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[sub][right][@Obscene Symphony][/right][/sub] 

[color=FF650E]“Alright, alright. I’ll promise one song but no more.”[/color] Clarissa laughed, her eyes following Jorah’s gesture and gave a sympathetic hum at the tension radiating off the group. “I have no doubt they all need some of your particular kind of festivities. I spoke with Lienna Orhneaht when we crossed paths at the dormitories. She’s clearly feeling out of place and it’s making her defensive. She’s clearly behind in a number of social and academic skills but I should hope Auberon will manage to turn that into a blessing rather than a curse. Hopefully, a night of guilt free revelry will let them lower their walls for just a minute and it’ll be smoother seas ahead.” 

A man strode into the room and Clarissa quieted. It was the same man standing next to the archbishop earlier when they were let out of their house classes and again nearby during the sermon. While she might have passed him off as Ioannis’ bodyguard, the ease with which he wore his authority spoke clearly of a higher station. Clarissa put down her utensils as he engaged another woman in a conversation. Well, rather a discussion. Whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant. They had enough decency to keep their conversation quiet but that was all they did. The man wasn’t pleased with the outcome and she clearly didn’t care. A lovers quarrel perhaps? No matter what it was, it was poor manners to have it in such a public place. Private matters ought to remain just that, private.

[color=FF650E]“Saints above, the chefs here are fantastic.”[/color] She sighed, taking the last bite of her food, only to jump as the horrid ruckus rang through the entrance hall. The sudden movement found her swallowing her morsel quicker than she expected and she fell into a coughing fit, reaching blindly for her cup and downing it in hasty gulps before finally, she managed to claw some air back in her lungs. She huffed irritably as her breathing steadied and scowled, searching for the source of the disruption. A man was screaming something about Marks bringing the world to its knees. 

She felt something cold run down her back at that declaration. It resembled the dire warnings of her mother, how the mark of the beast would bring ruination and misery to those around her. She’d sworn to prove that wrong, to rise against these absurd beliefs her mother spouted with no reason or proof, and so far she’d done just that. Everything she’d won and fought for only validated her position. But now someone else was claiming something that sounded similarly ominous and going so far as to push against the Church on its most holy grounds. Clarissa frowned and then looked sharply away, putting the whole scene out of mind for now. It was her first day and she’d managed to enjoy the entire day so far and she’d enjoy the evening too if it killed her. 

[color=FF650E]“I don’t think I cared for that kind of excitement one bit.”[/color] Clarissa muttered irritably. [color=FF650E] “How dare he have the audacity to try anything on sacred ground.”[/color]