[color=lightcoral][b]The Market District[/b][/color]

Delphi bit down hard on her lip.

"[i]Mmmmph...[/i]" Delphi, despite herself, was moaning in pleasure. Pure ecstasy was shooting up her spine, and it's vibrations could be felt all over her body. She rested a hand on her bare chest, Delphi feared the heart it contained may try to escape, she had never felt it race this fast.

Truth be told, she had never felt this good in her life.

"[i]Ngh..[/i]" She gripped the sheets of the bed, her head rolled back on the pillow, her eyes met with the ceiling of her darkened room as the sanguine sensation welled up in her body. Another hand limply grasped at hair, the silky locks of her paramour, the one who was granting her such joy. 

Who could have known the pleasures of the flesh were this sweet when earned, instead of bought?

"[i]...Oh Goddess...[/i]" She was whimpering. 'Delphi the Grand' was whimpering, if only her enemies could see her this vulnerable... Delphi didn't care though, in that moment she didn't want to think about a damn thing in the world, the city could be burning for all Delphi cared. In this moment, she didn't want to think, she wanted-- [i]she needed[/i] to [i]feel[/i] this good. Even if it was only a second longer.

"[color=lightcoral][b][i]O-oh Goddess!![/i][/b][/color]" She had to use the pillow to stifle her screams, lest she risk waking the whole Market District-- perhaps the whole city. Her eyes closed hard as her body began to contort despite herself, "[color=lightcoral][b][i]I-I-I'm--[/i][/b][/color]"

A light few taps on the door were all it took to force Delphi back into reality.

"[b]FUCK!![/b]" In an instant, the ecstasy, the joy, the bliss was gone, replaced by annoyance, frustration, and anger. All because of one tiny disturbance. Delphi found herself panting, both due to frustration and the physical exhaustion-- after coming so close, only to have the experience robbed from her. She heaved a heavy sigh and adjusted herself in the bed again, to find herself staring at her ceiling once more. Where before, the room was almost unbearably hot, now, her sweat covered body was shivering.

Another, much more hesitant knock came from the door, the transgressor, clearly registering their mistake. Delphi gave another sigh, gripping the bridge of her nose in frustration.

Rustling came from in between Delphi's legs, and the figure beneath the sheets, her lover, exposed herself to the cold air, "I-is everythin' okay, m'lady?" Those innocent brown eyes held only concern for Delphi, initially they had turned her away from the girl, much like the fact that she is... after that performance [i]was[/i] a brothel maid or that she was almost 10 years younger than Delphi. Still, something had made Delphi want to keep the girl-- [i]woman[/i] around. For good reason, it seemed, now that investment had more than paid off... or at least, it was about to.

Against her frustrations, Delphi found herself unable to stay mad while looking into those brown eyes, their irritating naivete was soothing. Delphi's expression softened, a small smile appeared on her face as she ran her hand through her lover's unkempt black hair, "Everything's fine, my sweetheart," Delphi cooed, before adopting a more playful tone, "And I thought I told you dearest Polly, at the very least when we're together like this, no formalities..."

"O-okay," Polly responded, lifting the sheet to cover herself, shaking for more reasons than just the temperature in the room, "B-but I--"

"No arguments." Delphi stated, matter-of-factually, "You will address me as Delphi." Her face became very strict before returning to a smile, "Do not be so modest, my sweet Pollyanna," Delphi moved to turn on the bedside oil lamp, illuminating the beads of sweat that had been formed over her forehead and torso, "You've certainly earned the right." She planted a single kiss on Polly's lips before getting up with a groan, beginning to put back on the clothes that had been so carelessly thrown across the room in a frenzy not 2 hours earlier.

Polly's shuddering stopped and was replaced by a blush, a small smile and slightly downcast gaze. Concern was repainted on her face however, as her doe-like eyes flicked over to the door when another meek knock came, this time followed by a voice.

"Madame Day Master!?We have--"

"Oh, excellent!" Delphi interrupted, tying her boots on, "So you remember which one I am? That's just excellent. So then, is it that you've had some bad spirits and become blind? Is that it? Because unless there's something wrong with MY vision-- Polly, is there something wrong with my vision? It is night time isn't it?"

Polly receded further into the plush fabric sheets, "Y-yes..."

"Yes!" Delphi clasped her hands together as she stood and began marching her way to the door, "So you are aware I am Day Master, yet you come here-- [i]in the dead of night[/i], completely unannounced I might add, to what? Tell me of some emergency Athel can't handle?"

Madame Delphi 'the Grand' Day Master, swung open with all the fury of a lioness denied it's prey. While not particularly athletic, the fury she could convey when she felt she had been robbed, combined with her own impressive height, made her into quite a sight. She didn't quite tower over the man, but the two or three inches she naturally had on him was enough to put the fear of the Goddess in him.

"W-well...."

"Well!? WELL!? Allso, you have 5 seconds to tell me something that guarantees you survive to see dawn's light."

"R-right, m'lady. Sorry, m'lady."

"4, Allso,"

"T-the city m'lady. Something is..."

"3,"

"The Nazarenes m'lady! We're under attack."

Delphi froze. She couldn't have heard that right, but she knew she had. The Nazarenes had launched their first formal attack against Antioch. In that moment, it was as if Delphi's entire thought process rebooted, she smelt the smoke, she heard the screams. She wouldn't fight for The Magnificent One, she needed to fight to ensure all she had worked for wasn't lost for the sake of petty political conquest, right now, preventing that was all that mattered.

The anger left as she looked back down Allso, her face and tone became serious, calculating, as if she was thinking while she spoke, "Allso, where is Seth?"

"O-on the roof with the ravens m'lady... H-he said that's where you'd meet him, he just sent me to... w-wake you."

"Right." She looked back at Polly before continuing, "Allso, you've done good, but the night isn't over yet. I need you to get to Athel in the slums. Tell her we need to mobilize the assassin's guild and concentrate them around the city as fast as possible-- everywhere but the walls. I doubt she'll agree, but tell her it's time to earn some favors, she'll know what I mean. Take the back alleyways when you're getting to her Allso, you know them, the Nazerenes don't."

"Okay Madame!" And with that, the youthful courier was off. It was good that got taken care of early, Athel would probably jump headfirst into fighting the bastards without thinking of all that was to be gained here. If they were smart about it. 

Correspondence would keep them smart.

Sighing, Delphi made her way back into the room, to give the now shaking Polly a reassuring kiss. 

"Relax, just stay here, you'll be fine."

Polly sniffled, "H-how do you know that?"

Delphi retrieved her spear from it's display case, "Because I know what this is, they aren't raiding, they're razing-- my guess is that this is a squadron of suicide mages sent here to see how much damage they can do in one night, burn the buildings, kill anyone on the street, demoralize the people... that kind of thing..." 

[i]They're actually kind of doing my job for me, in a way[/i]

Delphi shook the thought out of her head for a moment, "Anyway, this room's got wards, so you'll be protected."

Polly's shaking subsided, but she sniffled again, "But what about you?"

Delphi struck a regal stance, "What about me?" She noticed Polly's eyes looking at the weapon, "Oh, this? Oh dearest Polly, this is honestly just a good luck charm. Something the Day Master carries around for appearances I've never used it, my master never uses it, It's just a sign of rank, really..."

---

Delphi overlooked the burning streets of the Market District as she gave commands to her bespectacled assistant, Seth, who was writing up scroll after scroll of messages for the carrier ravens docked on the roof.

"How many reported in the slums?"

"At least 9, ma'am, but that number may fall with the Assassin's Guild in full force."

"They aren't in full force."

"Ma'am?"

"They aren't in full force. I've asked Athel to send divisions across the city-- our assassins are skilled at killing from the shadows, and with the poisons they have access to I don't doubt we won't manage to capture a few of these Nazarene's alive."

"But ma'am, that might drastically increased the damages caused by all this--"

A smile came across Delphi's face as she watched the burning roads, "Exactly." 

Seth dropped his quill, "M-ma'am!?"

"Seth, how many confirmed civilian deaths have we suffered?"

"At least 300, and quickly rising--"

"And how many confirmed Guild deaths?"

"Significantly less, maybe 10?"

Delphi held her fist to her heart, and furrowed her brow, the look on her face mirrored one of genuine concern, "10 good men..." She looked into the orange distance, "Who fought to keep the citizens of this city safe..." She looked at Seth with a smirk, "And where was our government? Where was our "precious" Magnificent One when we needed him? How many military deaths have we suffered?"

"W-well, as of right now none, but..."

"Typical." She scoffed, the smirk growing wider on her face, "When we need them, we get no help from the soldiers in the slums... meanwhile... the Assassins Guild was all over the city helping everyone, even people who don't pay protection money to the Rouges Guild..."

Seth's eyes widened as he got the implication, "Oh my Goddess..."

Delphi tilted her head and looked innocently at Seth, "Oh your Goddess what? I didn't say anything..." Seth could only respond with a dumbfounded expression, he could only maintain it for a moment though, as picked up his pen, he needed to keep serving the correspondence of the Day Master. 

"How many left in our District, Seth?"

"4 out of 5 confirmed killed."

"Great, our priority is now putting out those fires and making back our losses by looting the abandoned houses."

"Yes ma'am."