[center][h1][b][color=DAF6C7]Ríoghnach "Riona"[/color][/b][/h1][/center]
A giant was hunting her.

At first, Riona thought it was just a coincidence—a glimpse of a figure here, an odd sensation of being watched there—, but as the number of coincidences piled, a pattern formed. Each encounter added one more detail to Riona’s stalker. Each detail made it easier to spot him in the background, amongst the crowd, in the corner of her vision. The unease turned into full-on panic when it dawned on her that Riona spotted the man in her memories too: the giant had been tailing long before she noticed his presence. He was there when she gave Lordling Smithwood a piece of her mind; she spun right past him during her dance with Lady Morrigan down the hallway; and he was there across the street when she exited the bank.

Speculations whirled in her mind, every new one worse than the last, making her stomach twist and turn in uncomfortable angles and her heart beat like she was running a marathon. One thing was clear: no matter who the giant was or whomever he was working for, she wouldn't be the one leading him straight to the sanctuaries. Besides, if she wanted answers, what better way to get them than by directly asking?

After a very terse explanation and a marginally longer argument between Mr. Brisby about the best course of action, they agreed to part ways. The carriage dropped Riona off in an alley, where she hid behind some crates and waited. It didn’t take long for her pursuer to appear.

Just as the hulk walked past her, Riona slunk out of her hiding place and thrust the hilt of her unsheathed dagger against his back, ready to replace it with the sharper end if the need arose. [color=DAF6C7]“Don’t move. Hands where I can see them.”[/color]

The giant stilled, but after a beat, asked, “Which one?”
Another beat passed between them before Riona had to ask, [color=DAF6C7]“What?”[/color]
“‘Don’t move’ or ‘hands where you can see them,’” the giant added, “I can’t do both.”
A smirk tugged the corner of Riona’s mouth. [color=DAF6C7]“True enough. I’d prefer to see your ha—[i]Slowly![/i] … Move your hands slowly and keep them up.”[/color] She waited for the giant to do as he was told before continuing, [color=DAF6C7]“Who are you?”[/color]
“Karleen,” his voice remained monotonic.
[color=DAF6C7][i]Karleen?[/i][/color] Not quite the name she imagined the man to have. If that was his real name, that is. [color=DAF6C7]“You were following me.”[/color]
“Yes.”

The blatant honesty threw Riona off balance. She expected at least some attempt at lying or resistance. Sure, she had a weapon in her hand, but if this escalated into a brawl, it was obvious the man named Karleen could overpower her. He wasn’t tracking her to fight her, then. [color=DAF6C7]“Why?”[/color]
“My master wants to meet you.”

Riona’s eyebrows knitted themselves together. Karleen was wearing a well-tailored suit with a design seen more often worn by servants working for Varian nobility than Caesonian nobility. If she were to hazard a guess, this master of his must’ve come from Varian. She knew a few people from Varian who might “want to meet her,” but unless things drastically changed since she last saw them, only two (three if she were reaching) were still alive to want that. [color=DAF6C7]“And who might that be?”[/color]

A silence that she thought would also last a beat stretched out into awkward territory. After all that candor, Riona couldn’t understand why the giant clammed up. Was his master someone Riona wished to avoid meeting? That narrowed her two-item list of suspects down to one. She tried again. [color=DAF6C7]“Who is your master?”[/color] She anticipated the silent treatment, but was surprised to see the mountain of muscles trembling.

Carefully, Riona edged around the colossal to get a better look at his face. Karleen’s facial expression was taut with intense strain, his eyes fixated on an unseen enemy, while his skin glistened with droplets of sweat and changed colors from the effort of some internal battle that raged silently below the surface. His mouth moved as if he was trying to speak, but his body refused to cooperate.

There were only so many reasons for the body to refuse what the brain wanted—and when Riona saw the thousands of scars and shackle marks covering him, her mind latched onto the first idea that was more common in Caesonia than people realized.

Every shade of disgust washed over Riona. Despite learning at a young age about the depths of human depravity, such atrocities still made her skin crawl. Even so, the giant’s current state was ample proof to elevate her sole suspect to the status of the perpetrator.

[color=DAF6C7]“It’s Leo Smithwood, isn’t it?”[/color]

Out of the two noble Varians Riona knew of, Princess Sadie was the one who’d never treat her servants inhumanely. If anything, she’d be the first to become absolutely furious if she found out someone used their status as an excuse to mistreat others. She never saw Sadie turn a blind eye to such behavior or make compromises when it came to equality. All life was precious to her, no matter their station. Riona loved Sadie for that. It was also why she knew there was no way in Hells a servant of hers would shiver like a beaten dog when they tried to utter her name.

On the other hand, Lord Smithwood—no, Sh*tlord; Lordling Sh*twood if she was inclined to waste a second more of her life thinking about him—made his contempt for lowborns abundantly clear. Though he refrained from hurting her, maybe he just didn’t want to get into trouble by breaking someone else’s “property.” Did such generosity extend to his own servants?

Gods, how low Varian noble houses have fallen if they only had lordlings like Sh*twood to become the head of their house. The only saving grace was that Riona’s mother didn’t live to see this day. How devastated she would've been if she saw how hard it became to tell the difference between her countrymen and Caesonian toffs.

Karleen directed his hazel eyes at her. He had the type of stone face that made it difficult to read, but somehow Riona got the impression that the name surprised him.

[color=DAF6C7]“Well,”[/color] Riona sheathed her dagger and crossed her arms, [color=DAF6C7]“you can tell Sh*tlord, and you can quote me on this, that I was wrong about him. Not only is he a heap of rotting trash, he’s incompetent and a lazy f**king coward too. If he wants to settle his dispute with me, he can do it himself.”[/color]

The bronze-haired man shook his head. “No. Not him.”
She arched an eyebrow. [color=DAF6C7]“Then who wants to meet me?”[/color]

Karleen opened his mouth, then she watched the same convulsion wrack his body again. If she didn’t know any better, she’d have thought someone was choking the man for even daring to think of his master’s name. The more he struggled against it, the tighter its hold became. He tried, though. He tried so hard it made it increasingly painful to witness his struggle.

Riona extended her hand but quickly retracted it when Karleen flinched at the gesture. [color=DAF6C7]“You shouldn’t push yourself.” [i]Not for such a cruel master.[/i][/color] She tried a different tactic. [color=DAF6C7]“Is your master a Varian noble?”[/color]

Karleen nodded.
[color=DAF6C7]“Is your master a man?”[/color]
Karleen nodded again, with some hesitation (or possibly confusion).
[color=DAF6C7]“Can you describe what he looks like?”[/color]

A blank stare answered the question first, followed by trembling. For a moment, Riona feared Karleen was about to suffer another attack, but the trembling subsided as quickly as it came. The giant knew, probably more than she did, how futile the attempt was. “No,” he said, “I can’t. I… just can’t.”

[color=DAF6C7][i]Gods, even imagining his face causes pain? What did he do to you?[/i] “Do you know if I’ve met him before?”[/color]

After silent contemplation, the man finally answered, “Yes. You’ve bumped into him before. You even talked for a bit.”

Nodding, Riona repeatedly said okay to both Karleen and herself. [color=DAF6C7]“I still stand by what I said before. Your master can come get me himself if he has something to ‘discuss’ with me. If he thinks I’m not worth the effort, then neither is he.”[/color] She turned on her heels, took a few steps toward the main street, then turned back around to face him. [color=DAF6C7]“And if he hurts you because of this, come find me. I know some people who can help you out.”[/color]

“He won’t,” the giant’s voice came out gentle, as if to reassure her. “Thank you, Riona.”

She regarded Karleen for a long while before nodding one last time and stepping out of the alleyway. The first clock she found told her she still had some time to spare, so she steered her feet in the marketplace’s direction. Riona was going to need to stock up on some supplies.