Tam answers your questions

Raine's explained the attraction that elves find regarding goblins -- the feeling about dark danger, the long dark hair, the gorgeous features -- but what's the attraction that goblins find for elves? What is it that a widowed defector from the goblin court who's running an exclusive expensive entertainment club in Mermeia, finds so fascinating about a flame-haired minor sorceress from a family full of infamous pirates and other lawbreaking sticky-fingered sorts?

What fascinates me about Raine? Her. I wanted Raine the moment she conned her way into my club. She didn't have to do any fast talking to get through Sirens's front doors, but getting upstairs to the room reserved for my wealthiest patrons took that and then some. My staff is trained to keep out people who don't belong. Raine looked like she belonged anywhere she wanted to be. (grins crookedly and chuckles) I could hardly blame my staff; the poor bastards didn't stand a chance when they saw her. Raine doesn't like gowns, which is a pity, but she told me later that she knew she wouldn't get anywhere near my high-stakes tables wearing what she usually does. Ladies in Sirens wear gowns, so Raine wore a gown. It was dove-grey velvet, and it matched those eyes of hers. And that bodice. It fit her like a second skin. Her hair was down and so was her neckline. She didn't wear any jewels and she didn't need them. Those eyes, hair and that creamy skin was more than enough to entice my bouncers to let her go anywhere she wanted to.

I noticed that and more. Raine wasn't wearing perfume, so I could smell the steel and leather on her. I couldn't see it, but I knew she was armed. With that gown, the only place she could've possibly had daggers were strapped to her thighs. (laughs) Oh, the fun I would have had disarming her. I didn't think any of my patrons had picked up a price on their heads, but I didn't know if Raine was an assassin. She had no expression on her face. That told me even more. She was here on business, and pleasure had nothing to do with it, either hers or her intended target. I don't like trouble in my clubs, so I acted like any good host and approached the lady, welcomed her to Sirens, and asked how I might be of service. (smiles) From the look on her face, I could be of service by getting the hell out of her way. I didn't move and neither did she. In addition to the steel and leather, I could smell her. Utterly delectable.

She tried to step around me; I blocked her way. She thought about using one of those daggers on me. (grins, showing a bit of fang) Too bad she didn't try; I would have enjoyed that. It would have given me an excuse to get my hands on her. She must have read my mind, or at least saw it in my eyes. She took a step back, just out of reach. Then she told me who she was and why she was there. One of my regulars was gambling with jewelry that wasn't his to gamble with. It was his wife's. His wife's grandmother's ring to be exact. The lady's favorite ring and the last piece of her grandmother's jewelry that she still had.

I run a gambling establishment, not a back-alley pawn shop. I prefer for my patrons to confine their gambling funds to the coin of the realm, but I have occasionally permitted, shall we say, substitutions. Anyone who causes trouble in my club usually ends up out of my club. Either on the street or in the canal. While Raine would have looked scrumptious wet, I thought I would help her get what she wanted -- so that some day I could get what I wanted. I returned the lady's ring -- and vowed to get to know a certain seeker much better.