"Why, my blazing baroness, you know exactly what I've been using these fingers for," he pretended to pout. "Playing my flute... for the entertainment of yourself and the rest of the Rathskeller, of course!" He smiled innocently up at her, but his golden eyes were sly. "It's harder than it looks, and I need to keep my digits flexible enough to fill the holes even with the most challenging fingerings."
He found it odd that she didn't respond to his comments about freedom from monarchy, given how regimented Northhaven had apparently been, but perhaps she had merely been thinking of Maea's government. That hadn't really gotten anywhere, as near as he could tell, but maybe that was for the best. The Hollowed Grounds needed something to rally around before a leader would make sense, and so far not even the fall of the Barrier and the meetings with the Fae had been enough for that.
"Hmmm I don't know if that would have been a fair trade unless it had also come with a comb and a mirror," he mused thoughtfully, grinning at her teasing. "Nothing so frivolous, alas, though it wasn't the worst curse. Someone among my ancestors had made a deal with a devil at one point. Very legalistic, the devils of my world, unlike demons. It created a binding upon the Oracles in my lineage. My word was, literally, my bond. Breaking oaths or promises resulted in..." he paused, grimacing slightly at the unpleasant memories. "Well. Consequences. I learned very early on not to make promises I couldn't keep, and fairly quickly at that."
He found it odd that she didn't respond to his comments about freedom from monarchy, given how regimented Northhaven had apparently been, but perhaps she had merely been thinking of Maea's government. That hadn't really gotten anywhere, as near as he could tell, but maybe that was for the best. The Hollowed Grounds needed something to rally around before a leader would make sense, and so far not even the fall of the Barrier and the meetings with the Fae had been enough for that.
"Hmmm I don't know if that would have been a fair trade unless it had also come with a comb and a mirror," he mused thoughtfully, grinning at her teasing. "Nothing so frivolous, alas, though it wasn't the worst curse. Someone among my ancestors had made a deal with a devil at one point. Very legalistic, the devils of my world, unlike demons. It created a binding upon the Oracles in my lineage. My word was, literally, my bond. Breaking oaths or promises resulted in..." he paused, grimacing slightly at the unpleasant memories. "Well. Consequences. I learned very early on not to make promises I couldn't keep, and fairly quickly at that."
