*Orshallan loses himself in Loviana's kiss for a moment, then releases her gently.*
"Come, my love. Let's discover the precise nature of the shadow that stalks us, and which mask it wears," he murmurs softly. Following the arcanist and half the remaining guards through the beautiful city of Albon, it's as if a shadow has passed above it, chilling the sunlight on the skin. A place of freedom has become a potential deathtrap.
*The closest guard hall is small, but sturdily built from stone. The arcanist and another guard take Silversilk's body into the back room with no window to reveal its secrets to prying eyes. Loviana watches as they unwind the shroud and remove the clothes, revealing Silversilk's naked form. She was thin and ethereal, as elves tend to be, but she had a curious scar on her hip. It was blackened, in the form of twisted black antlers, and obviously a very old scar. Loviana recognizes it, and the sharp intake of breath from the others shows they do too. It's the symbol of Beshaba, the goddess of bad luck. It seems that someone cursed Silversilk in her youth.*
*On her chest, between her breasts, is a much newer scar. The delicate striations and almost artistic placement of the lines reveals to Loviana to be the work of a Painmistress with a fine hand with a scourge. At her side, Skada flares up in recognition, inciting a wave of pleasure and bloodlust at the sight of such fine work. Apparently someone had marked Silversilk as their own. She must have had a debt to pay to the church of Loviatar.*