A Stranger Comes to Visit (Claire)

[Deleted]

In the dark cell about a week and a half after Claire's captivity starts, the soft pad of bare feet can be heard descending the long stones stares to the dungeon. Roland is out fulfilling a favor he owes and he has left the stone lion to defend Claire's cell from being tampered with. A soft hum seems to reverberate around within the room, a the tune to a song called "The March of Madness". The lion rises to its feet and crouches down as the humming gets louder, and when a figure appears from the staircase its long is suddenly cut short as a black miasma touches it, drawing the life force back out of the creature.

"Mmm~ tasty," hums the figure who walks to the front of Claire's cell. The man was had skin as black as char and eyes the color of flowing blood which sat behind a pair of spectacles, his disordered hair sat in a messy mop atop his head, and he seemed a bit lanky. He was hunched forward slightly and bares his teeth in a kindly smile at Claire who rests on the other side of the bars. "So this is what Ai let become of her champion." He muses places his hands on the bar and leaning forward until he was almost touching them.

"Hey, can you hear me? Tell me, do you hate the people who put you in here? Do you hate those goddesses who put you into the situation that led to this?" He asks her, his voice was level, but it seemed to carry passion and his ruby eyes shined even in the weakened light.

[Claire]

How long had she been down here? Days? Weeks? A month? There was no sun, no light other than the distant lamps and candles. She had tried, at first, to keep up with the days by scratching into the wall but her fingernails had long since blunted and gone bloody from the effort. The shackles had left her wrists and ankles raw from her efforts to escape, but there was still stubborn determination at the back of her mind. She wouldn’t let them kill her. She wouldn’t.

Then, a voice.

Claire was laying on the cold floor when the voice came, facing the wall. She was dirty mostly- her clothing in worn and thin tatters and her hair matted and clumped. She could hear the whispered voice of a man- it was always men, except for that one tall woman with the thin and cold voice. And this man sounded disgusting like all the others- seeing a woman in chains seemed to do something to them that was carnal and disgusting.

<”Shut up…”> Claire pushed herself up a little, keeping her back to the man who was speaking now. <”I don’t believe in your gods, so shut up.”> she rubbed her hands over her ears, wincing as the metal rubbed against her raw wrists. She turned her head back a little to look at the man, eyes narrowed and tired in the dark.

“What do you want.”

[Deleted]

The man tilts his head a bit and his smiles grows a bit wider, almost impossibly so as she claims not to believe in the deities of Nova. <"Despite the fact that it is because a pair of them that you are in here?"> He asks in Claire's native tongue, his smile vanishing and being replaced by a look of curiosity as he brings his face up to the bars seems to examine her.

<"I will admit to enjoying watching a mortal suffer a good bit, you are wasted in this cell. Why don't we chat for a bit? We might be able to come to an understanding, and you've got nothing but time."> He suggests walking away from the bars and rummaging through the desk Roland had set up to keep an eye on her as he worked. He comes out with an orange and smiles.

<"A sign of good faith...or at least a small thing taken from that toy soldier who thinks himself a man of law."> The man says as he rolls the orange over to Claire.

He crouches down again and looks at her through the bars his body naturally maintaining the new position despite the odd angle and it looking blasted uncomfortable.

[Claire]

Claire’s eyes widened at the familiar sound. Her own language! She suddenly felt alert and turned, trying to move forward but the chains halted her progress. She looked down at the cold metal through matted hair, then up to the man. His skin looked dark, like hers. Was he from her country?

<”Are you from my country?”> She asks, leaning forward a little to try and see him better. Energy was suddenly seeping back into sluggish speech, her mouth dry from lack of water. Her eyes narrowed a little, confused. <”I am here because I was kidnapped and drugged. I am here because your King would have raped me if I had not stopped him.”>

She felt her expression go flat, energy draining from her. Oh. Some sort of asshole mage, then. Mortals, bah. When the man moved she tried to see where he went, then her eyes followed the bouncing orange object in her direction. Fruit! Claire reached out and snatched it up, biting down into the skin without thought. She was so hungry- her stomach was gnawing at her insides and her throat was raw from lack of water. The juice from the fruit splattered over her mouth and jaw as she ripped into the skin with her teeth and began to eat, curled up with the fruit like a ravenous animal.

<”Is my necklace there?”> Claire looked up after a moment, her mouth full of fruit. <”It has a crystal- it’s all I have that’s mine, I want it back.”>

[Deleted]

In response to Claire's outburst about 'his king' the man lets out a rasping cackle that seemed twinged with contempt and he suddenly pressed his face up against the bars again and looked deep into her eyes, the heat behind his ruby orbs almost physical in their intensity. <"I bow to no one, especially not a curse whelp like that!"> He spits and then stands up straight, all hints of the fiery passion he displayed before gone.

"Well a believer or not you cannot deny what is in front of you,and it matters little to me if you respect or even acknowledge the existence of the others." He says in novarian.

Though his eyes widen with curiosity when she mentions her necklace. He begins to look through the desk, but alas it was nowhere to be found. "Well the guard may be a fool, but he's apparently not THAT much of a fool to leave such a treasure unprotected. I can assure you of nothing more than that Noku does not have your necklace then." He tells her with an almost sympathetic shrug.

"Did find this though," he tosses her a water skin wrapped around what appeared to be a small wedge of cheese, it was only about a quarter full and the cheese had been sitting out for almost a day, but hey prisoners couldn't be chosers. The man drags the wooden chair over to the bars and sits on it, his arms resting on the back. <"Anyways, back to my previous question, do you hate this place and the people in it?"> He asks her.

[Claire]

Claire rolled her eyes a little, finishing devouring the fruit. It helped, but her stomach still ached. Disappointed flooded through her at the realization that her necklace was gone- that hollow pit in her chest only expanded at the thought. Her dreams had been empty without it. She had not seen the dark-haired man since the last time, right before her necklace was taken from her. She reached forward for the water and cheese, grabbing them up eagerly and discarding the peel from the orange to the ground. She began to drink and eat once more, the stale taste not even registering.

<”Of course I do. What is it to you?”> Claire looked up from the food between bites, still curled against the back of the cell.

[Deleted]

When Claire finally admitted that she hated the people of this castle the corners of the man's mouth turn up and he rocks the chair forward a bit. <"Well you see, I also hate many of the people in this castle, and most of the 'not people' too. After all, who wants to be bound by rules determined but some rich tart who just happened to get born to the position of leader.">

<"A deal,"> He says suddenly as he perks up and looks up the stairs and then turns back to her. <"Obviously there is no point in breaking you out of your cell, you'd just get caught again, but what if I could offer you a chance at freedom on the gallows?"> The man asks her, his smile turning into a toothy grin.

<"Tell me what would such assistance be worth to you?"> He asks her, suddenly tilting his head to a 90 degree angle and raising his feet onto the chair.

[Claire]

Claire lifted her head a little, then tilted it back against the wall, watching this man. She chewed on the cheese, having enough energy to raise an eyebrow at him. At the proposition of a deal, she stopped chewing, her face going flat. She swallowed, looking down at what was left of the cheese and water and placing it down on the stone floor.

<”...you are offering me something I cannot take.”> Claire says cautiously, <”You speak my language, but… but you do not understand my culture.”> She watched the man- if he was truly a man- twist his head. A demon, surely. Some kind of malevolent spirit, come to tempt her in her moment of darkness. A test of faith. She raised her head, eyes narrowed at the creature.

<”I do not do deals with creatures like you. I have faith in the Mother. Thank you for the food, but you must leave. Now.”>

[Deleted]

The man frowns at Claire's response, he was disappointed, it had seemed like a pretty good deal to him. He'd take her to death's embrace either way when the time came anyways...oh well. He tilts his head back and forth debating whether he should leave her with some vaguely ominous prophecy, but decides not to, instead he simply says.

<"One word to you, the man who put you in this cell is the one who holds your pendant. I have heard he is guarding it closely, if you do manage to survive, you'll need to slay him to regain it."> Zepon tells her before walking barefoot back up the stairs humming.

Next time Roland comes down he would question her about the Lion.