[center][b]Vesta[/b][/center]

Healthy skepticism is necessary for one to survive while travelling alone, and it was something Vesta had come quite accustomed to during her years of banditry. For her, the difference between waking up in the morning with a raging hangover or waking up in the morning with a fatal wound was based largely upon the assumption that everyone with a sword wanted to use it and thus everyone with a sword should be kept more than their blades length away. Since she had yet to be killed, her faulty logic was considered a personal sort of gospel by her as the one and only way to really make it in the world. However, too much of a “good” thing can do one ill (drink too much you lose your lunch, ride too much you wake with sores, ectetera), and in turn Vesta’s skepticism became not only unhealthy but borderline paranoia. 

For example, while the others were awed and accepting of the sudden appearance of the Divine in the middle of the sticks, Vesta was sitting back on her horse with a knitted brow and her arms folded over her chest. True, yes, it was incredible that the woman was able to leap through tears, but it was also incredible that Drosi and Shadar could swap places with one another or that dozens of unkillable assassins could breach a castle. At this point in Vesta’s life, she had seen enough of the arcane for it to become mundane. Likewise, while it was odd that the woman knew their names, it wasn’t unthinkable that they had been described to her by somebody; they were a rather odd bunch after all. It wouldn’t be very hard to guess that the scorpion girl was Thuraya or that the teenage boy was Marco or that Alice was—Vesta blinked between Stark and Alice, uncertain of which was was actually which although that didn’t, in her mind, disprove her point. Regardless, while the others questioned “Ambrosia”, Vesta just glared between her and the paladin looking for some sort of tell because she had a small, sneaking suspicion that this Lady of the Abyss in front of them was more likely a Lady of the Stage, Who Knew a Little Magic, and was Hired by an Asshole Paladin so He Could Bolster His Ego. Perhaps it wasn’t as catchy of a title, but it did just seem wrong to Vesta that Ambrosia would actually show up at this time, in this place, or even exist at all.

Right, so maybe borderline was underselling it.

After the others had finished asking the “Divine” their questions, with their stuttering thanks and their bowed heads in response to vague answers similar to the ones you could get from a festival fortune teller, Vesta dismounted from her horse and walked forward with a notable scowl on her face. She pushed her way past Dalious so that nobody stood between her and the woman, her spirit filled with the resolve to expose this pretender so that they could continue on with their task. Vesta’s eyes met the eerie purple ones of the “Divine” and for a moment she was taken aback and filled with doubt, only for the feeling to dissipate as she bowed her head in a mocking parody of the others.

“My lady, it is [i]so[/i] nice for you to finally show up,” said Vesta, making little effort to hide her callousness. “I bet you’re a busy Divine, so I’ll spare you the mountains of praise and all the weeping. I just have two quick questions. The first one is,” she said, with her lips curling, “Why have you come before us?”

Once more, Ambrosia perked up as another person approached her. She didn't seem to mind just how aggressive Vesta was, even though it was extremely obvious; so much so that Cyril actually paled slightly even while Vesta had approached the Divine. Surprisingly enough the Paladin didn't seem to be bothered by it at all, and seemed to be barely paying attention to the newest conversation at all, as if it weren't worth his interest. However Ambrosia gave Vesta her full attention, cheerfully saying, "Oh, I just missed by baby boy so much that I simply had to come by for a visit! Especially with all of you on your way to dear Karin's, I couldn't pass up the opportunity!"

"Ma, please." Came the very quiet, very disgruntled protest from Christopher, who was still rubbing at his throat carefully as if it were quite sore. This only prompted Ambrosia to giggle slightly, giving him a wave over her shoulder before once more looking back to Vesta, to continue speaking.

"Really, though, I wanted to meet you all! It's not often that a group of people like you all begin to gather together, and it was so exciting that I simply just couldn't watch from the sidelines this time around! Especially since you're on my side, after all, I thought it'd be nice to introduce myself. And your next question, my dear?"

Christopher's distraction gave Vesta enough time to shake her head in a mixture of amusement and disapproval. She had hoped the "Divine" would have some better sort of excuse instead of going with the doting mother act. Her lips finished curling into a sinister smile, and a gloved hand stroked Vesta's chin as the woman asked her to go ahead with her second question. Her gray eyes burned with a challenging stare, and this time she did not break away contact with the so-called Lady. She needed to see the moment the pretender realized that she had been caught, so she gave them a question she knew that any human did not know the answer. All she needed was some hesitation, some excuse, and then they could all be done with this nonsense and go back to the road. As far as Vesta was concerned, this distraction had gone on long enough.

"My second question...well, since you're the Divine of Love, I'll make it a fitting one. I was in love, once, when I was younger and stupider," said Vesta, folding her arms back over her chest and looking sure of herself. "What was their name?" 

At that, Ambrosia's eyes widened slightly, her mouth parting slightly in shock. However, it wasn't because she didn't know the answer, at least it seemed that way because she looked around at their present company, Cyril the last. Biting her lip nervously, she leaned forwards then, beginning to inch closer as the floating tear slowly floated along.

"Are you absolutely, completely, utterly sure you want me to say it out loud in present company, my dear? Is that wise?"

Vesta misread the woman's act of mercy as a sign of weakness and took a confident step forward.

"As a Divine, I'm sure you know quite well that wisdom tends to fall on deaf ears around here. And it's fine if you don't really know. You just have to say it. None of us are fit to judge someone, Divine," she said with a sneer, taking another step forward, "or otherwise."

Once more, Ambrosia bit her lip, before giving a sigh and nodding. "If you insist, my dear, I just hope you don't regret it. You held feelings within you for Olain Serio while he was still alive, and it was part of the reason why you pushed yourself so hard in his service."

At that, the Prince blinked in surprise, before his eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly.

The arrogant expression quickly fell from Vesta's face like a shattered mask as her strong eyes wavered and glanced nervously to the ground. A soft but piercing choking sound escaped from her throat, not unfamiliar to the startled yelp of a dog whose tail has been stepped upon, as if she herself had not realized what the true answer to her question had been until Ambrosia (and indeed it was Ambrosia) had said it out loud. Vesta was quick to recover, however, and fixed her typical stern look back on her face. She covered up the sound with a somewhat exaggerated and shrill laugh that was a little too loud and a little too joyful for it to be anything but artificial, although laughter was such a rare thing to hear from the woman that perhaps it could actually pass as real. 

"I suppose even Divines can make mistakes every now and then," she said a bit too quickly and protesting way too much for her words to be anything but a constructed lie. "I'd give you a second shot, but I believe we've already wasted enough of our daylight. You've seen your baby boy, so I take it's time that we must part."

"For fuck's sake..." Christopher knew he was never going to hear the end of it now.

The Divine didn't push the subject along any further, just giving a nod. Though she still smiled, it was just a little bit sad, her beginning to drift back a little. "If you say so, my dear..." And, quite suddenly, she smiled brightly once again. "Oh, don't be in such a rush though! You're almost to Karin's, it's practically right around the corner! I'd say this little aside is nice for plenty of you!"

A quiet huff escaped from Vesta's throat, and she nodded curtly to Ambrosia before stepping back through the others as she stared directly ahead and tried her best to avoid making any eye contact that would expose her embarrassment. Reaching her horse, she spent some time fidgeting with her saddle that did not need any adjustments and hoped that all of this would be ignored and forgotten the moment the next person went up to the Divine to ask her another stupid, stupid, such a fucking dumb, stupid question.