It’s a damned party. Straia is late, but fashionably so. Besides, she’s the Queen. It actually means that everyone else is simply early. The ravens have been keeping her informed. The ghost has come! The ghost has come! They chant, again and again, because sometimes they get a little excited about things. And this time, they are very certain that Gryffen is a ghost and not a horse at all. But he is really a horse. However, she doesn’t dash their hopes, but rather nods. Eventually, they get past the excitement of the ghost and mention that scarred, broken creature that follows him.
Reuen? She’d be shocked if Gryffen had actually managed to sneak the girl away from the annoying, watchful eye of the Gates magician. And a bit pleased too. But she doubts this is the case. Apparently he’s found another plaything. Another broken, worthless creature. Straia doesn’t entirely see the point of wasting time on such things, but ah, if it pleases him and keeps him serving the Chamber, what does she care in the long run?
Straia is on her way over, close enough to catch various snippets of the conversation herself and to be filled in on the details by her ravens. But they also inform her that Shaytan and Sayaa and Engelsfors have also arrived (the bunny, the scrawny thing, and the golden tower). Ravens are really terrible with names.
Eventually, she finds this little gather. “Well well, Gryffen.” she says, weaving past the crowd with just a slight nod till she comes to stand near Gryffen and the girl. “What have you brought us? And more to the point, who did you piss off to get her, and what do you plan to do with her?” Straia isn’t against broken gifts, so long as they are useful gifts. The one thing the Chamber does not need is dead weight. They don’t need a prisoner who can’t do shit or doesn’t anger the appropriate kingdom. So she gets right to the point, because she needs a few more details before she can consider whether or not the girl is a gift at all.
And then, because she is vaguely intrigued by the broken girl, she turns her attention to the girl. She is scrawny (more so than Sayaa), covered in scars and cuts. “Aoki, is it?” It is, because the ravens can repeat names even though they don’t understand that it’s a name. She’s getting pretty good a deciphering their speech. “What did he promise you, if you came here?” she asks the girl, shooting a glance at Gryffen. This is not his question to answer. To influence. It is hers and hers alone, because Straia wants to know.
straia
the raven queen of the chamber