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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 17, 2012 12:02:27 GMT -5
Frances studied Arania with a level gaze for a long moment. "I think you probably know far more interesting stories than me."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 17, 2012 12:08:43 GMT -5
"Stories such as?" She frowned a little, wondering what he meant. "I'm just a girl, with little knowledge of the world. Arania Flowers, nobody."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 17, 2012 12:11:53 GMT -5
"Just a girl?" Frances asked, shaking his head. "Only the other night mysterious things happened. Girls went missing. How unfortunate." He chuckled.
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 17, 2012 12:15:59 GMT -5
"Well, it wasn't me, was it?" she said with a smile. "But I might be able to tell you a little, if you ask nicely."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 17, 2012 12:22:01 GMT -5
"Well then, Arania Flowers," Frances said, leaning forward with an amused grin. "Will you do me the honour of telling me about what happened to your good Hightower friend?"
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 17, 2012 12:29:31 GMT -5
She looked at him carefully, wondering if he could be trusted. It was all past now, and she had guards watching her every move. "It began in this very tavern...or so I hear. The table just there." She gestured across the room. "I... she was invited to go forth and seek revenge, along with the Royce girl. Unfortunately, the two stupid girls fell right into a trap. At Mara's Pleasure House."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 17, 2012 12:32:40 GMT -5
"At Mara's pleasure house?" Frances asked, sounding amused. "Surely not a place for two young ladies to be."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 17, 2012 12:38:06 GMT -5
She shook her head. "Definitely not. The girls sent one of the men who had accompanied them inside to check things out. He did, most thoroughly." She blushed the tiniest bit, though her voice stayed the same, unwavering. "And then they all went inside. Confusion and blood and death...and then the door opened. It was him, the Limper, though some sorcery had healed his limp. He was behind the trap that they walked into so willingly. And to spare pain and suffering, they went willingly to his carriage."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 17, 2012 12:48:11 GMT -5
"How very clever of the girls," Frances said with an agreeing nod. "Though I wager that did not save them from strife. It rarely does."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 17, 2012 13:00:38 GMT -5
"No, it didn't. And then..." She swallowed hard. No one would know about that. "And then there was a struggle, and the Hightower girl fell from the carriage, and found herself fleeing from her captors in the dark woods. She ran, but one of them caught her. Luckily, at that moment, a friend appeared and a crossbow bolt pierced his heart." She stopped again, taking a quick sip of the wine. "She discovered that this friend had been helping them all along, and had caused the carriage wheel to fall off. So she and the friend went to see what they could do to save poor Royce."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 17, 2012 14:05:15 GMT -5
"And back they all came," Frances concluded, finishing his wine. "You tell a moving tale, Arania Flowers. Compelling, exciting," He grinned. "Everything a story should be."
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 17, 2012 15:00:53 GMT -5
"Again, you flatter me. I tell a story as I would wish to read it." Her glass was empty for a second time. "A harrowing tale of Suspense and violence. Pity those girls had to live through it." She shuddered, the events still fresh in her memory.
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 17, 2012 15:02:37 GMT -5
"Better than had they died because of it," Frances said, placing the bottle to Arania's glass but waiting to see if she would say yes.
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Post by Arania Stark on Oct 17, 2012 16:36:44 GMT -5
She eyed the bottle, seeing a single drop fall from the mouth into her glass. She shrugged. "I might as well. Only not so much this time. I have no wish to lose my head in this place."
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Post by Amelia Royce on Oct 17, 2012 17:00:38 GMT -5
"You would not," Frances said, pouring Arania a generous but not large portion of wine. "Do you want another song?"
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