A good reason for Edy wasn't necessarily the same as a good reason for people who weren't Edy, and Jigano's brow didn't lower an inch as she flouted two of her more well-rounded assets. They were, indeed, distracting and finely formed, but the aesthetics of his friend were currently overshadowed by the strange political minefield they found themselves walking.
The robe was a step in the right direction, but her insistence on whatever she had in mind was enough to prickle the bard's proverbial hackles. She was his friend... but she was also a Launceleyn, and before the world had become so much more complicated by the Tyrant Edy had told him enough that he knew she couldn't go against her cousin's wishes. Not directly, at least. And Zariah had taken far too much interest in him during that farce of a meeting.
Which, he had to admit, had been the plan. He just hadn't expected it to backfire quite so badly with Amalia trying to rescue the Guild.
He hated hearing the edge of not-quite-whining in Edrei's voice, all the more for how genuinely unhappy she looked, but his smile had faded as he thought, and he met her eyes soberly, all humor fled as he sighed. She couldn't fail... at what? What order of Zariah's had her so scared? He hid it well, but he was tensed to shift and flee, his mind silently questing for the winged associates from earlier, and a few more of their friends while he was at it. "What did she tell you to do to me, Edy?" he asked quietly. "What 'this' needs doing?"
The robe was a step in the right direction, but her insistence on whatever she had in mind was enough to prickle the bard's proverbial hackles. She was his friend... but she was also a Launceleyn, and before the world had become so much more complicated by the Tyrant Edy had told him enough that he knew she couldn't go against her cousin's wishes. Not directly, at least. And Zariah had taken far too much interest in him during that farce of a meeting.
Which, he had to admit, had been the plan. He just hadn't expected it to backfire quite so badly with Amalia trying to rescue the Guild.
He hated hearing the edge of not-quite-whining in Edrei's voice, all the more for how genuinely unhappy she looked, but his smile had faded as he thought, and he met her eyes soberly, all humor fled as he sighed. She couldn't fail... at what? What order of Zariah's had her so scared? He hid it well, but he was tensed to shift and flee, his mind silently questing for the winged associates from earlier, and a few more of their friends while he was at it. "What did she tell you to do to me, Edy?" he asked quietly. "What 'this' needs doing?"
