Awaiting a body... - Black Lotus

Oh, this was going to be fun.

Her head turned as she looked at Dalia. And continued to remain silent.

She looked up the ladder past Ra'idah.

"You have such skills?"

He held steadfast where he stood, hands still folded and looking rather calm and coldly logical.

"Do you think me so foolish as to bold-faced lie to the Prince's wife and Seneschal of this domain?" He angles his head slightly, cracking his neck and returning to the collected position he held. "Moreover, I didn't earn my Useful status in the Camarilla by handing out Hors D'ourves at Elysium." A quick and almost imperceptable twitch of the lips in a smile and a quirk of the eyebrows.

The amused expression faded completely and a bit of cold seeped in.

"I did not accuse you of any sort of lie. You said it could be arranged, you did not say you possessed such skills."

She flicked her eyes between the two. See? Fun.

"My clan is known for many things, Lady Seneschal. I can find this information for you."

Just don't get into a pissing contest right now.

Without moving another muscle, Ethan's calm and smiling eyes turned to look at the blond. "You can find this information within an hour? As that's how long it will take me."

She shrugged.

"I'll have it before that, or he will be dead. Either way, I will know."

He quirked what almost seemed a disapproving eyebrow. "...and you can do this without unstaking him, as I can, I take it?"

She shrugged again.

"Naturally."

He shrugged and held out his palm-up hand. "Lead on. I only ask to get a moment's glance at him before you go to work." He glanced back at Dalia, as she was the one who called the shots here.

"Enough. If you wish to snipe at each other, then do it later. Ra'idah, can you manage it without killing it?"

She turned her smile to the Seneschal.

"Of course, Lady Seneschal."

"Then please do so. Ethan, I would like you to do the primary questioning."

She nodded, then continued to go below where she had dropped off the body of the man.

She said nothing, just walking over to the body and nicking his wrist with one of the many knives she had on her person. Then she waited for a moment, touching the tip of her now-bloodied knife to her tongue before she wiped it clean and sheathed it again.

Ethan also nodded and saw no reason to speak beyond what was already stated.

His footsteps were silent and careful as he trailed three steps behind the Assassin.

As he saw her cut the man, Ethan concentrated for just a moment, leaning back against a wall for support.

She sat there for a moment, then a look of confusion crossed her face. Then it cleared.

"Oh. Makes more sense now."

It was a quiet mutter, then she turned to fix Dalia with her stare again while she cleaned off the blade in her hand.

"Malkavian."

As Ra'idah spoke, Ethan's muscles tensed and his eyes blinked twice as he seemed to shake something off.

"He's also learned how to move twice as fast as any man and someone has taught him a novice's level of Fortitude." Ethan then pushed off the wall to stand straight and spoke directly to Dalia.

"If it is indeed a child of Malkav, then unstaking it would be unwise. I've witnessed far too many Kindred go raving mad around the Sabbat lunatics. I've also learned through hard experience that entering their minds is a risky proposition, to say the least."

He made an apologetic face. "Unfortunately, that does not leave us very many safe options."

She shrugged.

"He poses little threat to me. If you wish to actually question him, I can just beat it out of him. He was not difficult to take down the first time."

Ethan looked unimpressed by her response. "I'm sure your stealth capabilities are formidable and likely caught him by surprise. As he is currently listening to all we are saying, he need only wait for the stake to be removed to attack our psyche. I, for one, am not sticking around to allow that."

He walked to the door, opened it and closed it, not stepping through but instead putting his finger to his lips in a 'sh' gesture as he faded from view to all who couldn't already see him.

She stared at him for a moment.

"Of course, my superior skill and strength had nothing to do with it," she said dryly.

But as he opened and shut the door, she nodded once to indicate that she understood.

When he put his fingers to his lips, she nodded once then flicked her eyes away.

"Hmmm...he is correct, however. There are not too many safe options for questioning."

She shrugged again.

"It is as your preference, Lady Seneschal. As I stated, I do not believe that it poses any threat to me. Though I do wonder if, since the priest is merely staked, that mentioning using the powers of his lineage as potential problems may have given him ideas."

The last, she gave both the Nosferatu and the Lasombra an almost exasperated look.

Ethan silently moved around the body in the middle of the floor, hugging the wall, such that he now stood directly above the Malkavian's head, requiring it to tilt it's head up to see him, if it could.

She hadn't brought it up. Still...it was reasonable to say.

Not that most of the Malkavians among the Sabbat were kept under lock and key for a reason....

She turned again, and her face was blank.

She smiled at Dalia.

"What would you like done, my Lady?"