Nicole was getting used to being on land, shed taken up two jobs, the scribe job with Captain Kidd and this messenger job. Shed made her way from that Inn with no name where in this message she now carried was from, to that castle. One of few in Rhydin. Her dark locks tucked back behind her ears as she made up walk way that led to the door. This place shed had seen before. Heard many a rumor about before as well. She took a deep breath as she pulled that rolled parchment from the bag at her left, the parchment was blue, an odd color. But not considering the one whom had given it to her, not so odd. The seal upon the front she did not know, a green seal that looked like a dragon.

In her left she held that rolled parchment, her right hand rose and knocked upon that study door of the castle. Recalling the words of the woman who had given her that letter, as she awaited someone to answer the door. " Be careful Miss Piave,I would take this there my self, but it seems my efforts are still unheard. Watch your step,hes rather powerful. He is found of lovely women as well,be very careful." Nicole took a breath lavender hues looked to the doors, it was near dusk now, the summer winds she could feel breeze past. She'd been paid a good amount to deliver this letter.

Nicole looked to the penned name upon that rolled blue parchment penned in the ladies hand. "Count Longden," She read the name, counts were mighty men, like any lord. They held much power, and here in Rhydin power meant everything. Nicole came with one weapon that swept hilt sword at her right. The lovely Elven lady had said to be careful, and since that usually meant to be armed Nicole was that.

Lavender hues looked on and she knocked once more. Recalling the final words that the elven woman had said, " deliver it only to his hand, ye shall know him when ye see him. If anyone else wishes to give it to him. Ye must insist that only he may take it from you. If you are resufsed mention my name. If he is not home, return it to me, I will gladly pay ye for all your time." Nicole now waited, so far she'd been paid over one thousnad silvers for this alone,so not a bad gig at all for the pirate scribe.

Nicole smiled softly to the man whom answered the door. "I have a letter here, for one Count Longden." She flipped the rolled parchment up, that blue toned parchment. She watched him closely with those lavender hues, as he looked he r over. She knew her weapon was present and in plian view, but in this day in age and at this time in Rhydin. A woman without a weapon was a disaster waiting to happen. " I am only to deliver it to his hand." Nicole knew the man at the door wasn't a count, a butler perhaps or fellow businessman, but no count. She had her orders,and would follow them to the ltter,she was getting paid to do just that.

Nicole's lavender hues looked to the man at the door as she saw that faint smile, she watched the way he looked at her. She passed it off. The one whom had sent her here had told her of the oddness of this place, and those whom worked for the Count. Nicole hated the feeling of this place, those lavender hues sparkled a bit. She pulled back the rolled parchment. "Sorry Sir, but my orders are very strict. I cannot give it to you. The lady asked for it only to be delivered to the Counts hand, and if he is not here then I shall return when he is. Or return the letter to the lady whom gave it to me. She paid me very well to do just that.I do not wish to make her angry with me,for disobeying ordes,she is the last one in this town I'd cross." Nicole had not mentioned a name yet.

"So perhaps ye could tell me when it would be a better time?" Her dark brows rose a bit as she looked over him once more. "Or if ye cannot, then I shall return the letter to M'lady GreenStones hand."

Her brows rose, was obedience a good or bad thing in this town.Nicole didn't wish to know. She stood there and listened to him talk of having no idea when the Count might return,business being as it was in these parts. " Thank ye." She went to turn as he closed the door and stopped before taking her first step away to glance over her shoulder at his words. " I shall do that,thank ye for your time." A bow back to him a simple nod really before she made ehr way away from that castle. That place sent the shivers through her,that man at the door did as well. It was time to return the letter to Mrs. GreenStone, that wouldnt be a easy job.

Charles opened the door. It was not only his job, but his joy to perform such a service to the Count whenever Charles was not away from the castle at the bidding of Count Longden.

He bowed into the wind, seeming not to notice it at all.

"Ah, Ms. GreenStone. What a wonderful surprise. We haven't seen you here in quite some time." He looked her over. She was another beautiful woman who'd look even better collared and chained naked, exposed to the Count's whims.

"I presume you wish audience with the count. If I'm correct about, then your timing is quite good."

He waited for her reply.

Charles just looked at Shea and wondered how she could be so naive. He sensed weapons, but they would prove useless against himself and the Count.

"Lucky you," he said. "Oh . . . before you enter. . . the wind." He passed it off with a little wave. "The wards in the castle will turn that against you. I suggest you enter in a . . . calmer mode if you wish to see Count Longden."

He stood aside and smiled.

::Slowly she unclasp that cloak and folded it over her arms. Dressed in her classic style of black laced up boots of Elven make, and laced leather pants more of Rhydin make. A soft form fitting top of a pale rose color with sleeves that met the crook of the inside of her elbow. The shirt had a deep V neckline, in which hung one necklace of mithral with that blue-green stone hung as the pendant. She had that sword tightly sheathed and would not disarm herself, her weapons had never bothered the count before so why would they now?.She awaited further instruction on where to head next. ::

::Jade hues watched the valet as he eyed her. She gave him a soft smile, noting the way he looked at the V neck line of her shirt,more so down it but brushed it off. It didn't seem to bother her one bit. Elves were often admired for the beauty, no matter what that beauty was, or where it lie.::

"Follow me, Mlle. Greenstone." :: A soft chant of her head as she followed him. Up steps and down the well decorated hallway, shifting her fingers through her hair as she walked, her strides long. Her royal blood seemed to make her shift to walk taller with longer strides, like a proper knight and one of royal blood. Hallways of a castle always reminded her of home, with their painting and tapestries. No matter the castle or where the castle lay upon the lands she knew they all had those hallways, long and well decored, though the Count's castle was different; older perhaps.::

"Wait for me here, please." ::She watched as he walked in to the study and closed the doors behind him. Jade hues looked about down the hall she had just walked and back to the closed doors. One moment, then another and back he came. "Count Longden will see you now." :: Her Elven ears perked to that and she bowed her head softly to the Count's valet:: "Thank ye." ::She crossed in to the study and shifted her head over her shoulder a bit as she heard the doors close and lock behind her.::

::Then Jade hues shifted over the study. She had never been in this room of his castle, merely below and outside the grounds that overlooked the ocean. But that seemed like ages ago now. She then took in every detail of the study. ::

Though the room was dark, and only filtered light came in through the drapes Shea could see just fine. She was accustom to darkness these days. Jade hues looked to the desk and the lamp that lit the pieces of parchment upon it, then up across the Counts darkened face. The lamps glow did give his face a darker look, but it seemed fitting for him. Taking in the scent of the room, the mix of leather and musk. It filled her with the memories of home, the scent of leather bound books covered in dust, a scent she savored.

She caught his smile, and returned it. She shifted softly back as he rose and lowered her head out of respect to him. "Lord Longden." Her hands shifted a bit as she felt his clasp hers. She noted how he was dressed then, all black fitting for A Count. Then her cheeks flushed a moment at that lingering kiss upon her cheek. A touch of mystic wind touched through her hair, carrying the scent of wild flowers and wind that always followed her. That soft sweet scent of those untamed lands from which she hailed. The wild flower smell upon her was a mix of rose and other flowers that did not grow in Rhydin.

Her ears perked at his voice just a whisper across her sensitive ear. ?You seem to have a way of surprising me with your visits. Not that I'm complaining, of course.? His voice was soft, and had an almost magical quality about it, she had noted that when they first meat many many months ago. Withdrawing slowly, she brushed her hair across her neck and shoulders and took a breath.

"Lord Longden, I know not exactly where to begin. I have few friends here, fewer these days after all the things I have done wrong. But I have be asked to leave Rhydin behind. To abandon my vow, to not fight in the coming battles. "

She shifted her hands down over her stomach. She had reasons to stay and reasons to go. Her daughter now growing with in her was the main reason Victor wanted her to leave Rhydin and the fights to come behind. Shea had that motherly glow to her all ready though the fact that she was with child was yet to be seen. Yet Shea always glowed to some degree even in the darkest of tombs in all of Rhydin, it was the magic in her that she could not hide.


"To tell you the truth I have no idea why I am here, it seems silly to me to say goodbye, when I know I wont be going. I know I will still be here, for I am not one to abandon my friends when they may need me, even if I cannot fight."


Yet fighting was in her nature, though she could play defense, heal the wounded, help those in need with magic. But how much would she be allowed to do? She shifted her cloak from her right arm to left. Shea felt uneasy, as if some power had drawn her there. For a moment her mind snapped back to those dreams, from weeks ago. Those all to vivid dreams that she had passed off after Hinn was killed thinking nothing more of them till now.

Then those jade hues flared silver for a moment as she looked back about the dimly lit room. She felt terribly rude, she knew she was most likely interrupting some business. She glanced upwards to him a moment, then down across the floor. " I should not have come, I know I must come off rude and..." She shook her head softly. "Forgive me Lord Londgen...I shall not bother ye with all these things that trouble me, and I have no answer for why I am here... I am a nuisance. and I am sorry." Jade hues lowered more to the ground, as did her head. Shea did not feel very Knightly nor very noble. Her reasons for coming had seemed so clear before but now was dimmed by other things that weighed so heavily upon her mind and shoulders. As if the very world were laid there upon her shoulders. A weight she had known before, but was not accustomed to even now.

?You've been asked to leave Ryhdin?? The question hung in the air a moment. She had been asked that. ?Now, wouldn't that be a pity for all of us left behind in this land if you should happen to leave.? Her brows quirked upwards for a moment. "I do not think many would mind if I were to go." She gazed to him a moment. "It is not as if Victor is without his reasons for asking me to do such a thing. I am carrying his child, and I will not risk my daughter in the coming blood baths. He should know me better than that. " She took a deep breath then, " I have been a nuisance to Rhydin to my friends, if I have any friends truly left within this city. I would lend my hand, my magic my sword to anyone here with a good cause in mind. Yet if it were I in the same place I wonder if anyone would do the same for me. Perhaps Connar would. But perhaps not. " Her eyes shifted upward as she felt his thumb upon her cheek.

?I sense such sadness,? There was that tone to his voice again, soft yet hypnotic. ?I feel you are in a time of wandering, not sure of what direction you are to take in life. There is very little that excites you at this time and you're searching, Shea. You're searching for something or someone who can make each moment of your life be filled with meaning ? a purpose for you being here, something that would allow you to use your talents with all your strength. You are like a bird being kept in a cage and wanting to scream out ?I can fly, dammit. Let me loose and prove it to the world?.?

Shea nodded in part to what he said. "Sadness dominates my world, it always has. Such is my life. It is not as if my life has no meaning. I have my family, my son, my daughter," Her hands shifted down again, " Victor. Yet I have no purpose left in Rhydin save to fight a battle that will be lost. I wish it were as simple as ye make it seem Lord Longden,but my talents are becoming less needed in Rhydin. I aid who I can. But I am a knight and I feel odd not being able to fight with my sword as I always have. There are other mages here of my element different from me but the magic is all the same. I wonder if my husband is not right, if it would be worth my staying here. I wonder often what good I do."

Those mystic winds had flared a bit at that kiss to her temple. Shea sensed his power, she always had. Her sensitive nose flared a bit, as everything flooded her senses. ?Perhaps I can give you what you are seeking, my dear Shea,? She took a breath, her jade hues flared to silver again, as she heard and felt that whisper across her ear. She felt her hair being pushed back over her shoulder ?There is a reason you are here that even you do not realize,? Her ears and brow perked to that. "What reason would that be Lord Longden?" Unlike some who might fear him, Shea did not. She knew what he was and well of his powers. But she believed she could withstand them she was after all a very powerful Elven mage and she had her own sense of power that was about her.

Shea blinked as he moved in closer to her. She felt his brow rest to hers, and his breath across her lips as he spoke ?you're seeking purpose in what you can do, but sometimes our greater purpose can be found in how we . . . surrender.? She's jade hues flared brighter, staying silver. ?Have you ever just surrendered?? Shea wasn't the type to surrender. "I am a knight and a mage I do not surrender. It is not my way, I fight or I die."

She inched back and gazed to him, she felt that power as she gazed in to his dark eyes. A touch of mystic wind rose brushing through her hair. " I do not surrender unless I have no other choice. If it was to save someone I love I would surrender only then. My foes are unyielding though, surrender is not usually an option for a knight of GreenStone." Shea gave herself away, a weakness.

::Shea did listen,she saw that look she had seen it many times before in her many lessons form the mages of her home lands.That glance a teacher gives their student when the concept is over looked.::

::She listened intently as he spoke, what he said made sense to her. She gazed back to him when he looked in to her eyes and smiled softly once more. " Thank you Lord Longden I shall keep your kind word in mind. Perhpas that day will come I have a long immortal life to live,so perhaps one day my deepest dreams will arise to be true."

?Mlle. Greenstone. Please, follow me.? She looked to his valet and followed,looking back only once " fare thee well M'Lord." Following the valet out the same way she had come in she pulled her cloak around her as she walked to the doors which would most likely be held open for her and out in to the winds that were quick to take her away.