"I would be grateful for the hospitality," Jigano said, bemused at the purring innuendo in her voice, though at least he managed to stop himself from raising a brow this time. It wasn't the sort of thing one got used to all at once, but now that he knew the cause of it he could almost ignore it to hear her words how she might have said them before the curse. Wine and drinks were indeed easy to procure, given that he worked at the tavern and had an in with most of the barkeepers. It was nice to stand in front of the fire for a few minutes as well, capturing as much heat as he could in his new clothes and cloak before they headed out once more under the darkly cloudy sky. A few flakes of snow began to drift down as they walked, and he was careful to watch his steps as well as listen to Rexanna's story.
"Asciend," Jigano repeated softly, letting the word roll from his tongue with an exotic lilt. His lips quirked at the mention of winged people, considering the Tengu his parents had spoken of back in their homeland, but Rexanna's winged people were more human - or rather, angelic, at least outwardly. He tilted his head, raising a brow in silent question, and she quickly explained. Ruthless? Ahhh... not extraplanar at all, then. Winged humans, of some variety then? He continued to split his attention between their walk and the storyteller, quirking a wry smile at her shrug for why the war started. "Territory, of course," he murmured his understanding. It did seem to be the most common reason for a war between countries no matter the world.
But then the twist deepened, growing darker, as Jigano had already suspected whenRexanna had revealed that she'd been sold into a forced marriage. Such stories didn't usually end in "and we fell in love and lived happily ever after" for a reason. "A year too long, it sounds like," he said softly. "But I suspect there's worse to come... isn't there? "
"Asciend," Jigano repeated softly, letting the word roll from his tongue with an exotic lilt. His lips quirked at the mention of winged people, considering the Tengu his parents had spoken of back in their homeland, but Rexanna's winged people were more human - or rather, angelic, at least outwardly. He tilted his head, raising a brow in silent question, and she quickly explained. Ruthless? Ahhh... not extraplanar at all, then. Winged humans, of some variety then? He continued to split his attention between their walk and the storyteller, quirking a wry smile at her shrug for why the war started. "Territory, of course," he murmured his understanding. It did seem to be the most common reason for a war between countries no matter the world.
But then the twist deepened, growing darker, as Jigano had already suspected when
