The Drow Queen of Glaley [Very NSFW]

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Then I suppose I am on my own," growls Cedric, clearly frustrated. "As I have ever been."

[Zevran]

"Ah-hem," Zevran says flatly, not moving from his embrace.

[Coquette Blacquin]

"You are no help either," grumbles Cedric, in a more good-natured tone.

[Zevran]

"Ack, my lord, thine disdain and dismissal doth rend mine very soul. I am slain."

Looking startled, Claudia pulls the bag away from her mouth. "Did you just quote Dusty Deagon's only completed, supposedly, play?" Zevran cocks his head to the side even as he gestures affirmatively. "How in Alydra's name did you come across a duegar's attempt at literature?"

"The worst profitable brothel in the entire Free Outlands," Zevran says promptly.

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Yes, joke, while my life's on the line," grumbles Cedric, unable to hide the grin sneaking at the corners of his lips. 

[Zevran]

"The worst-- how does that make any sense?"

"Simplicity itself, my dear lady; the owner's taste in literature was as stellar as, ah, its? I think 'it' is most apt. As its taste in whores. I suppose won't can't exactly blame an acid elemental for having such a low sense of taste. Sharp tongue and biting wit, but unable to understand how to judge or value the baser things in life."

Claudia gapes at Zevran, one hand snapping up to highlight an accusation she never manages to find the words for.

[Coquette Blacquin]

Cedric huffs. "I'm pretty sure I'm being ignored here."

[Zevran]

"Just giving her space to calm down," Zevran murmurs very softly. Louder, he adds, "but my love does have something of a point. We do not expect you to put yourself in harm's way for us, strangers as we are, but we do ask for what help you are willing to offer. Please."

Claudia flinches, looking down at the table as Zevran finishes speaking. "I-- sorry. I just-- Yeah. I can-- I avoid politics, avoid court and-- and all that nowadays. But... but I'll try to-- I can at least-- at least answer some questions or... the like. Try to anyway, if I know..."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"is there anyone to whom she'd wish to curry favor by marrying me off?"

[Claudia Emerison]

"I'd have to imagine so," Claudia says slowly, rubbing her chin as she thinks. "Stronger ties among the five Familias is always worth something. Mmmh! I know she's been trying to establish better ties with Nyra, but I don't know their, uh, marriage market well enough to offer basically anything there. Umm. Could..." A finger begins to tap on the table. "She could also want to keep you close, reinforce the bloodline, so to speak."

[Coquette Blacquin]

"She wouldn't be able to protect me adequately in Nyra," Cedric points out. 

[Claudia Emerison]

"True, she wouldn't be able to give protection to the degree she could here, but she'd not be marrying you to someone of meager means after all," Claudia points out. "She'd not settle for anyone less than a high noble or a major mercantile power. But that's only one possibility. And honestly? I figure it's more likely she'll want to keep her twin's descendant close enough to see and talk to from time to time."

[Coquette Blacquin]

A twin? Unusual. "Good. I don't trust that a mere nobleman can keep my... my ex-wife at bay. Will my previous marriage be a hinderance?"

[Zevran]

Claudia widens her eyes exaggeratedly. "You were married before?" she asks artlessly. "To whom?"

"Ah. That... could work, yes," Zevran says with a chuckle. "My previous slave owner," he declares, eyes focused on the middle distance as he spins truth and story into history. "A most vicious merikos elf that uses magic to pretend to be a merikos drow in order to enhance her reputation as an assassin. Hardly needed these days, regrettably, as her actual skills and resources are indisputably formidable. She even claimed to be from here, of all places, though she would merely hedge and give vague answers if pressed for detail."

"Eh, be careful with that last bit. You'll have to say it just right," Claudia cautions them.

[Coquette Blacquin]

"Perhaps it is best not to mention my previous arrangement. After all, what cares the Matriarch for the law in Alessa?"