'Sorrel! Good business!' Heret walks in wearing a breezy ensemble of red and yellow silks. 'I have not seen you in some time, I hope you are well?'
'I’ve been worse,' she nods carefully. 'And you Heret? Dodged the dragon breath and so forth?'
The young man laughs amiably. 'Yes, yes, up to now! There is much to repair in Stoneleaf but all is in hand. I saw your notice - may I ask whether you've yet sold this interesting accessory?'
'I have not, it’s very available Heret, and in search of a good home,' Sorrel smiles softly. 'But I don’t plan on selling it for cash money, I should say. I have been lucky and my expenses are modest. I’m more interested in either an exchange or finding a good home with a deserving owner who’s intentions are to do well by it.'
Heret quirks a curious eyebrow. 'Interesting! Well, perhaps the first step is to get to know this special item better. I should be very glad to see it and to hear its qualities and history.'
Sorrel gives a half smile. 'It’s history is largely unknown to me. A few months back I was engaged in a particularly challenging close protection job for Celina. Something personal, I try not to ask questions. Someone she knew left this behind. It’s a dark wood cane with a silver carving of a raven’s skull. When you grasp it in a certain way and say a certain word it becomes a most effective rapier with a raven motif hilt.'
'Hmm. An interesting story indeed, and a clever trick. Not quite my usual style... May I try the weight and balance?'
Sorrel presents the cane. 'The phrase is "raven"' she says gravely.
'Obvious, but memorable,' says Heret judiciously as he takes the cane and weighs it across his two upturned palms. Then he spins it in one hand, touches its foot to the floor and rests his right hand on the head, then flicks it upwards into a thrust, saying 'Raven!' as he does. The tip stops just short of the wall - still very much the foot of a walking cane. 'Hmm,' says the swordsman. 'Are you sure about the word?'
Sorrel frowns and takes the cane, says the word and feels the power surge through the ravens head into the cane then the blade that grew from its heart.
'I forgot,' she says. 'You have to make it yours first.'
'Ah, yes, I know the sort of thing. Well, that is a disadvantage, though not a great one. And the time it takes to change... brief, yes, but in my style of swordplay a moment's delay can mean the difference between striking the heart and scratching the shoulder.'
He holds out an open hand, accepts the hilt of what is now an elegant rapier from Sorrel, and makes a few experimental thrusts and feints in the air, slicing neat half-circles around an imaginary opponent's blade.
'Very good balance. And the disguise could be very useful. In certain cases.' Heret hands the weapon back.
'If it were mine, I think it would not be my weapon of every day, but I anticipate there may well be times when I should find it most valuable. You must be the judge of whether I satisfy your desire for a deserving owner. If you want an exchange – a draught of flying? I haven't it with me but I can easily go and fetch it from my rooms. I'm told the effect lasts about an hour. One can achieve a great deal with an hour aloft!'
Sorrel raises an impressed eyebrow. Flying would be a most useful for certain forms of infiltration. There's just one thing she would prefer... 'Heret, that's a handsome offer. Might I ask - do you by any remote chance have, or have access to, anything that might improve a girls stealth? I would be prepared to add cash to sweeten the deal.'
She pauses. 'And I mean something that improves it in the long term. Craft footwear. Disguised cloaks. That sort of thing.'
For a few moments Heret just looks at Sorrel, his mind working away behind the eyes. 'How much "sweetening" do you envisage?' he asks 'I have such a cloak, but I must say that it is worth more to me – and, I dare say, to the general market – than this blade, perhaps even more than half a dozen such weapons.'
Sorrel nods. 'I doubt I have the money or the desire to take that which you value so much. Let us stick with your original suggestion.'
'Excellent,' says Heret with a warm smile. 'I shall go and fetch the potion now. Perhaps it will help you obtain the greater prize you desire!'
[Thanks
stephena for the little RP. Outcome: Matron's Cane exchanged for Potion Of Flying.]
