[center][color=orangered][h3]Annara[/h3][/color][/center]

[color=orangered]"I told you before, Alan"[/color], Annara responded, looking up from polishing her short swords and examining them for dents and hairline cracks she may have overlooked. [color=orangered]"I wouldn't look so serious during the play if Lyla would [i]finally[/i] get around to making that dress fit for humans to wear. I mean, look at me!"[/color]

She stood up and spun around elegantly, wearing her dark clothes and armor of leather and metal that left little to the imagination. Of course she wasn't the only dancer in the troupe and most of the elven women looked otherworldly beautiful, but perhaps that was why she and the two, three other pretty human girls caught the looks of their fellow humans - their bodies' blemishes made them seem more approachable. And Annara enjoyed the attention.
[color=orangered]"I'm not exactly 'thickset', like she claims, but even I can't fit into a dress made for an elf without holding my breath. How about [b]you[/b] try to dance, play and sing for three hours while you're being suffocated?"[/color]

Her words earned her a few chuckles from several of the men and women around, even from an elf or two within earshot, and she grinned along with them. The people around were in a fairly good mood, considering what the night had in store for them. She hadn't understood why they needed to do this, not the first few times when she more or less just watched as it happened. She had called Lothren a 'cruel bastard' and a few other, much less flattering things when she saw the handful of dead people amidst the burning houses, and Annara had been tempted to leave, to return to her people, to admit that leaving her home was a mistake. But Alan and the others made her understand. It certainly wasn't something she felt very comfortable with but she had accepted it and her part in it.

Still, Annara tried not to let it show. She preferred looking haughty over looking guilty and let her swords glide through the air for a moment, twirling them around and, satisfied with the sound, put them into their sheathes. She picked up her cup and sat down again, now next to Aust, and, with uncharacteristically clumsy [color=orangered]"oops"[/color], intentionally spilled half of her wine, turning the ground red - a small offering but sometimes that was all they needed. That and a clear thought.
[color=orangered][i]Elders, please don't take any child to you tonight. Let their parents be watchful and loyal and let mercy guide our every hand and step.[/i][/color]

Her face must have turned somber for a moment as she prayed, for when she reopened her eyes, she thought she saw Aust give her a sideways glance but upon actually looking at him, he seemed to go about his business unaffected by her 'accident'.
She put her cheery smile on again.
[color=orangered]"Alan got one thing right, though - You were great."[/color]