Night had descended upon the town of Kraelun, and with the sun gone, so did the streets empty themselves of reputable people. The nobles receded to their mansions, the commoners mostly retreated to their houses except the ones that worked through the night, like the ones at the tavern or the guards in the streets. Despite the soldiers, however, the dark roads amongst houses weren't completely safe and there was many a shady character found on corners. While the town wasn't known for its violence at night, nor the crime, the law could not be enforced everywhere, so thieves, slavers and the like ruled the times of darkness. A lot of activity was in front of the local tavern, the Drunken ogre, which usually saw its fair share of drinking, gambling, betting and fighting, the latter being one of the more popular past times for the local ruffians. The patrons that did choose to spend a little time outside the fine establishment were either drunk so they couldn't even stand properly any more, or were those that had an argument or another. All in all, the area was usually very loud, with people singing and shouting through the night. This, in turn, usually attracted the soldiers to keep the peace, but they rarely did anything drastic, as the tavern was known to be one of the only places to provide some real fun for the locals.

The streets were usually quiet; with the odd crying of a child somewhere and the distant barking of a few dogs, the only thing one could hear were the crickets, slight gusts of wind and the occasional burning of a torch nearby. A dark, hooded figure was moving through the dirt street, trying to avoid any people that passed her, and was clearly headed somewhere specific. There was another hooded figure waiting at one of the corners of a house nearby. As soon as he saw the new arrival, the man, a human in his fourties, motioned over, as if to give a greeting. "What'd ye want?" he asked in a gruff tone; he was obviously impatient with the whole deal. "I be sellin' ye this," came a quiet reply as the tiefling reached out her hand to show the prize she had been keeping hidden in her possession. The shady fellow glanced at the item; it was a small statuette of some sort, probably stolen from one of the houses in the town. It didn't look particularly valuable, but it was all she could scrounge that night and was hoping for some kind of a fair price. "Thirty coppers," the man suddenly proclaimed, shattering the tiefling's hopes of ever getting any real amount of coins from the other. "Oh, I ain't avin' that. This statue be worth more than that," she argued in her thick accent, obviously marking her as someone not from around here. "Take it or leave it, demon," the man said, threatening to call the whole deal off. He was already getting nervous, looking around to spot any soldiers about. There weren't any nearby, but it always paid off to be careful...

Sighing, the tiefling realised that was the best offer she would get. If it weren't for those thirty coppers, she wouldn't be able to buy herself bread the next day. One would think she'd simply be able to steal some from a bakery, but people viewed stealing decorative pieces a little differently than stealing food, so she stayed away from that... "Fine. Thirty coppers," she resigned, handing over the statuette. Receiving the copper coins in return, she put them in her coin pouch only to see the man leave hastily. Glancing about nervously, there was definitely something up... And sure, there it was - a couple of soldiers were approaching, their swords drawn.

"You there! Halt! What're ye doin'?" They didn't exactly shout, but they certainly meant business. Nisha had dealt with the law before, but she would be damned if she were to get imprisoned again. One of her kind wouldn't get a fair trial, that was for sure. Besides, she didn't do anything this time, did she? "Oh, I be simply enjoyin' the evenin' air, soldiers," she bluffed, hoping they would leave her alone. But, of course, the light from one of their torches lit her figure up, quickly revealing that there was a pair of horns atop her head. "Wait a minute, she's a tieflin', she is," one of them told the other. "Think we'd get a reward for bringin' her in? We could just say she was stealin', we can." Stepping back, the tiefling quickly hit the wall of the house she was cornered against. There were a couple of daggers in their sheaths on her belt, but fighting soldiers would only stir up the hornet's nest. Unless she would make a quick getaway... "I wasn't stealin', I can assure yeh," she tried to reason, shaking her head. But it was all in vain; the soldiers had decided that they would bring her in for some kind of a reward. "Sorry, lass, we're bringin' ye in for... uh.. questionin'," one of the guards said, chuckling. "Say, I never really found out," the other guard started, staring at Nisha, "ye still got all the parts under there, hm? Or is it all, y'know, disfigured?" He obviously had something in mind as he began approaching her, a strange look in his eyes. "Come on, lass, we dun wanna hurt ya, just... Give us a freebie and we won't tell too bad on ya at the garrison, right?"

Pulling out her two daggers, the tiefling hissed at them, her tail swinging angrily from under the cloak. "Just try it, ya eejits! I'll cut yer throats! Back off!"

Roan was out surveying the streets that evening. It was something he often liked to do. It helped him clear his head of the sticky court games he was forced to partake in and he rather preferred communication with those of lesser birth as his parents often liked to refer to them as. Most of his friends said it was rather pointless for him to stoop so low and honor all these people with talk, but he didn't much care what they thought. The villagers were just people like any other, lords or no. Everyone gossiped, lied, did what they could to survive. He liked hearing the stories and the kind smiles of gratitude the people gave him when he offered them help with some type of labor when he could. Gaining favor from the people had its advantages. He gained their loyalty and friendship, even a nice meal every now and then. More importantly however, they told him news of the rhan that he might not have heard in the first place. It was from the common folk that he heard that there had been an assassin amongst the folk that was getting ready to strike the crown down. So let the nobles turn their noses upwind, he'd keep his head on his shoulders and do a little common work.

He let his horse pick its own pace as he surveyed the streets for any sign of problems with narrowed gray eyes that could cut like any blade if he needed them to. Some figures scampered and hurried away from him. Others gave salutes and smiles hoping he wouldn't latch onto them for any reason. He may be a friend to the folk here, but even they knew to stay away when he was on guard and had that searching look in his eyes. He wouldn't take bribes and he'd take a friend to the dungeons if they were up to something that went against the law. Only few men knew where he would be lenient in judgment.

Roan was about to turn his horse around and go down a different street when he heard the obvious sound of disagreement near the tavern. He sighed and turned towards it. Not again. Couldn't the drunks ever enjoy a drink or two and just go home to their wives and not cause a fuss? He had to stop drunks fighting more often then he cared to count. His warriors weren't much improvement either. Those young idiots got drunk worse than the common folk no matter how many times Roan tried to beat sense into them or worked them to the bone in compensation for their reckless behavior. They often cause more burden and troubles then the common bandits.

The man's eyes sharpened however when he saw the men surrounding the tiefling. He went around the crowd and made a point to stop his horse between his soldiers and the hissing and snarling tiefling. He looked at both sides with cold eyes. He knew that tieflings often caused trouble for the common folk, but there had been cases where the creatures had been used and tortured by warriors looking for a bit of fun and sport.

"What is going on here?" he snapped to the young man that seemed to be in charge of the few friends that had gathered around the creature. "What ill will has the teifling done?"

The tiefling truly wasn't in a very good position; the streets weren't very frequented at night - not that people would help her, of course - but to stumble upon a group of soldiers was even worse. They had the authority and the chance to abuse it, which they usually did, at least with her. She had come across townsfolk that wanted to take advantage of her before; even had an offer from a tavernkeep of becoming one of the tavern wenches, but that was not the life for her. Sure, perhaps it would keep her off the streets and out of trouble, at least somewhat, but there was no doubt she wouldn't be treated as an equal. Some rare individuals were sometimes compassionate to her predicament of being stuck in a world full of 'normals' but those were far and few in between. Despite having demonic features such as horns, solid amber eyes and a tail, there were still alluring features about her that, more often than not, led her into trouble like the one she was in currently. Her face, despite the nobles' disgust and commoners' shunning, was actually fairly pretty - if the lass decided to smile, which was a rather rare occurrence. And, after all, who would ever help a tiefling in need? They were the perfect targets for those that felt the need to control others; such as the bored soldiers with eschewed sense of morality. Not only that, but there was little doubt that, even if they were found out to be doing such deeds, they would only be berated by their superior. A half-demon was not a welcome sight and none of the officers would really care what they did with her.

"Ooh, fiesty, that one!" one of the soldiers said, making the other chuckle. Her daggers were sharp, yes, but their swords were longer. And, unless she would be very quick on her hooves and very precise with her strikes, their armour would simply deflect her attacks. After all, she was wearing but a worn leather jacket and they were clad in chainmail. Nisha's heart was pounding - there was nowhere to run as they already had her surrounded and fighting them would only prove to be her downfall. But she had no choice, she wouldn't just give in to them like that. "Stay back if yeh know what's good fer yeh!" she threatened, hissing through her unnaturally pointy teeth. "What d'ye say, Darron? Ye hold her by her horns an' I'll catch 'er by--" The soldier was interrupted by another voice coming from the darkness. The sound of horse hooves broke the chatter of the soldiers as they quickly glanced at the man riding the animal. "And who're ye to know, eh?" the one in charge demanded before he could recognise the face of the new arrival. When he did find out just who the man was, he quickly lowered his sword and stood to attention: "M-me lord! Apologies! Thought ye were one o' the drunks, I did. A thousand apologies!" He gave him a bow while the other soldiers of the group lowered their swords as well, but still had them pointed towards Nisha.

"Me lord, we've been catchin' this thief here. She been stealing from the good folk of Kraelun. And she's tryin' to resist arrest." Even though the soldiers didn't know it, there was truth in his words, despite them being said in hopes of making it look like they didn't just try to take advantage of the tiefling. Nisha, on the other hand, quickly tried to sway this in her favour, although the presence of a noble meant even worse for her, no doubt. If it were an officer, it would simply mean she would get thrown into prison, maybe beaten. But with a noble, there was no telling what would happen - either the man would grow disgusted by her very presence and allow the men to do what they wanted or have her thrown to prison anyway. "'Tis a lie! I be doin' no such things. Yeh can search me, yeh can!" she insisted, knowing full well that, fortunately, she had already gotten rid of any incriminating evidence. The copper coins in her pouch could never tell they came from having sold something that was stolen... Of course, her clothes and the fact that she was a tiefling didn't speak in her favour, but she would try. Despite this noble having just dropped her chances to a zero, most likely.

"Silence, wench!" the soldier in charge spat her way. "Don't ye be talkin' to lord Silverwing that way or ye be taking a beatin'!" That silenced Nisha, but only for as long as someone wouldn't speak against her again. She was almost certain this would only end with her getting throw into prison or trying to run away. But, glancing at that horse, it'd be very difficult to hide from it, let alone outrun it...

Roan narrowed his eyes on his men and idly rested his right hand on the sword that was shining where it was nestled nicely in it's dark scabbard. He wouldn't maim the men of course, not unless they went against strict orders and endangers someone in the crowd. A beating would be required for this simple disobedience. He was going to work these boys until the only thing they knew was work. Maybe then they would finally stop frequenting the tavern and drinking more than their share. Just last week these very same boys had tried to rape a tavern wench and started to beat her when she said no. He didn't have much pity for the boys currently. They had a long way to go before they reached his good graces again. Respect had to be earned. Wearing pretty chain mail didn't mean anything to him.

"A thief?" he asked and straightened up in his seat on top of the horse. He turned his gaze to the tiefling. That usually was what the tieflings were up to. The little creature was quick to try and speak up for her defense. That was a new one. Usually the poor things just huddled in the corner and agreed to whatever the warriors said just to try and lessen the punishment. Of course, they were never given mercy for admitting to a crime. Their logic was a little skewed in that regard. He tried to hide the tiny smile that touched his lips. She really did look like a little spit fire. It was good to see that some of this unfortunate race had the balls to try and survive and gain justice. It was a good thing this tiefling found herself in his hands.

He swung his leg over his horse and landed on the ground beside his soldiers and the female tiefling. He glared the boy into silence. "Let her speak," he snapped. "Don't assume you know my response to things," he growled at the boy. Then he turned to the tiefling. "You ask me to search you. That is a bold claim. Go on then, empty your pockets. Let's see if you are a thief," he said. "Don't try hiding something. I don't take kindly to liars. You might find yourself in a worse trial for lying." He glanced at the boys then. That threat was for them as much as it was for her. The horse beside him danced where he stood a little nervous to be surrounded by the crowd of people that had quieted and pressed around them trying to get a good look at the action. They wanted to see what the tiefling stole and what punishment Roan would give the little brat. They of course, had no doubts that the devil's spawn had taken something. A tiefling was always wrong in their eyes.

"Yes... Yes, me lord," the soldier in charge answered in obedience, bowing his head slightly. Talking back to an officer usually resulted in a lot of hard manual labour as punishment, but talking back to a noble officer would likely result in severe lashings with a whip at best and death at worst. The men knew their place and stepped back slightly as Roan dismounted, although they couldn't understand why he was spending his precious time protecting a thief such as their suspect. "I haven't presumed anythin', me lord. A thousand apologies," the soldier replied, stepping even further back. Suddenly, he was quite timid - the very opposite of the personality he was showing towards the tiefling.

As Roan approached Nisha and told her to empty her pockets, threatening to raise her penalty if she had lied, she merely gave him a hiss in return. Noble or not, none of that mattered to her. They were all the same in discrimination, although this man was showing a strange restraint for someone that would be expected to throw her into prison for merely glancing at him. "I be tellin' the truth. Now yer soldiers 'ere, they be lyin' to yeh. They be tryin' to--" She was quickly interrupted by the alarmed man that was previously so eager to 'have a little fun' with her before. "Shut your mouth, ye dirty wench!" He quickly shut his own mouth, however, as he glanced at the noble, swiftly stepping back in line. "No, yer tryin' to get out o' this by tellin' lies and implicatin' me!" the tiefling argued, but began rifling through her various pockets that dotted her leather jacket. Her eyes followed every object she drew out carefully; after all, she didn't want any of them to steal something...

First she put down the pair of daggers she was holding, albeit reluctantly. At that point they could easily have pierced her with a sword and she wouldn't be able to defend herself, unless she were quick enough to jump out of the way. Next, Nisha pulled a small coin pouch out of her side pocket; they wouldn't find anything there but a few lonely copper pieces. It was all she had but she was already saying goodbye to it as soldiers usually took everything, no matter how much. After that, her clawed hands pulled out a tiny stone carving, one that looked like it belonged to an amulet once. There was no telling whether she had stolen it or not, but it did look somewhat worn out. That was followed by a slice of bread that was making its home in her top pocket, a few strips of leather, probably for fixing any holes she got in her armour, a couple of small pouches of some kind of incense and a flint stone.

That was all she had. But no... Wait... As she felt around her pockets, her strange, solid eyes of amber with a hint of glow to them suddenly widened for a moment. Her hand felt something in the last pocket that shouldn't have been there... Drat! She must have forgotten about that when the reseller didn't seem like he'd give her much profit! Still, there was nothing she could do now. Pulling her hand out slowly, it held a small necklace with an agate encrusted in it. It didn't look particularly valuable, but it could still probably fetch a few dozen silver coins. "Er... That be... mine," she said quietly as she put the jewellery down on the ground, next to all the other things. One of the soldiers quickly pointed this out to Roan. "See, me lord? She's stealin', she is. They're all the same, they is!"

Roan nodded to his men when they stepped away and apologized for their outburst. He let his hand lazily rest on his sword as he waited for the creature to empty out her pockets. He watched the girl yell at the warriors and the warrior try to shut her up. He didn't miss the gasp his boys gave when the girl started to explain her side of things. He narrowed his eyes. So the boys were hiding something as well. How was he to proceed when both parties were lying to him? He didn't want to make a huge deal out of some stolen little coin. He knew what the tieflings usually bought with their money; food and supplies to try and survive for the next day. No one else seemed to realize that.

He watched as the woman started to put down her meager belongings. The daggers could have been stolen but they looked worn so she must have had them for a long while. He wouldn't charger her for something she might have bought. The bread he wouldn't say anything about and the copper pieces she had were worthless. If she was a pick pocket, she would be aiming for more that some copper pieces. He would have been more inclined to arrest her if she had more gold and silver coins tucked away in that pouch. So far, everything she showed him didn't warrant much for thieving. He was about to say as much when he saw the little necklace she reluctantly brought out. He had seen the surprise on her face. She hadn't realized it was there. Was it truly stolen then? He carefully reached out and picked up the small necklace. It was a little worn down from use.

Roan took a deep breath. He wasn't a fan of stealing. He couldn't tell if it was stolen. He looked at the woman and debated with himself. She was a poor thing. At most she would use this necklace to buy herself some more bread. She only had a few coopers left on her. If it was stolen, the owner probably wouldn't eve notice it was gone. He grit his teeth a little before he placed the necklace in his pocket. He wouldn't punish her for taking something as worthless as piece of jewelry. He'd provide her a meal and get to the bottom of this. "Pick up your things," he said to the creature. "You are coming with me for questioning," he said softly. He turned to the boys. "You aren't out of trouble. Report to the training field tomorrow morning for your work. All of you, go back to your evening." He then turned his attention back to the woman. He slowly pulled out the necklace and took her hand where he placed the little trinket into her hand. "Get on the horse."

"B-but... Me lord! She must've stolen those things, she did!" the soldier in charge said in frustration. Now that he himself was being put under scrutiny, he was trying to do everything to wash his name and implicate the tiefling as much as possible, whether she had done the things he was accusing her of or not. "That necklace isn't hers, why isn't she wearin' it, me lord? It's obviously stolen," he argued, pointing at the necklace and the thief, bewildered. Nisha only gave him a hiss in return, beginning to pick up her belongings, putting them all in the pockets they were in previously. When Roan told the soldiers to go away, she stayed suspicious. Actually, she grew even more suspicious; in her mind, she was doing no better than before. So, instead of the soldiers trying to take advantage of her, this noble had decided to bring her somewhere where they would do whatever they wanted to her. Was she destined for some decadent ring fight with beasts, so those better-off could amuse themselves with plentiful food and drink while watching her try to survive? Or was this Silverwing, as they called him, more inclined to bring her somewhere alone and have his way with her? Whatever it was, it wasn't good and she certainly wouldn't stand for it. Her eyes would keep scanning for exits and how to quickly get away.

Unexpectedly, the noble grabbed her hand and gave her the necklace back, telling her to get on the horse. That warranted a strange gaze from her, then her eyes trailed down to the jewellery. It wasn't hers, that was sure, but why was he giving it back? What did it matter? "Oh, I ain't goin' on the horse, I ain't," she said, shaking her head. The soldiers had already pulled her cloak off her head, exposing her rather large, curved horns that best reminded of those a demon was adorned with. The two horns met in the middle of her forehead, just above her eyes, making her look fierce if she wasn't smiling - which she wasn't at that particular moment. "I've done nothin'. Why question me?" the tiefling continued to oppose. She definitely didn't want to go anywhere with this man, despite him saving her from immediate danger. But she was sure much more danger was soon to come and wasn't looking forward to it...

The horse looked like a fair steed and, however silly it might have sounded, she had never ridden on one before. They were extremely expensive for one such as her and, besides, what good would an animal like that do her? She usually operated alone, which meant it would need to be stabled; and that costed coins. Coins which she did not have. And despite her agility, she wasn't sure she could get on the thing without falling off of it first. But no; she had decided. She wouldn't be going anywhere with this so-called noble. Now that the soldiers were about to leave and she had her daggers back, she was feeling much more brave and confident...

"I already told you I was going to interrogate her. Your business here is done," he snapped. "I will be questioning you tomorrow morning about this issue," he said. He crossed his arms and turned his gaze to the crowd. The common folk were quick to go about their own business and pretend they hadn't seen anything of interest. Good. He didn't need a trail of common folk trying to follow them to the castle. He had other matters to attend to right now. First of all, he had to get this stubborn little tiefling to the castle. There, he could provide her a good meal and figure out exactly what he should do with her.

"You aren't going to the dungeons," he promised her softly. "This will all be much easier for all of us if you just came with me. I am not going to hurt you. Why would I give you back that necklace if I was going to punish you for it?" he asked her in turn. "I just want to talk to you about a few things and this discussion is better away from meddling ears. If you don't want to mount the horse, you can walk beside it but it wouldn't look good for you. I cannot talk freely here. I can guarantee that if you come quietly, you'll be leaving the castle with a little more that a couple of coppers and a stale piece of bread."

He glanced around at the crowd that stole glances at the tiefling. They would be watching her if she walked away from him now. She probably wouldn't be able to buy bread in the morning. They would be suspicious of her. Maybe someone else would try to take advantage of a tiefling that had been revealed to the public. He wouldn't be able to save her a second time. "If you leave by yourself right now, there is a high chance that you'll be trifled with again before the sun is up. Either someone will steal what you have left or find a way to kill you in the street. Would you really want to risk that when I am offering you shelter for the night?" he asked her.

"Of course, me lord," the soldier replied in obedience. There was nothing else he could say; he had already pushed his luck to the limit and any more words would be met with punishment, he had no doubt. How he was going to get out of that one he wasn't sure, but for now, perhaps the best thing was to simply go and get drunk with his mates. He and his group of people turned about and left the scene, leaving the tiefling and the noble alone. What a noble did with people was only their concern and nobody could say otherwise, lest they were a noble of more importance or the king himself. Still, he would remember the face of this creature that had maybe just cost him his position... Not that she was difficult to remember, of course.

As the scene cleared up, it was easier to breathe for Nisha. Too many people watching was always a bad thing and being around soldiers was even worse. Still, she had a noble to deal with and she wasn't exactly sure how that would pan out... "Oh, I ain't, am I, now?" she said when Roan mentioned he wouldn't throw her into a dungeon. "Yer not goin' to hurt me? Oh, of course, that makes sense. Now that yeh've given me the necklace back, that be a sure sign of trust, that is," she continued, her words dripping of sarcasm. Truly, she didn't believe him for but a moment. The tiefling couldn't possibly hold back when he mentioned how she'd be leaving the castle with more than just copper coins. "Oh, aye? I can believe that, I can. I'll be leavin' with whip lashes, I will." Sighing, she figured there was no way she could simply run away now. Those soldiers, or the other people about, would quickly figure out something wasn't right and try to capture her. Besides, a running tiefling was never ignored; they were always up to something if they were running.

"Save yer breath," she finally said, her mood not all that great. "Yeh can say whatever yeh want, I know there be somethin' yeh wants from me, yeh does. I be not born yesterday, yeh know." Still, despite all her words, she had no route of escape right then, so she resigned to what he was asking. No doubt she would try and escape on the way, if the opportunity would arise. "Fine, I be walkin' along. But don't expect me to be ridin' that thing." Definitely, she would have rather walked by the horse. That way, all of the options that would become available would be open to her. If she were sitting on a horse, however, escaping would be far more problematic. Especially since she had never ridden before, which meant trying to jump off a horse would most likely result in her getting entangled in the equipment or simply falling down to the ground clumsily.