Wrath of the Dragonkin

[Khal Drogo]

Daric raised an eyebrow when she said her love was unusual and that her lover was a she. He wiped her tears with his fingers, feeling the elf's soft skin before he leaned over to see the locket and blinked in disbelief when he saw who she was talking about. His eyes widened a little with shock and surprise when he found out that the girl his friend was so deeply in loved with was thinking of Ariadne. He opened his mouth to say something but swallowed it. It wasn't his place to say anything, and it would only complicated matters, or he didn't know what to say. "I knew her, she was a sweet girl" was all he managed to said, "her... husband gave me this sword to avenge her" he said, reaching to unsheath it and handed it to Ariadne to inspect "I won't tell him about this, you can have my word, not unless you want me to" he rubbed her back again, hoping to comfort her a little "I was going to use it to avenge my father but... I might be more fitting for you to be the one".

"Might I ask what this wild goose chase was?" he said reluctantly after waiting for her to give a comment on the sword and possible reaction to that he knew her.

[Lady Jenn]

"You keep the sword," she said, handing it back. "I keep my sword out of habit more than anything, I am far more skilled with knives or my bow. As for Ainur's husband..." She let out a soft chuckle. "I suspect he knew, she said the guards delayed her return one day when she had visited me and...instead of being angry with her, he just said 'Next time bring me back some of the famous Elven bread'. Karolina certainly knew about us, and...when I discovered Ainur's death from Karolina she told me that Vennar had wanted to find me in case our shared grief could help each other, but even knowing he accepted her love for me...I couldn't face him, not with the broken heart I carried, or the guilt that...if I had been there maybe I could have saved her life."

She took a moment to try and calm her emotions before continuing. "Rumours reached the ears of the Sentinels that there was a large Orc raiding party threatening the Northern lands, I couldn't say no to assisting the locals, but it seems it was either a misunderstanding or a drunk fool playing a prank for his own entertainment."

[Khal Drogo]

He sheathed his sword and looked at her, chuckling himself as she told him the story at his worry over nothing. "well I'm glad I won't have to be the one to bare the news to him that he wasn't the only one" he joked a little, pulling out his drink and drank some "wonder if your bread might be good to eat while drunk", he placed his bottle down and looked at her. He moved his hand over to her shoulders pulling her closer to him to comfort her "don't worry about it too much alright? It's not your fault for what happened, or didn't happened. You're a princess with a heart of gold so keep doing what you're doing, now you have me to keep you occupied with my drunken antics" he said laughing a little before he lowered his voice into a warming tone "you know, I'm in no position to say this but you should see him, at least for a little. It'd be good for the both of you".

He gestured the drink towards her "alcohol always help, I know you can't handle your drinks that well but you'll get use to it, drink up". The bottle was almost empty, enough for one big gulp.

[Lady Jenn]

"I appreciate the offer," she said, nudging the drink back to him, "but the only alcohol I have ever tried and enjoyed in any way is only served many leagues away from here. I can at least provide you with some bread though," she said, reaching under her cloak and producing a loaf that seemed dotted by silver lights. "I promise it is edible, don't ask me what the silver objects are, all you need to know is it will not harm you in any way."

[Khal Drogo]

Daric took the bottle back and placed it down "Once this shit is over maybe we could go get a drink from there then, consider it my treat" he said before he observed the silvery bread, he took it and inspect it like some kind of gem which has just been dug up and is now being priced "interesting..." he said before he ripped a piece out and ate it. He couldn't describe the taste but it was nothing like he has tasted before "Might I be able to convince you to share me the recipe? folks at my tavern would love this" he said as he followed it with the alcohol, it wasn't a complimenting flavor so he put the alcohol away in hopes of matching the flavor profile. "I'd want to know what it is though, even if you told me not to ask" he said.

[Lady Jenn]

"Maybe when things are calmer," she said, only just managing to suppress a large yawn. "We need to be as alert as possible for the coming journey, especially since it may be some time before we find another comfortable bed to rest in. That means we are best off getting as much sleep as we can while we are here."

[Khal Drogo]

Daric stood up and dusted himself, the information made him forget the drowsiness. He reached his hand out for her “alright, comfy bed it is, are we sharing beds or rooms or were sleeping separately?” he asked. It’s been a long time since he has sad someone he’d talk to like this that wasn’t a patron at the bar.

[Lady Jenn]

"I promise this is nothing against you," she replied, taking his hand and getting to her feet. "But I would rather have separate rooms. I get the impression most of this inn is empty so it's not like we will struggle to find a free room. And if, for some reason, Merrick asks for payment I can cover that, he and I have arrangements for those times I need to stay here, whatever the reason may be."

[Khal Drogo]

He chuckled at her rejection "fair enough" he gave her a hug, a little tightly though not sure if it were to give her a piece of mind or his own. "I know this is too early for it and you have your own reason to be here, but thank you for coming on the journey with me, had I came along I would've probably gone insane" he said, not letting go until she said otherwise.

[Lady Jenn]

"I should be thanking you," she said. "It was doing me no good to sit in the forest stewing in my grief but doing nothing to avenge what happened to Ainur...I might have been tempted to do this alone, I may have been trained by the greatest of the Royal Guard and spent decades as a Sentinel, but that is nothing against magic as ancient as a relic of Dragonblight possesses." She laughed. "The stories of the elves claim dragon magic was once capable of shaping the world itself."

[Khal Drogo]

"I'd like to hear that, though I suppose it'll have to be at a later date" he said shrugging. He held her for a little longer before pulling away from her a little "As much as I consider us friends I don't usually officially do that before we share a cup by the way" he said yawning a little "if you so choose to accept me that is" he said looking at her, keeping eye contact.

[Lady Jenn]

"I have no issue with people hugging me," she said, shrugging but also smiling broadly. "At least, as long as the person hugging me doesn't cross any inappropriate boundaries anyway, otherwise they'll discover my skills with a knife first hand. I feel more than a little relieved you've yet to give me a reason to pull a weapon on you though."

[Khal Drogo]

He smiled at her, feeling good that he wasn't about to get stabbed by her "that's good to hear, anyways I do hope I'll get to share a glass with you one day, hopefully soon" he said, walking a bit suggesting they should get to their rooms but wanted her to lead the way so they can have rooms close to each other "Well I'd be sorely disappointed if that was your first impression of me, but I believe we'll be good friends" he nudged her a little "maybe even help recommend my inn as a must stay place at my town?" he said, half jokingly.

[Lady Jenn]

"I'm not sure how much of a good idea that would be while we're on the verge of a massive war," Ariadne replied, chuckling. "But assuming we both manage to get out of this alive, I promise I will convince as many people as possible to come to your inn. I even promise to avoid sending a load of Orcs more likely to loot your tavern than to actually drink your wares."

[Khal Drogo]

"wise choice, though if you do I'd put their heads on a spike, that ought to teach them who they shouldn't mess with" he said smiling tiredly and yawning "anyways we should go sleep, good night princess, if you have nightmares feel free to come to me" he said, half jokingly and paused to look at her reaction a little before going into his room, change and sleep.

[Lady Jenn]

"I'll bear that in mind," she said, laughing. "Although when you spend long enough in the Forest of Shadows you learn that real life is often a hell of a lot scarier than the worst your imagination can conjure. Good night," she said, heading for one of the smaller rooms, hanging most of her weapons over the back of the door but making sure she kept one of her knives close to hand as a precaution she hoped would be entirely unnecessary.

[Khal Drogo]

Daric stepped into one of the larger rooms, one for couples or lovers out of habit. It wasn't because he wanted Ariadne to go with him, rather it was to reminiscent of the good times with his long gone girlfriend, though he didn't bring it up because his story with is lover was a short lived one which was less painful than most. Another reason he picked the large room was because that way no one would hear his screams and cries during the night. At least that's what he had hoped.

He unclothed and showered, dried then put on accomidation clothes and slept on the bed, staring into the ceiling thinking of certain things in his life which he wished was different. Then went to what will be and slowly nodded off.

[Lady Jenn]

Ariadne managed to sleep without any interruption, waking up and throwing on her clothes. She then headed downstairs to find the town and even the inn were still quiet, the only other sign of life being Alexander trying to sneak some food from the kitchen, who looked extremely sheepish when he realised Ariadne had spotted him.

"Put some of the less...healthy food back and I won't mention it to your father," the elf said, chuckling. "Be thankful it wasn't Daric, I'm not sure he'd be as charitable." Once he had scurried off back to the kitchen she found a seat at the bar, deciding to wait for the others before worrying about food.

[Khal Drogo]

Daric wakes up as he felt light from the rising sun shining onto his face. He got up and changed into his clothes after a quick wash. He walked down stairs to see the elf seated at the bar "well you sure are up early" he said yawning and stretching a little "though since you're a ranger I shouldn't be surprised".

He approached the bar and grabbed himself a bottle, he placed a fair amount of money for the drink and took a sip "slept well I hope?" he said taking a seat next to her and waited her response, looking at her.

[Lady Jenn]

"In a forest like that it can become next to impossible to tell when the sun comes up," she said, chuckling. "So my body tends to wake me up when it wants to, as opposed to when I'd like it to." She went to get herself a glass of water, sitting back down again with a sigh. "I slept better than I have in some time, how was your own sleep?"

[Khal Drogo]

"good, as good as I could have anyways" he said shrugging before taking another swig and wiped his mouth. He wanted to hide his nightmares and thoughts of things that happened or could happen.

"so what's for breakfast?" he said approaching the door and opened it. He saw Alex eating the food and returning the ones Ariadne deemed less healthy "care to share little boy?" he said to the boy, leaning on the door, smiling at his bravery as he leaned on the door frame.

[Lady Jenn]

"I can offer you something a little more...fulfilling," Merrick said, entering the room just as Alex dashed out, the old man unable to suppress a smile at the boy's activities. "I got wise to what he was doing a long time ago, so all he manages to steal is what my patrons won't eat themselves." He walked over to a small stove in the corner of the room. "I can offer you fresh bread and milk from one of the local farms if you want it, I'm aware my cooking doesn't match up to Elven food though."

[Khal Drogo]

Daric turned to see Merrick enter and smiled at the kind old timer as he spoke. "could've just told the poor boy he could take it instead of making him sneak around, or are you training him as a thief?" Daric joked and chuckled looking at the stove Merrick went to. He nodded at the food offer and shurgged "I've only eaten elven bread once, I'm taking that as a luxury not the norm" he chuckled and approached the man "thanks for the stay by the way, as an innkeeper I kinda feel bad staying here for free after the commotion last night"

[Lady Jenn]

"But for the threat of what Ariadne can do to anyone who causes me hassle this inn would've closed a LONG time ago," Merrick said. "So as far as I'm concerned her and anyone she calls friend has earnt the right to not have to pay me for their stay." He reached into one of the cupboards, producing a loaf and pulling a knife from a nearby drawer. "And I wouldn't worry about Alex, that tyke will be down to the baker's shop as soon as he thinks we're not paying attention. You can say many things about him, hungry is definitely not one of them."

[Khal Drogo]

Daric laughed as he listened to the story and turned back to look at Ariadne, after a moment he realized he was staring a little too long and turned back to Merrick "she's amazing isn't she, I don't know what kind of thing the elvens expected in their princess but if it were my princess, the last thing I expected of her to do would be to become a ranger and traveling alone in the woods killing things and protecting small inns" he chuckled, sounding almost dreamy. He shook his head and looked back at the man as he got out breakfast "you could at least tell the kid that you're ok with him doing this ya, know? what's the pointing of hiding it?".