[color=lightgray][center][h1][color=ab274f]Wulfric[/color] & [color=Floralwhite]Morrigan[/color] 
Part I[/h1][/center]
[b]FLASHBACK. Date and time:[/b] Sola 24th, morning. Following [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5540402]Wulfric's ruminations on his chat with Edin[/url][hr][hr]
Wulfric was still traversing the space in his office, now merely pensive rather than resembling a caged and irritated tiger. He was deep in thought when there was a knock on his door followed by a prompt intrusion. [color=ab274f]“Morrigan,”[/color] he acknowledged her with a nod, stilling mid-step. [color=ab274f]“What brings you here?”[/color]

Morrigan floated across the room, her rosy cheeks rounded in a playful pout. [color=Floralwhite]“Since when do I need a reason to see my little wolf?”[/color] A subtle smell of lily of the valley and white musk swirled around Wulfric as Morrigan leaned in, planting a soft, wet kiss on his cheek. [color=Floralwhite]“We’ve hardly had a moment to catch up since the big ball. How’s the courting season treating you? Find anyone that strikes your fancy?”[/color]

Wulfric’s nose scrunched in reflexive disdain, but though he’d leaned his face away from the kiss, he held his cousin by the shoulders in a semi-hug. He patted her before releasing her. He didn’t bother protesting her treatment of him as a child; it had not worked whenever he had done so in the past, and it wouldn’t now. [color=ab274f]“That was only a few days ago,”[/color] he commented, but it was true much had happened since. [color=ab274f]“Take a seat if you like,”[/color] he told her. [color=ab274f]“Tea?”[/color] he inquired, to which she said yes.

He nodded, and with the press of an unobtrusive button, summoned a servant. Haynes, the slightly chubby ponytail and goatee bearing servant arrived rather quickly, and Wulfric placed an order of his cousin’s favoured tea.

[color=ab274f]“I have, but it was Shehzadi Mayet, who had to depart. I did like her spirit, even if she was a bit, well.”[/color] He took a seat only after Morrigan had. [color=ab274f]“I am curious about her sister Nahir.”[/color] It didn’t need to be said that at least half of the reason was to form a firmer alliance with Alidasht. [color=ab274f]“What have [i]you[/i] been up to?”[/color] he raised an eyebrow at her.

Smiling an innocent smile, Morrigan said, [color=Floralwhite]“The usual,”[/color] and took a seat on the couch. 

Her manicured fingers fluttered over the scattered documents on the table, daintily lifting corners and sliding papers apart to better peruse their contents. [color=Floralwhite]“Setting your sights on the Sultan’s daughters? What a splendid idea! Those people are absolutely salivating to expand their influence so it’ll be easy to arrange.”[/color] She plucked a page from the pile and brought it closer to her. [color=Floralwhite]“Of course, you’ll need to have a teensy-weensy chat with the Sultan himself first. Just to leave him with a better impression than your daddy did.”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“Naturally,”[/color] the prince agreed, used to taking care of Edin’s messes. It wasn’t as if doing so didn’t benefit him; leaving allies with an impression of the future king being so much more favourable was laughably simple. [color=ab274f]“You are aware I prefer to deal with my would-be targets personally, however?”[/color] he asked rhetorically.

[color=Floralwhite]“And I said it'll be easy, didn't I?”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“Have you familiarized yourself with Shehzadi Nahir then?”[/color]

[color=Floralwhite]“[i]You[/i] know her type [i]very[/i] well, my dear.”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“Her type is not the same as her,”[/color] Wulfric disagreed mildly. 

Though, judging by her giggling, she was not talking about Nahir or “her type” in the way that Wulfric was imagining. Worse, she didn’t bother to correct him.

[color=ab274f]“There are always other factors to consider. Besides, who is to say that she and I would enjoy that about the other?”[/color]

[color=Floralwhite]“Ooh, what is this ‘that’ you’re not sure you’ll like about her?”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“She seems to be the type to enjoy playing games, so it is a question of whether we would be compatible in that respect, or bore each other,”[/color] a tiny twitch of a shoulder accompanied the explanation.

Morrigan made a sad face as she tutted. [color=Floralwhite]“Adelard, what happened to ‘her type is not the same as her’?”[/color]

Wulfric rolled his eyes. [color=ab274f]“I am saying I do not know her yet beyond my incredibly superficial assumptions of her. Which is why I mentioned becoming familiarized.”[/color]

[color=Floralwhite]“You could’ve just said that, sweetpea! But you chose not to. Pretend to have the moral high ground all you want, that ‘type’ ruffles your feathers well enough.”[/color] Morrigan tapped her chin. [color=Floralwhite]“It certainly doesn’t sound very promising…”[/color] His cousin suddenly stood up and perched right next to Wulfric. [color=Floralwhite]“Oh, well! I suppose it doesn’t really matter if you two like each other or not. You’ll both get what you want from the alliance.”[/color]

To her nitpicking, he merely answered with a, [color=ab274f]“We shall see.”[/color] However, he frowned at her sudden proximity. [color=ab274f]“I haven’t rebuked you for ruffling through [i]my things[/i], but you know I prefer my personal space [i]unoccupied.[/i] Return to your seat, please, or at least detach yourself from my side.”[/color]

Wulfric’s disengagement from the conversation left Morrigan looking unimpressed, even disappointed. His poor performance in their verbal sparring seemed to be the only explanation for her next action. Rather than complying with his request, she defiantly pressed closer to him.

[color=Floralwhite]“My, oh, my. Since when did red herrings become your favorite animal?”[/color]

At that point, Haynes returned, bearing a tray of tea. Wulfric’s gaze pinned the usually nervy man, following his movements as he poured a cup for Morrigan. Despite the prince not requesting it, the man still made sure to check whether he’d happened to change his mind. Which he had not. [color=ab274f]“No, thank you. You may leave,”[/color] he kept watching him until he departed. For a moment longer, he stared at the closed door, apparently ruminating on something. Then, he returned his attention to Morrigan.

[color=Floralwhite]“If you’re [i]that[/i] interested in him, you should invite him to stay.”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“I should invite a servant to join a familial conversation? I think not,”[/color] he shook his head. He paused, then reconsidered with three taps of a finger against his chin. [color=ab274f]“But a conversation in general? Perhaps in the future…”[/color]

A second passed before Morrigan called out, [color=Floralwhite]“Haynes! Come back in here, pup.”[/color]

Of course, the servant did not. Unimpressed, the prince took ahold of Morrigan by the waist, hoisted her across his shoulder, and promptly carried her out of his office where he set her down on the other side of the doors, laying both hands on her shoulders to lightly hold her in place. [color=ab274f]“If you are [i]that[/i] interested in continuing our previous dull verbal spat, you need only ask. However, if you cannot honour my request, we are concluding this meeting.”[/color] He stared her down, studying her closely. [color=ab274f]“[i]Do not[/i] think you can order around my servants, or try to contest my authority. If you believe you can get away with that, then perhaps [i]you[/i] are the one who has grown too insolent and requires ‘discipline’, [i]aren’t you?[/i]”[/color] After that pointed retort, he released her shoulders. [color=ab274f]“So, which will it be? Will you mind yourself so we can resume, or shall we try this again another time?”[/color]

Unshed tears glistened in violet eyes. [color=Floralwhite]“I see.”[/color] Morrigan breezed past Wulfric and retrieved the tea from the table. [color=Floralwhite]“Well, if that’s how matters stand, do be a dear and summon me when you remember the extent of my duties.”[/color]

Pausing at the study’s threshold, she turned slightly, [color=Floralwhite]“Your mother’s protection spells always had their limitations.”[/color]

There was another pause. [color=Floralwhite]“Do you know how many would-be assassins I’ve stopped, spies I’ve caught?”[/color] 

She didn’t answer, she just left.

When Wulfric called for Haynes, he didn’t come.

Concerned both for his cousin and the wayward servant, the prince sought them urgently. He searched Morrigan’s usual hangouts by order of proximity, stopping any servants on the way to ask whether they had seen either of the people he was looking for. As expected, he had more luck when he found a pair of her guards patrolling.

[color=ab274f]“Good day,”[/color] he halted them with a brief greeting. [color=ab274f]“I am looking for Morrigan. If you know where she is, can you lead me to her?”[/color] There was absolutely no need for it, but he added an explanation, [color=ab274f]“I have upset her, so I wish to apologize. There is also a matter of importance I would like to discuss with her.”[/color]

The knights stared at Wulfric, stone-faced. At least the tongueless knight was. Bandages hid any expression of the swathed one’s face so it was impossible to tell. Both were quiet.

Slowly, the mummy knight extended a hand. The tongueless one sighed and surrendered a gold coin. “Follow us,” said the mummy knight.

They led Wulfric to the royal gardens. Morrigan and Haynes sat close together under the pergola. Sharing the tea Haynes had brought.

[color=ab274f]“Morrigan…”[/color] He hadn’t been entirely sure if his servant would have been with her, so he gave the man a brief look of surprise. [color=ab274f]“Haynes.”[/color] Not minding the others present, he gave Morrigan his full attention. [color=ab274f]“Cousin, may I speak with you? Please?”[/color]

Morrigan didn’t face Wulfric, instead she slid her arm around Haynes and leaned in closer to him. The servant twitched, but calmed himself with a resolute breath. [color=Floralwhite]“Is that not what you are doing right now?”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“If you prefer me to leave you alone, then I will do so.”[/color] At the corner of his periphery, he saw the tongueless knight slowly start to extend his hand out to the mummy knight.

[color=Floralwhite]“Is that really what you wanted to say to me? Because if it is, I’d like to continue tea time with Haynes here.”[/color] Her hand touched the man’s chin as she looked at him longingly. The man’s cheeks flushed lightly even as he tried to look anywhere but at her.

[color=ab274f]“It was not that, no. I want to apologize. I hurt you. I did not intend to do so, but I did.”[/color] He would have preferred to have ascertained if she was receptive to an apology, but they could both be stubborn when they wanted to be. [color=ab274f]“What I said to you - perhaps not those exact words, but certainly the sentiment behind them - can be applied to me, as well.”[/color] He began to walk across the vine shaded grounds, moving closer to Morrigan. She still refused to meet his gaze while Haynes seemed very unsure of what to do with himself. [color=ab274f]“[i]Especially[/i] to me,”[/color] he stated. He was glad he had had some time to consider his words in advance, yet he still struggled how to convey all he wished.

[color=ab274f]“Given what I have recently learned, it strikes me as the height of irony that we make the pretense of ‘keeping order’, when what we do has no rhyme nor reason. It is because I am questioning myself that I lashed out at you, and I picked out one of the worst things to say to you. I am sorry.”[/color] Morrigan’s gaze remained on Haynes, her fingers tracing languid patterns across the fabric of his attire. Was it an attempt at seduction? Or perhaps it was merely a product of idle hands, a diversion to pass the time. And there was a third possibility: a pat-down, disguised beneath a veneer of coquetry.

Wulfric breathed in and out deeply, fully ready to outline in detail why he valued her, yet why he had begun to doubt how their family operated. [color=ab274f]“I [i]do not[/i] know all that you have done for us, not even close. I expect I never will,”[/color] he started with something simple.

Morrigan turned away from Haynes to look at Wulfric, but she still clung to his manservant. [color=Floralwhite]“Go on,”[/color] she prompted.

[color=ab274f]“What I do know is that you have done your best to protect this family. Even when that protection did not extend to you,”[/color] he acknowledged solemnly. 

[color=ab274f]“You have given over your body, mind, and soul to your task. You have done and experienced the kinds of things I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Certainly not on someone I love.”[/color] Even as he said it, he realized he had never before fully contemplated what [i]Morrigan[/i] might have gone through. Because she had been such a constant in his life, had dwelled in the shadows since he could remember, he had never truly questioned what all she did and why. Some cousin he was.

[color=ab274f]“You have sacrificed…”[/color] he closed his eyes, and swayed his head, once to the left, and once to the right. [color=ab274f]“…Too much,”[/color] he concluded, locking gazes with her. This was the closest he would come to referencing his death without her bringing it up first.

[color=ab274f]“But do you know what [i]I[/i] have appreciated the most?”[/color] he asked. [color=ab274f]“It wasn’t what you have done for our purported safety.”[/color] She visibly sighed and half her attention shifted back onto Haynes.

[color=Floralwhite]“Pup, your cup is empty! Why didn’t you tell me?”[/color] It was only as she filled Haynes cup with tea did Wulfric notice that Morrigan never touched hers.

[color=ab274f]“It was that you loved me and cherished me, even when I didn’t reciprocate.”[/color] When he was a child, when he had only the vaguest of notions that people cared for him, she had been one of the people who had persisted long enough for him to form a bond. Granted, given how they both were, it was an odd bond, but an existent one nonetheless.

[color=ab274f]“That you coddled me when I was weak, but showed me at least a hint of darker truths when I was ready.”[/color] A ghost of a smile formed. It wasn’t what most people would appreciate, or even deem appropriate for a child. However, he had glimpsed one aspect of human nature when she first taught him torture on the man who had assaulted him. That had been valuable in its own right.

[color=ab274f]“Because [i]you[/i] permitted it, I gained my first friend – by choice.”[/color] Of course, she would have; he had been her son. But even so, Wulfric had treasured that friendship. [color=ab274f]“Because you welcomed me when I was certain I wouldn’t be – [i]shouldn’t[/i] be.”[/color] Into [i]their[/i] home.

[color=ab274f]“That you were there for me when I thought I might go mad.”[/color] He’d been 17, had once again inflicted violence on someone on instinct, had despaired over what he had done, told her that he didn’t want to be like this.

[color=ab274f]“It was when you took care of me, even when I did all I could to stop your meddling.”[/color] The sleepless nights when she found ever more novel and intricate ways to drug him to get him to bed.

[color=ab274f]“When you persisted, even after your loss.”[/color] A loss which had inevitably broken her. Morrigan’s countenance shifted at the words. The cheery airiness dissipated, leaving behind something concerningly quiet.

[color=ab274f]“Because to this day, you haven’t forsaken me.”[/color] He watched her closely. [color=ab274f]“So, I want to return that favour. Even when I am certain that you do some things which are really…truly…[i]entirely unnecessary[/i].”[/color]

There was a stretch of silence where Morrigan’s lips remained sealed. Just when he thought she wasn’t going to respond, she said, [color=Floralwhite]“I give it eighty-five points out of a hundred. It has its charms, but it could use a smidge of polishing.”[/color] Her hand patted the empty space beside her. [color=Floralwhite]“Sit.”[/color] Wulfric perched onto the bench beside her.

[color=Floralwhite]“Pup?”[/color] Morrigan cooed as she pressed her hand on Haynes’ chest. [color=Floralwhite]“Be a sweetheart and fetch us some more of that delightful tea, would you?”[/color] The servant left in a hurry. Wulfric gave him a brief glance, taking the opportunity to assess Morrigan’s knights as well. One knight followed Haynes while the other disappeared behind the garden bushes.

[color=Floralwhite]“Now then,”[/color] With Haynes gone, his cousin faced him. [color=Floralwhite]“Can you explain what you mean by ‘return the favor’? Use small words - so my poor little brain can understand.”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“Playing dumb doesn’t suit you,”[/color] he commented.

[color=Floralwhite]“Plenty of people would disagree with you.”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“Plenty of people are fools,”[/color] he snorted, then went on to answer her question.

[color=ab274f]“Simply put, I do not want to give up on you the way I have on [i]him[/i].”[/color] Him being his father. [color=ab274f]“I want to help you; I want you to help me.”[/color] He cocked his head. [color=ab274f]“Are you sickened by this world? By people? Have you given up on it all?”[/color] He circled a hand in an all-encompassing gesture. [color=ab274f]“Wouldn’t you, [i]for once[/i], like to see something different?”[/color]

Nothing in Morrigan’s demeanor obviously changed, yet Wulfric sensed the undercurrent of disdain at his offer to help her. 

[color=Floralwhite]“Oh, honey,”[/color] she said with the affection of a mother listening to a child promising the impossible. [color=Floralwhite]“You’ve finally set your mind on dethroning daddy dearest, hmm? Bettie must be over the moon!”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“Oh, no, perish the thought,”[/color] he retorted flippantly. He sighed, sobering a tad. [color=ab274f]“It depends on him. If he is willing to cooperate...”[/color] he rolled a shoulder.

[color=Floralwhite]“So, how do you intend to ‘save’ me and ‘change’ the world?”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“Oh, so you can strive to protect, but if I do, that rubs you the wrong way?”[/color]

A finger pressed gently against his lips. [color=Floralwhite]“Adelard, ‘protecting’ and ‘helping’ are two very different things. It’s precious that you want to protect me and I wouldn’t say no to it. But help me? That, you cannot do. Not with all the power in the world.”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“True enough,”[/color] he admitted once she removed the finger. He didn’t know how he would go about [i]saving[/i] her. [color=ab274f]“...Out of interest, how would you imagine being helped? Would you like to lead a different kind of life?”[/color] That was his best guess. That, or a world where Aiden was alive, but that truly was impossible.

[color=Floralwhite]“Unless you can wind back the clock and make sure none of us were ever born, there’s no point in talking about what ifs,”[/color] hair the color of rose gold cascaded over one shoulder as Morrigan tilted her head, [color=Floralwhite]“is there?”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“Of course the past cannot be changed.”[/color] It was an unexpectedly grim outlook, to believe there was no point if they couldn’t undo what had been done. [color=ab274f]“But [i]the future?[/i]”[/color] He leaned closer, a quiet intensity brightening his irises even under the shade. [color=ab274f]“If you are so convinced we have committed such unforgivable sins, why not work to right those wrongs? Why not bring at least some good into the world? Create a kingdom where we don’t have to lose loved ones for power - or because of those who [i]are[/i] in power?”[/color]

Again, there was a hint of disdain coming from her as she picked up the teacup, but he pressed on.

[color=ab274f]“To have a country held in check by the criminal underworld? Where our rule might as well be the same damn thing? [i]Absurdity.[/i] Do you know what he said? That their ‘help’ is needed, and that it would be too dangerous to oppose them. Say, Morrigan, do you think it [i]safe[/i] to be held hostage?”[/color]

[color=Floralwhite]“In most cases, I’d say yes: what’s the point of taking a hostage if you’re going to get rid of them so easily?”[/color] Morrigan said as if she spoke from experience - whether as victim, perpetrator, or perhaps both. [color=Floralwhite]“The only way to feel threatened is if there’s a good chance that ‘safety’ will be taken away. But how can that happen if there is no ‘safety’ to take?”[/color] 

[color=ab274f]“There are enough cases where hostages are harmed during or after the fact. Besides, this is a case of a life-long country-wide hostage situation...How is that helpful or necessary? If there is no safety, where is that much vaunted protection?”[/color] A sigh escaped her lips as he seemed to miss the actual point. The teacup clinked as she set it back down. 

[color=Floralwhite]“People march off to war, waving their shiny flags and singing pretty songs about peace, only to paint the earth crimson with each other’s blood.”[/color] She twirled a lock of hair around her finger. [color=Floralwhite]“And you, silly - you’ve done your fair share of terrible things.[/color] Her lilting tone carried a hint of reproach, soft as velvet yet sharp as a stiletto. [color=Floralwhite]“But tell me, how much good did those things really do? Was it truly as helpful or necessary as you’d like to believe?”[/color] She paused. [color=Floralwhite]“We could go round and round on this forever, couldn’t we?”[/color] 

She arched her back in a leisurely stretch before arranging herself upon the bench with languid insouciance. [color=Floralwhite]“Seems to me, sweetie, what you’re really after is absolute power so nobody can take advantage of you. Then you can make your idyllic world, whatever that’s supposed to be.”[/color] Only his cousin could make the word “idyllic” sound like the filthiest word known to man, all the while speaking in a voice sweeter than sugar. 

[color=ab274f]“There is no such thing as absolute power,”[/color] Wulfric denied. [color=ab274f]“If I only cared about myself, I would have killed him a decade ago, and to hell with it all.”[/color] He tilted his head back, gazing into the skies, obscured as they partially were by the overhead vine-bearing latticework. [color=ab274f]“I am not so optimistic that I would believe any idyllic state is achievable. There will always be suffering, strife, grief...Atrocities are an inevitable consequence of human existence.”[/color] 

He turned back to her. [color=ab274f]“Should I take it all for granted, then? Should I accept that he [i]had[/i] to die?”[/color] He wasn’t only referring to the person they had both lost, but it applied to Aiden too. [color=ab274f]“That it couldn’t be helped? That this is how it is, how it should be? That we [i]must[/i] ally with Delronzo’s ilk? To what end?[/color] He raised both arms, shaking his head and shoulders, an expression of refusal and bafflement at once.

[color=Floralwhite]“My, my, my, you do go on so, don’t you? All those pretty words of yours, like butterflies flitting about. But Adelard, beneath all that flutter, you’re still singing the same old tune. You want absolute power. Total control. It’s not a question of whether such a thing exists - you can’t bear the thought of anyone else holding sway over this kingdom.”[/color]

Morrigan waved her hand dismissively. [color=Floralwhite]“Let’s not dress this up with fancy speeches. It’s plain as it is simple: you want the power to change things and there’s people in your way that you want to get rid of by any means [i]you[/i] deem… what’s the word you used? Oh, yes. Necessary.”[/color]

[color=Floralwhite]“I suspected you had your little patricidal fantasies.”[/color] Her tone was as casual as if discussing the weather. [color=Floralwhite]“But don’t try to convince me - or yourself - that you stayed your hand because of altruism. No, you were waiting for just the right moment when it would serve you best.”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“The right moment? Is it now, was it years past, is it in the future, is it ever?”[/color] He wanted to kill Edin, yes, but if he thought it was better not to, he still wouldn’t. [color=ab274f]“He has his chances, does he not? As long as he is alive, he could change, he could recognize his folly,”[/color] he acknowledged bitterly. [color=ab274f]“Killing him is not the only option.”[/color] 

Frustratingly, Morrigan had made several good points. [color=ab274f]“It is true, people do justify the most terrible actions with the grandest of causes. I have done the same in the past; I may do it in the future. I know I am no innocent,”[/color] he tossed his head to the side. [color=ab274f]“I used to believe it was all requisite, I may fall into the same trap again.”[/color] He exhaled sharply. [color=ab274f]“I told you, I am questioning myself. [i]I do not know[/i] what is necessary.”[/color] He held her gaze. [color=ab274f]“However, I cannot find it in me to believe that allying with Black Rose is needed. [i]Do you?[/i]”[/color] he asked pointedly. [color=ab274f]“Black Rose with its black markets, illicit drug peddling, ring fights, and who knows what else?”[/color] he paraphrased Edin with a heavy sneer.

[color=Floralwhite]“Nonsense,[/color] she said smiling. [color=Floralwhite]“I’m sure it’s not that hard to imagine what else.”[/color]

He stared off into the distance again, conflicted. [color=ab274f]“Maybe I will destroy more people than I could ever protect. I will aim to ensure otherwise, but I may fail. Even so, I consider it my duty to disentangle ourselves from the Black Rose and its ilk.”[/color] He directed a skewed smile at her. [color=ab274f]“Even if it ends with my death, and with someone else in charge.”[/color] Yes, he saw those two as conjoined, because she was right that it was difficult for him to imagine a feature where he [i]didn’t[/i] end up as king if he lived.

[color=Floralwhite]“You’ve already set your heart on this little venture. So why fuss with all these pointless rhetorical questions? Just go on and do as you please with these people.”[/color] Morrigan plucked a fallen leaf from the fabric of her dress and blew it away. [color=Floralwhite]“We’ll see how it all unfolds.”[/color]

[color=ab274f]“Pointless? Then why do you do what you do? You seem convinced that [i]everything[/i] you do is necessary. Or is it all the same as doing as you please? Who and what are you protecting? Why, when you claim we never should have been born?”[/color]

A warm hand patted his cheek. [color=Floralwhite]“Now you’re getting all scatterbrained and being very presumptuous. A Shehzadi might not find those qualities too endearing, my dear.”[/color] Her gaze flitted past Wulfric, alighting on something behind him. A smile bloomed on her lips. [color=Floralwhite]“Ooh, perfect! Place that right here, would you, pup?”[/color] Morrigan sat up straight, tapping the table with her finger.

[color=ab274f]“I am speaking with you, not with someone else. If you find me presumptuous, then feel free to correct me. I was inquiring after [i]your[/i] beliefs and convictions, after all.[/color] Wulfric tilted his head to look at the servant when Morrigan did. Haynes had been gone during that whole conversation, accompanied by one of his cousin’s knights. From what he could see, the other man did not seem worse for wear. [color=ab274f]“I would not mind a cup of tea now,”[/color] he commented as he eyed the heavily laden tray. [color=ab274f]“But Morrigan, will you have any? You did not touch your cup before,”[/color] he arched an eyebrow at her. He looked down at her teacup to see that it was empty.

[color=Floralwhite]“Yes, I would love to have some.”[/color] As Wulfric did before, Morrigan watched Haynes’ movements while he served tea. 

The knight who had followed Haynes appeared soon after. There was an exchange of looks from her and her mistress. The mummy knight nodded and was gone again.[/color]