RP:The Keepers Of Secrets And Whiskey

From HollowWiki

Summary: Khitti introduces Meri and Quintessa to one another and Meri joined the Syndicate of Shadows.

The Rebel Room: Art Gallery, Cenril

Meri :: While Khitti is quite familiar with this studio, for Tessa's sake? Khitti is leading her to a very large building that does not look very impressive from the outside, just your boring old red brick warehouse. It's not until the two head into the building that it becomes clearer why Meri would have invested in this property: the main room offers a very large and open space while still offering Meri plenty of storage room presumably for things like paintings, paint, blank canvases...but one can never tell given the trouble that Meri is prone to getting into. The interior is decorated with a variety of paintings that are for sale, some of them the work of Meri herself, the others are from other artists who are looking for a space to show and sell their pieces. The subject of these paintings its not really important though! Meri is not here to sell anything to either Quintessa or Khitti. Naw, she's here to meet this chick that Khitti has grown to love as a daughter. Since she is expecting company, Meri makes herself quite easy to find. The tattooed blonde is out in plain sight within the gallery space, passing the time while she waits by drinking whiskey...and staring at a blank canvas. If she stares long and hard enough, maybe the whiskey will tell her what she needs to paint.


Khitti || “You’re never going to get anything done like that,” Khitti said as her and Quintessa headed into the gallery. “Trust me, I know. I did it earlier while researching some stuff.” Everything was perfectly normal in Khitti’s world. There hadn’t been a fight between the sisters at all recently. Unfortunately for Meri, Khitti couldn’t remember a thing about it, while Meri was left to remember it all. Viera had seen to that the same day she’d seen to wipe Lionel’s mind as well of anything having to do with Captain Brand Herzegler. On the way over, she grabbed a chair for herself, motioning for Quintessa to do the same, and plopped it down near Meri. She came with that satchel of hers, the contents of which were another couple bottles of whiskey--she wouldn’t be hurt if they weren’t finished; it just meant more for later--and some various baked goods from Khitti’s shop. She shoved this at Meri. So she can see it and not be left in the dark on all the things she brought. “Alsoooo, this is Quintessa.” There’s a fancy show of jazz hands and a ‘tada!’ for her sister. “Did I ever tell you how she and I met officially? She saw the bounty I had put up for Lionel and she tried to kill him for me.” Insert innocent grin here.


Quintessa might have been a little bit prepared for this meeting, after all, it had been a long time coming, so the changeling wanted to be sure to make a good impression on Meri; No weapons, no poisons, no shenanigans. How had Khitti put it? ‘Don’t piss her off or she’ll crush your head like an egg’? Well, Quintessa wasn’t intimidated by this, but she still didn’t wish to tempt fate. After the last few months she had tempted it well enough and now she was making an -attempt- to be better. Wearing a simple, black, ankle length dress with a corseted bodice, the only magical items she brought with her was her cloak and boots, which emanate faintly their enchantments, illusion and necromancy respectively. Even without her normal equipment on it wouldn’t be difficult for those keen enough to sense the waves of maleficent mana that swirled around the dark fae subconsciously, creating a foreboding aura that followed her around wherever she went. As they entered, Quintessa’s mismatched eyes danced around the room, the tiniest hint of a smile cracking the corners of her pale lips as curiosity took hold of her. With a simple nod to the woman she had grown to look up to as a mother figure, the changeling brought a chair over to join the sisters. Once Quintessa had been introduced she gave Meri a grin, flashing her a row of sharp teeth before continuing the introduction. “Yes, I tried to kill him- twice even, and then we had a third fight in the Sage Forest but I can’t seem to bridge the gap between our skills, not yet anyway.” From the way Quintessa spoke, defeating Lionel must have meant a great deal to her, a goal she had set for herself to keep pushing her higher. “One day,” she said with a shrug, seeking to change the subject away from the Catalian. “So, you’re an artist I see.” The changeling seemed pleased. She was a well known patron of the arts in Vailkrin and was already considering adding one of Meri’s pieces to her collocation. “I should have brought my sketchbook to show off to you.”


Meri :: In Meri's mind, the fight that they did have not was not extreme enough for her to sit there and be bitter and hold a grudge. We were going to focus on the positive things and deal with all things Viera...later. Right now Aunt Meri needed to meet the latest addition to Khitti's adopted family. Meri's attire is far from flashy, with the most feminine piece of attire worn being a red and black corset...but that was just because the blonde loved to show off all of her numerous tattoos. The rest of her look? Black pants that had holes in the knees, black boots that looked like they have seen better days...and every article of clothing had a little one smattering of paint upon it. "Hey, we can never have enough whiskey as far as I am concerned," says the woman who had been trying very, very hard to be sober for a long time. The introduction of Quintessa has Meri's red lips curling up into a devilish grin. To be honest, the psion was not particularly magically inclined -- what she did would never grant her admittance into say...the Mage's guild. She does not pick up on Quintessa's aura. Would Meri care if she could? Probably not. "Oh, are we still excited about trying to kill Lionel?" Meri couldn't keep track sometimes as some days Khitti seemed to love and hate Lionel all at once. "He'll obviously not be an easy one to defeat...but maybe one day!" Mention of Quintessa's sketchbook keeps Meri grinning. "You've got an open invitation to show off your sketchbook whenever you want...But listen? Come here. And give your Aunt Meri a hug." This should raise a red flag in Khitti's book. Meri is up to shenanigans. When does Meri like to hug? But there she was, holding her arms outstretched toward Tessa, trying to move in for a hug. Maybe Khitti will warn Tessa to not fall for it. Maybe not. If Tessa goes in for the hug though, Meri is just going to pull her in for a noogie to try and obnoxiously break the ice. Moral of the story: the werewolf may not need to be pissed off to try and crush someone's head like an egg. Or in this case, mess up their hair.


Khitti couldn’t help but look between the two of them. She also couldn’t help but notice that she was the shortest person in the room. Brand would certainly make fun of Khitti for this were his around… and if she remembered him. But alas. Viera, on the other hand, didn’t really make fun of Khitti at all for that sort of thing--Viera was pretty damned short too. The thought of Viera instantly brought a bit of color to Khitti’s cheeks and she was quick to cover it up with digging through that bag of hers for one of the bottles of whiskey (she won’t be using a glass for it). She wondered if she should even tell her sister and adopted daughter about the fact that she had a girlfriend now. It was big news! But. Lionel had reacted oddly and had quickly left the Tranquility afterward. “It’s true. I do want to kill him sometimes. That bounty was a warning though. For getting his stupid ass kidnapped and making me think he just up and left,” she said with a smirk as she uncorked the bottle and took a swig. Khitti went to offer the bottle to Quintessa, but she was soon interrupted by Meri’s antics. It was true. Meri hardly ever hugged people and to be honest, Khitti was the same way. You’ve gotta be reaaaaally special to get a Khitti hug willingly. She only watched though as Meri attempted to welcome the changeling into the family. There’d be no warning.


Quintessa seemed quite happy to have an open invitation to show off her notebook, and the already large grin on her face grew even larger. This reaction, however, was short lived, as Meri offered a hug and the changeling’s smile dropped away as she moved closer to accept it, a loud ‘Eep!’ escaping her lungs as she’s pulled into a noogie, and weakly tries to resist. Quintessa didn’t know what a noogie was until today, and now she had been educated. “Alright, alright!” The changeling slipped out of the lycan’s grasp with a giggle, trying to smooth out the hair that had been tussled up haphazardly. “You two really are sisters,” Quintessa says with a smirk, blue and hazel eyes flickering back and forth between them, happy that there was a third woman out there with questionable sanity to hang out with. At Khitti’s words, the smirk evaporated, and the dark fae girl turned to face her properly. “Kidnapped?” Her head tilted to the side in curiosity. How could someone like Lionel get kidnapped? Perhaps if she knew that she would have defeated the ‘Butcher of Vailkrin’ instead of failing against him. “How’s a man with his reputation always disappearing? What was it last time- a chronomancy mishap? Magik told me that he just faded out of existence one day and that was the only thing I could conclusively infer from the anomaly.”


Meri :: Unless Khitti wants to see Meri's head spin like something out of the exorcist, she might want to keep the name Viera to herself. Projectile vomiting will thankfully not be included in the moment. You love BRAND Khitti. As Rorin put it: you have like three kids with him, dude. Back to Quintessa though, Meri was not entirely sure how this moment would go with the noogie. Frankly, the werewolf was half expecting to be decked as a result of her antics, not that she could blame Quintessa. She's pleasantly surprised when Tessa deals with her bull honkey like a champ and issues a giggle. 'Alright, alright' definitely causes Meri to release her grip on the changeling, just making her escape all the easier. Every joke has it's boundary before it's no longer funny. Meri tones her behavior down as she settles into a chair near between Khitti and Quintessa. The werewolf was more than content to drink whiskey while conversing with two women, it would give her a chance to finally get to know Quintessa a bit. Alas, for this subject, Meri determines that Khitti is more equipped to answer. How does Lionel manage to get himself kidnapped Khitti? Please humor us with this answer. Meri's contribution to the conversation is a quick, "Who is Magik?" A man that Meri has seen around, usually at rather busy events, thus her failure to place a face to the name.


Khitti’s writer really doesn’t know how Rorin knew that she had more than one kid. Khitti doesn’t talk to him, like, ever. Maybe Arkhen gave him some sort of clairvoyance. He -is- pretty weird after all. “I dunno. I have a habit of it too. Meri knows. You’d think we were blood-related, but also I’m grateful I’m not because I don’t want to be a princess,” Khitti made a face at the thought. She might like wearing formalwear occasionally, but she doesn’t do the whole high society thing much. She finally handed over the bottle to the changeling if she wanted it, Magik is… To be honest, I don’t really know. We don’t see each other often enough to really get to know each other. He works for the Mage’s Guild. When it’s not figuratively up in flames, that is. More importantly than all of that though… And now that you’ve met Meri. I wanted to bring up that whole… thing that we do, Quintessa. You know. The Thing™.” The Syndicate, Quintessa. That thing. “I haven’t really gotten a chance to talk to you about it, but I suppose now’s as good a time as any.” She sighed somewhat. It felt like she didn’t have time for anything lately. “I wanted to suggest Meri as a possible member for the Syndicate. I trust her with my life and I think she honestly might be shadier than the rest of us in the organization combined.” There was a smirk to go with that last bit. Khitti was no stranger to some of the things her sister got up to. “I know I’m not exactly high up on the food chain, so my suggestions and opinions might not amount for much when it comes to this sort of thing, but you and I both know there’s very few people I trust--especially enough to bring it up in front of someone you’ve only just met.” If Quintessa chose to, Khitti would let her explain a bit more about the Syndicate. “And of course, Meri would have to be keen on it too, heh.”


Quintessa only knew about one of Khitti’s kids, Dominic, who she regarded as a little brother, and if anyone tried to kidnap him again Tessa’s streak of not killing anyone else would come screeching to a halt. He was stuck with her as a guardian now. Besides the child asking about his father a lot more, the dark fea still hasn’t noticed anything weird regarding Brand and Khitti at home- she hardly paid them any attention anyway, and had yet to run into this Viera character despite the fact that she had been coming to the apartment a lot lately. Perhaps it was just happenstance, or perhaps Viera was choosing her visits wisely. It wouldn’t make a difference to Quintessa; She didn’t know Brand very well, and could count the amount of times he had spoken to her on one hand. It wasn’t his fault though, Quintessa was just naturally distrustful of men, which had earned Brand that respectful arm's length distance when it came to getting to know him better. Whatever was going on with him, Quintessa was blissfully unaware of it, and if Khitti had brought up that she had a girlfriend now the changeling would probably just wonder if Karasu would let her have a second girlfriend too. Why limit yourself? “I wouldn’t mind being a princess…” Quintessa muttered, barely audible as her hands found her hips, resting there as she waited for Khitti to stop speaking. Her bringing up the Syndicate, however, caused a small bead of sweat to trickle down the side of her head, a sheepish smile replacing whatever expression she might have been holding onto as she took the bottle into her hands. A long drink followed before she further explained what Khitti was referring to. “Ah~ Alright- The thing…” The bottle is passed to whoever wanted it, Meri was next in rotation so she’d be offered first before she parts her lips to speak. How would she start? “Magikrios Lyastri is an elf who resides in the Sage Forest, a sort of protector of Kelay, if you will. About a year ago I was recruited into a secret organization by him, an organization that we have affectionately dubbed ‘The Syndicate of Shadows’ after the old Syndicate that used to own the headquarters we use. Anyway, this group has only one core desire: Keep tabs on all the governing bodies of Lithrydel, form spy rings and information networks around them, and if they become tyrannical, we work to eliminate them.” Quintessa gave a glance to Khitti as if asking if that was good enough before she spoke to Meri again. “As our name suggests, we do this from the shadows, and sometimes sell our information to the highest bidder, but this is to ensure the operations continue… Is this something that you would be interested in?”


Meri pins a rather analytical stare upon her sister when Khitti suggests her as a member for this Syndicate. Part of Meri was surprised, she'd never heard her sister speak of this prior to this moment. Yet Meri was no stranger to secrets, while Khitti might have an inkling of some of the things Meri got up to, there were plenty of other things that Meri would take to the grave. Loose lips sink ships. Snitches get stitches. Which is exactly why when Khitti makes the claims as to how shady she believes Meri to be, the blonde's first reaction is to life both brows, for Meri is not one to boast of her exploits....and then a smooth smile curves at those red lips. "I'd be the worst princess ever..." Meri quips, but does not really keep much thought on that line of conversation. Quintessa's initial reaction to speaking of the Syndicate does not exactly escape Meri's attention, but it passes without comment. See, Quintessa was explaining something much more intriguing to Meri. Even if Meri was not the shadiest figure in all the lands, everything listed is quite up Meri's ally. Especially the part about 'if they become tyrannical, we work to eliminate them.' One thing about Meri that is no secret is that she's got a thing against Larket, avid witch supporter right here. Again, not something she's about to verbalize, "Is this something that I would be interested in?" Meri takes a long swig from her bottle of whiskey before answering, and not for dramatic pause. Whiskey was just good, m'kay? "Quite honestly, I think it's a damn shame that this is the first that I am hearing about you all." She's looking at Khitti again. Just keeping all the fun secrets from me now, eh, sister dearest? "I'm quite interested. That is, if you are interested in having me."


Khitti reached over and patted Quintessa on the shoulder, “You can be a princess if you really want to. I believe in you.” She was completely serious. Quintessa had more drive than Khitti did when it came to those sorts of things. Then she eyed Meri, “I think the crown would get up and run away from people like you and I.” The changeling would describe the clan to Meri and Meri would chide Khitti, only for Khitti to put her hands up like ‘I swear I’m innocent!’. Mostly. “Haven’t even had time to think about it much, really. Been too busying picking up the slack for Lionel while he was off on vacation at that archipelago I mentioned before. I don’t even frequent the headquarters much either, but that’s because I’m terrible. Not because it’s bad there or anything.” She shrugged. “Haven’t even been at the Devout’s Guild place lately either. Or the Warrior’s. Too busy working on stuff at the Necromancer’s Guild’s tower.” Finally taking the bottle from Quintessa, she took another long drink. “But, I meant what I said. I definitely think you’re a good fit. Honestly, you’re probably a better fit than I am. I just want to stab terrible members of royalty. Give people freedom. You know. Little things.”


Quintessa allows a smirk to form on her pale face as Meri teases Khitti for keeping secrets, and the smirk only expands into a full blown grin when Meri asks if they would be interested in having her. “Well, typically there is some kind of vetting mission- and trust exercises to know we can tell you our secrets, but since Khitti has personally vouched for you I don’t really see the point in it. I didn’t test her either, and she’s right, we’ve had our hands tied up with a number of world-ending events. Giant, subterranean, mind-frakking, plants. Giant, transdimensional, undead insects. And…” Quintessa gives Khitti a look that shows a hint of the guilt she felt about it. “Holy-tree killing maniacs.” Another smirk replaces her solemn expression, one that showed she was alright poking fun at herself for getting involved with an evil demigod that tricked her into doing its bidding for a while. “But even in the midst of all this I maintain my information rings, especially in Xalious and Larket. No nobles need stabbing more than Macon and Josleen, after all.” Quintessa gives a cheeky wink to Khitti before focusing on Meri again. “However, more important than the little things like regicide and freedom is discretion.” Quintessa smiles at Meri, her lips pulled tightly in a curved line across her face. “I remember you- From the Snowflake Soiree last winter. You and your date won best dressed couple and I shared the stage with you for a while. When I asked my spies about you they couldn’t tell me much, which means that I already know you can act without being seen.” Quintessa gives a quick glance around the room. “Sometimes the lack of any viable information tells you all that you need to know.” Her mismatched eyes settle on the bottle, and she takes a smaller drink than before once it was in her possession yet again. “So, if you really are interested, I’ll let Magik know. I’m sure he’ll want to meet you before this becomes official, but this is just a formality. He will trust my judgement on this, especially if Khitti also approves.” Quintessa gives Khitti a look that suggests that perhaps her word carried more sway with the Syndicate than she knew.


Meri rises from where she is seated and motions for Khitti and Quintessa to do the same. If they followed Meri, they would be lead to her apartment within the gallery where the three could spend the right drinking and chatting away about various things. Of course, both Khitti and Quintessa could also make the choice to leave. But...! Meri had plenty of space up there for people to pass out on. Her couch was comfortable, yo, there was also more than one bed. Regardless of what choice they make, Meri would explain while they are in motion, "Oh if you want to vet me, go ahead. I'm always down for a good time." Meri's definition of a good time should probably be called into question though, because she was nodding and grinning when Quintessa went on about mind-frakking plants and undead bugs. It should also probably be called into question because look who she calls sister? That crazy redhead named Khitti. "Well, as you already pointed out...your spies weren't able to find much on me. Which means I definitely know something about discretion. Something I take quite a bit of pride in." Quintessa would learn, in time, Meri is quite good with her secrets. For example, if Khitti and Quintessa did opt to spend the rest of the night drinking with Meri? All the whiskey in the world wouldn't cause Meri to spill any -real- dirt on herself. Husband. Family. What is it with the warrior's guild and giant bugs. These were all things Meri might bring up...! But trust, the blonde values discretion above everything else. Except...maybe gold. Possibly her husband, but that depends on the day. Kidding...!


Khitti only nodded along as Quintessa listed off the various things that kept them tied up as of late. She gave no indication of any sort of anger that she might’ve felt towards the whole tree business. Khitti had decided one way or another that she was going to help get that ‘god of undeath’ taken care of, even if she had to do it herself. She did indeed follow after her sister, grabbing up that bag of snacks she’d brought and taking the bottle of whiskey along for the ride too, if Quintessa hadn’t already picked it up. The fact that Quintessa had tried to indicate that the things Khitti had to say regarding clan-related things was valued hadn’t gone unnoticed, but she said nothing to that either. It unfortunately took a long time before Khitti truly felt a part of things; it was a personal issue she had to get over with. “Oh uh… just so you know. Your husband’s going to kill me. I may or may not have dropped Dominic off there so we could have “girl time” and not have to worry about a child drawing all over your walls with crayons. So. He’s there. Still. With him. And everything else there.” She blinked cutely at Meri before collapsing down onto the couch and digging into her satchel for a double chocolate chip muffin. Yep, Khitti was staying there for the night. She wouldn’t dare go back to Sage Forest right now. “You’d probably know less about me if even half the things I did didn’t include Lionel. That and if I hadn’t actually told you things too. Distant past stuff I mean,” she said in between massive bites of muffin. Khitti had no shame when it came to eating sugary treats. She just tried at least to keep crumbs off Meri’s furniture. As for Meri’s own vetting, Khitti felt that’d given up enough information for Quintessa to make her decision and the rest would certainly be up to Meri. And besides, there wasn’t much more she could tell anyway. Khitti had secrets just like her sister did and she wasn’t going to pry when it wasn’t needed.


Quintessa stands slowly to follow after Meri, looking to Khitti yet again for approval before her feet carried her along. “Well, I really -should- vet you, but I don’t like giving out busy work. When I want to test you, it’ll be something useful.” The young mage was already letting the thought run away in her mind. “Honestly, I’m not sure what skills to test you on. You don’t strike me as a thief, not a petty one, anyway- and your strength is impressive. When you put me in that headlock I was a bit surprised-” Quintessa narrowed her eyes at Meri, a tiny smirk accompanying her suspicion. “You’re not human, are you? Or perhaps a weird human, like Khitti, but stronger, like Krice. Is Krice even human? That’s still a mystery to me.” After clashing blades twice with him and poisoning him once, Quintessa thought she’d have a better idea of who the silver haired enigma was, but no. She was still clueless. However, when it came to idle chit-chat, Quintessa was happy to oblige. She might have been a murderous cut throat at times, but nobody could deny that the changeling was gregarious sort, easily slipping into social settings despite being obnoxious and rude at times. It wasn’t like many people pointed that out, for fear incurring her wrath. When the subject of Dominic came up Quintessa snickered at the idea of him giving Meri’s husband a hard time, catching the drapes on fire like that one time when Quintessa had been drafted to babysit him. “I guess that means I’m the open book between the three of us. It seems like everyone and their kinsmen has their eyes on me and what I’ve been doing in Vailkrin. You’d think they’d get their stories straight, but most of the things people say about me are lies. If I was really the child of a demon I wouldn’t waste my time consorting with mortals, that’s for sure.” From the way Quintessa was getting comfortable, spilling the tea on her business with House Dragana, it seems like she was prepared to stay up all night drinking and chatting too, so long as neither woman minded the smell of her clove cigarettes, that is. It was getting much too cold out to step outside every time she wanted to smoke, especially while she was drunk.


Meri smirked at the news that Callum was also stuck with Dominic. Did Meri have any amount of guilt? No. None at all. One day Quintessa would get to meet the other child that Callum was stuck watching, Meri's spawn and Dominic's cousin. Her name was Fleur. She does not live up to her name...for much like Quintessa? She is also a plant killer. For now at least. Maybe one day she'll grow up and learn to love plants...unless she decides to idolize Quintessa. Wouldn't that make Callum happy? Meri ends up revealing some amount of dirt on herself, "Please. Petty theft is too easy. Been there, done that. If you're going to vet me, at least give me a challenge. I said I wanted a good time, dammit. One fitting of someone who is definitely not a human, but a werewolf." This is said with a slow grin. As Quintessa explains a bit about herself, Meri can't help but a smirk a bit. "I don't know, sometimes it is fun when they can't get their stories straight. Were it me? I would keep them distracted with the lies and keep the truth to myself..." The women chat while drinking plenty of whiskey, at some point Meri manages to locate the spare blankets. Somehow. Someway. There is probably a lot of stumbling involved. Until Meri finally stumbles her way into bed.


Khitti || The subject of Khitti and her human self brought the slightest of frowns to her lips. It’s there for a split second and then it’s gone. Once upon a time, she’d do anything for that cure, but now? Too often lately was she reminded that she was pretty ordinary, magic aside. Even Lionel got a bit of an upgrade on the archipelago. And Khitti? She just… doesn’t die while using her magic. That’s totally useful, right? Maybe, but not as much as those slow and haste abilities that her brother seemed to have gotten. Krice was even more powerful than before--as if he really needed it. “I don’t know what Krice is, to be honest. As a vampire, his blood smelled different than anyone else’s. I mean, everyone smelled different in the first place…” This was a subject Khitti and Meri had gone over way back when. “But, his blood smells… sweet? Almost sickeningly so. I think he’s still human, though. Just… I guess… a weird one like me, as you said.” This whole train of thought reminded Khitti of the fact that her research was calling her from Vailkrin. Those two black tides elements were not going to discover themselves nor was that studying up on thaumaturgy going to just put itself into her head. Geez, was this alcohol making her a little sad? Why you gotta be like that, whiskey? Khitti wouldn’t have a problem with Quintessa’s cigarettes and nor would she butt in with anything more at the moment. She’d even be nice and let Quintessa take the other bed and opt for the couch instead when it was time for them all to pass out.


Quintessa places one of the aforementioned cigarettes between her lips before she snaps her fingers near the end, creating a small flame with a cantrip to fill the air around her with the scent of cloves as the flame burnt the mixture inside. With a snap of her silver cigarette case, Quintessa throws one of her countless smirks in Meri’s direction in approval of her need for a challenge. “Oh, I like you already.” The changeling would be sure to brainstorm with Magik the next time they spoke. Now Quintessa was curious to see just what Meri was capable of. “I let the small folk talk, as they are prone to do. I wouldn’t be able to convince the most superstitious of them anyway, no matter what I tell them.” The dark fae girl exhales slowly, her cloud lingering just over her head. “If they think I’m some sort of demon, so be it. At least they’ll leave me be.” Warm hazel and ice blue eyes flicker over to Khitti as she describes the scent of Krice’s blood. Curious, but it still left much to be discovered about the man that would likely try to kill her the next time they stumbled into one another. Secretly, Quintessa was worried about that. She didn’t want to fight Krice again but if he sought her looking for revenge she’d resist with all the fury of the demon the commoners assumed her to be. “I forget that you used to be a vampire,” Quintessa muses, her gaze now searching for that bottle. “It’s a pity. I often wonder what my own blood smells like…” As for places to sleep, Quintessa had gone from sleeping on the hard, wood floor to sleeping in a missing noble’s bed, Larewen Dragana’s of all people, so it didn’t matter where she slept to her. Anything would be better than her dead father’s rotting cabin again.