Out with the Old [DaGlob]

[DragonSong]

That had her eyes hardening, her grip on the rapier going white-knuckled.

“You were never in my position,” she whispered, her voice suddenly low and dangerous. “I won’t pretend to know your life, but simply by virtue of your sex you cannot understand what it is to be in my position. Bartered away for a dowry and the sake of a family name, like a prize brood mare meant only to produce attractive and talented offspring. No choice of your own, no love, no life.”

The rapier was shaking. She realized it was her hand that was actually trembling. With a great effort of will, she stilled the motion and tried to collect herself. She took a breath and forced her shoulders to settle back, then offered a brittle smile.

“Humor me. What did you want, Ser Thief?”

[DaGlobster]

He didn't miss how her hand tightened on the sword.

Was he testing her? A little. He wanted to see how quickly her anger could take her, but he ultimately determined her to be of a rather level head.

"I wanted to choose who I loved, most of all," Herrick said, eyeing the firelight reflecting in his wine, and then gave her a look that wasn't quite knowing, but... he understood.

He opened his mouth to speak, and then he widened his eyes and put a finger onto his lips, meeting her gaze.

Armored footfalls faded into audibility. A guard was patrolling down the hallway past the library. The door was closed, but any conversation might be overheard.

[DragonSong]

Yvaine's expression softened slightly, almost against her will. Quietly, barely more than a whisper, she murmured, "That, at least, I believe we may have in common..."

It was all she managed to get out before she caught the sound of footfalls outside the library as well, and her face paled as she snapped her head toward the door. Her lips formed soundlessly around a curse and she darted forward to grab Herrick by the sleeve and pull him after her, down through the rows of display cases and around the corner of a towering bookshelf.

"Stairs," she hissed at him, shoving him toward the tiny door set into the back wall. She pointed up, indicating the veranda that wound around the second floor of the library. "Quick, but quiet," she urged, glancing over her shoulder and peering around the bookshelf in an effort to get a glimpse of the library door.

[DaGlobster]

Quick and quiet, that was one thing he could definitely do. He came along easily, almost like a co-conspirator.

They made it to the stairs and gave her a glance before he ascended, and for such a tall man he ascended quickly and silently. He lingered by the door to the veranda until she came up, and then opened the door to let her through.

[DragonSong]

God help her, what on earth was she doing?

She couldn't answer the question herself as she crept silently up the stairs behind Herrick, closing the small door behind her with the quiet ease of many years spent sneaking through a manor when she knew she shouldn't be. She blinked, trying to adjust her eyes to the dark as she cautiously made her way up the stairs onto the veranda--a nod of her head and a small smile spared for the thief when she realized he'd held the door for her.

She was helping a thief sneak through her betrothed's house. Willingly. That's what she was doing.

I am utterly out of my mind.

Knowing that didn't seem to stop her from doing it.

Carefully, she crept to the rail and peered down into the lower levels of the rotunda. She could still hear footsteps by the library door, then muffled voices. A change in the guard. Ah, it was about that time, wasn't it?

Slipping back to press behind a bookshelf, she unthinkingly reached out to catch Herrick's sleeve and drag him with her, hardly daring to breathe as she waited for the voices and the footsteps to either pass on, or enter the library itself.

[DaGlobster]

And Herrick was right there beside her when she peered down, noting the guards outside the door. As the guards  exchanged some words, he leaned closer to whisper something, but then she'd pulled him behind a shelf by the sleeve and he hid with her, doing his best to suppress a breathless chuckle.

His shoulder against hers, he remained perfectly silent, he barely even made a sound when he took a breath. He could've sworn he heard footsteps coming closer to the door, and he leaned away from the view, closer to Yvaine, and he tapped her arm with his thumb to get her attention.

He started to whisper.

"They're gonna-"

a knock rang out from the door.

"My lady? Do you require anything of me before my guard ends?"

Herrick met Yvaine's eyes, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"More wine?" he mouthed, letting his expression turn playful.

[DragonSong]

A shiver ghosted up her arm from his touch and she shot a quick, sharp look at him, as though he'd somehow done that on purpose.

But no. No, that was all her. All her and her stupid, girlish fascinations, her obsession with danger, with excitement, with just about anything that wasn't good for her. Hiding from her fiance's guards with an admitted thief who was now asking for more wine. God, she should just--

Grinning, Yvaine stepped away from behind the shelf and leaned out over the rail, catching the guard's attention with a small wave. "Actually, I do think I will be up a bit longer. I don't suppose you could bring some refreshment? Perhaps a bottle of the Ravensway red, I heard the master of the house mention. You can leave it in the reading room off the rotunda." She smiled as the guard nodded, then added a quick, "Oh, and tell your replacement not to worry about walking me back to my rooms. I'm quite capable on my own. Thank you."

The guard seemed about to argue, but something in her expression must have stopped him. He nodded again and gave a semi-salute, then turned on his heel to leave.

Yvaine didn't breathe until the door shut behind him. She gripped the rail, leaning a little more heavily against it, and gave a breathless laugh.

"God, I am absolutely mad."

[DaGlobster]

The door closed and Herrick let out a breath along with Yvaine.

"Ravensway's good. 'Master of The House' has got pretty good taste," he whispered. He had his hunches, anyhow. Of course, Herrick's only intention was to get a free drink outta things, buuuut...

...he didn't miss that little shiver, either. He loved to be the fire people played with and it was with a knowing smile. He leaned the back of his hip against the railing and looked up at the ceiling, then back to Yvaine.

"And besides, you strike me as shockingly sane, Madam..."

He pushed off the rail and beckoned her to follow him out onto the balcony, their original destination before the guard had interrupted them.

He opened the glass-paned door that led in from the balcony and put a hand over his face in mock surprise.

"Oh dear, someone's left this unlocked," he said with a playful look her way as he opened it for her.

[DragonSong]

“Yvaine,” she supplied when his voice trailed off. It had suddenly struck her that she didn’t know if the name he’d given was his proper name either. “My name is Yvaine, Ser Thief.”

She smirked a bit when he swung the door to the special collections room open, and she rolled her eyes as his dramatics. “What a careless oversight. Perhaps I should call back the guard to ensure they rectify it,” she noted dryly as she slipped passed him into the room.

It was smaller than one might first expect, but meticulously well kept. Every tome and artifact was safely locked behind glass; some of the more valuable items were displayed in the center of the room, rather than stored on shelves.

[DaGlobster]

The room full of artifacts was wonderous, but it was Yvaine who had his attention. Her fire was growing on him.

"Yvaine," Herrick repeated, finding he rather liked the sound of that name on his tongue, and he dipped his head and gave her a well-practiced bow as he offered her his hand.

"Herrick Tavish, the pleasure is all mine," he said.

[DragonSong]

"Herrick." Much like he had, Yvaine repeated the name as though trying to sound it out, getting a feel for the sounds as she watched him.

Her eyebrow flickered up toward her hairline for a moment at that bow. Well, he had implied he was more than just a simple thief...

She took his hand delicately, and for a silly, brief moment wished she wasn't wearing gloves. "Mysterious and well-mannered. My, I can't imagine how you find time to break and enter into people's homes with all the attention that must garner," she said with all the wry tone of a disapproving dowager, though there was a hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth.

And she left her hand in his, curious to see what he would do.

[DaGlobster]

Herrick laughed, he couldn't help it. Herrick knew his own boundaries and that of the nobility, and while he wasn't going to make any presumptions... He stepped away from her, he let his fingers brush her palm as he let go of her hand, so that their hands lingered in temptation together for just a moment longer.

"A little odd for my profession, I know."

With a parting smirk her way, he finally looked away from her to the room around them. It was, for all intents and purposes, a treasure trove. Too bad he was only here for one thing.

"But look at this place, it's huge. You could get lost in here, even with someone with you," and then dipped his eyes to Yvaine's. A statement and a question.

[DragonSong]

"Flatterer," Yvaine accused with a smile as she stepped around him to sweep her eyes over the shelves and display cases that sprawled out along the second floor. There were significantly more shelves than cases on this level, but with the way the veranda overlooked the main floor one could see nearly every item displayed down there.

"I'll admit I've been a little worried of getting lost myself," she noted blithely as she traced one finger along a dark wooden shelf while she walked by it, eyes scanning but not really reading. "Part of the reason I'm here, actually. I assume I will be spending quite a lot of time here in the near future; I wanted to familiarize myself."

Realizing that may have revealed more than she would have liked, she turned back to him and leaned lightly against the side of the shelf behind her, arms folded and one eyebrow raised with an expectant, playful smile quirking at her lips. "But I believe you said you were here for a specific reason, Ser Herrick. And I doubt it is simply the pleasure of my company."

[DaGlobster]

"Alas, that I should strike diamonds in my search for gold," Herrick said, eyes following her as she leaned back against a bookshelf and crossed her arms. He stepped towards, and then past her, to where the shelf ended and veranda railing began.

Arms straight, he leaned forwards against the railing as he let his eyes scan about the room beneath him. Indeed, it was a veritable trove of artifacts. Antique enchanted items, relic weapons, glass cases that displayed valuables and knick-nacks of all provenances and shapes.

"You make it so easy for me to forget, but yes, I did come here with an objective."

He motioned out to the room.

"Your betrothed seems to like his relics. Tell me, has he ever mentioned any holy banner fragments?"

[DragonSong]

Yvaine arched one eyebrow artfully. “Of which country and era?” she replied as she shrugged away from the bookshelf, then moved to stand beside him by the railing. Not too close, though. She certainly wouldn’t put pickpocketing outside his range of abilities.

Cocking her head at him with a crooked smile, she added, “You do know I can’t just let you take something though, right? I may not be lady of the house just yet, but it is rather the principle of the thing, isn’t it?”

[DaGlobster]

With a touch of hidden amusement, Herrick noted the small distance between them. To play along with her caution, he pushed off the railing just a tad and set his hands behind his back, one holding the wrist of the other.

"Well, a conventional scholar would say it's from Adela's Feudal period, but anyone who knows about Serenity's famous Nameless Paladin would tell you that there shouldn't be any Adelan marching banners with their likeness on it. Especially since those banners have a strong tradition of accurately accounting for those present and the Paladin, of course, is just a fairy tale..."

He paused a moment, then smiled.

"So I'd have to say it looks like a Feudal Adelan, but the threads and shape of the fragment give it away as Serenian, although that's only what I've heard. If only I could just confirm it exists, sketch the depoictions and words... I'd be very grateful, Yvaine," Herrick offered.

[DragonSong]

"Mmm." Yvaine gave him a look that said she wasn't convinced. "Well, I suppose we'd best check both places then, shall we?" she offered after a moment longer of watching him consideringly.

There was the faint sound of footsteps from out in the hall on the main floor and she quirked an eyebrow. "Unless you'd like that drink first?"

The guard who'd gone to fetch the wine she requested poked his head into the library, and Yvaine abandoned all sense of caution or propriety to shove Herrick back behind a bookshelf; she found herself briefly pressed up against him in the far too tight space before she managed to disentangle herself and step back out to the balcony railing, telling herself that her face was no redder than usual.

"Thank you," she called to the guard as he left the bottle in the reading room as she'd requested. He inclined his head to her and murmured a "Good evening" before going out into the hall once again.

Yvaine released a long breath, gripping the railing and letting her head fall forward as she closed her eyes for a moment. What on earth am I doing?

[DaGlobster]

"I don't know about you, but I like to enjoy my tapestries with a whetted tongue," he said quietly, eyes tracking her with a growing smile before it turned into one of surprise. She was pressed up against him and he was sandwhiched between her and a bookshelf. The way she held his collar did some kind of something to him, and he looked at her curiously as she parted herself from him.

As she retrieved the bottle and the door closed, Herrick alighted from the bookshelf she put him up against, fixing his shirt as he raised an eyebrow at her while she took a moment to breathe.

Herrick let her have her moment while his eyes sought out his prize, but he was happy to spot a pair of glasses in a finery cabinet instead. He came back with the pair of glasses held in one hand, standing by the railing next to her. Slowly, as if testing the boundaries, he held out his free hand to her, palm up and fingers curved, all the easier to be taken.

"Which ones are your favorites?" he asked, turning her question game back to her with a raised eyebrow.

[DragonSong]

Yvaine eyed his hand for a long moment, cheeks flushed and eyes bright even from that too breif--or too long, really--moment pressed against his chest with her hand curled in his collar and his breath on her neck.

No. Stop that.

She knew exactly the sort of trouble that lay down that road. It was partially why she was here.

Still...she couldn't stop herself from taking his hand with a low, resigned sort of sigh. "Favorite what?" she asked with a slight tick upwards on one side of her mouth. "Wines or tapestries? Or--" she waved a hand out at the library stretched around and below them-- "all of it? Because truthfully, I'm afraid I haven't been here long enough to really decide."

[DaGlobster]

"Me neither, but maybe we can find one we both agree on," Herrick answered softly. Once her fingers were curled into his, he let some of the distance between them melt but kept her at a tantalizing distance. His hand and fingers, strong and lithe from a career's worth of climbing and lockpicking, slowly closed around hers so he could lead them along.

Indeed, this collection was vast! The various aisles in the collection room held all manner of objects, arranged for display like pieces in a museum. Not just tapestries, but actual artifacts! All manner of ancient sword scabbards, antique portraits of long-forgotten lords and ladies.

He stopped in front of a tall glass case, containing a suit of Thanati armor with a scowling face plate and a curved sword at its feet. He passed a hand along the glass, as if gauging something, and then turned to put his back to it.

With her hand still in his, the invitation to come closer flit across eyes and widened his smile, just a little. It didn't need to be spoken. His hand behind him supported him against the glass and made his posture rather receptive.

"I'm practically swooning over all of this," he said, genuinely impassioned by all the history around him.

"Is this where you take all the handsome thieves you meet?" he added.