Put that down, it's not a toy

Zevran nodded as Adaria spoke, immersed in the conversation, the wheels turning in his brain as his thoughts moved to Rafael’s father. From what he’d heard, in his contacts, everything that Adaria was saying was more or less accurate, though he sighed slightly at the comment about being an ally of the crown, but then he also tipped his head at the part about the comment of how Rafael would weaken her position if her enemies know about him. That definitely got his attention even more, he was torn between asking for more details about her relationship with Rafael, and informing her of what he knew of Rafael’s father.

Leandro definitely plays the ally quite well, but whether or not he’s truly an ally, I wouldn’t be entirely too certain of that. From some rumours I’ve heard, he’s one to play both sides and is rumoured to have had some dealings with the Second Talon, though what those dealings are, I’ve never really looked into before, but then I’ve never had reason to before. Many play both sides in Antiva, it’s hardly news. Then he grinned a bit, as he latched on to her other comment. Not that he was about to tease her or anything, no she was an adult, but as someone who was a champion for love and relationships, despite his bad luck at it, he was glad that there was someone in Addy’s life that she felt was important enough to her that they could also be a threat.

I can put someone on Rafael if you’d like, a sort of, protector in the shadows. We don’t want people to find out quicker that he’s important of course, but we don’t want to be caught with our trousers down either. He said as he started to think who he’d put on the task, obviously someone most trusted, of which a couple came immediately to mind. Then he realised that Adaria’s demeanour and tone had changed, it took him a minute to even realise what she was saying, once it sunk in, things started to make a lot more sense. He had a sort of ‘ah-ha’ look on his face, as the pieces came together finally. Quite the burden for the young girl, her dear father dead and not only was her mother to blame, but Adaria had found herself in the position to enact revenge for the deed and taken it.

That does answer some things. From some of the things I heard, she had only herself to blame, always someone else’s pawn, but that doesn’t excuse things of course. He didn’t look at her with pity, he’d been even younger when he’d first killed, he himself a pawn in someone else’s game. He knew what it was to kill, the burden that came with it, no he looked at her with a mixture of pride and love, the love an uncle might have for their niece. She’d clearly handled herself well, she knew how to play the game, and he could really see that he was indeed backing the right horse.

@Adaria Campana