In preparation for a night of dining Shendra requests a hot bath be drawn up. She had used a basin in her room to clean up before, but the oracle wanted to be at her finest for the evening's meal. As befitting a woman of stature her preparations took some time, and perhaps tested the patience of her companions a little. But when she emerged from her room in the vividly red dress and silver and ruby jewels she had purchased in the Circle, that lustrous black hair bound in two places along its length and draped over her shoulder, Shendra was a sight to behold. "No need to stare," she said a bit coyly as she made her way out the door and to the modest carriage she had summoned so to spare the hem of her new clothes from the mud and the dirt of the streets.
Shendra savoured every bite of her meal that night, prepared personally by the Reefclaw's famous Unli Jevers, and every sip of the fine wine they had ordered with their meal. The night was not without some trials and mishaps; in this fancy and well to do establishment the whispers in her mind were very loud and persistent, and at one moment when she had let her guard down her fork slipped from her fingers, bounced off her plate, and skittered onto the floor, almost as if swatted by an invisible hand. But she politely laughed it off and waited patiently as a replacement utensil was delivered to the table. The conversation with her companions was good, and overhearing all of the little intrigues in town, was exciting as well.
But still there was one small voice that tugged at her that night, leaving her with a quiet feeling of unease, one easily concealed by her practiced expressions. Lunysh, the voice whispered. It was her conscience, her self. The bill for this merriment would be an appreciable share of all the monies she had thus far diverted to her family in Magnimar since her, well, "accident" . There was a familiar pang of guilt and sadness underneath her surface of her outward appearance. Maybe, once they had divvied up their haul properly, she would be able to arrange another anonymous delivery to her most estranged husband...