Ernest gave Silanus an even angrier glare. "For one thing," she said, "I hardly enjoy being a thief. It's a matter of necessity. And for another, you never answered my question." Not that she really thought he was going to. He seemed perfectly willing to ignore questions if it suited him.

If it was possible, she glared even harder when he laughed about acting like a child. "I haven't acted like a child in four years," she said shortly. "It's what keeps me alive." She tried not to snap, but it was clear that Silanus was not taking her seriously, and that annoyed her even more.

She had no response to his last statement. She simply turned away, trying to think of something - anything - to say to get the topic back to something as simple as the city. But her mind was blank. She was angry, and that made her very focused, and, honestly, she was a little confused. That combination of emotions took up most of her thoughts.

When Ernest said how little she enjoyed being a thief, Tacitus Silanus bit his lips, trying not to laugh. It was so hard for him to take her seriously right now! However, when she turned around, even angrier than before, he realised that she did not, and would not take his "interruption" as lightly as he did. That's when he stopped chuckling and grinning.

How awkward it was for him, now with Ernest mad at him, not only that but he felt quite embarrassed, as some people, citizens and guards, most likely saw their governor, acting as a kid. These two things combined made him stand firmer and with his usual serious expression. Before continuing talking, Silanus took a look around. The sun had hidden and the night started. 

The Steppes, as it's in the pure North, was a very cold place, even when it was not Winter. A strong, cold  breeze invades Amiternum, accompanied by the darkness, who was only balanced by the light of the moon. The moon was most covered by the dark clouds, but a small portion of it was still visible, shining; as it was darks, six different labourers began to light the lamps with torches, just as they did every night. These were "primitive lamps".

Silanus removed his long, thick red cloak and covered Ernest's back with it. He didn't know if she was as used to this climate as him, so he might as well prevent her from getting cold. Living with a low temperature really makes a person to get used to it; itwas visible most of these people did not feel very uncomfortable with the cold, as they wore few clothing just as long sleeves, thin clothing and the typical skirt every soldier had in the armor, including Silanus.

After a heavy sight, Silanus, a little uncomfortable by what he did, said, still conserving the pride in his voice tone: "You ask me what that was for? Well for the same reason you followed the man who tried to sell you to maniacs, curiosity." It was a rather honest, good excuse. He had have curiosity in what would Ernest's reaction be, when he kissed her before. "We are curious people, that's why we have a small museum where we analyze ancient artifacts… One museum I believe you have not seen yet, by the way."

It seemed to darken very suddenly, and it was distinctly colder. Ernest was surprised at the quick change, and although she was still angry to some degree, she was grateful when Silanus lent her his cloak. She was somewhat used to the cold, because she didn't spend much time indoors, but she had never been nearly this far north.

She was more than glad when Silanus mentioned the museum. She had been hoping for another topic of conversation, and, anyway, she was interested in museums. She hadn't spent much time in them - they seemed to discourage people like her sneaking in to look around - but she had always been fascinated by the amount of things people had been able to discover.

Aloud, she said, "No, I haven't seen the museum. It sounds very interesting." She paused. "I may not seem to, but I actually really like that kind of thing. You know, exploration and discovery and whatnot. I hope to be an explorer one day."

Silanus was relieved to see Ernest was now calm, and seemed eager to see the museum. "Good, follow me, it should still be open. It's not that late." He said while he began to walk.

While the general was guiding Ernest towards the place, he began to look around. The city was quiet now, with few exceptions. Most people were going indoors, the patrons even told the slaves to get some rest. Most of the noise was gone. "I am sure you will like it. Although not much exploring was necessary to get those relics; sometimes while digging up stone the workers found antique artifacts, and thus the museum was born."

When they finally arrived, Silanus pointed towards the museum with his hand. It had some lightly armoured guards and a well dressed man, who quickly walked towards Silanus and Ernest. He was an old foreigner hailing from the Silvas region, a very well trusted person who was in charge of the museum. Known to be a sycophant who always flattered his superiors in order to get some benefits… And it worked.

The man instantly bowed to Silanus and saluted him, then spoke to them: "Ah Tacitus Silanus, I see you came to visit the museum; we were closing but for you, we can keep it open until the dawn of eternity my lord." Approaching Ernest, he continued to talk; "Ah, see you brought a lady friend; an ambassador from a city I blindly believe? My name is Harris, boss of this fine property!" Harris quickly guided them to the museum. It was not impressively big, just as the size of two average houses.

The place had ancient rusted armory, pieces of buildings, statuettes, antique every day wooden utilities, all orchish. The most important artifact was a perfectly conserved ancient scroll. "How do you like the place, Ernest?" Asked Silanus. "You see this scroll? It was discovered in a burial site found in a cavern; it's runes are believed to have some magical power, but we are not sure." 

Ernest followed Silanus toward the museum, looking around as she walked at the city. It looked different, now that everyone had gone inside. Nighttime was a good time for her to sneak around without getting noticed. She did a lot of travelling within cities at night. It was odd not having to sneak, being able to be noticed.

She almost laughed at the old man guarding the museum. Such obvious flattery, but it worked. That was something she would have to try sometime. She did see, though, that he watched carefully as they entered, as if he suspected her of something. She shrugged. That she was used to.

The museum was fascinating. So many different items, things she had never expected to see. She nearly got lost for a second, when Silanus turned a corner, and she didn't see him, but she found him with little trouble, standing in front of a case displaying a scroll that looked so old, Ernest was surprised it hadn't fallen apart yet. She studied it for a minute. There seemed to be something important about it.

Silanus asked if she liked the museum, and she jerked her attention back to the present. "Yes," she said. "It's amazing. There are so many things here. Did you just find them all while digging up stone?" When he explained about the scroll, she understood why it was so interesting. There was a bit of magic about it, not enough that it was really usable, but there anyway. "It does seem magical," she said. "More like it's enchanted, though, than actually containing magic."

Now, Ernest seemed as a child in a candy store, looking everything everywhere. It was good to see many people still appreciated antiquities, as most of them are so focused in the present, they lose interest in the past. She made some funny questions, though.

Silanus smiled at the weird question, he even thought it was a joke before he answered: "Well… I certainly was not the one who found these relics, but our workers instead, you see…" Perhaps he was being a little judgemental on her, the question was not that dumb, now that he thought of it.

The general nodded when he heard Ernest talk about the scroll. It had some magic and it indeed was enchanted; how wonderful would it be to decipher the runes and use the magic, sadly, skilled mages do not trust the Fratians… What a waste. "Well, the scroll keeps being a mystery for us." He stated, before Harris added: "Indeed it is, sadly. We once hired a mage who tried to reveal the enchantment of the scroll, but the nuthead had no knowledge of it. Such a disappointment, really!" 

Silanus, opening pointing towards a piece of rusted, pointy metal, who had some corals attached to it, said: "If you like the Sea you will like this. It's a piece of anchor we found ashore; we don't know who made it though. It's probably our oldest asset, besides the scroll I believe. I am no historian, as much as I'd like to." He finally said, with a small snigger on his final statement. Opening his arms, the general finally concluded: "I guess, this is it! If you want to visit another place before it's too late, you tell me. Or, you may stay here if you'd like. I can explain what little I know of the rest of the relics. I have nowhere to go, so I don't have to hurry."

Ernest laughed. "I didn't mean you in particular. I meant the Fratian people in general." She honestly couldn't see Silanus digging for relics or anything. It seemed like the kind of work he would delegate.

She spun around when Harris spoke, unaware that the man had followed them in. She grinned at his description of the mage who had tried to decipher the enchantment. She also was not sure about his use of the word 'hired.' From what she had seen of the Fratian modes operandi, they tended to not ask if people wanted to be 'hired' before bringing them along. "Yes, that would be a disappointment. I wonder what it is, the enchantment on that scroll."

She turned to look at the piece of anchor on display. A part of her wondered how they knew it was an anchor - it looked kind of like a large spearhead to her. "I don't really know much about the sea," she said. "The closest I've been was the time I got on a ship accidentally - long story - and ended up on some ice island." 

She was a little sad that this was all the museum contained - she was fascinated by it. When he asked if she'd like to look around any more, she said, "Oh, yes. This place is so amazing!"

The fact that Ernest appreciated the city so much made Silanus really glad; only foreigners get amazed to much by Amiternum, since the Fratians are so used to it, they might even think that's what all the cities look like. "Your eagerness is appreciated, follow me." He said, as he exited from the building, of course not before he spoke to Harris. "Take care of this place… And of yourself too of course." 

Silanus was not certain what else he may show to his visitor, as she had seen most of points of interest. What was left were just stores, houses, inns and possibly some taverns. The general turned around and once more began to speak: "There are not many places I may be able to show you anymore. We got a small theater in the palace, but it's nothing important. We also plan to build an amphitheatre, but it's just a concept for now, I fear." 

Silanus walked towards the middle of the upper district, where there was a large, tall tree with fancy benches around it. When they arrived, he finally sat down in one of them, wearing that heavy armor all day was tiresome. "This tree, you see, is a huge tree of pineapples. That's right, pineapples growing on a tree, not your average thing huh? Those crimson, spiky fruits are not pineapples actually, but we named it like that because it tastes the same." Before continuing speaking, Silanus looked upwards to see if there were some of the fruits. Sadly not, as they only grew up in Winter. The tree was a sight though.

"Why are you named you Ernest? It's not a very feminine namez not that it matters anyway. You know, in a forgotten language of an ancient, long lost tribe, as far as I know Er-nest means serious…"  Silanus had, for a moment, an energetic laugh before he added: "Fits you very well!"

It seemed as though everything in this city was designed to confuse her. Pineapples? What the heck were pineapples? Ernest supposed they were some kind of fruit that rich people grew - perhaps she had even had one without realizing what it was. Apparently, these weren't actually them - not that she would be able tell the difference.

She had been asked by a few people why she had a boy's name. She hadn't known it was anything out of the ordinary for many years, but people seemed to be curious sometimes. "My mom told me it was suggested by my uncle. He said that girls are laughed at if they try to do incredible things, but boys never are. So he suggested I have a boy's name. He was the one who started me cutting my hair like this, too." She reached up to touch the edge of her hair. She always kept it this short nowadays. "He actually did a lot for me."

"What about you?" she asked. "I've never met anyone named Silanus before. Where did your name come from?"

Ernest's story was quite particular; Silanus was not sure about the rest of the continent, but in Amiternum the only thing that mattered was your cunningness and intelligence, probably strength too depending on the job. She then asked him where did his name come from, she had not been in a Fratian domain long enough it seemed.

"My name Tacitus Silanus is common here. Ask any non-outsider and you'll notice we all have similar names." Said Silanus, before looking around. He scratched his head then looked back and Ernest and continued talking to her: "Marcus, Junius, Magnus, Silus, Marius, Titus… All male names… On the other hand, Julia, Junia, Illia, Martia… Female names." The general smirked while speaking.

"Just as Highlanders got named like uh… Thorald and the like, while orcs got Bra'nnok… These are regional names, you see." While speaking, Silanus yawned, instantly covering his mouth his his hand. "I guess that you have no family left? My only family is my cousin Illia, although she's not very friendly with outsiders, Illia can be sympathetic. You possess no family, or anyone close anymore?" Even if his last question was a little direct, Silanus wanted to know nonetheless.