Alissa was a bit surprised when she saw Tannin laugh at her silly remark,
"You would be right. I try not to make a habit out of such things" he said after turning his head towards her looking at her, she smiled a bit seeing that he had not yet covered his . After she asked about what he did on his spare time, she was starting to feel a bit nervous. She wasn't trying to be nosy and she sure wished it didn't sound like that was the case,
"Tell me, what is it exactly that a man like yourself does to make do with his spare time." she asked seemingly confident when in truth she was nervous now, even more so as she saw Tannin hesitating and taking his time with an answer.
"I'm afraid that I do not have much spare time as of late" he said and she waited a bit looking at his bright blue eyes,
"Though, upon the rare occasion that I am left with nothing to do, I often find myself either with Daeroch or reading." he continued and Alissa smiled again, she wondered what kind of books he would find himself interested in and for a moment she found herself eager to know exactly what books he had read, she was even more curious to know if he had read the same as she had.
"When I joined the Guild, I was usually too exhausted to do anything but read. Before that, I'd had no education and had never thought that reading was truly that important." He smiled at Alissa but she was focused on everything that he had said wondering how tiring it must be to be part of a guild.
"I also rather enjoy a game or two of Senin with Verrengar when we are both in the Underground" he added.
"What kind of games?" she asked in curiosity, she had a hard time imagining Tannin playing chess but somehow at the same time she wouldn't be surprised if that was the case seeing that Tannin was anything if not surprising to Alissa. However, the young man eyes were fixated unto something else, the window near the bed, he was quiet for some time and Alissa followed where his eyes were. Apparently the snow was just starting to fall in big amounts and at a rapid pace,
"It seems that luck is not on our side." he said calmly to which she nodded as his eyes turned back to her and then moved to the outdoors of the room. He let out a sigh and Alissa remembered that she had been wearing the warm cloak while he was still in clothes that would surely leave him cold to the upcoming coldness. It would be only a matter of time before the room would be extremely cold.
"I'll be right back. I'm afraid that I need to change before it begins getting too awfully cold in here. I'll see if I can find us something warm to drink before I come back." he said calmly and with a smile before covering his smile with the mask again. Alissa stood up, meaning to follow him. In truth, she feared that he would leave her alone, of course at first she wanted nothing but to be away from the mysterious man but now that she knew the truth she feared that he would leave her to meet her true death at hands of her killer. It seemed like he knew what she was planning to do, so before he stopped her she spoke softly,
"Let me come with you". However she was stopped,
"I shouldn't be gone too long, m'lady. I would only ask that you remain here. It would only be too easy for one of Lorn's followers to seize you. I fear they would not be as kind as I. Though the Assassin's Guild is the largest group of my kind in the world, there are others that prefer to work alone. They must get by somehow and if that means killing an innocent woman..well I somehow doubt that they would care. " Alissa felt a sudden cold shiver at his words, she knew that what he has said was true, it would be a matter of time before the word spread that she was alive and out of reach from the king's protection. She remained quiet, seating down in the bed again, and looking at him as she saw him leave outside the room closing it immediately as soon as he stepped outside.
She let out a sigh and stood up again feeling a bit anxious. She stood up again moving closer to the window and starring at the beautiful snow that was now falling nonstop. Alissa loved the snow and the rain and she would always watch the raindrops and the snowflakes fall from outside her balcony, and this time it was not different. Seeing that she didn't want to make things worse by opening the window, though had she been at her home she would have surely done so, she placed her hand against the cold glass, wanting to feel closer to the snow as strange as it sounded, but back home it reminded her that she was still alive. Time passed and Tannin had taken longer than she thought was needed. She moved back and forth in the room, and finally she looked outside the window again. She saw a strange man looking directly at her, almost as if waiting to see her in the window, his outfit completely black and his face covered by a hood and a mask. Alissa felt a bit nervous and moved a step back at the sight of the man but her eyes were still locked unto the mysterious shadow. In truth she knew that he was a man by the muscular build the person had, she had a hard time imagine a woman with such body build. It was then when she heard a soft knock on the door and she was startled again.
She let out a surprised sound but noticed it was Tannin. She looked at Tannin a bit surprised and then turned her eyes back at the window where the person stood not so long ago but there was nothing but the white snow. Alissa couldn't hide her nervousness but tried to remain calm, hopefully whatever Tannin had brought to drink would calm her nerves, after all she wondered if she had imagined the whole thing after being stressed. He placed the tray at the small table again and then pulled his mask down smiling at her,
"I'm afraid this is all that they had." Alissa felt at ease as soon as he entered the room even when the man that she has seen before made her nervous but she thought it would be best to ignore it ever happened. She finally smiled back seeing how he took the mask off without struggle, she then eyed his other hand which was now carrying a book,
"I also picked this up for you." handing it to her. Alissa smiled widely at the book and appreciated the gesture seeing he had remembered her telling him she loved reading just a few minutes ago and that he had taken the trouble to find a book.
"Thank you, it's very thoughtful of you" she said with a warm smile grabbing the book from his hands.
She grabbed the book and placed it on her lap as she seated down again, leaving some space for Tannin to seat next to her again of course. She grabbed the small warm cup but almost dropped it after the cup was extremely hot,
"ouch..." she said a bit clumsy carefully putting the cup down again,
"I am feeling warm already" she finally said almost to herself jokingly and with a small smile.
"About the book, have you read it before?" she asked with a glimpse of curiosity looking at his bright blue eyes. The book had a leather cover so she couldn't really tell what the title was or any other kind of hint as to what the book was about. She wondered again what kind of books he would be interested in, unknowingly she bit her lip as she imagined him reading the same books she had. However, something told her that Tannin was actually
living the adventures rather than reading about them behind a book.