Title: Avery Sa'Chatham of Clan SaChatham, not to be confused with
Duncan McCleod of Clan McCleod.  ^_-
Date:
Authors: Spiffy, Teri, Stana, Kit
"Let it never be said that Avery Sa'Chatham did not show his guests a
       good time."

       That was what their host had said, and by all accounts he ment
it. The
       entire party had been bathed, provided with clean clothing while
their
       own gear was being mended, and sat down in front of... well... a
feast.
       Even Kal had been made somewhat presentable, a feat in itself.

       The long oak banquet table was piled high with every food
imaginable,
       and a few that hadn't been imagined - by humans at least. Wine
wsa
       provided for the humans, and Elainas was able to enjoy her first
class
       of Moonwine in a long time. Even Clip had been provided with a
table
       setting to accomidate his equine form, and he munched merrily
amongst
       the humans and elves.

       Teri, for once, was not in the mood for a good time. She was
torn between worshipfully staring at
       the delicate beings she had read so much about (but never
considered to really exist), and falling
       asleep in her food. They had offered her wine, and she had
declined with a wave of nausea.  The
       memory of her painful head was still fresh, and she had gotten
little real sleep in quite some time.
       After almost nodding off into her strange elven fruit compote
(she would regret later not having been
       able to appreciate the food), she excused herself back to what
had been designated as her quarters.

       Audion was quiet as usually, though incredibly intent on letting
no one within three feet of him.  He
       was visibly shaking, though not wounded or tired looking.  He
stood away from the table mostly,
       having grabbed an apple in passing and leaned against the wall.
He did, however, snicker when
       Teri's nose came dangerously close to her dish.   Would the
elves be able to perceive his overactive
       void?  He was surprised the Unicorn hadn't started going
balistic.  That or everyone was too
       occupied to notice.  The elementalist gazed at his violently
trembling hands, each of his rings
       shining.  He had taken so much energy in....it was like a drug,
except he could feel blackness
       seeping from his aural form.   Audion used what etiquette he
knew of dealing with foreign courts,
       thanked their host wordlessly, then disappeared to his
respective chambers.

       Stana looked wordlessly about, more than a little intimidated by
all the bustle around. She had gotten
       used to being away from this, after her short time on the road.
She hadnt liked this amount of activity
       in court, and she didnt care for it here either.  Why couldnt
everyone understand she just wanted to be
       left alone?

       "It looks," said Avery cheerfully, leaning over "that upon that
brow sits many unpleasant thoughts.
       I'd invite them to leave you this evening."

       "Nothing more unpleasant than normal." she responded. "We're all
a little out of sorts."

        "Your companions have already plead fatigue and left
early...are you planning on leaving as well?"

       Stana, who had been plotting just that, reconsidered when she
remembered Teri had been given a
       room to share with her. A quick glance around revealed the
Unicorn glancing at her from the corner
       of his gaze as he continued to feed.

       She suddenly didn't want to leave him. At least under the bright
festival lights there werent too many
       shadows. And there was Teri in the bedroom waiting. And Stana
was pretty sure that whatever else
       was in that room with her would be more uncomfortable.

       "Clip made the journey easy." she extemporized. "its different
than riding a horse. In fact, when I got
       on Agni for the last leg, it was awkward as anything to control
him."

       But in a way she missed having a normal mount. There was a
codependancy there that Clip lacked.
       He didnt need her and never would. Not like a normal equine.

       She skipped her gaze over the Unicorn, remembering that shiny
alicorn dripping gore.

       "-ages since we've seen one of their kind..." Avery was saying.
Stana tore her attention back to the
       conversation. "They havent changed much...at least the younger
ones havent. Still arrogant
       and selfish. He'll learn though. They all do."

       He must have been talking about the Unicorns. She supposed it
made sense that the two had
       interacted in the past. They were both increadibly long lived
creatures with direct ties to nature. The
       illusionary magic on this glade, she had been told, hid it
completely from sight. Refracting the very
       light around it as a shield. Anyone attempting to walk through
the barrier found themselves on the
       other end of it, none the wiser.

       "The night Gardens are quite nice." the Elf was concluding. "I'd
be happy to show them to you. It's
       a beautiful time of night to see the willow flowers blossom.
Only under a harvester's full moon
       they say."

       Seeing his companion nod, albeit reluctantly, he swept her off
to a side door, biding the Unicorn join
       them down below. Clip assented with a whicker and trotted out of
the room through an alternate
       door.