Closed A Nocturnal Visitor (Shayna)

[Adair Askara]

Fall 30, 513 AV

It was a little past the sixth bell, and most of the members of the Morealis family were still asleep, dreaming of whatever rich people like them usually dreamt of. The only ones in the house that were moving about were the slaves and servants that were quietly preparing the breakfast for their masters, cleaning the mansion and getting things ready for the day.

It was a typical, peaceful morning in Kenash. It was still foggy, but the fog would clear up soon, and the weather would be pleasant for the rest of the day. On the first floor of the mansion a man opened a window, looked out and took a deep breath. A second man walked up to him and wrapped his arms around him from behind, they kissed, and then the second man went away from the window again.

The first man, blonde and blue eyed and with a most mischievous expression on his face, considered the distance from the window to the ground and wondered if the trellis next to the window would hold his weight.

Then he looked at the door in the room behind him and shook his head.

He didn’t want the slaves to see him and possibly start gossipping. It would be so much more fun if their little liaison remained a secret a while longer.

He blew his lover a kiss, carefully climbed onto the window sill, reached for the trellis and made his way down which turned out to be a bit of a challenge as most of his body was stiff and sore from a night of passionate lovemaking.

Halfway down the trellis he lost his footing, fell and landed on his behind.

~~~

Adair sat there for a moment, frowing, and then he rose and rubbed his sore behind as he considered the surprising events of the night again. Who would have thought that the Morealis boy swung that way and would invite him into his bedroom?

As he snuck across the grounds, as quietly as he was able to, he wondered what the other members of the family were like and if he could possibly persuade the haughy and well-mannered Katherine Morealis to a threesome.

Maybe she wouldn’t be as haughty and well mannered then.

[Shayna]

Having risen early to stretch out the tension that settled into her lower back akd shoulders from her daily struggle with Katherine Morealis' gardens Shayna moves effortlessly through the courtyard. She had less then a bell to get to the river to meet her Mistress for her walk into town, but she was in no hurry as the meeting spot was not far and she was early, as was her normal design. It is never good to make your Mistress wait, particularly if you wish as desperately as Shayna does to not be playing in the dirt for the rest of one's life. The short slave takes measured steps, her five foot even frame emphasizing her tiny appearance, that one might assume she was simply a tall child of no more then twelve years of age until they got closer to her. Her age is given away by her startling green eyes, observant and canny, a calculating stare. Shayna takes two more steps before she realizes that there was a scene taking place ahead. At first she just assumes it is a normal tryst, those happened often and if she can find out who is who then it would definitely work in her advantage. New as she was to Blacksugar, she was not some idiot slave that is only too happy to duck her head and move along, no any leverage is good leverage. So instead of blending into the shadows, as a respectful slave should to not embarrass the higher born folk, Shayna continues to move toward her goal but with her chin held a little higher as she watches the goodbye scene unfold. As she drew closer she realized that both were men, which causes one starkly black brow to raise against her brow, mildly surprised but also pleasant. She did not know who the man in the window was, but she could bet the man who just landed on his backside was not Morealis. All that remains left for Shayna to figure out is which would serve her best, protecting this little liaison, or ...blowing it out of the water with a quick word to her Mistress. But before either would work she would need to find out names. Shayna quickens her step, and with a little bit of regret about the lost time she would have to compose herself for her Mistress before heading toward the gardens she clears her throat gently before speaking. "Don't you know that doors are much safer..and less conspicuous?" Her voice was soft, but carried a little in the night. Her black hair is one more subdued by the frayed ribbon which is the only thing that was more for accessory then function that she owned. And owned was a figurative word, as technically even that her Mistress owned. "If your trying to sneak out someplace, it would be helpful to try and at least act as if you belong. Sneaking out the window just caught my attention."

[Adair Askara]

„Oh“, Adair made as his gaze fell on Shayna and he realized that he had been caught.

He looked appropriately guilty for a moment – he even blushed! - but a fraction of a chime later he gave her his most brilliant, charming smile.

„Good morning to you as well. I didn’t expect anybody else to be outside at this time of the day. How are you?“

He bowed to her, a rather exaggerated bow.

She could see that he was a bit older than her and looked thoroughly disheveled. His clothes were of fine quality, but there was a wine stain on his white shirt, and one of the buttons of his jacket had come loose. He smelled of alcohol as well.

„To answer your question, using the door might be safer and less conspicious if I were a member of the household, but I’m not. Don’t you think that the slaves would be suspicious if a stranger snuck through the hallways in the dead of night? I can’t act as if I belong if I don’t belong. Besides, leaving through the door just doesn’t have style. Climbing through the window is so much more romantic.“

He rubbed his sore behind again, furrowed his brow thoughtfully and remarked, „I need to perfect my climbing skills though. That was rather embarrassing – and painful.“

He looked at her again and narrowed his eyes as something occured to him. „What are you doing here?“

„By the way, you have pretty eyes“, he added.

[Shayna]

It was never Shayna's way to react, instead she tended to think of herself as someone who acts rather then reacts. To react means to give someone else even more control over her, their actions dictate her actions then. Instead she is always very careful to think every situation through, weigh every word. Some might assume it is just another slave characteristic of being hesitant for fear of repercussions, but in actuality Shayna is a very calculated individual. Was it wearisome yes, but it is all Shayna has ever known. Strike them before they have a chance to strike you, accept that your body is not truly your own but at the discretion of another, but take control over what you can. So it was a bit before she responds to his perchance explanation of why he chose the window over the door, so long that his addition of the eyes bit was already spoken before she could even respond. A smile lights across her lips, not in a pleasure sort of way but a skeptical and almost hard fashion, causing the skin around her mostly-healed Brand to stretch uncomfortably. The diamond over three pillars that was literally burnt onto her face stood out in the shiny surface that denotes a healing process but was very easily identified as the house Morealis crest. "There is no reason to mock me my Lord." Shayna says carefully, speaking to the flourish bow and then at the end the compliment to her eyes. The compliment seemed too tacked on at the end for belief, almost as if it was just an afterthought of practiced flattery. "I am but a slave, who tends the gardens at Mistress Katherine's shop. If you were to use the door, most slaves would not give you a second glance. In fact, house slaves tend to be ...too skittish, afraid of their own shadows to pay you any never mind." Shayna tilts her head to the side, dark lashes lowering just briefly, almost a slip in her normal aloof and controlled expression. Again considering her words, she did not wish to give out any information about the Morealis house. "I am a simple gardener, and it is best to get certain things done in the early morning hours. I am simply heading toward the river to meet my Mistress." Her hands gestured in the general river direction but she does not move to take up her pace toward the body of waters. Instead she turns her green eyes toward him, "I have been a slave here for only 10 days, I do not know the Morealis rooms as I am not allowed in the manor..so your secret is safe with me." Even as she assures the man she is already counting windows so that she could give an accurate representation to her Mistress, should Katherine be interested.

[Adair Askara]

„Oh, don’t look so skeptical“, Adair complained as he noticed the expression on her face and pouted. „It doesn’t suit you. I’m just a nice, innocent man who climbed through a window.“

At her statement that she was but a slave, he took a closer look at her and observed that yes, she had a brand mark on her face. How in the world had he overlooked that?

„Did I do that?“ he wanted to know and scratched his head. „I sometimes mark slaves. I just don’t remember if I did your mark. My mind doesn’t work properly at the moment. I didn’t exactly get a lot of sleep last night, you know?“

He yawned.

As she claimed that the slaves of House Morealis wouldn’t have given him a second glance if he had come through the door and were afraid of their own shadows, he frowned a little, and then he shook his head.

„I don’t think so“, he informed her in a very matter of fact tone. „At least my house slaves are not afraid of their own shadows and would happily report something if it had the potential of improving their position. They absolutely love to gossip.“

He looked in the direction of the river where she had said her mistress was waiting for her.

Could Katherine Morealis kiss as well as her relative?

He pondered the question for about half a chime before he realized that the slave was still there and he should probably say a few more words to her.

„You are probably going to run straight to your mistress as soon as I’m gone and tell her all the more or less scandalous details. Is there any way I can persuade you not to?“

[Shayna]

Shayna swept her dark pony tail back over her shoulder as she eyes the man in front of her. One brow raising when he told her she shouldn't be so skeptical, giving her an almost exaggerated skeptical look on her face. Though it wasn't really skepticism but slight uneasiness. Most conversations with Dynasty ran one of two ways, the first is the simple command and leave, and the second is the annoyed 'I am going to take my annoyances out on you'. Those Shayna knows how to manipulate in her own way, but this conversation was so out of the norm for Shayna that she was having a little trouble anticipating questions, trouble reading the man to see what his motives were.

Her fingers raise as he speaks of her brand, without really much conscious thought to the movement to trace the raised scarring on her face, just to the right of her right eye. The brand is mostly healed now, so there is no more pain just a little tightness that would loosen in time as well. Her startling green eyes close briefly, her dark lashes fanning against her freckled cheeks for the slightest of seconds as the recent memory of white-hot pain, the smell of scorched flesh rose unbidden to her mind before she resolutely pushed it back. "You must forgive me my lord, I do not remember the person who applied the mark, my mind was..otherwise occupied at that moment." Her words were once more calculated and contrived, a tone of abashed softness injected into her words deliberately.

When he spoke of her mistress, Shayna turns her eyes toward the eastern sky, to better estimate how long she had wasted standing here. She was not getting anywhere with this one, his almost ...odd demeanor foiling her every attempt figuring him out. The mere fact that he is continuing to attempt small talk with an unknown slave girl was just the tip of the iceberg of how this encounter was so different then any other Dynasty member. "How would I do that?" She asks innocently enough, her hands raising in a shrug spread out in front of her. " I do not even known your name. I suppose I could tell her a strange man, with strange behavior slid out the window of a bedroom..but that wouldn't help anyone no would it?"

Still mindful of the chimes slipping away, Shayna moves forward, a slight smile that never reached her eyes graced her too wide of lips, "Though I must meet my Mistress soon," Attempting to slide past him in the direction of the river, the short woman tilted her head upwards with a knowing look in her eye, "I suppose you could always follow me to see if I really do attempt to tell all the juicy tidbits of your...graceful dismount off the trellis against her house?"

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[Adair Askara]

„Don’t call me a lord“, Adair told her. „I’m not a lord, and I’m not sure if I want to be one either. My uncle is a lord, and he has all kinds of unpleasant duties. He couldn’t choose his own name or who he married. If you ask me, that really sucks.“

He made a face as he said that. Adair was glad that he was not Banjemin Askara’s son, but only his nephew. He had all the privileges of being a member of a dynasty, but very few duties.

„I can imagine that“, he remarked as she informed him that she had been otherwise occupied when she had received the mark. „It probably hurt, didn’t it?“ He instinctively touched his own face, as if he could feel the pain she had felt.

He hoped that he would never become a slave. Apart from being painful, tattoos or brand marks on one’s face were also rarely attractive.

„Sorry“, he murmurred as she told him that she didn’t even know his name. „I should have introduced myself. I’m Adair.“

The words had already been spoken when it occured to him that he had just made a mistake.

„Ooops“, he made and grinned somewhat embarrassedly.

„I think I’ll follow you, quietly of course“, he decided. „I really want to know if you are going to tell her. But I think you are mocking me. The way I climbed down the trellis wasn’t very graceful.“

„Remind me not to drink as much the next time I visit the Morealis family, will you?“

[Shayna]

Moving at a steady pace, her shorter legs marking the distance with short strides, her face composed in a mask of indifference. The poor baby, she inwardly thought as he spoke idly about the responsibilities he would not want, when in all actuality he was squandering an opportunity for real greatness. Power wielded by is far better then power wielded against, and if you did not have the power then you were definitely wielded against. People who did not understand this, in Shayna's opinion, was either too stupid to recognize the potential, or too arrogant to appreciate the risk. She got he feeling that this one was the latter.

"It hurt as much as it did, no more no less." She remarked idly, only because she felt it was expected of her. Anything that she wanted to say to this man carefully bitten back. As easy going as he seemed now, he was still Dynasty and as such must be treated like one.

"You must have quite a bit of free time, if you have the time to be both carousing around, and then following a mere slave to ensure she won't speak of the tryst." Even while she walks, she turns her face toward his, one brow quirking upward. "What would it hurt for people to know about your little..friend? You are .." She bit back the word nothing hastily, almost forgetting herself. "As you say you are not the Lord of your house. What would they care about a rendezvous in the dark, or what a slave has to say about it?"

ℬ

[Adair Askara]

„I don’t actually have that much free time“, Adair informed Shayna because he didn’t want her to think that he was one of those lazy dynasty brats that lived off their family’s money. „I do have a job, but I don’t work at night. At night I do whatever I please. And right now it pleases me to follow you to your mistress.“

„Somebody always cares, for one reason or another“, he replied and walked a bit faster so that he would be next to her rather than behind her. „Besides, I like secrets. Secret rendez-vous are much more fun than just making everything public. Don’t you agree?“

„So where’s your Mistress Katherine?“ he wanted to know as they approached the river and looked around. „Is she already waiting for you? Shall I go and hide somewhere so that I can listen to your conversation?“

„I hope she won’t be mad that I held you up“, he added. “I don’t want you to be punished because of me.“

[Shayna]

It could be so tiresome having to weigh each word that falls from her lips, while all slaves must be careful how they speak to freeborn and Dynasty members Shayna is doubly careful due to her aspirations. It did get quite loathsome at times, and it was these times she almost regretted her ambitious nature..almost.

She lets him talk while she walks in silence, knowing that she would end up answering his questions whether she wanted to or not. The question was how she was going to answer, that is always the question. It was not until they neared the river that she did speak. "No, I wouldn't know if secret meetings are more fun the public ones. I am a slave. All of my meetings are the business of my Mistress, for I have no personal business." She stops as she reaches the bank of the river, turning to face him, her chin lifted and her eyes meeting his boldly. "However my Mistress' business is not mine, so she will be here when she will. I was told to be here at seven bells and that is where I am. If she doesn't get here until seventeenth bell I will still be here." She lifts one shoulder in an almost indifferent shrug. "If it pleases you to hide you may, though I see no point in that. I would know you were there, so is not like hiding would tempt me into saying something to my Mistress I wouldn't when you were visble."

Suddenly a thought struck her, and the corner of mouth lifts in an almost cautious grin. "And what, pray tell, would you do if I started to tell your secret? It would be a bit awkward you come crashing out of a bush to interrupt?"

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