"Brother!" Othen jumped as Kahal strolled into his personal study just as dusk made way to total darkness.

"Greetings, Kahal." He turned in time to see Kahal holding Biechta's hand, practically dragging her into the room. "Oh, Lady Biechta. Greetings." He noticed she looked nervous and kept her eyes on the floor. "Are you all right?"

"Greetings, Lord Othen." She spoke softly.

"Othen." Kahal brought his brother's attention back to him. "Guess what I've just discovered."

"Please, Lord Kahal. I told you that in confidence. I do not wish..." she drew in a deep breath.

"Kahal, you are distressing our guest." Othen stood from his desk and walked around to where she stood.

"Lady Biechta, please." Kahal said, in a much more gentle manner. "You have no idea how much joy it will bring to my younger brother if you allow me to share this. I mean you no distress, I promise you."

"Joy?" She said, confused. "But my uncle has always said..." she stopped herself, glancing between the two men. One looked excited while the other looked thoroughly confused. She looked at Kahal and simply nodded as she decided she shouldn't argue with the future king.

Kahal clasped his hands together and turned to Othen. "Brother, our dear Lady Biechta here has been deprived of practically anything in life that didn't pertain to higher education and skills of ladyship."

"What?" Othen asked, still confused but now also concerned. Biechta looked down at his desk and he could practically see her trying to shrink into herself and disappear.

"It took some coaxing, but guess what activity she has always wanted to explore but never was allowed to."

"I am thoroughly confused, brother."

Kahal all but rolled his eyes. "Music!"

Othen looked between his brother and the young woman beside him. "Wait, are you saying you've never listened to music?"

"My lord!" Biechta's eyes rounded in surprise and embarrassment. "Naturally I've heard it. I mean... on occasion I heard the maids.. That is to say, occasionally the staff would sing or hum or on occasions where both my uncle and my parents were out of the estate, they would play recordings."

Othen watched as Biechta's facial expression went from embarrassed to dreamy and full of longing. "What has Lord Toth been doing over there?!" Othen said in surprise and anger as he turned to his brother. "He's deprived her of listening to music?!"

"I...." She glanced between the two men, now becoming frantic at their reactions. What did she say wrong? "My uncle is wise and he's always guided my family in what is best for us to succeed as leaders. We have no time to waste on unnecessary luxuries such as music and the other arts."

"...Unnecessary...." Othen said in disbelief. After a moment he continued. "Wait... did you say all of the arts?"

"Brother, I didn't bring her here to be ridiculed. Save that for Toth." He turned to Biechta. "I apologize, my lady."

"I apologize, please forgive me. My brother is absolutely right. "Othen added in a much softer tone.

She stood there speechless, confused, and embarrassed, unable to look either male in the eyes.

"My lady, my brother here has a passion for arts but music is his true love. I thought perhaps he might help you explore some of that during your time here." Kahal said gently.

"Oh?!" Biechta exclaimed in surprise at the same time Othen shouted. "Of course!"

"But my lords, I..."

"Yes?" Both brothers asked.

"I cannot, my lords! I mean... I should not...that is to say...

"That is to say your uncle wouldn't approve." Kahal finished for her.

She looked down and away.

"Let's look at it this way." Kahal started. "He can hardly fault you for following the advice and guidance of the royal family. In fact, I'm sure the queen herself would personally send a message to Lord Toth exclaiming how much of a pleasure it has been to have his niece. And how she has taken his niece under her wing and furthered her education to be more well rounded while at the grand hall."

She looked up. "I could not possibly ask that of the queen, or of either of you, my lords." she said nervously but she couldn't hide the excitement and hope in her eyes as she glanced between the males.

"Lady Biechta, perhaps we can simply start by going to the music hall. If you would allow me to give you a tour?" Othen offered.

"... I'm sure a tour would be acceptable, my lord." She nodded.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



As time ticked by, Rahn wasn't having to put forth much effort to fake her nervousness. Maybe she should have told Dom when she was really meeting this male and then somehow left him a trail of clues as to her whereabouts. But no, undercover work took risks. You had to jump with no safety net for the entire thing to really work.

"So can either of you tell me your name or are we supposed to just sit here and stare into space the rest of the night."

....

"Great." She rolled her eyes as she stood up. "Well, I think I've wasted enough time. I'm leaving. Good luck with whatever it is you do here. Have a nice life."

She went to open the door but it wouldn't budge. "Of course." She blew out a breath as she turned and stared at them again. "So either we are actually waiting on someone... who is considerably late... or this is some kind of test. Given how weird you both are being, I'm guessing it's the latter." She let out a deep breath as she placed her hands on her lower back and stretched it out. "Or it's neither and I've just let myself be led into some elaborate kidnapping scheme... a highly weird and unusual kidnapping scheme..." She looked at the male and then the female and then up at the ceiling, taking her time to make sure she would be seen as a usual female just trying to cope with her current situation. "While panicking and screaming sounds very tempting right now..." She released a slow breath as if trying to calm herself. "I think trying to figure out a way out of here beats sitting around all night."

She nodded and turned to look at the door again, checking for any other ways to open it. Unfortunately there weren't locks on the door that she could pick, it was electronically sealed. And even if there were locks, she doubted her alter ego Lana could come up with a believable excuse for having that skill set. She was guessing someone would have to enter a code from the outside for the door to open. The two people in here with her must have faith in whoever was out there for them to let themselves be locked inside for who knows how long. Did the amount of time solely depend on her? Or would they eventually open it and let them out?

She ran her fingers along the walls as she walked around, followed by looking at the seams where the wall met the floor, and then where the wall met the ceiling. She continued talking out loud periodically, putting on the persona of someone who is a nervous talker. Someone who was personable and actually liked interacting with people.

"This is a pretty boring room." She said to no one in particular. The walls and ceiling were painted in a drab, light gray color, the floor just slightly darker. It reminded her of the medical hall in the guard tower. There were no obvious seams or cracks or hidden access points anywhere that she could tell. She stood and stared at the wall between where the female sat and her now empty chair. Something about the wall just seemed odd. She couldn't place it but she also didn't see anything that stood out as a clue for her to figure out.

She left the wall and began examining the floor closely, looking for any hidden doors there.

"I'm out of my mind." She said to herself, but loud enough for them to hear as she crawled on all fours. "Following some big, burly stranger down a street at night... letting weird people talk me into following them into some room.... " she sighed as she sat up and rested her weight onto her feet and knees. "I truly am an idiot. What am I even doing right now? Looking for hidden passages? This whole thing is ridiculous." She took a few long breaths, releasing each slowly before sighing again and shrugging her shoulders. "But I don't see any other options so here we are."

As she assessed the floor, she thought. At this point she was guessing they were about to hit the two hour mark since she'd entered the room. She had been trying not to give away any of her skill sets, and also occasionally showing signs of worry, like she was fighting not to panic. But at this point she was losing her patience. Dom would be showing up at the tavern any time now, but he'd have no way of knowing where they took her. Part of her didn't want him to find her and give away her cover, but part of her was getting spooked. This type of test or trial or whatever this was just wasn't normal. It was weird and seemingly pointless. Although she had to admit, whatever this group was, they had a stellar training program if these two were still sitting here for this long, acting like droids during charging mode. She would be less concerned if this situation wasn't so bizarre. But the entire thing had her worried. Whoever designed and implemented such strange procedures, and expected such behavior from their subordinates was not your typical criminal. She would need to be extra vigilant moving forward, to protect herself and to secure the safety of the homeland.