Marth was immensely reassured when Dalanesca showed no hesitation about the prospect of assassination. If she thought it was okay, who was he, her priest, to argue? He accepted her kiss happily. “I love you, too,” he said, watching as Dalanesca set off to do her bloody work. Might as well go do mine, he thought to himself.

Marth spent the following hours paying visits to some of the senators and judges in Wyllmochvar he knew were dirty. For some of them, all he had to do was bring up old friendships and favours, and they were happy to bend the law to assist him. Others required compensation, but Marth had the coin to pay them for their services. When Marth was done with his little tour, he had three judges and two senators in his pocket, as well as the promised assistance of a couple of officials in other offices of note. Half of them would probably rat him out to Kavesz, but the other half would keep their ears to the ground and dig up first for him. This suited him just fine. The more reckless he seemed to Kavesz, the more Kavesz would be forced to take drastic steps to counter that recklessness. And it wasn’t as if Marth was going to be indicted for corruption - the officials in question qould have to admit to felony crimes in court, which was not going to happen.

So Marth came back to the tavern about half an hour on overtime. He found Dalanesca, grabbed a seat, and ordered a drink. His tastes, at least, remained predictable - gin, gin all the way. The gin served in Wyllmochvar was of high quality, and the one he was served smelled strong of evergreen, with a hint of blueberry to sweeten the pot. Marth downed his drink in one go. “Corrupt officials. I hate them. No respect for their offices,” he said, grumbling. “But, they serve their purpose.” He was being poured another drink as he looked over at Dalanesca. “So how’d it go on your end?” He asked, trying to sound casual. Luckily, it worked, by and large.

When Marth entered the tavern and joined her, Dalanesca’s face lit up.  “There you are,” she said, giving him a smile a shade to warm for someone who had just murdered someone in cold-blood.  She maneuvered her chair a bit closer to him and gave him a quick, albeit very affectionate kiss.  “Just fine,” she said, her smile broadening slightly.  She grabbed her glass, taking a sip of the dark red wine that she had ordered.  Upon Marth’s asking, the scene replayed in her mind, reinvigorating the rush that she had felt while taking the aide’s life - almost wishing that she could relive the entire scenario once more. “The hardest part was tracking him down, since I didn’t want to draw too much attention to myself.  But after that it was just smooth sailing,” she said, her grin unwavering.  

“You speak of corrupt officials - I take it you were able to accomplish what was needed?” she asked, her voice nonchalant.  After a moment’s silence, she spoke again.  “Do we want dinner?  We could move to a table and figure out our next steps while we eat.” She placed her hand on his upper leg, not in a sexual motion but rather in a pass of affection.  She ran a glance around the room, spotting a table that was a bit removed from other people.  “We could take that one, over there,” she said, motioning to it.  The glory of their relationship is that with their closeness and affection, it would be easy for them to be close enough to have a hushed conversation without drawing too much attention to themselves.

Marth found himself slightly unnerved at the casual way Dalanesca talked about cold-blooded murder, shifting in his seat with a curious expression. He eventually came to decide that with Dalanesca being a god, there was no point in being squirmish about it. It wasn’t his place to argue, and he was the one who ordered the hit, anyway. Once Dalanesca brought up Marth’s own success, he simply nodded. “I have enough officials in my pocket to set things in motion, yes.”

Marth shook his head when Dalanesca mentioned a table. “This place was built with peace and privacy in mind. We can eat in our room,” he said, smiling at Dalanesca’s show of affection. He motioned at the barkeep, placing an order in Wyllmochvarian. “Bring a two-person serving of your sweet beef stew, will you? And a small barrel of dark ale to wash it down,” he said, before grabbing Dalanesca’s hand and heading upstairs.

Once upstairs, Marth slung himself down on the bed, deep in thought. “This is where we’ll need to keep our wits about us,” Marth said. “Kavesz is bound to act, and we must be able to react in kind. We should take it easy - once my eyes and ears pick something up, we need to be rested enough to spring into action at any time,” he said, pondering what Kavesz’ next move would be. “I suggest we eat, then rest as best we can,” he concluded, looking at Dalanesca to ensure she was on board with their current high alert status.

Dalanesca was perfectly content with the two of them enjoying supper in their private room, so she did not argue the point with Marth when he suggested it.  Truth be told, she was quite famished, and the thought of food was wonderful no matter where they were to enjoy it.  Her mouth nearly watered at the thought of the food he ordered, the hearty stew sounding truly appetizing.  The ale did not sound quite as good to her, though, so she piped in as Marth began to pull her away.  “A pitcher of fresh water, too, if you please!” she called, and the barkeep nodded at her in confirmation that he had indeed heard her request as she was whisked away.

When they had entered their room, Dalanesca did not take her eyes off of Marth as he placed himself on the bed, fighting the carnal urge to leap on top of him and have her way with him.  She partially blamed the desire on her earlier activities - the rush of the kill had gotten her blood flowing and of course she was going to be up for anything - but it seemed that she felt this way any time Marth was lying down, regardless of environmental circumstances.  Fortunately, she was able to control this urge and contented herself with sitting down on the bed near him, listening to his thoughts as he spoke them out loud.

“Sounds like a plan,” she responded.  As if on cue, there was a rap on the door, and she jumped to her feet to answer it.  The barkeep stood on the other side of the threshold with their ordered tray of sustenance.  She took the tray from him graciously and gave him a small tip before shutting the door and placing the tray on the table in the room.  

She walked back across the room to where Marth lay on the bed, her hand coming to rest on his leg.  “Come,” she said, beckoning for him to join her at the table.  She walked back over and began to dole out the stew into two crocks, placing one at each chair at the table.  Quickly, she poured some of the ale for him, and a bit of the water for herself.  She sat down, but did not start to eat as she waited for him.  “Will Kavesz resort to desperate measures?” she asked, though she was sure that she already knew the answer.  “I mean, was he expecting this of you?  I understand we need to have our guard up - but I guess I would like to know just what we are dealing with.”  She gave pause for a moment, taking a sip of her water, before speaking once more.  “Is he going to know that we - rather you - had something to do with his aide being murdered?” she asked.  She was well aware that she was still mostly unknown to the senator, though she could be sure that he had eyes and ears everywhere and would at least know of her involvement with Marth - but not of her true identity.

Marth joined Dalanesca at the table, wolfing down stew and ale in equal measure. It would seem his appetite had grown more voracious of late, as he’d been using magic that demanded much greater physical exertion of him. It took some time before his hunger allowed him a moment to reply, but as always, his reply was concise. “The Dragonlord would never grow desperate. Bold, perhaps, but there’s not an action he’s taken in his life that hasn’t been carefully thought through.” Marth took a few more mouthfuls of stew before continuing. “Whatever he does next is bound to be a carefully calculated balance of subterfuge, authority, and raw power. We cannot hope to best him in all the fields… But we only need to best him at one,” Marth said with a smile. He emptied his glass of ale, poured himself another, then downed half of that as well. “Subterfuge. Of all things strategy, that’s where he’s weakest. Formidable, yes, but he’s accustomed to authority and might getting him where he needs to be. Through subterfuge, we can sap it.” He filled his bowl with stew again, eating some more. “As for his aide’s death, I have no doubt he suspects me. That was part of the plan - let him know his friends are not out of my reach, and hope he reaches out to them himself. I am more inclined to believe his friends will screw up than he himself,” Marth finished, finally finding time to settle his need for sustenance.

Finally wrapping up the meal, Marth didn’t look as tired as a gluttonous middle-aged man normally would. On the contrary, there was a fire burning in him, and his eyes let it show as he looked at Dalanesca. “So, milady,” he said with a smirk. “You had no trouble with killing a man,” he continued, getting up from his seat. “I suppose that means you have some energy left,” he said, going over to her chair, swooping her out of it with a grin. “But a woman like you need to stay in shape,” he pondered jokingly. “I can perhaps help you burn off some energy,” he said, and slung Dalanesca down onto the bed.

The next morning, Marth was summoned once again to Kavesz’s residence. It wasn’t unexpected, and Marth wasn’t particularly nervous. He suited up, bade Dalanesca follow from afar, and accompanied the soldier collecting him to Kavesz’s mansion.

Marth spent no more than ten minutes in the mansion this time around. He walked over to the location where he met Dalanesca the last time around. Only this time, he was deathly pale. He once again grabbed Dalanesca and dragged her into an alley as she revealed herself, not saying a word. Somewhat roughly, he seated her at a crate in the alley, pacing back and forth, frustrated. “I underestimated him,” he said finally, his look betraying the chaos within. He was close to despair. “How could I not see this coming!?” he said loudly, cursing his own stupidity. Finally, he sank down by a wall, trying to calm himself by sitting. It helped, a little. Eventually, Marth just let out an exasperated chuckle. “It was well played. Pressuring the officials I visited yesterday. Expediting the resolution of the investigation into my absence. Hell, I tried to make him lose face by having you kill his aide, and instead I handed him my own head on a silver platter.” He looked up at Dalanesca with a weak smile. “You’re still obscure to him, don’t worry.” He rubbed his forehead, sighing.

“But in one move, he’s ensured I cannot implicate him in anything without doing the same to myself, as well as stripped me of any way to trump his authority,” he said, his tone growing bitter. “He arranged for me to be his new aide, starting tomorrow.”

Dalanesca had expected that they would have no time for being lazy the next morning.  She followed Marth’s instructions, dressing quickly after Marth and following he and the soldier that had come to fetch him, concealing herself to the shadows once more.  She waited in the same general area as she had the previous time, choosing against going into the mansion after him.  It had gone off without incident the first time, but there was nothing to say that it would do so again.  Fortunately, she did not have to wait long as she could see Marth emerging from the building soon after she had arrived.

One thing worried her.  Marth’s expression gave way that something had gone awry in the small amount of time he had been in the mansion.  When he took her into the alley and seated her firmly onto a crate, she opened her mouth to protest, but snapped it shut again as he began speaking, sliding himself down against the wall.  Her eyes widened as Marth gave the explanation.  She was glad to hear Marth mention that she was still unknown, which gave them a slight advantage, but this had thrown a wrench into things.  

She moved from the crate and sat next to him on the ground of the alley, her hand resting comfortingly on his knee.  “Well.  Things get bumpy, I suppose,” she said, with a sigh.  “Were we in Canelux, I would just will him towards the path of light, make him turn himself in,” she said.  “But here… I’m only slightly stronger than the average mage,” she said, with a frown.  “We will get through this, though.  We will figure this out.  It’s just going to take a lot more groundwork from me since Kavesz will have you under his thumb, now,” she said.  She rested her chin on her hand, looking thoughtful for a moment.  “So, how are we going to get past this roadblock?” she asked, turning her head and cocking it slightly so as she could look at him.  Though she was worried about the situation, nothing could get rid of the affectionate look in her gaze when she looked at him.  “Have to get you out of this one way or another - and we’ve still the shards to deal with, too.”  Her words seemed to be more of a reassurance than anything, but she was hoping that Marth, in his strong intelligence, would at least come up with some sort of plan to start her off.

Marth groaned as Dalanesca began pondering. “I don’t know how we’re going to deal with this. No idea.” He tried to steady his thoughts, but they were all a jumble from the shock. He couldn’t get a single strategic thought straight - until Dalanesca mentioned the shards. Something snapped into place is Marth’s mind, and the gears began to turn.

“The shards…” Marth could feel the thought on the front of his mind, he just couldn’t see it. He furrowed his brow, mumbling. “Shards… shards…” Then a light came on, and Marth got an idea. “Of course.” He sprang up, his resolve renewed. “So he wants to turn a shit situation into an advantage? Two can play that game. Kavesz is looking for shards, or he has them. Either way, he wants to utilize them. And when did he come closest?” He looked at Dalanesca with a grin, then walked over and gave her a quick kiss. “Yours truly,” he said, with a glint in his eye. “I can hear Reaver giggling. He wants to join the game, and I intend to let him.” He took a step back, rubbing his beard. “I let Kavesz meet Reaver - see the effects of the shard firsthand. He can’t detain me, for that would implicate him. And neither can he learn anything useful, because, well…” He chuckled out loud. “Reaver the Marauder will just relish in taunting the guy!” Marth rubbed his hands together, eager to get the plan rolling. “Dalanesca. Take the remainder of our cash and look for a band of mercenaries - one you think the world can do without. Have them attack Kavesz and I in the street. I’ll let Reaver play with them, and Kavesz will think my plot was not to take him down, but to get the shards for myself.” He gestured for Dalanesca to follow him back to the inn. “And he’ll have to change his plans, and he’ll once again be vulnerable to mistakes.”

Dalanesca felt mildly disheartened at the defeat that seemed to be covering Marth’s face.  She could see it in his eyes when something she said had caused things to come together in his mind - though she was unsure as to what it was that she had said.  When he began to think out loud, she realized - bringing up the shards had been enough to spur him down the right track of thought.

She remained quiet as Marth plotted out what they would do next, not even objecting when he brought up letting Reaver out.  She let him finish speaking, and began to head off to the inn with him, starting to speak as they walked.  “This plan sounds like it will work,” she said.  “And I’ve no qualms with hiring the mercenaries,” she added.  “But what I am worried about is getting Reaver back in control once he’s out,” she said.  “We’re not in Canelux, nor are we in the Scales,” she added.  “I’m not nearly as powerful here as back home… and what if I don’t have enough power left to bring you back?” she asked, and the worry was quite apparent in her face.  She was not entirely sure how well Marth would be able to control Reaver once he was let loose.  If he were to reassure her that with her limited power and his willpower they would be able to get him back under control, she would be more than okay with the decision- but a small part of her knew that they would be undertaking this plan whether or not she felt completely comfortable with it.

“Do you want me joining the mercenaries during the attack?” she asked Marth as they entered the inn, heading back up to their room.  She knew they would need to regroup and re-equip themselves, and she needed to grab a few more bits of weaponry than she had brought with her in her stealth mission.  She asked, knowing full well that he would probably tell her no - but also knowing that he would know she probably wouldn’t listen.  

Marth smirked at Dalanesca, his eyes shifting and his voice going higher. “Don’t you worry, she-god. I want to play as much as possible, so I’ll play nice. Besides, why would I want to avoid fucking it up for the guy who freed me in the first place? You obviously don’t know me very well,” he said, before Marth’s eyes and voice shifted back to normal. Marth then stopped to give her a quick kiss, smiling. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to retain some measure of control. Together, we’ll handle it,” he said, before looking up at the sky. “Should all else fail, go to the Blinded Scales and summon me. You should have that ability,” he said, before addressing the strategy with the mercenaries.

“I don’t want you to be with the mercenaries when they strike,” he said, his brow furrowing as he thought about the situation. “If you can avoid direct contact with them altogether, that’d be best. I don’t want you compromised,” he said, his mind also processing Dalanesca’s well-being - and that of their unborn. “Furthermore, if it gets out of hand, I need you above and removed from the chaos, so you’ll have the oversight to step in as needed,” he finished, as they entered their room.

Marth sat down on the bed, deep in thought. It was plain he was still strategizing, trying to come up with a better way to handle the situation. But as the frustration on his face got more intense, it was clear that it wasn’t going to happen - at least not while he was in his current frame of mind. He looked at Dalanesca, and sighed. “No use thinking too much about it now. The mercenary companies won’t be awake and taking business for another few hours - hungover as they always are - but at least we can do something constructive.” He showed Dalanesca a weak smile. “So. Let’s talk baby. Should we decide on possible names? I know I’d want it to have a Wyllmochvarian name, but I’m open to suggestions.”

Dalanesca immediately went on guard at the change in Marth’s gaze as well as his voice - the sound of Reaver had never bode well for them in the past… but as Reaver spoke she realized that Marth had let him out intentionally, to prove a point.  Relaxing slightly, she rolled her eyes as he spoke, but did not say anything.  He seemed to rapidly change back to himself, though when he quickly kissed her she did a double take and grasped either side of his face, looking into his eyes deeply.  “I hate it when you do that,” she said, in reference to his willful allowance of Reaver to take him over.  She nodded as he mentioned returning to the Scales, and summoning him there.  She knew that he would have to obey her call, and even if Reaver didn’t completely submit upon his arrival, she would be back at full power and able to subdue him after a very short period of time.

When Marth told her that he did not want her with the mercenaries, she let out an exasperated sigh.  “Fine,” she said, at the mention of not wanting her to be compromised - but she knew part of the hidden motive behind why he wouldn’t want her directly in the action.  “I’m pregnant, Marth - I’m not a cripple,” she said, and the annoyance was clear in her voice - but also clear was the fact that she understood his concern.  “I can do that,” she said with a bit of resolve.  As much as she hated to agree with him, he was right.  She would be more useful if she were tucked away somewhere, keeping an eye on things closely without actually being involved.  That way, she would be able to intervene if it was necessary.  She fell quiet, saying no more as the two walked through the door of their room.

Rather than sitting on the bed next to Marth, Dalanesca chose instead to sit at one of the chairs which lined the small table in the room.  She eyed him with a bit of curiosity as she could tell that he was deep in thought about their next move, but she said nothing.  She was still slightly bothered by the fact that she wasn’t going to be directly involved in the action, but she knew that Marth had his reasons and they were more or less valid.  When he smiled and changed the subject to their baby, she could not help but perk up a bit.  “I suppose we could,” she said, smiling back at him.  “Wyllmochvarian is fine with me.  I’ve no real ties to any particular location, so it would only make sense for us to choose something that is meaningful to you,” she said.  “And the baby will, of course, have your surname, since I’ll be taking that on, as well,” she added.  “So, it’s a matter of finding something that is meaningful and flows with Coralax,” she said, softly.  “I’ll admit, I unfortunately do not have much experience in terms of Wyllmochvarian anything,” she said, laughing at herself.  “But I do recall meeting a young man from Wyllmochvar named Mihael once.  Could be an option, if it’s boy,” she said.  “But what if it’s a girl?” she asked, hoping Marth would offer his opinion.