First meetings
There's a fire burning in the grate and Elharia finds herself drifting towards its warmth.
"Can I help you?"
The voice is deep, warm but with an edge of danger, as if its owner is ready to defend this place if she is an aggressor. Elharia looks up, taking in the figure at the top of the stairs, he's dressed in black and red, black hair merging into the collar of his long coat and crimson eyes seeming to burn into her soul.
"Vampire..." Elharia's voice twists over the word and she drops back a step, hand raising to ward him off.
"Yes." He nods, a wry, half smile on his lips revealing double fangs to match the scarlet streaking his face. "The Vampire Jack Townson. King of this particular Manor of Mystery and ruler of the Degenerates here in Draconia." A pause as his eyes narrow and he strides down and into the hall, towards the fae. "And you are in my hall."
She lowers her hand, eyes dropping in mingled embarassment and an acknowledgement of their respective positions. "Then I apologise for my rudeness. I have had my share of...unpleasant encounters with your kind but I would be a poor guest to shun you after I have made use of your hearth." Elharia's cloak still drips water onto the floor and she shivers as they stand talking. Jack's crimson eyes turn softer once more as he takes in her state.
"Algernon! Hot coffee for our guest!" His voice rings through the hall and elicits grumbling from Algernon, presumably behind one of the doors leading off from the room. "Sit, be warm, tell me about yourself."
Elharia accepts the invitation gladly, following the vampire's gesture and pulling up one of the high backed chairs near the fire. Within a few minutes her sodden cloak is shed and she is wrapped in a thick blanket. "I will tell you my tale, of course but...where am I?"
A lazy half smile curls his lips, showing those double fangs once more. "Dear creature, you are in Draconia. My Neverland, my sanctuary." His crimson eyes hold a curious expression, caught between sadness and pride and the emotion speaks to something in Elharia. She lets out a breath, relaxing into the warmth of the fire and the chair. So far this one has been a good host at least.
"My name is Elharia." She pauses for a long minute, as if trying to decide where to start or how much to say. "I am...I was..." She snorts, using the excuse of towelling the ends of her dark hair as a means to gain space once more. "I am of the Sidhe, the people of the Hills. Fae, the Fair Folk, the Gentry, the Good Neighbours; take your pick. Once we lived in many places, once we were worshipped as gods, once we were revered as helpers or terrors, then time passed, mortals learned and forgot. We were relegated to nothing more than twinkling beings in children's tales. We held to our lands as long as we could, but when the physical things our homes connected to were destroyed?" She shakes her head, anger flashing like lightning through those complicated grey eyes. "And so I wandered, and so I came here." She shrugs, lips pursed and shoulders hunched as if to ward off further memories. Elharia refuses to be drawn on how long she has wandered or where she might have settled before finding Draconia.
"And your...distaste for my kind?" Jack raises an eyebrow but his voice is kind, encouraging. He leans forward as if truly interested in her response. Elharia blinks, glancing up from the depths of her coffee cup to meet his gaze.
"Distaste?" Her voice lilts up as though the word is a question but the curl of her lip suggests there is more to it. "No my host, it is not simple distaste. Call it fear if you will, hatred might be more accurate. Mistrust certainly." She takes another deep breath and sets the cup down, wrapping the blanket more tightly around her.
"To some degree, your...kind is responsible for my current existence. I was once killed by a vampire."