As soon as the line of questioning turns to the topic of Askr's origins, Oleeae pauses for a long moment, her thoughts already dragging her back to that night in Devil's Ridge, back to the evening her men had found a ghost with golden eyes standing by the mouth of some strange, carefully concealed, downward-spiraling cavern. Zarius has good reason to be curious, but she doesn't have a lot of answers; Askr's just as much of a mystery to her as he is to him.

"...he's a strange one, that kid," she begins, sparing a long glance toward the door, as though Askr is still standing by it, at attention as always. She folds her arms, the edges of her eyes pinched with pensiveness, the corner of one lip tight with contemplation as she lines up all the facts in her mind, sifts through bits and pieces of inferences so she can sort through them all. "...We found him outside of this... cavern of sorts, out in Devil's Ridge, after dealing with a basilisk we'd gotten paid to take out. It was odd. He had plants stuck in his hair and nothing with him, and he was clearly lost. Was missing a lot of basic knowledge, too-- some of my mercs have been taking turns teaching him how to read and write. I don't know where he came from, but it wasn't anywhere good."

She taps her heel against the side of the desk, staring at the top of it for a moment. Is there anything she's missing...? Askr's not the talkative sort; more often than not, his entire vernacular seems to consist of "Yes, Captain" and "No, Captain" and "sorry" and "I'm fine" and so on and so forth. He sure as hell doesn't talk about himself. Gleaning anything more about whatever hell he crawled out of is like pulling teeth.

"That really is about all I know, Zarius," Oleeae sighs. "Believe me. I know he doesn't know his own age, he didn't know what a house was until we took him back to Darkveil City for the first time, and... and he's not human, I don't think. I don't know what he is, but he's not human. His blood's gold. It's odd."

Once again, she leans forward to take hold of her glass, but she doesn't go in for a sip this time, merely tracing a calloused fingertip over the rim of it, just something to do with her hands while she listens to Zarius talk some more, thinks of an answer to his next line of questioning. She thinks she knows his angle, too, and it's a good one-- an easy way to turn the tide, but it's... risky. Still, come to think of it...

"I should start by saying that I'm ordinarily not the type to go giving out information like this, Zarius," she says, voice gaining a bit of a sharp edge, eyes lifting to meet his, silver to gold. "I'm not keen on endangering clients, no matter how loud the coins are clinking. But this is of concern to us both. Pretty significant concern. One or both of us was meant to go down in this mess, and I'm not keen on letting that slide."

Oleeae takes one last swig of her whiskey before setting the glass aside, barely fazed by its strength.

"The man said he'd meet up with Askr out in Devil's Ridge once the deed was done. The specific arrangement is a bit odd-- he's supposed to leave a specific playing card halfway beneath the door of a specific address, and meet out there in Devil's Ridge two days after the card disappears. Weirdest arrangement I've ever heard of."

"...he's a strange one, that kid."

"I have noticed."

Askr's story certainly was full of mystery. Hearing about a basilisk does make him wonder if the young man had been petrified at one point or attacked so that he lost his memory. Unfortunately, the tiefling's knowledge on basilisks is limited to stay the fuck away from them.

If Askr was found with nothing, it's possible that he was a victim of a shakedown that went a step too far. That still didn't really explain how he ended out there in the first place or the plants that Oleeae mentions.

Another thought the tiefling has as Oleeae recounts the state they found the strange young man in is that Askr might have been kidnapped and part of some sort of cult ritual. Crazies weren't hard to find and they often did things that hardly made any sense to more rational folk. There was a known cult in Zeinav City known as the Scorched Ones, and while they weren't a massive group yet, they hadn't yet been brought to heel by the Sultan's armed forces. 

"The Devil's Ridge...that is quite the popular location for criminals and runaways."

Zarius is a bit surprised to hear that Askr bleeds gold. That is not something particularly common. Some races certainly have different colored blood or even blood that is more acidic. Gold though, that's...oddly familiar. He is reminded of another being that cried golden tears upon their first encounter. A woman claiming to be an angel who also did not seem to understand the world she walked amongst. Askr could be the same as...an angel displaced and without any memory of crossing between different planes of existence. 

The theory is a strong one, but he decides not to share this revelation with the captain just yet. The mercenary captain was cooperating because she wanted answers, once she had the answers there is no guarantee that she wouldn't change her tune once she had an answer, even if that answer turned out not to be true. 

His eyes narrow at her and the tip of his tail twitches. 

"Your client endangered your entire little group by sending Askr after me. Your duty as a leader is to take care of your own men first and foremost, otherwise their faith you will falter." 

He watches her finish polish off her drink and set the glass down on the desktop with a clink. 

"Back where he was found? That is highly suspicious indeed...Askr should not go to the Devil's Ridge. This all sounds like a set up from someone who knows more about Askr than either of us or even himself."

Zarius averts his eyes for a moment as he considers the best course of action. The client would be expecting the mercenaries to defend one of their own. They likely also expected Askr to see the job down to the end. The chance that the sell swords would be walking right into a trap seemed all too likely. A stealthier approach might be able to circumvent any ambush attempt and get the answers they needed. He looks back at the captain. 

"Act like nothing is wrong and that everything has gone as planned. I will avoid being seen in the city while you follow through on those instructions you received. Once you have left the card, send some of your men to drink at the Rookery tavern and ask one of them to bring you back a bottle of Soul Blush wine. I will handle the rest. Make sure Askr does not leave your sight until you hear from me."

Whatever thoughts are going through Zarius's mind at the information Oleeae's tossed forth about Askr, she isn't privy to them-- those gold eyes are narrowed in contemplation, a little pensive glimmer passing over them, but he's the type to calculate each shift of his features so that they don't convey anything other than what he wants you to know. He obviously has his theories, with the way he silently sifts through the information she's set out on the table, but the only comment he seems willing to give her is the one about Devil's Ridge and the sorts of people it tends to attract. There's more going on in his head, and she knows it, but she's not trying her luck with a man like Zarius Rha'Oriyn.

Oleeae Bleier has two key things in her life outside of her drinks and her men and her old man's legacy: her values and her sensibilities. Right now, the latter is screaming for her not to say anything that could piss Zarius off any further, to keep the cards she's still allowed to hold close to her chest and let him hold onto his. There are other players at the table, and she'd rather knock them out than get on his bad side.

"It is," she says simply. "Whatever happened to him out there's a mystery, but no one's ever out there for good reasons."

She holds eye contact as Zarius's eyes narrow, as his voice hardens with a steely edge, a saber lined with heat. She grimaces just a little, not all that keen on being the recipient of even a little bit of his annoyance, however deserved; serves her right for trying to speak to any loyalty instead of just letting it show for itself. Ah, well, can't take it back now, and she's not the kind of woman who backtracks, so she just crosses one leg over the other and leans back in her chair, letting out another heavy sigh.

"Oh, dear Ginma, no, I'm not letting him go anywhere," she says a little more firmly, snapping back to life. "...hm. You've got a fair point, though-- it's a bit too close to be just mere coincidence. The Ash Lands are a big place, after all, and meeting out at Devil's Ridge is... awfully specific."

She lifts a hand to her forehead, grumbling beneath her breath. Gods above, this is a mess-- what kind of hell did that kid crawl out of to get himself tangled into something like this?

"...Alright, Zarius, that sounds reasonable to me," Oleeae says after a minute or two of quiet musing under her breath, her eyes settling back on the man before her, a hardened resolve in her face. "I'll keep a close eye on him and sort things out with some of my girls for this. I just hope whatever you're planning on doing is something you're capable of handling. Gods know what the hell we've gotten roped into."

❃⚜❃

It has taken twelve cycles of polishing Tethra's claymore by the time Askr hears Oleeae call his name again.

The blade sparkles in his hands, its tarnish and age nigh-indistinguishable beneath the careful attention it's been given. It is something that will make her happy, but then Ogma will charge in behind in the morning with his brass knuckles, which are in desperate need of some upkeep, and he will complain about special treatment and Teth will argue that he should have just left his weapons here, then, and then Ogma will argue back that she was just being irresponsible. It will continue. It is inevitable. Askr does not understand why Oleeae believes this task will prevent any bickering, because it will not. It will only stoke more.

He is aware, distantly, that Oleeae merely wanted him out of the room. She could merely have asked instead of looking for some aimless task to draw him away, but at least it gave him something to do other than pace around aimlessly for the duration of their conversation. Polishing a blade is comfortingly repetitive.

Askr slips past the door, giving Zarius and Oleeae a curious look as soon as he enters the room. Oleeae's glass is empty by now, and there's a tension in her face, the kind she gets when a particularly stressful commission has been handed to her. Mister Zarius, on the other hand, is... well, Askr will not pretend for a second to understand what is going on with his face or going on in his head.

"Yes, Captain?" he asks flatly, tilting his head curiously. As soon as Oleeae beckons for him to step further inside, he does as ordered, standing still just a few paces into the room.

"It's, uh... been a long night," she says. "We've got a few things we might need to go over with you real quick, though."

"Being...?"

"Ah--" she glances over at Zarius, her face still difficult to read. "We've just... sorted out some things. I'm gonna need you to stay real close by me for a little while, kid. Uh, you got anything to add, Zarius?"

Oleeae is a very pleasant and agreeable woman. Zairus wasn't sure what kind of person she would turn out to be, and he did come into the situation expecting her to be much more belligerent and self-serving. Seeing that she genuinely cares for her men and understands that she had made an error and wasn't going to make excuses for herself is a refreshing surprise. 

The situation is a very strange one. Despite that, she maintains a level and clear head. Things are a lot easier when working with people who see eye to eye. 

"I am quite capable, I can assure you." 

After Askr rejoins them in the office, he sits up and rolls his shoulders. The day had left him a little stiff and dusty. When the captain asks him if he has anything to add, he nods and looks over at Askr. 

"Yes, actually. We have determined that the client was actually planning on assassinating Captain Bleier. You were set up to draw her out. Taking that into consideration, it is vitally important that you not let your captain out of your sight until we have captured these assassins. Do you understand?"^[1]

It is a blatant and ridiculous lie. If there had been any intention of assassinating the captain, they would have tried to separate her in the field from her allies rather than just draw out one lone mercenary kid. Or they would have poisoned the drink she was so fond of. Or they would have jumped her while Askr and the rest of the mercenaries were away. Or literally any other plan aside from this ridiculously complicated ploy. Askr didn't need to know that though. 

Askr is loyal to Oleeae at least for the time being, that much is clear. He was willing to take the fall for her had Zarius decided that any wrath of his be directed at the mercenary captain or her group. Even if Askr is just repaying a debt to the group for their kindness and care since finding him out in the wilds, Oleeae mentioned that he is stubborn and changing his mind about a job is like pulling teeth.

Under no circumstances could they allow Askr to finish this job. He is very likely the actual target of the client and whoever their benefactor was, so they needed a way to distract the young mercenary with something far more important. The life of the woman he was willing to die for seemed like the perfect bait. He just hoped that the captain had the good sense to go along with the lie despite him not having warned her ahead of time that he would say such a thing. 

---

[1] Smooth Talking

There is a moment where Askr says nothing.

Zarius speaks so simply and plainly, as if he is merely making the kind of small talk the other mercs make when they show up before setting out, as though this is a simple conversation about steel and liquor instead of information as earth-shattering as what he'd laid forth. His voice is clear and calm and steady, all the things Askr has come to expect from Zarius's tone in the hours he has known him, and there is an undeniable truth clinging to his words.

Tension jolts through Askr's shoulders, a sharpness settling in soft features, something indistinguishable burning in those golden eyes-- as dead and blank as they have been all night, for this moment, they are strangely alive. His hand moves to his belt, settling against the hilt of his longsword, fingers curling around it in a silent need for something solid and tangible to cling to. Zarius, in all his mysteries, speaks so clearly and straightforwardly in this moment that Askr knows there is no way it cannot be true, and that alone lights a spark somewhere deep within his chalk-forged bones.

He has known Oleeae Bleier for three months. This is a short amount of time. His concept of time and its meaning is tenuous, but he does know that; the more cycles of the sun and moon you spend with a person, the more you are meant to endear yourself to them, the more you are meant to understand them and care for them, but Askr does not think he needs some endless expanse of celestial cycles to care for his captain. He still remembers shaking free of a feeble prison of foliage, rising to his feet on trembling legs that had seen no use in Gods know how long, walking and walking and walking up in some endless climb until he emerged to a veil of heat and smoke, only to find an older woman with hair like charcoal and eyes like ash and a band of her men not too far away.

She had asked few questions. He had given no answers, tongue still and silent. She had offered him water and bits of what he now knows to be rations and he had shaken his head in silent decline but she insisted anyway.

And that had been that, and Oleeae has had his loyalty ever since.

To hear someone wants her dead kindles some old and ancient flame within him.

"...Understood," he says flatly, tone a little sharper than usual. "I will not let her out of my sight."

Askr distantly hears Oleeae make some strange and strangled noise, but he does not know why-- he glances over to her to find her biting at her lower lip and slowly nodding along. Her face reveals nothing. There is no fear, but he would not expect a woman like her to ever let fear for her own life paint its way across her face. He knows little of her own life, but he knows she is cut from a long line of mercenaries' cloth.

"...Y-Yea," she coughs, clearing her throat. She straightens her spine before looking over to Askr, face gravely serious. "Yea, kid, I'll... need you to look out for me. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Captain." The words are easier than ever.

"Good, good," Oleeae nods, glancing over to Zarius again. "Then... I think we've covered all of our bases. I'll, uh... yea. You know. We'll keep contact."

Askr does not say another word on the matter, does not lay forth a question; there is nothing to inquire about. All there is is the knowledge that there is danger, and he must ward it off. He has seen fragments of the continent beyond the Ash Lands, seen nature in passing, and he cannot help but think of all the tenacious creatures of the world, of ducklings stubbornly following their mothers, of parasites clinging to their hosts.

Dissuading him from a mission of protection will, indeed, be like pulling teeth.

"Good man."

Zarius' lie seemed to have worked well. Possibly too well, but that would be neither here nor there. Oleeae may not like it, but she was stuck with Askr now, so this would not only keep the young man out of trouble, but also keep Oleeae from interfering with the tiefling's plotting.

If he was right about Askr possibly having celestial blood, then he would have to keep a close eye on him and Ring of Cinders from now on. There was no telling what Askr was actually capable of and he was clearly in a vulnerable spot. The young man didn't seem to have much as far as street smarts are concerned. While he might look like an adult, he wasn't even on par with Iryla in maturity. 

He's at least fairly sure that Captain Bleier has her heart in the right place. The question was if the world of mercenaries and sell swords was what was best for Askr at this time. 

Best for Askr. That was an interesting thought. Was that really what he was concerned about? Or was he more worried about missing out on an opportunity that fell flat on its back before him.  

The tiefling nods to the captain. "I will take my leave then."

He stands up and returns the chair to its original place in the room. Glancing at Askr out of the corner of his eye, he gives him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before turning back to Captain Bleier.

"Weird night, but I am glad we do not have to bury any bodies at least for tonight," he teases. "Watch each other's backs, I will be in touch."

Zarius excuses himself from the office and walks down the hallway to the door. He pauses by the entrance before giving a light knock. 

The door opens seemingly by itself as Eirynor opens it while invisible. Snow peers out from behind the corner of the next building over with a curious tilt of their head. 

Zarius chuckles a bit. "All is well. We have work to do."

He steps out and closes the door before heading off back to the Rookery with the pair.