Sanria sat on the edge of the bed, staring at a painting of a waterfall which she didn't really see. She stared through it, her mind elsewhere, days prior, taking inventory. She had run into Colin and had tried to get away before he saw her, which failed. She had spent that night with him as a complete stranger. She left him the next day and had forgotten her pack in her haste and ended up there again. The third day she had bailed him out of jail after he went nuts in the Westbridge Inn. She took him to the castle and came clean with Fenlauch. She let herself be admonished by the large Rilmani for failing to keep her distance. She had to keep away from Colin. She had to keep away from the cavern. She had no place to go for the first time in a long time.
It wasn't her fault. It simply seemed to be the way the cards had been dealt to her. Try as she might to keep things in order, things simply kept toppling over. She had gone into the forest, letting the whisperings of the trees keep her company. It was no surprise that, given everything happening, she would run into Ror. The universe was conspiring and having a good laugh at her expense.
She spent her time chatting with Ror, sitting above a valley overlooking the city of Darrowmere. It seemed worlds away from Colin, Fenlauch, Thasmudyan, Leandra, Nioma... there was simply a peace. It was nice to have their meeting be nothing more than friendly chatting. Somehow they'd ended up laying side by side looking at the stars, then she'd ended up back at his house looking out over the forest where he'd kissed her and she'd kissed him. She could at least give herself credit for stopping things before they'd gotten even more confusing, but when he'd offered her a place to find her "love and peace," Sanria had balked, then considered. Ror said he would be off in the TriPower library, he would be out of the way, she'd have the place to herself. He had offered it for free, but to be certain things remained a business transaction, she had paid a month's worth of rent, then bid him goodnight.
So, Sanria found herself staring at the waterfall painting on the wall of the guest room she had rented, taking stock. She would have to talk to Orn so he knew where to find her, she would have to pick up Nioma and bring her back, she would make sure Enmach knew where to reach her as well for any and all of the correspondence that might come to her, and she would have to figure out why in the world she kept doing things like this to herself.
Sanria stood up with a sigh. Orn first. With a few words, she left the small sanctuary offered her in a swirl of magic. No sooner than she entered her office than one of the Rilmani dressed in all black swept in behind her. "Lady Sanria, I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's important. It's about Colin." It was definitely going to be a long night.
