A Trickle of Soulfyre

Chapter 23 - Deception

"My sincerest apologies." Gaileanor looked at Lyrani and then Meiyla, resting her arm on the table as she speared a pea with her kinked fork. "We're not used to serving guests who don't eat meat." She popped it in her mouth and chewed, her eyes alight with curiosity as she studied the elves even while her face betrayed nothing.

"You wouldn't say." Lyrani took a forkful of steamed carrots. "This tastes amazing." Just like the mash, it was simple but perfectly seasoned with salt and pepper and a hint of garlic, subtle with its exquisiteness.

"I'm glad you think so." Gaileanor smiled as she carved out a chunk of her roast pigeon. "So, what are your names?"

Lyrani and Meiyla exchanged a panicked look across the table. They hadn't given the gnome chieftainess names by which to address them, it was true, but more concerning, they hadn't discussed between themselves what they wanted to be called.

With her eyes, Meiyla flicked the responsibility over to Lyrani.

"My name is Rosiana." Lyrani rested a hand on her chest before gesturing across the table at her junior agent. "My friend is Julieni."

Gaileanor chomped on her meat open-mouthed and spoke as she chewed. "What lovely names!"

It seemed Meiyla disagreed, judging by the eyebrow she raised at Lyrani, but there was nothing that could be done now. Perhaps she should've been the one to come up with their names, and Lyrani would've told her as much if they weren't currently in company.

Lyrani simply put on a tight smile in response to the chieftainess's effusiveness.

Gaileanor looked between her guests, resuming her onslaught on her roasted pigeon. "I take it you're both from Elvenland?"

It was obvious enough from their Keehegean names and their pointed ears, but Lyrani and Meiyla both nodded in answer.

"A bit far north for you, isn't it?" Gaileanor's brow furrowed.

Lyrani softened her eyes in innocence to evade the chieftainess's suspicion. It was an act she had mastered in her time as a killer hiding in plain sight, a murderer her targets knew by an assumed name that would be the last word they ever uttered.

"It is. We've never been this far from home," said Lyrani, too much like a whiny debutante for her liking, but not enough.

"What exactly brings you here?" The gnome chieftainess looked between Lyrani and Meiyla once again. Her dark eyes were casual enough, but there was something in the line of her mouth that told Lyrani to mind her answer.

"We heard of an elf village north of Elvenland's other territories, so we decided to venture there to see if the rumours were true." Lyrani straightened in her seat, a naïve young woman eager for her first glimpse at the world beyond familiar borders, and she sold her act.

Gaileanor's eyes crinkled at the corners as she scooped up some mash with her fork and delivered it to her mouth. "Explorers, are you?"

"Yes!" Lyrani couldn't keep her voice from rising in excitement that Gaileanor had given them their cover. She wasn't sure she could've thought up a believable one by the time Gaileanor asked, so quickly did the gnome retaliate with questions and answers.

Even so, Lyrani leaned back in her chair and kept her elbows off the table as a good noblewoman did, downplaying her relief before it betrayed her entire pretence.

"Well..." Gaileanor smiled at Lyrani, dribbling some peas with her fork. "I can't say that I've seen any elves north of Keehege's borders, but I have heard of some, so I have. Not quite elves, but those other ones. You know, with the funny ears."