[h2][color=fff79a]Endar[/color][/h2] Slouching against a wall as the last of the gladiators left, the Guard Captain let out a small sigh of relief. The day of work would be over, soon. Lord Ignis would be leaving the manor later on, but their orders were to stay put. He didn't want a guard detail when he left for the arena. "Captain..." one of the guards murmured. "Over there." Open his eyes a sliver, the Captain looked down the path. Looking apprehensive with every step, a girl was walking up the road towards them. She'd wrapped a cloak around herself, and her eyes, however nervous, remained set on the gates. "Ah..." The girl nervously opened her mouth once she stood only a few steps from the guards, her hood covering part of her eyes from this close. She looked hesitantly at each of the six guards, swallowing the saliva in her mouth. Her lips trembled as she wanted to say something, the cloak being wrapped tighter as she spoke. "Is... this where the Lord is taking audiences?" the girl asked apprehensively to the guard with the large, bushy moustache. Standing up straighter, the captain narrowed his eyes at her. Why was she covering her face? "You're a little late, girl. If you haven't seen all the others leaving, then I'd best tell you that the audiences just ended." The grip on her cloak tightened again as the female shrunk a little bit, biting on her lower lip. She took another few glances at the guards, the cloak moving a little as she was shifting her feet in place. "I-Isn't there anything I can do? I just... I just n-need a little bit of his time..." the girl pleaded. Her voice was remarkably soft and the only reason it wasn't drowned out by other noise was because of the manor's location. The captain was straining to hear her words, but caught enough of them to understand her meaning. "...Very well. Carnel! Farrel!" Two of the younger-looking guards snapped to attention. "Please escort this young lady to wherever the master of the house chooses. And make sure she doesn't cause any trouble. It will be on you if she does." "Thank you so much!" Unlike her previous tone, the girl was much louder and more at ease when she thanked the guard, even bowing a little to show her respect. A beaming smile was on her face as she briefly made eye-contact, but averted her gaze mere moments after she did. As she followed the two younger guards into the manor, the girl was still hesitant in her steps and struggled to follow their rather hurried and impatient pace. The captain watched after the girl cautiously... she wasn't all that she seemed. In those few seconds where their eyes had met, he'd seen them. While the iris could be considered normal, the pupil was not. It was slitted, like a cat's. He knew what she was. Eventually, after dragging their feet for a little while, the trio came into a grand hall. While not the size of a palace or castle, the manor still sported an impressive and imposing sight. While the silver and purple decorations made for a bit of a mismatch, the pillars reached all the way up to the ceiling. A few of them even had tapestries depicting various legends hanging from them, as is a popular subject for these sorts of things. "Amazing..." the girl murmured to herself, her voice being carried a bit farther because of the size of the room. The guards kept an eye on her as she shifted in place, awaiting an audience with the Lord of this manor. Endar stepped into the room silently, taking care not to alert this new guest. He wanted to observe her first. She was dressed demurely, from what he could see, and seemed to be much smaller than she actually was compared to the grand size of the room they were in. She wasn't carrying any weapons, from what he could tell, and her slight build made him wonder if she was an acrobat or a runner of some kind. Signalling to the two guardsmen, they left just as quickly as they'd come. The girl was too in awe with the sight to notice Endar at first, her gaze scanning the entire room. It's only when she looked further into the room when she noticed another person had entered, flinching. Her body stiffened when her gaze landed on Endar's clothing, seeing the noble garb that he was wearing. She was frozen in place, even though it looked like she wanted to take a step forward. "Ah... Uhm..." the girl muttered, her voice not loud enough to carry far enough into the room. Her face tightened as she took an apprehensive step forward. "A-Are you the owner of this manor?" she asked, a little louder so that the nobleman could hear her. [color=fff79a]"By inheritance, yes."[/color] Endar replied. [color=fff79a]"You wished to speak with me?"[/color] The girl nodded, her pale face starting to redden a little. She swallowed again and took another hesitant step forward, and then another. It took a few moments, but she eventually stood only a little bit from Endar. They still gave him some distance, but part of that might have been due to her own reluctance. "U-Uhm... y-you have gladiators, right? But, uh..." the girl started, but a cat got her tongue soon enough. She looked like she wanted to ask something, but couldn't look Endar in the eye while she did. All the girl was doing was staring at his chest, fearing to make eye-contact. After taking a deep breath, relieved that Endar was patient enough to not speak up while she was collecting herself, she spoke again. "M-Medicine... I make medicine... D-do you need a... doctor?" she asked, shifting the topic away from the gladiators slightly. Endar paused. A doctor? He... hadn't thought of that. But, then again... [color=fff79a]"My understanding of the runes around the arena is that they preserve the physical state of any who pass through them. Do you know of some reason that this might not be sufficient?"[/color] The girl's figure shrunk, her breathing becoming a little more irregular. "B-but... what if the wound isn't worth healing? Or... or they exhaust themselves e-extensively... a-and infections! Uhn..." She sounded a little desperate as she tried to come up with reasons for him needing her skills, falling silent again. Then, as if a bolt of lightning struck the girl, she straightened up again. Her lips stood stiff as she managed to look at Endar's face, but not quite his eyes. "Out of the arena! What if they get hurt? I-I could treat them, a-and..." It was a bit of an outburst and the girl seemed to realise this. She fell silent again in embarrassment, the reddening of her cheeks accelerating. "I'm sorry!" she apologised, performing a brief bow out of fear. [color=fff79a]"Peace, friend." [/color]Endar said gently. [color=fff79a]"Your words make sense, and no apology is necessary. It is true that I don't have much experience in the Arena - they may well decide that a wound that one of us sustained is unneeding of treatment. And true, the runes cannot hold a memory of our physical health for so long that they can heal us at a whim when we come across accidents or the like."[/color] A wave of relief washed over the girl at Endar's words, her mouth slightly agape, but curved upwards. But the noble didn't seem done just yet. He stepped a little closer, his eyebrows meeting in concern. [color=fff79a]"Are you all right? You seem unsettled."[/color] The girl froze up again. Endar was close enough to see a tuft of violet hair sticking out from beneath the hood, something only able to be gotten from dyeing it. She nodded in response to his question. "I-I'm just not used to this. Everyone else... didn't need me at all... so I'm still a little nervous." she hiccupped, her voice a little louder and more at ease. "D-Does this mean, you'll uhm... that you need me? I won't be a burden, I promise!" Endar took a deep breath, and then nodded. [color=fff79a]"Your assistance would be welcome, I cannot deny. However, I am more concerned about the toll it might take on you, and everyone else in my team, to be travelling so much."[/color] The girl straightened up and her mouth widened in both awe and joy. The amazement turned into a smile as the girl suddenly leapt forward and wrapped her arms around the Lord, completely taking him by surprise. The sudden shift in momentum caused her hood to fall off and land neatly on her shoulders. "Thank you so much, Lord Endar!" the girl excitedly blurted out as she hugged him, but the hug lasted for only a brief second. The girl realised what she did and took a step back, her dilated, azure eyes meeting Endar's. The cloak was completely parted, revealing two huge, earthy brown wings sticking out from the girl's back. "U-Uhm... this is..." Endar stood stock still. The girl who stood before him had transformed from a human, to a harpy, previously concealed by her cloak. And, more shocking than that, she knew his name. Without even thinking, he took several steps back, hand flying to his sword. [color=fff79a]"Who are you?" [/color]he asked. The girl flinched as Endar backed off, shrinking down again with her wings wrapping themselves protectively around the harpy. [color=afffd7]"Y-Yasu..."[/color] she meekly replied, the previous excitement suddenly drained from her. His grip on the rapier's hilt tightened. [color=fff79a]"And where do you hail from?"[/color] [color=afffd7]"E-Eh? Arlen... I come from Arlen..."[/color] she replied again without missing a beat. Searching his memory for anything on harpies and their loyalties, he spoke again. [color=fff79a]"Your clan. Name your clan."[/color] [color=afffd7]"H-Hideko... L-Lord Endar, you're scaring me...!"[/color] Endar flinched. [color=fff79a]"...Now tell me... who told you my name?"[/color] [color=violet]"Harpy!"[/color] Both of them turned to face the doors that Endar had entered through earlier. There, looking half ecstatic with joy, was Mari. She stood there for a moment, and then ran towards Yasu. And, similar to how not that long ago Yasu had hugged Endar, Mari now threw her arms around Yasu. Yasu looked shocked for a brief moment as Mari embraced her, but then relaxed soon after. She carefully patted the small girl's head, then looked up to Endar while blushing. [color=afffd7]"S-She did... she told me you owned the manor..."[/color] Yasu meekly replied before looking back down to Mari. A soft smile returned on her face as she looked at the young, excitable girl. Though still tense, Endar released his hold on his weapon. [color=fff79a]"Mari, come here."[/color] he said softly. Looking confused, Mari stopped hugging Yasu, and slowly walked up to Endar. Then, Endar looked to Yasu again. [color=fff79a]"I'm not sure when you met my sister. But I know that it must have been inside these walls. And, today, I am not going to ask where. But before we go any further with our agreements, there is something that I must establish."[/color] Yasu looked pretty embarrassed when Endar mentioned her meeting with the small child, but him stating something needed to be established made her flinch again. Yasu's mind immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario, with her wings lowering and her eyelids drooping. [color=afffd7]"It's about me being a harpy, isn't it?"[/color] she replied, dejected. Seeing the girl look down at the floor instead of just trying to avert her gaze as she had earlier, her voice heavy with the expectation that he would reject her solely based on her species... it was all Endar could do to stay calm instead of asking her where these thoughts came from. He'd accepted several people today regardless of what they'd told him about their history or their appearances. Just because this girl wasn't human didn't make any difference. [color=fff79a]"No." [/color]he said.[color=fff79a] "Your race doesn't matter to me. Human, harpy or ogre, I'll treat them just the same. The topic I need to address is... our names."[/color] He looked back down at Mari. [color=fff79a]"What do you know about Queen Liara?"[/color] Yasu perked up at the mention of her race not mattering, looking shocked as she stared back at Endar. It took a few moments to process what he'd said afterwards as the question didn't immediately register. The harpy snapped back into reality once she realised what he'd asked, rubbing her left elbow with her hand. [color=afffd7]"Queen... Liara?"[/color] she repeated after Endar, seriously thinking over the name. The girl's posture implied she wasn't too sure herself, shuffling with her feet as she thought of an answer. [color=afffd7]"She... was the previous ruler... I think. And I-I think, uhm... I've heard stories she didn't mind other races. Uuuhn... I'm sorry, I haven't heard much at all about her..."[/color] Endar, though still doubtful, heard truth in her voice, so shook his head to her apology. [color=fff79a]"Understandable. She's... been gone a long time. And despite popular belief, she was not the last of her line."[/color] Again, he looked down at Mari. [color=fff79a]"Liara's daughter is still alive. Which is why we cannot give the world our real names. Ignis and Medea Doman are, after all, a far cry from Endar and Mari Drayen. "So, if you do want to join us, then you have to swear upon your wings that this stays between the three of us." [/color] Yasu looked around the room, seeing that the guards who escorted her here had long since left already. She looked flustered and confused, but still met Endar's eyes. Her face wasn't exactly resolute and had a hint of fear showing on it, but the girl still managed a nod. [color=afffd7]"A-Alright... I swear, Lord En- err, Ignis..."[/color] Endar nodded. Whoever this girl was, whether she was telling the truth or not, she knew their identities. And in order to make sure nobody else might learn of them... he'd just need to keep her close.