Time: January 17th, early evening Location: The Kritsall Ball Status: @rxnnxlhylxne
Thalra watched the dancers from the edge of the tent, eyes following the fluid movements as the music swelled the dancers twirled, skirts billowing out like unfolding flowers. The night was very young and energy was high as the crowds tried to stave off the creeping cold by drinking and dancing. Thalra too hadn’t let herself stay still for long for fear of being caught in some social engagement she wasn’t ready to have. The rumors about her abandoning her business had just started to die down when she’d returned to Myrefall, and now that she’d gone to retake her home, people were curious when she’d be opening her doors to clients again. Thalra of course couldn’t tell them her real answer; that she didn’t know when, if ever, she’d be taking clients again, but something vague would only satisfy them for so long.
Now she was hidden away near the back of a less populated tent, and she thought her attempt at subtly had worked until she felt a tap on her shoulder and a taller human gentleman introduced himself with an overly-charming smile and a cocky confidence she’d stopped finding appealing the first dozen times she’d seen it in young men like him. He introduced himself with a name that reeked of new money, and she could tell he was just gearing up to ask her to dance so that she would be trapped in conversation with him, when she saw Nil coming into the tent.
“Sorry, you’ll have to excuse me, I have a rather important matter to attend to. Why don’t we pick this conversation up at another time?” She said it graciously, as if it were truly a tragedy that they were parting, but firmly too, with no room for argument. Thalra went straight for Nil, pushing him back out of the tent into the bracing night air. “You know, I’m not sure if my tolerance for slimy weirdos has diminished, or if the cold’s just brought them out in droves, but not a single decent person has asked me to dance tonight.” She sighed morosely and her breath condensed in the air around her in a little cloud of fog. “It’s a pity, the band’s really good.”