Xandar had brought the entire bed from Faeril's room into the dining room, seeing as though the preferred lounging spot was covered in blood. Faeril herself was on that bed, and sleeping or not, she had a large Eyrien Warlord prince with his arms and wings wrapped around her. It was very clear that this meeting was impeding is nap time, and Faeril would have to be present and miss nap time too if he had to. It was only fair. He ponders of the topic of where the group should go, thinking back to his own experiences traveling and the advice from Randalvar.
“West. I have contacts in Shalador and Nahele that I could try to contact, get a bearing on our situation. Nahele in the mountains would be ideal for hiding, and if that goes south, Challiot to the far west is as isolated as they come. My communication has fell with them recently, but it’s worth a shot.”Jandar sat at one of the wooden chairs, his back and elbows leaning on the dining table as he faced the rest of the people crowded in the room. The bed carrying the Black Widow and Xandar was the methaphorical pink elephant in the room, but beyond a startled look, the Kaeleeran Warlord chose to ignore it.
"As a more of a long-term goal, I can only offer aid in Kaereel, however the issue would be getting there. If we can get more allies via Prince Markov's acquaintances, that could certainly be helpful," he commented.
The bed took up half the room, and while none of the three brothers had stopped him since they found the entire situation highly amusing... They had vanished some of the furniture in the way as 'they might need it elsewhere for Fatima'. Faeril herself had slept through it. A testament to her exhaustion. Meanwhile her erstwhile protectors snickered to themselves.
It did take quite a long time for Mikhail to clean the mess on Faeril's secret room and dispose of the bodies in a... 'discreet' way, without letting the others see it, but when he finished, he went to the dining room where he probably could find the others. The results of the torture were as Mikhail expected. Even though they didn't know much as they were merely pawns for Queen Melian, they did confirm that they were sent by the Master of the guard. It was clear that Queen Melian wouldn't let them go that easily. As long as they stood somewhere in her territory, where her eyes and ears were everywhere, they would have a very tough time... Even if they left her territory, it was highly unlikely that she would let them go like that... Which gave Mikhail a few good ideas about what to do.
Getting there, Mikhail was greeted by a rather strange sight... Someone, for some reason, had taken Faeril's bed to the dining room. Somehow, even after being dragged from her room to the dining room, Faeril was still sleeping soundly on it. Choosing to simply ignore said scene instead of asking something, he began to say what he had to.
"The warriors who came after us were Queen Melian's pawns. They were under orders of Queen Mellian's Master of the Guard." Mikhail said, hopefully gaining the attention of those who were in the dinning room at the moment.
"We won't be safe as long as we stay inside Queen Melian's territory. Even if we leave, it's highly likely that she will still go after Faeril. That said..." Mikhail continued, expecting that the Eyrien brothers would be able to tell Faeril of Mikhail's plans when she woke up.
"We can use this against her. Our best bet is going to another Queen's territory. No matter who she is, she won't take kindly if she knows that another Queen sent her forces inside her territory without consulting her first. Even if this other Queen knows Faeril and has a similar objective as Queen Melian, she and Melian will still enter in a conflict, which will give us plenty of time and room to disappear if we're careful." Mikhail continued.
"It will give us some time to organize ourselves, assess the situation and make preparations to deal with it." he finished, looking to the Eyrien brothers.
"I would be grateful if you passed this information to Faeril when she wakes up too." He finished, waiting for their answer.
Bellinar shrugged. "Well, considering things... Big, Ebon-Grey, and about to loose his balls over there can tell her." He smirked jerking his head towards Xandar.
Xandar yawned into the top of Faeril's head, using it to cover his yawn before picking his head back up and looking at the rest of the people in the room.
"Hey, it's not my fault she's sleeping like a rock. I don't think it'll be too hard telling her 'hey, we're going here'. It seems like no matter what, West and out of Melian's territory is our best bet. We just need direction and purpose, but from there we need to take our journey one day at a time."Dareen had followed Mikhail out of the chamber beneath the house after a moment, scratching the hood around her head. Man. That was brutal. Mikhail sure did know what he was doing. Blinking a bit at the sight of a bed in the living room, and this whole situation Xandar had put himself in, Dareen found a comfortable looking corner and leaned her back against it, crossing her arms and staying silent for a moment. To be honest, Dareen still wasn't sure what her relationship relative to the others was. Most likely she didn't have much of a voice in the matter. She didn't even know if she was invited. Still, only one to find out.
"Obviously, you shouldn't go south, towards Pruul." While the suggestion itself was obvious, Dareen had perhaps mistakenly used some more provactive language in regards to her relationship with the other people in the room.
Fatima had stayed to watch the last of the fire burn down to coals. She, bleary and tired, entered the Eyrie. There was still blood but she hardly noticed it. She followed the sounds of people and the warm glow of light to the dining room. Hereupon she found... a bed.... with Xandar and Faeril. And everyone else milling about. Fatima blinked a couple of times and then backed out of the room. She entered again and there was still the bed. She rubbed soot stained hands over her face and looked toward the brothers.
"Can you point me in the direction of the kitchen? I'm going to put on some coffee."Gen took Fatima in hand and steered her to a comfortable chair, pouring her a cup of coffee. "We have coffee in here. Milk and surgar too." He added, gesturing to the little bowls of said condiments. "So Pruul and Hayll are obviously out... I wouldn't risk Dhemlan." The Green Jeweled Warlord Prince noted.
Denvar sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Kaeleer may not the be the worst idea in the long run of things. We haven't heard of anything from the Shadow Realm." The other name by which Kaeleer was known, "So it's probably the best option. How to get there though..."
Gennar shrugged, "We get out of Askavi, then figure that out. And- shit." The Warlord swore as the Eyrien woman in Xandar's grasp shifted and stirred. The three brothers immediately jerked to wary attention. Far too used to Faeril's temper and knowing that knew she would not take kindly to the situation. Xandar himself would feel the woman squirm about and cuddle deeper before there was a positive shift of her body and temper. Hot fury warming the woman and the bed as icy eyes snapped up to lock onto the Reaper.
"What in the name of Hell are you doing in my bed."Xandar smiled at Fatima, nodding his head.
“Welcome to the discussion, my Queen. We were just discussing our next move, or at least where we’re heading.” He said, nodding along as the brothers spoke. He made a unamused face at the mention of the Shadow Realm, a place he had heard of but knew very little. He had no contacts, only mythos and legends. He also knew that Mikhail’s kind had come from there, the warrior race of that realm.
“While I don’t know much of that place, I don’t think we need to figure out long term. Short term we can just get the hell out of Askavi west bound into the mountains. Getting away will do us good, but we also need to help formulate a plot of attack. Gather intel, gather support.” It seemed the rather warm and squirmy bundle of joy in his arms was staring daggers up at him, seemingly woken up from all the noise. He smiled casually, not flinching like the others as he slowly started to pet her head, running his fingers through her hair. He looked down at the bed, then back into her eyes.
“Well, it was comfortable. And the furniture is a bit bloodied up thanks to your old friend Mikhail. So when I brought you in here I took the liberty of offering you some company while we discussed our next move. Care to join us? I figured you wanted to be apart of this discussion.”"Ah," came her simple reply to Xandar. She took the warm coffee into her hands and just stared into the inky depths.
"Thank you," came her rather late mumble. She brought the cup to her lips and sipped carefully. She was glad of the acidic, bitter drink. Helped bring her clarity in what was proving to be a very foggy day. She looked back at Xandar and Faeril with a frown.
"You know... I rather enjoy him alive. Please don't hurt him too badly." She then went back to her coffee. She was not about to allow the woman to harm her Eryien friend, not while they were weak in numbers. Not while they were in danger. But she wasn't going to let him just get away with his silly actions either. Everything had a consequence.
Faeril's ice filled eyes narrowed at the cocky warrior as the foolish man ran his fingers through her hair. As enjoyable as it was, and damn him for it!, the woman savored it for a moment as her cheeks flushed with a mixture of pleasure and anger. Jerking her head and self away from the Xandar, the woman gave a impromptu yelp as a large arm about her waist as the Ebon-Grey locked her in place.
"You just decided to pick up my entire bed, and move it out here. So you all could continue a discussion." She stated slowly, her voice filled with glacier coldness.
"Release me, and take my bed back." She stated each word slowly as if speaking to someone not particularly bright.
"You three did not stop him?" She snapped at the brothers who had looks ranging from smirks to hurt false innocence.
"Well, you were sleeping," Fatima said in their defense
Mikhail heard in silence as the group considered the options they had. Dareen had been somewhat quiet since he finished interrogating the Eyrien prisoner, but she did a quick comment mentioning Pruul. While Pruul would be a good place for someone to disappear, it was also an incredibly dangerous place for a thousand different reasons. Overall, not a good option for them.
After welcoming a rather confused Fatima, Gennar was the next to voice his thoughts, adding Hayll to the list of the places they shouldn't go. He also mentioned it wouldn't be a good idea to risk going to Dhemlan, but considering what they were trying to do, they should consider it too.
"Kaeleer..." Mikhail repeated, thinking.
"It might be a good option. It wouldn't be that hard to erase our tracks. The lack of information is exactly what it makes a very good place for what we are trying to do. Getting out of Askavi will still be a bit dangerous, but once we get there, we should be safe." He continued, after hearing Gennar and Xandar.
Before he could say anything more though, Faeril, who was sleeping soundly until now, finally woke up and she was just as pissed as Mikhail thought she would be when she saw Xandar on the bed with her...
Knowing that nothing good would come out of the current situation with Faeril, even after Fatima's words, Mikhail discreetly gave a step back, grabbing a cup of coffee as an excuse to give a few steps back so Faeril's eyes wouldn't immediately met with his.
“Well did you not want to be part of this discussion? I figured you would want in. I didn’t want to disturb your sleep.” Xandar chuckled, still holding her as he carried her over the shoulder and slid off the bed. He used both hands now, holding her securely as he floated the bed behind him.
“Well you heard the lady, she wants no part in this. I feel like we’re in agreement anyhow. To the mountains and out of Askavi, then off to the land down under. Marvelous. Well, goodnight everyone.” He said as he disappeared with Faeril and the bed into her bedroom.
Dareen scratched the back of her head through her hood, furrowing her brow at the odd display of petty power plays. It reminded her of the squabbling amongst the lower ranks of her old crew. But it was hard to read Xandar's actions as merely playful teasing. One of the most essential parts of having a healthy banter-based relationship with comrades is the ability to allow oneself to occasionally be the butt of the joke. Dareen couldn't imagine the Grey jeweled goliath allowed himself to be put in a situation like that. She glanced around at the brothers three, Mikhail, Fatima, and the new person whom with she had not been properly introduced. There'd probably be time for that later. Dareen watched with a bemused detatchment as the bed floated out of the room and vanished around the corner.
"I, uh..." She pressed her lips together and said nothing. But somehow the brief statement managed to get her message across anyway.
Mikhail watched in silence and still shocked as the exchange between Xandar and Faeril went on, resulting in him quite literally carrying her away in his arms, together with her bed into Faeril's bedroom.
"... I don't know if it's too early to ask but... Do we already have a replacement for Xandar...? Oh, by the way, I'm not cleaning the ground after Faeril is done with him." Mikhail said, giving another sip into the cup of coffee he had began drinking only as an excuse to walk away, but now was drinking it for real.
It was then that he heard Dareen's voice as she began saying something but interrupted herself. She was awfully quiet since the 'interrogation session' she saw him doing... While Mikhail understood that she wanted to be useful, he couldn't help but to think that she was still a bit shocked about the experience.
"Dareen, are you ok?" Mikhail asked in a low tone as he gave a few steps towards her.
"I do understand you want to be helpful, but you don't need to force yourself to do or watch something you wouldn't like to. The things you watched me doing in Faeril's secret room... Can I do anything to help you forget about them?" Mikhail asked, low enough so only Dareen would hear.
Unlike other times, his voice was much calmer and his eyes weren't as cold and penetrating as they were anymore. With the situation calming down, Mikhail's personality also changed accordingly, a trait that those who were around him should have noticed by now.
Dareen raised her eyebrows at Mikhail.
"Hmm?" She hummed questioningly. Mikhail was offering...emotional support? If in a slightly ominous way. Help me forget? She thought. She supposed the thought was nice. Certainly Dareen was no stranger to violence.
"Well, thanks, Mikhail." She started talking a little too loud, then lowered her voice to math Mikhail's tone.
"But, uh, I'm fine. You don't need to...help me forget." She managed, suppressing a smirk. What he did was pretty gross, though. Still, she tried to politely dismiss his concerns.
It was all quite a lot for Fatima to take in. She could not process the information - sights, sounds. She touched her fingers to her forehead and breathed deeply before letting out a slow and shaky breath. Her expression turned sour for a moment as Xandar waltzed his way from the room carrying the rowdy Widow. Mikhail mentioned something about a secret room. Things to forget. She shook her head and downed the last of her coffee before standing.
"I am longing for a hot bath," she directed the comment toward the brothers.
"And a warm bed. Would you be so kind as to direct me?" Her voice was tired and raspy, having been put too much to work this day.
