Blades We Break

Welcome to Highpoint

Lady Joan Picker.

This woman was beautiful in both body and mind. She had long, raven hair and eyes as dark as the night sky. Although not very tall, her cold eyes and steely expression was quite intimidating.

When she entered the room, her purple cape and white dress are shown amongst the light from the torches. In the fortress of stone, she looked like a lone precious jewel. Flanking her were two armored men, each wearing blue and silver glass armor (Yes, I realized I stole this from Skyrim, don't judge.) On their shield was there house coat of arms, a black pick ax crossed with a spear. These were her two favorite guardsmen, the one to her right was Harley, and the other was Marven.

As she took one glance around the room, her nose scrunched slightly in distaste. 'Why am I even here?' She thought to herself.

There was a large round table in front of her, on the table were a basket of bread and salt and three goblets of wine and one wine jug. At the counter stood two people, one being Lord Ludd Whitehill and the other being the beautiful Lady Gwen Whitehill.

"Lady Picker," Ludd greeted with a forced smile, "Welcome to Highpoint."

Joan bowed only her head, "Greetings Lord Whitehill."

"Please," Ludd gestured to the empty seat across from him, "Take a seat."

She nodded and sat gracefully into her seat.

"Highpoint is a magnificent place, isn't it?" Ludd said with an approving smile.

Joan's brow creased in a frown, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Yes, Highpoint is quite unusual, can we please-"Joan was cut off by Ludd's boastfulness.

"Highpoint is made of the full stone interior, both impenetrable and fireproof," He said boastfully.

"We are not here to discuss your fortress!" Joan said her patience was wavering, "We are here to discuss whatever Urgent business you called me here for."

She observed, seeing different expressions from across Ludd's face and saw Gwen exhale her breath in a hidden sigh. She leaned forward, lifting a goblet of wine delicately to her lips and waited before taking a sip. In those split seconds of waiting for a reply, she had smelled the wine for any poison that might have 'somehow' found its way into her drink.

"Yes, I suppose we should get straight to the point," Ludd clasps his hands together in front of him, "I'd like to suggest a deal. An allyship, if you may."

Joan frowned for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

She raised an eyebrow, "Are you suggesting paying for me to be your 'friend'?"

Ludd's stern expression hadn't changed, "We will pay you for a decent supply of your finest weapons, armor and military men. I would even be willing to pay whatever price you wish for us to have your protection."

Joan placed the goblet on the table, her nails tapping the table in thought, "Why?"

Ludd hesitated, "Let's say that in a few weeks there will be a very drastic change of events that we are... Preparing for."

Joan looked to be deep in thought when she came to an answer, and she leaned forward on the table expectantly with a smile twitching at the corner of her lips. The next words that came out of her mouth wiped the smirk forming on Ludd's face.

"I don't accept," she said.

Ludd's face changed to an ugly sneer.

Joan stood to her feet and straightened her dress, "Thank you for inviting me to your lovely abode, Lord Whitehill, and thank you for your hospitality but I'm afraid you've wasted your time inviting me here."

She bowed politely and turned to leave, her two soldiers following closely behind.

"OR," Ludd called causing Joan to stop and turn to him, "We could kill you here, but with the event's coming up we can we could just easily take everything from you. I can have your sixteen-year-old sister, Lady Aer Picker, marry my son Gryff and have complete control of everything that comes in and out of your precious Blossom Castle."

The room had grown silent and hostile. But when Joan turned around, Ludd didn't know what to expect, but he certainly wasn't expecting to see Joan smiling in amusement.

"Are you," She stopped to chuckle, "Are you threatening me, Lord Whitehill?"

Ludd stood up and crossed his arms, "Not entirely. I'm just telling you your options."

Joan chuckled again, "If you want to start a war with me, Lord Whitehill, go ahead. But believe me when I say, you WON'T win."

Gwen rose from her chair, "Lady Picker, please, if you won't listen to my father, please listen to me."

Joan swiveled to face Gwen, her smile now gone from her face.

"I'm sure you're a reasonable woman, don't make this harder than it has to be. I don't want a war between us, Lady Picker, I'm sure we could be great allies," Gwen said calmly.

Joan's face was stern, and she turned around and advanced towards the doors. Her guardsmen opened the doors and when she was through advanced after her. The doors closed slowly, and just before they closed, Joan turned around and smiled, "You have a lovely day now, thank you for letting me waste your time."