Belladonna entered the library, cloaked in black. She wore a simple outfit consisting of an off white linen dress, deep green vest, and a robe of black. Her hands were clad in green velvet gloves to conceal her black nails, and her red curls were tied back with a bit of ribbon.

Bella seemed slightly distraut, however, but that was explainable. She'd recieved another from her family, from her father this time, stating that her mother had left her something in the Taras library. She approached the clerk's desk, and cleared her throat to notify the clerk that she was in need of his assisstance. The white haired librarian nodded, and said in an eloquent voice," And what may I do for you today, Miss?"

"I believe a lady named Nora Thalim-Elenhuine left something for me," she said, smiling sweetly. The old man raised his eyebrows at the name, and opened a ledger. He leafed through it, nodding and mmmhmming now and then. Finally, he came upon her mothers name.

"Ah, yes," he said, pulling a rather large tome from a shelf behind the desk. He handed it to Bella, and said," Enjoy your reading, dear."

She nodded apreciativly, and took a seat at one of the desks. It didn't take long for the book to become utterly complicated and confusing, even to one as learned as herself. Frustrated, she shut it, and held her head in her hands. She sighed, and opened it again, but it seemed that nothing was the same as she remembered. Well, she thought, perhaps I might find some company here...Moths and old scholars count, right?

Brynn had been in the library for most of the morning, but still hadn't found what she'd wanted. She didn't ask the librarian for help; this was much too precious. She ran her hand over the spines of the books as she read the names; a habit she'd picked up sometime.

Poison, poison, she repeated to herself, tipping her head on the side to read a book's name. It had occured to her that poison might be a much less messy - but equally effective - way to do her job.

The sound of a book being shut with force made her jump and look around quickly. The culprit seemed to be a woman, sitting at a table with her head in her hands. As she re-opened the book, Brynn looked at her curiously. She had found that she was much too curious of late; it was bound to lead her into trouble.

She shook her fair head and returned to her search. After a minute or so, though, she stopped and looked around at the woman. Curiosity getting the better of her, Brynn approached the woman.

"Excuse me," she said in a friendly voice. "I don't suppose you work here?" It was obvious the woman didn't work there, but it was a good, innocent start to a conversation, Brynn thought, though the woman might not want to converse with her; Brynn was dressed almost like a man - she wore leather pants, a white shirt that had lost the top three buttons and thick leather boots. Her dark green cloak was on and pushed back over her shoulders. Around her waist she wore a waterskin, a money pouch and a silver dagger, nestled in its scabbard.

Brynn placed her hands on her hips and waited for the woman's reply.

"No, sorry," Bella sighed, turning to look at a girl who seemed just younger than she did. The sigh was half relief; relief that she'd been saved from the terribly mind addling text her mother had left her. Smiling, she extended her hand for a shake. In a friendly tone, she said," I'm Bella."

She noticed that the young woman was dressed in a more mannish type of apparel, similar to what she usually wore on theiving and recon jobs. The girl did not, however, carry the usual theiving tools. Then again, Bella never brought her tools out into public unless she was on a job.

A thick, rich, feminine voice crept into her head. It did not, quite obviously, belong to Bella, but her spider companion, instead. The voice of Amarwen the purple arachnid was coupled by the sensation of tiny legs crawling across her left foot onto her right, settling on the latter. The voice said, She seems like a blonde, younger you. Into crime. No frills.

How do you know she's a criminal?

I just know. It's quite obvious, really. I can't imagine why you haven't picked up on it.

On what?

She's an assassin. Do I have to spell it out? Really, Mistress..., the spider said in mock exhasperation.

Bella replied with a playful, mental grrr of annoyance. Ama replied by jumping from foot to foot until she was forced to lightly jerk her feet to prevent the spider from hopping. Bella continued to smile at the girl, and closed her book.

"Brynn," she replied, noticing how Bella moved slightly. The name struck a very painful cord in her chest, but she tried to ignore it. "I don't want to keep you from your reading," she said, smiling slightly. "I'm looking for something, actually, I thought you might be able to help me." She shrugged, much more daintily than expected from a girl wearing men's clothing. "Never mind." She went to walk away.

"No, really," Bella said," It's quite alright. It's not the easiest read, anyways."
Desperate for something to keep her from having to read the book, she lightly touched Brynn's shoulder. Anything was better than having her mind melted into confusion by another family secret...Anything was better than being an Elenhuine.

Quietly, she said," You're an assassin, aren't you? No worries. You've met a fellow criminal. I'm a theif."
Amarwen stopped just as she was about to finish swatting at the beetle before her with her forelegs. Had Bella just revealed her occupation? Impossible. Her Mistress had never done that, and had sworn that she wouldn't. Not ever. Her usual line was that she was a barmaid looking for employment. Then again, times were changing and so was Bella.

Amarwen's thoughts changed from that of her Mistress to that of her love, Orion. For all the time they'd been in Taras she couldn't find him. Even in her shadowy demon form she could not find him. Amarwen, the demoness from the Abyss, come to Imythess as a shapeshifter, longed for her spouse. Centuries had passed and they had not seen eachother. Little did she know, he was closer than she'd thought.

Orion was Bella's mother's companion. He was a demon of the Abyss who'd left on his own accord. Trapped in the body of a cat, he wandered around until he found his Mistress, Nora Thalim. When she married Bella's father he was furious. He became dangerous, slipping off his collar, the only thing that kept him from becoming a demon. Unluckily for him, he was trapped inside a book by a wizened old mage. A book that had fortold his Mistress' transformation, and the one that was sitting on the table next to Bella.

Brynn heard Bella's voice, but she couldn't help what happened next. As she felt the hand land on her shoulder, Brynn reacted immediately, spinning, grabbing Bella's arm and pulling her dagger from its scabbard with one fluid motion. The silver blade rested in front of Bella's throat, not touching the skin.

Her heart pounding furiously, Brynn lowered the blade; some people near them were looking at them. "I'm sorry," she said softly, putting the dagger back on her belt.

"You're an assassin, aren't you? No worries. You've met a fellow criminal. I'm a theif."

Brynn stared at her. How had Bella known she was an assassin before Brynn had even tried to run her through with her dagger.

"How -" she changed tact quickly. "I'm not an assassin!" she whispered, as though it were terrible Bella had even thought that. "I carry my dagger to protect myself against such scum!"

Bella's brow furrowed at Brynn's sharp words. She frowned. Replacing her expression of anger with that of sly quiet, she withdrew her gaze from Brynn. Crossing her arms over her chest, and turning around to face the girl, she said," No ordinary citizen of Taras could have drawn and readied a dagger that quickly, nor could they react to such a light touch with such violence and skill. There is that, and the fact that you are garbed in men's apparel. Your shirt is missing the top three buttons- from your line of duty, presumably- and your boots are thick, but not too thick, that would restrain ankle movement. They have been used for a while and are slightly worn- also from your line of work, as assassins are usually in constant movement. To a fellow criminal and rogue it's rather evident, but to an uneducated passerby you simply seem strange. But, like I said, no worries. We're very similar, I assure you."

She smiled smugly, waiting for Brynn's response. She could not deny her profession now, not after Bella's speech. Ten years as a rogue had given Bella a vast knowledge of all things illegal, and Amarwen was always an invaluable asset. Ama was currently sitting under the table, sharing that same smugness. Her Mistress was smart. Too smart, sometimes. Ama was hoping this wouldn't turn out badly.

Behind his desk, the old librarian was sitting, shelshocked and staring at the two young women. Both were beautiful, but...But, they seemed different. There was no cute-girl-next-door-innocence he saw in most of the young women who stopped by. The wrinkled, white haired, tottering old man shivered in his thick cloak, desperately hoping a Taras Guard would drop in for a good read.

Brynn frowned and though she felt like taking a step back, kept her ground. "Fine," she snapped at this woman in a low voice. "I'm an assassin - no need to inform everyone." She scowled - no one else knew what she did, and she found it slightly uncomforting that now someone did. So what if that someone was a theif? But, at the same time, Brynn felt slightly relaxed that someone - anyone - knew - and wasn't going to drag her to the guards.

She ran her hand through her hair, thinking. Then she peered shrewdly at Bella. "Can I trust you?" she asked her. It was odd; she'd never put the question forward. Brynn wasn't asking Bella's permission to tell her something - she was merely asking whether, in the scheme of things, she could be trusted.

"Of course," Bella replied with a warm smile, though Brynn didn't seem too happy with her. She took a quick glance at the old librarian who was staring at them from behind his desk. When she made eye contact he quickly turned away, pretending to be shuffling through some old parchments. His nervous demeanor alarmed her, and she desperatly hoped that he hadn't heard either of them.

"I suggest we change subject and cool down," she said in a low voice, though she kept smiling. Discretely, she pointed out the old man, quaking in his boots. She continued," You can trust me, but you certainly cannot trust him or anyone else in this library."

Ama had scuttled over to the old librarian, thinking of the best way to handle this. He had his shaking hands on the bell rope, which, when tugged on properly, would cause loud alarm bells to send all of Taras running to the library. Quickly, she notified Bella, Mistress! He's going for the alarm! What do I do?

I have no idea, Ama! Think something up! You're thousands of years old, surely you can deal with this! If you have to, bite him. Just don't kill him!

Alright, replied the spider. The purple arachnid scuttled over to the old man's foot, searching for a ripped seam or an opening in his leather leggings. When she found it, she sat, poised to strike. She waited until the man let go of the rope when he decided against ringing it. Just in case, Ama bit him anyways. He would be knocked out for at least an hour, and would have a nasty bite mark to take home.

Brynn nodded and let out a breath. She glanced across at the librarian, who swayed for a moment. She looked away; it wasn't her problem what was happening with him. Brynn shifted her cloak slightly to make sure it was covering her dagger.

"I don't suppose you know much about poison, do you?" she asked Bella, her tone innocent and soft. She had trouble thinking of Bella's name because it reminded her of her sister that now thought Brynn dead. "I'm just interested in it," she added, in case anyone was listening.

"You've come to the right rogue," Bella responded with a smile, " I happen to know alot. What do you want to know?" Through telepathy she called Amarwen to her. The spider was fretting a bit after the man nearly crushed her as he slumped over on his desk. Flitting from under some scrolls and stray ledger paper, she returned to her Mistress' feet.

Poison was Bella's specialty. She used it, occasionaly, on gaurds and passerbys that had tried to stop her or had seen her transform into a bat. However, she had never used any poison to kill someone. Memory was erased here and there, imposing men were knocked out now and then, but never had someone died, though she'd learned the art of the poisoned blade and such.

Amarwen, on the other hand could be deadly. Often, she was deadly, but not on behalf of her Mistress. Causing chaos is the demon's (or demoness' in this case) pastime. Besides, noone misses drunks that end up nearly crushing her in their clumsy steps- one of the disadvantages of taking the shape of a spider.

Brynn smiled thinly and shrugged her slender shoulders. "Different types, how heavy some dosages are..." she lowered her voice to almost a whisper. "I'm an assassin, if you want to call me that. I don't kill innocent people, but I do kill people, yes. I need poison strong enough and lethal enough to kill. Do you know of any types that would be good for me?"

"A mix of my own would work perfectly," Bella responded," It's made from the berries of a Daphne plant and the seeds of a Rosary Pea plant. Very lethal. Use it sparingly, you won't need much, and make sure none of it gets into your blood stream. I'd handle it with gloves when you put it in your dagger, or otherwise."

She often kept poisons with her, mainly for safe keeping. Her tolerance to poison only went so far. She'd never used any lethal poisons, but she'd seen how it affected people. The little pouch at her waist (often mistaken for a coin purse, quite convienently) help many vials of poison. She removed from it a smaller vial labeled with 'DAPHNE AND ROSARY PEA-EXTREMELY DEADLY-USE WITH CAUTION', and carefully handed it to Brynn.

"If you're looking for something weaker, a slow death, I'd take this," she said, removing another vial. It was labeled 'OLEANDER-USE WITH CAUTION'. She handed it to Brynn as well, tied up the purse, and said," Is that it?"

Brynn took the vials, nodding, storing the information in her brain. She looked up at Bella, a faint smile gracing her pale face. "Thank you - how much do I owe you?" she asked her, pulling out her money pouch. "These will be very valuable to me, I'm sure." Oh yes. They would be very useful.

"Nothing at all," Bella said with a smile, "I don't use them, anyways. It's more of a hobby, really. Macabre, as it seems."

Amarwen scuttled onto Belladonna's shoulder. The poisons were deadly, and would be very expensive elsewhere, but she'd given them away free. Ama did not understand. If her Mistress could've made a profit, why didn't she? Again, this was a human aspect a demon could not understand.