The ranger was surprised to hear Geoffrey behind him and turned his head to see who it was.  "Don't be coy with me."  He glared but had to adjust himself when Kehah injected herself between him and the servant girl.  Her blade pushed against his and he wisely backed up a few paces, making sure he went away from both the intruders.

"Blast it all what's wrong with you two?  I'm trying to get easy information here so our side is sure to win!"  The ranger peered venomously at the two, unwilling to put his blade away but also not ready to fight fellow confederates.  He kept his dagger close to his body as he started stepping around, trying to get a reading on the situation.

The servant girl took a step behind the armored dummy she had been pressed against and watched the ranger closely.

"Look you two," The ranger continued, hoping they would leave him alone. "Its obvious the Lord of this castle is an eccentric and if I can use his rules to my advantage than so be it.  Also I don't like being used for this succession war, just cause he doesn't want to use his own resources to figure it out so the sooner this war is over with the better."

From the back of the room, stone sliding on stone could be heard as a section of the wall slid open.  From the darkness inside stepped out the masked man with his black and white mask.  [b]"Quite the accusation against my lord.  Your own attempts to use his rules in a way where only you gain anything and nothing is returned back to this castle is quite [i]undesirable[/i]."[/b]  The figure's tone turned cold on his final word and it felt like icicles had permeated the entire room, making even the servant start to shake.

Taking his tone as a hostile act the ranger reacted swiftly, throwing the dagger straight at the man's head and reached for another from his belt.  The masked individual caught the dagger between his fingers with seemingly little effort and with his left hand pulled out a small, compact crossbow from his back.  Another dagger flashed out toward the ex-guide, but with the preciously caught dagger, the man threw it into its path and they bounced off of each other, while at the same time he pulled the trigger on the crossbow.

The small bolt slammed into the ranger's chest, knocking him to the ground.  The ranger started to gargle blood as his life quickly slipped away.  Putting away the empty crossbow, the masked man looked at the three still in the room.  [b]"For coming to the defense of the young lady I thank you.  You should probably spread word to the others as it would be a shame if I were forced to eliminate more of you before the marrow."[/b]