Jude
His father's training tickles in the back of his mind, and he can hear his dad's voice quietly murmuring, asking questions over and over in every sparring session to train Jude to take note of his surroundings; what are your advantages? What can you determine about their identity, their stature, their strength? Will you be fast enough to move without injury if you don't hesitate?
Normally, it's a helpful dialogue. Considering the constant agony he feels when he thinks of his dad these days though, it sounds like hornets in his ears, and leaves him immobile and out of his depth. She hasn't cut him yet, so maybe honesty is working out for now. Maybe he can keep her intrigued enough to stay her hand.
"A necklace. Magical, if the instruction slip with it is to be trusted. Someone was intending to sell it." He doesn't want to say anything negative about the man, or admit that he'd gotten into a fistfight with him which had led to the item being dropped in the first place. "Compulsion magic." Maybe that will sound familiar to her. And if not, maybe it's something from a rival, and she'll want the prize more than his blood. Technically she could get both if she wanted, and trepidation curdles in his stomach -
As she turns him slightly to better look at him, his own dark brows furrow at the familiarity of her face. He considers lying, but...well, he's trying to ruin his dad's reputation, right? "Jude. Jude Quinn," he admits after a too-long pause, still trying to puzzle out why this woman feels so familiar.
Normally, it's a helpful dialogue. Considering the constant agony he feels when he thinks of his dad these days though, it sounds like hornets in his ears, and leaves him immobile and out of his depth. She hasn't cut him yet, so maybe honesty is working out for now. Maybe he can keep her intrigued enough to stay her hand.
"A necklace. Magical, if the instruction slip with it is to be trusted. Someone was intending to sell it." He doesn't want to say anything negative about the man, or admit that he'd gotten into a fistfight with him which had led to the item being dropped in the first place. "Compulsion magic." Maybe that will sound familiar to her. And if not, maybe it's something from a rival, and she'll want the prize more than his blood. Technically she could get both if she wanted, and trepidation curdles in his stomach -
As she turns him slightly to better look at him, his own dark brows furrow at the familiarity of her face. He considers lying, but...well, he's trying to ruin his dad's reputation, right? "Jude. Jude Quinn," he admits after a too-long pause, still trying to puzzle out why this woman feels so familiar.
stop trying to keep this alive
you're pointing at stars in the sky that already died
you're pointing at stars in the sky that already died
