[h3]The Interrogation[/h3] [i]13th Midyear - afternoon - The Three Crowns Hotel[/i] [hr] With a full bag in one hand, and her satchel over her shoulder, Raelynn made her way through the halls of the Three Crowns again. It was such a foreign place to her now. She thought back to her first night in Gilane - how much freedom she thought was ahead of her. She bit her lip, running a finger over the gilded frame of a painting of the Palace. [i]Freedom[/i] she through to herself as she kept walking, the weight of Sora’s journals giving her pain in her hand. “God’s why does this Khajiit write so much?” She said scornfully under her breath, before the spluttering sound of a cough gave her cause for shock. It was coming from behind the door of one of her companions dorms. It didn’t sound healthy, and so she approached the door - not about to just burst in, but she did give a light knock and spoke out against it, “are you alright in there? Do you need help?” “Perhaps…” Jaraleet replied between coughing fits. He wasn’t really sure why the coughing fit had started; maybe it had to do with all the blasted sand in the air? He was certain that it was no disease, the Saxhleel were known for their immunity to most, if not all, diseases known throughout Nirn. Poison was out of the question as well, if during the showdown at Al-Aqqiya he had been hit with a poison strong enough to affect him, well, it’s effects wouldn’t have waited for so long to manifest themselves. Any further thoughts were interrupted as another coughing fit wracked his body, causing the Argonian to frown to himself. “I’ll be at the door in a second.” He spoke once the coughing had subsided once again. Making his way to the door and opening, he was surprised to find Raelynn was the one who had knocked. “Raelynn, I’m glad to see you.” The Argonian replied, smiling at the Breton woman. From a simple glance it could be garnered that the Argonian was exhausted and that he hadn’t had a particular restful night of sleep and yet, in spite of that, the assassin seemed to be in a good mood. “Sorry that I didn’t recognize you before, these cursed coughs have me quite distracted.” He apologized, before motioning towards the room. “Come, why don’t you make yourself a bit comfortable. I don’t have much to offer but, well, it beats talking while standing, no?” Raelynn wanted to smile back at him, but she could once again tell by his manner of moving that he had been hurt. But she played along and made her way to an armchair in the corner and sat down in it. Quite happy to do so - the heels were beginning to sting at this point. It was nice to be off her feet. “Jaraleet…” She began in a soft voice, hiding the curiosity that was lingering somewhere within. She just looked at him, and her eyes immediately reflected her innermost thoughts. “Oh damnit, what's the use in hiding it and trying to sweet talk it out of you? What happened to you this time?” The Breton's brows furrowed, but not in a way that indicated she was all that cross, it was a look of disappointment. “Who hit you, and with what?” “There’s no hiding anything from you, is there?” The Argonian said, chuckling somewhat nervously. “If it’s any consolation to you, I’ve already had my ear chewed off by Meg. She was more upset than you, as a matter of fact, so maybe we could skip through the chastising lecture?” He continued on, shaking his head slightly. “But, to answer your question. It was a redguard woman, don’t ask me her name for I didn’t learn it, and she hit me with a scimitar, straight through my guts. Took her out shortly afterwards or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” The assassin said, taking a seat in the armchair opposite to the one Raelynn had taken. “I am fine now, or at least better.” He added, trying to appease the Breton healer’s worries. “Jaraleet, I can tell from the way a man walks whether or not his bits are rotting off. There's not a lot I haven't seen, there's little else you can hide from me.” She grinned, it wasn't often that she was crude - but she did occasionally enjoy springing it on people. “So she stuck you with something pointy and didn't even take you on a date first?” She purred out the words, rather enjoying herself. If she wasn't allowed to chide him, she would at least make fun of him. He seemed well enough, save for the cough, but she could get to the bottom of that easily enough. “Happen here in Gilane did it?” She raised an eyebrow, and almost shit-eating grin tugging at her lips as she awaited her answer. “Terribly impolite of her, wasn’t it?” The Argonian replied to the Breton’s jab, chuckling softly. He shook his head when she asked him if it had happened here in Gilane. “No, it didn’t, it took place in the ruins of a town….some 17 miles away from here if my calculations are right.” He answered, relaxing against the armchair. “Had to repay a favor to Sevari, the man who dug out that bullet if you recall.” “Mmhmmm… And he didn't do a good job of it if I recall correctly. Actually, I met him earlier today. He was a bit sheepish honestly…” Her eyes glanced down at the ground as she thought back to the meeting. “You've missed a fair bit - but it seems I have too, actually.” Raelynn shrugged and brought her eyes back up to meet Jaraleet's. “In fact… You trust me don't you?” “Really now, that’s interesting. Wonder why that was…” The Argonian said in reply to Raelynn’s words. It was surprising that she had met the Ohmes-Raht, and even more surprising was imagining him to act sheepishly for some reason. It didn’t seem to fit with what he knew of the Khajiit but, then again, he didn’t knew everything about him. “Yes, I do. Why do you ask?” She placed her hands on the arms of the chair, fingers lightly grasping at the velvet upholstery. “Well, like I said. You missed quite a bit… I may have inadvertently gained some form of favour with Sevari, maybe not. I don't know, oh… I don't know what I'm saying. I shouldn't, it doesn't matter now…” Her words came out quickly, in a manner which was unlike her. “I did something, an act of kindness - a moment of weakness, I don't know. I just don't know what it means for all of us. What it damn well means for [i]me.[/i]” Jaraleet was silent as Raelynn’s words spilled forth from her mouth. She might have done something that could have, inadvertently, gained them some favour with Sevari? He wondered what that could be specifically and, more importantly, why it seemed to trouble Raelynn so. “Raelynn.” The Argonian said, his voice calm. “Take a deep breath and tell me what it is you did.” He said softly. Her eyes once again met Jaraleet's, and she opened her mouth as if to speak, but stopped herself - thinking over the words so as not to get so flustered. “I spared the life of Zaveed. I… Saved the life of Sevari's brother.” She was curious to see Jaraleet's reaction, she knew that he knew of what Zaveed had done. While she was somewhat at peace with her decision and her choice, she wanted to test the waters of what the others would think. “It troubles me less now… It was not an easy decision, and I do not know what will happen as a result - it just happened. I could do nothing else...” She nibbled at her thumb nervously, awaiting his reaction with a bated breath. Jaraleet was silent for a few seconds as he processed what Raelynn had just told him. “I see. That was a big risk you took, as I’m sure you’re aware.” The Argonian said, falling silent once more as he continued thinking. “I can’t say that I understand why you did what you did. But it was your decision and I respect that. It might come to hurt us in the future but, like you’ve said, Zaveed is Sevari’s brother. That might be a boon to our group in the long run.” He mused out loud, drumming his fingers against the armrest of his chair. “I’m not sure how the others might react. Some worse than others, that’s for sure, but whatever comes, I’ll stand behind you and your decision Raelynn.” He hadn't asked questions, he hadn't questioned her. He just gave his word for her. She didn't understand why, and perhaps she didn't need to. “Thanks Jaraleet… That means a lot.” She was worried only about Daro'Vasora's reaction, truthfully. Everyone else could be as angry as they liked, it mattered not to her. But it was the Khajiit who had lost her friend to Zaveed… She sniffed and blinked quickly, so as not to let a tear fall. Jaraleet had surprised her today. “So… yeah, you got stabbed by a Redguard woman then - so what else happened?” She asked with a smile, changing the subject as quickly as she had the first time. “It is no problem Raelynn, there’s no need to thank me. I’m merely glad to have been of help.” The Argonian said, smiling at the Breton. “Hmmm, in truth, I do not know much else of what happened. Whoever those people were, they obviously knew Sevari. There was one, a Khajiit, with whom Sevari exchanged some words before he slit his throat. They seemed to have known each other for quite a long time but I’m afraid that I didn’t hear the particular details of their final conversation.” He said, drumming his fingers against the armrest of his chair once more as he thought. “Whoever they were, they seemed to regard Sevari as a traitor for some motive. But I wouldn’t why that is. After what went down in there, well, I think we were all too exhausted to start questioning Sevari over every little detail of his past or how that related to what had just happened.” Raelynn just listened, trying to picture the scene in her mind. It sounded gruesome and personal. “I admit Jaraleet, I don't know whether to trust Sevari, he has given us reason not to before but… There was something almost defeated in his eyes today, they were hanging with guilt and well, I'm torn. I hope he'll become an asset to us. We need all the help we can get, don't we?” She crossed one leg over the other and propper her head up on her hand in the chair. “Sounds like quite the mission though. Are you absolutely sure you don't need me to take a look at you at least?” The Breton didn't give him time to respond before she shook her head and sighed, “no, stuff it - I'm much too curious to see where this woman got you, take off your shirt.” She tried to play it off with humour, but she wasn't going to leave until she'd given Jaraleet a once over at the very least. She had a pretty good idea as to why he was coughing, but she'd keep that to herself until she ruled out anything else. “Doctor's orders I'm afraid.” “Hmmm, that we do, that we do.” Jaraleet replied with a sigh to Raelynn’s comment about them needing all the help they could get. He was about to answer her second question when she suddenly spoke again, letting out a chuckle as she finished speaking. “I was about to say yes anyway, but now that you’ve brought up the ‘doctor’s orders’ tactic I don’t really have any say, do I?” The Argonian said, laughing slightly. He stood up from his chair and removed his shirt easily enough; with that out of the way, Raelynn would be able to see quite a few semi-healed wounds on the Argonian’s arms albeit her gaze would probably be drawn first and foremost to the still-healing wound on his stomach. She raised an eyebrow and stood from the chair slowly, examining the Argonian's body with a heavy gaze. After a few moments of clucking her tongue, tutting, and sighing as she circled him, she placed two fingers against his stomach wound which was looking by far the worst. “She [i]really[/i] wanted to kill you my friend. But this will heal nicely if you have someone from the infirmary apply Close Wounds magicka. They're not as good as me of course,” she said with an arrogant smirk and she bent over to look at it more closely. As she pressed the skin around it, the wound re-opened slightly and shot a single spurt of blood forwards. Raelynn held a pressure on it and raised an eyebrow. “Your coughing has kept this one from healing faster, Jaraleet. Get it closed off downstairs before the day ends.” “Hmm, and here I thought this was how the Redguards expressed their love.” The Argonian replied, smirking slightly, albeit a small hiss of pain soon escaped from his lips as the wound re-opened slightly as a result of Raelynn’s prodding. “Hmmm, will do, will do. Speaking of which, can you tell me precisely [i]why[/i] I have this cough?” Jaraleet asked, curious as to why it had begun. “I’m fairly sure that a disease is out of the question, given my species, and, well, if it was the result of a poison of some kind, I doubt I’d be in a state to have idle conversations, or alive for that matter.” He said, scratching his chin slightly as he thought. “So, in your opinion, why did this start all of a sudden? I was fine last night, in case you were curious.” “You're right, it's neither a disease nor a poison.” She smiled, amused at how much thought the Argonian had given it, and she stood up straight to her full (small) height. An arrogant smirk returned as she almost playfully began to pace around him, with a hand propper under her chin like some kind of detective. “I deduced that you have recently travelled 17 miles through desert… You've got sand irritation in your chest, probably nose and throat too. Nothing serious, just uncomfortable.” Raelynn folded her arms over her chest with a coy smile. “Water, a hot towel on your chest and some honey will clear that up.” There was something else he'd said that had piqued her interest, and now was as good a time as any to ask him, and so she resumed her pacing. She let her eyes narrow as if she were interrogating him as seriously as a detective might… “So, Megana? She scolded you?” There was a glint of mischief in her eye, she'd seen how the Nord girl had been worried over Jaraleet. Now with talks of some rendezvous between the two… Well that was some that she [i]had[/i] to investigate… “Ahhh, yes, that would make sense. All the blasted sand in the air probably got to me.” The Argonian said before chuckling, somewhat, nervously as Raelynn brought up what he had said earlier about Meg scolding. “Ah, so you remembered that. But...yes, yes she did in fact scold me last night.” He finally said, knowing that there was a good chance that if he didn’t say something, Raelynn might go and pester Meg for answers next. Or just continue pestering him at any rate. “I went to check up on her after a meeting we had held, to plan how to rescue Sora you see, and, well, she saw the state in which my armor was and she started worrying. Said something about me not being a pincushion.” Jaraleet said, chuckling slightly again. “Ahh yes, but there’s more to it than that, Jaraleet. That’s not what intrigued me the most.” She tilted her head to the side and bit her lower lip, resuming her seat with a dangerously roguish expression painted over her entire face and held in her body language. The Argonian was in trouble now. “You took a bullet for the girl nights ago did you not? Secret missions together? I don’t quite know what to make of it all…” She chuckled dryly from the back of her throat, before reclining into the seat. It occurred to her that she wasn’t sure if an Argonian was capable of sweating - something told her she was about to find out. Jaraleet laughed at Raelynn’s words, but there was no hiding the nervousness in his voice. “What do you mean by all that, Meg came to me asking for help and I decided to help her. As for taking a bullet for her...aren’t comrades, friends, supposed to protect each other?” The Argonian said with a nervous chuckle. Part of him knew that his words were mere excuses, and that there was a good chance that Raelynn would be able to call them for what they were, but the other part of him felt like he still had to try. “Right?” He added after a second, rubbing the back of his head. At this point he wasn’t sure who he was trying to fool: himself or the Breton woman sitting in front of him. She was smug now, and highly amused - rather charmed by his endearing display of nervousness under her questioning. She’d always known that Jaraleet was softer when it came to real social situations. He may be a cold beast in battle, but when it came to matters of the heart, well, it was a different story entirely. She should have felt at least a little bit bad for pushing his buttons like this - taking advantage of his vulnerability. But she couldn’t resist, and so she got out the stick once more for another poke. “Oh of course! Friends do protect each other, you’re right about that. I doubt you’d have taken a bullet for anyone on the team though? Something drove you to do it in the moment. Let me see… Megana is a sweet girl, she’s rather pretty too, wouldn’t you agree?” Internally, Raelynn was beaming with glee, but outwardly she pulled herself together to display a colder expression. “She’s… Really rather feminine beneath that Nord bravado she displays. Innocent too, isn’t she?” “I...well…” Jaraleet began when Raelynn posed the question about if he’d have really taken a bullet from anyone else in the group. “I….would say so, yes.” He replied in a somewhat stilted manner when Raelynn asked if he agreed with her assessment of Meg being pretty. “[i]Sithis damn you and your confusing questions woman.[/i]” The Argonian thought inwardly, feeling a headache blossoming in his skull under the barrage of questions from the Breton healer. “If you say so it must be true, I’m afraid I don’t know much about what would being ‘feminine’ entail. At least not to the same degree as you.” He answered, diverting his gaze away from Raelynn. “Innocent? No, I wouldn’t say she is innocent….I’m not quite sure how to put it. Maybe the best way to say it is that she hasn't let the world embitter her.” The Argonian replied to Raelynn’s last question, finally turning his head too look at the Breton once again. He was squirming. This was [i]fun[/i]. “Ahhh, of course you do Jaraleet. You must have noticed the outline of her hips, the softness in her walk - the girlish air in her voice?” Raelynn smiled again, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger, winding it almost as tight as Jaraleet was. “There are many things that set the fairer sex apart from, well, the men. Beautifully long eyelashes that flutter just so... Full lips that pout in the heat of the moment... “ She wanted him to picture such features on Meg, and she watched him intensely, she would know when he had conjured such an image in his mind… “[i]Damnable woman, torture would be a more pleasant fate than having to endure your onslaught of questions.[/i]” The Argonian grumbled inwardly and, yet, in spite of his inward protests it came all too easy to picture Meg the way that Raelynn described, at least for a brief second it was before he shook his head rather violently to dispel the mental image. “I’ve known torturers less wicked than you, you know that?” He said jokingly, letting out a defeated sigh before flopping down onto the seat he had been using but a few moments ago and from which he had stood up at some indeterminate point during the Breton’s barrage of question. She laughed at his comment, knowing that her game of cat and mouse had landed in her favour. “Oh Jaraleet… You must have feelings for the girl or else you would have been able to shrug such questions off.” She poked her tongue out impishly at him, it had been a while since she’d had quite so much fun. “I suppose you’re right. It was rather wicked of me…” Her tone was not apologetic in the slightest, it was prideful if anything, and her smug grin only backed it up. She sighed with a girlish hum. “I must say though… It’s quite a surprise. I would never have imagined or guessed at you two getting close in such a way.” “Oh, fine, I do, I do. I swear to the Hist, if I had feathers you’d have already made me tear them out in frustration.” The Argonian admitted with a defeated sigh, shaking his head slightly. He needed to keep a better grip on his emotions it seemed. He frowned slightly at what she said next, shaking his head once more. “You are a wicked woman Raelynn. Enjoy your victory.” Jaraleet said, letting out a light chuckle. “Come now, surely you’ve had enough toying with my emotions right?” He chuckled nervously at her final words. “I...I mean…” He stuttered out, clearing his throat with a light cough. “[i]No...no...surely it must be just Raelynn messing with me again….right?[/i]” The Argonian thought inwardly, doubt immediately seeping into his mind as he recalled what had happened the previous night. “Oh come on now, I’m allowed to take all chances at levity these days. [i]I was kidnapped twice you know![/i] Let me be wicked... It’s naught but jest anyway…” She couldn’t believe she played the victim card, in any other occasion, it would have been rather cheap of her, but she wasn’t entirely serious about it. She knew the Argonian would get a kick from it - if she could joke about it with anyone, it was Jaraleet. [i]Crude humour at its finest[/i] she thought to herself, unable to subdue the smile from her face and glimmer from her eyes. “It’s nice, Jaraleet! That you’ve found someone in our group to be close with.” Her voice had finally softened of it’s interrogative and cunning edge, her posture too. “So what are you planning to do about it?” Jaraleet laughed out loud at Raelynn’s use of the fact that she had been kidnapped twice, some of the tension leaving his body. “Oh, fine, I’ll allow it this time.” He said, shaking his head before chuckling yet again as he relaxed in the chair. “It is nice, it really he is.” He said, smiling slightly at Raelynn. “Honestly, I do not know.” The Argonian answered when Raelynn asked what he planned to do about it. “So much of my life has been dedicated to, well, fighting that I haven’t given a thought to love previously. And, well, with all that it’s going on….as I said, I do not know what to do.” “Love huh?” She asked with a smile, a sense of warmth rushing through her at the very thought. “Well, I figure you have two options here… You can do nothing, or you can do something.” That didn’t sound too elaborate, that just sounded obvious. “I mean, you can let time pass by and do nothing about your feelings hoping that something besides yourself pulls you together - chance, or fate, so to speak. Or you can take it into your own hands my friend.” She sighed again, eyes darting upwards as she thought pensively for a few moments. “Megana strikes me as the kind of girl who would most definitely take it into her own hands eventually. But I also think that a gesture of affection from you would absolutely blindside her and sweep her completely off her feet.” She thought about Meg, how she was feminine but also how she could be staunchly independent and rather fierce at times. There was a boyishness about her. “If [i]I[/i] were trying to woo and impress her… I might take her a single flower… Just one. But of course that’s only what [i]I[/i] would do…” Her fingers found her way to her hair again and she continued to twirl the strands around it, a sly grin on her lips as she winked knowingly at Jaraleet. “But I’m just a devilishly wicked woman… Whatever would I know about all of that?” Her voice once again, a honeyed playful purr as she made yet another scheming remark. How could she resist, after all? Jaraleet rolled off his eyes at Raelynn’s last remarks before letting out a soft chuckle, smiling fondly at the Breton woman. “Couldn’t resist getting in one last coy remark, could you?” The Argonian said, shaking his head slightly. “I’ll think about it Raelynn, truly, I will. But I think that such a gesture...well, it could best wait until we are out of our current predicament here, wouldn’t you agree?” He said, falling silent as an unwelcome thought crossed his mind. “But...if things seem to look to dire for us, I’ll take action before I’m unable to.” He added quietly, frowning slightly to himself. She nodded in agreement, he wasn’t wrong. The situation was tense and wasn’t going to let up anytime soon, but in her mind - that was all the more reason to act. There would be no forcing Jaraleet to do anything he didn’t want to, though. “You’re right, and for what it’s worth - I think she likes you a lot too.” She thought to continue dangling Jaraleet on a string by his emotions, but her conscience got the better of her and she just smiled. “I think whatever you choose to do will be right, whenever that may be. She likes [i]you[/i]. You’ll know what to do…” Her gaze travelled to the window, and she realised that time was getting on - she still had errands to complete. “I really must get going... “ She sighed as she stood from the chair. “It’s been good to see you Jaraleet.” She gathered up her belongings and made her way to the door, turning just one last time to speak to him. “I mean it about getting that wound closed up. You’ll have one raging infection if you don’t see to it today…” There was a sternness to her voice, but the smile that followed betrayed all severity of it entirely. “Take care, friend.” And with that, she left. “Thank you Raelynn, and it has been good to see you too.” The Argonian said, smiling at the Breton woman as she got up from the chair. “You seem to forget that infections aren’t much of an issue for us Argonians. But don’t worry, I’ll have it seen today by someone in the hotel’s infirmary, you have my word.” He said, standing up and going up with her towards the door as she made her way out of the room. “You take care too Raelynn, you take care too.”