Flordia's eyes widened, and she turned her head to the sky to look for any birds that may be coming for the bread.

"How do you do it?" she asked, amazed. "What's your magic?"

She assumed it had to do with his teleportation skills that he had demonstrated when they had first met, but, while she had been to on edge to ask many questions about his magic then, she really wanted to know.  At least some magic was inherent to most Corrian elves, but many elves-like Flordia- did not have much, and the young elf was interested to know exactly what sort of powers Burton had.  Though she wasn't sure he would tell her.

 :O  It's been over a week since I replied!  I'm so sorry!
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He didn't seem to believe her, but his words about censoring herself made the young elf feel a little more sure of herself.

Flordia considered following Burton right away as he left, bu then she looked back at the food on her plate, and she remembered she was still hungry.  She quickly ate the rest of her food before running back above decks.

Burton was at the rail, tossing bread into the water.  Flordia walked up beside him, peering over the edge.

"Why the bread?" she asked as she saw the little crumbs floating on the water below.  "Will they attract fish?"

She had been, to some degree, correct.  She had definitely learned something by asking that question.  However, Flordia had been taken aback by this relatively intense display of emotion.  Up until now Burton had seemed completely calm and collected.

Once he sat back in his chair, Flordia's first instinct was to not say anything at all in response, then she remembered she was no longer a princess, and no longer needed to shut her mouth all the time simply to be polite.  So, she was going to snap back at him. . . when she suddenly decided not to.

Instead she composed herself and looked the man in the eye, something that was a lot harder to do than the young elf had anticipated.

"I only asked a simple question," she said, her voice calm. "And I asked it to know the answer, not to make an insinuation."

Take care of yourself, and we'll be here whenever you're ready to start posting again!

Welcome to the site, and have fun!

His own father.

Flordia's own parents were looking for her, and while she didn't have the best relationship with either one of them, she didn't exactly hate them.  She knew they had just been doing what they had been taught to do.

But how Burton had looked when he mentioned is father made Flordia think there was definitely a lot more anger there.

There were now so many questions she wanted to ask him, but his answer had been quite blunt.  Flordia didn't think he was going to give her very much information.

The young elf knew that they both knew the other was hiding something, and this small admission by Burton gave Flordia reason to assume there was a lot more to his story than he was letting on, as there was for hers.

Flordia had started to eat, but she paused to turn back to Burton and pulled another coin out of her pocket. "Why do you do the work that you do?"

She supposed it was a valid question, and one that might give her some insight on his character if Burton chose to answer it.

That was somewhat reassuring.

"Very well," Flordia said.  She slid the coin that she had placed on the table over to Burton.  "Since we're talking, who was after you, and why?"

Technically that was two questions, but he could only choose to answer one, if he wanted.  And Flordia didn't even know if he'd accept the coin to answer either one of the questions.  When he mentioned the person who had been after him, the young elf had gotten the sense that it had been quite personal.  She wondered if any of his scars were attributed to that.

Flordia had pulled out a coin, but when he withdrew his hand she set it on the table in front of her.

His words didn't surprise her, but they made her nervous all the same.

"Then you must be adept at avoiding death," Flordia said. "But so many have tried to kill you.  That must mean there is a pretty big target on your back.  If you attract unwanted attention I have little doubt you could protect yourself, but can you, or rather, will you, be able to protect me?"

She had already given him the ring as payment, there really was no turning back now, but she may as well know as much as she could about what she was getting into, and who with.

Flordia didn't find Burton until breakfast was served an hour or so after she had woken.  She had eaten the food Burton had given her the day before, but she was still very hungry.

When the crew member announced that breakfast was being served below decks, Flordia was on her way before the man had even finished speaking.

She saw Burton across the table, and gasped upon seeing his scars.  She assumed the man would have some, from the life he seemed to live, it wasn't unreasonable to think that he would attain such injuries, but Flordia was aghast at how many of the marks marred his skin.

She slipped into the seat next to him, much to chagrin of a well-dressed woman who had been about to to sit down.

"Good morning," the young elf said to the man.  She was eyeing his scars.  She very much wanted to ask him about them, but she supposed it would be very rude.

Then she remembered that she was no longer a princess.  There was no reason to stand on ceremony anymore.  And Burton was going to be helping her find her brothers, she may as well get to know him.  The more she got to know him, the better she would be able to get a sense of what sort of man he was, and exactly how much she should trust him.

"You have a lot of scars," she stated. "Why?"

OOC: Sounds good to me!  Sorry for the late reply  :P  I also added below that their journey will take bit longer than a week, if that's too short or long, I can change it.
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Flordia spent the rest of the day exploring the ship, and listening in on the conversations of the other passengers and crew members.

She learned that the voyage would take a little longer than a week, and several more personal things about the other people who were on the vessel.  The other passengers weren't all that rich, though there were a few that were somewhat well-off.  Flordia realized how silly their problems, and her problems, sounded right after she'd heard a haggard man talking about how he had left his wife and four children to find work.

But she still was worried about what she was going to do. Finding her brothers was probably not going to be easy, and Burton made it sound like it could be quite dangerous.  Needless to say, she did not sleep well that night.
----
The next morning Flordia woke early, but when she went up on deck the sailors were already up.  She supposed at least a few of them had to stay up through the night.

She sat down on a large pile of rope and scanned the deck, wondering where Burton was.

Well, he meant business.

"I've never hired someone like you before for a job like this." It was obvious. "And while I'm sure you have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, since I don't, I think we should play it by ear, at least in the beginning.  Maybe finding them will be easier than we think."

The young elf hoped so.  She didn't want to get into anything too dangerous.  Of course, simply leaving the castle had been dangerous, and hiring Burton seemed like it wasn't going to be the most tranquil of ventures, but she knew she was already in way over her head.  She didn't want to add any more difficulties to that.

Getting information wouldn't be cheap, he'd said.  She hoped he wasn't trying to get more money from her.  She didn't know how much her jewelry was worth, but she didn't want him to know that.  For all she knew, that ring was way too valuable to be pawning for someone to help her find her brothers, but if Burton knew she was virtually clueless to their worth, he may try to get more from her.

Flordia frowned at his question.  Getting her hands dirty?  She wasn't quite sure what he meant by that.

"I'm not willing to get anyone killed, if that's what you're insinuating," the young elf said, crossing her arms over her chest.  "I'm sure we can find them without hurting anybody."

Flordia nodded, pursing her lips as she thought.  She knew nothing of her brothers whereabouts or current professions, but she knew what they looked like, their general mannerisms, and what they had wanted when they had lived in the castle.

Flordia described both of her bothers' appearances to Burton. 

"I haven't seen them in many years ," she said. "But Faelis has always been a. . . colorful character.  He always talked about finding adventure, and he was always getting into trouble.
"Kilarhas was less intentionally chaotic, but he couldn't keep his nose out of something if he thought something unjust was happening.  He always talked about doing good.  Changing the world, I guess.  They're both trained to fight, both with weapons and without.  Kilarhas has magic, and Faelis was good with his knives.  I don't think either of them would be able to keep a low profile.  They're kind of magnets for trouble."

Flordia's heart skipped a beat as he took a step forward, but she held her ground.  She set her jaw and kept eye contact with him, despite the fact that she was itching to back away from that smile.

"I do have something else," she said, pointedly ignoring the 'ran away from home' bit, and she reached into her pocket, pulling out the second ring.  Flordia didn't know the exact value but she knew that this one was far more valuable than the first.  A small emerald sat nestled among three smaller diamonds, the stones set into the silver band.

She held it out for Burton to see.  "I think that this will suffice."

It occurred to Flordia that, yes, he could just get the ring and then take off as soon as they got to port, but, then again, anyone she tried to hire could do that.  She had to at least hope he would keep his word.

And so Flordia threw caution to the winds.  She could hire him to help her, or she could hire some other character she came across.  Someone else who she had just met, who she knew just as little about.  She knew that once she got off this ship, she would be just as oblivious about the world as she was now.  Looking around for someone to help her would not only be challenging, as she had no idea where to look, but she knew that the longer she was on her own, the more likely something bad was going to happen to her.

At least with Burton there would be someone there, even if he was just there for her money.

"Okay," Flordia said, standing up straight and looking Burton in the eye.  "I would like to hire you, Mr. Lamont, to help me find either Faelis or Kilarhas Gindien.  Whichever is easier to find, or we come across first."

Flordia thought about it for a second, then held out her hand for the coin.

"Alright," she said. "They're relations of mine, and if I could find them they might be willing to help me."

She had started to spin a story for herself over the last few hours.  A history that would hep her answer any questions someone might have for her.  She decided to make it close to the truth, but not quite.  A story that was half true would be easier to maintain than a flat out lie.

She thought of another question, and dropped her hand before Burton could give her the coin back.  "I have another question," she said. "If I were, hypothetically, to be able to hire you to help me find one of them, would you be able to?"

In fact, Flordia had spent much of the day watching Burton and all the other people on the vessel.

Burton seemed to be very adept at tailoring his mannerisms perfectly for whoever he seemed to be interacting with at any given moment, and it was actually quite entertaining to watch him.

Flordia also watched the other people on the ship, especially the crew members as they climbed the rigging.  It looked incredibly fun, and also somewhat terrifying.

Despite her interest in the happenings of the ship, Flordia's mind had been working all afternoon, trying to come up with the perfect question for Burton.  She knew he loved to play games, so she needed a question he couldn't skirt around.  Flordia had grown up in a castle, surrounded by people who wanted nothing more than to get one rung higher in the social ladder.  She knew people who could, and would, spin a deception so convincing without even telling a lie.  They used half-truths, glossed over facts, or just ignored questions altogether and answered a completely different one.
There were many ways to tell an untruth without telling a blatant lie, and Burton seemed exactly the kind of person to employ those tricks.

When she finally thought of a question, she took another hour to contemplate even asking it.  And when she finally made her decision, she found Burton whittling.

"I've come up with my question," she said, pulling one of the coins out of her pocket.  "Have you ever heard of Kilarhas or Faelis Gindien?"

The wording of the question was not ideal, it would be easy to twist an answer, but Flordia didn't know which of her brothers Burton was more likely to have heard of, if he had even heard of either of them.  She hadn't heard from them since they had left the castle over seven years ago.  For all she knew, they were living quiet lives as farmers.  But Faelis had left to search for adventure, and Kilarhas had been banished for starting a war against orders.  They were not the farming type.

Flordia didn't think it sounded very fun.  This man was proving himself to be more and more dangerous by the second, and Flordia didn't think that he was the best person to be 'helping' someone like her.  Someone with no experience in the real world.

His magic had startled the young elf, but his theft from the man on the docks only cemented Flordia's previous assumptions about him.  He was dangerous, yes, but even more dangerous was his mannerisms, and Flordia did not want to get caught up in the games he seemed to enjoy playing so much.

However, it seemed she already was, and, as he obviously wasn't going to leave her alone, she was stuck with him for the time being.

"Fine," she huffed, taking the five coins from him and slipping them into her pocket.  She thought for a moment.  "I only have five questions, and, unless you get bored, of course, we'll be on this ship a while.  So, I think I'll take some time to think of a good question."

Flordia grimaced slightly at his words.  He obviously had no qualms about his word-choice, or any shame, for that matter.

He still didn't believe her, but she would stick to her story, for now, at least.

"I don't need any help," Flordia said quickly, almost without thinking, as he offered his services.  But then she paused.  Maybe he could help her.  She thought of her brothers, they were out here, in the world.  If she could find them, maybe they would be able to help her get a handle on living outside of a castle.  After all, they had both had to make the transition, same as she was going to have to.

However, Flordia wasn't quite ready to trust this man yet, if ever.  He did not seem like the trustworthy type.

"Even if I did," she continued slowly, choosing her words carefully. "We're both going to be stuck on this ship for a while, I have plenty of time to think about it."

The ship was really starting to get underway now, and Flordia couldn't help but watch in wonder as the crewmen readied the ship to sail.

Flordia felt her skin crawl.  Her was on this ship because of her?  If she'd had disposable funds, she would have left the vessel right then and there to find another one.  But, even if she'd had the money to spend, which she didn't, he would probably follow her to whatever boat she went to.  If only to get on her nerves, which he seemed to like doing, and was very adept at.

Well, if they were going to be stuck on this ship for who knows how long, she may as well at least try not to make and enemy of him.

"Well, there's not much more to me than that, I'm afraid," she said. "I found the ring," she put an emphasis on the word 'found', "and I realized I could get out of this town and maybe do something with my life other than becoming a fisherman's wife.  Nothing against fishermens' wives, of course."