"Well, you certainly did a wonderful job, Hiro Kouen." She offered him a brief round of applauds. She was impressed with the display of power, and for someone quite young to wield it efficiently to boot. He must have had one hell of a teacher or perhaps it was simply raw talent. Either way, she would have to keep a close eye on him later down the road. For now, the mistress would play the gracious hostess. "Livana, the owner of The Furnace. I have to say, we don't get too many knights of your caliber here often. Even less willing to go through the fights as many see them as unsavory. I suppose that the new generation isn't stuck in the old ways as easily."
She kept her poker face as he brought up the situation from earlier. It was true that she was regaining her losses, but that was how the games went down here. No one could win all the time, but in the end, the house would see itself fine either way.
"If he would have won, then all would be well, at least mostly…" She glanced to the wife and held a small grin, while the former looked away, almost as if she was shameful. "One man isn't enough for me to be fearful of, especially down here. Besides, the truth would have probably made him forget about little old me anyhow." She approached the small children, the older girl who looked like a spitting image of her mother. She kneeled down before her and bore into her eyes. The hazel hue of her own eyes glowed a vibrant violet color before the child found herself in a deep sleep and was caught by one of the guards before she hit the floor. Looking at the boy, she did the same thing with the same result.
Gathering herself up, she crossed her arms and casually smiled at her little group, "The truth would have destroyed the beloved hunter and scarred the children, I'm, afraid. Did you want to tell your hero or should I?" The widow shook her head, "I just want to live with the children."
"Of course you do. I'm sure that the baron would want that as well." Liv sighed and looked to Hiro. "My guards are simply here to control the riots of the crowd here. They can get mightly lively when they witness outstanding fights and more so when the bets are high." She went over to the widow's side and played around with her hair, lightly taking a few stands and messing with them between her fingers. She cared little at the widow's uncomfortableness. "You see, being a vampire hunter has its perks in the morality department, which I'm sure you can understand, Hiro. Unfortunately, our little friend here yearned for more than a life of wondering if her wayward husband would come back alive or dead during his missions."
She released her grasp and marched over to him. Her voice held no malicious yet her words were cold enough to show how little she cared about the situation. “She is rather pretty, I think. So did the baron of their town. They had, oh I think it’s called a quid pro quo; he would provide her with riches, dresses, and other trinkets her heart sought for, and in exchange, she would keep his bed warm…or his office…or his stables. Anywhere really that he wanted, right?” The widow shrank down, tears threatening to come down from her eyes. “The best part is that they kept the truth away for years without the husband knowing. And those precious children? I do wonder if they are actually our fallen hero’s or if they are the baron’s…All I had to make her an offer to come with me or I'd tell him the truth. And so she came, even at the risk of her own children being in danger, just so that she didn't have to face the consequences.”
“Stop it, please”, she yelled at the mistress.
“Why? The poor man was granted death here, where he died knowing and thinking that his wife was ever faithful and that the children were from his own loins.” Livana’s head tilted slightly to the right and her finger placed underneath the bottom lip. “It was better than he winning you here and going back to a life of righteous all the while being lied to by his whore of a wife and crumbling into nothing when he did eventually found out. Hell, he probably would have even killed you and the baron himself for the betrayal and the lies. Even the greatest of men could lose themselves in revenge.”
The children were resting peacefully, but even they weren’t safe from this chain of reactions. She turned around and placed her hands onto her ample hips as she looked onto the other woman with a colder glare.“So when you go back home, you make sure you are ready for when I need you next time. Or the children will be told of the truth when they are older. And Hiro…this is why I rarely fear anything in my arenas. I study and plan accordingly when I select my fighters, no matter how long it takes. Words and knowledge are just as sharp as any piece of steel and just as powerful as any magic in this realm. Master those and you hardly have to worry about a thing.” The woman was calculating and was the truest threaten of The Furnace. Had the hunter came after her, she would have poured out the truth and watched him squirm with a glass of wine.
