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Kadri:

She pauses only momentarily before following.

"Wait. Please."

If he doesn't. . she follows.

<Lia with Daxia - off with others but still near, Bekkah, Darian, Cesare, and Longtooth and Elisa>

With a wry grin that doesn't reach her eyes she shakes her head. "Seems I'm not the only one."

Her shoulders ease a bit when Kadri follows after Mikal.

Daxia
with Dandelion, Barris, Dunwich and Rafe in the Commons

"Hmmmm," was Daxia's only response before turning to see what the commotion was behind her. She watched Mikal storm out, and Kadri follow him. She looked at the others at the table, completely perplexed. Then she turned back to the elder Dayalan, as she rubbed her temples. "Ever want to thump one of your men over the head, Verchovai?" she asked. It may have been a rhetorical question... and it may not have been. "Assuming cobble-block Jvrillian calm self down, ok we use your room for talk? Seems we have much talking to do. Not want to subject rest of town to cobble-block Jvrillian."

Bekkah

She tried to make sense of this. Dazi's life was crazy. So different from the life and people she had seen over the last 5 years. Those people just wanted to survive and be happy. Every body here seemed to have designs and desired power. Nobody seemed to trust anyone else, not even the people within Dazi's circle, she thought as Mikal and Kadri took off.

The problems with the newly found dead imperial was going to be a serious problem. While some may not care, someone was going to make it something big. That she was sure of.

The Heartwood
Early Morning, the Town of Cragside
Rameday The First Day of the Month of Crown of Ice, 2623

Captain Dandelion Koromov

" ... you can borrow my room if you wish ..."

Shoulders rose and then fell.

"As for the other, that's Barris' job."

Celi frowned at Kadri's not-so-veiled threat against Mikal.

"Have a care! Mikal asks for tactical reasons, not to identify someone worth burgling. Do not impugn him so."

Kadri's concern Mikal might consider some illegal assault on Kadri's employer made her think of a badger responding to someone walking too close to its burrow.

Cesare

He watches, he listens but mostly he concentrates on eating his breakfast and encouraging the girl to do likewise.

[OOC Did he get any response from her when he talked to her - see last post? ]

Daxia
with Dandelion, Barris, Dunwich and Rafe then
Bekkah, Celi, Cesare, Darian and Longtooth, Elise and Lia
in the Commons

"Ta, much appreciated," Daxia said, then glanced back at the exit to the stables. "Next time Contract with Jvrillian," she muttered, "make sure mention not allow to drive Daxia crazy. Daxia do well enough without help." She turned back to the Horde's Captain. "When arrive two nights past, not have many questions for Verchovai. After spend day in most interesting town of Cragside, have more questions than think Verchovai have answers." She let out a very frustrated sigh. "Think inconsiderate Imperial make fireside chats with Verchovai difficult. Daxia very much not happy about that." She nodded to Dandy and her lieutenants, then turned to head back to the table where most of her companions waited.

Rather than sitting down again beside Bekkah, she placed both hands on the table beside the bowl... the empty bowl, the one that wasn't going to get filled will any more porridge... and leaned forward, looking at each person in turn. "Verchovai Dandelion agree to let us use room speak privately. We speak now. Same as yesterday, it seem... many plans, little time." She looked at the still-groggy Elise. "You join, please, Elise? This concern you, too. Very much concern you."


[OOC: Guess not. Maybe Daxia will have better luck.]

<Lia>

"Perhaps we should wait until they return? Else they would be excluded and perhaps... more irked." Her glance drifted to the doorway where first Mikal then Kadri so recently exited.

Daxia
with Bekkah, Celi, Cesare, Darian and Longtooth, Elise and Lia in the Commons

"Oh, yes. We wait," said Daxia, also looking towards the doorway. "They hurry, though, or Daxia become... more irked." She gave every indication of being extremely annoyed, though it was hard to tell just who it was who had annoyed her... Mikal or Kadri, or perhaps both.

Mikal

Not too long after leaving, certainly less time that it takes to eat a bowl of porridge, Mikal returns to the inn and takes his seat. Nodding to Daxia, he smiles at her, as if he knows how irked she is. Taking a bite of the half a loaf of bread he carries, he looks around casually as if nothing had happened.

Shortly after, Kadri enters as well, nodding in Daxia's direction - and looking none too stressed. Apparently the issue had been sorted.

Daxia
with the Gang and Elise in the Commons
then in Captain Koromov's room

Daxia glared at Mikal while waiting for Kadri to return; when she did, Daxia nodded to her then said, "Now. We go. Up, up... go, go! Cesare, please help Elise." She waited and watched as they went up the stairs, Darian taking great care to bundle her armor, before following them up. Entering the room last, she noted Cesare had gotten the girl seated on the bed and nodded her approval. She took in the room's layout and furnishings before closing the door.

The room was actually large; the nine of them fit comfortably. The window at the far wall was decent sized with small diamond panes of glass set in lead tracings. A few were actually stained bright colors, adding a touch of color to the whitewashed space. Being next to one of the big chimneys brought a touch of luxury befitting a troop's captain, the one who was paying the bills. It had its own hearth and within it, a fire burned bright making the room actually a touch hot.

The room's furniture was simple, though the small bed was a real one with a feather mattress rather than one stuffed with straw. It had a simple base and headboard and four sturdy posts but that was as far as the ornament went. Beneath the window there was a table with two small wooden chairs and a big wooden chest set against the back wall.

There were some wooden racks too. One held a suit of armor; mostly brigandine... metal plates sewn and riveted between two layers of cloth. Vambraces and greaves of steel rested against it and at its top was a great helm. It bore mantling of black and white checkerboards and within each black square there was a grey starburst. No, not a starburst.

A dandelion.

The second rack was also martial. It held a long wooden lance, it looked like a spear but was far too long. Set below it was Captain Koromov's sword in its scabbard; that odd long blade of cold iron.

On the last rack, clothes were set out, mostly tunics of browns and cream. There were, however, two that stood out. A tunic and surcoat set -- the tunic white, the surcoat black but with two vertical stripes of silver. The second, a matched set of deep blue over and under tunics, one a shade darker that the other. The cuffs and hems, however, were emblazoned with a running band of the black and white checkerboard of the disenfranchised House Koromov.

Upon the table there was a small vase of wildflowers, lilies of the moon, wolfsprite, some black-eyed-susans and... camelia.

Daxia took great care to close the door, then stood with her back against it... holding that position for two, perhaps three heartbeats before bursting out laughing, doubling over and supporting herself with hands on her knees.

"Hoi, Mikal!" she finally gasped. "Think you convince almost everyone you derro, make boss angry. Kadri! You play over-sensitive well... certainly have Celi convince, yah Celi?" Daxia grinned and straightened, leaning comfortably against the door with arms crossed. "This save world business not go well, always possibility of acting troupe."

Then she became serious again, though still relaxed, as she looked around the room, making eye contact with each of them... save the young girl who still looked dazed and confused. "More complications. Man who kidnap Elise, man Darian kill... he Imperial, from most powerful family, Velikii. That mean bad news for all us... except Lia, if Daxia understand Imperial politics right, and Bekkah, Daxia hope.

"Now have three tasks... secure ore, make sure Elise safe, get out of town. All quick-quick, yes?

"Mikal have idea for secure ore. Daxia have idea for getting Elise safe. We need all think of way to get out... Daxia have thought about that, but say later."

She turned to the Plains woman. "So, Kadri... Mikal explain idea, what we need? Is possible? Samara own any adjacent warehouse?"

Kadri

"She owns both adjacent warehouses, actually."

Cesare

He helps the girl up the stairs and then makes sure she is comfortable. He takes a place standing by the window, listening but looking out frequently, using his vantage point to see whatever he can from there, including whether there is a way out. Not that he needs one but it is a habit to always have an escape route where possible.

He listens as Daxia explains, little showing on his face. He does not understand the need for the acting scene they had played out, nor is he too worried about the noble. He agrees they should move on, he would have felt that way even if no-one had beeb killed.

He does have one thing to ask though.

"Anyone thought to ask the girl what she wants? I know the lowvine hasn't worn off yet but she might just have an opinion herself."

It is not said in an emotional way or in a way meant to accuse anyone. He just prefers that folk get a chance to have some say in their own destiny.

Daxia
with the Gang and Elise in Captain Koromov's room

Daxia nodded to Kadri, then tilted her head and smiled at Cesare after his comment. "So glad somebody listening when Dazi keep saying ore belong to girl, need to see what girl want. Ta, Cesare." Then she looked at her sister and motioned for her to sit beside the girl, before she stepped over and crouched in front of her. Gently taking the child's hands in her own, she looked up and said softly, "Elise? I know you're still foggy from the drugs, but we need your help to make sure you'll be safe when we leave. We don't want anyone to hurt you again. Do you think you can help us, little one? You'll try, won't you?"

Celi

"That *is* her ore, as well, is it not?" Celi didn't want to dress up a theft in the guise of a rescue, however necessary. That sounded more like a ransom than a rescue.

She had to admit that -- assuming they were acting as Daxia implied -- they had both fooled her. She would have to talk to Mikal about that, assuming he had been aware and then allowed it to proceed without informing Celi. What if she had done something foolish to protect his honor? She had been on the edge of doing so, but had fortunately decided to await his return.

She took a turn by the window, feeling decidedly uncomfortable in these overly warm and oppressively close quarters. More than all the rest of them combined, she prized open space and unhindered headroom. Excessive warmth was way down the list of her prized circumstances. You could always add blankets. You could only take off so many clothes.

Bekkah

She looked as surprised as Celi when Dazi explained what had happened. She wasn't sure she liked that kind of deception, she could tell from Celi's expression that she certainly didn't.

*Dazi needed to be more careful.* she thought.

She held the girl's hand. Without seeming to, she checked to make sure the girl's temperature and heart rate seemed normal.

Darian

The Hunter frowned. "Kill only bandits, saw no Imperial."

Kadri, meanwhile. . . . .

Well. She had reacted as was natural. And then resolved it as was natural. And. . .

Anything else was outside of her plans entirely.

<Lia>

She had moved to the table, carefully avoiding Celi, blocking the view almost protectively where there were some small papers and what looked like brushes, paints and other things as well. She avoided eye contact, staring off placidly instead.

There was a minute shake of her head at the mention of safety but once more she said nothing.

Mikal

He smiles slightly at Daxia, then says to the others by way of explanation. "We were betrayed. Our enemies knew we were going to move and take a wagon out of the city before we acted. Someone in this place turned us in. I don't know who, so I don't want to start suspicion, though I don't suspect any of us."

"I needed to talk to Kadri alone, and felt it could be good to plant the idea we're not all aligned here. Someone might think they can try to take advantage of supposed internal divisions and we might get a lead."

He turns towards Daxia saying, "Idea will work. As Kadri says her patron owns most warehouses on that street." He then looks to the girl. "However, before I go on, I'd like to hear what she has to say."

"Oh, one other thing", he adds for the group. "Town is locked up tight. Watch is letting no one in or out, so if we expect to leave it won't be easy."

The Heartwood
Early Morning, the Town of Cragside
Rameday The First Day of the Month of Crown of Ice, 2623

Elisa

"And what am I supposed to do?"

Groggy, slow, the young woman lifted her head and blinked.

"I don't care about the whose or whats or where. Mat died several winters ago ... Fa got murdered for our steel, is cost me everything ..."

She looked across the room, quiet.

"Its all I got here and now, and if I can't sell it, I got nothing. Do you understand that? Nothing. Can't even pay the taxes on Fa's house, buy bread at the market, no stake to buy here and sell there ... nothing. Just nothing.

"Is that what you want to be doing to me"

Celi

"Then we must see you through the sale of your ore," Celi said. "To do that, we have to know some things. First, are there people to whom your Fa would refuse to sell? We would not want to dishonor his intent. Second, do you know what your Fa would normally ask for a hundredweight [or a tonne ... or whatever the standard sales weight is], and third, where the nearest honest scales are?"

She was seeing a light at the end of the tunnel that would assuage everyone's honor and leave the girl with her just deserts ... missing revenge for her father, of course.

Daxia
with the Gang and Elise in Captain Koromov's Room

After glancing at Celi with an exasperated look, Daxia focused again on the girl. She lightly squeezed her hand, hoping it would help Elise focus as she continued speaking softly. "The ore is yours, and only yours. Our plan is only to hide it away to confuse the dishonest men in this town, to keep them from taking what is yours." She paused a moment to let that thought cut through the fog.

"You are not yet of age, and we are not merchants; neither you nor we can properly represent your interests." Daxia continued to look up at her, looking into the child's still-foggy eyes. "Kadri there works for Samara Kelleni and trusts her. I met Dama Kelleni today and think well of her, too. If she would agree, would you be willing to let Dama Kelleni act as your guardian and representative? You would be safe and," Daxia smiled with a hint of mischievousness in her eyes as she said, "...if you are as bright as Dama Kelleni says you are, once this fog has lifted from your brain, you will see to it that she gets you a fair price for your ore.

"It would not bring your Fa back to you," Daxia said sadly, "and there will be days when you wish it could. Lady Bekkah and I lost our Mama and Papa long ago, and miss them still. But you would have your stake, you could pay your taxes, you would be safe and secure until you are old enough to represent yourself."

The Dayalan regarded the young woman gravely. "My comrades and I have stirred a hornet's nest to rescue you and keep the thieves from taking your ore, so we must leave this town quickly. But I will not -- I cannot -- go until I know you will be safe. May we contact Dama Kelleni on your behalf, and ask if she will be your guardian and representative?"