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[sub]Location: The Road Between the Jail and the Inn[/sub]
[h1][i]Part V[/i][/h1]
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Eyes the color of torchlight scanned the stones in the path, measuring the seams between them, checking for inadequacies, gauging the smoothness of the surface that they created together in a web that connected all of Dawnhaven. Elio catalogued all the little details out of habit — but they weren’t truly where his attention lay. 

The soft, almost hesitant crunching of snow signaled an approach. A hazy shadow darkened the stones under Elio’s watchful gaze.

The Priestess. 

Elio cast his eyes up to her and almost expected her to flinch away — she was such a meek little thing, shivering in the cold. 

But she didn’t flinch. She didn’t look away. No, instead the quiet Priestess held his gaze, nervous but watchful. Elio let the silence drag out between them, let the weight of his attention press on her like layers of sediment. He didn’t bother to hide the way he looked her over, eyes trailing over her features. The softness. The way her cheeks and nose went pink in the cold. The heavy, oversized robes they’d wrapped her in.

The long rope of hair that now draped over her shoulder, shining and golden with a small black tie at the end.

Her slender fingers tightened nervously around the book and pen she’d used to communicate whenever she lost confidence in her rasping voice. 

Elio looked lazily up her body again, finding those dark eyes. They widened slightly, her cheeks growing darker.

She was so sweet that Elio could feel his teeth rotting. Or at least she [i]acted[/i] sweet. She was still clergy, and there was still that rumor/propaganda piece about her saving some brat from certain death, but she seemed so… [i]naive.[/i] Ill-equipped to handle the Lunarian chill and shadows, the flash of teeth and blades lurking just beyond the edge of what was visible. 

Obedient, too — she’d blithely followed him, a much [i]larger[/i] stranger, into a dark alley so he could… [i]fix her hair?[/i] She’d [i]bought[/i] that? Granted, Elio’d used flimsier excuses to get someone alone before, but his partner usually knew what game they were playing and how it would end. But this one… she flinched like a rabbit whenever Elio let his touch get a little [i]forward.[/i] Even more bizarrely, she’d almost seemed to relax into the moment, the tension melting away bit by bit from her slim shoulders when Elio had actually begun to braid.

She was a soft touch. Soft hair, too — hair that was pale as the sunrise, when Elio was fairly certain Ember Islanders exclusively had [i]dark[/i] hair. Maybe her blood was mixed like his. 

It’d all been a little too peaceful. So, if Elio wasn’t gonna get a fuck, maybe he could pick a fight — just to see what got her worked up.

Aurelians could be a tedious bunch — prim and proper, too quick to hide behind [i]ideals[/i] or [i]courtesy[/i] when shit could just be dealt with by laying a fucker out. That blindingly golden [i]Champion[/i] had been a shining example, letting Elio talk all the shit he wanted while she locked down her annoyance and tried not to stomp away. 

He’d expected the Priestess to wilt in his hands when he decided to get a little mean — or maybe she’d finally drop the act and finally show off how [i]lordly[/i] and [i]sun-touched[/i] she was in the face of her methods and ideals being questioned.

But instead… something interesting happened. She [i]did[/i] whither beneath his prodding questions at first. But then she’d argued. Stood her ground, with her notebook and pen — she’d even used that frail little voice of hers, shattered by whatever she was hiding beneath that scarf. 

The thing that caught him most off guard though, was that she’d [i]apologized[/i] to him on behalf of that precious Church of hers. And then…

[color=lemonchiffon][i][quote]The Moon has had the sky to Herself for over a year now in Lunaris. Are Her people better for it?[/quote][/i][/color]
He saw her words in his mind — he could almost hear them in her wispy voice. 

She stood before him, lit by the golden haze of torches as snow drifted gently around her. After a long moment… the corner of her mouth twitched up in an awkward, shy smile — like an offering.

Elio huffed out a breath, his own lips curling up slightly as he raised an eyebrow.

So, maybe the little sunspot was more than a pair of big eyes and golden robes. Or maybe she was just a useful idiot for the Church who actually [i]believed[/i] in what she was saying. 

Either way… not quite what he was expecting from a High Priestess of Aelios. And Elio just [i]loved[/i] discovery.

[color=darkorange][i]So what’s got your heart bleeding for a man accused of treason?[/i][/color] 

A voice like a bouncing bell lilted through the air.

The Priestess beside him jumped before settling herself. Elio drew a lazy gaze to the source of the noise.

It was that woman — looked to be little more than a girl, really. Flouncy and bright as champaign bubbles, with mismatched hair, and in a much better mood than when Elio had seen her this morning, all but [i]fleeing[/i] from the prison.

She’d been to see Gadez. Apparently the meeting hadn’t gone well.

Elio briefly entertained the idea of adding ‘attempted treason’ to his arsenal of seduction tools, before remembering it would be pointless to add any more because he was already naturally [i]stacked.[/i]

Then this Anora asked about Astaros because of fucking [i]course.[/i] What, another tryst? Some noble girl chasing after him? Her name rang a bell, but that was mostly annoying — if he only [i]vaguely remembered[/i] a name it likely meant the person attached was more irksome than entertaining. The last Elio had seen, Astaros had been lording over his cold little wife as they left the Commanders’ tent and headed into town, but he didn’t feel much like sharing that yet.

He managed not to [i]roll his eyes[/i] as he looked back to the Priestess, who —

Seemed very uncomfortable suddenly. Well [i]that[/i] was interesting. Her cheeks lost some of their color as her shoulders drew up like a startled cat and she looked back at Anora with wide eyes.

She just stared for a bit, watching Anora as Elio watched her. Then she seemed to realize that the silence was stretching on longer than was polite [i](Aurelians)[/i] and blinked back up to Elio — like she was surprised he hadn’t answered for the both of them yet. 

Elio raised an eyebrow.

The Priestess snapped her eyes back to Anora and seemed to remember that [i]she[/i] was the one with ‘authority’. Elio idly watched the way the light shifted across her braid as she brought up her notebook to write. If nothing else, this one was at least interesting to watch as she tried to navigate conversations in shy, perplexing ways.

She seemed to pull together some semblance of clergical dignity as she straightened out her shoulders and lifted her notebook with a polite smile that struggled to meet her eyes.

[color=lemonchiffon][i][quote]I apologize, but I haven’t seen him today. Was there something I, or the Church could assist you with instead?[/quote][/i][/color]
The Priestess glanced up at Elio like she was suddenly remembering something.

[color=lemonchiffon][i][quote]Or perhaps the stonemason here, Mister Azkona?[/quote][/i][/color]
How sweet. She remembered his name as she offered him up as a potential sacrifice.

Elio’s lips curled into a relaxed smile with cutting edges as he cast his gaze over Anora.
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[sub][color=darkorange]Interactions:[/color] Anora Raunefeldt [@Dezuel][/sub]