Post by Zen on Sept 7, 2021 3:21:47 GMT -5
A few days after Win My Vote
The knock on his door so late had Podrell casting a curious glance from his bed, where he’d been getting far too lost in his own thoughts to be safe. Particularly when it was so difficult to get her out of it. The vote was so close, and with it would come the end to their little… game. More and more that thought brought on a pang of pain in his chest. Losing her, leaving her, was something he wasn’t looking forward to facing.
“Anyone home?” an oddly sensual voice called, pulling him back out of his wandering thoughts. He sat up, ran one hand through his hair, and pushed to his feet. Opening the door, his gaze was drawn down to a petite woman he’d never seen before.
“Did you need some sort of assistance?” he asked, mildly confused.
“Of a sort,” she smiled, and it vaguely reminded him of Siorreya’s wicked smiles when she had something up her sleeve. “I’m still undecided on my vote, you see… so I’ve been hoping to be convinced with a decent…,” her eyes roved over him, openly and hungrily, “Conversation.”
He hesitated, unsure if she was implying exactly what he thought she was implying. Did she… want him to sleep with her for her vote? And had she done the same with any of the other candidates? In which case… had they all turned her down? Not that he was even considering it. She was attractive, there was no doubt about that, but this was… beyond strange.
“I’m quite willing to speak with you…,” he responded warily, “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I caught your name?”
She laughed, “Silly me. I’m Nalyra. And you’re Podrell, yes? May I come in, my lord?”
For some reason the title felt odd off this strange woman’s lips. Why did Siorreya saying it affect him so, but not her? Nalyra. Shells, what was he getting himself into here. He cleared his throat, “I… don’t want to give you the wrong impression. If you’re here to speak with me… you’re welcome to come inside. I’m afraid I don’t have anything but my words to offer you.”
Another of those wicked smiles spread across her lips, “I’m not sure what else you might think I want? I’m only here for a conversation, didn’t I say that?”
Still feeling mildly uncomfortable, he nodded, “So you did. Please… make yourself comfortable.”
Perhaps he should have used a different wording, because he was hardly expecting her to saunter in and take a seat on the edge of his bed, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other, looking like she was sizing him up again. She raised a brow at him, her innocent sounding tone not matching up with her expression at all, “You did tell me to make myself comfortable. Would you prefer the bed? Or we could always share it.”
“Ah… no…,” he moved rather deliberately to a chair, pulling it around to face her and taking a seat. He wondered briefly if she was a whore, the way she was acting. And then he couldn’t help but wonder if his uncle could have sent her to try to make him look bad. He had no idea what Asirikai was willing to do at this point. “Did you… have any specific questions for me, Nalyra?”
“Several, actually!” she leaned forward in a very specific way and Podrell’s gaze was drawn down to her chest for a heartbeat before he forced it back up to her face, “The most pressing I think… is why do you spend so much time over at the Weyr?”
He did his best to school to his expression but he still felt how the surprise from the question twitched at his features briefly, “I’m… sorry? I’m not sure just what you mean.”
“Hmm… well, you are trying to win the vote of the holders, yes? So I’m just curious why I’ve heard about you spending so much time at the Weyr. There are no votes for you there, so I wonder just what is there for you?”
People had noticed? He was better at keeping anything telling from his face this time, “It seems like you’ve heard some odd rumors. I have visited the Weyr a few times to better learn of it and to speak with the leadership over there. After all, should I become Lord of Mavros I’ll need to work quite closely with the Weyr. But it sounds like these rumors have blown it rather out of proportion.” Had he really been spending so much time at the Weyr that it was one of the main points about him that people spoke about? Or had she really just heard an odd rumor from someone? Or had Asirikai given her the question to ask. Shells, but he was feeling paranoid.
She studied him for a long moment and then laughed, “My, you are a good liar.”
His brows rose in surprise at the accusation, then pulled together in irritation, “Excuse me?”
“Anyone else might have believed you, I mean it, you really are good. Unfortunately for you I’m very good at reading people. But you aren’t going to tell me the real reason, are you? Perhaps we should play a guessing game. Would you even tell me if I guessed correctly? Probably not, or why lie to begin with? Now I’m even more curious… what could it be that you’re hiding?”
Podrell stood suddenly, “I don’t appreciate these baseless accusations from someone I’ve only just met. If that’s all you’ve come here to do, I think you should leave.”
“Why so defensive? If you don’t like being caught lying, perhaps you shouldn’t do it to begin with,” she chided him with a playful wag of her finger.
“Please leave,” he repeated more firmly, moving to the door and opening it to show her out.
She sighed and pushed to her feet in one fluid motion, brushing against him as she walked past, “And here I thought we might be able to have a bit more fun. Perhaps I’ll give your uncle my vote after all.”
He stiffened, “What? Did Asirikai send you here?”
She tossed a grin back at him, “Well I never said which uncle, did I?” She winked before sauntering off down the hall with a little wiggle of her fingers back at him in farewell.
Did that mean Dirinsin had sent her? He’d barely interacted with his other uncle since coming to Mavros, there was no reason for him to have sent her. Was she just saying that to throw him off? Shards and shells, he should have trusted his gut and turned her away. What was even the point of that? He shut the door a bit harder than he meant to and leaned back against it, trying to figure out what the shell had just happened. Who even was she?
kevna for Asirikai mentions x'D
