Gravetide Market ~ Open to All!

[Ashari]

OOC: Come one come all, even if you don't think you have a particular reason to come, I'm sure you can think of one. This is a new location opening up, and I expect several important things to happen! PC to PC interaction is welcome! Make friends and play nice.. or play mean.

IC:

Samheen 20th, Eveningtide ~ Nearly Gravetide

It was at night that the slaves could do as they pleased, and so, it was at this time they congregated. Though treated well in their employment, it was still rigorous work, and many of the younger indentured servants wished for a time when they could do whatever they wanted. Because of this, almost all, if not the entirety, of the merchants in Foreigner's Court kept their stalls open until dawn. This was especially true of the food carts who got most of their business after the sun sank into the sand dunes. The dark streets were lit with torches and lanterns on nights when the moon was not full, like tonight. Only a half-moon appeared in the heavens, so artificial light was a necessity. It provided a romantic ambiance to the marketplace.

Often enough, this was the place where enslaved couples met, and walked hand in hand in the flickering light, just happy to spend time together. Handfasting ceremonies were common, and tonight was no exception. Taking the oppertunity of the Golden Square being empty, a large group had assembled to watch a pair be wed. This was further down the main road, but the sounds of joy could still be heard, as well as music of celebration. It permeated all of Foreigner's Court, reaching beyond the Amunic Simbahan to fill the stalls with it's sounds. Some other street musicians, slave by day, performer by night, played music for their ever increasing audience.

Many of the people headed directly for the temple to pay homage to Anasis and Uphuron, this was the busiest time of the day for the Simbahan and the priests inside. Acolytes rushed to and fro within, and outside of, the impressive building. Many carried offerings of food for the deities, others had pots and pieces of earthenware. There was a quick turnover, so the lines were not long, which many were thankful for, it gave them more time to relax and enjoy the festivities of their evening.

The party really picked up when the mark was Gravetide. It was at the deepest hour of the night when people congregated and had their last hurrah before heading back to their impoverished homes in the Slave Quarter to sleep.

[Scheherazade]

This was also the night that Khy’lla had her night off from her work. Yes, rigorous as it may sound, she kind of loved her work right now. Paid generously –somewhat-- by Yabal -- her employer and almost like a father to her and an uncle to her three year old son, Ty’Rhone -- being adored by men and envied by women were one of the few quirks and joys of being an exotic entertainer at Anurith’s Golden Ram

Tonight, as had been the previous other nights, Khy’lla walked gracefully alone; her minute movement feline and she floated as if a simple walk was an art of dance itself. Piercing, black eyes glanced around her in an imperious manner as if she owned everything in sight and her radiant, valkry-like face was elegantly and exquisitely painted with light golden rouge. The golden-yellow veils of dress wafted behind her showing more golden fleshy skin and captured every contours and angles of her sensual feminity. Her black, midnight, single-braided hair cascaded down her back bedecked and twisted with small, strips of honey-golden veils.

With lithe movement, she squeezed through the crowd and sidestepped every passerby. She stopped by the Golden Square and enviously watched a pair being wed, sure that she wasn’t one of the lucky few who will be able to bait a handsome, prince charming and save her from the depths of her loneliness. With regret, she turned and gracefully moved forward again, lost in thought and glad to have a night’s rest from dancing and singing. Deciding a quick shopping would make her feel better, the dancer wandered around and looked for bargain jewelries

I’ll drop by at Nabob’s stall afterwards to say hello and maybe get a freebie sandwich. She perked up a small smile when she thought of him.

[Gully Drervo]

Alaha had been in the market for some time, browsing over the stalls and looking for any deals. He had heard of men who found uncit diamonds for tiny prices here but he was having no such luck himelf. It was all either overpriced of junk, these stall men were shrewd and had very little supplies, it was always better to get goods from informal maerchants and his money would remain secure for now at least. Alaha tightened his shawl around his middle and walked forward maneuvering his large bulk with suprising poise. He was not attractive to these people aesthetically but wealth and words were his weapons that he deployed readily at all opportunities.

Then he saw her, like a dream she glided amongst the pale moonlight. Khy’lla gently walked like a avatar of the moon herself as she slid amongst the assembled people with a grace Alaha had never thought possible. Whilst the young man was without a doubt a hedonist he had never found someone so alluring at first glance as her. Her clothes flowed behind her like liquid silk and Alaha actually found himself moving after her as if possessed by the Highlord himself.

"Calm you fool calm, by the great god you need to slow down." Heeding his own advice Alaha moved along the crowd pushing through but always keeping an eye on the girl and twirling one of the rings on his finger in nervous anticipation. Maybe she was just a dream, maybe he was intoxicated or had taken one too many puffs of the hallucination susbtances of this city, but if this was intoxication then he would sooner die in this state than live in cold reality.

Gently Alaha plucked up all his courage and appeared before the girl suddenly from behind a crowd of people and began in his by now normal rasping voice, "Tis a bit cold for a lady to be out alone now, perhaps you would care for my cape and a little company as you walk unto the future?" He smiled, the teeth gently glistening between his dark raven black beard and his tattooed bald head glistening under the moonlight.

[Scheherazade]

She tittered a small silvery peals of laughter at the man's obvious lame pick-up line. Well, it was... corny, but funny nonetheless.

Khy'lla gave him a very warm smile and elegantly bobbed her head in greetings. "Thank you for the offer, gracious sir." She breathed softly, her voice husky and velvety. "It is a bit chilly tonight and I found myself without my cloak. A bit of a warm covering and companionship wouldn't do me no harm."

She looked at him, liking his smile and the way his head glistened under the desert moon. "I am called Khy'lla." She offered her name and her slim hand.

Quite tall for a woman, Her black eyes looked at him equally and it twinkled with confidence yet twinged with mirthfull bliss. "Why is a respectable man, such as yourself, out on a night like this?" She gently asked curiously with a small hint of amusement.

[Gully Drervo]

Alaha smiled at the woman, his full white teeth broadly showing. "You have a most enchanting name Khy'lla, I felt sure you were a manifestation of the deity Anasis and it fills me with hope that a mortal woman can possess such beauty that would anger the divine surely in their celestial home." His eyes remained on hers, as he began to employ his hyypnotic charms and powers of words that he had mastered over his years. "Ah but allow me to introduce myself" he remembered his manners and slipped his cloak around the woman's shoulders first of all before clearing his throat. "I am Alaha Muk Sadyr or the noble House Sadyr, despite fallen on hard times stil venerated as the favoured house of the stars, and I Alaha am favoured of the stars and greatness is written on my fate."

He gave a small curt bow, and gently took her hand she offerend, giving it a gentle but firm squeeze before letting it go. At her words he laughed, boisterously as only a man with a belly the size of Alaha's could, "My dear Khy'lla you are the first person to find a merchant respectable let me tell you that. But it always pays to pry, I was inspecting these stalls for a merchant must always update his wares and while I did not find any diamonds in the stalls it seems that a diamond has found me none the less.

Alaha smiled still, his eyes mesmeric and still, he did not blink "There is a feeling of much happyness this night, I feel I should try to make the most out of this evening so I shall walk with you in this square and let us talk of things that may one day be or have yet passed.

[Scheherazade]

She elegantly laughed again, finding the young merchant very funny. "Why, and you flatter, Gracious Sadyr." She smiled at him pleasantly, greatly liking his white smile. "But methinks all merchants are trained at flattery so I wouldn't fall for you yet, Gracious Sir of the Noble House of Sadyr." She laughed her vibrant titter again. "I should know, I talk to Yabal most of the time and he's well trained in complimenting all his dancers. Too well trained, I should say."

"Oh dear, an old hag like me cannot rival the radiant beauty of the Mistress of the Lake and I'm too afraid and pious to cause Her ire, so let's leave that and just compare me to a desert flower, shall we?" She said that with an imperious face yet a twinge of jest was in it too.

She snugged comfortably inside Alaha's cloak and gracefully nodded her appreciation. "Well, I usually declare all merchants as respectable, it's good to have them in my good side and besides, it helps me a lot with bargaining." She gave him a sheepish smile.

"Diamonds!" Khy'lla purred. "Such a worthy interest, Gracious Sadyr. You know very well how to get the attentions of ladies, I'm quite impressed or is that a tip from your noble father to use diamonds as baits so that women should be swooning for you?"

A sigh came out of her sweet lips as she softly gathered the cloak and moved forward. "Yes, 'tis such a lovely night." She looked up at the heavenly dome and sighed again. "Too lovely, I should say. But of the future and of the things that are yet to come..." She turned her head exquisitely and found his dark eyes echanting. "That is something that is not in my hands. The Mistress only knows what is in store for me and my son."

"So, Gracious Sadyr, tell me... What do you think is in your future? What does the twinkling stars above us tell you? They shine above us indifferently, and wept sometimes for our little lives?"

[Gully Drervo]

Alaha found himself deflected by this enchanting girl, she gently parried his words till he almost swore he could feel his own wordtricks working on him. "There is much difference between a man who flatters a woman for his own purposes and a man who flatters a woman as he has never seen a creature quite like her walking the streets." Alaha maintained his smile, his raven black beard occasionally catching the wind and flowing on the currents.

Alaha looked at the girl when she mentioned diamonds, "The Diamond is the finest of the things on this island and indeed any island, nothing is quite so pure and so....beautiful, it is beauty in a small form and I covet diamonds for their beauty and the wealth they may afford me."

Alaha chuckled, "Your son and yourself will be blessed so the stars tell me, they do not meely float but lament our words and our deeds, they sit in the court of Uphuron and guide him, the celestial court sits among the stars and look down and direct us sometimes, they are the little voice that tells us what we do. They vex out minds with emotions and they tell us about love and urge us to dispel our fate, and when they fall from the sky they are sacrificing themselves for the folly of men and they appear again as diamonds." Alaha smiled at his little narrative, and turned to the girl, "And sometimes the stars fall into the eyes of humans and look out upon others and alter them, make them see the side of goodness amongst the darkness that enshrouds them. You are one such beacon and even now you draw me from this darkness, aye tis dawn but for my eyes it has never been so bright."

[Scheherazade]

Khy'lla stopped and turned towards Alaha as he expressed his ideas and beliefs. Her dark, peircing eyes scrutinized every angle of his face against the gentle light of the market and as the gentle breeze swept her hair away, she almost blushed and hid it by gracefully tucking an offending lock of black hair behind her ears.

She looked up at the heavenly night dome and gazed at the twinkling stars again and she smiled.

"I like it." Was her only replied and she turned and gathered the cloak around her and slowly started walking silently again.

[Gully Drervo]

Alaha smiled at the girls words, he enjoyed being praised on his ideas and he enjoyed telling these stories, he could convince people and he could make them think of what he wanted. He liked this girl, her face was pleasant to look at and she seemed to be made of golden purity. Her son was interesting. He did not kid himself however, his place was to marry a woman of a great rank, the rest of the women were merely for amusement. And as Alaha looked at her walking away he jogged lightly to keep up loosing his breath with that small bit of exertion.

Alaha turned to the girl as they walked, "So you work for Yabal, do you think he will beat me for talking with you? He seems possesive of his dancers?"

[Scheherazade]

She quirked an elegant, well-plucked eyebrow and looked at him from the corner of her eyes, a small smile on her lips.

"Hmn..." Khy'lla purred as she thought. "Let me see, if I remember correctly, there was this guy who wanted to have a night with me, well, after talking to Yabal, the man decided to leave Amun Rah." She looked at him equally with an innocent smile.

"Yabal is like a father to me." She continued as she walked gracefully. "He took me in as one of his dancers when I mostly needed money. He takes care of me and my son like we are part of his family. He's..." She paused as looked for the right words to say. "More of like a father to me. I'm not sure where I will be after the Palace Court if it hadn't been for him."

"I presume you work with jewelries then, Gracious Sadyr?" She asked curiously, "Or is that just one of your passing fancies? What is your general trade? Slaves?" A hint of daggers shimmered in her black eyes.

[Gully Drervo]

Alaha grinned showing more of his teeth including two teeth near the back of his mouth that almost seemed filed into a point, "Slaves are a noble beast, but they are just that beasts and I will gladly train them one day but as for the moment I am a trader in rarities, delicacies and anything else I can get my hands on!" He laughed, his chest reverberating with his chucklings.

"I will be a power in this city before long, I shall put my superior brain into the priesthood and gain the magiks of this place and wield them to bring joy to the people of this territory." Alaha looked at the girl, "So tell me what you did before Yabal, my family place a lot in stock and the divine portents of my families fate have been decided before now, are you a humble girl now journeyed into this city before Yabal?"

[Scheherazade]

Khy'lla strainly laughed with Alaha.

"So your aims are power and richness." She replied. "A very worthy goal for a very impressing individual. I myself reach for fame and fortune, but isn't that just trivialities?"

"But my wish, as any mother wishes, is to raise my son into the noble ways of Amun Rah, with richness, fortune and greatness. Such a simple wish but cannot be easily done for a woman such as me." She gave him small smile.

The black-haired woman embraced herself against the cold bite of the night wind and gathered the cloak tighter around her.

"We were rich once, my family. We had a small noble title and the Rafao favored us before. I was quite small then." She paused and glanced at the starry stars as if they were the witness of what had happened. "My father, being the stupid as he was, lost it all to gambling. Thus I was sold to the Palace as a child. I grew up there as one of the concubines but I managed to save enough to buy myself and my son out of slavery. Then Yabal happened and I never knew what happened to my family."

"Such a tragic story isn't it, Gracious Sadyr?" She look at him with her piercing black eyes. "Life isn't that easy as one can imagine."

[Gully Drervo]

"My family too fell on hard times when I was a boy, we were a family of corn merchants and owned many colossal farms on the great river, when I would travel a troup of slaves would carry myself and my family on great seats held aloft by poles. I would look from the roof the sandstrone Villa we had and look upon our land, my land that would one day belong to me, I knew I would....outdo my brothers, they never had the brains I had but alas the favour of the Rafao is a fickle thing." Alaha sighed for the first time seeming somewhat sad and in a moment he had lost his boisterous energy. Alaha turned to the girl, "I have my family name, and I have my pride my dear I would ask that you find out about your family and give your son his pride, give him his name so he might one day strive to reclaim his birthright." Alaha smiled, "I will one day rank highly among the highest advisors of the Rafao but by doing that forces me to climb the ranks."

Alaha paused for a minute and smiled, "perhaps we could work together to an extent? I will soon join the priesthood and hear much with my merchant deals, whereas you associate with many young noblemen in your tasks, perhaps we could find out the fate of your family, line our pockets and advance ourselves in the social scale? Are you interested in such a course of action for your son and for yourself?"

[Scheherazade]

Khy'lla looked at him fully as she searched his eyes for a sign of something, something which she cannot name. She frowned and bit her lips as she brooded on what he had said.

"I do not know what games you are playing, Sir Alaha of the Noble House of Sadyr," She replied so softly her voice merely a whisper, her black eyes gazing intently at his. "But if we intend to start this..." The dancer's voice trailed off. "This alliance, I intend to finish it to the end." There was a deep resentment on her voice choked with conviction and intensity.

"I'll kill any person, even the King himself just to give a future for my son and return what rightly belongs to us. Are you prepared to do that, Noble Sadyr?" She challenged him, her black eyes boring into him equally.

[Gully Drervo]

Alaha looked solemn as the girl spoke, gently he nodded a hand going up to his beard and stroking it. Finally he spoke with a measured tone, "It seems an ideal alliance, we are both the progeny of fallen noblemen and we both seek to raise ourselves." He grinned, "We are ambitious sorts, I will be working for myself and I will drag yourself and your son up the social ladder but it shall require all our skills and contacts."

Alaha looked at the girl, "Do not take my girth as an indication of weakness, not only can I strike where it hurts many a man would die with me sitting atop them." He laughed, a hint of sadism seeping into the laugh prolonging it just a little. "I shall join the priesthood and use their divine knowledge to inquire about your family, if we can find your father we can at least get the deeds to your lands or at least the head of the family status, I myself will need to advance myself in the priesthood and I myself need to marry very highly, not for love you understand but for pure power. I am sure if I could meet one of these women I could charm them but I need you to use your contacts to get me such a meeting or at the least intigrate me with the lesser nobles." Alaha smiled, "This should be our first aims and after that, well we can plot and decide, after all you should not be content with getting your son's birthright, you should get him more until he rules a vast tract of land. If we work together it is probable, it is very possible."

[Scheherazade]

She regarded the half moon, its hues casting a silvery color upon her golden painted face.

"Very well," Khy'lla agreed softly after a few flickers of brooding silence. She regarded Alaha as an equal and gave him the full impact of her smile. "For the sake of my son, this will be a business partnership then. I shall give you information of what has been happening around Abu'Sahir. Yabal knows a lot of contacts and information, I'll give him a good ear about you. And I can gather information in Anurith, you can find me there if you need me."

She trailed off as she pondered for a while. "I think I know another person. His name is Nabob and he has a stall here. He sells sandwich but don't be fooled by him, he knows a lot of things too and has contacts with the underworld. Impress him, but don't overdo it. I'll introduce you to him and you better buy his product."

"My favorite is Chapati sandwich." She said simply and gracefully turned and started walking again.

"My father's name is Ja’khib Sanahkta and he was one of the Imya'Buwis." She said softly after a few fickles, her dark eyes cold as steel. "He was one of the assistant keeper of the Royal Granary but he was forced to sell his title when he became buried with debts. The fool!"

[Gully Drervo]

Alaha nodded to the woman once more realising just how attractive she was and smirking gently to himself about her dedication to her son. He mused that perhaps one day he too would feel such a dedication to someone other than himself. Alaha felt he owed no-one else nothing, his family and his father in particular had ruined him and his feeling towards this woman focused around two points. The first was lust and how naturally he longed to indulge himself on such a ripe piece of fruit, the second was bussiness and she would help him immensly. He would help her also and possibly use the woman to his own advantage later.

"I shall hopefully be at Yabal's tavern tomorrow night in my robes of the priest with any information I have garned about your family, and I hope I will have some information myself by then." He lustened firther to her words and nodded, "I shall come and meet his Nabob and buy us both a sandwitch so he might be doubly pleased with our endevours."

At her rather sharp words Alaha could not repress his grin, "I'll wager you are more than a common dancer inside my dear, you hold the contempt monopolised by the aristorcacy." Alaha could not resist snaking an arm round her waist as they walked breeding a sense of closeness and also satisfying his momentary carnal lust.

[Scheherazade]

"Why, Gracious Sadyr," The dancer mildly exclaimed when she felt his arm snaked around her slim waist.

"Isn't this a little bit unappropriate?" She asked him with an arch eyebrow. "We've only just met. We may have made some agreement, Sir Alaha, but that does not include this kind of conformity. Let's just make this as purely business arrangement." Slowly, she smoothly peeled off his hand from her hips and gently patted his hand.

She shrugged her shoulder indifferently. "I was raised up at the court palace as one of Rafao's Concubine. Their demeanors might have rubbed on me. That's where I met Lord Rayid Mahab, one of the esteemed, august bodyguard of Rafao. The bastard!" She spat coldly. "He promised to buy me and marry me and I fell for it. He's the father of my three year old son but Rayid completely rejects Ty'Rhone. I shall have his head someday and his title for my son. He was given a royal title after he retired."

"But enough about me," Khy'lla imperiously changed the subject and gracefully and familiarily led Sadyr around the Market. "Do you have a Noble Lady in mind to marry? Or are you still shopping for those Royal Diamonds?" She smiled innocently at him.

[Aeris Mourir]

A rarity soon found its way into the mass of merchants, slaves and nobles. She walked with an air of something, something that was notable but hidden. The woman was enthralled with inner magics, magics that some of the utmost powerful and wealthy people sought. Just form a single glance she struck out as a special being.

Aeris went from stall to stall searching for a single object. She didn't know what exactly it might have been but she still looked. Really, the maiden was wasting time waiting for Jin. Her and Akuta's brother had a date tonight ... a date that Aeris was going to talk to him. She was swan maiden. One person in all of Amun Rah knew this and Nadia wasn't divulging the secret to anyone. The High Priestess at the Simbahan hinted that the swan had great potential at the divine light and so Aeris believed her.

An ethereal shine coated the woman like a cloak. The priestess' skin was fair it cast a slight glow under the moon's radiance. The people who looked at her might have quirked an eyebrow or just simply not have registered the mild glimmer. She was happy it was night since it was easier to dodge the fact of her skin than the orange hue to her lips. Most people just didn't seem to buy her 'lip-stick' reason.

The graceful creature was wearing her favorite outfit, a brick-red skirt, slits on both sides, with tall black boots that climbed just below her knees. It was light foot wear than it appeared: aimed for one purpose. Her blouse was black, block cut (a little lower in the back) which made her skin seem more translucent, even deathly ill. She would have worn make-up of some sort, but since her bloodline was so kind, it looked like there was perfectly applied blush added to her cheeks all the time.

She enjoyed the luxury of not having to sit with tedious masks and powders. A black studded belt finished off her skirt, with an added weapon strung around her waist in a way that one wouldn't have noticed if the eyes weren't peering. It was a simple but effective whip; more for defense than anything else.

Her only true adornment was a perfectly crafted, silver, swan pendent completed the swan's attire. It was given to her by the Elder when she left the colony. It was her luck charm, a remembrance where she came from and who she is. She sometimes wondered if the High Swans had imbued it with some sort of energy. Aeris didn't know and had little knowledge of how to find out.

The apprentice ended up at a jeweler's stall. She tried on a gold, band, bracelet, but didn't care for it. She sported a gemmed wrist accessory for a few flickers but tossed that back as well. The swan was unsatisfied with the objects here so she moved on. Aeris wasn't exactly in the mood for shopping, she needed to talk to Jin before everything started. She forfeited her forced spree and set out to find him.

[Gully Drervo]

Alaha showed his first sign of the inner self that good manners masked so well, as she removed his hand a scowl behind her back, a scowl that seemed far removed from the cheery fat merchant, it hinted at something deeper, something altogether more....terrible.

Alaha regained himself supressing his desires of lust and rage for the moment and continued in his cheery voice, "I have never even seen the palace but needless to say whilst you escaped from it, I long to get inside." Alaha laughed again, "Why this is a society when family means everything, when I have my priestly powers not only shall I bless your son but I shall prove his heritage and gain him what he richly deserves."

As Alaha was asked a question he stroked his beard again, "I should be happy with someone who could open new doors for me, I am not afraid of having my wife mastermind my rise to further power. But it seems I am looking for two kinds of women, namely the young and naive who are tempted by long words that I can provide, or even better a scheming woman who longs for her own power. With a woman like that I could raise myself." Alaha grinned, his strong teeth shining in the artificial light, "Know you of any such woman, any woman who possibly plotted whilst you were at court, a woman that sat along the sides of the Rafao and aspired to her own power?"

[Ashari]

As one mark past and melted into the next, it seemed as if more and more people were filling the Foreigner's Court. Slaves highly outnumbered guards. It was usual, in a way. There was a certain unrest in the air, however, that made those who were supposed to be in a position of power somewhat afraid of what might happen. Outbreaks and rebellions had happened before. Some were angry about the lives lost in the desert, at the strange Oasis that none were supposed to talk about, but, like any idea repressed, it seemed to flourish in the gossip of idle folk.

As Alaha and Khy`lla moved through the crowds of people, they were watched with a level of envy by many a man, especially those who had seen the beautiful temptress dancing at Anurith's Golden Ram. They wondered what kind of deal this large merchant had struck with Yabal to have a night out with a prize such as the golden girl, but then, they reasoned, no amount of gold would ever afford them a chance on her arm, so it must have been gotten by some charm they lacked. Somehow, that was more dispairaging than if it were an unreasonable amount of money. Their eyes watched him green with envy, and they didn't seem to notice as she removed his hand from about her waist.

Aeris was met with as much notice but a very different look from the assembled throng. The men were shocked by her, but in a way that made them appreciate her as one would a beautiful, but fragile, piece of blown glass. However, her eyes were not to meet theirs, for who she sought was not among them. Jin watched her, from another stall, as she looked through the jewelry. His eyes meandered from her silken hair to her exposed thigh and finally to her booted foot. Oh dearest Anasis, what have I gotten myself into? He looked upon the beautiful woman with a pain in his heart, for she was more perfect than he remembered at their last meeting, and he wondered if he would be able to contrive another suave entrance as he had before.

Now was the time, so he stepped forward. To Aeris, it was a cloaked Jin who approached. Whatever else he wore, it was hidden beneath the heavy adornment. "My lady, it seems you are without escort, may I take your arm and walk with you through the Market?" He smiled, the playful twinkle in his eye. He had covered all the insecurities, and they had been blanketed with the enjoyment of being in the company of a woman like her. "May I?" He brought his hand from behind his back and lifted a beautiful red flower. "A desert flower, for the desert flower." He said to her as he tucked the token behind her ear within the blond hair. "Anasis's perfection shines in you." He said, once they were close enough that he could say it as just a whisper.

"I hope you aren't falling for his lines." Akuta, wearing her simple acolyte's robes, arrived and gave a grin to the couple. "Nadia passed along best wishes, and told us we should move along to Nabob's and try to make the best of our night there, at precicely the first mark of Gravetide. We've still got plenty of time."

This statement, about something occuring at Gravetide, was said as the trio passed Alaha and Khy`lla, and it was said loud enough for the couple to hear it, though at best the statement was vague, leaving much room for interpretation, and little concrete facts aside from the group heading to the foodstall for some sort of gathering.

[Scheherazade]

"Then I shall help speed things up for you so you can climb up the social ladder more quickly and bestow which was rightfully ours." She smiled at him with a hint of sensual promise, the stars reflected and twinkled in her black eyes.

Khy'lla bursted out small regal laugh, aware of the green, jealous eyes upon Alaha.

Let's push him further then. She purred to herself and slowly, she leaned closer, laughing out loudly, her voice vibrant as it echoed around her. "You are such a generous and powerful man, Gracious Alaha of the Noble House of Sadyr! Men and Women such as myself fawn before your mighty prowess." And she subtly winked at him and slightly pointed with her eyes around her. She hoped he understood what she was doing to him.

With another touch of theatrics, she leaned ever closer and kissed him on the cheeks. "That'll help you in more ways than you can imagine." She breathily whispered on his ear.

Khy'lla walked beside Alaha with a thespian look of intimacy, sometimes brushing her shoulders and hips with his and letting his arm around her hips again.

And what is Nabob up to now? The dancer curiously asked herself with a frown. She heard a comment floated by concerning the sandwich merchant. The bearded fool! He's up to no good again!

"I think there's something about to happen, Gracious Sadyr." She murmured at him, an odd and bemused look on her golden face. "We better be careful."

[Aeris Mourir]

The gorgeous swan maiden sifted through the stalls and swarm of people alike. She felt the ever watchful eyes of the men and somewhere between all the weighted gazes she felt the one she was looking for. It was Jin. Somewhere she just knew it was him and soon enough she found out it was.

As the shrouded voice reverberated within her ear drums the woman instantly recognized the bashful tone. "If I wanted an escort, I wouldn't be here looking for you kind sir," the flicker she spoke the words the feel of something more than simple friendship lingered on the air. Aeris was about to make another dodging remark but was presented with a flower instead.

She backed up suddenly; her mind recalling the red feather in her dream. "No," she said barely above a whisper. Icy fear jolted through her core and anyone with an empathy skill would have stumbled with the intensity of it. "I am no flower," she shakily said. "You will soon see," she whisper in his ear as he got close enough. Aeris cringed as her companion swept her hair back to adorn her. It was truly a pretty flower, but the sight of the feather melting between her hands was just strange. Now with a red flower the apprentice hoped that night was going to end well.

A smile beamed in front of her teeth as the compliments were mentioned. "Anasis is a beautiful Goddess, a far cry from a swa-" she stopped. Could she really tell him that he was lured by her swan maiden zeal and that alone. No, she couldn't. Everyone in the market place would find out what she was .. for better or worse. "a sweet individual," she quickly finished.

It was as if the fear was never conjured the moment Akuta's voice registered. "Lady Akuta, how are you doing?" she asked with genuine interest, giving the acolyte a gesture of respect. "Me, fall for your brother's lines? I am a much more difficult fish to catch .."

Her tone altered from fun-loving to protective and business-like. "Nadia knows what she is doing, and has placed much faith in all of us," she reassured them looking from sibling to sibling. "Jin, if things go wrong, get Akuta out of here. I know it is a known statement, but Akuta has her way of weaseling out of things." Aeris didn't want to play the care taker of anyone tonight; she just wanted to have some fun.

"Well, com'on," the swan coaxed wrapping her arm around Jin's. For some reason she felt incredibly safe with him. The tide was going to turn soon and she needed to trust him to get the girl out of here. Aeris was pretty sure she could handle herself if the time arose, her worries laid with Akuta.

[Gully Drervo]

Alaha moved along until Khy'lla began to stroke his ego, Alaha was able to easilt recognise this but too vain to dissuade it. Softly he smiled and walked with his head held high mumbling things occasionally such as "Well you know one tries one best." His hands roamed over her back showing their natural poise and he hoped that she at least appreciate it slightly.

As they walked towards Naobob Alaha realised that there was another group of people before them, a strikingly beautiful woman. Alaha's roving eye truely no no limits, or....perhaps he merely knew his own limits and they were endless.

"So this Nabob has many different friends then, well as I always say, one should walk into situations for there is always a chance of a reward." He grinned and softly guided her behind the people rather looking forward to seeing Nabob.

[Scheherazade]

"Nabob is..." Khy'lla paused, trying to figure out what to say about him. "Very tricky. He should be. He knows everything. What's going on around the market, who's buying what, the usual scandal at the palace and every illicit information you can get. You really should be careful when dealing with him. He'll eat you alive if you let your guard down. But I'll try to give him a good ear for you. But after that, you would have to do on your own."

Her eyes roamed around and noticed the strange woman before them with a very fair skin. It greatly reminded the dancer of her closest friend back at the palace, a fellow slave girl with golden hair who was rasied up to the esoteric ways of magick and was presently residing at the Citadel.

"She's pretty." The golden singer murmured indifferently, noticing the way Alaha noticed the girl. Her black eyes took her apperance and memorized each features.

Her fashion is quite delicate and I like her orange rouge for her lips

She remained silent as they walked towards where Nabob's stall was located and a sense of security waft inside her around Alaha. Khy'lla gave him a small smile and cuddled closer, not for her sake, but for the viewer's sake for a bit of drama and theatrics.