Masquerade - These Masks We Wear

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Do you know who I am!" Allivia demanded of Zolver. 

"Yeah, a stuck up little bugger who thinks she can get her way with a brand new guard. Well not me, miss. Now off with you."

[Channelknight Fadran]

Wendy glanced down at her wrist, winced, and covered it back up again; that'd take a day or two to heal.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"This isn't the last you'll see of me!" With that, Allivia retreated to the shadows. 

Zolver rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry about that, miss. The dungeons are full enough with the Raven not there to torture them and I don't think the man in charge would like it if more people filled up cells. And I'm not sure you want to go back to your quarters with that old witch. You can take one of the guard's beds, I'm guessin'."

[Channelknight Fadran]

"Whoa, hey," Wendy shook her head and backed away. "Nono. None of that, please."

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Oh!" He blushed. "I didn't mean..." He sighed. "Castle lingo, I'm sorry. Not used to it."

[Channelknight Fadran]

"It's alright." Wendy relaxed. "Sorry. But I'm good anyways. And I have to stay on-call for the mornings anyways, so I... guess I'll head on back now."

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Are you sure? That woman did not look happy."

[Channelknight Fadran]

Probably safer than the guards' quarters, Wendy thought. "Yeah. I'll be alright."

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

The guard nodded. "Alright... If you need anything, just find me. I'm Zolver."

[Channelknight Fadran]

"Thanks, Zolver." Wendy smiled and backed into the waitresses' quarters, closing the door behind them.

Without turning around, she spoke. "Let's make one thing clear, Allivia. You are not in charge here, and you never will be."

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"No, Wendy."

She crept in the darkness.

"I always have been."

With that, she smacked a hard wooden stick across the back of Wendy's head.

[Channelknight Fadran]

Wendy shrieked, head knocking against the door from the impact. She dropped to the floor, unconscious; blood dribbled slowly from her hair.

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Wendy would wake up later in a filthy prison cell in the dungeon; one Allivia had secured by getting another guard's assistance, one accustomed to following her orders.After personally securing her shackles, Allivia dusted off her dress and went back to the waitress's quarters. It was not the first time she'd done this to one of the girls under her. Last time, the poor thing had gotten mistaken for someone on the Raven's list and had been experimented on until she died. Obviously the Raveness was absent at the moment so a similar scenario was unlikely, but who knew? 

[Channelknight Fadran]

"Mmm... Allivia?" Katie muttered sleepily, rubbing her eyes. "Where's Wendy?"

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Oh, shut your trap, girl. Back to sleep."

[Channelknight Fadran]

"Wh--what? I don't... have any traps." Her head dipped. "Mmkay. G'night."

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

12 hours ago, Zephrun's Imperium said:

"Well, then maybe don't judge people based on reputation. I'm down in the dungeons almost all the time, no one knows me enough to make a proper judgement."  She shook her head and set the tray of tea down on the table. "I may be a torturess, but I still have a human soul, twisted though it may be. And anyway, I do have something to gain from all this." She paused, trying to figure out a more eloquent way to word, A friend. "I've never had the opportunity to really make a connection to someone not strapped to a table. I would like it very much to have some sort of real companionship."

"Then all this would be is you taking advantage of me and this scenario that has come your way." Caden thought about how to rephrase that, trying to find a better reason to say what he wanted. "Would you have done all of this to anyone else who came your way, or just me?" 

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Oh, anyone the king would have forced me to marry. Although I do admit... I respect you more than most, general. Perhaps that's only because you're one of the only people I get to interact with often, but I believe the king put us together for a reason. We both enjoy gratuitous violence, after all." She giggled.

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

"I suspect," he rolled his shoulders, "that the king has more in mind than this specific relationship. In all of the years I've been at his side, he's rarely done anything without a way for it to benefit him more than anyone else."

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Well, of course," said Riva, sitting down at the table. "But that doesn't mean we can't take our own advantage. Judging by the lack of staff, you don't seem to have many friends. And I don't either." She raised her tea cup. "To the beginning of a good companionship?" 

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

"Why would my lack of staff indicate that I'm lonely?" Caden picked up the cup, but didn't move to toast. "I do have my soldiers, in case you've forgotten."

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

Riva nudged his cup with her own. "Soldiers aren't friends, my dear; they're below you. You need someone on your level."

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

"Why do you think that?" He nodded at her movement before taking another sip, "I have those I serve, and those who serve me. Why should I need more?"

[Zephrun’s Imperium they/he]

"Because it's different." She paused. "I think. I wouldn't know. But I want to try." Desperately, you stubborn thing.

[The Ward's Guard he/him]

He furrowed his eyebrows, "what would you do in such a relationship that would justify trying so hard to have one?"