[ He cannot count rabid lechery among his vices, she discovers - he is resolute, his eyes unswerving from her own. The first and simplest traps go unsprung, and this is at once irritating and reassuring. Irritating in that he will not make himself a weak-willed pawn, of which she is in dire need, and reassuring in that if he will not betray his loyalties for her, then he will not, should she find any sort of victory here, be quick to betray her in turn.
These calculations are made swiftly and without undue reflection, and when he refuses verbal banter immediately on the heels of refusing physical diversion, she does not hesitate to set the artifice aside. There is no way of knowing how much time there is to spend bartering and suggesting and dallying and hunting for allegiances. They will simply have to be taken. ]
It is never safe to walk alone. Walk with me. [ There will be, she presumes, some sort of travel to be undertaken here; she will not be staying. Where they will go she does not know, but she does know that she will not go alone. She must have a sword sworn to her side, or at least a man capable of some ferocity. Loyalty is more generously granted when it is paid for, she has learned, and without knowing what precisely his price is, she is certain that it is nothing she cannot pay. ]
no subject
These calculations are made swiftly and without undue reflection, and when he refuses verbal banter immediately on the heels of refusing physical diversion, she does not hesitate to set the artifice aside. There is no way of knowing how much time there is to spend bartering and suggesting and dallying and hunting for allegiances. They will simply have to be taken. ]
It is never safe to walk alone. Walk with me. [ There will be, she presumes, some sort of travel to be undertaken here; she will not be staying. Where they will go she does not know, but she does know that she will not go alone. She must have a sword sworn to her side, or at least a man capable of some ferocity. Loyalty is more generously granted when it is paid for, she has learned, and without knowing what precisely his price is, she is certain that it is nothing she cannot pay. ]
I assure you it will be worth your while.