Exton

Keon had dropped off some clothes for Ramji. He now rummages for a dark shirt. Laila watches him as he searches, finally breaking the silence with a snort.

He pauses, glancing over his shoulder. "What?"

She gestures at her own clothes. "I am going to meet a Lord in what I am wearing, and YOU are going to change?"

He grins. "It's not like that." He buttons up a black longsleeved shirt. Pulling back his hair, he ties it back in a small tail. She is smiling at him when he looks up. He takes her hand. "I am a Rider. My cloak is downstairs, so I don't have its anonymity. What I do have are these." He slides her fingertips along the markings on his face. "I was a Hunter of Monsters and Demons before I became a Rider."

There is a pride in his voice, a smile that lights his eyes. He cups her face in his sword calloused palm. "I am here to protect you. I do not know this Adrian. My Brother... Let's say he made an impression on Dmitri, and that is not easy. Even Zade likes him, which is in itself remarkable." He leans in and kisses her gently.

"He is not Rath. I know that." His voice drops and he whispers against her lips. "But if he so much as touches you in a wrong way, I will thrust a stake through his heart."

Laila strokes her uninjured palm along the roughness of Ramji's jaw. She searches his eyes, seeing the determination in his eyes, even behind his smile. "He is not his brother. Lord Adrian is well known for being fair and just. He will not harm me Ramji."

"I am what I am Laila. Let us go meet this... Undead."

An eerie baying echoes from the woods. Ramji slips a small bladed knife up each sleeve. He pauses, listening as another Hell Hound's voice joins the first. "Zade is here, and she is not alone."

Her precedes her down the stairs, schooling his features. When Laila moves past him, Ramji steps to the side, keeping his eyes on the Undead.She lays a hand on his arm, smiling up at him. He nods once, allowing her to move forward without his interference. She stops before him, absently straightening her blouse. She winces at the pull of her stitches, hiding it quickly. She curtsies, starting to take a knee and he stops her.

"Hello my Lord Adrian. I did not know you were coming."