Open Chronicles The Festival of Feathers

[Blanche Ponsonby]

Blanche wasn't sure if she was allowed to take the horse from the joust, but in her defence, no one had stopped her. She couldn't precisely remember what happened and, at first, had thought it a weird dream. Well, to be specific, she had seen Wren so it would be more accurate to call it a nightmare. Thankfully, having failed to spot her sister in the crowd once she came too, she figured she had just hallucinated that bit.

She smiled. Her crowd of merry men chattering around her. Once she had come round they'd passed her more wine and she'd set off for the rodeo. The crowd, it seems, had grown. Men, women, children had joined the band once they had seen 'Blane' defeat the experienced veteran jouster in a single bout. Regardless, she rode at the head of this crowd, with them in tow and chanting her name endlessly. It was a nice little set up really, and she wasn't entirely sure how it had happened.

A few ideas had been floated, but the group had decided overwhelmingly their next option. Blanche had actually been grateful for it. In fact, it actually made sense - to a very drunk Blanche at least.

The Rodeo.

It was a particularly rough, violent and dangerous sport, but there was money in it. Equally, it was considered too uncouth for the nobles and middle-class folk to ever dare step foot within the rodeo arena. She would be safe from anyone recognising her... That and she had a rowdy crowd flocking her.

In the distance, she squinted and spotted two figures immediately. She played it cool but desperately wanted to shout out to them. As the crowd passed, with Blanche on horseback, she cried out to them both.

"Rob... Rob! Wren-" She paused, she remembered that Wren was particularly wanted within Oban and quickly tried to recover from her mistake. "Wrench! Rob, Wrench! I just won at the joust, we're going to try my luck at the rodeo." She smiled contentedly, her brief stint unconscious had helped to sober her up to an extent - but she was still slurring heavily.

Rob Cooke Wren Kingsley

 

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

Lottie agreed for him to leave as well and Tzuriel nodded with a slight bow, "Of course." It was a good compromise anyways. He really didn't want to leave her, his pride wouldn't allow it even if his sense of chivalry didn't compel him. But the doctor needed to work and Lottie needed space to breath. He simply had to make sure the cramped medical stall wasn't stormed by an angry older sister.

He stepped outside the shop and found Ryado waiting there already, leaning against a support beam.
Tzuriel nodded to him.
"Thanks for the assistance Ryado, she'll recover. How are we doing on time?"
Ryado nodded and produced a complex pocket watch from his pocket, a prototype and one of the first of it's kind.
"Looks like we've got a little more than two hours before we have to get ready. This partner of yours really wanted us to enjoy ourselves here."

Tzuriel shrugged and leaned against the post with his friend.
"You were watching me the whole time I was dancing, weren't you?"
Ryado chuckled. "Someone has to keep you in line. You should really settle down one of these days, get yourself a wife while you're in your prime. No more of this cavorting around."
Tzuriel chuckled in turn. "Not anyone can be like you, my friend. I wouldn't call it cavorting at all, consider it my genuine effort to find the perfect woman that I would be honored to call my wife."
He was sincere. He never led a woman on with false expectations if he could help it at all. What he wanted he usually made very clear from the beginning, thus he kept anyone from getting hurt... Unless he didn't know what he wanted himself.

He straightened as he saw a woman in a heavy cloak approach the stall with barely contained rage and annoyance practically oozing from her body language. This was probably the sister.
He stepped in front of the entrance, blocking the way.
"Apologies, but the doctor is giving a very delicate treatment right now. No one should disturb him until his patient has been cleared."

 

[Rob Cooke]

He stood silently as Wren went through another outburst. He figured there wasn’t much point in arguing about it or trying to calm her down, so once she was finished talking he stalked off, he didn’t want to vent his stress, he moved after Blanche, who was yelling out their names.

He quickly strideded over, saying, “Blane! Cousin how are you?” He tone was supposedly friendly but there was some malice behind it. “Say, how about we sober ya up a bit before you get yourself in any more competitions, we want you to be top of your game.” He quickly reached her and quickly attempted to grab her by the scruff of her neck and lead her to the closest barrel of nice, cold water he could find and dunk their head in it.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren had searched the square and it's surroundings, though she couldn't see Lottie or her slobbering dancing partner anywhere. "By the fucking Gods, when I get my hands on the pair of them.." she growled to herself and turned, spotting said drooling dance partner outside of the infirmary....

"You've got to be kidding me." Wren blinked, utterly dumfounded. She'd asked them to lay low, it had literally been the ONE thing she'd asked of them, she wanted them all back at camp safe that night, but clearly it was too much to ask. The sisters had grown up here, as - she recalled - had the doctor, he'd at least lived here for most of his life she was certain. They'd been in the same infirmary several times each growing up. Wren grit her teeth and hissed through them, trying to contain her anger, but alas... "How?... How is this laying low?..." she bit on her lip, thinking, the prospect of getting caught getting more and more likely as this shit show of a day went on. She had to go in, if her mother of all people hadn't recognised her, hopefully the doctor and his guard would turn a blind eye. She adjusted her pretty mask and strode toward the door, only to be blocked at the entrance by the slobberer himself.

Good gods, she really wanted to hit something, and obstruction really was a pet hate of hers. She halted in her tracks, studying the man with a venomously green glare. She had the eyes of her sister, only right now, they were far more murderous. Her lips curled into a smile that didn't reach her eyes and she chuckled, regarding the other men stationed outside the door and leaning close to the man who'd stopped her.. "Listen.. I've had one seriously fucked up day, and I'm one more incident away from losing what control I currently have over my extremely violent temper. And you, ser, are standing between myself and my little sister, whom I believe you allowed to get hurt already. If you do not move, the good doctor will have his hands full trying to stitch you back together, and won't have the time to deal with my poor sister's injuries, and that would be a shame...Getting out of my way -right now- will be the one and ONLY way that I will be able to continue with my day calmly..Now, tell me, what will it be?" she stepped back and lifted a brow, a hand already slipped inside her cloak to curl her fingers around a blade.

Tzuriel Alanthis Charlotte Beaufort Lucien Saartre

 

[Blanche Ponsonby]

He stared at Rob for a long time. Why was he calling her Blane?

She thought for a long time, before clocking onto her own alter ego and shook her head. Blanche had to say, Rob was raising a very valid point. If she sobered up a little she could certainly enter the rodeo with a lot more vigour and energy than she was currently capable of.

"The first one on the horse gets to keep it!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, allowing herself to be grabbed by Rob and watched the brawl that ensued over a horse that Blanche didn't even own.

Thankfully, for Rob at least, a barrel of water was conveniently placed beside one of the stalls and after only 5 dunks or so, Blanche regained some semblance of coherency.

"Right, Rob, Robbie, Robbo. What fun things shall we do now?" She smiled at him, almost oblivious to what had just transpired. Water still streaming down her face.

 

[Rob Cooke]

He shoved her face under one more time for good measure, before answering the question. “We’re gonna back to camp, Wren’s pissed, for obvious reasons and I want to keep you out of trouble.”

He released Blanche’s neck, surveying the area. He was much less familiar with the area than the sisters where, they grew up here. Still, he could probably find his way to the gate, once he figured out exactly where they were. Blanche was certainly going to be of no use, and he prepared himself for her to pull something.

 

[Blanche Ponsonby]

Blanche was enjoying the dunking truth be told. It was quite refreshing in all honesty and was starting to return her back to the land of the living. The final dunk almost reverted her back into a functional human being. Almost.

She staggered from Rob's grasp and stepped away from the barrel. "Perhaps... We have some fun. I have 100 crowns, it's yours - let's paint the town red!" She smiled. She'd never taken the time to ask Rob what he enjoyed, she wasn't particularly sure what he did aside from clean and cook meals.

She sighed. She'd tried to bribe him before, it hadn't really ended too well. If she remembered correctly, he'd turned the bag of coins into a bag of snakes, or perhaps she'd dreamt it. She couldn't be sure. Either way, she felt like her next stop would be the camp.

"If you like cheese, I can take you to a great fromager." She smiled one last attempt at freedom. After all, who didn't like cheese.

 

[Rob Cooke]

“I don’t like cheese.” He lied, he’d quite like to taste cheese. However, that wasn’t really an option.

“Let’s get you back to camp, where you can sober up some more.” There was a ting of pity in his voice, but he tried not to let it show. “Lottie and Wrench.” He said the fake name Blanche had come up with on the fly with some sarcasm, “Will meet back up with us at camp, if not, I can come back out and see that they made it ok.” He began to walk towards the gate and back out to camp, a watchful eye placed on Blanche to make sure she accompanied him.

 

[Lucien Saartre]

"You'll be fine." A frown touched his face for a brief moment as he continued to inspect her wrist, then slowly he glanced down at her leg before panning to her face.

There was some swelling, but not really much to be cause for concern.

A touch of magic would see her healed up in just a few seconds, but...well he couldn't be bothered with expending the energy for such a thing. "A splint, a crutch, and you'll be on your way."

Slowly he let go of her.

"Just have to stay off it for a couple days and make sure not to run around waving any swords." The way he said it sounded like a joke, but his tone hinted at something beyond.

He glanced up at her briefly, smiled, and then simply turned towards one of the shelves on the back wall.

Charlotte Beaufort

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

A couple of days?!

She could hear Wren outside already and she winced a little. If she walked out in a splint or a anything of the sort her sister would ground her for more than a couple of days. Try a couple of years. The comment however gave her pause and she watched him curiously as he turned his back. With her mask on, he couldn't know who she was could he? She recognised him in that way you knew a face in a crowd but not by name, but she didn't think they had ever met before. Had they? Panic began to fill her.

Her laugh was high pitched.

"It would be very unlady like to fight with a sword," a whip, however... "Please, Doctor, if I could make it worth your while with a little change is there anyway you can give me a shorter sentence? My sister is going to make my injuries 10x worse if I go out with a splint."

 

[Garrick Knight]

"You can call me Garrick." The student replied to Nico Valerus , giving him a name. He'd continue to follow the sky elf as he went through the market, and began flattering a sculptor. He flattered, pushed, pulled, and charmed his way in the conversation as Garrick spoke with some other merchants, feigning interest in their wares and keeping a slantward eye on the sky elf as he plied his craft.

A grifter then. Garrick was somewhat disappointed. Grifter's had a job, but considering that this was essentially a two man job at this point Garrick had hoped for some more . . . tangible. Garrick decided to keep an open mind, as any skill was still useful. Garrick's main concern was for the inevitable argument on the split. Arguing with a man who argued, flattered, and cooed for a living was not an enviable task.

Then he made the swipe. A simple task in comparison to the rest of the job, but the one that required the most precision, subtlety, and most of all timing. It was a good swipe, the mark of a professional, but the after effects where what intrigued Garrick. After Nico made the swipe a man behind him tripped into the stall, causing a slight shaking of the woman's other statuettes. It was difficult to detect, but Garrick could feel the slightest bit of magic.

"Interesting." Garrick said as he examined the stone carving. "I wouldn't mind getting a bottle of wine, but I don't really want to go out of the way for it." Garrick enjoyed playing the smaller heist or pickpocket, but there was only so much time. He preferred to get to the hatchery sooner over a detour.

 

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

He met Wren's venomous glare with his own intense stare, looking down on the women before him. She was obviously at her wits end, and that's exactly what worried him if he complied. Sister or not he wouldn't allow a person in such a mental state near anyone performing a medical practice.
If there was one thing he never did it was backing down.

He was more than used to handling people with lit tempers, and he learned the best way to deal with unreasoning anger is to become big enough to swallow it up, and present their unreasoning anger with the threat of righteous anger. And he was adept at doing this as well.
She had her hand inside her cloak, probably ready to draw a blade on him even though there was no obvious weapon on his person. That wasn't a reasonable action, especially in the crowded city, and especially a city that might frown on women carrying weapons, he wasn't certain but he could imagine it was so.

He didn't like opposing a sister like this, especially one so attractive. But he must.
He never glared at her, but that intense stare never left her eyes. His voice wasn't harsh, but firm.
"Miss. Your sister herself requested that nobody disturb the good doctor, otherwise I would be at her side right now apologizing over and over for my inability to have prevented the accident. It's my duty as a gentleman and her dance partner to keep her safe, and I take full responsibility for my inability to do so."

His hands were open at his sides, his body language portraying that he has nothing to hide, but his eyes narrowed at her, the closest thing he ever came to a glare at a woman.
"I am fulfilling my duty now of protecting her best interests. I am giving the doctor room to work, protecting her from the inconvenience of my presence, and from yours. As her sister you should understand as I do, that this is the best way to help her right now."

Ryado was off to the side still, watching them both. He wasn't leaning anymore, even he recognized the woman grasp something under her cloak and threatening his boss and friend.
Tzuriel took a step forward. "You're a reasonable woman. So use that intelligent mind of yours, recognize what's good for both of you and wait patiently like everyone else that cares about your sister." He couldn't help but add a bit of his own venom to this last remark. He didn't like being threatened for doing the right thing. But now he was prepared for her to try to stab him.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren’s jaw clenched as Tzuriel Alanthis failed to step aside, uncurling her fingers from around the hilt of her dagger with a deep sigh. A bluff, she wasn't an idiot, but none-the-less, the man appeared to be unarmed and entirely prepared to face her wrath with injury or worse to defend the door. Wren's brow rose.. One point to him..

She smiled at his words and dipped her chin gently "Hmm." she nodded.."A gentleman...so it would seem." her head tilted, but she wasn't one for hiding her distrust. "Regardless of your fine intentions, you are not protecting her from anything, ser. If you think I'd harm my sister you're very much mistaken, and if you must know my anger was spurred by my brother, not her. I'm simply concerned for her wellbeing." she told him quite honestly.

But then...then there was that narrowing of his eyes that told her he hadn't quite liked the threat, that said there was some underlying temper there, but he was smart about it.. She grinned as he spoke to her, standing firmly as he took a step toward her and tilting her head maliciously as she looked up at him. She didn't appreciate his condescending tone, or him telling her what she was and what she should do, but still she smiled and nodded.. Her fingertips curled slowly inward toward her palm by her side opposite to the man's guard, and she focused on that hot air that he breathed, discreetly gripping it and pulling it slowly out of his lungs so that the man failed to take in another breath... "Yes, you are quite right.." she continued in a much friendlier tone, completely innocent of any wrongdoing of course.. "I'm afraid I must apologise to you for my rudeness, it really has been a tough day and I'm just so terribly tired. Thank you, for taking such good care of my sister, ser. You're quite right, I will wait." she sighed in agreement and curtsied at him most apologetically, her hand now a tight fist..

 

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

His eyes widened and he gagged, taking a step back. He missed the subtle movement of her fingers and wasn't prepared for this kind of retaliation. But it hit him hard, in more ways than taking his breath away. He was reminded of when he was afflicted, when he didn't need to breath to survive and the moving of his lungs was just a show.
The feeling was similar, but most unwelcome. As he staggered back his eyes turned a feral golden for a brief moment before he squeezed them shut. But in that brief moment he saw more than he wanted to, her veins were visible past her clothing and flesh, and until the moment passed he could hear her heartbeat and pulse pounding in his ears, as well as all the people in the crowd that walked by.

It was a long moment before he was able to force his lungs to take in another breath, Ryado rushed to his side and began patting him on the back. Tzuriel sucked the air in with a gasp. He waited for the pounding to stop before he opened his eyes again, back to their normal blue.
Ryado helped him straighten and made sure he could stand on his own before letting him go again.
Tzuriel regarded the woman differently, she was calmer now and so that helped.

He bowed his head to her, "I apologize for my rude outburst... It was uncalled for. And please forgive my ungraceful behavior. I am not concerned that you would hurt your own sister, but more that you might have caused the doctor to make a mistake with... the way you were initially behaving. Either way she's requested that they not be disturbed while she's being treated."

His lungs still ached and he couldn't help but massage his sides a little. That was far more unpleasant than it should have been.

 

[Lucien Saartre]

Slowly Lucien turned back towards Charlotte, holding a contraption of metal that was meant to go around the leg in order to lock it in place. "Oh?"

There was a slight smile on his face, but the expression was innocent enough as he walked back towards the table.

"Who might your sister be?" He wasn't quite sure what her offer meant. More than once he had been propositioned by local prostitutes in order to heal one injury or another, but he was almost entirely certain that this woman was no prostitute.

At least he was pretty sure.

"That reminds me." He said, putting the brace down. "What was your name again?"

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

The full horror that was on her face probably couldn't be seen with her mask on but it was there in the rigid hold of her body. The contraption he held in his hands made him slowly pull her leg up so it bent at the knee and got as far away from that thing as could be whilst still remaining sitting on the mattress. The question he asked made her freeze mid retreat. The sounds of her sister outside could be heard in the pregnant pause, along with the lower tone of Tzuriel. It was probably enough given her temper to give him all the information he might need on the reasons why Lottie was so keen to not go out on crutches.

She gave a dramatic sigh and looked away.

"Our father is Oberyn De Lacey, we were not meant to go out into the festival today and if I go home broken he is going to know we disobeyed his orders," a serious crime for unmarried women to commit. It would make the lie more believable and Oberyn was a name most people knew, but it was a step below using her real surname of Montcroix.

"Please, I can pay whatever you want, just... please fix my foot and wrist if your powers allow."

Rummaging in her skirt pockets she produced a tightly packed sack of coins and dumped it in between them as an offering.

 

[Lucien Saartre]

Lucien offered the woman a suspicious glance, inspecting the coins on the table for a brief moment and sliding them apart in a quick count. After a sigh, he simply shrugged his shoulders and turned away from her. "Very well."

Who was he to turn down more coin?

The shop needed a new roof, his experiments needed fresh subjects, and well...some new clothes probably wouldn't hurt either. With some quick steps he wandered to the front door of the shop, slowly closing it. "Privacy."

He said awkwardly to the people outside as he turned and regarded Charlotte.

"This won't hurt." Much. Lucien left unsaid as his hands suddenly pulsed with a bright green glow. Before the girl could move, Lucien grasped her leg and poured life giving energy into her flesh.

She would feel a sudden jarring hurt as bone, muscle, and everything else damaged suddenly lashed and knit itself back together.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

A concerned frown creased the woman's brow as she regarded the man choking and gagging, trying to get a breath, "Ser, are you alright?" she asked, her worry sounding as genuine as she could make it. She had found this little talent thanks to the Crowned Prince getting a little too rough with Lottie, and it was why she was a particularly wanted woman in her home city. Not that she'd told her sisters about her neat little trick, it had frightened Wren enough. But right now she was simply playing with the man a little thanks to his touch of attitude toward her. Wren had a great dislike for men in general, and that dislike was owed to this city and it's ways of oppressing them in all manner of ways..but Lottie would be upset if the man came to harm whilst doing her bidding. She did catch something strange in his eyes, and her head tilted slightly, but he closed them over before she could tell what it was.. lack of oxygen perhaps..

Her fist unclenched and she let go, finally, lifting her hand to place across her chest in further concern as his friend patted him on the back. "Well now if we're all going to go choking on thin air then by fuck am I glad we're outside the infirmary!.." she chuckled.

Wren's head dipped a little at his apology, and then there was that word she didn't like uttered by a man's lips.. 'behaving', and her fingers began to curl again.. "No...No.." she told herself aloud and quickly caught herself, clearing her throat "The apology is mine, you were simply doing as my sister asked and I appreciate your concern over her welfare, ser." she nodded - good save Wren. She regarded the doctor as he came to his door, asking for privacy and she let out a sigh, dipping her chin in agreement. That was that then, she'd have to wait, and she folded her arms and turned her back to lean against the wall, smirking slightly as the man massaged his sides.

Tzuriel Alanthis Blanche Ponsonby Lucien Saartre

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Everyone had a price. Lottie sighed in relief that it had been so easy to find his. Everything was going to be fine now, he'd fix her up and she would be on her wa-

A small scream would be heard outside.

"You said it wouldn't hurt!" Accusation was written all across her eyes when he was done and she pulled her leg back under her as if she could protect it from the pain it had already been caused. She closed her eyes when he did the same to her wrist, her teeth grinding against one another. Tears were streaming down her face by the end of it.

"Thank you... so much," bitter words as she hopped to her feet to test out her weight on it and flexed her hand.

 

[Blanche Ponsonby]

Blanche sighed and acquiesced to being led toward the camp with Rob - albeit reluctantly. The walk was boring, Rob clearly was holding a grudge against her and, on that same note, hated fun.

So, without warning, she spun around and engulfed Rob into a huge embrace. Almost instinctively, she found her hands wandering into his pockets and had to stop herself. He was definitely the sort of person who kept live mouse-traps, or something similar, in case of wandering hands.

"Gotcha." She whispered in his ear, mid-hug.

 

[Rob Cooke]

There was a surprising amount of padding underneath the cloth and armor, apparently he didn't want to be killed by an arrow. Under that padding he was surprisingly skinny.

Silent, judging, and unseen eyes bore a whole into Blanche's head. He didn't move an inch. Just stared at her until she let go. It was slightly concerning, Blanche probably couldn't even feel him breath. Once she had finally let go, he said, "Good choice, now lets keep going." Before continuing the walk to camp.

 

[Lucien Saartre]

"Yes well, I would be careful with it anyway." There really wasn't much hope of that he suspected.

His healing was not really healing, at least not in the way many others would think of it. The ability came from himself partly, but most of the energy was drawn on from the person he was actually giving care. The muscles and tendons had knit back together, he'd simply coaxed them forward.

"You will feel tired." Lucien added as he collected the coin. "I would suggest getting rest."

A pause as he weighed the gold in his palm. "I'd avoid robbing anyone."

The words were almost absent.

 

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

Tzuriel would have laughed if the thought of it didn't make his ribs hurt all the more, the way she acted after that attack, as if he didn't know it was her who did it. He had to give her points for acting, anyone else walking by might have been convinced that she was actually concerned for him. But to him the act was forced, too comically convincing for the merchant to be convinced.
He's played this game one time too many. It's like simple politics. You both know exactly what your opponent is doing, but you're unable to do anything about it without extreme tact and courtesy.

He wasn't in the mood for this game. Now that she's agreed to wait he cut off the conversation with her and moved aside with Ryado. The doctor had closed the door and it wasn't long before he felt a strong presence of magic and a few shouts of pain.
Tzuriel didn't know how much the treatment would cost, but he did promise he would cover it himself.
He looked at the state of the medical stall. It was a bit shabby, not bad but it could certainly be better.
He turned on Ryado with a question.
"What do you think the return would be if we invested in this medical shop? Gave him some coin and maybe helped him purchase a larger work space?"

Ryado was thoughtful for a moment.
"Of course an investment would be in hopes that he will turn out a profit with the coin we give him. Depending on how well he's known around here and how much business he gets. Also factor in the costs of having a larger establishment to perform his practice and then the greater amount of business he could accommodate with more space... I'd say if we supply him we could garner a small sum. If he gets more business then he might need to take on apprentices.
all in all I would say that he has the potential to return our investment two fold."
Tzuriel nodded. That wasn't a huge drop in the bucket for him, but it was anything but a loss, provided everything goes well for the doctor.
"I think the investment would be worth it. I came to this city to make friends, and I think helping this doctor in his rise to a prominent physician in Oban would be one good turn for another."
He waited for Lottie to emerge from the stall to make sure she was alright.

 

[Wren Kingsley]

Wren was done with the charade, she was no actress, she left that lark to Lottie. In fact she most often found it difficult to control her face from betraying her thoughts.. a sort of facial Tourette’s. And right now it said ‘ I strongly dislike you’ as she quite obviously looked the man over head to toe as he conversed with his friend. Had she been anywhere else she’d have had no qualms with stirring up more of a scene, but today she was supposed to be laying low. Then again, that was what her sisters should have been doing also.

She turned to peer in the window as she heard Lottie’s pain, though seeing that she was alright she settled again, waiting impatiently for the doctor to do what was necessary for her sister to leave. She’d had a bad feeling about this day but her siblings wouldn’t hear it..they’d hear her soon enough. Wren kept her arms folded, keeping an eye on the guards, scanning the faces of the crowd, some of whom were known to her, and so she decided to keep her chin dipped rather than make any accidental eye contact.

 

[Lottie Beaufort]

Lottie shot the doctor a look over her shoulder, still unsure whether he knew who she was or what she was, then shook her head and left. If he suspected he would have made his demands of her to keep his silence or alerted his guard and she didn't plan to stick around to see if he changed his mind. Before she stepped outside she slid her mask up and ran a hand down her face with a sigh, wiping the tear trails away from earlier. If her sister didn't pick her up and throw her over her shoulder then carry her home she would be incredibly surprised. But in all honesty, despite the pain, she didn't want to leave the festival just yet.

Tugging down her mask Lottie stepped outside, bracing for the impact.

"All fixed," she lifted her skirt a fraction as if to prove it - no bruise or swelling - and her wrist looked similarly fine. But then she caught the mood and her gaze flitted between the two awkwardly. "I see you've had the misfortune of meeting my sister, Robyn," Lottie shot her sister a smile that said please don't kill me and half stepped behind Tzuriel as if he might act as a human shield. "I was thinking... that drink sounds like an awfully good idea now - Oh look, it's Bla--ne, Blane! Rob!" She waved her hand. Good, more meat shields.