RP:Khitti Pledges Her Service to Frostmaw

Part of the Thy Kingdom Come Arc

Summary: Khitti makes her way to Vailkrin's castle in order to confirm herself as Larewen's chosen ambassador and determine whether or not Hildegarde will accept as such. The knight agrees to accept her if sworn a vow of service: a vow for a vow.

Great Hall of Vailkrin

Khitti was a woman on a mission. She was still a bit off from recent events, but her mind was focused. She needed to speak to Hildegarde and soon. With having met both Lionel and Orikahn and being told that the resistence group would be leaving Vailkrin within the coming days, a meeting with the Silver was even more dire. The vampiress certainly didn't want to get left behind. She's careful to keep an eye out for that strange man with the flaming sword, not wanting to get distracted by him again, but also trying to keep tabs on him. If he were around here, there may be another attack. Thankfully, he seemed to be out at the moment. With her thoughts a little more at ease than they had been, she had managed to make herself presentable for the warrior woman. Adorned in newly acquired red rose-covered black dress, worn boots bring her through the castle towards the Great Hall. Accompanying the dark ranger was the old bow and a quiver strapped to her back, taking all precaution now. A servant is found, and Khitti's intent to speak to Hildegarde given to the female, to which she sets off to the dragon herself to announce that someone had arrived to see her.

Hildegarde would not prove difficult to find for any servant of the castle, given that she was sitting at one of the dining tables: surrounded by the men and women of the castle as if she were no different from them and preoccupied with eating, laughing and talking with them. The knight had no reason to elevate herself above them nor any desire to do so. So the servant only needs to walk a short distance from Khitti to Hildegarde, bending down to whisper into the bulky woman’s ear that she had a visitor. The Silver grasped her napkin and dabbed at her mouth, excusing herself from her present company and from her seat before heading over towards Khitti. “You were looking for me?” she asked, offering Khitti a welcoming smile.

Khitti 's dips her head to Hildegarde, red tresses dancing about her face with the motion, "Yes. I come bearing Larewen's response to your deal." The vampiress seems more somber than she had upon their last meeting, despite the fact that things with Daermon had been repaired, if only vaguely. She did her best to hide it though, opting to fill her head with business, and the possible job that she may acquire. "She chose me." There's still a bit of surprise in her voice as she says this. She hadn't expected Larewen to choose her after all of their issues, but it happened nevertheless. "Are you alright vith zhis? I'm sure she can find someone else more suitable if need be."

Hildegarde lifted her chin ever so slightly when Khitti made it clear she was here on business. That sombre look making more sense to Hildegarde now. “Would you like a seat?” she said, gesturing a nearby armchair. It was the polite thing to do, after all. “Hm. When last we spoke, you seemed rather… abrupt. You were more than willing to brush off every word I had to say to you,” meaning that Hildegarde had found Khitti to be a little bit on the rude side and she didn’t particularly like that. “I suppose my question to you is: are you alright with this? What makes you suitable for the position? You would be acting as an ambassador for your house, your city, and you would become a protector of my realm. This is a heavy duty on your shoulders.”

Khitti allows a frown to grace her features, crimson brows knitting together. The offer of a seat is taken with thanks, her bow and quiver removed to allow for some sort of comfort, and a soft sigh offered in response as she gathered her thoughts. "I have been rather...strained as of late." She pauses, thinking on how to word things so that she doesn't somehow succeed in getting Hildegarde to turn her away. Casting a sideglance at Hildegarde, she continues, "Forgive me, I am not so great vith people. 'Tis not you, nor anyone else's problem, but mine alone. Zhere has been many vrongdoings in my life zhat vere out of my control and I have grown into a bitter voman vith a hardened heart. Daer..." Another pause. That name seemed to cause her a bit of pain, "Daermon, if you ever meet him, and Pilar can attest to zhis. I am just fickle, I suppose. I do vish to do zhis. I must." To help explain further, she reaches down into the bottom of her quiver, soon pulling out a red rose. "It is a heavy duty, but I zhink I can do it." The rose is held out; the thing, while a couple months old now, has not aged or withered. "I have been vrongly judged. I did vhat I had to. Now I must prove zhat I am not...zhis monster zhat I have been dubbed unfairly. If you vill allow me to, zhat is."

Hildegarde would gesture at the armchair, one hand extended to the chair and one held at her abdomen in a symbol of reverence to her guest. Hildegarde was nothing if not polite. The knight would follow after Khitti, sitting down soon after she had. She listens carefully to what Khitti has to say, what she might try to say to explain away her behaviour. “Ah, love,” she remarked quietly. “I have met Daermon, yes,” and she had not been terribly impressed. As Larewen’s second, she would have expected more from the man. But perhaps it had merely been a bad first impression. As the rose is revealed to her, the knight recognises it. In fact, she has one just like it but a different colour. Indeed, the knight slips her hand into a pouch hanging from her belt and withdraws the seemingly resilient white rose. “You must swear a vow to me,” she said after a long and thoughtful pause.

Khitti tilts her head slightly to the side as Hildegarde reveals that she had indeed met that damnable elder vampire. He was definitely a different sort of man. When the white rose is revealed, however, the dark ranger was clearly taken aback. No, the look on her face was more...heartbreaking. Another with a white rose? From the things she had heard of Hildegarde, of the good she had done, it wasn't surprising. It was merely the fact that she had come across so many with the white and she had been given the red. And from what she had heard, the worst of all. Was she truly that awful for the choices she made that day? Her thoughts trail away from the conversation, a momentary lapse of discord in her eyes until the mention of a vow is made, "A vow? Vhat sort of vow?" Her dark line of sight finds the dragon again, studying her with peaked curiousity.

Hildegarde tucked the rose away after a moment or two, to hold it out otherwise would be tantamount to bragging and that was not in Hildegarde’s nature. “A vow for a vow,” she said. The Silver cleared her throat and rose from her seat, for this was no simple thing; this was a grand and important gesture. “If you have a weapon, you should draw it now. Pledge your weapon and your service to me, if you wish this life of service and office in Frostmaw,” the knight instructed. “I vow that you will always have a place in my house, at my table, and by my side. I will ask no service of you that might bring you dishonour. I promise not to toss you thoughtlessly toward your End. I swear it, by all the world beneath our feet,” she swore it solemnly, repeating the words her own liege lord had once said to her.

Khitti slipped her own rose away into the quiver as Hildegarde stood and spoke those words. She too removed herself from her own chair; the old, yet remarkably preserved bow snatched up as she did. Gripping the weapon tightly within her right hand, she outstretches her left. A curious looking butterfly appears, the purple and black insect radiating with dark energy. "I pledge both my magic and my bow to you, your cause, and to Frostmaw." She was nervous, there was no doubt, but she remained steadfast. Failure was no longer an option for the vampiress.

Hildegarde glanced at the odd insect but didn’t comment on it. She didn’t have a deep understanding of magic, so it didn’t feel right or appropriate for her to question it really. “Well, that is that, then,” she said with a little smile. “I look forward to working with you in earnest.”

Khitti , with all of that business stuff done for the most part, manages to loosen up a bit. To know that she would be going to Frostmaw was definitely a weight of her shoulders. The butterfly flits off of her hand and lands on her shoulder. "Likewise." is offered with a bit of a lop-sided grin. "I met a rather large feline by zhe name of Orikahn. He mentioned zhat ve vill be leaving soon. Is zhis true?" The meeting of new allies reminds her of Lionel as well, "And also, I should varn you, zhere vas an attack on myself and another man zhe last time I came here to find you. I'm not sure if I trust him. Him and I crossed paths again and vas once more assaulted near zhe graveyard." Ever the suspicious one, Khitti's features grew stern, "I zhink an eye must be kept on him."

Hildegarde shrugged her shoulder at the comment pertaining to Orikahn. “If we can leave soon, then yes. But it depends on the position my allies are in, though I hope to leave and take the fight to the giants very soon, yes,” she said softly. “But this will take preparation.” Then Khitti is talking about an attack at the castle and some strange man here. “Hm… Do you know his name or what he looked like?”

Khitti merely nods in acknowledgement of their eminent departure, then continues on with the conversation, "I believe he said his name is Lionel. Giant sword. Lots of fire." The vampiress made a face at the thought of the fire, and was grateful that she wasn't caught in the crossfire of it. "Zhe first attack vere ghouls. I zhought zhat perhaps it vas just coincidence because ve ~are~ in Vailkrin." There's usually no shortage of weird in the dark city, of course. "But, zhe second attack, vas a large..." It actually pains her to say this, a chill running down her spine, "A large, talking spider." A disgusted look is given at the thought before she finally finishes her statement, "It vas going on about zhe old gods and vhat not. Said zhat ve had angered zhem. I know not vhat he speaks of. I am not from zhese lands."

Hildegarde nodded at this explanation. Lionel. She knew him. “That is odd indeed. It seems as if my time here has certainly run out if that is what’s going on,” she said thoughtfully. “Khitti, I believe it is time for you to go. I need to ponder about this information and I apologise for this abrupt farewell, but… you must prepare for Frostmaw.”

Khitti dips her head to the Silver, "Right. I vill let you know if anything else occurs." Gathering her things, she heads off out of the castle to do what she must to ready herself for the journey to that frozen city in the north.