that was one hell of a field trip

Artorias arrived quickly, giving Avantika a warm smile and a nuzzle as he greeted her. Her guts twisted into hard knots at the thought of telling him what had happened. He called her 'Templar' again, too, but her smile was weaker than usual. Did she really deserve to adorn herself with that title if she couldn't even complete one little measly mission correctly? Her thoughts on the lost alliance bounced hectically between wanting it and the conviction that it wouldn't be good for the Hallows anyway.

They walked together. It seemed like Art liked to walk as he met with people a lot. 'Tell me everything,' he said. She hesitated before responding. "I hope you weren't too set on this," she said. "He refused the alliance." She needed to justify herself, but she didn't want to say what Chimera had almost made her do. And no one but her would ever know how close it had really been, despite her disgust with the king and sleeping with any man in general. She'd found a limit on her loyalty, for now. But it was a tentative boundary.

She had to say the events, though. "It was going okay, and then--and then--" She stopped walking. "He showed me his slaves, and he told me he'd give me a freebie for being your sister, but--but I said no. And then--" She was getting to the bad part now. "He asked if I would rather bed a king--him--instead, and he said--he said--" She was starting to tear up a little, from the anxiety of remembering, and her voice was even more wavery than it had been when she started explaining, but she continued. "He said that he'd only give us the alliance if I--if I did."

"Speech"