Lord Veighn Yhaull glanced back over his shoulder with somewhat of a sly look as he gracefully and effortlessly navigated the chairs and tables of the inn, along with a few drunken and stumbling patrons. Doggedly tracking him through the crowd, attempting to block the Black Wizard?s way, were the dragon, Icer, and silver-haired Tasha Oberon.

Alysia tossed a wolf-fur cloak across the nearest unoccupied barstool, where it draped into a silken, supple flow of dappled light and darkness. She sat down, twining long legs against the lower rungs, glancing from Veighn, to Tasha, to Icer, back to Veighn - whom she offered a droll smile. Veighn moved and zagged, flashing a fang-toothed smile to Alysia in mid-spin as he pursued the swishing end of Icer's tail with the grinding heel of his boot before rounding another series of tables in his evasion of the duo. Icer hissed as his boot came close to her tail but continued closing on him from the front.

Tasha muttered very softly, ?I wish I could side step into shadows like those DeAusters.. but no.. I gotta hoof it.? She stomped after him, silently cursing her height; the Black Wizard was much taller and at this rate, she would end up winded before catching up.

As Lucien shook his head briefly and forced a smile, Alysia commented conversationally to him, ?The ice is melting around the lake. Earlier than I expected.?

The barrister cast a curious glance at the converging figures, then his attention snapped back to Alysia. ?It has gotten warmer earlier this year, it seems.? Lucien glanced again toward Veighn, then his attention returned to the Priestess as he continued preparing the tea. ?Maybe that means the orchard will start blooming early.

Noting Lucien?s seeming wariness, Alysia inclined her head toward the devil-kin and the dragon. ?If that is a game of cat and mouse, I'm not sure which the mouse is.? She smiled, slow and reluctant. Lucien?s glance stole back toward the trio.

?It remains to be seen,? Lucien temporized quietly. He set a small cup of bloodspiced tea before Alysia.

Veighn?s light, lithe step and rounding spin made some mockery of a ballroom dance or waltz as he posed his arms in picturesque fashions, twirling and spinning to a stop near the wolf-fur draped barstool Alysia perched upon. A sinister and deep-bassed chuckle flowed from parted lips. As he stopped, Icer glanced back toward Tasha, who was was coming up on his flank and moving nimbly, spinning around a staggering drunk and hopping over a chair.

Tasha noticed the Black Wizard?s posturing but she just moved closer still, pasting a brittle little smile on her face. ?What's the matter Wizard? Scared of a little ole elf??

?Thank you,? Alysia said softly to Lucien, holding up the cup of tea.

?My pleasure,? Lucien responded. His brow quirked, hearing a great cacophony of crashing pots and pans and utensils from the kitchen. Tasha winced at the sound in the kitchen, knowing without having to see it that the Seer was nearby; she quickly wiped that expression from her elfin features and moved closer still to Veighn, her manner that of one approaching a wild, unpredictable animal.

Alysia took a sip of the spiced, sanguine drink before turning toward Veighn. ?You've been busy,? she remarked vaguely to the devil kin, acknowledging both Icer and Tasha with that comment.

A small, jet-skinned shadow imp slipped free of the vortex of shadowy substance manifesting itself around Veighn. It crawled to perch on his left shoulder as the Priestess addressed him. He answered, smirking, ?Ohh.. I've entertained myself while ye've been doing... the same.?

The imp winged back toward the priestess, spying the two tailing Veighn as it lashed its scorpion-like tail back and forth. Not sparing the imp a glance, Alysia commented, ?Your interests may be a bit more diverse than mine. I tend to be rather single-minded in the pursuit of my goals. A flaw, no doubt.? She grinned, showing the points of her fangs.

?Merely just assessing the potential of components and parts to build upon the arcane vehicle I have my time invested in,? Veighn explained. ?There is indeed a method to the madness.?

Tasha suddenly vanished from sight, fading in a misted violet haze that hung for a moment, only to reappear a moment later less then a foot from her target. With a wicked smile, one hand moved towards him as the stone in the other started to glow faintly with the activation of a protection spell to prevent those curses he liked to toss. Tasha had been told he didn't like to be touched, so she was testing that theory; if that actually hurt him, that was knowledge to add to their slowly growing arsenal.

Alysia?s fire-red gaze drifted past Veighn and focused upon Tasha with curious intensity. She offered a delicate smile at the silver-haired elfmage, then leaned a bit close to the devil-kin, pitching her voice in a dramatic whisper. ?I do believe there are those who wish a word with you. Twould be impolite of me to monopolize your time.?

Having obtained a measure of scotch, Lucien rounded the bar and moved back to the Priestess' side. He took up a lean there, absently swirling the amber liquid in his glass.

Veighn turned his back toward the bar, taking cue, if not from Alysia herself, the disappearance of the Oberon woman and her reappearance in close proximity to him. ?Is there something I might help ye with?? he asked, brow piqued as though he'd never seen the woman before.

?Oh no, just checking something.? Tasha didn't pause one moment, just sent a brilliant smile to Alysia as her hand moved towards Veighn's sleeve. ?Go ahead and keep on chatting. Shouldn't take a moment at all.? Icer dropped into a crouch then, the tip of her tail twitching as she eyed the Black Wizard and the imp on his shoulder.

Tasha's leaning forward to touch him proved to be an exercise in futility, for the wards lining the devil-kin?s robes began to shimmer with unholy light. Shadows massed where her smooth hands sought to touch, forming a barrier between his physical form and hers. A slight twitch moved at the corners of Icer?s snout. ?Ah ha!? Tasha exclaimed. ?So it's true...? She rocked back, shaking the ribbons of shadows from her hand, as if they might burn her. She scowled at Veighn. ?Can't stand to be touched eh??

Seemingly relaxed, Alysia leaned away from the devil-kin's flexing wards and slipped an arm around Lucien's middle, looking up at him. Her attention was entirely focused upon him for several moments.

Tasha blinked at Alysia, eyes widening a moment. A pleased smile lit up her piquant face. ?Thank you! Now, can you make him behave or will we have to plot his doom for the next year or so?? After a moment, she added, ?Oh, I ain't your friend Mr. Evil! You have tried to fry me, steal my Blood Sister, kill the Lady Dragon, and even cursed Jewel! What I really would like to do is smash that pretty nose of yours!?

The Black Wizard attempted to stifle a snicker with the back of his hand.

Alysia half-listened to Tasha, cynically considering the precise details of the bargain she?d made with Veighn at Kitty?s behest. She suspected she'd soon have cause to regret that. ?You've been careful, haven't you Veighn, not to threaten anyone who is-?

?-What interest do you have with my niece, Veighn?? asked Lucien. Alysia stopped and turned toward Lucien as he broke his pensive silence.

Veighn turned toward the barrister, a brow piqued. He answered simply, ?Tis harmless, really. I require her presence for something. She is insightful, ye niece.?

?Wait,? interrupted Alysia, ?Wait, Lucien. Viki's kin to you??

?By way of Tara.? Lucien answered calmly in explanation to Alysia. Then, ?Perhaps you can find someone else to assist your endeavors,? he suggested to the devil-kin.

Veighn raised his brows in interest as he regarded the barrister. His fiery red gaze scanned the man's aura and bearing, among other things. His eyes narrowed suddenly, calculating. ?Tara... whom was, or is still married to the rather boorish count... er, the name escapes me.?

?Can we sue him for being a pain?? asked Tasha. ?Bury him up to his nose in legal paper stuffies until he can't even find a way to breath?? She wasn?t about to say a word about Tara or her soon to be ex-husband. She grumbled, ?Restraining order maybe??

Veighn looked toward Alysia, perhaps hopeful she might chime in and jog his memory.

She didn?t. She scowled, then her mien smoothed into an impassive mask, betraying nothing of the uneasily storming jumble of thoughts she refused to give voice to. Interrupting Tasha's tirade, Alysia flatly commented, ?Veighn's an ally of mine.? It was a delicate way of saying that she couldn't make him behave, unless he chose to.

Veighn?s features became the masculine mirror of the Priestess' own feminine countenance. The expression, cold and arrogantly regal, was pristine in kinship. He turned his head, slowly as if for effect, toward Tasha. Alysia and Veighn, in that moment, looked terribly similar.

Icer moved quickly to Tasha?s side, dragon-crouching again. Tasha leaned into the dragon, still shooting those killing looks at Veighn and turned to whisper to Icer. ?Can you believe this two faced devil? Sheesh.?

?Perhaps there is something I can offer in exchange for Viki's assistance?? Lucien said, thoughtfully weighing Alysia's flat statement, the word, ally. ?Since you are Alysia's ally, I will offer whatever assistance and resources I can to you, Veighn.? Lucien's offer struck a sudden, uneasy chord in the Priestess and she tensed somewhat.

Veighn turned his attentions between Alysia and Lucky. "I'm sure we can come to an agreeable conclusion to the matter at hand, should there be need of one."

Alysia murmured blackly, "I have no doubt of that."

Lucien merely offered a nod to Veighn.

"Maybe someone should ASK Viki if she even wants to have anything to do with this 'Black Wizard' first," Tasha muttered pointedly. "Ain't right others making such agreements when it's her skin on the line after all." Icer nodded in taciturn agreement, then looked beteween Lucien, Alysia, and Veighn.

"No one here is in a position to make such an agreement for her," said Alysia in a quiet, silken contralto. "But there are alternatives, I'm sure. There always are."

"Viki speaks for herself, Tasha," Lucien added as his attention remained on the devil-kin.

"Hence the allusion to . . . Veighn gazed toward Tasha. "So quick to assume and pass judgement." His hands moved out to his sides, teetering up and down in imitation of the movement of a scale. "One must weigh all the elements involved."

"Oh I already asked him what it would take for him to leave her alone. Didn't care for the answer." Tasha turned towards Lucky and gave a short nod. The stiff movement caused her silver hair to dance about her piquant features in chaos.

"Oh? What was his answer?" Alysia's scarlet gaze focused upon Tasha.

"Ye didn't have much else to offer me that I found of use or interest." Veighn's features took on a bemused look suddenly, though fleeting as it was.

"Ah! See that? He admitted it!" Tasha pointed at Veighn. "You have been terrorizing everyone! Trying to say I was lying!"

"I have not broached any topic in relation to you lying, my dear." The Black Wizard chuckled, shaking his head.

Veighn tilted his head, eyeing the barrister with sudden interest. He then tapped his black talon of the right index finger against his lips. Alysia silently cursed Lucien's choice of words and fixed an impassive stare on the devil kin, certain that he could not resist that the bargain-weight that offer held. Tasha started tapping her small, booted foot against the floor, waiting for Veighn's response to Lucien's respectful request.

"I am not the monster I am painted to be..." Shadows started to thicken in the lines of the Black Wizard's features, causing angular shadows to be cast on his flesh by the glowing of red eyes. Tasha muttered something and stalked off, trying to shake the anger swimming over her senses.

Lucien's attention held steady on the devil-kin. He remained beside the Priestess, hands in his pockets, and mirrored Veighn's earlier words. "I am sure we can come to an amicable agreement, Veighn.

After a moment, Veighn responded, "I. . . shall withdraw my personal horrifying haunt of the child, in payment for your assistance, m'lord Lucien."

Alysia stepped down from her seat, sweeping up the wolf-fur cloak in a sudden, serpent-quick movment. Inwardly, she wondered what the Hell had possessed Lucien's to offer himself as a bargaining chip for the sly, manipulative devil-kin. Lucien's choice was noble and honorable, certainly, but she was fairly sure Veighn could - and would - hold a threat to him to coerce her. It was what she would have done. The situation inspired first a frisson of fear, then anger. Brittle emotion flashed across her elfin features, lent color to the pale flesh.

A single step brought her breath-close to Veighn, not touching him or his wards, though his manipulations of the situation had made her nearly furious enough to do so. Veighn turned his keen gaze with a snap of movement down toward her. Shar'Vae shade shyed away from the Priestess' nearness to his position. He stood, unflinching, to listen. Lucien nodded quickly before his attention was also drawn back toward the Priestess.

"I suggest you do your best to keep him well, Lord Veighn." Alysia spoke quietly and with an icy, clipped edge to her words. She was fairly tall, but both Lucien and Veighn towered over her by nearly half a head, and she was unaccountably annoyed at having to look up at the devil-kin.

"He is your jewel," Veighn acknowledged, "And a treasure trusted to an ally shall be marked a great show of faith. "Ye charge is mine own, Priestess." Veighn turned his gaze toward the man then, appraising.

"If I thought he was in danger. . . " Alysia continued, holding out her hand, palm up. A rune-etched sphere of condensed mana hovered above her fingertips. ". . . there are things in my possession that I might destroy." Cold venom coated her words as she closed her hand into a fist around the sphere of mana. "Upon a whim."

"Then it shall be made clear that he is to come to no harm," the devil-kin reassurred, non-plussed. "As much as he may relish or reject the fact, I am not the most pleasant person when perturbed."

"Neither am I. So. . . Do be careful, Lord Veighn. There are oaths that I hold dearer than my promise to provide assistance to you,"Alysia said, very quietly.

Lucien traced a small scar on his palm with his thumb before slipping his hands back into his pockets. His ice blue gaze turned back to meet Veighn's.

"Any aggressors against his well-being will have to answer to me." Veighn's voice, toward the end, took on more of its accent as the tones broke into three separate notes moving in harmonious sinister melody.

The Priestess took a step closer to the barrister, with a complicated smile and an unreadable expression in storming crimson eyes. She brushed a kiss against his jaw, murmuring, "...noble of you, to make a deal with the devil." Lucien turned his head slightly to brush a kiss to Alysia's lips, and a crooked grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Close enough to overhear Alysia's murmur, Veighn commented, "Are ye referring to yeself, or to me, Priestess..." Rhetoric was just that, and he offered the Rhilshen Empress a nod, features solemn as he glanced over the barrister.

Lucien looked past the Priestess to Veighn and offered a cant of his head to the devil-kin in dry acknowledgement of the question.

"Ahh... but you see, I'm much more than that." Alysia retorted to Veighn.

Veighn answered cordially, "Perhaps over time we shall examine the many facets of our ilk. Unique as they are akin." He turned his gaze toward the barrister again, with an expression as cool as the surface of a glacier.

"I hope you don't come to regret this, Lucien," said Alysia. He responded with a small nod, his sentiment of "I hope I don't either" remaining unspoken. The Priestess drew her wolf-fur cloak over her shoulders and stalked into the cold night, scowling.