The day is overcast and has been marked by occasional drizzles, although presently the gloomy clouds are retaining their burden of water, leaving the air damp and cool. A Naga in scholarly attire lays loosely coiled on one of the benches, studying a book until the sound of the de Bellefeuille carriage's wheels against cobblestones alerts him. He closes his tome and adjusts his glasses as he watches the coach pull to the front of the circle, and the footman step off the runner to open the door for the occupant.

From inside the carriage steps a white furred poodle, the head of the de Bellefeuille household, Elise Antoine de Bellefeuille. She has returned from her temporary posting to a distant outpost, a placement intended to keep her outof the way of any problems that may have arisen from the death of so many nobles at Faraon's Dome some time earlier. She gives the Naga a weary smile as she moves from besidethe carriage toward him.

The serpentine man uncurls from his bench to glide to the ground, and towards the poodle. "Greetings, Lady de Bellefeuille," he says formally, "And welcome home. I hope your journey was a pleasant one?"

Elise stops down the pathway in order to allow her tutor to come to her. She rests her right hand upon the pommel of her sword, and her left hand upon the wrist of the right. "It wasuneventful, perhaps disappointingly so," she answers. "I am, however, pleased to be home again. And of course, to see my most valued of tutors."

The footman secures the door to the coach and hops onto it, while the driver taps his Drokar team with the reins and the coach circles away towards the stables, while Bryant Vell Tremaine acknowledges Elise's compliment with a smile and a slight ducking of his head. "I am pleased to see you once again, as well," he replies. "Lady Katherine awaits you in the parlor, my lady. The poor weather was a bit much for her, I fear." The Naga's body undulates as he follows the path at Elise's side, the pair heading towards the front doors of the manor.

"My sister never was one for dreary weather … Or, as I recall, much anything dreary," says the lady poodle as she walks toward the doors of her manor.

The doors swing open as the two set foot on the lowest steps. "Welcome back, my lady," the butler, a middle-aged Rottweiler, bids her in a voice pitched low enough to neither intrude nor require response. The entrance hall beyond features marble walls lined with portraits of Elise's many noble poodle ancestors. A large curved staircase leads to the second floor, while a door near the entrance opens onto the library, and one on the right, near the rear of the hall, leads to the parlor. An archway set below the tall staircase opens upon the great dining hall.

Tremaine permits himself a slight chuckle at Elise's comment, and adds, "She's little changed since last you saw her, Lady de Bellefeuille."

The leader of the de Bellefeuille household smiles as well. "Oh, has she now? I fear I have been behind on my correspondence. My placement has been so dreadfully far away for too long." She turns and begins walking toward the array of family portraits. It's a long display of each of the de Bellefeuille head of households, and beneath each is that leader's personal weapon. Toward the end is the only portrait of a female to be seen in this line up. Elise's portrait rests as the current head, and under it is an empty holder. As she approaches this she reaches to detach her sword, sheath and all, to prepare it for placement.

The Naga nods as he follows behind his mistress. "Lady Katherine has often noted to me your distaste for letter-writing. A pity, since she pursues the art of correspondence more diligently than any other field I have attempted to educate her in."

Shortly the snow white poodle arrives at her own portrait, a impressive rendering of herself in her Temple armor. She tilts her head faintly to regard her reflection in paint before she puts up her personal weapon for the time being. "I suppose it is not an interest of mine, simply because I have so much to sign daily." She turns to face the Naga, and then to gaze past him toward the parlor. "Come then, I should not keep my dear sister waiting any longer, lest she surmise I have abandoned the art of conversation and greeting as well."

Tremaine nods, and shifts to hold the parlor door open for Elise, gesturing for her to precede him.

An impeccably groomed and garbed white-furred poodle rests, elegantly draped over the divan, with a needlepoint circle held between her hands. She sets her work onto the table and smiles at Elise as the other poodle enters, shifting to stand. "Welcome home at last, sister," she pronounces, her tone formal but with some warmth to it.

"As I had mentioned to Tremaine upon my arrival, I am pleased to return. My assignment has been so very political, and unlike so many such assignments, uncomfortable." With a soft smile, the Templar poodle walks over toward her sister and lowers herself to rest on one knee so that she is even with the other. "I can only offer you an excuse as to why I have not written as much as I should. My duty has kept me busy, and the distance was great. But now we have some time to talk."

Katherine smiles at her sister, her movement to rise aborted as the other moves to kneel beside her. Instead, she shifts to sit with her feet against the floor, her left arm resting on the divan's high back, while her right hand steals out to tweak one of Elise's curls of hair. "You really could write me back," she says teasingly. "I know Tremaine says he taught you how."

Elise smile widens slightly, even as a stray curl is tugged, and she casts this amused look toward Tremaine. "Oh, he has, yet day after day I fly in the face of the structure and learning he has given me." She turns back to her sister, smile fading back to the soft one she had when she first greeted her sister. "But truly, I am certain it would bore you so much so you might think me having grown dull. But I assure you, while I am here, I will speak of whatever you wish and I will listen with the same dedication."

Her sister makes a moue at her, wrinkling her nose. "Oh, surely! For at least the first five minutes, then it'll be all yawns and 'How my trip has wearied me, Katherine! I must be up to bed!'" she mimics.

"Oh come now. Surely I must be more attentive than that?" The uniformed poodle casts the Naga a questioning glance, and then the same to her sister. "And, I do not appreciate your sarcasm. Here, I offer you my mind, and I am mocked. Mocked, by my own sister. How dreadfully shameful." At the last sentence, Elise attempts to look offended. The look is quite unbelievable, her amusement given away by her inability to maintain a straight face toward the end of her comment.

The younger poodle leans her side against the back of the divan and pulls her feet up to stretches out gracefully along it. "Pshaw," she says with a sniff. "Go on, tell her, Tremaine. Isn't she always just like that whenever I try to catch her up on events?"

Elise again looks to Tremaine questioningly, eyebrow raised. "Is this true?" she asks.

The Naga teacher bows to the two young women. "I believe this is my cue to retire," he replies cordially, hiding a smile, "and leave you two to reacquaint yourselves. As always, Lady de Bellefeuille, it is a pleasure to have you once again in residence."

The older poodle rolls her eyes. "And now my servant dodges my question. Shameful, dreadfully shameful." She waves the Naga off with her left hand. "Yes yes, begone, lest you give my sister further instruction that she might hold against me as I toil for our lineage."

Tremaine offers an apologetic nod to Elise. "Your pardon ifI have mis-educated your sister, dear lady. I only sought to instruct her in the same course you were given," he says smoothly, bowing again as he makes his exit.

Giggling like a young girl, Katherine makes a face at her sister's protests, then shakes her head as the Naga withdraws. "Coward!" she calls after him. She hunts about her for something, then seizes on a lace fan and throws it at Tremaine's retreating back. "Come back here, you big 'fraidy snake!"

As the snake makes his escape, Elise gazes off in the direction he departed. "His talent for escaping criticism could have earned him a high place in the right circles. One wonders," she again looks to her sister, "why he ever chose to endure the two of us. Now tell me, have you something to speak of?"

As Elise speaks, the tutor closes the door to the parlor behind him, and the two can catch his stifled chuckle and words that sound suspiciously like "think they would have outgrown this by now" come muffled through the wood.

Katherine runs a hand languidly through her long, curly tresses. "Oh, I don't even know where to begin, 'lise," she replies airily. "Was it really so terribly dull while you were away? I never know what you do on these long trips of yours, much less why you do it."

Elise pushes upon her knee and rises from where she was kneeling. She searches for a nearby place to seat herself, her memory of the room since faded due to so much time away. "It was a assignment intended to keep me from whatever scandal arose from the siege of Faraon's base, the Jade Palace … " She frowns faintly, still searching but perhaps no longer for just a place to sit. "The circumstances of that battle required I be sent away, to protect me. The assignment was a cover, and so my mission was simply to be unseen for a time."

The younger poodle sticks the tip of her tongue out in an atypically unladylike gesture of disapproval. "That does sound dreadfully dull. Still, there was the most terrible fuss over all those poor Gallisians and Chronotopians killed at the Jade Palace. Lady von Sedgewick even organized a group to petition the Temple for an apology – not that any of it was the Temple's fault," Katherine adds loyally. "Such a terrible person, that Faraon character." She gives a feminine shudder. "We're surely well-rid of him now. They never caught him, though, did they?"

After searching seconds longer the armored poodle chooses the loveseat to sit upon – the choice apparently made due to the bulk of her ornate armor. It rattles faintly as she settles onto the seat. "I … would not venture to say we are rid of him. He is … devious, and apparently quite ancient. I believe he has been routed for a time and his base of power damaged significantly, but he may return. But by the First Ones, we can pray that he does not." She smiles hopefully and folds her hands in her lap. "Before this all happened I had been stationed in Gallis. But I suppose I may be in disfavor there, even after my attempt to avoid the public relations taint the siege invariably stained its members with. I have some time now to rest, and of course, talk."

"Just as well," Katherine replies, then makes another expression of distaste when the rattle of the armor attracts her attention. "I am sorry, 'lise, here I am chattering away and you still in your work clothes. I am sure you want to change into something more comfortable and appropriate for the house." She stands and opens the parlor door. "C'mon, we will see what the maids have readied for wearing from your wardrobe."

Elise blinks in surprise, dropping her gaze to the breastplate of her armor. "Oh my. I have been in these trappings so often, I had thought nothing of wearing them for a length of time within my own home." She stands up, shaking her head in distaste. "I have become both lax in my discourse and forgetful in my attire. Surely I am falling apart," she says. A hand is held out for her sister to take.

"Of course you are, sister dear," Katherine tells her lightly, accepting her hand and leading her to the stairs. "You've not had me to keep you together."

"Of course," agrees the elder sister as she follows along. "I surround myself with Jupani and Zelaks while I am away, and I must say, they certainly do not help. Zelaks are absolutely mindless when it comes to opinion."

The other lady shivers. "Ugh, Zelaks! Do tell me you have not resorted to asking their advice! My word, Elise, but you keep the most appalling company, you poor dear." She pats her sister's hand with her own, leading her into the master bedroom, and throwing wide the doors to the first wardrobe. Katherine beams with approval at the smell that greets them, a tinge of cedar and fresh air, and none of the taint of mustiness one would expect from a closet of long disused clothing. "Good, the maids did air your things out as I instructed them. One of the new ones, Flower – phah! She's not too reliable, I fear. We may have to let her go."

The elder poodle lifts a hand to her muzzle, concealing a giggle. "My my, and here I thought I had been the one busy with command. Surely, have you not considered a career in the Temple? You have done such a wonderful duty here." She leans away from her sister, smiling in her direction and waiting for the inevitable response to that suggestion.

"Hmph!" Katherine makes the indignant noise seem delicate and genteel. "No, you lead armies, dear sister, I'll lead households." She searches about the closet for a comfortable day dress, wrinkling her nose a bit as she pries further in. "At least that assignment in Gallis did you some good, Elise – you've got plenty of recent clothes for once, and – " she shoots her sister a sharp look " – I don't mean those dreadful uniforms you wear, either." She retrieves a simple sea-green dress with a fitted bodice and a touch of ribbon trim, offering it for her sister's inspection.

"I happen to think my uniforms are perfectly respectable," mentions the uniformed poodle in her defense. She takes up the offered dress and tilts her head critically. "Yes, this will do. But tell me … and this is important, are you happy, my sister? Jests aside, I cannot be here as I would like. I do worry about your condition."

Katherine smiles reassuringly at her sister. "Oh, I am quite happy, Elise! That dreadful affair at the Jade Dome was a nuisance for a while, what with everyone pointing fingers and people claiming that it was all the fault of the Temple. But the Temple got the truth spread eventually! Everyone now knows it was just that horrid Faraon's doing, luring those poor nobles to his Dome so that he could kill them. Monster!" She sniffs the air disdainfully. "And now it's that witch von Sedgewick that no one wants to call on, for her trying to make us out to be the bad guys. Serves her right!"

Elise gives her sister a concerned look. "Now, that is not exactly what I meant. But, I suppose if you were unhappy, you would tell me." The dress is held against the poodle's armor so that she can further examine how it might look. "And, of course, you would tell me in an ever so lengthy letter, that I would never respond to because I am a dreadful sister."

"Exactly!" The other poodle beams and winks at her sister, leaning back against the bed and making shooing motions at her sister. "Go on, put it on." While she waits for her sister to comply, she chatters on, "Anyroad, it all worked out quite for the best, because I might never have met Grant otherwise." The younger poodle sighs dramatically, her tone wistful.

At her sister's direction Elise moves off to change. From a side room, she inquires about this interest of her sister. "Oh? Grant? Is this yet another of those coxcombs that eternally seek our hands, so that they might put theirs in our fortune?"

Rolling her eyes in exaggerated disbelief, Katherine waves ahand in dismissal at Elise's remark. "Honestly, Elise, I don't know where you get all that cynicism from! Do you really think our company is so unbearable and our lineage so hideous that no man would seek us out save for our wealth?" She makes another little "hmmph!" "Perhaps you have nothing more to offer a man than gold, but I daresay I have other charms at my disposal." She spreads her fingers as they were a fan, and hides her muzzle flirtatiously behind them, then winks at her sister.

From the other room, Elise looks suspicious at her sister's comment. Despite this, she grins widely. "I most certainly do have things to offer a man – dedicated service to the Temple or perhaps, the gallows." She taps her chin in mock-thought in an attempt to further tease her sister. Soon she breaks from this and continues changing. "I simply do not have time for amore, and besides, that is your department. Allow me to be cynical. And, do go on. Tell me about this Grant?"

Unseen while her sister is changing, Katherine sticks her tongue out at Elise's comment on the gallows. "You will have to make room for amore some day," the younger sister contends. "Surely you cannot intend to be a spinster forever! But if you must be cynical, do leave Grant out of it. He is different." Another wistful sigh wafts out of her as her eyes unfocus in contemplation of her beau. "He is so … so … wonderful." Her shoulders rise and fall in despair at the monumental task of describing her love with words. "He is sweet, and so sincere, but playful, too. He likes to do things, not just talk about them." She wraps her arms around her shoulders, heaving another longing sigh.

Finally the now green dressed poodle enters the room, her arms hoisting the armor she was wearing only moments ago. "You make him sound as if he were th-, oh yes, pardon me. The cynicism. Mmm, he sounds unusually wonderful. I'll have to meet him, sometime," she says.

"Soon, I hope!" Katherine says emphatically. She takes the breastpiece of the armored uniform from her sister, and begins hanging it on the mannequin standing in a corner of Elise's room, for that purpose. "He's to call on me tomorrow afternoon, Elise. Would you like to meet him then?"

"I most certainly would. He seems very important to you, and I really do want to spend some time with you while I am home. This will be an excellent way for me to see what you have been up to." Elise too begins to hang armor, beginning with the right arm armor. She holds on to her gauntlet for a moment, running her thumb over the smooth chitin. "Perhaps I will impress him with a borrowed Inquisitrix uniform. How better to inquire as to why he is seeing my sister." She smiles sweetly.

The other poodle looks completely aghast. "You wouldn't dare!" She fixes Elise with a determined glare.

The other poodle hangs her gauntlet before clasping her hands around what's left of her armor. "Oh no, I just could not! After all, the Temple simply does not lend out Inquisitrix uniforms, not even for such worthy causes," she says with feigned innocence.

Katherine flicks her tail in annoyance, then brushes back a lock of hair. "'Worthy cause' indeed! You are a cruel woman, Elise." She pauses. "You will be nice to Grant, won't you?" she says, her tone serious now. "Tell me you will not interrogate him about his plans, or imply that he is only interested in our fortune and not in me."

Elise goes to place the other arm of her armor up, but pauses at the mention of being cruel. She puts her head gauntlet to her cheek since her hands are full, and of course, to show how serious her reaction isn't. "Cruel! Oh now I am cruel … oh woe is me, that I am saddled with such titles," she says. She sighs in teasing exhaustion before she relents and goes to put the rest of her armor away. "I promise to be a perfect lady. I will not interrogate or investigate him, but I reserve the right to ask questions if I find reason to be suspicious. Of course if he is as wonderful as you say, that should not be necessary."

The younger Gallee's smile lights up the room. "Oh, he is, sweet Elise. Believe me, he is."

The elder poodle finishes up her task and turns to fully face her sister. "I will just have to see for myself then. Come, shall we have dinner prepared, or would you rather dine out?"