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Luelon gave a slight frown at these words.

"Do explain," He said.
"I'm not sure if you could help or not. You see...Seria has something she's hiding. She refuses to give any information on the matter to anyone, including me. I don't even know if it's true or not, I've just heard rumours. But there can be grains of truth found in rumours, even, and I need to know what the truth of the matter is. And, if it's true, what she's hiding."

Alix mulled these words over in his mind, before finally nodding. "I'd have to look into it, yes. But keep this in mind, Luelon; I'm good at what I do. Trust me, I can bring you to Seria."

After a brief period of thinking, he added an afterthought. "Or, at the very least, make her want to go to you."

Luelon chuckled slightly under his breath at these words. "Good," he said simply, before continuing.

"I do have a plan of sorts, after all. It's crude, I admit, but better than nothing."

"Go on."

"I'm quite positive the King knows this secret of hers. I just have to get close to him and find a way to spill what he knows. And the best way to get close to him is to be close to Seria. However, if you just bring her to me, I'll be the one that will seem like the bad guy. We can't have her thinking that."

Alix sighed. This was far too complicated for his tastes.
Pushing some of his darker brown hair behind an ear, he stared at the table top, thinking it over.
He was relatively intelligent, but too impatient for his own good the majority of the time. He ended up getting the answers he wanted from people in a...different...way. People tneded to be more prone not to lie when they find a sword coated in the most painful poison available to him pressed against the vulnerable skin of their throat.

Luelon laughed, apparently guessing his thoughts. "I'm more of a manipulator. Always have been, always will be. But I have an idea."

He lowered his voice, quite a pointless thing, judging by the fact that we were the only ones still around.

"Kidnap her, but also 'kidnap' me. Take us both, go through the typical motions, and just let us conveniently escape. Seria will absolutely love me again. I know how her mind works, she's an old-fashioned girl who adores a hero."

The plan was probably one of the singular most singular idiotic things he'd ever heard in his life. But hey, he was getting payed, so it didn't matter.

Luelon glanced around briefly before placing a pouch of money on the table.

"I'm guessing none of this is how you really operate, but you'll be paid well. What do you say? Half now, half later?"

He smiled slightly. "Perfectly fine." He thought for a long moment.

"You do realize that if I 'kidnap' you and Seria, it will have to look authentic, right?"
I asked, still hoping to deter his crazy plan. I wanted a job, yes, but this... this was too much.

Luelon lifted one narrow shoulder in a half-shrug. "I run with the rebels, as did Seria for a majority of her life. With all the betrayel that goes on, and the amount of real attacks and captures I've gone through, I'll be fine.

"And Seria...well, she'll live, at least."

"This is going to be difficult," He said, thinking. "I can't risk my reputation, by any means, which would be done if word got out that you escaped, so we'll have to do this carefully. Let's say I take the two of you, we go through the general questioning and torture stage, and then I leave you with a 'trusted servant' of mine, you overpower him and escape, 'rescuing' Seria as well in the process. She falls in love with you, I blame the servant, you get whatever you need from the girl, I get my money. Everyone wins." Alix smiled, before adding an afterthought.

"Oh. Except for the servant. He dies a painful death."

Luelon chuckled. "Couldn't've said it better myself. Which servant, though? Just out of curiosity."

"Honestly, I don't know. Unfortunately, it's probably going to actually be my most trusted one." He sighed, running his hand distractedly through his hair. It was hard finding good workers.

"Well, in that case, I won't kill him, but leave him unconscious. Unlses you actually do want him dead." Luelon added.

"Oh, no. You don't kill him. I do, after you've escaped. I need someone to blame for your escape, so my reputation isn't damaged."

"Just making sure. Seria already saw me kill Coriat, I don't think she could handle it if I killed someone else."

Luelon suddenly swore, remembering something. "But, there's one tiny little problem. It has to be somewhere that a fully grown dragon can't get to..."

"A dragon." Alix said blankly, somewhat incredulous.
"Wait...what?! Seria's a dragon rider?"

"Exactly."

"Then why," he growled, "didn't you tell me this before?"

"Because I would hardly call her a rider...she's nothing more than a theif with a rather large friend."

"Well. In any case, this makes things so much more difficult." Alix sighed. This was just wonderful; more complications.

Luelon shook his head. "Not so. She has her mind blocked to Seria right now because of the sorrow she's going through at this moment. Airrata won't know anything for a while. We just need to make sure wherever you take us is dragon proof. It won't make things that much more difficult."

Alix laughed, though he wasn't amused in the slightest.

"Dragon-proof? Are you kidding me?"

"Not at all," Luelon said. "Unless Airrata can either fit through the door or break it down, she won't be able to make it in. Trust me, she isn't all that bright."

"In that case, I think I might know a place,"

"Good," Luelon said. "When are we doing this?"

"As soon as possible,"

Alix stood up.

"Stay here, I'll be back soon with Seria,"