Lightstar Family/Adaria/Roleplay 26
Stop That Thief!
Adaria did not want to borrow gold from Taop's temple, but she could not think of any other choice in the matter. Her unit seemed glad of her return from prison at long last, though the noble privately thought they were only happy to see her because she supposedly had their wages. Indeed, they had even openly voiced their desire for payment, and they definitely wanted it now!
With a sigh of resignation, the girl steeled her resolve and proceeded to walk briskly into the temple. Smiling sweetly at the cleric who greeted her, Adaria inquired him about the location of the treasury. He informed her without hesitation, probably thinking that she meant to contribute further funds to the upkeep of the new construction.
Another cleric stood watch over the chest--or more accurately, was seated next to it while perusing a large tome--and glanced up at Adaria with a rather blank and bored expression as she entered the chamber.
"Well met, young lady. Will you be making a donation today?"
She bit her lower lip and looked down meekly at the floor, afraid to meet the man's gaze. A moment of silence passed before the man prompted her again.
"Miss?"
Finally, her eyes darted up to meet his own for a few seconds before she nervously looked away again.
"Umm... kinda..."
The cleric raised a questioning eyebrow and waited for her to continue.
"Umm, yep! It's over here, right? No need to get up to help me, good sir, nope! Just carry on with your studies, heh heh!"
He stared back wryly but then nodded and remained seated, though his eyes carefully followed her every move.
Slowly, Adaria lifted the lid of the chest and peeked inside. The small amount of coins within caused her brow to furrow in consternation, for she needed most of them to appease her grumpy men. Under her breath, the girl muttered, "Well, you've already come this far; there's no turning back now... Oh dear Aenil, please forgive me and understand..."
She looked back over her shoulder at the cleric and almost jumped in fright, for he was watching her very intently. With a blush and a cheesy smile, Adaria turned back to the chest and then reached down to open her coin purse. Then, she took a deep breath to try to calm her suddenly pounding heart, before reaching down to quickly snatch two handfuls of gold. She tried to pocket them discreetly, but in her haste to secrete them, the coins jostled against each other and caused quite a bit of conspicuous clinking.
Gasping softly, but now beyond the point of no return, the girl closed the chest and spun about to take her leave. One of her hands pulled her cloak around her to hide her now-slightly-bulging purse, and she nodded to the cleric as she passed his desk.
Soon, Adaria was three steps from the temple exit; then, she heard the man call out for her to stop, for he had peered immediately into the chest after she had moved by him.
"Halt! Hey! Stop her! Thief!"
Turning her head to look back in fear, she noticed several more clerics and priests rushing out from side hallways to investigate the disturbance.
"Eeep! I'm going to return it all, I promise! I just need to borrow it!"
"Stop, in the name of the Aenil! Guards!"
Adaria sprinted out to the street, calling back over her shoulder at the pursuing men:
"I'm Adaria Lightstar, cousin to the Duke of Idapur, and I give you my word!"
"What? Stop her! Don't let her get away!"
A handful of armed guards rushed out to chase the girl, but she ran for all she was worth, twisting and turning down the streets of Taop until the sounds of heavy boots faded away behind. Stopping briefly in an alley to catch her breath, Adaria felt herself on the verge of tears. Damn Soliferum for imprisoning her and making her resort to such an embarrassing act!
Later that night, she and her archers made their way home, and she vowed to return the funds in full right after she cashed her bonds in the capital. The girl just hoped they would understand...
(Several days later...)
After routing the small band of undead in Ahael, Adaria quickly visited the temple to return the twenty gold that she had borrowed in Taop. She would have liked to return the funds directly to the original temple from which she had acquired them, but the girl thought it was best to clear her name as soon as possible. Perhaps on her next trip to the front lines, she could deposit another twenty gold when she passed through Taop, and then retrieve that same amount from Ahael's treasury.
For now though, Adaria had no intention of moving back to join with the rest of the army; even if she wanted to do that, her limited funds would cause her to turn back for home before she even reached the rally point! Sighing as she entered her tent for a drink, the noble found her eye immediately caught by something shiny on top of her little desk. Adaria moved over to inspect the item and discovered that it was the tournament invitation from Ohnar West, delivered a few days ago.
Pursing her lips in thought as she traced a finger over the bright letters, the girl quickly decided that attending the event might actually be great fun. It would be the first time she went to a tournament as an actual participant, for she remembered quite well the exciting trips taken with her father at a much younger age.
Smiling as she poured herself a goblet of wine, Adaria sat back and daydreamed about colorful knights in shining armor, charging down the lane with lowered wooden lances. All of a sudden, she almost choked on her next sip as she thought about herself having to joust...
