Elishe smiled widely, head bobbing with enthusiastic agreement. He patted the table with his fingers, his left hand lifting in a quick little forward 'stay there' wave to Marcos as he slunk off across the bar. He skirted the fringes of boisterous men and women, clearly more familiar with dancing on the outskirts than bursting right in. While Elishe didn't seem like much of a sly fellow, it was the men more capable of openly bounding into a place and yet dancing around all the trouble you had to worry about. Elishe had quick hands and feet to make his smile.
He approached Anne, a slight, restrained bow to her, a hand offered out to her. She looked up, dark eyes vacant, an iridescent glow lightly pressing out from the whites of her eyes before it quickly disappeared and her eyes appeared occupied. Anne automatically went to reach for Elishe's hand before quickly withdrawing. Her chin tilted up stubbornly and she lifted herself from the chair and table. She wasn't the daughter of a duke anymore. She couldn't be expected to act like it (for every little thing, at least).
Unlike Elishe, Anne skirted nothing. She didn't shy or sidestep, her eyes barely dipping to either side of her. The stocky, muscular fawn and white dog (imagine a pit bull type of dog) followed patiently behind Anne, floppy ears mobile and alert. Elishe scurried ahead to pull back the chair across from Marcos, grinning broadly as Anne hesitated, eyes narrowed into a glare. "What did I tell you?" Her accent was thicker than Elishe's and even slightly different. She settled into the chair, eyes assessing Marcos lightly. "Hello Mr. Itharien, I'm Anne Vance-Rocchi, this is my hired man Elishe of Vance-Rocchi, and I'm in need of some assistance, ya?" She smiled politely, her sentence precise and measured.
She rested her deeply scarred hands on the table between them, the scars all faded except for the iridescent glimmer as they clasped in front of her. "I'm in a bit of a predicament. I need to hire a guard to protect me and mine from some people of my homeland. I was given something and my brother wants it back. Since he's the heir, he has every right to hunt me down like... what is it?" She pauses for only a moment, her head canting slightly, "A dog?" A puzzled expression came across her face. Her delicate shoulders lifted absently. "And I'd rather not die or give up what was given to me. I'm a little selfish like that," she gave a razor sharp smile. "I am also not going to sit in my home and wait. I plan to travel in search of some documents. Of course, meals, clothes, repairs, shelter and traveling expenses will all be covered."
Elishe nodded enthusiastically. He leaned forward towards Marcos, as if sharing a secret with him. "Dun't ya worry aboot her none. She might'n act like a shark, but honest to Color, she's a gem." He winked before being silenced by a particularly sharp elbow.
Elishe gasped, winced, and grinned. He looked only a year older than Anne herself, who looked to be in her early twenties. There relation was comparable to brother and sister, but it was clear that Elishe respected Anne, even if he was dedicated to bothering her. It was clear enough to the subtle ways he tried to do his job (even if she'd told him weeks ago that his job had ceased to be as it once was.)