Chapter 15: Declaration and Acceptance. Pt 1.

In that moment, as Mystilynn and Bjorn shook hands Graum felt the hair on his spine stand up. Like the winds of fate ordained this momentous moment.

"I'm pleased to hear your decisions." Mystilynn smiled.

"Thanks for having us... it means a lot." Bjorn replied with an earnest sincerity in his tone.

"I have a good feeling about the two of you." She remarked pulling her hand away from Bjorn, sitting back down in her chair behind her desk.

"There are a few things I would like to go over with the two of you. However if you would prefer to have a look around the guild, that is understandable." Mystilynn remarked folding her hands together.

Bjorn turned back to graum with wide excited eyes.

"Brother! Can we?" He inquired happily, like a young child

"If you want to peruse the grounds, I'll listen to what Mystilynn has to say. Two birds with one stone, and what not." Graum remarked, smiling at Bjorn's enthusiasm.

"Perfect!.." Bjorn cheered as he turned back to Mystilynn. "Is that alright?"

Mystilynn had a brief expression of surprise from their willingness to separate so soon, especially in a foreign environment.

"Absolutely." She smiled standing up from her chair.

Mystilynn walked over to her office door, calling someone's name as she opened it.

"Tanora!" She called out

Mystilynn then gestured with her hand for the person she called out too, to come over to her.

Bjorn and Graum waited patiently until eventually someone approached Mystilynn. It was another elf girl, with white pearlescent hair that sparkled like winter's ice against the rising sun. She wore a green skirt that only went down to her mid thighs, and a white button-down blouse and a green ribbon tied underneath the collar.

Graum noticed how slender she was, and how snug her cloths were. Not like they were to small for her, but how perfectly she filled them out.

Bjorn noticed her enchanting Purple eyes, they reminded him of Amethysts. He also noticed her more feminine features... from her more than modest chest to her perfectly rounded buttocks

"Brother... that is an an elf I would like to personally get to know." Bjorn lewdly smirked.

"Careful brother, I'm still not convinced about Mystilynn's motives. Don't let your guard down." Graum glanced cautiously.

"Haha, brother... come now, would I let a beautiful women distract me?" Bjorn confidently smirked.

Graum raised an eye brow. His silence was more than an answer, meaning yes, Bjorn absolutely would let a women distract him.

"Gee thanks!" Bjorn chuckled at Graum's lack of faith.

"Allow me to introduce you." Mystilynn announced, deliberately interrupting Bjorn and Graum.

Bjorn and Graum gave Mystilynn their undivided attention.

"Bjorn, Graum." Mystilynn gestured towards them with her hand. "This is Tanora Vinelief. She stands in as guild administrator when I'm otherwise indisposed. She is the guilds public relation representative, meaning she deals with clients who wish to post quests and she is also my dearest friend." Mystilynn smiled as she introduced Tanora.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Tanora smiled with blushing cheeks. She felt embarrassed by Mystilynn's praise.

"Nice to pleasure you! ... WAIT... um.. I mean, I'm Bjorn. The pleasure is mine, nice to meet you!" Bjorn nervously stumbled over his words.

Tanora's gorgeous appeal triggered Bjorn's nervousness. As a warrior, Bjorn was seldomly exposed to such enchanting beauty. Not to mention the enchanting beauty of elven women...since he was a dwarf most of his encounters with elves were with their men, and it was on the battlefield, where they were trying to kill him

"That's precious." Tanora covered her mouth as she giggled at Bjorn's nervousness.

"And I'm Graum. Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Vinelief." He greeted slightly bowing his head. From what he knew of elven culture it was customary to bow when meeting those of elven nobility. And for some reason her stunning beauty compelled Graum to bow his head as he introduced himself.

Tanora smiled as she turned to Mystilynn.

" ((such attractive individuals))" said Tanora in a foreign language as she smiled at Mystilynn

Bjorn and Graum both had confused expressions as they heard Tanora speak, but they didn't understand what her words meant.

"((be well-behaved))" Mystilynn replied.

"Eh-hem." Mystilynn cleared her throat switching to a language Graum and Bjorn could understand. "Tanora, would you please take Bjorn on a tour of the Guild while, Graum and I discuss a few matters?" She asked.

"I would be delighted too!" Tanora sweetly smiled as she replied. "Might I ask what is the nature for giving Bjorn a tour of the guild?" Tanora asked Mystilynn In a formal tone.

"Of course. As members of New Zennith, they should be familiar with the guild grounds" Mystilynn remarked, her smile turned into a grin.

"As members of new Zennith?" Tanora asked, her tone and surprised expression implied that she mis-heard Mystilynn's response.

"That is what I said." Mystilynn replied her tone was mischievously, as her grin turned smug .

Bjorn and Graum exchanged glances with each other as Tanora and Mystilynn went back and forth.

"((I can't wait until SHE finds out))" Tanora replied under her breath. "Right this way Bjorn" Tanora smiled as she gestured towards the door.

"Oh, okay" Bjorn responded walking towards were Tanora gestured.

"Tanora. When you're finished showing Bjorn around the grounds, could you both wait in the foyer?" Mystilynn asked as Bjorn approached.

"Of course." Tanora nodded. "Bjorn, if you would follow me." She continued as she walked out of Mystilynn's office.

Tanora led Bjorn into the middle of the guild hall and as she did Bjorn looked examined his surroundings. In front of him were two side by side doors and above those , a giant mural made of stained glass which depicted a rising sun peaking over the horizon.

Off to his right, were tables and chairs scattered around where people sporadically sat, these were adventurers taking moments of respite either before or after taking on quests. Over his shoulder Bjorn noticed a desk and next to it a giant bulletin board where the guild posted quests. Bjorn came to the conclusion that the desk was Tanora's.

Shifting his head to the left, Bjorn saw a hand full of long tables evenly spaced out. these were the dinning tables. And even further to his left was the hearth. A small indented pit where individuals could sit next to the comfort of a warm fire.

Spaced out throughout the foyer were pillars that held up what Bjorn assumed was the second floor.

"This is the guilds foyer. If you notice, the teak we used for the floor was imported from the forest of Tafeld..." Tanora's voice trailed off, as Mystilynn closed her office door.

-meanwhile-

"Now we can discuss matters with minimal distractions." Mystilynn smiled walking past Graum, and back to her chair behind her desk.

Graum cautiously observed Mystilynn's movements, almost as though he was anticipating a surprise attack.

Mystilynn sat down at her desk and noticed Graum's stiff posture.

"Are you anxious? Or do you believe i have some elaborate plot to bring harm to you?" Mystilynn chuckled poking fun at Graum's guarded demeanor.

Graum stood silently.

"If I wanted to do you or 'your brother' harm. I would've done so when you were both shackled to the walls of the dungeon." Mystilynn explained with a playful smirk.

"That is true. However I ask that you forgive me for not believing your words. My trust isn't so easily earned." Graum replied calmly.

"That is fair." Mystilynn remarked as she placed her elbows on the desk interlocking her fingers. "I live by the policy of: trusting others until they prove themselves untrustworthy" she finished with a smile.

"I mean no offense, but not everyone has such a privileged upbringing." Graum snickered insinuating Mystilynn didn't have issues of her own growing up.

Mystilynn's smile turned to a disappointed frown.

"It is true, compared to most. I did have what you called a 'privileged upbringing' however that does NOT mean it was without hardships." Mystilynn replied with a sharp, aggravated tone.

"I apologize." Graum apologized when he realized his response deeply offended her.

Mystilynn took a deep breath before she started to brood over Graum's assumption.

"Shall we discuss guild business?" She exhaled.

Feeling genuinely guilty about offending Mystilynn... whom so far has been nothing but kind to him and bjorn; He nodded.

"As members of New Zennith, you and bjorn are to conduct yourselves in a manner that upholds the guilds ideals. Because you both are members your actions directly reflect onto the guild. Simply put: if you do bad things, our guild will develope a bad reputation. A Radiant guild that has a bad reputation, could lose their 'Radiant' status. Which isn't a good thing… Make sense?" She paused waiting for graum to give her some gesture of acknowledgement.

"Mmhm" he nodded.

"However, if you follow the guilds ideals, you won't have anything to worry about." Mystilynn said with a reassuring smile.

"And what are these 'ideals' that Bjorn and I should be upholding?" Graum quickly asked.

"Hmmm... oh I know!" Mystilynn exclaimed reaching out of Graum's sight, and opening one of the desk drawers.

Graum saw Mystilynn pull out a giant book from out of his line of sight and dropped it on top of her desk.

-kerplunk-

The teacup rattled against the teaspoon and saucer as the book plopped onto the desk. When compared to the teacup, the book was much larger.

"This here, is our guilds charter. If you could read this over, it would explain, and outline the guilds ideals and goals." Mystilynn explained with a blissful smile.

"Ehhhhh.. if I must." Graum begrudgingly sighed as he took a seat across from Mystilynn. He opened the book and began reading.

-mean while with Bjorn and Tanora-

"This is the guilds foyer. If you notice, the teak we used for the floor was imported from the forest of Tafeld." Tanora pointed to the floor underneath Bjorn, as well as the stairs behind him that led up to the second story.

"It looks very impressive." Bjorn admitted, even though when it came to a craft he himself knew little about: wood working.

"The walls are comprised of rich stone that we exported from the dwarven city of stones: Tramor." Tanora proudly pointed out as she walked over to the wall,placing her hand on the smooth but sturdy stone wall.

"The dwarven city of Tramor? That is an interesting choice... considering...uh... well.." Bjorn nervously replied as he broadly gestured at Tanora's elven body.

At first Tanora seemed surprised by Bjorn's blunt statement. But then smiled.

'It would be strange for an elf to casually talk about dwarves...especially to a human' she thought to herself, unaware of the fact that Bjorn himself was a dwarf.

"Even though Mystilynn and I are elves, we don't share the disdain for dwarves as our elven kin." Tanora smiled looking back at the wall of rock from the dwarven nation.

"Tramor was a great choice. The stones there are just as tough as it's inhabitants." Bjorn remarked as he walked over to the wall,placing his hand on the stone. Bjorn felt the subtle texture of the minerals that comprised the stone. His experienced hands could tell by how smooth the minerals were that the stone used to craft these walls were of good quality.

"Have you been to Tramor?" Tanora asked in a surprised tone.

"I have! Several times as a matter of fact. There was a time I took a brief apprenticeship from one of the smiths." Bjorn replied, as he closely brought this nose to the stone wall.

He took in a deep whiff through his nose. His dwarven sense faintly smelled the very subtly scent of lime. "Strange, the walls look like Gneiss... but it's to smooth for that. Plus the subtle scent of lime... these walls must be from an adolescent form of marble." Bjorn said aloud to himself.

"That's VERY impressive! Because it is in fact impure marble!" Tanora congratulated Clapping her hands.

Bjorn felt a wellspring of pride from Tanora's praise.

"Shall we proceed with the tour?" Tanora asked rhetorically as she walked around, towards the stairway that lead up to the second story.

Bjorn followed Tanora until she stopped at the base of the stairwell.

"Er, uh. Well, the second story is the guild dormitory and bathing room." Tanora hesitantly explained, as she pointed up the steps towards the second story. "And since you are... um... well-" she paused and gestured broadly at bjorn. "-a male, I don't need to explain to you why it would be indecent to give you a tour of the upstairs."

Tanora explained, hoping she didn't have to spell it out to him.

"Indecent?" Bjorn innocently asked with a confused expression.

"Believe it or not, until today... New Zennith only had FEMALE members... and with that in mind. The dorms cohabitants are only women, same can be said about the wash room.." Tanora explained with a modest chuckle.

As bjorn processed the information that Tanora explained, he understood what she meant when she said "indecent"

His cheeks burned bright red with embarrassment.

"Oh!" Tanora exclaimed putting one hand on her hip, while placing a finger on her cheek. "Earlier you said you had an apprenticeship under one of the smiths in Tramor. We have a forge here in the guild hall, it might not be as lavished as a dwarven forge..." Tanora smiled finding Bjorn's embarrassment adorable.

Bjorn's eyes widened when Tanora mentioned that the guildhall owned a forge.

"Yes, please.... please take me to the forge." Bjorn pleaded cupping his hands around Tanora's.

"Oh my..." Tanora blushed.