Seven Thousand Steps [Shining Edge]

[Paladienne]

The evening breeze wafted through the open window, drifting past the sheer curtains and ruffling the dark, red-streaked feathers that rested upon the floor. The breeze caressed the feathers, steadily climbing up the dark wings that rested against a pale back, to brush lovingly against her bare neck. The breeze's ephemeral touch soon faded, leaving her to shiver lightly even as she continued to brush her black, red-streaked hair. Slowly, she dragged the brush through the strands, seven times on one side, seven times on the other, slowly working out the tangles and knots that had accumulated during her sleep. She worked out each snarl carefully, studying her reflection in the mirror.

Alkyone knew she was beautiful. She was told that constantly, both by her master and by those who paid her for her companionship and other things. But she didn't feel beautiful. Yes, she could paint her face and style her hair and wear jewels and wear clothing that accented her curvy frame and look extremely beautiful, but those things didn't change the way she felt about herself. Words and things were just pretty gilt, and didn't change what she felt on the inside.

She put the brush down on her vanity and stared at herself in the mirror. Then she picked up the powder she used to shade her eyes and applied a little color to the lids. That done, she added color to her cheeks, her lips, her throat, and then she styled her hair, braiding it before coiling it around her head. She pinned the braids with silver pins, then let the rest of her hair fall down the center of her back. She checked her appearance once, twice, thrice, before she rose from her chair.

She spread her dark wings and touched the soft feathers with her manicured nails, stroking the feathers and making sure that they were clean and shiny and each individual feather was just right. Then she folded her wings against her back, and gazed at the dress she wore.

It was a sheer thing, darkened in just the right places to entice and not reveal too much. She hated it, but she had no choice. She ran her hands down her sides, smoothing the material, and shifted this way and that to make sure that every dip and fold in the fabric was in its proper place. Once she was satisfied, Alkyone left her room and headed downstairs to check in with her master. She had to pass inspection before she could leave, to get confirmation that her choices in outfit and colors and decorations were correct.

"It'll do." said Master gruffly. He gripped her chin and turned her head to the left and right. "Yeah, it'll do. Now go out there and make me money."

He gave her a rough push toward the door. Alkyone didn't respond; responding never did any good, anyway. She only meekly bowed her head and left the building, heading into the night-dark streets of Zantaric.

She walked for some time, her gait even and confident, even though she didn't feel such herself. She joined a group of other girls, each one as dolled up as she, but less exotic. But these were girls who also belonged to her master, so they were sisters, and they banded together out of his sight in order to survive on these mean streets. But this time, the girls weren't trying to catch the attention of the passers-by. This time, the girls were looking across and down the street to another corner, where another group of girls were. They were a smaller group than the one Alkyone was with, but fewer numbers didn't always mean weaker.

"What's happening?" Alkyone asked.

"Movin' in on our territory," another girl replied. She snapped open a fan to cover her face with as she whispered. "They weren't there yesterday. They keep appearing wherever we are. We're losing money, Ally. You know what Master will do to us if we keep losing money."

She knew. Alkyone knew well what Master would do if his girls didn't bring in their required tithes. He'd never hurt her to the point of marking her, but her sisters bore bruises and scars from their Master's punishments and "reeducation".

Licking her lips to wet them, Alkyone asked, "Does Master know about this?"

The girl shook her head. "Not yet."

"...Run back now, and tell Master that he needs to see this. He's going to want to know why, so it's best to show him. He'll take care of it."

The girl stared at Alkyone for a minute before nodding. She snapped her fan closed and picked up her skirts, and dashed back down the street. Alkyone watched her go, then turned her attention back to the competition. She knew it wasn't their fault, but then, situations like this were never the worker's fault. They were only following orders, just as she was.

A hand touched her shoulder and Alkyone turned to bestow a brilliant smile upon the corpulent man that was dangling a jingling purse before her eyes. Her stomach twisted and turned, but she took the coins and followed the man to a more private place. She glanced over her shoulder, and wondered what idiot had ordered their working girls to begin to move in on territory that was already claimed.

The Master would start a war.

And he would win it, too.

[Shining Edge]

Everything was going as planned.

Well..that's what he'd have liked to think, but his plan was only in its beginning stages. One more street, one more line of bordellos and bars and whatever else he could wrap into his web, and Kelrien would be just that much closer to having Zantaric firmly under his control.

And by his, he meant not his, but the semantics weren't important. The Nightshades would have their fingers in even more pies, would have more coin brought in, and eventually, the entire city of thieves and thugs and other unseemly sorts would be one big base of operations for the people he worked for.

Under his ragged disguise, sitting as he was under a broken lamp, the lunar elf smiled, a small, twisted little grin that only came from one that knew something was well in his grasp even before the game had begun. He had all confidence that the girls he'd had placed in this supposed "Master's" territory would tip the others hand. He'd investigate. He'd come out, and start his little turf war...and Kel would be there waiting, to cut the head from the serpent and take the body for himself and his Guild.

He could already see it. That pretty little winged thing had sent one of her companions back, more than likely to inform their so-called Master of the situation, to tell of unknown girls moving in on their claimed territory. The steps were all laid out before him, with contingencies branching out like a massive web. He knew how the game was played. Some that knew him would say he'd invented the game.

It wasn't far from the truth, he supposed. This was his game, after all: subtle manipulation, nudging one strand to shake all the others into carefully planned actions. Those girls - his and those others - were all simply flies in his web.

His were simply there by choice. Eyes, ears, mouths when he needed them to be, hands when he wanted them to be. Some were simply prostitutes, earning their own keep with a few of his own coins in their purses. Others were agents that were there to do their jobs, as nasty as those jobs were at times. But gold oiled the gears, and there was plenty to go around. Kel just wanted more...something to show for his work when it came time to show the ones above him the books. An entire city would definitely look good in the ledger.

Again, that twisted little smile, hidden as it was beneath the ragged layers of beggars raiments, curled the elf's lips. It was only a matter of time. Kel tilted a wrapped bottle to his lips, drinking deeply of the expensive wine therein, and smiled that smile as he kept an eye on things.

It was only a matter of time...and time was something he had en masse.

He frowned, though, as a paunchy, rotund little slob tapped on the winged woman's shoulder, dangling a purse that, as far as Kel was concerned, was far too small to entice a beautiful creature such as herself. He scowled as she led him away, and huffed to himself. A pretty thing like that shouldn't have to pay service to those sorts.

Perhaps he'd show her what a real customer was. He had more than enough gold to spare. And, maybe, he could learn a bit more about the operation he was about to take down. And maybe the little slob that had her at the moment would be found later that day, face down in the mud with an unmarked blade in his back.

Who knew. The night was young. Kel smiled again. The night was young, indeed. And he hadn't even gotten started yet.

[Paladienne]

When she returned in the early dawn hours of the next morning, Alkyone wasn't surprised to find the Master in the main room of the bordello, surrounded by several rough looking men and women, the kind that did bad things for money. None of them spared her a glance, for all their eyes were riveted to the Master. Alkyone stepped through the common room toward the back rooms where the Master kept his office, and once she was there, she placed all of her earnings upon his desk, which was crowded with all the earnings of all his other girls that had brought in some kind of haul that night. She studied the desk as she always did, wondering if she could get away with slipping one or two gold pieces into her sleeve, but in the end, she didn't. She turned away and headed back out into the common room toward the stairs, which would then take her up to her room.

But as she passed through, she caught glimpses of faces, and she caught snippets of words. And a shadow filled the stairwell behind her as she began to climb.

Alkyone did her best not to stiffen at the presence at her back and continued to climb the stairs. Once she was around the corner, she felt the Master's hand on the small of her back, "escorting" her into her room. The door closed behind them with obscene gentleness.

"Tell me everything."

His booming voice, so quiet and lethal, made her shiver. She began to talk, telling him everything she had observed that night, even the descriptions of the girls she had seen. It was all she could do, and even then it didn't seem enough, because his hand fisted in the feathers of her left wing and yanked awkwardly, not enough to rip out feathers, but enough to hurt. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming and crying and met his steely gaze with what she hoped was an expression of terror and deference.

"That's everything?"

"Everything, Master." Alkyone replied as demurely as she could.

He stared into her eyes for a moment longer, then released her. He said nothing as he left her, slamming the door behind him. Only when his footsteps had faded did Alkyone breathe, and tears filled her eyes as she tried to smooth the feathers of her wing, untwisting the twisted quills and trying to ease the pain as best she could. Then she moved to her bed and sat down, staring at the floor between her feet. She felt terrible for the storm she had just unleashed, but she didn't think the Master would do anything too terrible. After all, the girls were innocent. They were only following orders, as they all did.

She finally moved to clean herself up, but her mind kept turning to the faces of the people she'd seen downstairs.

They had been the faces of people who loved blood and lived for the destruction of others.

The opening salvo had been unleashed, and Alkyone knew that, when night fell again, her Master would launch the counterattack. She just didn't know exactly what that would be. And somehow, she felt responsible for that.

She tried to sleep, and when night fell again, she and her sisters were joined by her Master's soldiers, but they didn't stay together. Each party split to go about their respective business. But Alkyone watched those murderers go, wondering what they were going to do, even though she felt that she knew the answer.



They moved with the confidence and swagger only criminals could. No one paid them any mind, for the place they lived in was a den of thieves, murderers, and other assorted criminals. No one looked twice if they didn't want trouble. They knew who to look for, and where to look for them. The hour was still early, but the ones they were looking for would already be out working. They had specific orders, and if they wanted to get their money, they wouldn't deviate it from them.

They found the girls where their employer had said they would be. They were in territory they shouldn't be, and that was crime enough. The women in the group hung back while the men stepped forward, enticing the girls with coin. As the men led the girls into an alley where they would have privacy, the women followed, and then two took up watch at the mouth of the alley, as if they were bored and ensuring that their male companions wouldn't be bothered as they had their fun with the prostitutes. The rest followed the men back.

The two at the mouth of the alley smiled at each other as they heard the startled cries and the soft sounds of blades slipping between ribs. The terrified cries soon stopped, and the men and women soon left the alley, cleaning off blades and sheathing them. The leader of the group placed a small leather bag in the hands of one of his subordinates with clear instructions to return the bag to their employer as proof of the deed being done. The woman nodded, then took off, and the rest of the group dispersed into individual parts, disappearing into the crowds.

And soon on the Master's desk, amid the bags of coin earned, rested a bag filled with bloody fingers.

The Master handed the messenger another bag filled with the jingling of coins and watched the woman leave. His eyes turned to the fingers and a cruel smile appeared on his face.

The message had been sent.

A smart man would heed it.

[Shining Edge]

The night following the massacre, the Little Olive was an unusually quiet and reserved place, empty of all but a few patrons. Kelrien was working the bar alongside another, his shift nearly up for the evening. He was only going through the motions, though still completed this part of the job with no issue.

He knew why the building was silent and empty. People were scared. Apparently, a group of girls - his girls - had been found in one of the back alleys, killed in various gruesome ways. Stabbed, slashed, strangled, it didn't matter to him. Dead was dead. It was a shame, though, that the draugah had seen fit to follow that particular path. Those girls hadn't needed to die, but...well, they knew the risks. This was Zantaric, after all.

So, really, it was nothing new. Kelrien was only mildly irritated because he'd liked a few of those girls. But, this was something he'd planned for, and he had a course of action to follow suit. One that didn't involve getting a group of innocent - Kel chuckled to himself at that, no one was innocent in Zantaric - girls killed.

"Oi, Breylac. I'm out." Kel dropped the towel he'd been holding on the bar, and turned toward the younger man. "I'm not sure when I'll be back in today, but you know what to do. Hold anyone lookin' for me as long as you can, and if they won't wait, have 'em leave me a message. And if they won't do that, they aren't worth my time. Or yours." The elf smirked toward the human, and winked. "Have a good one. I know I will."

Kel didn't wait on any response, nor did he expect one. The other bartender, as well as two of the four patrons, were agents. One of the other two were messengers. The last was three sheets to the wind and dead asleep after ranting and raving about some swindler in a pawn shop, who was probably selling stolen goods anyway, and blah, blah, blah. Info that maybe he could use later, unless it turned out the pawn shop was one of his.

In which case, the man was right, and most of the product was likely stolen, but that wasn't important. Just mildly amusing.

As he stepped into the night air, Kelrien took in a deep breath. The night was cool and crisp, and the moon overhead cast it's light onto his pale flesh. The glow began to emanate from within him, a dim light that tinged his flesh with a purple hue, giving him an eerie, ethereal color. The Moonglow was a part of him now, and the night would make way for him. He took four steps into the streets, and vanished in a flash of blue light.

Across town, he reappeared much the same way, a pulse of light and the sound of parting air signalling his arrival via the light of the moon. He found himself in that back alley, where he was told the bodies had been discovered. Someone had removed them, naturally - the city was generally seedy enough, without corpses scattered in its alleyways, though the blood still stained the earth and the brick of the buildings surrounding it. He'd come to investigate, to see if something left behind could allow him to glean further information.

Unfortubately, it seemed rather cut and dry. He already knew what had happened, as far as the girls being killed was concerned, and the spattered blood everywhere wasn't telling him any different. It was a slaughter, plain and simple. Perhaps if he'd thought to bring Astyrian along, the Sunspot could have used his hocus-pocus to figure something else out, but he had other means of gathering information.

The elf turned his gaze from the bloodied alley to the thoroighfare beyond, his eyes arched as he considered his options. On one hand, he could mad-rush their base of operations and enact revenge on the needless deaths, and likely die himself as he threw himself on their blades. But only someone plainly stupid and dimwitted would seriously consider such a course, and Kelrien certainly wasn't dim. On the other hand, he could learn, he could watch, and he could talk to those who may know-

Oh. The girl from before...that pretty feathered thing that had sent the other girl back, after they'd seen his girls across the way. She seemed to have some pull with her companions, and maybe knew some things about the goings on of that whole operation. It was worth a try, anyway.

Besides that, she was damned gorgeous, and he wouldn't mind spending some time with her, anyway. Kelrien smirked to himself, and shoved his hands into his pockets as he made his way out of the alley to the streets beyond.

Today was going to be very productive, one way or the other.

[Paladienne]

Alkyone wasn't sure why her master had been smiling the way he had that night, but really, it was none of her business. Hers wasn't a position to ask why or to question him. Well, she could, but only if she wanted to be beaten for it, and Ally didn't necessarily relish being smacked around, even if she was being paid for the experience. She tightened her wings against her back in reflex to the harsh memory, her eyes briefly closing as she did her best to fight back the demons that threatened to overwhelm her. It took her a second to get herself under control. She didn't dwell on the past on purpose. First, she didn't remember much of it, and second, you couldn't change what had happened. You could only look forward and try to make things better than they had been. At least, that's what she believed, and Ally could only hold onto that belief as hard as she could, if she wanted to survive.

She'd been surviving for as long as she could remember. She had done things - benevolent things, horrible things - just to keep living and spend one more day above ground. She wasn't proud of everything she had ever done, and she wasn't proud of her current life, but it was something that kept her fed, clothed, and a roof over her head. Sometimes, if Master was feeling generous, she might even have some coin in her pocket. Otherwise, most of her money went to the "tithes" she "owed" to her master, for things like her make up, her hair ornaments, her work attire, as well as the "rent" of her room and the food she ate from the kitchens. In all, she maybe had a total of a single coin every three months that was actually hers, and she hid that coin in the only place she knew Master wouldn't look.

Because he wasn't above raiding his girls' rooms for coin if he needed it.

Alkyone walked the streets tonight with an air of suspicion for every alley and corner that she came across. She was alone tonight, for her sisters had elected to go to other places in Zantaric that would offer them better prospects. She couldn't blame them. After all, their usual street had suddenly become way too crowded to be of any use to them. They needed to make a profit, and they couldn't do it there.

Yet, she found herself wandering the streets toward that place, pausing on that same corner where she had stood the other day, looking down the street to the same spot that the other girls had been standing. To her surprise, they weren't there. Alkyone frowned slightly. This street was prime territory - at least for those in her profession - because of the constant traffic. Yet she was the only working girl on that street. Even the competition was no longer here, which she thought was strange. Usually if there was no competition, the girls would have no shortage of customers and would be able to make more in one night than they would in a week. She paused on the familiar corner where she and her sisters would usually stand as a group, trying to entice customers, and stared at the corner across and down the street.

Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. Why did she have such a bad feeling?

Ally shook her head. She couldn't dwell on those thoughts. There was no point. The Master had done what he had done, and as much as she worried about what it was exactly he'd done, it had nothing to do with her.

If no one was here, then she had the place all to herself, and she could make some decent money before she had to return and give over everything she had made that night. Swallowing her discomfort, Alkyone spread her wings slightly and settled in to try and entice someone to spend a few minutes with her, and a lot more coin.

[Shining Edge]

Traversing the alleyway to make his way to the larger thoroughfare didn't take but a minute, and initially he was disappointed to see that his intended target wasn't present. In fact, it seemed the street was entirely bereft of the ladies of the night, populated only by a few men and woman heading from place to place. Most looked drunk or well on their way to such a status, and others, like himself, seemed to be looking for something in particular. Which made sense, considering that this was generally known as a likely locale to find some ladies willing to part with their time for a bit of coin.

Though, he supposed it also made sense that the aforementioned ladies wouldn't be present here, on this night, and perhaps for a good many more. All things considered, for their type, this street could be considered dangerous, what with the slaughter that had occurred in the alley behind him. For a moment, he considered looking elsewhere, and ran through the mental map in his head of the city in search of a more likely area to find the company he was seeking. He knew there may be other parts of the city where he could find one of the girls he was looking for, and possibly the one in particular that he was interested in finding.

Kelrien had decided on a course to take after that short moment, and, after surveying the street one last time, took a turn to his left. He'd intended on making his way down the line of buildings to the corner, and rounding it to continue to another section of town, when he saw her. She was closer than she had been the other night, and he could immediately tell that his initial appreciation for her beauty was well founded. In the low light, he could tell that there were attributes to that visage of loveliness that he had missed before. For instance, her hair and her feathers were not simply dark brown or black; her hair was streaked through with the occasional dash of red, and her feathers were edged similarly.

In short, she was even more beautiful up close than she had been from a distance. If Kel was a religious man, he may even say that her beauty was divine. Though he imagined that, with those wings, she likely heard enough of the 'angel' comments. Though, he had to say that she did certainly earn them.

It occurred to him, as he was walking towards her, that it was odd to find one such as her alone, considering the events previous. And even more so that it was her herself there. Perhaps it was coincidental, or perhaps the Nightshades had some Patron God that he hadn't been made aware of that was smiling on him in that moment. That thought gave him a wry smile; he never had been fond of Gods and their ilk.

As he drew nearer to her, that wry smile morphed into one of charm - he was coming from her side, so the chances of her having seen that change were minimal at best. He came within close to ten feet of her, before he tried to get her attention.

"Good evening, beautiful. What's a pretty thing like you doing all alone in a dangerous street like this, hmm?" He stopped a cautious distance away, not wanting to seem as if he were about to attack her or some other nefarious thing. "You know, there was blood on this street not all that long ago. It may not be safe for you here." He glanced over his shoulder back towards the back alley, and noticed he was standing directly in the moonlight as he saw his skin alight with that familiar blue glow. He smirked, as he turned back towards her.

"Maybe you'd like to come with me to some place a bit...safer, eh?"

[Paladienne]

Somehow, Alkyone kept from jumping when the voice came out of the night, followed by the strange apparition of a man alit with the glow of the moon. She stared at him as if he were some nightmarish monster come to life, and then when her shock abated, she realized that he really was just a man. An elf, really. Elf man. Her heart finally calmed at her own little internal joke, and she was able to release the breath she'd unconsciously held in response to his sudden appearance.

The man before her wasn't like her usual customers. No, he had an air of danger around him, like a thin miasma. He was trying to hide it, to look innocuous and innocent, but Alkyone had lived her life around his kind, and could easily pick them out of a crowd, no matter how hard they tried to hide it. Men and women who knew violence and blood could pretend that they were as innocent as a newborn babe, but there was a sway, a swagger, to their steps and to the cadence of their voice that they couldn't hide completely. Dangerous people never stopped being dangerous, even when time had bent their backs. He was also dressed in a manner that told her he was possibly hiding several weapons, and that he knew very well how to use them if he needed to. He was trying to be friendly - if that smile was any indication - but a quick glance at his eyes told Alkyone the smile and charm were as false as a glass diamond.

Yet, his manner of dress and silky words also told her that, as dangerous as he could be, he could also afford to pay her for a night of her company. That, more than anything, Alkyone looked forward to. She'd rather spend a night with dangerous and honest than dangerous and sneaky.

"Blood on this street?" Alkyone said, her voice quiet and subdued. Her thoughts instantly turned toward the other group of working girls, the girls she'd informed Master about. Had he...? No. No, he couldn't have.

But then she remembered the group of men and women that had been in the bordello's main room and her stomach did a funny little flip. Somehow, Ally kept her uneasiness from showing on her face. The way the elf was smiling, the way he'd phrased the words, set off little warning bells in her mind. If he was talking about what she thought, then perhaps this was more a situation of a wolf eyeing a lonely lamb than a john looking for a good time.

"I don't understand what you mean," Ally continued. "This is Zantaric. There's blood on every street. And danger, too, sir. What makes you think I'm any safer in your company than say... that fat merchant waddling this way?"

She turned to face the glowing elf a little more fully, allowing him to see her whole physique. Barely anything of her was left to imagination, and she stood in such a way that made her body more of a distraction, using herself to advantage. She hadn't survived this long by being stupid, and had learned distracted men let slip things that they'd meant to keep secret. Perhaps this man would be no exception.

"Besides," Ally said with a hint of a smile, "my time isn't free."

She held out her hand then, palm up, an expectant gesture. Though, to any more innocent onlooker, it looked as if she was simply offering her hand for him to take, or making an innocuous hand gesture while she was speaking. Ally gave him an 'I'm game if you are' smile, and tilted her head to the side. If he wanted her to go with him to this 'safer' place, then she was going to have the money first.

[Shining Edge]

He couldn't help but smirk at the sight of her pulse at her throat, her little heart pounding away with all the might it could muster. He must have startled her, which in itself wasn't surprising - he was more than aware of how he looked under the light of the moon, when he was under the effects of the Moonglow, the way in which his flesh betrayed what some might think was otherworldly power. Also, it wasn't as if she'd seen him coming, which was exactly what he'd been hoping for. She was caught off guard, and the way she at first spoke betrayed that instant of weakness.

At her first question - or, rather, at her repeating of the very words he'd spoken only moments before - he nodded once, patiently, with a small curl of a smile at the corner of his lips. He noted the sudden subdued quality of her voice, the disquiet in her tone as she pondered his own words. There was something working behind those pretty eyes of hers, he knew. Oh, she was masterful at not showing the emotions she felt, but she could not hide the gears turning behind those windows into her soul. Despite her saying so, Kelrien already knew that she knew something...even if she did not know exactly what it was that she knew.

"Oh, yes, this is indeed true. Zantaric, city of thieves and thugs, ne'er-do-wells on every street, within every shadow cast by every building. The blood runs thick on most nights, and particularly thick on the rest." A knowing smile split his lips, then, as he glanced toward the bumbling merchant headed in their general direction. The man moved unsteadily, as if his short little legs were supporting a bit more than a thimble full of drink within that corpulent body. "Mmm. Well, first of all, I am not drunk - though I will be, more than likely, in a few hours - and, therefore, am far more predictable than a man pickled in his drink." He turned to show her his profile, raising his arm to inspect it. Above, the clouds had begun gathering, blotting out that great white eye in the sky. Before his eyes, the glow from within his flesh dimmed and, finally, died. He smiled, and flicked his eyes towards her again, facing her with an eye of the deepest lavender.

That smile on his lips widened only barely as she turned, and he got an even better look at her. There was very little left to the imagination, though his imagination indeed worked double time for the briefest of moments. After that moment passed, though, decades of experience kicked in, and Kel dropped his arm to his side. Slowly, and with motions that betrayed no ill intent - for there was none to betray, not yet - he began to step around her. She offered him the sight of her, but he made as if to see from all angles. And he did, his eyes crawling over her form, her curves, her stance, everything about her.

Oh, she was good. And in more way than one...she was most definitely an exotic beauty, but she also gave nothing away. But, he imagined, there could be more than one way to pry information from those luscious lips of hers. Just as he completed his circle around her, he fetched a small bag of coin from between his belt and his hip and, lifting his arm, made as if to take her hand. And so he did, gently curling his fingers around hers, with the small bag of coin between their pressed palms.

"Luckily, time itself is cheap...if time is all one asks for," he said, his voice low, a smile still on his lips. "And with that bag, I will buy your time...and with another, perhaps, I will buy something to fill that time."

[Paladienne]

Ally curled her hand around his as the weight of the bag of coin settled in her palm, as if she were accepting his offered hold. She deftly took the coins from the elf then and tested the weight of the bag now that it was no longer supported by his fingers. It was quite heavy. There seemed to be a good deal of gold in that bag, good enough to get her attention and her time. She accepted his offer by sliding the bag into a hidden pocket in her bodice, seemingly making the coins simply disappear. She returned his smile, no longer taken with his exotic looks and the beautiful light he glowed with in the light of the moon. He was now simply just another client, and a client who could pay. Even if, currently, it was just her time he wanted - which, a few men genuinely did, taking her as a dining companion or taking her to a card game in which to show her off and distract those they were playing with - there was always the chance that there would be something more. His words certainly hinted as such.

"If that's the case," Alkyone said, her voice lilting and musical as she slipped into the persona of a companion, "then my time will be well spent. What is it you wish to do with the time you've now bought? For it is just time, and time, as you say, is cheap."

She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. There was even quite a bit of her teeth showing, a warning that he better not be trying to take her for a fool. She wasn't going to let him get away with making fun of her, whether he was or not, and she wasn't a fool. She wasn't like those bright-eyed open-hearted girls that came into the business thinking someone was going to swoop in and rescue them from the life they were now leading. This was her lot in life and she had long ago learned to accept it. The only thing she could do now was work it to her advantage. He wanted her time and now had it, but that was all she was going to give him. If he wanted anything more, there would be a new price for that.

Ally moved forward to link her arm with Kel's, almost molding herself to him. She looked into his eyes the same way a lover might, as if her attention was reserved for him and him alone. And indeed it was, because his gold had claimed it. Her willingness to be his for the hours he'd paid for stemmed only from that lone fact and not any desire on her part. Yet she would pretend. She had to. Her only happiness with this situation came from the fact that the elf wasn't hard on the eyes. In fact, he was rather handsome. She could feel the muscles of his bicep under her fingers and could feel the strength in his frame as she pressed herself against him. As patrons went, he was one of the better ones. At least he was being quite up front with his intentions.

"And just so you know," Ally said, moving to stand on her toes a little so she could whisper into one of his pointed ears, "if you wish for anything more than just my time, it'll cost you more than just time."

[Shining Edge]

Kelrien watched the small purse disappear into her bodice with feigned interest - feigned, as he knew exactly where it was and how exactly it was hidden, yet still practiced enough to appear genuine - and easily took her arm as she linked it with his own. He began walking with her along the street, then, taking care to stay casual and unhurried. There was no excitement, not yet, not while this was still all business. And business it was, unfortunately....at least for awhile yet.

"What I wish to do with the time I've bought is not meant for idle ears, so let us first step somewhere slightly more secluded...and then, you'll see what your time is for." He saw her smile, the way her lips curled with it, the way there were maybe a few too many teeth showing in it, and smirked in kind. He knew what she was thinking, as he could see it in the way that smile didn't quite show in her gaze. He wondered, then, what he would see if she were to smile genuinely. What beauty that must be! But alas, it was much more likely that one such as her truly had very little to smile about.

Truly sad, really, but Kelrien also knew all too well what it was like to have to wear one's own face like a mask. After all, that was only ninety-five percent of his job.

He repressed a pleasured shiver at the feel of her body molded against his side, face to face with what was quite possibly his one true weakness in the world - he'd always had a fondness for the beautiful sort of softness one like her could provide, after all - and hummed quietly at her last words. He was silent for a moment, until they entered a small corner tavern. "Well...rest assured, there's more than one bag of coin that I carry. And maybe you'll have a chance to earn every one of them." He smirked at her, and nodded toward the barkeep as they headed toward the front of the room.

This was only one of many establishments in Kelrien's web, one of many owned not by the Nightshades but by him, for the Nightshades. From another pocket, Kelrien pulled yet another bag, and laid it on the table, 'payment' for the room.

It was all just for show, of course. Some bags contained coin, while the contents of others was considered much less than valuable. This one was filled with copper blanks, valuable only to him for endeavors such as this - maintaining the image. The barkeep understood this well enough, and slid a key in his direction.

Kel plucked it up off of the bar, and headed toward the stairs with Ally in tow. "What I want," he started as they reached the second floor of the establishment, "is information." He had the same room, the same key, every time he came to this particular tavern. He headed straight for that door, unlocking it and ushering her inside. Only once the door was again closed and locked did he separate from her and look at her fully.

"Talk, just like time, is also cheap...so I assume the sum I've given you will cover both."

[Paladienne]

Ally followed Kelrien without complaint, though she was careful not to simper too much or act in any other fashion than what she'd already shown him, knowing that he was far more than what he seemed to be. Whether it was instinct or healthy survival skills, she didn't know, but she could tell by the way he walked, the way he held himself, that he was assured of victory if someone chose to fight him, or if someone was foolish enough to try and rob him. He walked with a swagger that she'd seen in few men, a swagger that said they were powerful and they knew it. And it wasn't the kind of power that one wielded over another but power of self, power of strength, of cunning, guile, agility. Of knowing how to kill someone before the person even knew they were dead. Dangerous men were dangerous because they didn't need to prove it; they simply could walk into a room and clear it just by pulling out a chair and sitting in it.

Ally looked around as surreptitiously as she could as Kel led her through the streets, trying to memorize certain landmarks to navigate by. She would have to find her way back eventually, and if things turned south, then she would need to know how to escape him. She was no fool; even those who seemed toothless at the time could suddenly grow fangs. She had experienced that many times in her life, and she disliked it enough that she didn't want to experience it again. Rather, if it were by her choice, she wouldn't experience it again. If her master wished to sell her for such a thing, then she couldn't argue the point, not unless she wanted more harm to be done to her.

Still, as they approached the small tavern, Ally decided that if this man really wished to do things to her, he wouldn't have been so honest about paying her for her time. Nor would he have bantered with her about paying for other things, if they should arise. She stared at the small sign hanging above the door, then followed him inside.

She'd been in taverns before - they were a favorite hunting ground of her and her sisters, and they always seemed to find one or two willing to part with their coin - but she was surprised that this one seemed so... warm. Welcoming. The people here seemed boisterous and happy, a far cry from other common rooms she'd frequented where most men only cared about their reflection in the bottom of a stein and the softness of a woman in their hands. Ally kept her peace as she watched her current benefactor remove a bag of coins and slide it across the bar to the innkeeper. When she saw the key, she folded her wings tighter against her back, but other than that small betrayal of nerves, her face was completely blank. She had expected as much when he'd bought her time; the fact that there was now a room involved didn't change that, but it made other things that much easier. Made it easier for her to earn more coin, certainly.

Her brow rose as he spoke, and she followed him up the stairs to the room. Inside, she made sure to face him and keep him from being at her back, and she did her best not to react to the very real knowledge of being locked in with a man who could very well kill her if she made him unhappy.

"Information?" Ally asked. She folded her arms over her chest, not so much hugging herself as trying to assume a proper annoyed position with her body language. "That's all you want? That's what the theatrics were for? Information?"

She huffed out a breath and canted her head to one side, hoping her expression was quite annoyed. In truth, she felt relieved. All he wanted was to talk, and if that were the case, then she could talk about anything. She didn't know what he could possibly want from her, considering what she was. Did he want to know about the latest position? The latest fashion trend? Did he want to know the best spots to troll for other girls of her profession? Did he need information on the men she'd been with? On the dirty streets and alleyways that she'd plied her trade in?

Her thoughts stuttered to a halt after she'd actually processed what he'd said, reading the underlying tones in his words rather than taking them at face value. Her relief soon gave way to confusion, then wariness.

"Information can be pricy, you know." she said in a low tone. "The coin bought time, yes, but depending on what you're after, talking can be twice as much."