Aelianus
The boy watched as the girl exclaimed happily the boy's name when he awoke. He himself stood in the doorway as the Princess went to sit next to the newly conscious Raiyn, and he couldn't help but smile and shake his head as he had caught the man's attempts at drawing a weapon. Talazar had done the same thing, though when he found he didn't have a weapon he also tried to simply strangle the woman whom catered to him, but didn't get too far as just moments later he was sprawled on his back again trying to catch his breath. Raiyn at least was in better shape.
Aelianus waited as the girl sent a torrent of statements at him and chuckled. She sounded just like a concerned parent, looking out only for his health and urging that he simply rest. True enough that was best for him, but if he wanted to wake so be it. With death at the doorstep, Talazar certainly didn't just lie back and die, no, that's what sedatives were for, otherwise, the boy knew, he'd of gone on a rampage and killed everyone and himself in the process. Looking to his mother, he simply returned her warm smile and shrugged, then paced into the room as Raiyn gave his response, but something about it seemed off, as if for some reason he was trying to shut everyone out suddenly.
Tilting his head, Aelianus dismissed the thought for now as he looked at the man.
"Morning," he said cheerily, "Took quite a beating, surprised you're already awake. How're you feeling?"
There was a slight pause as Aelianus waited for the answer before his mother broke in, her inquisitive eyes taking a moment to rest on everyone present. The boy couldn't help but feel though, always, that her eyes, or frankly any parent's, seemed to go beyond simply looking at you, but instead they dug into you and sought out the truth behind everything you said, every excuse you made. The boy gave a half-hearted smile at the woman's words.
"Indeed, the wounds were quite substantial," she had said, "I'm curious, what happened exactly?"
Talazar
"Ha, fancy meeting you here. Is this really who I think it is?"
Talazar looked up, an eyebrow raised, from his drink. He was sitting near the back corner of a bar, slouched over in a booth with his feet perched up on the table. An ornate sword was lying across the hardwood next to several emptied glasses, and the man himself was donned in a rather tattered and beaten old brown cloak. As his gaze came up, he found himself looking at a sneering man whom reminded him too much of a rat.
The cold beady eyes stared at him expectantly, the dark color nearly eliminating his pupils altogether, adding to the effect. From what Talazar witnessed, it seemed like always, some part of his body was twitching, while his poor excuse for a mustache was unkempt, uneven and wiry, falling down his lips like some grotesque whiskers. His hair was combed back in the same manner as Talazar's, but it was a pure black and looked greasy. The man knew exactly who this was, so he set down his drink and faked a smile, as if pleased that this hideous presence was invading on his, until now, rather enjoyable night.
"Titus," he said quietly. "What a rather, unpleasant surprise..."
The man scoffed as he forced his way into the seat opposite Talazar, and immediately he was taking hold of the sword which he had left on the table. Never being one to beat around the bush, the man's words cut directly to his point. "You're becoming quite popular my friend. Murders, raids, sounds like something a group of bandits would do. Some organized crime group."
"Like yourself?" Talazar cut in. He gave the man a wicked grin before tilting his head back and downing the rest of the coppery-colored liquid he was drinking.
"Well you'd think so, but it seems someone, one man, has been doing the work for me, or rather, instead of me... But he's a little more sloppy, leaving witnesses to report a single male, white hair, traveling alone."
"Oh?"
"We can't have business being ruined, can we?" the man said as he set down the sword and leaned in across the table. His breath stunk terribly of blood, and Talazar had to wonder exactly just what he was doing prior to his coming here. Even so, the man simply shrugged.
"You mean to tell me the mighty Titus, leader of a supposedly not half-ass mercenary group, is being outdone by a single man?" Talazar laughed as he brought his boots to the floor with a rather loud thud, then turned in the seat to better face the man. "Perhaps you are just half-ass."
Titus shook his head, his face contorting into a cruel grin, one that belonged to someone who was scheming about something, plotting the imminent downfall of a competitor of business. "You're a funny man, you know that? It's bad enough operating with shades around, makes life difficult enough, but now a single man, you, are ruining my work even more. There's no profit in it, and now people are beginning to doubt me, we can't have that, you understand, right?"
"You were never good enough for the profit, and besides, no one ever had faith in you." Talazar said flatly. "But, nevertheless, what do you plan to do about that?" The sword was now perfectly centered on the table between the two, and neither had any other weapon. The man's grin, Talazar noted, had grown even more and now, to the point that it resembled a cat, cunning and sly. Leaning back, he awaited the response, but registered the presence of several others now standing from the booths to either side of his own, as well as from other randomized tables through the bar.
"I've got a proposition for you," he said quietly, his group of twenty or so men having finally congregated. "But I warn you, the stakes are pretty high."