Post by Pandora LeAmour on Jul 4, 2009 20:05:45 GMT -5
Tathar Seregon
Pandora LeAmour
Location: The Tower
Time: Sunset
He was still rather sore from the events of the evening prior...Pandora had trusted him to be the face of NightWorld...A figurehead for a temporary amount of time...Not the actual seat of power as she had led him to believe, and that little bit of deception hurt him. She did not trust him enough to go before the Council? Then he would just have to strive to exceed her own abilities with the rest of NightWorld business...And so he had done the day's tasks, the bit of paperwork. And now he was within the dark and musty confines of the library, amidst the scents of dust and bindings and pages of ink, sorting the stacks of parchment that had been bound the day before as he readied to place them on the shelves here where they belonged. He had, of course, sent out a scout of sorts....He wanted to obtain a gift or two for Pandora...Maybe that would ease her spirits, and in the process his own, but he had yet to learn of their findings. But it had only been a single day, so there was no real need to rush it, after all, they had a near eternity.
She had been up before the sun was even completely free from the sky, sitting on her bed as if it were the most entertaining place to be. In all honesty, she had been avoiding the one thing she knew she would have to take care of this evening.
Even though Tathar was doing all the dirty work that came with Master of the City, it didn't mean that she had nothing to do. There was much she had been meaning to talk to him about since he took on his punishment, she'd simply been procastinating in hopes of... well, what exactly? Only he could answer her questions. Only he could set right what he had wronged.
Delaying the inevitable no more, Pandora rose from her cot and headed for the drop. She was already perfectly aware of where Tathar was. For the past hour she had heard his shuffling around in the NightWorld Library.
Adding a bit of a swing to her jump, Pandora launched herself not straight down as she usually did, but from one side of the drop to the other, which would allow her to land on the Library floor rather then fall to the ground floor.
Her landing wasn't entirely silent, for the impact of the short but unnatural jump caused her to grunt as if in effort. Her eye's took a moment to adjust to the lighting here, seeing as her own chambers were completely dark, and she called out towards him, simply to ensure she would not startle him.
In truth, he had wanted to find his journal and make another entry, but it seemed that he could not find it within the stacks of parchment here atop the lone table, and so he rose and filled an arm with the things, going about his duty, stepping this way and that to find appropriate places for them each. He went at a normal mortal's pace, as he was trying to draw it out...Giving him a reason to postpone the meeting between Pandora and himself that he had a very strong hunch was going to happen...But upon the sound of her landing, namely the escape of the grunt between her lips, his attention was drawn from the shelves and toward the entrance...but for only a moment. He continued about his work rather than rush to greet her...She had, after all, appeared to be rather angry with him last he saw her awake last night...But for what? Had she not been the one to lie to him...? The thought made him sigh, silently of course, and he did not speak until he had finished and stepped into plain view of her from behind one of the shelves, his tone of voice flat.
"Good evening."
She stepped further into the room, her hands stiffly at her sides. No matter how humane vampires tried to appear, there was always one telltale or another that risked getting exposed. The stiffness in which they moved, or the lack of fidgetting. Even breathing. Pandora's was more often then not the inability to make her body sway the way mortal women could.
Her eyebrows arched upon the inquiry, though her pace didn't cease. Instead, she continued to walk deeper into the NightWorld Library, heading for the single table that occupied the room among the many shelves.
When she reached the old thing, Pandora elected to stand, her arms resting on the back of a chair, wrists crossed over each other.
He, of course, simply watched as she stepped further within and to the table, but it was a shame that she chopse to remain standing rather than sit, for he much preferred standing for right now. He had been sitting for quite a while....Working and thinking and then working some more. The quiet was an excellent opportunity to browse one's thoughts, after all, and he was not going to pass it up easily. And he had thought about a great many things...And as she asked as to if he had a spare moment, he was quite tempted to tell her no, that he was quite busy and that right now he would very much like to be devoid of company....But that would have been an outright lie in itself, and he did not like to lie under any circumstances...especially to her. And so he moved to stand in front of her, the length of the small table between them, with arms crossed about his chest. It was odd that he paid no mind to the way that she moved...the lack of human movement was the last thing on his mind when it came to her.
Her eye's turned to him, and inwardly she wanted to smile as he folded his arms over his chest. How many times had she herself done that. It wasn't becoming of him. Infact, it didn't do him justice at all, those arms simply served to block the rather plea... No no.
Clearing her throat, Pandora quikly forced her mind to focus on what she was here about rather then wandering in inappropiate directions.
Yes, that's right. Cutting to the chase. She knew perfectly well what took place the other day when some woman claiming to be Shannon Brightstealer had arrived with a basket of bread for one of the NightWorlder's here, and had gained entry with the deginated Tower Cloak, and yet... Pandora had never met the woman before in her life. She had not issued them a cloak, so where did it come from, and why were they admitted to the Tower with it when they had never before stepped foot inside the place before.
Her eyebrows arched as she watched Tathar Seregon, expecting an answer.
To business, then...Purely a business call...Well, professionalism it would be, then. He cleared his throat and thought back....Of course he remembered the woman...A Fae, he believed....And he thought back further to the first time he had seen her. Yes, it wasn't very long ago at all. Maybe a week or a little more. But why was she curious as to why the woman got a cloak? Mayhaps he had made a poor judgement call on that one...But borderline, at most. But of course he could be quite wrong on the matter...Something that he expected her to fully exploit and make him feel inadequate or somethingorother. If he did not know any better he would think that she was trying to belittle him.
"I see."[/u]
Pandora straightened up and too folded her arms over her chest. Her eyebrows arched, a clear sign she was not satisfied with this answer. Her words, clarified her thoughts.
Pandora shook her head, the few stray strands of her hair shifting so that they no longer fell over her eyes, her face.
In all honesty, she was disturbed by the fact that someone she personally had not met, nor issued a cloak to had gained entry to her home. The tower was not just NightWorld quarters, it was her home. The place that she was supposed to feel the safest in. The fact that someone she had never met gained entry unsettled her. Esp. since she was fast in slumber and could have easily been dispatched were the fae foe.
His brow furrowed at her words...Clearly she did not trust him in more than one aspect...She did not trust his judgement, either. Did she doubt the strength of his sense of smell...? If one were to enter with feelings of malice or want for violence their forms would issue forth certain pheromones, many of which he was exceedingly familiar with. There was the musky scent of adrenaline as the heart pumped in want for action...for battle....But no...The fae had exibited only the sweet scent of fear...Her pores had practically spewed it out in waves like a stormy sea. He was no mere pup just getting in tune with his abilities...No, he was far more experienced than that...But she did not have enough trust in him to allow him that much. If that were the case, then so be it...He would issue no more cloaks, nor would he grant admittance to them. If there were any more arrivals, she would have to see to them and judge them worthy of entry or not herself. He had acted in the best interests of all...He had taken into consideration the possibilities of all he had given cloaks to, though they had been but a few...He knew who they were...what they were...He knew that should anything happen he could hunt them down by scent alone...And the very fist thing on his mind with each of them had been the potential for danger within the Tower...She herself had to understand that. With any creature of darkness or mischief, there was a chance of danger...That was the risk of any NightWorlder, be they Vampire or Lycan or Fae...And foremost he had thought about the risk to her as she slumbered above....But he would stick by his decisions nonetheless.
"Very well."[/u]
She could sense his change in emotion and knew that she had wounded him. She wasn't a Lycan, and she wasn't exactly experienced in friendship with them, thus honestly had no idea to their abilities with their senses. She read, of course, everything there was to know about a Lycan, but you don't always believe everything you read.
So, though she knew he was not pleased with what she said, she did not care to broach the subject more. She simply assumed he did not appreciate the reminder that he was not as in control as he thought.
Oh yes, she wasn't done with him yet...
This time, though the question was equally serious, she tried to soften it by lowering her voice. She didn't care to wound him personally, business was business. But that didn't mean that she couldn't attempt to sugarcoat it for his ego. [/color]
Indeed, she had wounded him...He thought with every fiber of his being that she held no trust in his abilities...And given what he was, and exiled at that, his abilities were all he had....Until her, of course...But then, that made it hurt all the worse. His own companion did not believe in him...Of course, he realised that since he was technically under punishment, that she had to...And he understood that...But her utter devoidness of emotion left him wondering if it was just that, or if she really felt that he had no aptitude for it...But his thoughts were interrupted by her next question...He honestly had no idea that Mathas had taken the fae to the cell area. In fact he had been working the entire time Mathas had been alone with the girl....This thought made him growl under his breath.
Pandora gave another nod of her head, this one slow. Nothing close to her usual briskness.
She rolled the thoughts around in her mind a bit. She didn't much like the idea that Tathar had not known where they went, but couldn't really blame it on him. After all, he didn't have the added advantage of keeping tabs on Mathas like she did... But speaking of tabs and Mathas.
Alright, so the softness disappeared somewhere in that rant and instead her voice tone elevated. It was a touchy subject, one that made Pandora feel... used. She paused a moment, to get her wits and rage about her, before continuing.
Her expression was not quite alive, but it wasn't emotionless either. Her frustration on these notions was clearly visible in the way the corners of her lips turned down. [/color]
Well at least she was showing emotion...That was well enough, even if it pained him to see that apparently he had hurt her as well...And so she believed that he was actually going to suggest that she reward Mathas...? He had said that he would bring it up in order to get Mathas into control. However, that did not mean he would say it as a request...Technically, he could just bring up her feeding of Mathas in idle conversation and he would have fulfilled his word to the man...He made no guarantees that she would be coming to grant the "treat" to the worm in the least. It had been a roundabout statement that Mathas had taken the way he had planned it, nothing more and nothing less...She knew that he did not like Mathas' feeding from her...So how could she even think that he would really offer her to the man for such? He despised seeing his lips on her arm...The thought made his gut twist with the bubblings of rage...He would never, ever, under any circumstances request that she do that for him...Whether or not she did it of her own free will was her own business, but he would not suggest it, and his conviction seeped into his words, too.
Pandora shook her head and elected to sit. Instead of pulling the chair out that she was standing behind, she walked around it and settled halfway onto the table itself, using her left leg to firmly plant her position for better support.
Were she mortal she would have sighed heavily. She would have slumped her shoulders, and wrinkles would have cressed her forehead. Were she human. Instead, nothing changed but the tone of her voice.
A flick of her wrist indicated the only chair at the table, which means he would have to actually come closer to her rather then stand at the far side of the room. She didn't wait for him to seat himself before she continued.
She shifted herself so that her entire bottom sat atop the table instead of halfassed doing it.
Pandora shook her head slowly, her dark hair once again falling over her face. she made no move to retrace it.
Now that she had mentioned NightWorld, she flashed back to the other business with them the eve before. Tathar. She knew he had overheard her, but she hoped that he was either too pissed off to talk about it, or too understanding to question her decisions. Now she wished that she had not given him the punishment he currently had, for if she hadn't he wouldn't have been at the door. If he wasn't at the door, he wouldn't have overheard that conversation. And had he not overheard that conversation, they would be doing something much more satisfying rather then talking around iceblocks.[/color]
Of course he sat as she asked...or rather, demanded in not so many words, but he kept his arms crossed about his chest. It made him feel secure, for some reason...And he actually did it more often than not....At least, he did when he could not smoke his pipe...That was something he had given up within the Tower after finding out that she did not like the scent of it. Oh how he could really use a puff of his pipe, right now....Not for the addiction, for there was none, but for the thought that it was soothing...comforting, even. He ripped himself from those thought, though, and listened intently to her. In his opinion, Mathas would be better off dead in the first place...He did not like the man, but that was not the main reason...No, Mathas was unstable at best...A constant risk of exposure...Why the only time he had seen the man even remotely civil and human had been just the night prior right as the Council had been leaving, when he had made his...request...Well, it seemed it was time to reveal that little bit of information, as well. And after that, or course, he was dying to ask her reasoning about why she had not let him speak to the Council...about her lack of belief in his abilities...
"I see."
Pandora placed the palms of her hands behind her on the table, so that she could lean back and support her weight with her hands. Her gaze returned to Tathar once she appeared in a more comfortable position.
She shook her head again, simply to remove her hair from her face, before she continued.
She watched him, listening to her own words as she spoke. They did sound a little arrogant and cocky, but it was the truth. Mathas could pledge himself to a goose if he wanted, but when it came right down to it, he would have to obey the Master of the City were he to remain here. If Tathar and Mathas wanted to strike up alliances, then they best to do before his sentence was completed.
What bothered her wasn't that Mathas had chose to follow Tathar rather then herself, but the fact that there were sides. Afterall, she was under the impression that Tathar and Pandora wanted the same things in life. Perhaps she had been wrong.
Pandora tilted her head to the side, the corners of her mouth tilting upward ever so slightly, as if a whisper of a smile threatened there.
She crossed one leg over the other, so that now only her right foot remained on the ground.
She hated to say it, but he had walked into that one. It made her sound cocky, and cold hearted. It wasn't the case. She was simply stating the obvious. When someone pledged themselves to someone other then their Master, it showed weakness not in them, but in the master themselves. Should Mathas remain true to his word, and Tathar accept, it would look poorly on Pandora, a Master whom couldn't even control her own subjects. Of course, if it was in the best interest of those parties involved, a little pride and ego damage would not stand in her way of allowing it to happen.
Pandora LeAmour
Location: The Tower
Time: Sunset
He was still rather sore from the events of the evening prior...Pandora had trusted him to be the face of NightWorld...A figurehead for a temporary amount of time...Not the actual seat of power as she had led him to believe, and that little bit of deception hurt him. She did not trust him enough to go before the Council? Then he would just have to strive to exceed her own abilities with the rest of NightWorld business...And so he had done the day's tasks, the bit of paperwork. And now he was within the dark and musty confines of the library, amidst the scents of dust and bindings and pages of ink, sorting the stacks of parchment that had been bound the day before as he readied to place them on the shelves here where they belonged. He had, of course, sent out a scout of sorts....He wanted to obtain a gift or two for Pandora...Maybe that would ease her spirits, and in the process his own, but he had yet to learn of their findings. But it had only been a single day, so there was no real need to rush it, after all, they had a near eternity.She had been up before the sun was even completely free from the sky, sitting on her bed as if it were the most entertaining place to be. In all honesty, she had been avoiding the one thing she knew she would have to take care of this evening. Even though Tathar was doing all the dirty work that came with Master of the City, it didn't mean that she had nothing to do. There was much she had been meaning to talk to him about since he took on his punishment, she'd simply been procastinating in hopes of... well, what exactly? Only he could answer her questions. Only he could set right what he had wronged.
Delaying the inevitable no more, Pandora rose from her cot and headed for the drop. She was already perfectly aware of where Tathar was. For the past hour she had heard his shuffling around in the NightWorld Library.
Adding a bit of a swing to her jump, Pandora launched herself not straight down as she usually did, but from one side of the drop to the other, which would allow her to land on the Library floor rather then fall to the ground floor.
Her landing wasn't entirely silent, for the impact of the short but unnatural jump caused her to grunt as if in effort. Her eye's took a moment to adjust to the lighting here, seeing as her own chambers were completely dark, and she called out towards him, simply to ensure she would not startle him.
"Seregon?"
[/center]In truth, he had wanted to find his journal and make another entry, but it seemed that he could not find it within the stacks of parchment here atop the lone table, and so he rose and filled an arm with the things, going about his duty, stepping this way and that to find appropriate places for them each. He went at a normal mortal's pace, as he was trying to draw it out...Giving him a reason to postpone the meeting between Pandora and himself that he had a very strong hunch was going to happen...But upon the sound of her landing, namely the escape of the grunt between her lips, his attention was drawn from the shelves and toward the entrance...but for only a moment. He continued about his work rather than rush to greet her...She had, after all, appeared to be rather angry with him last he saw her awake last night...But for what? Had she not been the one to lie to him...? The thought made him sigh, silently of course, and he did not speak until he had finished and stepped into plain view of her from behind one of the shelves, his tone of voice flat."Evening, Pandora."
[/center]"Good evening."She stepped further into the room, her hands stiffly at her sides. No matter how humane vampires tried to appear, there was always one telltale or another that risked getting exposed. The stiffness in which they moved, or the lack of fidgetting. Even breathing. Pandora's was more often then not the inability to make her body sway the way mortal women could.
"Have you a moment?"
Her eyebrows arched upon the inquiry, though her pace didn't cease. Instead, she continued to walk deeper into the NightWorld Library, heading for the single table that occupied the room among the many shelves.
When she reached the old thing, Pandora elected to stand, her arms resting on the back of a chair, wrists crossed over each other.
He, of course, simply watched as she stepped further within and to the table, but it was a shame that she chopse to remain standing rather than sit, for he much preferred standing for right now. He had been sitting for quite a while....Working and thinking and then working some more. The quiet was an excellent opportunity to browse one's thoughts, after all, and he was not going to pass it up easily. And he had thought about a great many things...And as she asked as to if he had a spare moment, he was quite tempted to tell her no, that he was quite busy and that right now he would very much like to be devoid of company....But that would have been an outright lie in itself, and he did not like to lie under any circumstances...especially to her. And so he moved to stand in front of her, the length of the small table between them, with arms crossed about his chest. It was odd that he paid no mind to the way that she moved...the lack of human movement was the last thing on his mind when it came to her."I believe that I can make time. What can I do for you?"
[/center]Her eye's turned to him, and inwardly she wanted to smile as he folded his arms over his chest. How many times had she herself done that. It wasn't becoming of him. Infact, it didn't do him justice at all, those arms simply served to block the rather plea... No no. Clearing her throat, Pandora quikly forced her mind to focus on what she was here about rather then wandering in inappropiate directions.
"First of all, you can tell me how Ms. Brightstealer got her hands on the Tower's NightWorld cloak."
Yes, that's right. Cutting to the chase. She knew perfectly well what took place the other day when some woman claiming to be Shannon Brightstealer had arrived with a basket of bread for one of the NightWorlder's here, and had gained entry with the deginated Tower Cloak, and yet... Pandora had never met the woman before in her life. She had not issued them a cloak, so where did it come from, and why were they admitted to the Tower with it when they had never before stepped foot inside the place before.
Her eyebrows arched as she watched Tathar Seregon, expecting an answer.
To business, then...Purely a business call...Well, professionalism it would be, then. He cleared his throat and thought back....Of course he remembered the woman...A Fae, he believed....And he thought back further to the first time he had seen her. Yes, it wasn't very long ago at all. Maybe a week or a little more. But why was she curious as to why the woman got a cloak? Mayhaps he had made a poor judgement call on that one...But borderline, at most. But of course he could be quite wrong on the matter...Something that he expected her to fully exploit and make him feel inadequate or somethingorother. If he did not know any better he would think that she was trying to belittle him."Ah yes, the Fae. She arrived with another...a...Sotharin, I believe his name was. And as she has wings that she is unlikely to be able to conceal permanently, I saw fit to give her a cloak to grant admittance to the Tower."
[/center]"I see."[/u]Pandora straightened up and too folded her arms over her chest. Her eyebrows arched, a clear sign she was not satisfied with this answer. Her words, clarified her thoughts.
"And you often hand out cloaks to those you do not question, simply because they arrived with someone else? Simply because they belong to NightWorld?"
[/u][/center]Pandora shook her head, the few stray strands of her hair shifting so that they no longer fell over her eyes, her face.
"And what would you have done if she were not friend but foe? Not all NightWorlder's are trustworthy, Seregon. She could have been seeking revenge, or entry to the Tower for other means. What would have happened then?"
[/u][/center]In all honesty, she was disturbed by the fact that someone she personally had not met, nor issued a cloak to had gained entry to her home. The tower was not just NightWorld quarters, it was her home. The place that she was supposed to feel the safest in. The fact that someone she had never met gained entry unsettled her. Esp. since she was fast in slumber and could have easily been dispatched were the fae foe.
"It is not your duty to issue everyone a cloak to gain entry to my home, understood? Your sentence is simply to conduct the chores of the NightWorld. You are being punished, you are not being rewarded. Do not forget that."
[/color][/b][/u][/center]His brow furrowed at her words...Clearly she did not trust him in more than one aspect...She did not trust his judgement, either. Did she doubt the strength of his sense of smell...? If one were to enter with feelings of malice or want for violence their forms would issue forth certain pheromones, many of which he was exceedingly familiar with. There was the musky scent of adrenaline as the heart pumped in want for action...for battle....But no...The fae had exibited only the sweet scent of fear...Her pores had practically spewed it out in waves like a stormy sea. He was no mere pup just getting in tune with his abilities...No, he was far more experienced than that...But she did not have enough trust in him to allow him that much. If that were the case, then so be it...He would issue no more cloaks, nor would he grant admittance to them. If there were any more arrivals, she would have to see to them and judge them worthy of entry or not herself. He had acted in the best interests of all...He had taken into consideration the possibilities of all he had given cloaks to, though they had been but a few...He knew who they were...what they were...He knew that should anything happen he could hunt them down by scent alone...And the very fist thing on his mind with each of them had been the potential for danger within the Tower...She herself had to understand that. With any creature of darkness or mischief, there was a chance of danger...That was the risk of any NightWorlder, be they Vampire or Lycan or Fae...And foremost he had thought about the risk to her as she slumbered above....But he would stick by his decisions nonetheless."Very well. I'll not see to any newcomer to the lands, then. I will be sure to seek you out for their approval. It will not happen again."
[/u][/color][/center]"Very well."[/u]She could sense his change in emotion and knew that she had wounded him. She wasn't a Lycan, and she wasn't exactly experienced in friendship with them, thus honestly had no idea to their abilities with their senses. She read, of course, everything there was to know about a Lycan, but you don't always believe everything you read.
So, though she knew he was not pleased with what she said, she did not care to broach the subject more. She simply assumed he did not appreciate the reminder that he was not as in control as he thought.
"Secondly."
[/u][/center]Oh yes, she wasn't done with him yet...
"Secondly, is Soth himself. Why did you allow Mathas to take this visiting fae to the holding cells? Was not Soth issued a room within the NightWorld Quarters? Or has he done something that warranted him a cell I was unaware of?"
[/u][/center]This time, though the question was equally serious, she tried to soften it by lowering her voice. She didn't care to wound him personally, business was business. But that didn't mean that she couldn't attempt to sugarcoat it for his ego. [/color]
Indeed, she had wounded him...He thought with every fiber of his being that she held no trust in his abilities...And given what he was, and exiled at that, his abilities were all he had....Until her, of course...But then, that made it hurt all the worse. His own companion did not believe in him...Of course, he realised that since he was technically under punishment, that she had to...And he understood that...But her utter devoidness of emotion left him wondering if it was just that, or if she really felt that he had no aptitude for it...But his thoughts were interrupted by her next question...He honestly had no idea that Mathas had taken the fae to the cell area. In fact he had been working the entire time Mathas had been alone with the girl....This thought made him growl under his breath."I can assure you that I had no idea that Mathas took her there. She had asked if she could visit Sotharin, and needed a guide to his room. Mathas volunteered and I sent them on their way. As far as I know, Sotharin is housed within the NightWorld Quarters."
[/u][/color][/center]Pandora gave another nod of her head, this one slow. Nothing close to her usual briskness. "I see."
[/u][/center]She rolled the thoughts around in her mind a bit. She didn't much like the idea that Tathar had not known where they went, but couldn't really blame it on him. After all, he didn't have the added advantage of keeping tabs on Mathas like she did... But speaking of tabs and Mathas.
"And what of this promise to Mathas that you would grant him reward for his behavior? I am not your personal fridge, Seregon. If he deserves a treat, you give it to him and not automatically assume I will do so just because you promised it."
[/u][/center]Alright, so the softness disappeared somewhere in that rant and instead her voice tone elevated. It was a touchy subject, one that made Pandora feel... used. She paused a moment, to get her wits and rage about her, before continuing.
"If Mathas did something for you, and you feel he deserves a reward for it, give him a few shillings, or something. Do not offer me up like I am a slave to serve your desire to get into the good graces of Mathas! Is that truely all I am? A means to an end? A way to get what you want? A slave, to barter with for your own desired results?"
[/u][/center]Her expression was not quite alive, but it wasn't emotionless either. Her frustration on these notions was clearly visible in the way the corners of her lips turned down. [/color]
Well at least she was showing emotion...That was well enough, even if it pained him to see that apparently he had hurt her as well...And so she believed that he was actually going to suggest that she reward Mathas...? He had said that he would bring it up in order to get Mathas into control. However, that did not mean he would say it as a request...Technically, he could just bring up her feeding of Mathas in idle conversation and he would have fulfilled his word to the man...He made no guarantees that she would be coming to grant the "treat" to the worm in the least. It had been a roundabout statement that Mathas had taken the way he had planned it, nothing more and nothing less...She knew that he did not like Mathas' feeding from her...So how could she even think that he would really offer her to the man for such? He despised seeing his lips on her arm...The thought made his gut twist with the bubblings of rage...He would never, ever, under any circumstances request that she do that for him...Whether or not she did it of her own free will was her own business, but he would not suggest it, and his conviction seeped into his words, too."I told him that I would bring it up to you. Nothing more. He chose to take it as if I was going to ask you to give it to him. That is his own folly. So do not accuse me of something that I loathe the fact that it happens under other circumstances."
[/u][/color][/center]Pandora shook her head and elected to sit. Instead of pulling the chair out that she was standing behind, she walked around it and settled halfway onto the table itself, using her left leg to firmly plant her position for better support. "Merely mentioning that Mathas would receive a reward for his actions established just that. You know Mathas, Tathar. You know what he wants, and you knew how he would take the suggestion."
[/u][/center]Were she mortal she would have sighed heavily. She would have slumped her shoulders, and wrinkles would have cressed her forehead. Were she human. Instead, nothing changed but the tone of her voice.
"Sit down, Seregon. Sit down and listen."
[/u][/center]A flick of her wrist indicated the only chair at the table, which means he would have to actually come closer to her rather then stand at the far side of the room. She didn't wait for him to seat himself before she continued.
"The Council expects me to change Mathas. If he intakes too much of my blood, he will go mad. Madder, shall I say. It is in the best interest of the Council that he be changed. He will prove more useful as a powerful vampire then he will as a mere mortal infected with Vampire blood."
[/u][/center]She shifted herself so that her entire bottom sat atop the table instead of halfassed doing it.
"I care not to change Mathas. I have never changed someone before in my life, and I do not care to start now. It is a fate that even Mathas does not deserve. The only way to prevent such things is to limit Mathas' intake. He is my mistake, and one I should have allowed to die within the Prisons of his Cell rather then make a servant to the NightWorld."
[/u][/center]Pandora shook her head slowly, her dark hair once again falling over her face. she made no move to retrace it.
"NightWorld Council is not one to be taken lightly. They have powers beyond you, beyond me. What they want, they often get by any means necessicary. So long as I can keep Mathas from going dangerously insane, he is safe. To even mention a treat, a reward to that mortal is to stir his hopes of something more. Something, I simply cannot afford to keep giving him without condemning him. I am cold, but I am not heartless, Seregon."
[/u][/center]Now that she had mentioned NightWorld, she flashed back to the other business with them the eve before. Tathar. She knew he had overheard her, but she hoped that he was either too pissed off to talk about it, or too understanding to question her decisions. Now she wished that she had not given him the punishment he currently had, for if she hadn't he wouldn't have been at the door. If he wasn't at the door, he wouldn't have overheard that conversation. And had he not overheard that conversation, they would be doing something much more satisfying rather then talking around iceblocks.[/color]
Of course he sat as she asked...or rather, demanded in not so many words, but he kept his arms crossed about his chest. It made him feel secure, for some reason...And he actually did it more often than not....At least, he did when he could not smoke his pipe...That was something he had given up within the Tower after finding out that she did not like the scent of it. Oh how he could really use a puff of his pipe, right now....Not for the addiction, for there was none, but for the thought that it was soothing...comforting, even. He ripped himself from those thought, though, and listened intently to her. In his opinion, Mathas would be better off dead in the first place...He did not like the man, but that was not the main reason...No, Mathas was unstable at best...A constant risk of exposure...Why the only time he had seen the man even remotely civil and human had been just the night prior right as the Council had been leaving, when he had made his...request...Well, it seemed it was time to reveal that little bit of information, as well. And after that, or course, he was dying to ask her reasoning about why she had not let him speak to the Council...about her lack of belief in his abilities..."I understand, and shall not lead him on in the future. However, you should know that just last evening, as you were addressing the Council, he pledged himself to me. He swore fealty to me so that I may somehow smuggle him out of the realm somewhere else far from here. He, as well as I, overheard your words, last night, and he no longer wants to partake of you."
[/center]"I see."Pandora placed the palms of her hands behind her on the table, so that she could lean back and support her weight with her hands. Her gaze returned to Tathar once she appeared in a more comfortable position.
"And does Mathas know that you are on temporary position? That you cannot garantee such thing's unless the two of you manage to negotiate all plans before your sentence is up?"
She shook her head again, simply to remove her hair from her face, before she continued.
"I will not attempt to interfere while you are serving your sentence. That is between you and Mathas. However, be aware that once your sentence is complete, if he is still here, he will still be ruled by me, as all those of NightWorld are."
She watched him, listening to her own words as she spoke. They did sound a little arrogant and cocky, but it was the truth. Mathas could pledge himself to a goose if he wanted, but when it came right down to it, he would have to obey the Master of the City were he to remain here. If Tathar and Mathas wanted to strike up alliances, then they best to do before his sentence was completed.
What bothered her wasn't that Mathas had chose to follow Tathar rather then herself, but the fact that there were sides. Afterall, she was under the impression that Tathar and Pandora wanted the same things in life. Perhaps she had been wrong.
"I will not explain to Mathas why I said what I said. If he takes it as a wound that will force him to better his life rather then letting his addiction for power rule it, then even if it was misunderstood it proves to be worthy of a cause."
Pandora tilted her head to the side, the corners of her mouth tilting upward ever so slightly, as if a whisper of a smile threatened there.
"What I do I do for my kingdom. I protected Mathas' life, and risked my own when I refused the NightWorld's orders. I believe the NightWorld knows a lot, but they do not know everything. They have dedicated their entire lives to their beliefs. I do not care to follow in those glorious footsteps. My every moment is dedicated to the balance of good and evil, but I will not let it dictate my emotions, my freedom to love. Mathas will never understand that. The Council will never understand that. To ask them to, would be to ask you to understand the workings of a DayDeath. You can hear it, and read it, learn it. But you can never experience it, and thus never truely know."
She crossed one leg over the other, so that now only her right foot remained on the ground.
"If that is what you and Mathas want, his alliance for his freedom, then by all means see to it before your sentence is complete. But ensure he knows should he live by this pledge, he will never be welcome in Tranquility again. Look at Portier. She too turned her back on her Master, and is now paying for it."
She hated to say it, but he had walked into that one. It made her sound cocky, and cold hearted. It wasn't the case. She was simply stating the obvious. When someone pledged themselves to someone other then their Master, it showed weakness not in them, but in the master themselves. Should Mathas remain true to his word, and Tathar accept, it would look poorly on Pandora, a Master whom couldn't even control her own subjects. Of course, if it was in the best interest of those parties involved, a little pride and ego damage would not stand in her way of allowing it to happen.
