Learning to Kill

As the words were spoken by the Guild Master, Evania felt panic. What if no one vouched for her? Of course that was a silly notion. They had kidnapped her to be there. A voice called out almost immediately though, and the twenty year old let out a sigh of relief. That was one obstacle over with. Immediately the Guild Master began to speak again, asking for those opposed. Evania half hoped someone would speak out against her being admitted into training. She would (hopefully) be allowed to go home and be left in peace. Somehow, she doubted that was the case. Part of her was also afraid of the rejection. What if some of them doubted that she was good enough for them?

But no objections came, and soon she heard the master speak again, this time to her. He commanded that she state her name and remove the blindfold. This was the moment. Did she have the courage? No, not really. But Evania had no other choice. She took a deep breath and reached up to untie the blindfold with shaky hands. "Evania Vanistov," she stated, removing the dark fabric. The sudden change from dark to light disoriented the young woman and she needed to blink a few times before she could really take in the scene before her. A few dozen people had their eyes on her, and she took in how the room was arranged so that the Master was in the center. He had quite a few adversaries with him, all of them with the same experienced look at he had. All but for the young woman at his side. Evania could tell they were related. It was obvious in their facial features. The only question was if it was a daughter or sibling. It was a piece of information unnecessary at this time, and Evania stopped thinking about it. She also noted the presence of Kavil, playing guard again with the Guild Master.

Evania was welcomed then. Many of the other assassin's made room for her at tables as she was instructed that she could take a seat of her choosing. She felt awkward trying to pick one table over the other, until she caught sight of Felicia at one of the tables that had made room. There were three other women there and the rest were men, all of around the same age group. Meaning, older than her. Evania didn't mind, though, and made her way over somewhat sheepishly. She sat down between a man and a woman both her greeted her with a smile and nod. All she could do was smile back and look at the table. What did you say to assassin's upon first meeting them? And hadn't something been mentioned about her getting a trainer? Or was that the next day? Evania suddenly couldn't think of a single thing she had been trying to memorize earlier in her room.

The twenty year old sat straight and tall, feeling that propriety was needed for this situation. She was surprised at how quick the presentation had been, but she was thankful. She hadn't had to do anything ridiculous. Though, that was likely saved for the next day when she would train with the others. Her stomach churned at the thought and her appetite was lost for the moment.
 
"Welcome!" Felicia greeted Evania when the girl sat down at her table. She seemed very happy that Evania had chosen to sit with her, though she was across the table. No matter. Made talking easier. "See? Not a big deal at all. These presentations are just a formality. This guild has quite a few years of tradition to uphold. You'll be seeing a lot of that while here."

She stopped for a moment, sighed, and said, "And here I am, being rude. Let me make some introductions. Sitting to your right is Darius." The handsome man with a small scar on his cheek gave Evania a little greeting of his own. "On your other side is Emilie." Emilie was a blonde woman with very bright blue eyes. She looked kind, and she gave Evania a friendly smile and nod when she was introduced.

Felicia went around the immediate area, introducing everyone to Evania. It was an onslaught of names that the girl probably wouldn't remember, and it ended with the oldest man at the table. His name was Joshua, and he looked to be about the age of the Guild Master. They might be of a similar age, but Joshua was nothing like him in appearance. His hair had turned fully gray, but he had a kind, very fatherly look to him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Evania," he said, his voice soft and oddly soothing. "I hope you'll make yourself at home here. We might have a dark profession, but we try to be like a family here."
 
Evania let out a small laugh as she looked at Felicia. "I suppose so. It was still nerve wrecking though." As introductions were made, she did her best to keep up with the names and faces. It would probably take another time of learning everyone at the table's names before she would know them confidently. However, once Joshua was introduced Evania knew she wouldn't forget his. He was a mixture of both the Guild Master and Felicia. He was fatherly, quite so in fact, but he commanded respected and radiated experience. She liked him already.

She gave him a weak smile and felt her cheeks get flushed. "Thank you, Joshua. I'm sure I'll adjust." It had just been her for the past three years. And even for the few years before Elyan left for good it hadn't been much of a family setting. In fact, she hadn't truly experienced family since she was a little girl, too young to even remember. A family could be nice. It would definitely be something different for her to experience.

It was time for the feast to begin then. Everyone around her started eating and laughing, but not Evania. The thought of training with these people was still heavy on her mind. Her appetite still hadn't returned enough for her to have the will to eat. "This training in the morning. What's it consist of?" she asked after taking a drink of water.
 
Joshua was the one to answer that question. "It depends on how much experience you have with weapons," he explained. "Though usually a new member will start off with getting their body in the right shape for this kind of work. You'll probably be doing a lot of running and other physical exercises, though by the end of the day we might see what you can do with a blade." The sooner a recruit started learning how to fight, the better. It was extremely important to the job, after all.

It was clear with a glance at the end table that Kavil was still standing guard, not making any move to eat. Though after a few minutes and a quick exchange of words with the Guild Master, he left the room through the front door. Still without having eaten anything. It didn't look like he'd be coming back, either. No one seemed to take any special note of his absence, though. It seemed to be normal for Kavil to not eat with the rest of the guild.
 
Evania nodded silently as Joshua explained what was in store for her the next morning. It seemed easy enough. Evania would have to build up her endurance, and probably her strength as well. As for weapons, all she really know how to wield were the set of knives from Elyan. She'd never used anything else. she also knew it would be hard to adjust to whatever weapons they gave her to use as knives. Evania was accustomed to her own, and any other blade felt foreign and hard to use in her hands.

She noticed Kavil slip away. Evania wanted to follow suit. Not because she was interested in following him (though where he was off to and he himself did pique her curiosity) but more because she knew she wasn't going to eat. She didn't want to sit awkwardly as those around her celebrated and feasted. It made her feel uncomfortable that she could not join in their joy. After all, this wasn't something she had wanted. Evania briefly wondered how everyone else had gotten into the Order. Had they been kidnapped like her and recruited, or had they sought out acceptance? She wouldn't ask. Perhaps one day, as she grew closer to some of the other assassin's, they would tell their stories to her.

Evania waited around for another twenty minutes or so. Felicia had convinced her to at least nibble on a small piece of meat and bread. To appease the woman who might well be her first friend in her new life, Evania did so. She mainly focused on the bit of bread and butter, but ate several small bites of the meat that had been set in front of her. When the others seemed distracted enough, Evania slipped away. She muttered something about turning in for the night, wanting to be ready for whatever was for sure thrown at her when she woke, but it was unclear if anyone heard. She'd said it rather quietly in the loud hall.

Outside of the large wooden doors, though, Evania wasn't sure which way to go to get back to her room. It was something she'd forgotten to think about when she'd decided to slip away. She cursed the fact that she'd been blindfolded on her way down here. At least then she would have seen what surroundings had been passed on the way down. Evania decided to follow her instincts. In short, she chose turns and stairs at random until finally... She gave up. "Damn it all," she cursed loudly. Somehow, she managed to be down rather than up. This was something she'd discovered upon entering what seemed to be an armory. It had two windows that you could see out, and in the night light she could tell she was on the ground level. She could even make out buildings that looked like stables and hear horses. How on earth had that even managed to happen? Evania was sure she'd been going up that whole time. Regardless, she would look around her for a little. There were so many weapons, some of which she'd never thought she could pick up and hold. What really caught her interest was the collection of knives and daggers on a nearby table. It was these that she stopped to hold, examine, and test.
 
While Evania was investigating the knives in the armory, someone else came into the room. It was Kavil, in fact. He'd changed out of his fancier clothes and into a plain gray tunic, and if he was surprised to see Evania, he didn't show it. Well, not past the initial hesitation in his steps upon entering and seeing her. He seemed to deem her unworthy of interest, however, and he went over to a table with some sharpening tools in the corner.

He unsheathed the two knives at his hip and placed them on the table before producing two more knives from hidden locations. One had been up his sleeve, and the other had been in a hidden slit in the side of his pants. Even if Kavil looked unarmed at any given moment, it was safe to assume he wasn't. Even now, he still had another knife hidden in his boot.

Once his knives were on the table, Kavil took the whetstone and started to sharpen the blades expertly. His knives were very plain. There was nothing fancy to them at all. In fact, they looked like they had come from the usual set in the armory, which Evania had been toying with. The wearing on the knives was obvious. Kavil used them quite a lot. They were by no means just for show.

He said nothing to Evania as he sharped the knives, inspecting the edges with an expert eye once he had run the stone along them enough times.
 
Evania was rather absorbed in the knives. She twirled them through her fingers, testing two at a time until she found two that felt almost natural to her. She was so wrapped in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Kavil enter the armory. It was once he began to sharpen his knives that she took notice she wasn't alone. It had been relatively quiet until the whetstone was dragged across steel the first time. Evania gasped and dropped the knives she had been holding. The twenty year old spun around quickly, knocking knives from the table with a clatter.

Evania looked a Kavil with wide eyes. Her breathing was a little heavy, her heart having had jumped into her throat at the first sounds of the stone. She felt slightly panicked. Was she allowed down here? There hadn't been any restriction given to her, but what if only full assassin's could go some places and she hadn't been told? Kavil didn't say anything, though she wasn't surprised. When she relaxed some, Evania let out a long breath and began to pick up the weapons she'd knocked down. She felt like a fool for how she'd reacted. When that was over she held one in her hands and played with it casually. She glanced over at Kavil. "Sorry if ah, I shouldn't be here. Got a little, well, a lot lost trying to get back to my room." Evania wasn't really expecting to hear anything back, but she felt rude not saying anything.

The twenty year old took a few strides closer to him, peeking at his blades. They were plain, much like the one she was holding still. "Are you good with them? They look worn." She paused. "My brother taught me when I was younger. Said every girl should be able to protect herself."
 
Kavil gave no reaction when the other knives went clattering to the floor. His focus was on the task of sharpening his own blades, and he stowed each one away as the finished with them. He was working on the final one when Evania actually spoke to him, and he glanced her way without response. If she was lost, then he'd show her to her room once he was done. He didn't feel the need to say as much right now.

When Evania mentioned that she'd been taught how to use knives already, Kavil's curiosity had been piqued. He finished sharpening his final knife, placing it in the sheath at his hip before motioning for Evania to follow him. She might think he was leading her back to her room without actually answering any of her questions, but that wasn't his intention at all. He would answer her, but not with worthless words.

He led the way out of the armory and along the hallway to a large room at the end. It was full of targets, practice dummies, and other training equipment. Obviously it was a training room, and there were other weapons strewn about the place from the assassins not cleaning up after themselves. A bow and a quiver of arrows was over by the target range, and there were even arrows still sticking out of the targets. The sight of them made Kavil give an audible sigh, and he walked over to pluck them from the targets and return them to their quiver.

With that bit of cleanup out of the way, he looked over at Evania. "Can you throw?" he asked. His voice was soft, but there was something unsettling about it: it was completely emotionless, much like his expression. As if it wasn't clear enough what he was asking, he drew one of his knives and sent it flying at the furthest target. It didn't even seem like he aimed, but the knife still struck the target in its exact center and stayed there. It would seem like Evania's question had been answered. Kavil was very good with knives.
 
Evania let out a soft sigh when Kavil didn't respond to any of her questions. She staye din the armory though, as he sharpened his knives. She just kept twidling with the knife she hadn't returned to the table. It was one of the ones that felt right in her hand, and so she was hoping to take it with her so that she could get used to it some more before training began. Eventually he got her attention and motioned for her to follow. Evania assumed he was leading her back to her room, which would be fine with her. She was beginning to feel the effects of sleeping on the ground for three days in her muscles and the thought of a bed was very appealing. But to her surprise, he took her instead to training room.

Weapons and dummies littered the large arena like room. Evania's eyes lit up somewhat. She'd always wondered what a combat training room would be like. Elyan had mentioned that he wanted to train in a place like this, and she wondered if he would be jealous if he knew where she currently was. She wondered if he even wondered about her anymore. Surely he had to, she was his baby sister after all. She shook these thoughts from her head as Kavil went about cleaning the arrows out of a few targets. Evania just stood where she was, not wanting to get in the way. She was supposing he was going answer her question from before, was he any god with knives? It was probably a silly question. He was in the Order after all.

Kavil's soft voice sounded for the first time since she'd met him earlier that afternoon. She was taken a back at first, not expecting to hear him talk. Not only that, his voice sounded somewhat hollow, much like the look he had in his eyes. It was like he didn't feel emotions, something she didn't believe. Evania was of the firm belief that everyone felt emotions. Some were just professionals at hiding any and all reactions to them. Before she could answer, a knife left his hand and stuck with a thunk in the target farthest from them. Evania was impressed, and that action answered her question. Kavil wasn't good with his knives. He was a master. It was intimidating, especially knowing that he expected her to take a turn. She fingered the blade in her hand and contemplated. Evania was good, but she knew she'd never hit that target. Her own knife would fall short. Rather than try to do what he had, she chose to target a different bullseye. It was the second closest to them, and after a moment's aim she let the blade loose. It stuck in the ring right outside of the red center of the target. For her, it was a decent outcome. She knew she could hit the closest target. Elyan had only ever taught her one on one combat. There had only been a few times where they would just try to hit targets by throwing the knives.

"I'm not as good as you, but.. It's something."
 
Kavil watched in silence as Evania chose the closer target and threw the knife. He didn't even look to see where she hit on the target. It was clear to him from her technique in throwing that her aim was a little off. Not off enough to miss the target, but it wasn't precise enough to be a bullseye. Not like his own throw. Still, it wasn't bad. For a starting point in training, it was quite good. It wouldn't take long for her aim to improve, he imagined, if she worked at it. She'd likely never reach his level of skill--it was a well-known fact in the Order that Kavil was a natural with knives--but she would be formidable, in time.

He walked over to her, then stood on her throwing side. He drew one of his own knives and handed it to Evania, obviously wishing her to throw again. "Try it this way," he instructed, moving her fingers with his own to change how she gripped the knife for throwing. His fingers had the callouses one would expect from years of throwing knives, and he had a few small scars from that training as well. Still, his touch was gentle and warm.

Once he had corrected her grip, he moved her arm in the motion necessary to throw it this way. "Release here," he stated. With this grip, it was easier to aim but a little harder to put force behind the blade. That would come with time. Accuracy was more important in the beginning. You didn't want to throw hard when you couldn't control where the blade went. That was a recipe for disaster.
 
Evania wasn't sure what sort of reaction she was expecting from Kavil, but it certainly didn't involve him stepping over to her with a knife of his own extended. She took it hesitantly, knowing she was to throw again. However, he took position beside her and gave her a tip on how to grip the knife. It was different than she was used to and it was obviously. With this new grip, it felt as if she'd never held a knife before in her life. It made her nervous. She could tell that he had years of experience from the callouses on his hands. A quick glance to where his was on hers, and she could see them as well as a multitude of small scars. Evania wondered if her own would one day reflect that usage.

With her grip settled on the knife's handle, Kavil moved her arm through the throw. When he commanded she release, Evania did so and she watched as the blade cut through the air and landed into the target. The throw wasn't full of power. It was hard to put force into it with Kavil helping her through it, but the grip didn't allow for much either. Evania would have to work at it to get the grip perfected and then work on applying force. This time, the knife was in the bullseye. It surprised her, if she were perfectly honest with herself. She hadn't expected the knife to hit anything but the floor because of Kavil's guidance. But here, she was proven wrong.

Evania looked at black haired man out of the corner of her eye, the hint of a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth. "Thank you," she said. "Again." Evania held her palm open, waiting for a knife. This time, she would try to get the grip correct. if Kavil would allow her.
 
Kavil seemed satisfied when she hit the center of the target this time. He had started to move away, but Evania had asked for another knife. That gave him pause, and he drew the knife that he kept hidden literally up his sleeve. He handed that one to Evania and took a step back just to watch her. Perhaps she'd manage to release it correctly on her own, but Kavil had his doubts. It wasn't a fully natural-feeling release. It took time to get used to it. For Kavil, it had been natural. For others when he showed them what he did, it had apparently felt weird. His style of throwing wasn't the same as the others who used knives in the Order.
 
As the cool metal resting her hand, Evania's fingers closed around the hilt. She did her best to get the grip correct before bringing her arm back and throwing. Judging by the fact that the blade sank into the very edge of the target, she had gotten it wrong. Evania wasn't a fan of not succeeding at things and she let out an angry growl. Rather than ask for another blade, she stormed forward and grabbed the three she'd thrown and returned to her stance. Evania was determined to get a bullseye.

She forgot that Kavil was in the room with her. Evania spent the next twenty minutes throwing the same three knives and then retrieving them. No matter how she tried, she couldn't get the grip to be the same. She threw the last knife, missing the target all together and sending into a dummy. "Fuck!" she screamed loudly, full of anger. "Idiot." Evania was about to give up and try to find her way back to her room. When she turned around, Evania came face to face with Kavil. She assumed a deer in the headlights look on her face, eyes wide as it sank in that he had been watching her the entire time. Her face turned a deep shade of red as she stammered, trying to get out some words. She gave up though, having nothing to actually say. Instead, she turned on her heel and retrieved the knives before heading back to Kavil and handing all three of them to him, forgetting one was from the armory. "Thanks again," she said not meeting his eyes. "I guess I need some practice, huh?"
 
Kavil watched as Evania went through quite the downward spiral of aim. It was going to take a lot of work for her to learn to throw this way, but Kavil wouldn't have shown her it if he didn't think she could do it. He wanted her to do well. It wasn't personal--he didn't know her, and he didn't foresee himself putting in the effort to know her--but he still wanted her to succeed here. His reasons were selfish, though.

He accepted the knives back from Evania, putting away the two that were his own. The one from the armory was handed back to Evania. He wanted her to hold onto that. It would do her a lot of good just to practice holding the knife and going through the motions with it, even if it was in her room. He often did when he wasn't in a training room.

There was one knife still in a target, and Kavil retrieved that before starting to walk toward the exit. Again, he motioned for Evania to follow him. He was going to lead her back to her room now. She needed rest if she was going to do well tomorrow, and Kavil hadn't anticipated the detour of taking her to this training room. What he normally would be doing at this time was made obvious when his stomach rumbled. His reaction to this was barely noticeable, but it was there. Even if it was just a slight change in his walking rhythm for one stride, his step coming a little sooner than normal out of his surprise at the sound his own stomach made. Usually some sign of embarrassment would follow, but Kavil displayed none of that. It was almost as though he was pretending nothing had happened in the hopes that Evania hadn't noticed the sound.
 
Evania took his silence as him agreeing with her. If he didn't, there was something wrong with his vision. She gave a weak smile as he handed her the knife from the armory. The twenty year old would keep it, and try to get the grip again. She knew she would likely have to have him show her it again tomorrow, or whenever she saw him again.

Evania kept her head down and followed after Kavil in silence. She was busy thinking of how her aim had decreased significantly and rapidly. It was rather embarrassing, but she was going to try to not let it happen again. Especially not in front of an assassin. Especially not one of Kavil's skill levels. As she followed next to him, there was only the sound of their footsteps echoing off of the stone walls. Until a low rumble sounded. At first, Evania had thought it was her stomach growling but soon figured out it wasn't hers as she noticed that she was no longer in step with him. She didn't say anything at first, but instead thought back to dinner. She couldn't recall seeing him eat something then, but again she hadn't been keeping tabs on him or anything.

"Did you not eat at the feast earlier?"





[[I'm popping off for the night. I may not be on until late tomorrow. I'm going to a quidditch tournament three hours away, depending on how well I feel in the morning.]]
 
((G'night.))

Kavil was quiet for several moments after Evania's question, simply walking along the hallway in the direction of the other wing. The fortress was split into two main wings. They were currently in the wing with the training rooms, armory, and healing ward. The dining hall where they had been for the presentation and the following meal was between the two wings, and the other wing was where the assassins lived. It really wasn't a hard layout, once one grew accustomed to it. Knowing what was located on which floor was a challenge sometimes, but otherwise it was fine. There were also two towers in the fortress, one of which belonged to the Guild Master. That was adjacent to the main lobby of the fortress, where both wings and the dining hall could be accessed, as well. The other tower was at the far end of the living quarters. It belonged to the current best in the guild. Therefore, right now, it belonged to Kavil.

He answered Evania's question at last with a small shake of his head. Of course he offered no explanation of why he hadn't eaten. It was his intention to go and eat after showing Evania to her room. He didn't know that Evania also hadn't eaten. Well, that she hadn't eaten much. That bit of bread and meat couldn't possibly have been all that filling to her.
 
Her question was met with the usual silence. This time Evania was expecting it though, and so she did not let out her usual frustrated sigh. At least he had spoken to her in the training room, even if it was only a few sentences. Rather than ignoring her question altogether, Kavil give a slight shake of his head. Why wouldn't he have eaten at the feast? Then again she wasn't one to talk. Evania had only nibbled on some bread and meat herself, probably not a smart idea when she would have a big day in the coming hours. This brought her own stomachs needs to her attention. It ached in need of more substance in it, though it was not at the point of growling yet.

She was guessing that Kavil was going to find something to eat after he returned her to her rooms. Evania saw two options. Follow after him once she was taken to her room, or request that he take her with him. She didn't want to impose herself on him, but he was currently the only one around. She supposed that she could always find Felicia and ask her to help her find her way but that could take a while by itself. Evania also didn't want to stay in Kavil's company. He was fine, but she grew frustrated quickly with his silence. In the end, she decided to go with him, whether her was going to let her or not.

"I'm going with you," she said. It wasn't even a request at this point. Evania would just follow him and worst case scenario if she got lost, well then she'd wander about until someone with words showed up. "I know you're going to eat, and I want to be fit for things in the morning." The twenty year old stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to give a firm air about herself.
 
Kavil stopped walking when Evania imposed herself on him like that. It was clear from her tone and stance that she wouldn't take "no" for an answer, and he had to agree that she needed a good meal before tomorrow's training. Apparently she hadn't had much at the feast, which he probably should have figured. The other assassins had likely retired to their rooms by now, or were otherwise hanging around the living wing. They likely wouldn't run into anyone in the dining hall now, unless some assassins had stuck around to chat.

He gave a small sigh of concession, then went back to walking. It wasn't normal at all for him to eat with someone else present, but he'd make an exception in this case. Evania was new, after all. She couldn't have been influenced too much by the others yet. He wouldn't dare eat around some of them, and he definitely wouldn't accept food from them. He took no chances when it came to the possibility of being poisoned. Perhaps he was just being paranoid, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Without speaking, he led Evania back to the dining hall. Usually he'd take a different route, but he couldn't do so with Evania there. She couldn't walk through walls like he could. Besides, there were hidden passages through this fortress that, to his knowledge, no one else knew about. He'd found them by accident years ago, and he'd been using them ever since to get around without running into anyone. They were incredibly useful, and one led to the back of the kitchen. Usually he took that to go and get his meals.

The dining hall was, thankfully, assassin-less when they arrived. Some of the kitchen staff was going around collecting plates and the like, and one of them waved to Kavil when she spotted him. She was a girl in her mid-twenties, from the looks of her, with frizzy red hair and green eyes. Her face had a fair number of freckles, and she was wearing a pink dress that intentionally clashed with her hair.

"Be with you in a second, Angel!" she called over to him, loading plates onto a cart. "Just have to take these into the back. Taking the front entrance this time, hm?" She noticed that Kavil wasn't alone, and her expression took on a knowing look as she nodded slowly. "Ahhhh. Right. Well, you and your girlfriend can come on back." She winked playfully at Evania, fully knowing that the two weren't a couple. She was just teasing.

She wheeled the cart through the door in the back of the room, which led into the kitchen. It was a large room, and several workers were around to take the plates and get them washed. The place still smelled wonderful after having been full of food earlier. It was positively mouthwatering. The girl led the way to a cabinet where the fruits and vegetables were stored. She grabbed a clean plate and loaded on some of the healthy contents of the cabinet, then went to over to one of the pots that still had food in it from dinner. There were cooked green beans in there, which she also put on the plate. She topped it off with a slice of bread, then handed the plate to Kavil.

"Here you go, Angel!" she said cheerfully before looking to Evania. "What can I get for you? By the way, I'm Valerie, the Cook Extraordinaire!" Her self-assumed title got some eye-rolls from others in the kitchen. Obviously they had to deal with the peppy cook on a daily basis.
 
A triumphant grin took its place plastered across Evania's face as she saw Kavil give in without a fight. She hadn't really expected much of one anyway, what with him and his silence. He turned and walked on then, not allowing her to revel in her triumph. She gave a slight roll of her eyes before trotting along behind the assassin.

It wasn't long before they were back in the dining hall, though it felt like ages to the twenty year old. The silence of Kavil, at least for her, was uncomfortable. Evania was a chatter when left to her own devices. She of course knew when to be quiet and could keep her silence easily. It all came from growing up with Elyan. More than once the siblings had had to pull robberies to feed themselves. These instances were limited to the time of her youth, before Elyan knew how to do anything worth being paid for. It was the time right after the death of their parents. Still it wasn't in her nature to be silent so frequently, especially around other people. This silence with Kavil was different though. It was forced upon her, or so it felt. The only options were not speaking, or talking without a reply. She powered through the walk though, choosing to not focus on the silence. Instead she took in her surroundings, happy that this time she wasn't blindfolded.

The dining hall was empty but for some workers clearing up all of the dishes. The great room still smelled of dinner, making Evania's hunger more known and her mouth water, and she could hear laughter and conversation coming from what she assumed to be the kitchens. She followed Kavil's lead and was surprised when a red headed woman waved at the sight of him. Did Kavil have friends? It was an absurd idea to her based off what she knew of the man so far, which was next to nothing. The red head emanated pep, so much so it almost made Evania nauseous, as she exclaimed hellos to Kavil, calling him 'angel'. Evania couldn't help but snicker at the nickname, thinking it quite ridiculous.

The two approached the red head and upon further inspection, Evania noticed the freckles that littered the woman's pale skin. She was also able to take in the horrid pink dress and fight back a scrunch of her nose. Evania had never been fond of pink, or even dresses for that matter. She had worn them several times in her twenty years, but never by choice. It was always for some event that Elyan was dragging her to for 'business' reasons as he always said. When Evania had been seventeen, right before her brother took off, she had suspected that all of the balls and such were just a way to marry her off so that he didn't have to worry about her for much longer. A wrong assumption on her part.

The woman rambled on, talking to Kavil about how he had come through the front entrance. Evania had forgotten that he could walk through objects at will until now, when the woman really took notice of her beside Kavil. A look of horror came across her face as she was referred to his girlfriend. Evania caught on to the joking undertones and the expression quickly erased away. Kavil was surely a fine person, but Evania would never see him in such a manner. She didn't see any men that she'd met, in the guild and out of it, in that manner and was sure that she would simply care for herself until the end of her days. Besides. Evania didn't like the silent type.

They followed the red head into the kitchen itself. Everything sounded and smelled perfect to her. She liked the sound of people enjoying whatever it was they were doing. It was part of why she enjoyed going to the taverns, even if not to have a drink of ale herself. It was the atmosphere she craved more than anything. The red head moved about quickly, grabbing a plate and filling it for Kavil. Evania had already caught on that Kavil did this frequently but this simply proved her theory. Why he didn't eat with the others escaped her, unless he was that antisocial.

"I'm Evania, nice to meet you," she replied when Valerie finally introduced herself. Evania couldn't help but giggle quietly as the other workers rolled their eyes at how much pep the woman had. It seemed Valerie was always like this, and it wasn't because of some happy event occurring in the woman's life. This dismayed Evania just a small amount but it wasn't as if the two were about to share a room and see each other day in and day out. "I'll have the same. And an apple. No, wait," she hesitated. Evania liked fruits and could never pick what she wanted. "A pear. I'll take a pear with it if there are any."

Valerie scampered off getting a plate ready for Evania, who turned to Kavil. "So, not only do you keep to yourself, you eat by yourself too huh? … Is it the others? Should I be worried?" Evania was trying to make conversation light, thinking perhaps he would reply but she doubted it. She let out a sigh and brushed her hair out of her face. "I don't know why I'm even bothering. You don't talk. Talking to you is like talking to a wall." Evania paused and snorted to herself. "A wall would probably make better conversation than you do." The twenty year old hadn't forgotten their short exchange of words in the armory, but then it hadn't been actual conversation. Kavil had only been instructing her. Evania took the knife she'd been holding still and twirled it once before tucking it into her belt. She would have to be careful not to stab herself, but she didn't have a holster currently for the blade.
 
Kavil glanced at Evania when she posed her question of his eating habits. Her following comments were not appreciated, but he didn't scold her for equating him to a wall. Less than a wall, even. He'd stopped being bothered by insults a long time ago. There were plenty of other things in his life that were more harmful and deserved more thought.

"They would tell you it is me," he answered quietly, breaking his silence once again. This was the first time he'd done so to actually answer a question, though. It proved her wrong about a wall being a better conversationalist, not that it had been Kavil's intention. "You have nothing to fear from them. You don't need to worry."

There was more to his words than he openly said. Though his tone carried no clues toward deeper meaning, perhaps Evania would be wise enough to pick out what went unsaid. He had told her she had nothing to fear from them. She might get some implication that she had something to fear from him. Or, on the other hand, she might figure out that Kavil himself had something to fear. Something that Evania needn't worry about, but that he did. It was so difficult to tell with Kavil, especially since his impassive expression gave absolutely nothing away.

Valerie returned at that moment with a plate for Evania, smiling as widely as she had been before. She'd caught Kavil's words, and she gave a short laugh before completely blowing the mystery out of the water. "He gets his food directly from the kitchen and doesn't eat with the others because he's afraid someone might get the bright idea to try and poison him," she explained, earning a stony look from Kavil. She noticed, and she argued, "Well the way you said it made it sound like you were out to get her, Angel! It's hard enough being new around here without having that kind of worry hanging over your head. Right, Evania?"
 
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