

 

[Raziel]

"And how much do you think this prince deserves death?" Raziel asked, his smile shifted to one side. The tail, hidden by illusion could be heard sweeping across the floor.

His attention had always been easy to draw. Killing a Prince appealed to him a very great deal. It would almost certainly plunge the kingdom into chaos too.

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

The question made Lottie pause. How much did she think he deserved death? It was a large price to put on someones head and to snuff out a life as important as his would have repercussions... but would they necessarily be bad ones? Would this herald the change the kingdom needed? If he was asking her sister then she would answer without hesitation that he did deserve death and a bad one at that.

"I do not know him enough to cast such a sentence," honest and raw. "If I was basing it entirely on what my history was with him then.... no. Death is too good for him," her eyes burned with an anger and hatred that had had years to be honed to a fine razor edge.

 

[Raziel]

"Death is too good for him? Tell me, can you imagine a fate that he does deserve?" Raziel's eyes seemed to light up to match the fury hers now burned with.

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

"Yes," the answer was barely above a whisper but she could feel it in her blood how good it would feel to finally have that man out of her life, to take the anger and the hurt he had caused out on him. To repay what he had done to her in kind. "I want to lock him in his own mind like he did to me so he cannot scream, cannot fight, cannot do anything whilst I take him apart from the inside out." The harshness of her own confession startled her and she realised she was shaking with the raw emotion of it all. This wasn't like her and she was struggling to understand how to deal with what he was churning up inside her.

 

[Raziel]

"Wouldn't you want to make that happen? Put aside all those highway robbery and hiding in woods? Make him wish that he had never wronged you? Hear him beg for forgiveness and then to tell him...No."

Raziel couldn't help himself. She wasn't on the edge of corruption, she was already broken it was just a case of drawing her just a little closer to the fire. That anger was there, she would find it's true character eventually.

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie could only look at him, her eyes a window to her soul and the answer that burned within. She didn't want to say it out loud but she wanted what he was saying. She wanted it all. She didn't necessarily miss the riches but she missed being able to walk down the streets of her city in peace without a mask. She missed feeling safe.

"We should get your egg," was all she could croak in the end, her gaze sliding away from his. Half of her wondered if it was part of the magic he possessed to make her feel those things but she knew deep down they were her own emotions. Dangerous ones.