[center][h2]Zakroti Unalim[/h2][sub] 
Interacting with: Aymiria Unalim [@Amethyst], Aurora Liesma [@WeepingLiberty][/sub][/center]

Zakroti led the group back through the courtyard of the city manor house, past the fountain and towards the door. As they stepped into the great hall, one of the servants approached them; the tables of the great hall had been moved off to the side and temporary bedding had been set up for the soldiers Zakroti had brought with him. Their conversations stopped once their lord had entered, some stood and straightened themselves to salute him, others shouted hails and greetings his way. This was not the place for this conversation, far from private.

"You have returned early, the new brides room has only just been made ready-" The Servant began, but Zakroti cut her off with a nod. He removed his cloak and cast it over for the servant to take. The last to enter were Kzaar and Narlemaewel, who had closed off the small protective group (Although he imagined to Aurora, the black guard surrounding her, him and Aymiria must have felt as much her prison guards as they did her protectors, ensuring she did not leave the group nor be taken by any other Drakken. Zakroti had made sure to keep an eye on her and keep himself and Miry relatively close to them. Thankfully, it hadn't been a long journey back here, and most had abandoned the streets, leaving it an uneventful journey to.

"That is fine. We must speak to each other first. We shall be in the solar, bring water to us, and food. Grapes, peaches and some other fruit, maybe a bowl of Fae Stool. Nothing too heavy." Zakroti replied. One of the two servants bowed and moved away, while the other followed. Zakroti waved for Aurora and Miry to follow him across the hall. They stepped through the hall and ascended up the spiral staircase, his voice carrying back to them. "Aurora. Your room is the far end of this hallway. The Castellan here can show you to it if you wish to retire now, and handle any requests you might have. Narlemaewel will guard your room."

"At your service." The Castellan grunted, apparently somewhat unamused that he had been reduced to showing brides to their room. Zakroti understood why; he was fairly certain this was the servant who had been crippled in a war in the north. To lose his ability to serve as a warrior was never going to be a happy transition, even with his service to the family having been rewarded with a safe and prestigious position as castellan of the city estate.

"Za- Oeiz Taki, O-" Narlemaewel began to object as they exited out into the hallway from the staircase, Zakroti motioning along to the door at the bottom of the hallway for Aurora's benefit. He doubted she'd have any particular reason to object to anything in there. Perhaps one or two of the decorations, though the servants would most likely have removed the statuette of Sorrak (or was that room the one with the statuette of Drun?) from the alcove and swapped it with one of the other ornaments. A vase or a more secular statuette perhaps, he knew there were some of Wyverns or busts of prominent ancestor that could replace it.

"Ede epeew." Zakroti cut him off with a glance back towards the Blackguard, who let out a heavy sigh. Zakroti looked back to Aurora, motioning with his hand down another corridor. "The Solar is this way, which is where me and Miry are going. If you'd like to speak about your sister now, follow us there. It may wait until the morning if you prefer. Breakfast is an excellent time for heavy conversations about death and suffering."

Taking Miry's arm gently in his own, Zakroti led her off down the hallway towards the Solar. He waved away most of his blackguard so that they could rest in shifts and be alert, keeping only Gaikus with him for now. Never go anywhere without a bodyguard. 

He opened the door and led Miry inside, glancing over the decorative stonework that culminated in a large hearth on the far side of the room, between two large stained glass windows; one was a religious scene, depicting Vivari standing above fresh creation with trees and vines growing up to surround her. The other was as if it were the night sky, with many frames tinted slightly black with smaller panes of clear, white and vaguely tinted glass that represented the stars. At the height of it was a single large crystal frame to represent the moon or the sun, that in daylight refracted a bright rainbow of colours as the sun caught it in midday, while by moonlight let the white beams flow into the room. A painting hung on the wall opposite the fireplace, a landscape of the city of Laloria pained from the far side of the lake that surrounded it, the orange autumn leaves of the lakeside trees matching brilliantly with the lighting of a setting sun. There were no martial signs of equipment in here; no mannequins of armour or fresco of conquering warlords. The decorative stone walls had also been coupled with wood panelling, and the decorations of the walls themselves were not even carvings of Wyverns as was the cast in most other parts of the building, but rather vines with flowers and leaves growing from them. Even the book case that stood across from the door bore no books on warfare or strategy. 

The room had a low oak table within it, with several large floor cushions around it. In the centre of the table was a silver candlestick, bearing a long and thin candle that he lit with a wave of his hand. Raising his hand towards the fireplace; a small flame leapt from his fingers to the fireplace, lighting the wood within it. He sat himself down upon one of the large cushions and gently held Miry to him, smiling at her and gently kissing her

"What does Shattered mean? As in what she said to you, I understand the literal meaning but I got the feeling it was some kind of insult." Zakroti asked Miry with a reassuring smile, tracing a hand along her face to brush her hair aside. Zakroti glanced to the door to see whether Aurora had followed them. If not, they'd speak to her in the morning. 
He'd speak with Miry for a while, perhaps read a book with her. She'd made excellent progress learning their language and script; she'd picked it up relatively quickly, as he recalled. Shortly after she'd arrived here he had found her in the library, trying to learn the language from a book she had found a translation of. He'd helped her with the pronunciation and the word endings, tenses and the like. 

Before too long, she'd learnt that the names of his family and most of the people in their region were typically composed of two words from the language. When she learnt what his meant, she had simply flung her arms around him. He'd explained why they had been chosen for him, and by whom. But the name was his all the same, and he wasn't ashamed of it, not really; after all, it had turned out to be quite prophetic for his father.

Miry had been good to him. And he had nearly betrayed her earlier. It had been a while since he had felt particularly guilty about anything; even the guilt of slaying three of his siblings and keeping his father in chains had all but gone away now. After all, those were easily justified given all that had happened. But this? It won him nothing. Saved nothing. It had been stupid and hurtful.


[hider=Summary]
Zak goes back to the city residence and heads to the solar for a while. Cuddles Miry more, feels bad for what happened at the duels. Waits to see if Aurora is coming, if not he and Miry will spend some quality time together before retiring.
[/hider]