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Lienna would never claim to be a patient woman, so it should have come as no surprise when Auberon’s long-winded explanation failed to draw her attention for much longer than it took her to prompt it in the first place. But he quickly regained it with his little [i]dining etiquette[/i] comment, her distaste for the highborn prick simmering as she shot him an icy glare. 

[color=baa7c7]“What a shame, Derec; it seems we shall have to learn to eat at tables with the highborn now. Next they’ll make us stop walking around on all fours.”[/color] She offered her fellow of [i]lower birth[/i] a thin smile, putting on her best pompous voice for Auberon’s benefit. 

And of course he was off to tea with the saints-damned Archbishop of all people - honestly, it was as if a campfire joke of a noble had come to life before her very eyes. Lienna had a brief idea that it might bring Auberon down a few steps from his high horse to spend an afternoon with a child Archbishop, but she wouldn’t hold her breath; Ianno--Annais? Whoever-- had probably been swaddled in silver and gold from the moment of his birth, he wasn’t likely to be much different. The Church preached humility and understanding, sure, but they also preached mercy, and yet there was always a soldier in Hima bragging about the time his friend saw a Knight of Seiros cut a fleeing heretic in two. 

Suddenly, a chorus of gasps washed over the dining hall, cut short by a loud cry of pain and the heavy [i]thump[/i] of a body falling to the ground. Lienna was on her feet in an instant, heart in her throat as a lifetime of dodging Srengese raids screamed at her to run and hide. Her chair clattered to the floor behind her, but all eyes were fixed on the interloper and the retinue of monastery guards that filed in after him, every diner shocked into silence as the green-haired thief ranted and raved about “marks” and impending doom. It was a disturbingly familiar routine to Lienna, who backed up a step before bumping into the side of Kellen’s chair, and though she tried to turn her mind away, she had to wonder if that forsaken soul had the same affliction that plagued her grandmother for so long. 

The scene was over as quickly as it began, the guards hauling the mad thief away. The dining hall erupted in hushed conversation a moment after they were gone, and Lienna simply stood there, arms wrapped around her abdomen as she willed her heart to slow down back to normal. 

Realizing she was making a scene of herself, she quickly stooped to pick up her chair, pushing it back in with shaking hands before sinking into it, pallid and much less incensed than before. She’d have loved nothing more than to leave, but the way out was blocked by a million stupid chairs that her sore foot was not in the mood to navigate, and then what? She’d flee like before and leave her housemates to gawk at the scared, flighty peasant? Goddess only knew the excuses Auberon would come up with. 

[color=baa7c7]“Well, that was something,”[/color] she finally managed to say, voice quieter than before. She tried to keep her tone light, but her thousand-yard stare fixed on the tablecloth suggested otherwise. [color=baa7c7]“Who knew a Monastery would attract such excitement.”[/color] 

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