Crossroads RP

"That sort of thing only happens in storybooks, in my experience." Nathaniel smiles, faintly. "Though it is good to think about."

"Ah." Nox was silent a moment. "I had told myself that he had surely given his life as a delaying tactic, a heroic last stand to buy her time. And... Zevran vanished too, so perhaps..." He briefly considered adding Lux's hunch that Zevran was far more lethal than his charm and graceful body might suggest. No. I trust Lux's instincts but it was just a hunch. 

"If her bodyguard was overcome, there's no way for her to have escaped."

A jolt went through Nox, sending his eyes flying out wide. "What? How-- how do you figure that?" he blurted out, his accent growing less refined.

"Then she is dead. She must be."

"...before all the guards were replaced, I overheard two of them ranting about how many of her comrades 'that horned monster' took down before they captured him," Nox whispered, eyes locked on the bored healer. Given that Varissia was claiming that Bull had kidnapped Coquette, the implication that he had been captured was telling.

"She pissed off the Mistress," he whispers. "Something awful. I had never seen her so angry. She is still angry, and it's been months. I have always been her favorite stress relief and I am barely sufficient anymore."

"I don't know," Nox admitted, the words coming only with effort. "But... in the darkest part of the night, when I doubt she ever cared for us, I can't even begin to doubt her love for her daughters. If she left them behind, it was only because she had no other choice."

Nathaniel is silent a long while before he turns to look at Nox, voice cracking slightly. "Why did she leave us behind?"

"Ah." Nox sighed, long and bitter. "Well, I would say that's because we are slaves," he explained in a very low voice. "No collars or chains-- most of the time-- but we lack freedom. I guess... I guess the only thing different is that if we could somehow get free of here, we'd be safer than most slaves would be."