"Sounds like a good plan." Everya nodded, "I will happily spy ont Genrik. I am only concerned with the Ignae Kiani. If Genrik does attack first, what kind of position does that put them in? We can't afford to lose them."
Everya stared at the strategy, making sure she got the postitions of Genrik's camps memorized. She drew her eyes up to Sielio and nodded encouragingly and then broke into a small smile and asked,
"When do I go?"

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[font=Times New Roman]
Hello, I'm Amoniel
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(*walks in very meekly* Sorry that I had to leave again. I had finals that I had to study for. Is it okay if I jump back in? I've missed alot, (16 pages) so I don't blame you if its not. Again, Sorry )

(fyi she was actually pacing/standing in the corridor, not sitting. But whatev ....)

Arielle grinned back. "That is the general description of a bodyguard," she agreed. "So it would appear that you know what you're doing. In a nutshell, that's also my job - temporarily at least. Any tips or pointers for special cases such as clients - excuse me, wards - who could probably kill you in an instant? Because I've got two of the above. Arielle Merced," she added as an afterthought, holding out her hand.

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

((SOO Sorry everyone! I am really sick... So... Yeah.))

Genrik nodded, thinking on the matter.

"So you are working for me.." He stated the obvious, "Agaist your half brother. Seems a little dark for you, Mordev." He stared into the man's eyes, "But if you let my head mage search your mind to make sure you arn't faking betrayal to betray me.. You may do as you wish as long as you get the imformation I ask of you."

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

Oops--sorry, Valera.

---

"Rhaeryn has not yet manifested any powers that might kill me in an instant, so I cannot help you out there," Aivon said, shaking Arielle's hand. He still wasn't sure if he should trust her or not, but he didn't have to be rude.

Enough of talking. He was here for a reason. "Has anything suspiscious occurred?" he asked Arielle, shifting back into a more somber mood. Very many things could go wrong in only a few hours, so he had learned. So far, though, nothing seemed to be wrong.

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Mordev involuntarily rocked back on his heels, though he silently berated himself for that very action. Genrik had no reason to trust him. Likely, the calculating Kiani would discard him when he saw fit... which translated to mean his very life depended upon keeping himself useful.

Nonetheless, the prospect of having his privacy breeched disconcerted him more than a bit.

"Very well," he said carefully. He was skilled somewhat at guarding his mind, but he hadn't a doubt he was no match for Genrik's prowess.

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(*is bored* *decides to complicate plot slightly* let me know if it's not okay.)

Arielle shrugged. This man took his job seriously - it wouldn't hurt for him to lighten up a bit. "I suppose it depends on how you define suspicious," she smiled. "An hour ago I had to interrogate two mice and the corresponding cat."

The door into the twin Kiani's suite was at a turn in the corridor; the corner of the turn was just after the door, and the woman was standing between the corner and the door, almost against the wall. She cocked an ear at a very faint noise, and continued. "They passed all checks, so I had to let them go. Separately. Excuse me -" She spun in a high turning kick, connecting solidly with something just around the corner. Whatever it was gasped, giving her enough time to draw her dirk and pounce, verifying that the intruder was indeed a would-be assassin before burying the blade in his chest.

She could tell an assassin when she saw one - that particular hungry look in the eyes - she'd seen this type all too often. They would do anything for the right price: no scruples, no loyalties, no morals. She had almost become one herself.

"Target?" Arielle asked, her face close to the black-clad man's head.

He convulsed weakly, drawing his last breaths. When the answer came, it was a hoarse whisper, barely audible. "Kiani ...." The breathing stopped.

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

What's the song/poem on your new banner, Valera?

----

Aivon smiled humorlessly at Arielle's sarcastic comment. Then she turned in a kick. His sword out in an instant, Aivon took several long strides and was at her side in seconds, just enough to hear the assassin's last words.

"Well, what did you expect, this close to their quarters?" Aivon asked Arielle. "No one else of importance is quartered nearby."

As the lifeless body slipped to the ground with a thud, he grimaced. "You should have taken him alive--maybe we would have gotten more information from him, though there cannot be any doubt about who sent him."

A thought struck him. Genrik had to know that the Kiani would be well guarded--would it make sense to send only one team?

"Group 2 inside," Aivon said to Arielle, opening the door and running inside. Sure enough, there was another man just opening the door to one of the Kiani's rooms; a long dagger was held in his hand. As Aivon approached, the assassin turned, shifting his dagger to a defensive position instead of the stabbing one it had been in.

Aivon slashed at him with his long sword, and the man jumped back, lashing out in return not with the dagger as Aivon had expected, but with a spinning kick that numbed Aivon's hand and knocked the sword from it. With a snarl, he avoided the slash that followed the kick, rotating around in a kick low to the ground that swept the assassin's legs out from under him. The dagger went spinning off across the room somewhere. Aivon planted his knee on the man's ribcage, leaning hard. There was no point in allowing the assassin to catch the breath he had lost when he slammed into the floor.

Drawing his own dagger, he rested the tip on the man's throat, stepping on the assassin's hand as he attempted to move. "Arielle, we've got ourselves a prisoner," he said.

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Sila had been sleeping fitfully. She couldn't manage to fall into a deep peaceful sleep, but what she got would have to do. Suddenly, she came awake with a jolt. Noises...? Had she been dreaming? No. She heard voices and scuffling. She jumped from her bed and opened the door.

A little ways away, Arielle and Aivon were standing with an unknown man. Aivon had his dagger to the unknown man's throat. "What's going on?" Sila asked, staring angrily at the man. She knew that if Aivon had his dagger on him like that, he could not be good news.

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I'm back!

Everya toiled with a quill and surveyed Sielio as he made his decision.

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<center>

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Hello, I'm Amoniel
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"Very nice," Arielle observed, reaching Aivon just as he subdued the second assassin. "I doubt either of them would know much, however - they're just pawns. Believe me, I've been in the business - I know." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sila, the brown haired one, enter from her bedroom. Apparently they were in the main living area of the suite, surrounded by the faint silhouettes of chairs, tables, and couches.

She shrugged in response. "Nothing too important, Honored One. Murder attempts, midnight strangers - all in a night's work, really. We've got it under control. Although if you have any unusual powers of interrogation, they might come in handy."

The woman stripped a rope from a nearby tapestry and began binding the man's wrists and ankles. "You've been having quite a night," she remarked to the assassin.

(the banner text is from "High Flight" - the pilot-authored poem that pretty much every US kid had to read in elementary or middle school. I happen to like it.)

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

(waiting on Kel... :] )

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<center>

[font=Times New Roman]
Hello, I'm Amoniel
[/font]</center>

Really? That's cool--I haven't read that before...(but then, I never went to Elementary or Middle-school in the USA, either)

----

Aivon glanced up. A normal night? She must be used to guarding people much more targeted than the Kiani--he could only remember one other attempt on their life, three years ago or so, and that hadn't been a very serious one. It had taken only two weeks for his wounds to heal, though that was because he hadn't trained as much back then.

Once the would-be assassin was trussed up, Aivon walked over to where his sword was lying on the ground, and sheathed it. "I'm surprised he did that much," he said out loud. It hardly could look good to lose one's sword fighting a man with a dagger in front of a fellow bodyguard. Hopefully she wouldn't rib him about it.

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((*sigh* Well, Kel dosn't really WANT to play Sielio or anyone else anymore... Anyone want to play 'im? Cause I don't particulary want to play 3 people, but I guess I will If need be.))

Suakii, whom had heard the descusion in the hallway, walked out of her room, wrapped in a white robe.

"Did someone call for 'interesting powers of interagation'?" She asked, lifting her hand, which soon illuminated with a small, flickering flame.

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

"If you please, Honored One." Arielle gestured toward the intruder. "It would be extremely gratifying to learn ... oh, anything. Who hired him, when, where, anything he may have seen in the enemy camp. He's obviously a professional; he would have noticed. It's quite possible he won't be very talkative, at first."

She stole a glance at the other bodyguard. He seemed to have taken her earlier comments quite literally. The woman maintained that there was always room for a little exaggeration - it was how she had made her living for the past seven years. However, she didn't consider it worth her while to correct him. She did wonder how much action he had seen; she should ask, but things might get somewhat busy later.

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

A smirk spread across Suakii's face. She hadn't had an oppertunity to use her powers lately...

Walking up the the man, she let her hand hover over his head, seemingly doing nothing until a crackling could be heard, and a shiny layer of ice spread itself over each hair on his head. Letting the flame in her other hand grow bigger, she moved it a little closer to him.

"Who hired you? And who are you, anyway?"

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen