[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220412/0eb207390f4e0e6834fc87bf2ad93afa.png[/img][/center][hr]
This woman was toying with him. She said nothing there - nothing of substance, anyway. Ceolfric didn't know what he expected, asking a common jester who, by her own admission, flits about on the fringes of tales of heroism and virtue. She made her living peddling sensationalized crap; the line between fact and fiction was a useless construct to be discarded in favor of theatrics to her. It would've been tolerable had Lilann been a poet caught up in the delusions of her own verse, but she fully recognized that everything crossing her lips was a ridiculous falsehood and yet still had the audacity to taunt him with them. Some fearmongering minstrel up in Dranir had surely concocted similar tales about him at some point, and under normal circumstances he'd certainly revel in the spreading of his own legend, but a lie was a lie no matter how entertaining. Such stories were meant to cow lesser men and frighten children out of straying too far into the woods, not convey information.

[color=AA4A44]"So you have no idea,"[/color] Ceolfric surmised mirthlessly, [color=AA4A44]"Start with that next time."[/color] His fingers twitched at his side, eager to pry her mind open and confirm exactly what she did and didn't know about this storied apothecary underneath the veneer of exaggerated narrative, but a quick flick of his eyes back to Cerric dissuaded him. Not here. Not yet.

The elf's explanation further soured the idea; he'd apparently be stuck with all of them for nearly a fortnight, so it behooved him to refrain from any acts against the group until he was at least gainfully employed. No reason to ruin his relationship with the House over rumors of a woman he could go talk to personally at any point in time. Drawing the ire of other aetherborn over petty slights seemed a foolish course of action anyway; their capacity for retribution was a far greater threat than a normal man's.

Ceolfric leaned against a nearby couch as Aleka continued the briefing, attentive enough to not appear visually disinterested but otherwise unengaged. Babysit some merchant's daughter, kill a few unruly beasts, maybe dissuade a few of his former colleagues from trying to collect a toll from them. The company sounded like the most grueling challenge of the trip. Of course, this also served as an evaluation, so he'd have to find some way to be proactive on the journey. If the roads proved uneventful, they'd barely appear more impressive than common caravan guards.

[hr][@McMolly]