Not-so-secrets

Serah looked over to the place Valdyr was pointing at. "Seems a nice place. Why not, let's go there", she agreed then, adjusting her clothes. 'How do you even walk in this?'

Serah smiled, leaning on her chair. "Well, it's not like we know everything of each other, do we? I give you a free round of cards: ask whatever and I won't get angry. It's a once-in-a-lifetime occasion", she joked. "While you can tell me when did you pick up clock-making, and if you got other mysterious hobbies I'm not aware of!"

Serah's smile got wider. "Well, that's an interesting story. Ever heard of Red Jenny?", she asked nonchalantly. She honestly didn't know if the ballads and legends had reached the North, or even countries outside the West, but boy if she wasn't going to put herself under the spotlight!

Serah smiled even more widely. "Let's say it was. After I left my place, I had nothing to live of, you see. So I took up stealing, and I became a thief." She looked at her hands. "Just that stealing for me wasn't enough. Living on streets and seeing how poor people were treated by nobles and higher class disgusted me. They were the spit of society, struggling to live another day, and no one cared." She looked at him again. "I decided to care. I started robbing nobles and rich assholes, humiliating them in all the ways I could, and giving everything back to people. With only a red cloak to make me recognizable and no name or actual description, I was called Jenny the Red."

Serah's smile faltered a bit. "Well... caring too much put me through a lot of shit. Including but not limited to being caught, thrown into prison and sentenced to death", she sighed. "If it wasn't for Nadia- Lady Trevelyan, I would have been hanged and thrown in a pit. The last straw was discovering that it had been some of the people I was helping to out me to the guards."

Serah nodded. "I wanted to pay her back, so I offered her my services. In my years as a thief I had gathered contacts in the lowest parts of the society, which are always useful. And my overall sneakiness and skills allowed me to rank as a spymaster", she concluded.

Serah hummed, thinking a bit about the answer. "I've never really been the kind to, y'know. Follow a leader, obey to rules. That kind of stuff doesn't really do it for me. I prefer to stick to simple things, like you guys", she smiled at him. "You were just a group of friends going on adventures, with no more ties than the ones you have to each other. That's pretty neat. And let's be honest, Nadia didn't like me staying there out of obligation. I'm a free spirit!" She snickered.

"Well, honestly I'll keep wandering wherever you guys will go. Ok, mostly you I think, but you got it", Serah answered, smiling back at him. "The only thing is, I don't think our two friends are very keen on moving right now."

Serah all but grinned. "Aaah, the beauty of innocence", she cooed jokingly. Even though she had been fairly clueless about it until some hours before BUT who cares. "Our big boy has been rolling in the sheets of Lady Carleen since some time by now. With her too, if I may add", she whispered, all too happily spreading the gossip. "While Yvan... well, if everything goes right for him, he'll be 'getting lucky', as he says, with the first maiden of the palace in brief time."

Serah laughed at that oh so endearing expression on Valdyr's face. "Well, apparently he was warmly invited from the lady herself in her rooms as soon as we set foot in the castle. 'Grabbed by the balls', as Yvan said. He probably never got lost, our poor sweetheart", she chuckled.

Serah raised a hand, to kill all the worries as they were born. Or at least so she hoped. "Don't worry. They have been so careful about this that so far, only three people - well, four now - know about this. And only because they were told about it. Besides, her first maiden is very careful about hiding every single hint about it. I think Horknath wasn't really the first to end up in the princess' bed." She chuckled. "Even if, from how they talk about each other, it really seem they have fallen pretty hard for each other."

Serah snorted. "Yeah, 'blessing'. If they're half as intelligent as I think they are, they're probably using precautions", she said. She knew all too well about those kind of brews that went around, that made having sex prevented any kind of... unwanted results. Hey, she had her experiences. "Well, they are both adults and stuff. I'm sure that Lady Carleen will solve this by herself. Now, moving on", she said. Hey, she didn't want to pass her whole date speaking about someone else's love affairs! "When did you pick up clock-making?"