[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/vU5V2vU.png[/img]
[i][h1]Part I[/h1]
Collab between [@c3p-0h] and [@Dezuel]
[sub]Location: The Road Between the Jail and the Inn[/sub][/i][hr][/center]

Anora tilted her head to the side and blinked her eyes to Tia, it took her a moment to understand that the woman before her was either a mute or had sworn an oath of silence. Quite the opposite compared to that man she had spoken to earlier in the jail.

The noblewoman adjusted her posture slightly and made a courtesy motion to Tia. Her hair momentarily fell over her eyes, casting shadows over it.  A priestess and a stonemason? That was an odd pairing. Like her dear brother sharing company with anyone not of noble heritage, except his aide Faldrin of course. But... that was a special case.

[color=f6989d]"A priestess? My sincerest apologies for obstructing you~ Afraid there is nothing you can do for me. However the very sad man currently held within the jail, he could use some light in this hour,"[/color] Anora said softly, raising her head to look into Tia's eyes, her blue eyed gaze fierce, yet her smile gentle. Her dark hair moving away from her face as a breeze passes the trio by, the strands of blonde hair in her bangs flickering, like golden fire, as the petals of snow fall down. The priestess met her gaze, her eyebrows drawing together in fresh concern.

[color=f6989d]"We all need a light in these dark days until the dawn comes~ If mister Azkona here would be so kind as to lead me to the royals residence here, that would be marvelous~. I shall wait there for the Prince if he is not already there~."[/color] Anora said in a determined manner, placing her free hand at her waist and with the other around the grip of her umbrella. She did want to find and speak with Flynn, but she also did not trust that scruffy scoundrel looking stonemason. He was surely a bad influence on her, then again... she had just now directed the priestess towards the jail where... that other man were. No doubt she would be able to handle him as he was all locked up.

She felt a sudden weight in her chest and core, she felt guilt. She was sending the priestess to a horrible place, and then tricked the awful looking troublemaker to escort her. Well... it was more like keeping everyone safe. Anora just had to look at Elio to know he was trouble. Perhaps it was time she told her brother about one of the things bothering her as well, as it had before she even boarded the caravan to Dawnhaven. He had to know. He deserved to know. He was still her brother after all. Ayel. But this was something she couldn't tell Flynn, not yet at least.

Anora stepped forwards and held out her elbow towards Elio, already expecting him to take up her request. She didn’t notice a dark eyebrow arching over firelight eyes. Someone was about to be in very dangerous company. But who?

Tia blinked at Anora and her proffered arm, trying to reorient herself back here, in this snowy path, instead of worrying about Gadez [i](Sad? He was [u]sad?[/u] That didn’t sound like [color=#FFFDEF]him at all. There was a certain… [i]doureness[/i] to him at times, but all of Tia’s memories of the [/color][color=FDF9E0]man  — few as they were — were filled with an air of mischief and surety. Even when [/color][color=fffbda]Dyna had arrested him, there’d been that spark in his eye… though, of course that [/color][color=fffbda]might’ve just been the remnants of the Champion’s dazzling[/color] [color=fffacd]magic blinding him. 

[u]Regardless.[/u]

Was his incarceration really going so poorly that it’d affected him so?)[/color][/i] because worrying simply wouldn’t [i]do[/i] anything at the moment.

So instead of thinking (more) about Gadez and his ghostly blue eyes, Tia refocused her attention on the young noblewoman before her. She seemed little more than a girl, beneath her frills and lace, though still taller than Tia. Dark eyes caught on her mismatched hair as a winter breeze tugged at the weight of Tia’s new braid. Curiosity pricked at her along with… an odd warmness. A hesitant softness.

Pulling her gaze from the girl’s odd hair, Tia gave her a gentle smile, lips parting —

[color=darkorange]“Afraid my services are spoken for.”[/color]

A low, smooth voice rolled through the air like honey down a spoon. 

Tia blinked again, eyes darting up to Elio. 

Stance relaxed and casual, smile easy, he looked down at Anora with a gaze that was far too sharp. Tia’s eyebrows drew together as she raised a hand slightly — it wasn’t necessary for the mason to escort her, if Anora needed assistance. Their walk had been… amiable, but the prison was only a short way down the path if Tia remembered correctly. Maybe she’d even walk with more confidence if she wasn’t worried about yet another witness to her clumsiness.

[color=darkorange]“But if you’re that thirsty for company,”[/color] Elio continued, voice dipping low. Tia’s eyes went wide as the air beside her suddenly emptied and Elio took a single long stride into Anora’s space, a scant few inches left between them. [color=darkorange]“Guess the Priestess and I already had our fun.”[/color] 

Tia’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. ‘Already’?… They’d had a chat and he’d been very helpful, but he hadn’t yet finished escorting her to her destination.

[color=darkorange]“I could make time for you,”[/color] he murmured as a large hand lifted, fingers brushing along the hair framing Anora’s face.

Heat shot to Tia’s face as she finally caught up and registered the way he wrapped his voice around the words — what they [i]implied.[/i] Her brain tripped over itself trying to reorient in this new reality. 

Tia nearly dropped her notebook as her hands shot out to grab at his forearm and tug it back towards her. It didn’t even [i]budge.[/i] Somehow her cheeks only grew warmer as her brain filed that information away. 

Blinking wide eyes up at Elio, she found him looking back down at her, expression neutral and eyes dancing with light. A stuttering heartbeat passed. Elio raised an eyebrow at her expectantly.

Elio had been kind. He’d [i]braided her hair.[/i] But he was clearly too playful and too [i]forward,[/i] and Anora was too young for games like this, even if Elio didn’t mean it.

And… in the unlikely event that he [i]did[/i] mean it…

All Tia felt was the regret of running away from the hot springs that morning. She’d left Nyla alone with [i]that man[/i] when it’d been her responsibility as caretaker of the temple to make sure she remained safe. 

Tia’s gaze darted between the mason and the noblewoman and she blurted out the first thing that popped into her mind.

[color=lemonchiffon]“I’ll get lost.”[/color]

Anora's blue eyes set on Elio, her dark hair moving in the wind, the blonde bangs flickering like a torch in the dark. The noblewoman's face had remained still and neutral the moment the mason had brushed along her hair, but her porcelain exterior showed no reaction. Her insides however did and she gave a soft smile, her eyes momentarily closing as if she were feeding an animal in her home at the Sunfire capitol. The priestess was indeed not a mute, but Anora couldn't help but feel that Tia was no doubt nervous. Like the books she had spent time reading in her youth, this was clearly a damsel in distress if she ever knew one. But there was no prince here to save her from this particular scruffy looking dragon.

Anora's eyes flashed open again and she raised her leg slightly and then aimed to dig the heel of her boot right into the top of Elio's one boot, her folded umbrella moved from its resting place on her shoulder to pointing directly towards Elio's jawline, a sharp steel tip protruding from the umbrella top.

[color=f6989d]"Make time?~ You didn't even shave, shall I help you?~ Fair warning though, I am no barber, I might slip~ You are hereby relieved of duty, mister Azkona~ Get behind me, miss priestess~ Flynn tolerates no brigandry or scoundrel behaviour on his people~"[/color] She said in a stern but oddly playful way, the golden ring on her finger shimmering from the light of a nearby torch. A smile began to form on her lips as she waited for Elio to react. The blonde bangs flickering over one of her blue eyes. A familiar feeling in the air.

Flynn was family to her, she couldn't allow this ruffian of a man walk around and seemingly enthrall young women. While Tia was certainly older than her, she had a particular look and behaviour about her that made Anora feel obliged to aid her. She had something about her that made the young noblewoman think of her own birthmother, how she had appeared in one of the old paintings that her adoptive mother had not thrown away. While her birthmother didn't even have the same coloured eyes, hair, skin colour or facial structure. There was still something there. She couldn't quite place it. But she knew that whatever nefarious plan this mister Azkona was up to, she would shut it down. As true as her name was Anora Raunefeldt.