and some by virtue fall; Elysteria

[Kushiel]

Kushiel heard her coming and gave an expectant swish of his tail. He hadn’t expected her to flatly refuse to see him, but through his hubris he had admitted it may be a possibility. As it turns out, he was still as irresistible as ever.

However, as she approached, Kushiel narrowed his eyes slightly. When they had last met, not too long ago, she had appeared to be in the peak of health. That was clearly not the case now. Soberly, for he wasn’t completely heartless, he spoke.

“Elysteria.” He said in response to his own name. Now that she was closer he could look at her properly. Something clearly had happened between the Chamber and the Dale. What that something could be he could only begin to guess. He studied her for another long moment, taking in her limp, and generally bedraggled appearance.

“What the hell happened to you?” It was not the most gentle of inquiries, but it was sincere. Slowly, he began to circle her, looking for further damage. Everywhere he looked he seemed to find it. His first thought was that she could have participated in some mock battle. But no, injuries sustained in mocks were not this severe. A real battle then? He sighed, and spoke, not unkindly.

“You know, Ellie, when diplomatic missions fail, you’re not supposed to simply resort to all out war. Is this a ‘you should see the other guy’ situation or what?” Kushiel wasn’t the “defend your honor type.” He usually found physical exertion of any kind distasteful, but he could admit that he felt a twinge of unease in thinking that someone had hurt her. He fully believed her more capable of defending herself than he could, he was a bit of a feminist when the choice was to believe her capable or do it himself, but the idea sat ill with him none the less.

He let his eyes wander aimlessly for a second, thinking, when they landed on the little filly. He sighed again, this time exasperated, for clearly there was a lot that he didn’t know about her. He wasn’t sure why that bothered him, they hadn’t had much in the way of meaningful conversation, but he huffed in frustration none the less.

“Are you keeping secrets? I didn’t know you had a daughter.” Again, this was absurd, because keeping secrets and not telling every little detail of your life were two very different things. But, Kushiel didn’t see it that way, and to demonstrate that, he looked at her sternly. Despite himself, real concern lurked behind his bluster. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to harass her at every opportunity, but he did none the less, and felt some sort of proprietorship over the honor.