[IC] New Beginnings

[Fetzen]

Vodrahin was one of the major towns in the region. While -- as it was rather typical for the small human kingdom of Hadral -- the outer circles primarily consisted of poorer people's wooden housings which turned more and more into farmer's buildings separated from each other by bigger and bigger fields the further one went away from the town's center, the latter one had already fallen victim to what in modern times probably would be called 'gentrification'. Times were peaceful, at least in this part of the world. Along the eastern borders however things were about as tense as the weather after a day-long sweltering summer heat. War had not yet started with Ythrim, but rumors had it that preparations for it were already underway while envoys were still at least pretending to try and avoid the worst.

Not that this would have been of any significant relevance for the local inn. One could say that the Nail In The Coffin was doing quite well at putting some real meaning behind its strange name. At least not few of the patrons had already reached a considerable level of drunkenness despite the fact that it had not been that long ago that the sun had sunk below the horizon and the tavern had opened. Its scattered, reddish light was still illuminating the wide roads sufficiently for the more wise of men to make an escape, even though it was a lurching one.

The inside was filled with warmth from guests and an open fire in the middle of the room. It served primarily the purpose of heating, light and entertainment, the cooking was done at a separate place not accessible for the common visitor. Due to its central position, shadows of furniture and people were dancing on the decently decorated wooden panels all around the large room. A large, rather chubby looking man was waiting behind the high and broad counter for someone else who had not arrived yet. It was the tavern's owner who at this time also was responsible for accepting any orders from his guests.

[Hellish Hin]

Salina could hear the drunken laughter drifting out into the evening air and her stomach growled. She spurred her white stallion faster as he had begun to drag his feet, kicking up dust in his wake. He was a good horse, intelligent and sound. There had been a few times where his quick thinking was the only thing that kept the angry townsfolk, crying witchcraft, from dragging her away and burning her at the stake.

But they had been travelling all day and he was tired. Truth be told, so was she. Her time on the road was starting to wear on her. She would have liked nothing more than to buy a cottage and live out the rest of her days quietly but she had no skills. She couldn’t weave, cook, farm or anything else that would let her survive so this was her only option. She had to travel from town to town, using her minor gifts to con men and women into paying her for their fortunes.

You wouldn’t think a mere fortune teller would cause so much disturbance in a town but the thing was… Salina’s fortunes had the quirk of coming true. There was a catch, however. More often than not, she saw others’ misfortunes. Nothing caused people to shove coins in her direction with more fervor than a doomsday fortune and advice on how to avoid it. What made them angry was the fact that, even when she tried to help them avoid their misfortune, it befell them anyways and they always blamed her. Thus she was constantly on the run. A fugitive in her own lands. But she had Caspar and the hope that one day she would find a place she could stay for good.

She pulled Caspar to a stop out front and slid out of the saddle. She landed and her knees almost buckled. She bit her lip to stifle a groan at the soreness of her thighs. Running a hand along Caspar’s silky neck she pressed her forehead to his cheek.

“I'll send someone out to take care of you in a moment.” She murmured to him and tied his reins to the hitching post. She pulled her hood low and took careful stock of her things. Being a traveler, she knows all about thieves.

She stepped into the boisterous great room of the Nail In The Coffin, and paused by the door. Her silver eyes scanned the room, naturally eyeing patrons she thought were gullible enough to pay her. But before she got down to business, she needed food and a good drink. She picked her way across the room, keeping her head down and approached the barkeep.

“Red wine and whatever you're serving for dinner, please. And someone to take care of my horse.The white stallion.” She said sweetly. She slid her hand inside her coin purse and found it uncomfortable light. She would have to stay here for a while. She just hopped the mob would wait for a few days before gathering their torches and pitchforks.

[Fetzen]

The tavern's owner had turned his head away from the table in front of him the moment he had heard the rather poorly maintained entrance door creaking as it was turned open. It took a few seconds more for him to get rid of the boredom in his facial expression thoug has he only slowly realized that the person that had just entered could be one of the more interesting ones. One didn't see such a nice looking, almost white haired woman in such a richly embroidered cloak every day. In fact he had hardly ever seen such a person before here. Normally his guests were all the same every day, at least judging by her apperance.

As Salina approached his position, he didn't fail to notice the clinking sound emanating from one of her small bags. So she had money, too, maybe ? How interesting! Hopefully she was hungry and would eat a lot. He'd have to treat her very carefully, so better try and put up a good, gentle smile! One couldn't say that he was completely successful with this attempt though. Having been stuck in this place for many years hadn't exactly helped his memory about manners. His double chin wobbled all over the place as he answered her questions.

"Alright. I'll see what can be done." With a lot of experience and perfect knowledge about where to find which item he turned around and straightforwardly thudded over to a large wooden shelf where obviously the more valuable beverages where stored. Searching through the many rows of wine bottles, he continued to talk to his most recent customer: "I'm sure I have a good red drop here and I'm also sure I can serve your needs for food with a large piece of roasted meat or so, but I'm still waiting for my auxiliary. If he doesn't arrive soon I'll take care of your horse and fire him..."

He pulled out a large, dark green and unlabeled bottle and put it down onto the desk in front of her. On his way one could hear him mumbling something like "...that stupid little bastard...". As he was presenting her with one of his finest (though by elevated standards still rather shabby) glasses to drink the fermented red grape juice, the door was opened again. Heavy breathing could be heard, so intense one could almost think it didn't come from a human but from a very large animal.

"Batharyn!" the tavern owner shouted right across the entire room, hardly taking Salina's ears into his immediate considerations. "Move your butt over here, excuse yourself and then quickly take care of this woman's horse!" The aforementioned person hurried over, some of the wooden floorboards giving so much way under his feet that it looked like he was in grave danger of stumbling. He didn't though and also he only caused little noise, at least for someone who was scratching along the ceiling with his hairs and had shoulders which were close to requiring two chairs.

"Yes, yes. I'm coming. Sorry, sorry..." his chesty voice traversed through the room, dripping with timidity.

[Hellish Hin]

As the rotund barkeep shouted a name at the door, Salina turned to look. She couldn’t help herself as her eyebrows raised in surprise. This man was massive. She had seen plenty of brutes in her lifetime but he was different. Something magical, or monstrous, must have been going on with this man. However, when he opened his mouth, she was even more surprised to hear the timidity in his voice. Someone like that had to have the ability to crush the barkeep’s head between his thumb and forefinger yet he acted as though he were a mere page.

As she looked at the towering man, something felt off. She casually reached a hand to her chest, seeming to finger something under her simple black shirt. It was then that she realized her magic was nowhere to be found. Usually it was lurking, a small undercurrent that was poking and prodding those she had her attention on. She didn’t usually get anything from it unless she was focusing but now, it seemed to have slunk away to hide. This allowed a small knot to form in her stomach and she realized she was afraid. It wasn’t just his size that was intimidating, but the fact that her magic seemed to be afraid of him too.

Salina gave a polite smile to the large man. “Good evening Batharyn.” She said, keeping her voice cool despite her uneasiness. She reached into the pouch at her hip and procured a silver coin, one of her last. “My horse is the white stallion. His name is Caspar. Please take very good care of him.” She realized that she wasn’t sure if she wanted him around her beloved horse. “Mind if I come with you to collect the rest of my things?” She held the silver out to him, a little worried about how gentle this man could be.

[Fetzen]

Batharyn internally let go of a sigh. At least today his employer -- or slavedriver, as he'd word it -- had refrained from trying to slap his cheek or shouting at him all too loudly in front of an entire main hall filled with guests from whose only the first half was drunk enough not to understand it and laugh at him.

There were some details he missed about that strange new guest though. Even for him who had only very recently been employed as an auxiliary she distinguished herself from the crowd like a sore thumb with her rather noble, richely decorated clothing. However he didn't realize her tensing up so much as he approached her, or maybe it was because he was so used to basically everyone paying a huge lot attention to him when he was coming closer. The movement of her hand wasn't anything that was capable of drawing his suspicion in such a casual situation like the one he believed to be in currently and also if one had no idea about magic in the first place except for its mere existence and some possible effects that could be achieved with it one had a very hard time considering that it might be... missing.

"The white stallion ? Oh, erm, I saw that on my way in..." He smiled gently at her, but his lips were thin and rather tense while his eyes darted over to the tavern owner for several brief moments before switching back to the woman in front if him. "Yeah, or course you can come with me." Damn! That kind of horse alone was a very solid indication for wealth, not to mention Salina's clothing, of course. He really would have liked to try and touch the saddle bags to find out what might be in them, but that would now entirely impossible. He would be able to see the things though, perfectly legally. His mind was already creating primitive plans what he might do later on.

He offered Salina the right of going first by gesturing with his huge arm and open hand towards the door, then followed her. She'd be able to feel the floor vibrate beneath each of his steps. "I have to admit I'd really like to have a ride on him. Never have seen such a good horse before..."

[Hellish Hin]

Ride on him? Not a chance. She thought to herself but smiled politely. “He is quite tired from our travels today but come, let us take him to the stables.” She smoothly navigated the crowd and spotted a few people she would make sure to approach later. Their coin purses were heavy and they seemed gullible enough to pay her.

When the two step outside, Caspar’s eyelids were drooping but when the door creaked open and Salina stepped out, his ears perked forward and he nickered a greeting. As the Batharyn approached with her, he began to shy away, tugging at the reins tied to the hitching post.

“Easy there.” Salina murmured and stepped up to him. She ran a gentle hand down his snout. “We’re here to let you rest.” He seemed to be flicking his eyes from her to the large man but didn’t continue to shy away.

“He’s a very intelligent creature.” Salina said over her shoulder to Batharyn. “I won him in a game of cards from a pompous rich man. Right after we had to flee the town because that man was angry enough to kill us both. If Caspar hadn’t been clever enough to take the cramped alleyways through the town, he surely would have peppered us with bolts from his crossbow.” Salina smiled faintly at the memory. Caspar just kept his eyes on Batharyn. Once his reins were untied, she waited for Batharyn to lead her to the stables.

[Fetzen]

"Tired ? From carrying you ?" Batharyn grinned down at her. "You must come from very far." he added with a gentle smile appearing on his face. But what was that ? Had he just heard the soft and lovely sound of coins hitting each other ? His eyes twisted in his skull, his view going down along her clothing, his mind tracking both the curves of her body and every bulge that didn't seem to fit to them. That's where the valuables were, every good thief knew that.

However there was one problem: He just couldn't do that now. Frankly he needed this job, no matter how much of an ugly, fat, rotten and despicable beast his employer and owner of this shabby tavern was. The streets still weren't completely devoid of people so chances were that he'd be seen. Also his initial impression of Salina was that of a rather intelligent, attentive woman -- better not try to dig his huge hands into her pockets while she was walking next to him. But what if she rented a room here... ?

"I wish I'd win a game of cards against some kind of noble person, then I maybe would be able to call such a beautiful horse my own as well." Batharyn reached for the reigns and pulled at them gently, using his giant index finger alone. The tavern's stable didn't have any doors. It was a primitive place with the main feature being a waterproof roof and some thin, wooden walls not even reaching up to Selina's head which apparently were meant for separating the guest's horses.

"Here, that's mine." Batharyn elevated his arm to quickly point at his mount. It was a draft, packed with muscle and long, brown, solid fur. One could immediately see that compared with Caspar he was very clumsy. He snorted upon seeing Batharyn. "He's a bit rough but I can handle him." Not to mention that he probably wasn't nearly clever enough to arrange for a lucky escape of its rider from an angry man's wrath... "So... where exactly do you want Caspar to have his stay ? I'm afraid the hay is the same for all horses, though."

[Hellish Hin]

As Batharyn’s eyes traveled down her body, she bit down on her tongue to keep a shiver of uneasiness from travelling down her spine. Of course some men looked at her that way. It was to be expected since she was anything but hard on the eyes, but something about this large man made her want to run. Most men she knew she could scare off with a few words and if worse came to worst, she had her daggers, one hidden on her thigh, the other in her boot. She had used them a couple times and they were effective but with the size of this man, it was apparent that they wouldn’t be of much use. Better to stay friendly to this man. She didn’t want to be on his bad side.

“I come from far away, yes but it is the fact that I have no destination that makes the journey long.” She commented lightly as the two of them walked to the stables. It was his size that didn’t allow her to consider that he was looking at her for different reasons. Someone of that size could never be a thief.

“You horse looks strong. And he would need to be, I suppose.” She said with a friendly smile. “Caspar can stay in the stall next to his. He may have been a noble’s horse but he doesn’t need hay spun from gold as he might want you to believe.” She gave Caspar a few playful pats on the neck and he shook his head as if to shake her words off.

“So, Batharyn, what makes you travel about the kingdom, hmm?” She asked, confident in her assumption that because he had a horse, he travelled frequently. Men that size didn’t own horses that could carry them if they weren’t needing to be carried. It was these sort of assumptions that earned her coins. Her magic wasn’t as necessary as she made it seem. A few astute observations generally impressed the common folk enough that her magic could stay dormant for days at a time before finding someone important enough to speak to her about.

As she thought about her magic, she could now sense its presence again, even if it was somewhat subdued, similar to a stricken turtle finally deciding to make sure it is safe again. She allowed a serene smile to come across her face. Perhaps this man wasn’t as bad as she originally thought.

[Fetzen]

Batharyn twisted his head, his gray eyes focusing onto the entrance of the stables. Then he turned his attention back to the small woman standing next to him. "Maybe he doesn't need hay spun from gold but I'm sure he won't like hay that is equivalent to rotten dirt." He paused for a brief but noticeable moment while he considered if he could trust his anonymous customer enough not to forward his words to the tavern's owner. "I'd not exclude that this stuff is around here somewhere..." His head and eyes twitches towards the wall that the actual tavern and the stables had in common and from which he thereby knew that the owner was somewhere behind it.

"You'd be surprised about how many taverns I've already seen. Owners change, die, give up or change their mind about how many, if any, auxiliaries they need and how they should look like. You can't stay in one place forever. Sonner or later you'll lack the necessary basis for your work, then you have to go on and hope that it'll regenerate." Batharyn again smiled gently at her, but internally he had burst in laughter he had to put considerable effort into suppressing. His words were so hilariously ambiguos. He didn't actually flat-out lie to her. He just... held back some vital piece of information he had absolutely no interest in anyone knowin -- except for some colleagues that had managed to gain much of his trust, of course.

"I've already been considering leaving this place. It doesn't feel good to me, but currently I'm a bit low on coins..." Batharyn grinned as if this didn't worry him much. Well as a thief an almost empty coin purse always was an excellent motivation to go on and not only was this tavern led by one hell of a man in terms of being unpleasant, but also was this tavern located in a town which he had found more and more unsuitable for his true job.

"So... what else can I do for you ?"

[Hellish Hin]

“Oh trust me, Batharyn, I know about the fickle nature of the common folk. One minute they are enjoying your company, the next they are chasing you with pitchforks.” She laughed lightly. “But you seem strong so I find it strange anyone would give you up.” It was true. There was plenty of heavy lifting to be done around a tavern. Why anyone would kick him out, or even be brave enough to, struck her as strange.

“We sound alike though, you and me. When our work is no longer appreciated, we are run out of town, forced to live on the roads…” She decided to chance it. He might have said he didn’t have any coins but at least she could get a little warm up in.

“Now that you mention it… there is something you could do for me.” She reached out and took his massive hand in both of hers. “Have you ever desired to know what lies at the end of that long road, Batharyn? Wanted to know what the fates have in store for you?” She batted her eyelashes but her gaze was intense, perhaps even soul-piercing. Her thumb traced small circles on the back of his hand.

[Fetzen]

"Strength by far is not the only thing that's needed for a good auxiliary..." Batharyn responded, both grinning and smiling at her at the same time. "Unfortunately it seems that everything else is not exactly my forte, otherwise I guess I wouldn't loose employers almost as fast as I can find the next one." Well... he knew that this was quite a bit exaggerated, especially if one considered that more often than not it was himself who canceled his current job for a purpose he had absolutely no intention to tell her about.

Then Salina started to talk about 'fates'. His grin faded away almost completely when he noticed the intense, penetrating power that seemed to rest in her eyes. Fascinating on one hand, somewhat discomforting on the other if one knew only so little about the other person. Batharyn couldn't help but sound quite sheepishly when he responded "Geez you almost sound like some kind of soothsayer." He tried to put up a bit of an apologizing facial expression. "I'm not entirely sure if I really want to know all the relevant pieces of my future. Only if it's for free maybe..."

Batharyn chuckled a bit, looking down at her. "Maybe you can tell me if the similarity between us too will eventually lead to us traveling together ? I could imagine that to happen. Don't think my stay here will continue to exist for long."

[Hellish Hin]

She chuckled lightly when he called her a soothsayer. That was one term for it and definitely the one she preferred over fortune teller. Fortune teller just sounded too literal. Not mysterious enough for her liking. Although she tended to answer to whatever title people tended to give her as long as they were pulling coins out of their pockets at the same time.

When he mentioned her telling fortunes for free she mentally scoffed at the idea. If you are good at something, you never do it for free. Unless, the person is asking for a demonstration and has a large manor as well as many pieces of gold jewelry. She’s done that a few times and it has ended well but she doesn’t want to push her luck. Especially not with an auxillary who she knows doesn’t have much coin.

As he spoke of them perhaps travelling together, she began to look eagerly contemplative. She could use someone like him. That would keep the mob off her back for longer. She could make more money, stay in one place for longer. The more she thought, the better it sounded. However, she should feel him out first while she is here.

“Hmm… travelling together, you say?” She closed her eyes and made a show of letting her hands float through the air. “I see… shadows… yes but also some light. Hope, perhaps. Or the glow of gold mmm that seems more likely now…” She took a breath, eyes still closed before continuing. “Perhaps there are two figures however the the string of fate between them is fragile, tenuous. It can either be cut…” she opened her eyes and looked up at him “or nurtured, strengthened. The outcome of either of these actions are too numerous to predict, unfortunately.” She gave him a sweet smile then winked. “That one was free.” And turned to saunter out of the barn, listening to see if he follows.

[Fetzen]

Batharyn got the slight feeling that she could be opposed to his idea of working 'for free' this one time. However he frankly didn't care much about it. He really had not much money to his avail and even he had had, there would have been no reason for him to spend it on everyone whom he barely knew and whom he had never seen 'in action' before. He didn't react to it and remained where he was, hardly moving at all.

The thief's tracked her hands as she let them move seemingly arbitrarily through the air at a slow speed. Batharyn listened to her words and his mind tried to compile them just in time. The immediate outcome of this was... well... not very satisfying. She saw shadows ? Yeah of course then she had so see light as well. Shadow's couldn't be without light surrounding them, could they ? And then the string of fate. Yes of course there was some kind of connection between them. They had met each other and he had made the proposal of traveling together. And of course it could be considered 'fragige' given that they hardly knew each other! Saying that this string could either be strengthened or break was something he immediately considered to be an utter commonplace -- a general property of every 'string', material or not. And ultimately the 'too numerous outcomes'... To cut a long story short: Batharyn strongly believed that she either was trying to provide him with a fake or she didn't try hard enough. To her excuse his mind had to add that he would have done the same if he had had to work for free. Maybe he should pay her and give her another try ?

Before he could reach into his pocket to pick up the cheapest coin readily available she left the stable however. "Hey! Where are you going ?" he raised his enormous voice behind her. "I'd be a very bad auxiliary if I'd let my employer's guests leave without accompanying them and showing them their rooms, wouldn't I ?" The man grinned and stepped up his nonexistent pace to follow her back into the tavern.

"Upstairs, please." Batharyn had closed the gap between them, now standing besides her. His hand pointed fowards towards the rather narrow, wooden stairs. A gentle smile was cast on his face again. At least this was something he considered himself to be quite good at. Deceiving people....

[Hellish Hin]

“See, you’re still accompanying me.” She smirked up at him as he easily caught up. As they got back to the tavern, he gestured for her to go upstairs. Might as well see her room first so she could set her bags down that she had taken off of Caspar.

“You know, I can put in a good word with your master for you. You have been quite helpful to me.” As she adjusted her bag, something heavy thudded against her back as she made her way towards the stairs he gestured towards. She groaned inwardly. If only she didn’t have to haul around all of this nonsense. Most of it didn’t even help her with her divination. These people didn’t just pay to have their fortunes told, they paid for a show. At least now she would have time to set her room up the way she liked it before she started bringing up customers.

Some thought she was just a tricky whore, talking to strange men and bringing them up to her rooms. Some were even downright vicious when they found out she was not willing to sleep with them. These men were usually the less attractive ones. She had no qualms sleeping with those she found appealing. And she certainly had never slept with anyone like this man before. Although she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to. She actually chuckled at the thought.

[Fetzen]

"Might I help you with this ?" Batharyn had noticed that something large and heavy had to be inside the bag she was carrying around on her back. It certainly couldn't be comfortable, especially for a woman he didn't consider to be physically strong. He said this while they were walking through the main hall, allowing his master to see and hear how helpful his auxiliary was for his paying guests. However him helping her had another side effect: As his hand reached forward to support the heavy bag from below while not entirely putting it off her back, his fingers could effortlessly fiddle around and analyze what could be inside it once they were out of everyone's sight. He was very good at doing this, anticipating which move could cause a suspicious noise that had the potential to let the victim take notice of his action.

"Good word with my master ? If you want my advice, then don't do this. Just... don't!" Batharyn had held back these words until they had left the wooden stairs behind them and were standing in front of the door that led to her room and even then he only spoke them out with low volume. His hand had finished its work, but the result was inconclusive. What kind of weird stuff was this woman carrying around ? Well... if she claimed herself to be a real soothsayer... what could he expect ? Anyway there could be precious metals or other valuable stuff in there, in one form or another...

"It's a room with a single bed and a large window. I hope you'll like it ?" Smiling, he pulled out a ring of iron keys. Most of them were in a similar state of decay as the halfway rusted locks they fit in, but Batharyn's master constantly insisted on keeping the room's locked even if they currently weren't occupied. Too great was the threat of a bandit climbing up and coming in through those windows...

[Hellish Hin]

Salina appreciated his help but, out of habit, did not let go of her bag. It was not due to suspicions of the large man beside her. He seemed kind enough and a man as large as him would not risk being caught or he would never be able to return. He would also likely find himself facing the noose or at the very least, the loss of a hand. It would not take the guards long to track him. But as Batharyn’s hands fiddled with her bag, one thing he could feel was a large spherical object about the size of a head. It didn’t seem like anything a normal person would be carrying so it was hard to place. There were also many other tiny trinkets and what felt like cloth in the bag. Quite unusual.

“Why should I not put in a good word for you? I’m sure that praise would not cause your master to be upset. He should appreciate the fact that you are doing your job well.” Was this man really that awful? Perhaps she would could consult her magic about him once she was alone in her room. Just then, her stomach growled, reminding her of her uneaten dinner downstairs with the barkeep.

When he opened the door, she stepped inside and took a look around the simple room. It was as good as any she had stayed at and definitely better than some. “This is lovely and will serve me quite well for my stay here.” However long her stay might be. She hoped she could at least get a few weeks out of this place before she faced with an angry mob. She set her bag down on the bed then moved back toward the door. “I will unpack later after I have eaten.”

[Fetzen]

Batharyn spent more than one second on turning his head and leaning out of the doorframe towards the cramped hallway, checking if there was anyone there. Then he returned his attention to her, a somewhat sheepish facial expression decorating him. "Don't underestimate him. I have no doubt that he could easily take your words, flip them around and let the pointed end of the spear rest on your chest. He could claim that I must have left my neutral attitude and tried to please you especially well for you to put in such a good word for me."

The thief sighed, a colossal amount of air leaving his only one-third filled lungs. "However... I'd leave my neutral attitude as well if I'd try to prevent one of his guests from doing something that one guests wants to do. So... Let's say I haven't heard anything, alright ?" His last words were accompanied by a more open smile towards Selina.

Batharyn's mind was still trying to make sense of what he had felt. What the hell could that spherical object be ? An actual glass ball ? So far he had believed that to be nothing but a stereotype, but something about her was... highly unusual. Her eyes had been almost piercing, as if really looking inside his metaphysical layer. If he'd make the ultimate decision to steal things of her he'd have to be careful. More careful than he probably was used to in this context since most guests were too drunk to be uneasy targets. And that was the next keyword.

"Eaten ?" He arched an eyebrow, trying to look casually. "My master can't influence the quality of the meat we get from the local butcher, so I'd say what you can get here is quite good for the most part. I'd try to go around the beer though... Want some wine instead ?" At this point Batharyn was glad that his official duties were congruent to his more sinister planning.

[Hellish Hin]

Salina smiled a very kind smile. “I think wine would be lovely and whatever he is serving tonight will be just fine. I am sorry your employer is unkind to you though… I don’t blame you for wanting to leave. I have met my fair share of unkind people in my travels.” And wasn’t that the truth. She’s met more people that have ended up wanting to kill her than those that haven’t. Her life was quite lonely.

She still had a pleasant smile on her face as she set her bag down then turned to leave and lead the way down the hall back to the dining room. She knew that she should probably treat him like the auxiliary he was so that she did not get him in any trouble.

As went to move past him, her arm brushed his. She felt the tingle of magic jolt through her from her arm all the way to her eyes. To most, it would have been quite the unpleasant experience but she has felt this many times. Now she has associated it with money because when she got a vision, she always made coin. As the jolt ran through her, she stopped in her tracks. Her back and neck arched backward slightly and he could see that her eyes have turned completely white. She also seemed to stop breathing for a moment.

She saw this hulk of a man sneak upstairs on surprisingly silent feet. He went to the exact place where they were standing and used his key to get into her room. He began going through her things and when he found the Dread Coins in their small pouch, decided to pocked them. Nothing else was really worth anything. That he could sell easily at least. However, Salina felt the holes in the fabric of the scene she was witnessing. She could feel that things did not need to be this way. She was getting better about realizing when she could perhaps change things and when she knew she could not. She might be able to influence it.

These images happened in a flash and within a few seconds, she was breathing again and her eyes had gone back to normal. “My apologies, Batharyn. I am fine. I just have mild fainting spells sometimes. Mild enough to where I don’t always fall down.” This was the truth in a way. She hoped he wouldn’t be scared of her. Usually these things happen when she expected them to because she was trying to read someone’s future. The fact that it happened with such a quick touch meant the magic believed this was an important thing for her to see.

She also knew that her visions didn’t always come true exactly as she has seen them. So perhaps he does not break into her room through the door but the window. And perhaps the reason she saw him taking the Dread Coins is because they represent that either a good or bad result can come from the situation which then meant she could influence it. One thing she did know, was that he was going to try to get into her things tonight and she was going to take advantage of it. She flashed him a smile and went to continue back down into the dining room.

[Fetzen]

Batharyn could feel her arm touch his. It was an entirely unexpected thing, so even though he couldn't feel the magic flowing like her, he pulled his arm back until its muscles were tightly pressed against his massive torso. It was a quick move, but not quick enough for him to prevent what he had no idea of.

What the yet, at least from his own perspective, undiscovered thief could see though was the very strange and quite horrifying behaviour of his female guest. Normally if one's eyes twisted to hard that there was only white to be seen that person was in serious health trouble, so Batharyn instinctively prepared for grabbing her in case she'd collapse. His mind was flooded with thoughts about what to do if the worst would happen. What would his employer think ? It could only be a horrible thing, maybe even more horrible than one of the guests dying in his hands.

Luckily Selina's weird state proved to be a very transient one. Only moments later she seemed to be back to normal, at least seen from outside. "Are you sure you're alright ?" Batharyn's voice had significantly increased in volume as if to make sure that he'd reach her even if she'd still be halfway unconscious -- at this point he had instantaneously stopped caring about his master being able to listen or not. This was more important and one could tell from his facial expression that her answer had a very hard time to convince him.

He had no idea what had happened. How could he ? So far he had believed her to be some kind of phony who's primary discipline was to pull one's money out of one's coin purse without stealing it (like he did). The strange image of the items she appeared to be carrying in her back had only helped to fortify this impression. For some moment he considered abandoning his plans of paying her room another late night visit, however he could also observe her while eating to check if she'd really be alright. In that case he could continue without his conscience putting up a rebellion...

"Okay, let's go down. Shall I support you ?" That would probably difficult to explain to his employer, but what kind of auxiliary he'd be if he'd let a guest go downstairs knowing that she'd collapse at any time and hit her head on some hard and nasty edge ?

[Hellish Hin]

"Oh no, everything is completely back to normal. This has happened frequently all my life, it is nothing to worry about." She pat his arm and led the way back downstairs. She seemed to be just fine. No confusion or disorientation. It was as if that little episode never even happened. In fact, she seemed to be in higher spirits than she was before it happened.

Salina was quite excited that she had a vision about him. To catch him going through her things would be the perfect way to get him to join her because it was in that moment that she was realized he would be a great help to her. He was sweet yet also could be intimidating. Just what she needed to keep the mobs off her back for longer. It also helped that he seemed to have a hard time holding up in once place for long. The fact that the barkeep was so unkind to him would only make it easier for her.

She went back up to the bar and sat down on one of the stools directly next to one of the other male patrons. "Sorry about that, I'll take that meal and wine now if you please. Your auxiliary was quite helpful so I thank you for that." She nodded at Batharyn. Now that her magic was awake and buzzing, she was looking around the main room like a hawk searching a field for mice.