* Raxa heads back towards the soldiers! Along the way she hrms to herself, a bit
lost in thought.
<Brett> [Raxa heads back to the town, where the troops have broken up at this
point.  No sign of the prince or the eyepatch man, but some of them are hanging
around the tavern.]
* Raxa , upon seeing the prince or eyepatch man are gone, takes a breath and
then heads into the tavern.
<Brett> [Inside are about ten knights and an assortment of townsmen. Many of the
knights seem to be sitting at the tables alone with one other townsman or
knight, apparently flirting.  Seems sex isn't completely unknown on this world. 
But a bunch of townsmen are gathered near the bar, listining to one knight and
his buddy relating the day's tales.]
<Raxa> (Any knights alone that I recognize from earlier?)
<Brett> [Also, apparently relationships between members in the same unit aren't
disallowed by the military.]
<Brett> [All of the knights who gave you rides earlier are here.]
* Raxa looks them over, mming, and then decides to pick the youngest looking one
that was looking at her before, and walk up to their table. With a slight smile
she asks, "Excuse me."
<Brett> ( The youngest man or woman? )
<Raxa> (Youngest overall.)
<Raxa> (I can flip a coin!)
<Brett> [Raxa approaches a handsome, if boyish, red-haired guy who's hanging out
near, but not with, the storytellers.  He's got some kind of drink in his hand
that looks like tea. He looks up at Raxa as she approaches, stares, realizes
he's staring and looks away.]
<Brett> ( I'll save you the trouble :P )
* Raxa smiles slightly and sits down, putting her hands down on the table. "My
name is Raxa."
<Brett> [He glances down at her, then left and right as if to see if she was
speaking to someone else, then sits down. "Uh, hi.  I'm Konte.  I'm a knight."
Then he winces, realizing how obvious that must be.]
* Raxa nods and half-smiles. "Yes, I can tell." She folds her arms up, leaning
forward and resting on her elbows. "A knight, mmm? How did you come to it? A
calling?"
<Brett> ["Kind of." He pauses, looks at Raxa again, and says, "Well, not really. 
My dad was a blacksmith who made weapons for some of the Imperial troops, so I
saw them a lot, and I thought I'd like to be one."]
* Raxa laughs a little and then replies, warmly, "There's no shame in that,
Konte. It must be working well... going to war with royalty as you do."
<Raxa> Being with the prince is... an honor, yes?
<Brett> [He grins. "Oh yeah! I was really lucky. I didn't think someone like me
would ever get picked for the prince's unit, but he said he saw my potential and
asked me to join!" He blushes. "Though I wanted to ask him 'what potential', but
I feared he'd change his mind."]
* Raxa laughs faintly and replies, "No doubt, that you would grow into a proud
and strong man."
* Raxa brings a hand up to her cheek and muses, "Well able to defend his
kingdom... mmm?"
<Brett> [He blushes. "I can only hope." Then at that he looks serious. "Yes.  I
want to protect the weak.  Even when there's no wars, there's always bandits, or
sometimes horrid creatures neither living nor dead.  It is a knight's duty to
face such evils so that the people can live in peace."]
* Raxa nods and smiles faintly. "That is the kind of devotion I like to hear."
She pauses a moment and then says, "It's... that devotion that the Prince
needs."
<Brett> [He blushes. "Well, any knight would tell you the same. You don't get to
be one if you're not dedicated."]
* Raxa nods slightly and replies, "Well, you mean it, and for one so young. It's
an attractive quality, Konte." She then leans in, saying quietly, "Konte... I
have something... I need to talk with you about." She smiles more at him. "Is
there somewhere more... private we can talk?"
<Brett> [He raises an eyebrow. "Private?  Maybe a room upstairs?"]
* Raxa nods a little and glances to his drink a moment, before she says, "That
would be... yes. And don't forget your drink."
<Brett> [He nods, taking it with him as the session ends.]