Brax (Jenara) Private Thread

[Jenara]

Brax steps inside cautiously, she keeps as near to Echo as the elder woman will allow, curtseying to Linton as he appears. "My Lord, I thank you for the invitation, we would of course love to step inside. Apéritif?" She asks, stumbling over the unfamiliar word. "This is not something I am familiar with." She asks as she steps inside the house.

[HorizonsDream]

"It is a more elegant way of saying drinks. I believe it is suppose to help give us more of an appetite " Echo explains to Brax. She gives Linton a small smile. While Linton was trying to show off his so called impressive worldliness, Echo could play the same game in most cases.

INT Check (6, pass)

[Jenara]

"Interesting" Brax shrugs, "Why can't they just be called 'drinks' ?" She asks with a glance around the room, pulling her cloak around her body somewhat.

[HorizonsDream]

"Isn't it obvious?" Echo asks in annoyance. "Considering how much you try to impress others, you would think you would be able to pick up when someone else was trying to impress you." The more time she spent with Brax, the more she learned about her. ~Putting these two self centered people in a room together should be entertaining,~ she thought to herself.

[Jenara]

"Interesting..." She ponders, smiling at Linton.

(We should leave it here for Breila to respond when she gets back)

[Breila]

"Indeed, indeed, Miss Soulstaff is right, an apéritif is a drink to entice one's appetite" Linton tries to sound jovial as he leads the two young women into a lavishly, if not overly, decorated room. It has elaborate wainscoting, heavy hangings of green velvet and dark pieces of furniture. From a small cabinet that is inlaid with gold and mother-of-pearl, Linton takes three glasses and a decanter. From the decanter, he pours them a golden brown, slightly viscous liquid. he hands a glass each to the two woman and raises the third one in salute. "To your health, young ladies."

The liquid is a fragrant, heavy wine. Echo knows it must be imported (like any wine around here), but it doesn't smell like something that was in the barrels on the caves below the old mansion.

[HorizonsDream]

~He would be stupid to serve us the very drinks that were used in the caves,~ Echo thinks to herself as she takes a few sips. Right now, she is quite content with being quiet as Brax is probably the center of Linton's attention.

[Jenara]

"Interesting drink my lord. I prefer red myself, I like it full bodied." Brax sits if offered, crossing her legs and nursing the glass tightly. "Your business must be doing well.. Forgive me I do not know what you do, I am but a humble Cleric. She says with a wink. "I believe Misstress Echo wanted to acompany me to make sure I don't embarrass anyone. I have no idea why. Although I have to admit she is quite lovely, her presence is most welcome, I am sure you agree."

[Breila]

There are no seats in the anteroom, instead the room seems to be made for a small group of people to gather and move from item to precious item on display. "Oh Miss Brax, you are quite too lovely to embarrass anyone" he says in an oily voice, eying the place where Brax's cloak falls apart and part of her leg is visible. "Allow me to take your cloak, Miranda should have done it, you must be getting hot in here." Indeed, the roaring fire in the ornate fireplace, not really necessary on this balmy spring evening, makes the room quite hot, almost suffocating. A closer look shows that Linton is wearing summer breeches of fine wool and a light linen shirt trimmed with laces at the cuff and collar, the strings tied so loosely they will likely fall apart during the evening, a rich but very casual way of dressing, as Echo will notice.

Echo is more or less ignored by Linton, even when Brax draws his attention to her. He mutters something noncommittal to Brax's remark, holding out his hands to receive her cloak.

[Jenara]

"My lord you flatter me." Brax responds with a little giggle, its hard to tell if it is forced. "Yes you may take my cloak, i wore it because i was concerned my dress was unsuitable, it is rather short. I did not want you wife thinking I came here tonight to steal you." she smiles loosening the simple cloak to reveal her strong exotic colored legs, before pulling the dress down. All that does is serves to show more cleavage.

[Breila]

Linton seems to swallow hard as he takes the cloak with slightly trembling hands and almost hurries back to the door of the entrance hall, the cloak clenched to his chest. He calls out for someone to take the cloak and waits for them. When he comes back to the women a few moments later, he has regained his composure.

"My servant tells me the meal is ready. If you follow me?" he tells the two young women and proceeds through the other door.

The dining room is brightly lit, another roaring fire is in the fireplace, and a lot of candles shine, reflected by the silver tableware and, a little less so, by the white linen of the tablecloths and napkins, the china and the glasses. Three places are laid out, one in front of a lavish armchair at the "head" of the table and the two others at the sides. The chairs there have no armrest, but the backrests are similarly crafted to the armchair's.

"Miss Soulstaff, to my right, please?" Linton asks as he pulls back the chair for her and helps her get seated. Then he walks over to the left chair and does the same for Brax before seating himself.

A young woman in a dark dress as short as Brax's, with a white lacy apron, stands next to a cupboard with a large tureen on it. She shoots murderous glances at Brax when Linton doesn't look, but wears a polite smile when he does. From the tureen emanates a strong fruity-spicy smell.
"You may serve the soup now, Nattie" Linton tells the young woman, who proceeds to fill plates and serve first Echo, then Brax, then Linton.

"Cider soup" Linton tells them. "This brew is not fit to drink, in my opinion, far too common. But it makes a good base for this appetizing soup. Enjoy!" He begins to eat with gusto.

[HorizonsDream]

Echo takes slow bites from the soup that was provided. It gives her time to actually taste what is given to her. Linton, like most of the council, doesn't skimp. "It's quite good," she says softly. Naturally, she figures that she'll just be ignored while Linton pays attention to Brax. She even found it somewhat amusing when Brax tried to put some attention on her. She warned her that Linton wasn't going to pay attention to her.

[Breila]

OOC @ Horizon: Sorry, misspelling. The maid is a woman. Fixed that, you can delete your OOC if you wish.

The soup seems to be made of dried apple slices re-hydrated in generous amounts of cider, plus stock and a good amount of spices, mostly cinnamon. There is a whirl of whipped cream for looks and taste. It really is delicious, but it is certain that taking a lot of it would get you dizzy, especially if you're not used to alcohol.

The soup is eaten mostly in silence, Linton seems to be thinking about what to do next.

After the soup is cleared from the table and the tureen brought back to the kitchen, a platter with a large fish is set in front of Linton, who takes the appropriate pieces of cutlery and expertly cuts the fillets off the carcass. "How much would you like?" he asks the two women, Echo first. He will also ask them if they want any of the fresh herb sauce, and fill their glasses with a fine white wine. "Riesling from the Rhine" he explains.

Any conversation initiated by Linton will be non-committal small talk. He seems to have resigned to the fact that he will not be alone with Brax that evening, and does his best to impress and entertain his fellow councilman's daughter.

[Jenara]

Brax sips the soup with grace and manners, obviously enjoying the taste, "Yes the Cider is an interesting base, I quite enjoy it really." She glances over at Hattie with a strange glance, smiling back sweetly she ignores the evil glance, perhaps Linton also enjoys his maid on occasion..

"Not too much my Lord, we Elves have light appetites I'm sure you understand." Blushing demurely she adds. "And this figure does not look after itself." Sipping the wine she leans forward a touch, smoothing down her dress, giggling slightly.

[HorizonsDream]

Echo rolls her eyes at Brax before she turns her attention to Linton. "That should be enough," she says as she has him cut just a few pieces off for her with the herb sauce. She also takes the wine as well. The plan was to leave the table at some point, but she needed to food and wine to settle a bit. That way Brax was left alone with Linton, and she could hopefully search the house a little bit.