Private Tales The Proud Daughter

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

"Your word."

She was standing close to him now, he could almost feel the chill of her skin even if they weren't touching. He met her golden eyes firmly with his blue, looking down a little to meet her gaze.

"Give your word and we shall have the accordance you outlined. Tzuriel Alanthis...if our futures are bright than we shall face our disgraces together, in a Reikhurst restored from ruin. And all will be made right."

At this he had to shake his head.
"If you want something reliable, then you do not want my word. My word is only good when its in writing, I've never broken a contract in my life nor cheated anyone once the form is signed."
He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently moved her back about a foot before he returned to his desk and began writing up a contract detailing their deal while he went on talking. He was abruptly back to business now, his emotions once more carefully concealed.
"Right now our best lead is the magic user. If nothing else we could at least see what horrible price he would ask of you and decide if he should be ruled out as an option from there. If not, we'll have to explore other roads that have approximately thirty to seventy percent chance of being better or worse, thirty percent in our favor."
He was beginning to ramble a bit with his technical talk, but he was only getting started.
"If the price turns out something you deem payable then we can cut the time it would take to restore Reikhurst by far more than half, since the magic user is a known factor and likely closer to our location than an unknown third opinion.
Once you're cured then the first obstacle to saving your city has been removed. Seeking out your allies and convincing them to aid a former vampire, who's loyalty to her oaths is questionable to say the least, convincing them to overlook any crimes previously committed, and ultimately organizing them to follow your lead against Jürgen and his tainted Knights of the Golden Blade... Would be the next step after that."

He stopped writing for a moment and looked up at her.
"Bye the way... Did you think about how you will do that? I'm no expert, but I think a villain is still a villain whether she's a vampire or not. You're obsession with your oaths was only magnified by your vampirism, but necessity drove you as well. If the way you judge me is any indication; simply saying, "I was a vampire and there were extenuating circumstances!" won't hold up against the fact that you did some terrible things to feed both of your dual natures in the past. It certainly wouldn't hold up in any other court unless you knew the right people and greased the right palms."
He looked back down and continued writing. He always thought better when his hands were doing something, when he removed his own emotion and his own ego from the equation, when it was all about business, this was when he was in his element.
"Along that same vain, why would they accept help from me? Especially if I'm just as guilty as you if not more so. It seems that will also fall into the scenario where good is achieved through dishonorable means... From certain self-righteous perspectives at any rate... But I digress. This is all assuming that such allies of yours still exist and haven't all been destroyed. In which case any legitimate claim on Reikhurst will most likely be lost unless you intend to resurrect Reikhurst and establish yourself as "First of her line, Queen Heike." and rebuild everything from total scratch... Which I would be completely willing to support your claim and efforts if you chose to do such a thing."

He put in the last period on the contract and presented the paper for her to look over.
"I'll have a copy made for you, but make sure everything is in order first."

This Agreement, made at Alliria City, Alliria, on this day, by and between Tzuriel D. Alanthis, a merchant trading owner/contractor, and the undersigned client shall be considered a statement of the exact terms and agreement for the purpose of proper business accounting. Furthermore, this agreement will act as a final statement of the agreements made by the contractor to the client for fulfilling their duties as stated in this agreement. Therefore, it is agreed between the parties as follows:​

1. Contractor shall furnish all weapons, armor, rations, potions and any other necessary and customary adventuring gear, equipment and supplies for the use of the client. The contractor is responsible for all damage and maintenance to said gear, equipment and supplies.​
2. Contractor shall furnish all housing, beds, furniture, funding and any other necessary and customary daily living supplies and equipment for the use of the client. Contractor will be responsible for all damage and maintenance to said housing, supplies and equipment.​
3. Contractor shall furnish all transportation to and from any necessary location and will be responsible for all damage and maintenance to the transportation equipment.​
4. Contractor shall submit to the laws and judgement of Reikhurst at the behest of the client for crimes past, present and to come in keeping with the spirit of this contract.​
5. The client, as an independent, self-employed knight of the golden blade agrees to devote reasonable efforts to the use and defense of the contractor and his assets wherever they may be located. The client will contribute any information and assets to the effort of their mission. The client may draw upon and make use of the funds and proceeds provided and yielded in the course of their mission with the permission of the contractor.​
6. Client shall furnish all needed personal clothing and bedding and will be responsible for all damage to such items.​
7. This agreement shall not in any way make the parties hereunder partners or make one liable in any fashion for the debts of the other.​

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the contractor and client have signed this agreement on the day and year below stated.​

Four lines were situated below the writing, Tzuriel already signed his name on the first one with the date.
He proffered the contract for her to scrutinize or make amendments and slid the ink bottle and quill over for her use.
"I've broken my word before... So this is how you will obtain my honorable promise."

 

[Heike Eisen]

He had his own form of honor, Tzuriel did. He'd never broken a contract, and through that lens perhaps--Heike thought--he could understand her. Heike had sworn her Oath of Truth before King Rommel, and Tzuriel in this distinctly Allirian way swore his own manner of an Oath of Truth with a quill and parchment. Truth and Honor, for he on paper wrote no falsehoods and once signed kept this written word dutifully.

Heike took that step back once prompted. Eyed the rapier on the floor as Tzuriel rounded the desk. She crouched down carefully, pinched a tattered end of her coat, and used this to clean the blooded tip of the sword. It was a necessary display of her commitment, walking into the blade as she had, but now that it was done due diligence was called for--she could ill-afford negligence with her tainted blood.

She rose from her crouch and stood before the desk. Watched as Tzuriel wrote and listened as he talked.

...who's loyalty to her oaths is questionable to say the least...

"I resent that!" Heike interjected, unable to hold it back. But she stilled her tongue and let him continue. Questionable. Questionable! Of course she had admitted her disgrace in abusing the spirit of her Oaths, but she had been prepared to die for them. She was not an Oathbreaker. No. Her disgrace came from the bending of her Oaths, not breaking them. Yet, if in the future the judgment passed upon her was the renunciation of her knighthood and the assuming of the shameful title of Oathbreaker, she would accept it with grace. Better a punishment more severe than what her transgression warranted than one lesser, so far as Heike was concerned for herself.

Jürgen and his tainted Knights of the Golden Blade...

What? That made no sense. Then...then again, how would Heike know? She had thought previously, before some more recent events, that every last Reikhurstan save her was dead, that the vampires' massacre was complete. Was it...by the Reik crown, was it possible that there were traitorous Knights? Men and women who'd been persuaded or coerced surreptitiously into Jürgen's service, who helped facilitate the attack on Reikhurst that fateful night? Who helped the vampires slaughter their own brother and sister Knights? It was a nauseating thought.

...and establish yourself as "First of her line, Queen Heike."

Surprise became her, wide eyes and drawing back of her head and all. Brief but strong. Such a thought was--admittedly--flattering in a way, but Heike's sole concern was the defeat of the Jürgen and the Slaughtern vampires he commanded. Beyond that...well, admittedly again, there was the grossly inadequate and tacit assumption that all would return to normal in time, that she would go back to simply being a Knight-Valiant in a renewed Order of the Golden Blade. But no. No, that would not be the case. So far as Heike knew, King Rommel was dead, his family was dead, the Lord Commander of the Golden Blade and the General of the Guard were dead, the electoral base--the Citizen Warriors--were mostly dead. All these vacuums would have to be filled. Leadership would have to come from somewhere.

The sound of it. Queen. Reikhurst's first ruling Queen, and likewise Reikhurst's youngest ruler at the age of twenty-nine. Such a thing would be unprecedented (yet the vampiric sacking was also unprecedented). Tradition had it that the role of the Queen was to embody the people of Reikhurst, and that it was her duty to keep her husband the King in accordance with his vows to the people and his honor as a true Reikhurstan. It was to the Queen that the King spoke his vows on the day of his Crowning, kneeling before her as the citizenry witnessed and speaking his commitments to her, to she who was the avatar of the governed. Could it be possible...maybe...?

Heike dismissed the thoughts with a pinch of her eyes and a shake of her head. When the old way was reestablished, when the Citizen Warriors--the electors--cast their votes, there would be far better candidates for royalty.

The contract.

Heike looked it over. Snorted lightly when her eyes passed over the words "self-employed knight of the golden blade," but made no comment. Overall, it was an incredibly generous offer; if those twenty children knew what their deaths had inspired because of this accordance, that their deaths were not in vain but would instead be the proximate cause behind the salvation of a whole people from the vile machinations of vampiric malevolence, perhaps they would be made content. Happy. Glad, even. Perhaps it would afford for them a peaceful rest.

Heike took hold of the quill. Clumsily. Her long clawed fingers were ill-suited for grasping a thing so thin and small (without piercing her own palm with said claws, that is). With a wan smile she said, "Forgive the scrawl," and signed her title and name--Herr Heike Eisen--as best she could. It was a mess, enough to force a single, breathy laugh once Heike saw it in totality once finished, but it was a signature nonetheless.

She straightened. Stood in front of Tzuriel's desk and looked across it to him. And addressed his remarks and questions.

"We are agreed on the matter of your magic-user contact. I retain my doubt, but I concur that we should at least hear what his price is for me. As for my allies, those Knights who yet live and of whom I am now aware, I will convince them the same way that you have convinced me. I shall tell them the truth. The truth that I was once a vampire. The truth that while I spoke no falsehoods, I engaged in willful deception to hide my wicked affliction. The truth that while I upheld the laws of Arethil and Reikhurst, I transgressed those unwritten and common to the hearts of good men and women. The truth that while I strove to fulfill my duties and conduct myself with noble intent, I still failed Reikhurst in its darkest hour. I shall tell them these truths and do as you have done, Tzuriel, and submit myself for judgment once there is again a Reikhurst to cast said judgment."

Heike placed her palms on the desk. Leaned forward with a certain conviction in her eye and continued.

"We the two of us shall be engaged in compelled service. This, Tzuriel, a punishment that is as Reikhurstan as public lashing and hanging. You have struck an accordance with me, and I with my fellow Knights once I see them again. In these accordances, in the service compelled by them, there is a redemptive quality. It is how the disgraced and the dishonorable earn back a measure of what they have lost. To turn that disgrace, that dishonor, into a force for good. Our service will be hard and arduous--perhaps it will even cost our lives. But when Reikhurst is restored and if we yet live, our service will be weighted against the remaining balances of our transgressions and we shall pay the respective differences."

Heike pulled back. Stood straight again.

"This is why they will accept help from you. You walk the penitent road, as it is said, and you have given your written word to submit yourself for Reikhurstan judgment. In this judgment, all will be set right. So it will be for you, so it will be for me. Proper justice shall expunge the stains of disgrace and villainy."

And she knew what proper justice might entail. The gallows. Hinrichtung. Forgiveness, justice, could be found at the tip of a whip, through forced service, or in the rough embrace of the noose. All things solemnly witnessed by one's fellow citizens.

Heike knew that she was flawed, but she needed to be as pure and virtuous as she could be to rally the survivors behind her. She needed to rid herself of her affliction, do so in a way that did not render her an Oathbreaker, and make that accordance with Herr Dieter or Herr Elias.

A long road.

But she was at last taking those crucial first steps.

Tzuriel Alanthis

 

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

"I resent that!"

He couldn't help but chuckle in response. Of course it was a hard thing to hear, but that's how he saw it, and if he could see it then a group of knights of similar oaths would most likely see it as well.
He took the contract after she signed it and looked everything over once more to be sure.
There was a lot to unpack of her words, but he thought through them carefully before he responded.

"We are agreed on the matter of your magic-user contact. I retain my doubt, but I concur that we should at least hear what his price is for me. As for my allies, those Knights who yet live and of whom I am now aware, I will convince them the same way that you have convinced me. I shall tell them the truth. The truth that I was once a vampire. The truth that while I spoke no falsehoods, I engaged in willful deception to hide my wicked affliction. The truth that while I upheld the laws of Arethil and Reikhurst, I transgressed those unwritten and common to the hearts of good men and women. The truth that while I strove to fulfill my duties and conduct myself with noble intent, I still failed Reikhurst in its darkest hour. I shall tell them these truths and do as you have done, Tzuriel, and submit myself for judgment once there is again a Reikhurst to cast said judgment."

"This is why they will accept help from you. You walk the penitent road, as it is said, and you have given your written word to submit yourself for Reikhurstan judgment. In this judgment, all will be set right. So it will be for you, so it will be for me. Proper justice shall expunge the stains of disgrace and villainy."

His mouth set in a hard line. Fine words, but certain things weren't adding up. It's like she had played the scenario over and over in her head and thought she knew exactly what would go down, but his own insights were telling him different stories...
"If that were true, then you could go to them right now as a vampire without fear knowing that you walk a "penitent road" and confident that they will recognize the intent of your heart.
I see your example of judgement as reflective on those who might remain of your order... Reactive, emotional, quick to jump to conclusions. Had I not made this contract with you, for your sake, we would not be having this conversation in spite of the content of my heart or the purity of my intentions."
He looked past Heike towards the door and called out.
"Lizzy."
Again the blond poked her head in.
"Yes, Mister Alanthis?"
He held out the contract.
"Go have this copied and make sure our client gets her half before we leave."
Nervously eyeing the sword on the floor she nodded and went to carry out his orders.

Alone again he leaned forward on his desk with his elbows, holding his fist in his hand.
"Think about this. When we do find your allies, imagine the state they'll be in. Probably paranoid, scared, wary of strangers, don't you think they would even be wary of a long lost comrade whether she's a vampire or not? How graceful do you imagine they would be feeling towards a former vampire? Do you think they will simply take your word for it that you've never broken your oaths to feed the bloodlust? Do you think they won't resent you simply for sharing kindred with their enemies for the time that you did? Mistrustful would be the best possible scenario we're looking at here, suspicious would be the most likely scenario, and outright hostile would be the worst possible case.
We're talking about a people displaced from their homeland with only a loose community of survivors remaining, grief stricken and resentful."

He stood up and went to collect his sword, wiping it down with a cloth before sheathing it once more.
He had his own ideas, but he was wondering if she would come to the same or similar conclusions. The way he saw it, their traditions had to change in order for them to move forward.
"Let me tell you a little of what I know about Reikhurst of today. The keep still stands and that is where Jürgen and his closest followers reside. Outside the walls is a little squalor of a village, a poor place where humans are kept as livestock but happy given the fact that they are fed and provided for, having no responsibilities, engaging in debauchery and crime unchecked except to be regularly visited by the new order of the Golden Blade, who descend to cull the herd for the feasts of their masters. The only humans guaranteed safe passage in and out of Reikhurst are myself and my caravans."

 

[Heike Eisen]

He spoke like an Allirian. A man who did not truly understand the ways of Reikhurst. A man who--quite frankly--seemed very used to the idea of buying his innocence. Of course he would think of Reikhurstan honor and judgment as "reactive, emotional, and quick to jump to conclusions."

Crimes, misdeeds in general, begat the punishments prescribed for them. Period. It was why, despite all of Heike's own content of the heart and purity of intention, she would not escape her own due judgment. In Reikhurst all were equal under the law: from the poorest man to the King himself. Heike could single-handedly save Reikhurst and rebuild it from ruin and, hell, even raise those massacred citizens from the dead as if the slaughter never happened. She could literally be Reikhurst's greatest Savior, and still she would not be given leave to escape the judgment for her failures and misdeeds. And nor did she want such leave.

She wished that she could go to Herr Dieter or Herr Elias right now as a vampire, to do so without fear. She truly did. They might well recognize the intent of her heart. And despite it they might well decide that summary execution was appropriate, no matter how much they did or perhaps did not wish to carry out the sentence. The hard road of honor was hard indeed. And if Heike wanted to see her duty fulfilled, Reikhurst restored, she had to do everything within her Oathbound capacity to become human again--it was her best chance.

But Tzuriel was certainly right in his thoughts that came next. He was far more pessimistic about it than Heike, but the underlying core of it was true: the road of honor was hard, yes, but the men and woman who walked it were human. Human and dwarves and all else, and all of them were subject to emotion. Herr Dieter and Herr Elias could be paranoid, scared, wary; or they could be gracious, welcoming, as ecstatic to see that Heike was alive as she was when she heard that they were still alive.

(Or they could be like Maria.)

She did not know every survivor that had made it out of Reikhurst. But she did know Herr Dieter and Herr Elias. And she believed in the best of them. Believed that they had stayed true in the five years since Reikhurst's fall. Believed that they would see her as a true Reikhurstan, because she would do all that she could to earn that regard. The shedding of her vampirism, the striking of an accordance with them, and upon her honor the rightful submission for future punishment in a Reikhurst restored.

Pah. Do you think they will simply take your word for it, Tzuriel had said. He did not place much value in his own spoken word, and thus it was little surprise that he did not grasp the weight it carried for those sworn to the Oath of Truth. Hence, as well, the ignoble gravity of the shameful title of Oathbreaker.

Heike did not bother directly refute his pessimistic projections. They were not completely without merit, but it would do no good to argue further. For the course was already set--it could be no other way.

We're talking about a people displaced from their homeland with only a loose community of survivors remaining, grief stricken and resentful.

She said to him as he stood up, "And they are my people, Tzuriel. My people and my fellow Knights. I must see to it that they are rallied, and I will. The beating heart of the force which charges through the Gates will be a Reikhurstan one. Proud and true."

He went on to describe what he knew of Reikhurst's current situation. The Citadel of the First King still stood, Heike knew that not long after her waking in the morning following her turning--the Citadel a mighty structure to which the vampires did not bother to set fire. The rest of what Tzuriel said conflicted with what Heike had heard of the city in recent years: that of seemingly abandoned ruins, whose eerie stillness often drove adventurers and explorers away well before they even entered. Whatever the truth, it would be seen when Heike did at last return there.

For she had an idea. Knowledge of something--the location of something--whose retrieval could be the catalyst needed to invigorate the forlorn hearts of the Reikhurstan diaspora. But this could only come later, once she had found a cure and had gathered a strong cohort of allies to risk a venture into the city.

Back to present matters. The necessary component to all of this. The remedying of her affliction.

Heike gave Tzuriel a look of grim regarding when he finished. Said nothing for a moment. Then: "Whatever miserable state the false king Jürgen has further wrought on the city in these five intervening years, it shall not remain that way. I will savor the moment when Jürgen is slain, the Bloodstone torn from his grasp and destroyed. His judgment may be four hundred years late, but it will find him too."

She glanced toward the door. Then back to Tzuriel. The potential cure impressing itself upon her mind.

Reserved in tone, she asked, "Do you think that this magic-user will ask a far different price of me than he did of you? One that I could even possibly consider paying?"

Such a thing would be fortunate for Heike...but tragic for Tzuriel.

Tzuriel Alanthis

 

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

Mortal nature was just that... The nature of all the mortal races that they held in common with a minority of exceptions to the rule. If Tzuriel could claim mastery of one thing, it was discerning mortal nature, riding the waves of emotion and actions and discerning the roots and causes, it's what made him a success as a merchant and kept him alive especially when he learned the basic nature of vampires.
The oaths of these people were like a religion to them, which in some cases was all well and good. it made them predictable to that degree, but as with all humans there was an X or Y factor, an unknown that was referred to as freewill.

These knights, while predictable, were difficult to determine without knowledge of what those oaths specifically were, so he backed off on that point in favor of gleaning further information before reforming his philosophy.
But a glaring risk was nagging at him... The possibility that they may face judgement sooner rather than later for their crimes when they first meet these knights. This was not acceptable to him, the purpose of this entire ordeal is to restore Reikhurst and that cannot be done if they are dead.

"And they are my people, Tzuriel. My people and my fellow Knights. I must see to it that they are rallied, and I will. The beating heart of the force which charges through the Gates will be a Reikhurstan one. Proud and true."

He wasn't getting through to her, perhaps this wasn't the time or place that would convince her, but he felt the need to try one more time to temper her positivity.
"Are you quite sure they are still your people, Miss Heike? I am skeptical for a reason, it's kept me alive even throughout my unlife. They've been through hell from what you've told me, that changes people and NOT for the better. Do they still believe in their oaths? do you know, or is this hopeful guesswork?
My gut is telling me that we need a back-up plan, that these knights are not reliable and will need some serious convincing before they accept our help. I've seen exiled people many times, their ghosts, shells of their pasts just trying to stay together and scrape by, keep alive what they still have at all costs even when presented with a face they once thought of as friendly. I have no reason to believe that your Knights are any different."

He shrugged and sighed, "Ultimately, all I'm suggesting is we keep our swords on our belts when we approach these people in the face of so many variables. An escape plan if anything goes wrong. Insurance incase I'm right and our mission could be ended then and there... I agreed to throw myself on your mercy, I made no such agreement with them."

"Do you think that this magic-user will ask a far different price of me than he did of you? One that I could even possibly consider paying?"

He shrugged again, "I half suspect he simply requires an errand runner to retrieve ingredients for his other projects. The variety of things he asked of me felt like a shopping list of sorts, ingredients for rare potions and such, he seemed fairly busy when I first went to see him. But it's likely that he will ask something very different of you, because I don't think he even used all of the blood that I provided for him in the cure he made for me."
He swallowed hard and glanced towards the closed window, the sun was shifting and he could see its glare starting to angle through the cracks in the blinds.
"I think we've waited long enough. We should get going to the market district if we're going to meet with the Juggernauts soon."
He put his hand on the door handle and aimed a sly smile at her, "I think it's high time someone took you shopping, lady. You smell like you've worn the same clothes since you were turned five years ago!"

 

[Heike Eisen]

Miss Heike. Even five years since the time when she was regularly called by her title of Herr, such normal forms of address she was still not used to. In her mind she was Herr Heike. This unmarred by her affliction.

Regardless of the address, Heike listened. Looked quite cross with Tzuriel at first, then gradually this crossness slipped into consideration. She had the most faith in her fellow Knights of the Golden Blade, for they were actively sworn to virtue where the surviving citizens were not. The people of Reikhurst, she knew, were like any other: some of undeniable virtue, some of practical or unconcerned minds, some of poor character but otherwise law-abiding. There was in general a sense of what could be expected from them, raised as they were in Reikhurst's culture of honor and duty and order, but still a vast array that touched on both the light and dark of humanity and the wide span of gray lay in-between.

...An escape plan if anything goes wrong. Insurance...

Heike lifted her chin slightly. Said in response, "I will seek out my fellow Knights first. If they have indeed stayed true, then I shall not run from them. They may embrace me with open arms or they may deem it necessary to draw their swords after I have told my tale, but I shall not run from them. I do not expect you to fully understand."

Allirian. She almost said it, but held her tongue. Stayed the biting word as the thought of Captain Bronmarch flickered into her mind.

Tzuriel provided his thoughts on the magic-user. The magic-user who seemed to be of deplorable and unscrupulous character. A man not unlike Rennegast, the wizard she and Szesh had encountered in the tower during the Catalyst bounty. That was to say a man who valued his work and the depths of discovery far more than the well-being or even the very lives of fellow men and women. But Heike would save her judgment of him until they were met. Until she heard his price for her.

I think we've waited long enough.

Heike gave a nod. Pulled up her hood--kept her mask down, per Bronmarch's advice. She likewise pulled her shawl closed, hid her arms and thus her claws behind that veil, adopting that priestly stance of reverence.

I think it's high time someone took you shopping, lady. You smell like you've worn the same clothes since you were turned five years ago!

Heike had been nitpicking her shawl and hood, making sure they were both well situated on her shoulders and on her head. And when Tzuriel said this her gaze popped up and she regarded him with flustered shock, her cheeks flushing red with intense embarrassment (some of that blood gathering in her cheeks undoubtedly Tzuriel's own, so recently ingested). Here she reacted not as Heike the knight nor Heike the vampire, but as Heike the woman. Miss Heike, one could even say.

"I...I admit that the articles of my attire have suffered mightily during my travels and my ordeals," she said quickly, thrown off of her composure and stammering slightly, "but I have...taken the appropriate care to wash them when my mind settles on it and when such an opportunity presents itself!"

She honestly could not tell if Tzuriel was being serious or if his comment was more in line with his smile. Had her own nose, even with its enhanced sense of smell, become familiar and thus dismissive of the scent of her clothes? She, well, she'd acquired these in the ruins of Reikhurst when she awoke in the ashes, and they were in truth quite in the state of disrepair, the tail of her coat especially. It wasn't...wasn't...purchasing new clothes was not a trivial matter. She did not accept payment for any bounties she pursued nor did she relieve any bandits or thieves of their ill-gotten coin or goods.

She tried to let the matter go in her mind, but couldn't. Not just yet. So she stepped forward (eyes now drilling into the door handle rather than looking at Tzuriel properly) and awaited for him to open the door.

Prepared to follow him, presumably to the market district and for this 'shopping.'

Tzuriel Alanthis

 

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

"I will seek out my fellow Knights first. If they have indeed stayed true, then I shall not run from them. They may embrace me with open arms or they may deem it necessary to draw their swords after I have told my tale, but I shall not run from them. I do not expect you to fully understand."

True to his promise he dropped the subject. No doubt they will visit this again at a later date, but this wasn't the time.

"I...I admit that the articles of my attire have suffered mightily during my travels and my ordeals," she said quickly, thrown off of her composure and stammering slightly, "but I have...taken the appropriate care to wash them when my mind settles on it and when such an opportunity presents itself!"

Ah, there it is, familiar territory. A fluster, a break in that knightly mask, a sign of humanity. He grinned as he opened the door and led her out of his office. Lizzy had the copy of the contract ready and handed both forms to Tzuriel and he handed Heike her copy as he led the way back to the ground floor.
"As stated in our contract I will see to it you're sufficiently equipped for our journey. In other words, if you see something you like or need it's yours. I will be present to offer suggestions as needed."

They went outside and a carriage was waiting, the driver opened the cabin door for them before jumping up and clicking the reins.
"While I'm sure you're used to making due with less, I would rather you take advantage of this opportunity that I am giving you and keep it in mind while you're making your selections today. Unlimited funds are behind you now and at the very least you deserve a taste of what that's like after everything you've been through"
In truth, he really just enjoyed spoiling women. Seeing ladies who are used to less suddenly having everything available to them, it was a joy that brightened them up, and a joy he loved to witness.
He gave her a hand to help her up, hoisting her by her elbow so she didn't need to reveal her hands, and then climbed in after her, taking the plush seat across from her.
"This is Alliria, so anything you could imagine is likely to end up here. There's a seamstress I know of who makes gloves for some of the feline races, gloves that accommodate claws and such without risk of tearing.
Or you can go and find yourself a proper hood and cloak or whatever else you need to move about during the day.
Any weapons or other necessities are open to you as well.
But, of course, first line of business is getting you into some decent clothes that aren't so battle worn and ragged."
He smiled genuinely at her with a brightness in his eyes.
"By the time we meet with the Juggernauts we'll have you looking human again!"

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike's hand appeared through the curtain made by her shawl and accepted the copy of the contract and withdrew back inside. Fittingly feline like, given what Tzuriel was about to say in the coming moments.

She followed him through the gorgeous halls of his estate and out front, where the carriage was dutifully awaiting their arrival. She presented her elbow when prompted and accepted Tzuriel's help in climbing up and into the carriage, taking a seat on the (oh so luxurious) cushioned bench. After years consisting of days and nights of endless walking, sleeping (when necessary to mend wounds) in rough and very often outdoor and unsheltered conditions, she practically sank into her seat. Eyes closed as one might do at the end of a day made long by strenuous labor, what air still lingering in her lungs expelled inaudibly in a slow sigh.

She opened her eyes as Tzuriel climbed in. He continued in his magnanimity--unlimited funds, anything you could imagine--and, while flattering and admittedly appealing, such was nevertheless outside the scope of Heike's experience. The Eisen family had by no means been poor, and the dues paid to a Knight had been enough for a comfortable living, but these combined facts clearly paled to what a man like Tzuriel enjoyed.

Moreover, Heike herself was quite conservative in her expenditures--or, at least, had been, when such things were relevant in her life. It had not always been so. She as a child and especially into her early adolescence was rather fond of the family trips to the markets. Dresses, whether it was the open admiration of them or the eventual pleadings with her mother and father for their purchase, remained a favorite of hers, despite her coinciding interest in becoming a Citizen and Warrior of Reikhurst. As she grew older and especially after her initiation into the Golden Blade, the value of things given declined compared to the value of things earned. Such a fact had always been true, tacitly if nothing else. Those dresses she was made to perform extra chores for before her father purchased them were always more special to her than the others, no matter their beauty.

So even with near endless purchasing power available to her, Heike was loath to abuse it, or to so much as leverage it with any significant weight. Practically all of Alliria was available to her, and her first thoughts were of merely acquiring a single set of simple, durable, and sensible replacements for her current attire.

Tzuriel's brightness in his gaze was met by a humble return in Heike's own.

By the time we meet with the Juggernauts we'll have you looking human again!

A wan smile. "If only the task was so easily accomplished," she said. "Nevertheless, I thank you, Tzuriel. I shall not allow my gratitude to turn into expectation."

His face. His smile. One could believe--even in the wake of a direct confession--that this was not a man who had murdered, or who orchestrated the murders, of twenty innocent children. Yet one's good should be acknowledged, one's bad ought be punished. The full accountability of one's actions; this the essence of Reikhurstan honor.

And the carriage started off.

Tzuriel Alanthis

 

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

Modesty. Well, perhaps he could show her a good time anyways. He talked to the driver through the wall, giving him instructions to visit several thread shops first to begin their excursion.
As the wagon clattered along the cobblestone road he pulled out a small pouch and began counting out silver coins.
He would probably have to pay some of the ladies to help Heike make her selection, and he counted out a few gold to buy their silence as well. In Alliria it was generally accepted that information was a purchasable good, and he priced this information very highly.

The carriage made its way to the market district, the sound of humanity and other carriages grew around them and colorful shops passed by the windows.
The horses came to a stop in front of a bright blue and white seamstress shop with fine dresses displayed behind a glass window.
He got up while the driver opened the door and went out first so he could help her down. The sun was high in the sky at this point so he was careful to make it so there was no need for her to expose her skin.

The door opened with a hanging bell and a matronly woman dressed in a purple linen dress looked up from the measurements she was making for another customer.
"Welcome to the Mithril Pin, I'll be with you in a moment!"

 

[Heike Eisen]

It shouldn't make her anxious. But it did. And for this tiny infraction she despised her affliction even more.

Despite the apprehension, Heike couldn't help but to gaze out through the windows of the carriage. She'd not been around such a mass of people (especially in broad daylight) in quite some time. Normally it was her lot to avoid these large market crowds, lest some terrible mishap catch her exposed as a vampire or--even worse--have an errant ray of sunlight strike her skin in such a circumstance. But she did miss it. Miss the simple quality of being able to walk among others without fear. The carriage provided--through its layer of separation from the people outside--a measure of this, even though it was not walking and was not entirely devoid of fear.

Then the carriage stopped. Tzuriel got out. Helped her down through the open door, Heike careful to keep her hooded head bowed and her arms concealed within her shawl. She followed close behind Tzuriel as he entered into the shop: the Mithril Pin. Then came to stand beside him once the matron (who wore a lovely dress indeed) made her announcement.

"It has been some time," Heike said solely to Tzuriel. Keeping her eyes on the matron. "As if it were another life. These small things taken for granted...the tiny treasures of living...they can crumble away so quickly."

Tzuriel Alanthis

 

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

"It has been some time,"

"As if it were another life. These small things taken for granted...the tiny treasures of living...they can crumble away so quickly."

She was being self-reflective, it was kinda sweet and it brought out the philosopher in him.
"What does any treasure matter if they crumble away? It's what that treasure means to you, and your memory of it, that keeps it alive and well even after its rusted away to dust."
The matron finished with her work and approached them. She recognized Tzuriel, of course because who didn't in Alliria? and she looked critically at the rags and threads that covered his companion.

"You don't even need to tell me, Mister Alanthis. I see your situation. I'll have my work cut out for me. Is this visit for practical or pleasure?"
Tzuriel raised his hand and three gold coins appeared between his gloved fingers.
"A bit of both, but more on the practical side. Is anyone else in the store?"
She shook her head no and he caused two platinum pieces to appear in his offered hand.
"Keep it that way, and everything you find you keep to yourself."
She pocketed the coins, flipped the sign on the door to "Closed", and gave Heike a warm smile, in this city you could literally buy friends.
"Come with me dear, let's get you into something more civilized!"
She took her arm a little too excitedly, as if she was doing it to save her own eyes from the eyesore as quickly as possible, and began dragging her into a back room filled with cloth of different colors, needles, spools of thread, measuring strings, pins, and rows of sample clothes.
She closed the door behind them and led Heike behind a curtained alcove. There was a light dressing gown already inside.
"Alright miss, strip to your skivvies and change into that dress. We'll get your measurements and I'll have a selection for you in no time flat!"

Tzuriel found a seat in the lobby and resigned himself to waiting. There was some light reading material so he busied himself with that.

 

[Heike Eisen]

Heike gave a small nod to Tzuriel's reply--this while still keeping eyes on the matron. She held onto her mementos, the cherished memories of a better time when all was right with her world. And if she fought hard enough, a measure of this she knew she could bring back.

Upon allowing herself a sidelong glance at Tzuriel after the matron came forward, she saw that he was quite the adept at sleight of hand tricks. Perhaps it shouldn't have surprised her, but mild surprise she did nevertheless feel.

She was glad that the store was empty save the three of them. Glad that the matron was so willing to "look the other way," as it was sometimes said in the common vernacular. That willingness might lurch in the other direction once the matron properly got a look at Heike's claws. Ingrained wariness remained constant, like a silent watchman behind her eyes looking for any hint of peril.

Come with me dear...!

Heike's first steps were heavy with reluctance; that silent watchman making her legs akin to lead. But she loosened the tenseness of her stride after those first few. Allowed for the matron to guide her by the elbow to the back room and to the alcove.

Alright miss, strip to your skivvies and change into that dress. We'll get your measurements and I'll have a selection for you in no time flat!

She glanced to the curtain. Glanced to the matron. Said, "Very well."

And Heike shouldered her way through the curtain and into the privacy of the alcove. Again, apprehension. As a general rule she did not remove clothes (for washing or any other reason) while it was daylight out; they were literally her armor against a world that was intensely hostile to her, the only thing separating her from almost certain death. Yes, she was inside the shop and thus shielded by the building itself, yet it remained unnerving to have anything but her face exposed.

She overcame this hesitation, thinking of the myriad adversities she'd faced that were far worse. Then undid her shawl from about her shoulders and her mask from about her neck and folded them both and set them down. Took off her tattered coat and folded it as neatly as she could. With some difficulty (as usual) she pulled off her fingerless gloves. Started unwrapping the cloth wraps from around her forearms, rolling the ragged and battleworn cloths and setting them down on top of her coat. She took off her belts and laid them out flat and straight--though her insignia of the Golden Blade she kept in hand. Her shirt and shoes and pants followed, leaving her in her "skivvies."

And what a sorry state they were in. Embarrassingly so. Both her underpants and her undershirt were pierced and slashed through like the tail of her coat, discolored with old bloodstains (from both her and her foes) that simply did not wash out. Her undershirt in particular barely holding on to her left shoulder so diminished was it. The fresh hole from Tzuriel's rapier was right in the center, a tiny red aura of blood like a crimson halo about it; the minor rapier wound was bleeding at a glacial pace--perhaps a single drop every few hours--but neither would it heal until she slept. A tiny nap would certainly suffice, hardly even an hour's worth would be necessary. Still, an open wound right now--however minuscule--was sure to be unbecoming. At least her undershirt and that gown ought to cover it.

Heike put on the gown--careful to pinch it with the flats of her fingers so as to not rip it with the points of her claws. She stepped out through the curtain. Had the palms of her hands showing in a gesture of peace, her knightly insignia dangling on its tether from her right hand.

She said to the matron, "I apologize if my...claws...frighten or disturb you. Such is not my intent. You have my word that I shall not harm you."

Tzuriel Alanthis

 

[Tzuriel Alanthis]

When Heike came out of the changing room the first thing the matron noticed were her claws. She gasped and put a hand over her mouth as she took in the rest of her unnatural features, the insignia all but unnoticed.

"I apologize if my...claws...frighten or disturb you. Such is not my intent. You have my word that I shall not harm you."

A smile cracked behind the matrons hand and a barely suppressed snort quickly gave way to a torrent of deep jovial laughter.
"Oh my dear, please forgive me! I expected there to be a mummy under those robes, not a ragamuffin!"
She pulled herself together after a moment of giggles and began selecting various strings and rulers for measurement.
"Don't worry dear, I've waited on nobility of your kind and I'm still around, for the most part. Your boss paid for my silence already, so you have nothing to fear from ME... You have fed recently, haven't you?"

Not waiting for an answer she took Heike by the hand, careful of the claws, and led her to step up on a little 4X4 stage surrounded by mirrors where she began taking measurements.
"Let's see here... What would you like, miss? Mister Alanthis said practical, but something nicer than what you had, which won't be difficult at all. Would men's trousers and button ups be too practical?... Oh! I have some nice ladies travel clothes, should be feminine enough, a functional knee length riding skirt and a blouse coupled with some nice petticoats..."
She held up the strings and rulers at various angles on her body and wrote down the measurements she took.

 

[Heike Eisen]

A ragamuffin. If her "skivvies" were anything to go by, then that was very much true. Putting aside the claws and the pallor and the eyes, Heike had likely not been as presentable as her station prescribed she ought to be in years. Her attire's one certain positive quality that of being serviceable. And it was this that she would need from the matron, serviceability and durability over all else. Perhaps it would be a happy coincidence to also look refreshed in her new apparel.

Nobility of her kind. Heike left that comment well enough alone. If she happened across any of these alleged "nobles" of her kind, she would rid Arethil of one more monster. But for now she had her own pursuits in which to attend.

You have fed recently, haven't you?

"Yes," Heike said, Oathbound to speak the truth even as it was painful to do so. "I have."

And she stood up on the measuring stage by the mirrors, this familiar motion and standing giving rise to a wave of memories from Reikhurst, in being fitted in such a manner before. She could almost picture herself without the claws, with healthy skin, with the eyes and hair she had been born with. With a beating heart.

The matron began taking the measurements, and Heike held out her arms as needed. The matron as well had some suggestions.

To which Heike gave a small shake of her head. "Mister Alanthis is correct. I require that which will be practical, as much as I would adore the suggestions you have made. A doublet jacket and pants would suit me fine. A hooded cloak I shall also require--its length need not go below my waist."

Spoiler: Doublet Jacket

https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/doublet-jacket-icon-vector-25152054

Tzuriel Alanthis