Burnday, the 27th of Greyeven, 3726

Long, sandstained pale fingers reached out, brushing near the hovering orb before pausing. The high elven woman paused, stopping to unbind her fiery red hair, brushing the sand from it as she smiled slightly; focusing on recalling something she wished to remember, the Fury blushed as her fingertips yet again reached for the orb.

Faint rainbow hues brightened, cascading upward to splash against the orb, sparkling off her fingertips to indicate that the orb was active. One hand withdrew as she sat down at her raised, ornate desk, fingers toying with the loose, curling strands of hair.

"These events occurred on Burnday, the 27th of Greyeven," the woman said, her voice soft. "I was heading into Antonica to pick up a package from a merchant there, when I happened upon a gathering - they were being somewhat hostile to a man I'd met out on the dunes of the Sinking Sands, and I paused to listen..."


A tall, pale, almost angelicly handsome Koada`dal stood before the more muscular and dark wood elf, Corbin Krahe. Beside Corbin was a woman known as Trecle, a small half elf with blond hair and bright eyes, the girl who had some time ago revealed drawings of Phenix to her. Behind them was some sort of Dark Elven knight and an odd Teir`dal named Chath Nar'Thex, along with his spirit companion.

Several different horses grazed off to the side of the camp, two darker horses of some sort and what appared to be a light mare.

She slipped into the shadows as her horse passed behind a nearby tent, wind brushing past them to carry the sound of hoof-beats away from the camp. The small high elf woman was clad in simple Heavy Wool Threaded clothing, its black, red and silver colours much like those fancier scouts wore, a longsword at her hip and a silver runed bow upon her back, she looked more like a ranger than a Fury. Quietly, she listened to the arguments, realising they were discussing Corbin and Trecle's engagement.

It soon became clear that the hauntingly beautiful high elf was Trecle's father, and he was quite furious over his daughter's choice in mates. The high elven woman listened for some time before intervining, of which was initially ill recieved. Finding a distraction in order, she casually mentioned Corbin fending off the advances of some whore-hiding-as-a-knight, relieved that Trecle shifted the attention away from the woman's attempts to help the wood elf.

She continued to listen, watching the entire group closely. The dark elven knight left, nearly trampling Corbin with his horse as he rode away; it took quite a bit not to simply call havoc down from the skies and rain them down upon the knight, the realisation that it would only harm Corbin's chances keeping her from doing so.

After a fairly intense round of father-bullying-future-son-in-law, it seemed fairly decided that Trecle's father would give Corbin a chance to prove himself - a rather tall order, it seemed, given the elf's attitude and demeanors.

The slightly confused but resolute wood elf left them, vanishing as they tend to do. Wanting time to speak with his daughter, the high elven man requested Chath and the high elf girl leave them.

With a flippant comment to Chath about encountering owlbear hunters in odd places, they made their way from the camp, the woman slowing the horse to keep pace with the dark elf beside her. They halted some distance away, their conversation fairly short and to the point - how they knew each other, and the merits and flaws of Trecle's husband-to-be.

They were interrupted by an odd Dark Elven man, who spoke only in Thexian or some other dark language. The two Teir`dal spoke at length, and Trecle joined them.

Just behind Trecle, the high elven man followed, staring intently at something on the Fury's back. She shifted slightly in the saddle as she felt eyes upon her, but kept her gaze focused upon the two Dark Elves and Trecle.

"Oh? Have some vendetta that requires you to kill her yourself?" Chath said to the other Teir`dal.

Both Trecle and the high elven woman turned to stare at the men, and the high elven woman dropped her hand from the silver bow to her sword pommel, in case he was referring to one of them. The dark elf spoke again, though his words were unknown to the woman on horseback, and caused her to tighten her grip slightly.

"Kill who?" she replied warily.

"Tseri Stormracer," Chath replied, his tone of voice wavering somewhere between amusement and something else. "This dark elf is laying claim to her."

Something about the name was familiar, but the woman's train of thought was cut off when Trecle suddenly announced she had to leave, and that she'd need to speak to Chath later. Before much else had been said, Trecle was on her horse, giving her goodbyes before galloping away.

All concentration on the dark elves was lost as Trecle's father's silk-wrapped steel voice drifted into her ears, asking, "Where did you get that bow?"

The woman blinked slightly, turning her head and her horse so that she should look at the other pale elf. For a long moment, she stared at him, trying to formulate some sort of answer - she was leary of him not only due to what was witnessed, but because he was another high elf.

Finally, she replied, "Why do you ask, sir?"

Lavender eyes greeted her silvery stare, and she found the man something of an enigma, unable to truly read his expressions or his intentions.

"Because it looks very interesting. That's all," he said, a hint of something else striking the Fury.

After another moment, her hand drifting from the sword to the bottom tip of the bow, shifting slightly in her saddle, the woman quietly replied, "It is a gift from a fire-bird...one long dead."

With a shrug, she continued to watch the other high elf, trying to read a reaction for some hint of what his interest was. He merely nodded, revealing nothing to her.

"Lot of artifacts like that, floating around. Must be nice," was his response.

She stared at him for a moment, pondering exactly was best to say, before quietly adding, "I wouldn't say nice...it merely is."

The high elven man turned from her slightly, addressing the remaining dark elf, "Who's that, Chath?"

Her attention turned, and she saw that the other man was gone. Her eyes wandered only a moment before returning to look at the other light elf, still hoping for some sort of hint from the man.

"He refused to give a name. But we can't touch Stormracer now. His plans are much too important for us to meddle with," Chath replied, adding, "Lexior. I need to return to Freeport. Will catch up with you later..."

With a smirk, the high elf mocked, "Or Else!"

Chath returned the smirk before again stating, "Anyway. See you soon, Lexior."

"See you later, Lord Chath," this Lexior replied, nodding to the slowly fading dark elf.

She stared at Chath for a moment, blinking at the title Lexior had used - she'd really not thought the other man was much more than a slightly forgetful priest, but apparently she'd been wrong.

"Lord...huh..." she replied, arching a brow as the Dark Elf vanished.

"A title of respect, sure," Lexior said.

"I'm sure...Lords don't hunt owlbears with unions, I suppose," she replied.

His attention full back on the woman, the elf asked, "What may I call you?"

Almost hesitantly, she extended her gloved hand to the man, turned sideways to shake his armoured hand as she quietly replied, "Aria, sir."

The graceful elf took a step forward, standing beside her horse as he bowed slightly and took her hand, turning it over, kissing the backside. Caught off guard, she blinked and then stared at the other elf with a surprised look.

In all her courtly dealings, in her single relationship, she couldn't recall ever having someone actually kiss the back of her hand in such a manner, at the first meeting. It was the sort of thing she'd read about in fairy tales, stories told to little girls to make them dream about handsome princes.

Aria was quite stunned.

"Lady Aria... Lexior Deraven, at your service," Lexior replied, his voice more like silk than steel.

At a loss for what to say, she rather lamely asked, "You look...familiar, sir. Have we met somewhere?"

He held her hand for a moment longer than etiquette called for, releasing it slowly, Aria hesitantly pulling her hand away from him as he replied, "We might have. I travel quite a bit."

She studied him for a long moment, finding that he looked all to much like the knight she'd met in Stormhold ages ago. They could have been twins, perhaps even the same person in another persona - she wasn't quite sure.

"Pardon my foreward questioning, but are you married? I think I met you with your wife, but...I'm not quite sure," she finally stated.

Lexior tilted his head, taken about now himself by her question. She wasn't quite sure if she'd uncovered something or not, until he carefully responded, "My wife is dead some years now. But maybe you did."

She pondered him for a moment, listening intently to his voice, looking carefully over his features. No, this wasn't the man she was thinking of, though it could easily be his brother or son; his voice was too different and the intensity in his eyes spoke of something entirely unknown to her.

"I suppose it was someone else, perhaps a relative," she finally said.

Lexior sniffed at the statement, almost as if he were a bit put-off, as he replied, "Also possible."

Slightly emboldened, Aria pressed, "Do you have a brother, perhaps a son?"

"No one I like to claim, especially," he replied, closing the subject. He added, "I'm good with a face, too. I don't think we've met."

For a moment, the two elves watched each other before Aria finally nodded slightly to Lexior. Despite having been raised in Castleview Hamlet, surrounded by beautiful elves, she found herself unable to look away from him for long.

"It is a pleasure then, Mr. Deraven. I am," she paused, before adding, "well, I am not sorry, but I apologise for earlier - Mr. Krahe is an associate, and I felt that not everything was being seen of him."

"But it is a pleasure," Lexior said, adding, "you'll have to forgive my tone back there... I do not respond well to my daughter's courtships."

The two elves stopped as their apologies ran right over one another, their words mixing together into something that had to be hard to understand to any outsiders listening in. Despite growing up as almost an outcast, Aria realised that many mannerisms of the Koada`dal were quite a part of her...like apologising, clearly.

"I wouldn't understand such, personally - I have no parents," she said with a bitter smile. "But I can imagine such a position."

In what appeared to be an almost sympathetic manor, Lexior replied, "Orphaned like so many. I was fortunate to be raised well by several people. Training can often make up for the lack of parents."

"Indeed," she said, nodding. "I was raised in a Temple mostly, though for the first few years in Castleview itself...by essentially everyone there."

"Understood. A village raises a child," he commented, adding quietly, "I can't say Castleview is an ideal for me, but it was beautiful in ways."

Aria gave him a slight smile, looking down at him from atop the back of her horse. His words echoed her feelings most of her life, having found Castleview and its in habitants to be family she almost wished she didn't have. She felt as if he was just every bit the outcast she was, which made it impossible not to smile.

"Indeed. I don't per se agree with most there, nor was I treated well by my own peers, but there still remains a slight charm to the place," she agreed.

For another long moment, the two elves watched each other, Lexior's lavender eyes never leaving Aria's face. She considered him for a moment, things Chath had mentioned locking into place with things the high elf was saying - she realised he may very well be from Freeport.

"You...don't live there now?" she finally asked.

Chuckling, he replied, "I couldn't stand those people, Lady..."

With a slight smirk, Aria replied, "Honestly, I can't half the time, but I had to."

"Things must be endured, right?" Lexior stated.

"One could say that," she mused, "I honestly wasn't aware of anything else until half a year ago."

Aria decided she felt awkward about looking down at Lexior from horse back, and moved to slide from the saddle. The other high elf offered to help her down, surprising her again, and she nodded; he took one hand in his, the other lightly catching her hip as she slid gracefully to the ground. The horse wandered away and grazed nearby, never too far from its mistress.

"Only half a year?" Lexior asked as she stepped back, slowly releasing her from his grasp.

"I...eventually was brought into their political courts," she said, looking almost annoyed with the idea. "It left a horrid taste in my mouth."

Lexior nodded, stating, "My role as a soldier is well-appreciated by me, however questioned I am by my peers..."

Aria arched her brow, looking at his fine black platemail armour, seeing his mannerisms and suspecting his ideals. She curiously replied, "Soldier then? You seem more a knight than a common soldier, sir."

"This is true," he replied, a slight smirk touching his lips. "But my take on Knighthood leans toward service, rather than leadership - all Knights are serving something, anyway."

"I see," she said, watching him closely. "No, that's not common at all from what I've seen of knights."

The two found themselves watching each other again, and Aria's mind tried to piece together everything Lexior had given her, tried to make some sort of coherent picture of who exactly the other high elf was. She found herself largely still at a loss, distracted by his appearance and by his mannerisms - despite how romantic Kacer could be, she was still unused to that sort of treatment, and Lexior seemed intent on using such.

"So if not Castleview...Qeynos at all?" she asked, trying to discover where exactly he made his home.

"Occasionally," the elf replied, winking at her.

She blinked slightly, several different meanings for the statement - not all of them pure - rushing into her mind and adding to her confusion. The woman began to blush faintly, unsure if he meant as a mercenary working or perhaps something a little more...intimate than that.

"You know Mr. Nar'Thex. Do you frequent Freeport often, then?" she questioned, hoping for a less flustering answer.

"Yes. I do some business there. But generally I am working in the field more often than not," Lexior explained. "Its where I meet the more interesting people."

With that, the pale elf flashed her a quick but charming smile, one that disarmed her caution. She felt her cheeks warm a little more as her blushed slightly deepened, nodding to him.

"I've noticed the more intense...interesting ones wander Norrath rather than remain inside city walls..." she finally replied, letting slip the word she actually thought described him rather than the one he'd used.

"City walls are only interesting to those who fear the unknown, Lady Aria," Lexior stated, causing a slight shiver to run down her spine.

She nodded her agreement, murmuring, "Indeed."

Glancing away from her face for the first time, Lexior's eyes moved over the bow then back to her eyes as he quietly said, "Judging just by the bow you carry, I could tell you were a lady of higher class than that."

Her cheeks turning bright pink with a deep blush, Aria looked down slightly, mind racing to keep up with the other elf. So much of him was distracting and disorienting, she found it difficult to keep all of her thoughts straight. Lexior tilted his head slightly, trying to catch her eye again, finding that her focus was quite set on the grass beneath them.

"Its...definately not a normal thing, no," she finally stated.

Pausing, his silken voice quietly replied, "I hope I'm not offending you..."

Shocked, Aria looked up again, silver eyes meeting his lavender again. She shook her head, and a slight smile brushed over Lexior's lips as she looked at him.

"Oh, no. Of course not!" she exclaimed, at a loss for what to say. "I just - no one's ever made a judgement like that when I'm not in some damnable fancy dress and jewels."

Lexior looked over her with a chuckle, eyes dancing with...something. She was almost afraid that he'd figured out who she really was, or that perhaps he thought her reaction foolish; to her relief, he smiled.

"The jewels were envious, probably," Lexior quietly replied.

Tilting her head in confusion, Aria asked, "Pardon?"

"Nothing, I..." he paused, and she was unsure if it was because he too was at a loss for words, or if he were searching for a different way to explain himself. "I could just picture your discomfort, that's all. It was amusing."

She blushed again, giving him a slight smile.

After a moment of watching each other, Lexior asked, "Would you like to ride in the woods a while?"

Hesitant, still not entirely sure of what to think of Lexior, Aria paused before finally nodding to him. Her hand extended slightly to her side, and within seconds, her karana plainstrider lifted her head and walked over to stand beside them.

"Evening's falling. Twilight is my favorite time of day," he quietly explained.

"It's quite beautiful," she replied, adding quickly, "the twilight, I mean."

Lexior smiled at her and said, "Indeed it is."

Gently resting her hand on the plainstrider's neck, she asked, "Shall we, then?"

Lexior helped Aria up into the saddle, handling the smaller elf quite delicately despite his armoured hands. She watched as he turned back towards the camp, calling for Maelstrom; after a scare few seconds, a fearsome black horse approached him.

The horse was quite large, its muscles thick and strong like a draft horse's, its black mane and tail long and sleek. The beast's eyes danced with something akin to controlled anger, and he pawed idly at the ground. The aura about him was fierce and dark, something Aria was only used to in malicious, wild animals.

"Heaven to Norrath, how do you command that creature?" she breathed, eyes moving from the stallion to Lexior.

"He knows his master well," he replied. "Follow me, my lady."

Aria glanced from Lexior to the horse, her ears twitching slightly. The small jeweled firefly in the tip of her left ear shined, catching the light sharply as she nodded to him.

"I'd be terrified of him..." she whispered.

The handsome elf smiled mysteriously, nodding as he turned his mount to the South East. The two of them road across most of Antonica, into the woods outside of Blackburrow, Aria always to the side and slightly behind Lexior, allowing him to lead their ride.

After a moment of discomfort at finding Jamarn Darkrain - masquerading as Iathur the wandering - in the woods aiding the same dark elf that had spoken to Chath earlier, their time together came to an end.

"I should probably be on my way," Lexior said, watching the odd motley of Jamarn, the dark elf, a Teir`dal wizardess and a Qeynosian guard.

Without pausing to think, Aria asked, "Did you wish accompaniment?"

"I would really like that, Lady Aria... but I may ask to take up your offer another evening," Lexior said with his charming smile. As the others dispersed, he added, "I must begin my mission now that its nightfall. Perhaps I will see you tomorrow sometime."

She nodded to him, blushing faintly again, "Perhaps. It truly was a pleasure, Mr. Deraven."

"It won't be the last," he replied mysteriously.

"I'd hope not," she said quietly, "Good luck..."

Lexior bowed his head to Aria, settling into his saddle once more. She remained unmoving in the woods as she watched him ride off into the darkening night, finding herself quite unable to take her eyes from his form.

"Lexior," she whispered.

She stared out her window, sighing softly. One hand rested across her lap, idly toying with a loose thread on her pants while the other hand rested just above the orb.

There had been so much she'd gotten involved in since returning from solitude - and so much she'd continued with since that time - and yet somehow, for one evening, it had all fallen away.

Her hand slipping away from the orb, the rainbows faded away again. Slowly, removing each bit of heavy wool threaded clothing from her body as she walked, Aria made her way to the large, empty four post bed. Glancing back to the window, she slipped under the covers, thoughts lingering on the mysterious elf with lavender eyes.