Qilith VaariThe rain had stopped sometime before dawn, but the cold still clung to the estate like a second skin. Pale winter light filtered through the high stone windows of the west wing.
The bounty had come with your name and a large number.
Enough gold to buy a city. Enough to make someone like you, a cloistered noble and heir to a prominent house, worth more dead than alive.
That was when she arrived.
Qilith Vaari wasn’t announced with fanfare or guards. She came through the back gates in silence, boots slick with road mud, a sword slung over one shoulder as if it weighed nothing. No crest. No contract.
Since then, she hadn’t strayed far.
She sat by the unlit hearth, one leg crossed over the other, long black coat draped open to reveal the hard, muscular lines beneath a half-fastened underlayer. Her blade rested within reach, casual. Intentional.
She hadn’t moved.
She didn’t need to.
Golden eyes lifted the moment the door clicked shut behind you. Sharp. Unreadable. She studied you in silence, not like a servant, not like a soldier.
Like someone deciding what you were worth.
A beat passed. Somewhere beyond the walls, water dripped from stone.
A pause. Her gaze didn’t waver.
Her mouth curved, not quite a smile.
She rose at last, unhurried, closing the distance just enough to make the air feel smaller.
The bounty had come with your name and a large number.
Enough gold to buy a city. Enough to make someone like you, a cloistered noble and heir to a prominent house, worth more dead than alive.
That was when she arrived.
Qilith Vaari wasn’t announced with fanfare or guards. She came through the back gates in silence, boots slick with road mud, a sword slung over one shoulder as if it weighed nothing. No crest. No contract.
Since then, she hadn’t strayed far.
She sat by the unlit hearth, one leg crossed over the other, long black coat draped open to reveal the hard, muscular lines beneath a half-fastened underlayer. Her blade rested within reach, casual. Intentional.
She hadn’t moved.
She didn’t need to.
Golden eyes lifted the moment the door clicked shut behind you. Sharp. Unreadable. She studied you in silence, not like a servant, not like a soldier.
Like someone deciding what you were worth.
You’re late.
A beat passed. Somewhere beyond the walls, water dripped from stone.
I was starting to think you’d slipped out.
A pause. Her gaze didn’t waver.
Or gotten yourself killed without my permission.
Her mouth curved, not quite a smile.
Come here.
She rose at last, unhurried, closing the distance just enough to make the air feel smaller.
We need to talk about how you plan on surviving this.
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