video; open to both courts

[foraneye]

[Though she cannot tell who may be listening, Élise remains calm and composed she she speaks. She will not let any fear or anger show; she's been taught better than that.]

My name is Élise de la Serre and I don't believe in magic. But I don't believe in being lured away from everything I know by creatures either, and here I am. And so, I've been told, here are you.

[She shakes her head.]

For now, I think it's best to stop clinging to what I do and don't believe in. Either all of this is real, or I've gone swiftly mad.

[And she doesn't feel mad. But if she were, would she?

Some questions are best saved for quiet times when she's alone with her thoughts.]

I'd be grateful for information any of you know to be important. I've heard what our hosts have said and I'm making my own inquiries elsewhere, of course, but there is always more, things we must learn that others overlook. I'm sure that all of you who have been here for some time can think of things you wish you had known.

[She pauses a moment, then just nods.]

In return, you'd have my gratitude and an owed favor. And I'm not without enough skill to pay it back.

Comments

[cockade]

You think so?

[It's said teasingly, as if they'd never had anything happen between them, never had everything in their lives be so much of a mess in the first place. His brow arches at that, and an old, familiar smile comes across his face.]

Careful. I should warn you with how I am, when left to my own devices.

[foraneye]

Oh, I know. Do you think I don't remember quite well?

[It's so easy to fall into old habits, despite all that's happened—Bellec's betrayal and death, being whisked away to a whole other world. And of course there's the matter of her father's death, which is still a raw wound they both feel.

But it's comforting to know he's here—not Arno the Assassin ally, but Arno, the boy who's been her best friend and hers for so long. For him, she is glad.]

So you'd better be careful in that castle they've dropped you in. I'll be very put out otherwise.

[cockade]

I'd like to imagine it's rather hard to forget.

[He's never been one to look at her standings- Élise has always been a close friend and something far more, below the surface. Despite all their challenges he still holds her to his heart dearly and loves her more than anything else in the world. He would do anything to keep her safe.]

You honestly expect me to get into trouble? [There's a quirk of his brow at that, but he already knows the answer. If anything, he's going to be so much worse than just trouble.]

[foraneye]

Do you honestly expect an answer to the contrary?

[Separated by courts, separated by however much physical distance now lies between them—he knows better, she is certain.]

I expect you not to get caught.

[cockade]

[He's always known better. If anything, she taught him well.]

Well, I'll have to keep that in mind, then. I wouldn't want you to have to travel all this way to simply wring my neck.

[He's joking, he's joking!

Mostly, at least.]

[foraneye]

See that I don't. I suspect we'll have more important matters to look after in the days to come.

[And this time her smile is a touch grim. Out of one battle, into another.]

[cockade]

Isn't that always the case. [The smile she gets is one that he wears when on a mission, serious yet present all the same.] Stay out of trouble.

[foraneye]

[Her expression shifts into something stern, but that's a twinkle in her eye that one who knows her well might detect.]

Don't get caught.