Leras stood and watched as Elise and Drakus walked away. She had something of a wistful expression on her face, though it was mixed with disapproval. “I never liked him. I didn’t like any of those brats from that house. But it isn’t my place to choose my lady’s friends.” She grimaced. [color=d8cfbe]“That’s that. Hopefully I can collect her in one piece, if at all. To the ampitheatre it is, then.”[/color]

[color=f9ad81]"Do not call him a brat."[/color] Rendyl retorted, stepping up behind Eliona's right shoulder.
[color=f9ad81]"He is more mature than his siblings, and it shows through his actions."[/color]

[color=d8cfbe]“Yeah, and I’ll bet that you’ve never met either of the other two. Ruel’s mostly lovely, but a complete idiot. Drakus is an arrogant bastard, as you know. Cedric is… I’d prefer it if my lady were to give up on him. They’re all the same if you boil it down a bit.”[/color] Leras grumbled. She gestured in the direction of the amphitheatre, taking a few steps towards it. [color=d8cfbe]“Come on, then. Let’s go.”[/color]

Rendyl used a hand to gently guide Eliona forward to follow Leras, taking care never to touch the woman [color=f9ad81]"Little Ruel was curious about my wings, and Lord Cedric looked ready to tear Lord Drakus apart."[/color]

She flicked her wingtips lightly with the memory of the confrontation making her shiver. It was rare to find someone that attempted to put Lord Drakus on the back foot, and even rarer that Drakus allowed them to continue breathing afterward.

[color=d8cfbe]“Oh, Ruel’s never seen one of your kind before. Probably wanted to take a good look before he votes not to give you rights. Don’t blame him. Though I’m supposed to be calling him Lord Immolis now, aren’t I?”[/color] Leras clicked her tongue.[color=d8cfbe] “I’ll never get used to these new names. Solaris, too. What’s that supposed to mean? Oh, I hope Elise never gets married.”[/color] She continued, though much quieter, to herself. [color=d8cfbe]“Well, if it’s him, she’ll still be Dalris. There’s already a house for that… two more years, isn’t it?”[/color]

Abbi listened and bit her tongue. The woman was clearly trying to start a fight. Abbi could see the tension in Rendyls arm and how she stood trying to look non-combative but hand ready to draw her sword. The third participant, Eliona treated this as a non-event. She had told Abbi, “In the art of being a Lady, one must hear others words, listen to what they say and think about why they are saying them, and if they invoke a strong reaction, act like nothing happened.” Abbi’s father would tell her, [color=FF007F]“Who cares what they say, jerks are jerks.”[/color] The problem was that Abbi wanted to like everyone, including the “jerks” and mostly wanted them to like her. She watched with awe as Eliona worked her grace taking everything going on around her. She continued to stand there wanting to defend Rendyl. A caty thought came rushing to her mind about how sad it was that servants these days seem to see themselves as Nobility, expressing their opinions about things that were above their station.  The problem was in the proper order of things the guards of the Lords were effectively above her, being their masters fist. She on the other hand was the daughter of a working parents living in a different province. She was under the protection of Lord Drakus. She thought she was a “Miss” and no longer “girl”, The funny thing was that most people just called her Abbi. From the serving girls all the way to Lord Drakus, when he called anything. She did her best to defend Lord Drakus’ honor by not starting a fight even though she thought it would feel good to do so.  

Rendyl shook her head slowly at Leras's comments. Of course a human guard would be more interested in politics. All Rendyl really cared about was making sure the select few individuals of House Solaris kept on breathing. However, today she had an opportunity…

[color=f9ad81]"Eliona, I'll be back. Leras, may I impose upon you to take her to see the amphitheater? I don't want my presence to make others uncomfortable…"[/color]

Eliona nodded and reached out an arm with a loose hand towards Leras. She spoke with a Lords confidence and command but her words held such a delicate gentle diplomacy that she could probably tell you to go to hell and somehow you would end up looking forward to the trip.

“Perfect, we have much to discuss anyway, and the sooner we all stop squabbling over our own perceived flaws and biases of others we can truly get to the heart of things. Wouldn’t you agree? Now let us be on our way. That ‘arrogant bastard’ as you call him has given me coin enough that all shall enter the amphitheater for free tonight and I have permission to grant scholarship for two of my favoured performers. I would be honoured if you helped me pick.”

Leras took Eliona’s hand a little roughly, but not on purpose. “Right,” she said. “Yeah, sure. I don’t know much about music and the like, so don’t expect too much from me.” With unusual gentleness, she began to lead Eliona down to the amphitheatre. It made her uneasy to spend the rest of the evening away from Elise, but it was too late to go back and find her. So she resigned herself to looking after Eliona, and did what she could to enjoy the rest of the evening.

Abbi did speak before Eliona and Leras left for the amphitheatre, [color=FF007F]“Miss Eliona, there are a couple errands I need to run, if I may take your leave.”[/color]


[hr][center][h3]Abbi shopping[/h3][/center]
After being dismissed and watching the tension between the armed women, Abbi set her mind on a miniature rebellion of her own. It was a working rebellion that would benefit Solaris in the longer run, but it did show some independence and initiative. So she took the instructions with a big dose of sugar. In her thinking she really did not think that Lord Drakus really cared where they went as long as it was away.
She looked at the maid and the guard then said, [color=FF007F]“Time to go do a little shopping!”[/color] She waited to see if Rendyl was going to come with her. But she was not going to press. She really was trying to play by the rules. But her rule book had a few coffee spills and water stains that made a couple of the pages run.   
Abbi looked at them and said, [color=FF007F “First thing, clothes.”[/color] Her maid was excited thinking they were heading towards the high fashion shops that were stocked from around the kingdom waiting for the nobles and their caravans. Her maid’s enthusiasm ran high thinking that Abbi was embracing her position and was going to dress the part. As they turned away from the fine shops to the working part of town where the smelters, miners, and blacksmiths worked and lived. Her maid’s joy changed to concern. She wanted clothing that was going to be sturdy and could be used when she worked on things. Something that could resist acids and bases, take the heat, padded, and strong enough to climb on rock piles. Leather aprons, rubber and leather gloves, as well as padded leather pants and coats. Ugly clothing as her maid called it, but Abbi was worried about function and not fashion. She slid a pair of leather pants and boots on under her dress. She would have changed completely, but decorum being required, she stopped and did not put on a show. 
[color=FF007F]“Next, comes the important stuff,”[/color] she said with a smile from ear-to-ear. Geological samples of stones, minerals, and ores for the university. If she could find a geologist that worked with the mines, she might’ve even been able to get a recommendation for good books to use at the university. As she went from stall to stall she examined things closely, always on the look for things of interest or tools. She broke down and bought a couple beautiful imported lace ribbons for her maid’s hair and spices for cooking.
From one of the mining caravans, she also ordered a couple barrels of saltpeter for fertilizers for some gardens she had planned in her mind. She also ordered a couple barrels sulfur to help keep the bugs down in the gardens and to dust her pigeons to keep the mites away.  She also checked into getting some larger quartz crystals, they would need to be shipped to her.  
When she was looking in the metal merchants stalls, an old man with dark hair that was slightly balding and combed over, called out to her. His ears with slightly round and his eyes were emerald green that were clear. His smile was genuine, though his teeth looked a little sharp. Unlike the other stalls, his stall was a large tent with walls that offered some privacy and was placed near the poorer part of the keep. She did not realize that she had just found a part of the black market.
“Come, come, My lady. Come, Honest John can get what you need and no one will beat my prices,” he called to her and opened the flap to his tent. The servants tried to keep her from entering the tent. But she did, she could not stop herself as curiosity, being one of her downfalls.
“Peppermint tea?” he offered, “Exotic Peppermint, [i]Mentha Ipus[/i] from the Beastman’s lands, much richer flavor and smell than what grows here. If you like, I can send some with you.”
She sat down at a small table with exotic rugs on the ground; chests were open showing different items for sale. After some small talk about the weather and where she was from. A servant brought a beautiful tea set with tea cups which he washed in a bowl and dried. Tea was poured, and the steam came from the cups in the chill of the evening air.  Honest John said, “I have been told you're looking for tools and metal. Yes?”
[color=FF007F]“Yes, I am,”[/color] she said and took a sip of tea. It was strong and rich. The aroma filled the space.
“Well, I am an agent mind you. I believe I can help locate some equipment from Kothlin, though it may take a few weeks for it to be delivered though, lathes and milling machines. You will need electricity, probably a couple power generators from young.. and different refined metal blanks from Balaur.” He smiled, his spies had been working and he could see he was on the right track as her cheeks flushed.
He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote in a beautiful script, everything was beautiful, the items and then an amount after each. He rolled it and placed it in a scroll tube and then sealed it with wax. “If the hopeful, new Lord, is interested in the deal, reply to me by looking for a messenger runner wearing a red and green tassel on his belt and the message will get to me,” he said.
Abbi finished her tea and set the cup down.
He turned and pulled another bag of tea from the box and handed it to. “You should get back to the keep before it gets dark,” Honest John said in a very paternal tone and showed the party to the door.
When they got back to the keep proper, Abbi’s face was flushed and she felt a little giddy. To put it mildly, she was buzzed like blue bird’s eating late fall Choke Cherries and flying into the window. Her maid got her to her room to sleep it off, but Abbi wanted to go to the ballroom and dance. As the maid was helping her change she commented, “It is amazing how that the dress had managed to stay in place without falling down. That would have been Hooorrrrriiiiffic.” She said giggling as she was placed in the bed and covered with enough quilts to keep her there. Rebecca her maid, kept saying “Yes, Abbi.” like there was nothing going on. Her guard would deliver the tube to Rendyl to give to Lord Drakus. He would whisper an update on what they had done, bought, and the condition of Abbi to Rendyl so she could pass it on. He suspected that Abbi would be having a headache in the morning would get the “you were not safe” talk with her in the morning. He figured that Rendyl would be the one delegated to that task.