A new adventure (Raven)

[Silvarn]

His pleasant demeanor lessened only slightly. "I was born Cacuus Ray'ven, slave of House Ray'ven. When I was granted my freedom, I called myself The Cunning Mind of the Raven's Glittering Eye. But, to save both time and effort, I simply go by Raven.

"When one must impress those of higher social ranks, one must be lavishly presentable. Thus, my affluence. My life is not as easy as a portly noble, but not as difficult as that of a slave.

"I am sorry to hear your parents are gone, Cadi. When did they die?"

[jada]

Cadi burst out laughing,"Die? Oh no, they are still alive. I simply ran away. They handed me everything in life. Never made me do anything. They wanted me to be perfect, and life was so easy. I had nothing to live for, because i had everything. That is no way to live. So I ran away. they are still alive a few towns away." She went back to being serious.

"I'm sorry about your former life. Being a slave must have sucked. I guess we were on complete opposites of the scale." She smiled at him. She wanted to just jump in his arms, but something in the back of her mind told her that he wouldn't want her to.

"The past is behind us. The future holds lots of mysteries I would still like to find out about though." She said seductively. She turned on her heal and walked away from him just a little, and turned back around to face him, "Would you like to play Raven?"

[Silvarn]

Her red hair radiated in the moonlight so strongly, Raven almost felt compelled to reach out and run his strong fingers delicately through it. Instead, he smiled at her.

"I would enjoy playing with you, Cadi. However, it is getting rather late. I really should be getting back. My handservant and closest friend will be checking on me shortly to make certain I haven't been assassinated or kidnapped, or anything of the sort."

How strange, he, who was born with nothing and rose through the social ranks to the highest degree, would be holding a conversation with one who was born with most everything and threw it away.

"I must leave, despite my wishes, Cadi. I would, however, enjoy seeing you again. I have important matters to attend to in the morning, but if you stop by that house," he indicated a large mansion with a large golden eagle with wings outspread guarding the huge double doors from above, "I would be glad of your company. It is not very often I have the time to make or entertain friends. Please say you will come."

[jada]

"I will come. That's a promie Raven" Cadi walked back over to him and looked deep into his eyes. This time she wasn't going to wait for him to make a move. She quickly reached her hands up and slid them along Raven's face and leaned up and kissed his lips softly and smoothly. she realeased and vanished into the night. she would pay him a visit alright. but she would give him plenty of time to think about that kiss first.

[Silvarn]

Raven visibly shuddered at the oral contact. His arms reached for her as she slipped into the night. He stood there a few minutes more, unsure of what to think. A bell tolled in the distance and he was off in a flash, bounding from rooftop to rooftop back to his residence in the city. He slipped silently into his room and into his bed. He was about to close his eyes when a light came on.

"Where have you been, Raven?" Francis' voice scolded.

"Nowhere," Raven smoothly lied, rubbing at his eyes as if he had been woken up.

"You cannot fool me, Raven. I watched you come in through the window. Where have you been?"

"It is none of your business, Francis. Now, if you will excuse, I need to get some sleep." Raven layed back down.

"Very well, master. But, remember to create as few weaknesses for yourself as possible. You never know how someone else might exploit them. Be careful, Raven, for all our sakes."

Raven felt the light go out and Francis leave the room. He knew he should not have seen her tonight, but his impulse got the better of him. He tried to shut her out of his mind, but he dreamed of the kiss over and over again all through his slumber.

[jada]

Cadi hid down in an alley way for the rest of the night. unable to sleep. she couldn't stop thinking about him. It was like his voice was still calling to her. she would let him sleep and she would go see him tommorrow.

***

The next day Cadi apraoched the house raven had pointed out to her. It was rather large. a place she would not belong in, but all the same she had to see him again. It was goign to kill her if she didn't know that he was thinking about her and her kiss.

[Silvarn]

"How dare you go back on our agreement?" Raven was at the tipping point. One more misfortune and his kimono would be dark red instead of blue.

"We never swore, signed papers, what have ya." the greasy man before him mocked with a sneer.

"I gave you money. Therefore, a transaction of services and a business pact."

"And I thankee for the shiney stuff. 'Twas most helpful in helpin' the missus."

"Get out of here before I do something I may regret later." Raven's delicate upper lip was twitching.

"Sir?" a snobbish butler called from the door, "A young lady is here, she claims you asked her to come."

"What? Who?" Raven's fury was suddenly turned on the intrusion.

"She did not give me her name, but she has the reddest hair I have ever seen."

"Oh. In that case, tell her I will be finished shortly." Raven smiled kindly at his butler, who suffled off to do his master's bidding.

"A concubine, perhaps?" the greasy man asked, rubbing his filthy hands gleefully.

In an instant, a mirror was shattered by the man's greasy head, a snarling Raven in his face.

"More than a concubine, I gather?" the greasy man mumbled dumbly.

"Strictly a business relationship, I assure you. Now, get out of my home!" Raven threw the man aside and listened to him dash off. He looked at his broken image in the mirror, and could not help but think, How fitting.

[jada]

A bulter let Cadi upstairs now. The butler lead her to Raven's room. He opened the door and cadi walked through and found Raven looking in a broken mirror. "That's an odd thing to do, look in a broken mirror."

She gave him a small smile. "That man that was in here before, the one you scarred off, he's a creep."

"I thought of just dropping in, but i'd figure you probably had something going on today and i didn't want to miss you so I decided to come in the front door. Not a habbit I'd like to have." She smiled even bigger.

"I had to know. the kiss?" She asked him in a way so the he could respond with any answer about his feelings for her. If he didn't want her, he could just say it was awful or something, but if he did like her in some sort of way it would show by her question.

[Silvarn]

Raven was instantly warmed by Cadi's presence and the smile on his face showed it. "That man who just left, the creep as you called him, is someone I payed to spy on the other magistrates. I have to keep tabs on them if I am to keep my post. You see, I am trying to reform Valear's political corruptions, namely the slave trade."

"The kiss?" Raven mused, letting his pearly whites shine. He was about to answer, when he saw a tuft of greasy hair dash behind the doorframe. A reluctance shown on Raven's face as he answered, "What kiss? I am terribly sorry, young lady, but you must have been dreaming. I have no time for intimate relationships, nor the interest. If you will excuse me, I have business to attend to." he brushed imperially past Cadi. Outside the door, Raven glared at the greasy man who had not quite left yet.

"Loverly painting, ye've got, Guvna." the greasy man complimented before exiting the premises with a bit of a swagger. Raven made sure he was good and gone before he returned to Cadi.

"I must apologize for my actions. I had to throw him off of my trail. I suspect he is a double agent." He put his hands tenderly on her shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes, "I could think of nothing else but our kiss last night."

[jada]

His touch made her soft. She loved being close to him, to look into his handsome face and stare into his entrancing eyes. She leaned up to him and put her hands around his neck, and kissed him, softly.

She pulled back away from him slowly, and looked back into his eyes,"So then you like that?" She laughed teaseingly.

[Silvarn]

Raven smiled at her with both eyes and mouth and was about to kiss her again when he happened to look up and see Francis' irate face. Raven gulped heavily, slowly pulling himself free of Cadi's embrace. Francis sighed with disappointment and marched away.

"It was most comforting to see you again, Cadi, but I must ask you to leave. I need to smooth things over my adviser. You must understand that I should not be like this with you. I cannot have any weaknesses to be exploited by those who might wish ill upon me. If Fate decides we must never cross paths again," he could find the words to finish his thoughts. He gave her one last, halfhearted smile, before vanishing into the depths of his mansion.

[jada]

Cadi starred after him, speachless. She had never loved a man before, and she never would again. Cadi slipped her hair bow off her head and tied it into a small little blck bow and set it on Raven's desk. He wouldn't miss it, she was sure of that.

She quietly snuck out the window and onto the roof, where she then disappeared into the city, her heart shattered.

[Silvarn]

"Francis!" Raven called after the retreating form of his adviser. The dark-skinned man paid him no heed and continued striding away. "Francis, stop!"

Suddenly, Francis rounded on Raven, nearly colliding with him, "I must ask you to do the same thing!"

Raven's fair face changed from guilty to defensive, "It is almost as if you do not want me to be happy."

Francis made several sounds with his mouth, all of them the beginnings of words, but never completed. "I want only the best for you, Raven. I promised I would help you in your ambitious task, and so I am. That girl could easily be a spy or could be hired as one. I do want you to be happy, Raven. You know I love to see your smile. But, if that happiness entails a potential weakness, then we cannot have it."

Raven tried to swallow the knot in his throat and nodded his head in submission. Francis was right. They needed to remain aloof. The girl was baggage. "I understand, Francis. It will not happen again."

Francis put a comforting hand on Raven's delicate shoulder, "I did not mean that. When our task is complete and slavery is abolished, then we both can find someone to spend our lives with."

"What work do we have today?" Raven asked, regaining his air of superiority.

"A meeting with the head of the local crime circle. We are trying to barter his services in a mass liberation. " Francis informed, handing Raven a stack of parchment papers.

"I see. How large is this circle?" Raven asked, scanning over the documents.

"Large enough."

"What does he want in exchange?"

"That is what the meeting is for."

"When do we leave?" Raven inquired, stowing the papers in his kimono.

"Now." Francis answered, opening the main doors for Raven.

"Good."

[jada]

Since Cadi had left her only black bow upon Raven's desk, she made it her current goal to obtain a new one. She crawled along the roof tops aways until she was across the city from Raven's house. She needed to forget him. If e really cared he'd find her.
Cadi slipped off of one roof to the alleyway one floor below her. She landed hard and fell to her knees. She felt stupid, weak and unloved, all alone in the alleyway. No one cared about her. She was just a shadow.
Cadi pulled herself up off the ground and dusted herself off. She exited the alley and headed towards a cloth vender, She saw the multicolored ribbons for sail, but only one color was important to her. Black. She needed a new bow.
Cadi retrived the knife she kept at her belt and cut off a decent amount of ribbon and snuck away. She was a shadow so know one bothered to notice her. She slipped the ribbon under her hair and tied it around her head so that her little black bow rested on the top of her curly read head. She was physically satisfied for now, but it would be a long time before her heart would be fully mended.