Ziost - Crown of the Sith Empire

Raela ensured the last of the preparations for lunch were complete - food prepared, table set, she looked reasonably decent, all the rest. Ilar waited to bring Bellious in when she arrived.

Raela, for the moment, sat back in a chair, watching the snow swirl outside from the large picture window that looked out over the city.

As Ilar waited for the Master's guest to arrive, he ran through all the arrangements in his head. He had done this hundreds of times, but all it took was one tiny detail to be out of place and offend a guest for there to be hell to pay.

Right after her interview, still in Carmen Sandiego trench coat, chameleon shades and tactical heels, but also equipped in a bottle of Crème D'Infame. She announced herself to whoever was guarding the residence while not really stopping.

Ilar noticed the impatience of Lord Bellious, and while he wasn't exactly guarding the residence, he was there to greet her.

Surreptitiously pressing a button on his comlink so Raela could hear the conversation he adressed Lord Bellious.

"Master Ausar awaits within the dining hall for your august personage. May I take your coat m'Lord?"

Raella finished the final preparations when Ilar signalled her, waiting for him and her guest to appear as the food was prepared.

"Of course." Moyr divested of the trench coat, revealing a body-hugging tape-wear of sleek black. There was a strange blur to her mid-silhouette so it was hard to tell whether she had her lightsabre on her. As she handed him the red coat and walked forth as if on a runway, what could draw attention was the bewitching shape of her posterior.

Draping the coat over one arm, Ilar escorted Bellious to meet Raela. If his eyes happened to glance in the direction of the Twi'lek's rhythically swaying buttocks, he could hardly be faulted.

"Master Ausar, may I present your luncheon guest, Lord Bellious." He announced as they entered the dining room.

Raela stood with a smile. "Welcome, Lord Bellious. It's a pleasure to see you again. Will you join me at the table? Our meal will arrive shortly." He outfit was a little more casual than the previous day, suited to a relaxing lunch rather than meeting the most important and powerful being in the Empire. An assymetrical black tunic, shorter in the front with a wide leather belt, along with tight-fitting black pants and boots.

The concepts of over- and underdressing were ones Moyr provided own definitions for, so she acknowledged Raela's outfit from the angle of what it revealed about her shape - in every meaning.

"With pleasure." She awaited for the fellow Twi'lek to reappear so she could pass the rare beverage onto his hands. "It looks like we're both in mortal competition, Raela - if you'd entertain me with a bit of informality."

After depositing Bellious's coat securely in the cloak room, Ilar returned to the dining hall to take up his position as server for the meal.

"Lunch isn't a meal suited to excessive formality, I think," she said, waiting for her guest to sit before settling down herself. "Of course, I don't have a name to refer to you with similar informality."

"It seems we are. But someone I knew once said that it costs nothing to be polite... at least most of the time."

"A few Sith know me as Moyr." She said, resting and passing the wine gift to Ilar'Shala so he could pass it to the hostess. "A bit of cultural sophistication isn't out of place. However, the greater reason to practise restraint is that once we've entered the great game any move outside the prescribed confines may raise ire of those on the Dark Council who have chosen their favourites. Dire moves should thus be happening... under the table."

Ilar accepted the customary gift and moved to reverently offer it to Raela, careful not to move between the eyeline of the two powerful women.

"Moyr, then," she replied with a thoughtful nod, trying the name out as if tasting something new. "Indeed... Of course, that isn't to say that some won't attempt to pit their particular pawns against one another."

"This is the usual variable." Moyr leaned back in her chair, letting her lekku slide back. "Do you consider yourself a pawn, Raela?"

"I would say for now it works for my purposes to let others see me that way," she replied, tilting her head to the side. "But I did refer to pawns in the third person."

Watching Bellious relax in the chair, Ilar can't help but notice the soft supple finish on her lekku.

Wonder what she moisturises with, he ponders as his hand reaches to his own headtails.

That must have been DarkSeido.

"I see. Do you know you are actually the fourth Zash's apprentice I've dealt with? The first was the one I gutted for the crystal. His name was Faln. He had lost his sanity because of experiments Zash had been performing on him. That day in the desert, I convinced his male Twi'lek thrall to seek liberation from him and they both fell to their deaths. Then, there was Zeno, who was as loyal to his master as he was to me, and that created problems for Zash, now mostly resolved by him getting married to some Alderaanian princess. Then there was Dynos, who actually ran me through with his lightsabre during an ambush and took something precious from me to fetch it to Zash like a good boy he was. But I think he had a rough time afterwards. And now there's you. I wonder what to expect."

She paused. "I actually met your master last week. We had a semi-civil talk over drinks, she then grasped Lord Abasi for some drunken copulation. It looks like she has mellowed from experimenting on apprentices and opening wounds in the Force by sacrificing Korriban students, but who knows."

Raela nodded as she listened and tilted her head. "Honestly... I can't say that I'm surprised. I can get along with her socially, but I know she very much does not have my best interests at heard. Opening wounds in the Force... interesting. That I will have to keep in mind."

Unobtrusively standing to one side, Ilar kept track of the conversation. Whether Bellious's speech was a warning or a threat he wasn't certain, but he was glad that Raela had her doubts about Zash as well.