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Getting up, she began her morning routine.
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On his way to the stairs Xizoh notices that Alaina and Cel's door is still shut. From experience, he knows in the morning this usually means they are still inside.
Xizoh hears the soft voices of Laurett and Smitty below, alive and seemingly not alarmed.
Even this early, Dara can sense the steady daily rhythm of the military building. She hears the kitchen getting ready for breakfast and sees those on night watch trickling in to the barracks. The baths are nice and quiet; everyone with early morning duty is already dressed and ready.
Dulae rises soon after Dara. She dresses, packs up all her gear, grabs a quick breakfast and coffee, nods good morning to Dara, and heads upstairs to their meeting with Captain Vazquez and Kieran.
Cel frowns and blinks sleepily. "I don't think so."
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S*%!. Her eyes widen in surprise at Anatoly's perseverance, though she is reminded of a few particular duels they had on the family grounds where he had managed to snap her training weapon in half. She hadn't even noticed that her hand had slipped to her gun until hers and Blaine's eyes met - she let her hand off the grip immediately. A small part of her was tugging her to go out there and speak to her brother, but she held herself back - she doubted that he would let her leave, no matter what Henri said, and while she wanted some more information about what was going on with her family, she knew that she probably shouldn't implicate Blaine in helping to hide her - maybe she could visit with him somewhere else...? But then, leaving the grounds put her at risk of getting seen by Ezikiel. It was a predicament. She took a few steps back, looking to hide herself from the view of the door if it was to open for Ruiz.
"Well, I can't say I won't be sorry to see you go," Blaine says casually, admitting her into the practice room. Henri gets the sense he's putting on even more of a cool act than he normally does. "Hang tight, I'll grab you some dinner."
Blaine returns a few minutes later with the usual mug and plate. "Get some rest," he suggests. "Big day tomorrow."
Henri doesn't remember explicitly saying she'd be leaving tomorrow.
Ruiz passes Henri, flashing a sympathetic smile and gesturing for Henri to stand to the side, behind the door. The door swings open toward her as Ruiz steps out, hiding her from Anatoly's view, then swings firmly shut.
A few seconds later she hears Anatoly protest loudly, "Hey! Get your hands off me!" There's a soft scuffling sound, then she hears Anatoly shout, "You can’t do this! I’m an officer in the Altiendel military!"
"Apparently I can,” Blaine observes cheerily. It sounds to Henri like he remains near the door and leaves it to Ruiz to strong-arm Anatoly away. Henri gets the distinct impression Blaine is enjoying this.
"This isn’t over! Your commander will be hearing from from General Vestergaard!" Anatoly yells angrily from farther down the hall.
"I’m sure the good captain will appreciate knowing who takes orders from you gits," Blaine says in a quieter tone that Henri isn't sure Anatoly will hear.
It strikes Henri as very odd that Blaine, from Abbhen and for all she can tell not even a soldier, would have such authority in an Altiendel military base.
Henri hears only the soft footsteps of people passing by for a minute before the door swings open again. Blaine passes through and shuts it gently behind him.
"So," he says, looking at her steadily. "What do you plan to do now, Henrietta Coy?"
"Good morning," Laurett greets Xizoh warmly, wiping down some dishes behind the bar. Smitty shoots him a welcoming smile before dashing across the room with some plates.
"You sleep alright, dearie?" Laurett asks Xizoh with some concern. "You look troubled."
Blaine blinks in genuine surprise, then seems to realize what he's said. "In a way," he responds cryptically. "It's my job to know things, and the captain doesn't mind."
He looks down, then back up at Henri. "Sleep well."
"Whoa, easy there," Blaine says in a reassuring tone. He reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder, hesitates, and pulls it back. "I'm not going to tell anyone."
He glances away thoughtfully. "Even so, it's a safe bet Captain Vazquez will know soon too if she doesn’t already." He looks back at her and grins. "But I'm very sure she likes you better than your brother."
"If you're hungry, let's grab some breakfast." Blaine pulls the door open and leads Henri out into the hall and down the corridor.
The mess is buzzing with soldiers quietly eating and drinking their coffee, scattered in small groups along four long tables. A sturdy table is set up in front of a giant fireplace, and a tall elf stands behind it serving generous portions of the hot oatmeal-textured mush Henri has become accustomed to for breakfast.
A couple minutes later Henri has a heaping bowl of mush, a steaming mug of coffee, and a spoon. Blaine sits down at a smaller, empty table out of earshot of the soldiers and gestures an invitation for her to sit with him.
Henri doesn't spot Dara, Dulae, or other familiar faces yet.
"Ah, I know the feeling." Laurett says. "Come sit, dear. I'll make you something warm to eat and that should fix you right up."
As she busies herself near the fire, she asks, "Not that we'll be happy to see you go, but when are you adventurers heading off? I hear there's a big snow storm coming soon."
Henri sits down across from Blaine, and gently sips on her coffee, occasionally taking a moment to eye him. Something wasn't right. The more she thought about it, the more that things didn't add up - but while she wanted to confront him about this (and usually would given any other situation), his combined hospitality and tutelage and the fact that it could be a potentially dangerous decision stayed her thoughts. "So, what did my brother want, then? He tell you at all?" she asks, idly stirring her much with a spoon. "If 'Tol's doubled back for me it's not likely that he'll give up easily."
"Not me, but I heard he was passing around some sob story about getting you home. Something about a humanitarian mission?" Blaine raises an eyebrow at Henri. "From what I know of the honorable Coys, I've no doubt they'll be selling you as the hero of Southtown if it becomes convenient."
Blaine shrugs. "Your family's search may blow over. It wouldn’t be the first time a family was fractured by civil war." He digs in to his mush. "But if you have any love left for them, best hope they don’t dig themselves in too deep on the wrong side of history."
This is the first Henri has heard of potential civil war brewing. She gets the sense Blaine is being truthful, but underestimating her family's interest, particularly Ezikiel. She also thinks he knows more about her family's current politics than he's said.
She pauses, shaking her head. "If there's something simmering under the surface... some civil war. There's no way they'd stop looking for me. If anything they'd send more people after..."
She trailed off, trying to take a bite of food to avoid saying what she was thinking. She certainly wasn't about to underestimate her mother and Ezikiel's veracity. She doubted that the teleportation wouldn't be just a temporary measure.
"And what would you say the wrong side of history is,
Mr. Trigger? Just in case I have to make a decision." Henri didn't want to appear less knowledgeable than Blaine might have assumed she was, but still she had to fish for information, here.
Blaine frowns deeply at Henri's sense of her family's investment in finding her.
"Mr. Trigger?" he chuckles. "I'd say there are currently multiple forces independently working toward the wrong side of history, with varying degrees of power and organization," his expression turns dark. "I suppose chaos and death could be viewed in different twisted ways as freedom and opportunity," he muses.
"But Captain Vazquez, Silo, many other good souls, and I," he pointedly does not include himself in the count of good souls, "We stand with the King. And Altien too, I suppose, if you're a believer," he waves a dismissive hand.
"From what I hear, the Coys have been busy making connections that do not favor Her Majesty Ellenorah staying in power," he says, watching Henri's reaction closely.
Cel admires Alaina until he realizes what she's doing. "Oh, uhhh, I can help too!" He bounds out of bed and examines the room.
Cel and Alaina find no evidence of anyone or anything unusual in their room. Down the hall, they hear Xizoh's door close and the sound of Xizoh's footfalls as he passes their room and goes downstairs.
"Maybe he saw something?" Cel asks Alaina.
"Do mind the snow dear, I'd hate to think of you all out there caught in a storm," Laurett shudders as she passes Xizoh a plate of eggs, bacon, and bread and slides him a mug of water.
"Oh you are such a love," Laurett pats Xizoh's hand appreciatively. "He's doing very well. Getting back up on the horse again now, as it were," she says cheerily. "He should be in for his breakfast soon."
A couple minutes later, the front door opens and admits Rik with a gust of cold air. He's covered in dust and has hay in his hair. Xizoh notices his smile is still small, but it's starting to become bright again. Rik still wears his arm in a neat sling, as instructed.
Henri raises an eyebrow along with her mug and took another drink.
"Well, personally, I try to stay out of politics. And especially my family's politics." She sets the mug back down and begins to slowly run a finger around the edge of the cup.
"But hell if I have any control over where they dig themselves.
They're definitely not dumb, and their alliance isn't insignificant... Do you have any specifics on who they might be in talks with? If I'm in Altiendel, well... I'd like to be on the lookout. Keep an ear to the ground."
Blaine shrugs. "Certainly makes it easier to sleep at night if your enemies are solely responsible for the darkness in the world. Altien would know all about that, I guess," he says humorlessly.
Blaine looks pleased to be asked for information, puffing up in his seat. "Talks is generous way of putting it. Word is the Coys are pursuing the Novadena council seat at the encouragement of a recent acquaintance, Adjua Adisa. Charismatic, noble lineage, and loads of money she likes to spend on her friends, as she calls them. And," he pauses for dramatic effect, "She supports forming a kingdom-wide governing council. She's peddling this as some kind of democratic senate that would merely advise the king, but what she wants in practice is a buy-in oligarchy. Noble elves only."
He takes another bite of mush. "Probably she's hinted at her true intent, but what I doubt your family knows is that their new friend is making a lot of other new friends in the major cities to build support." He gestures thoughtfully with his spoon. "And I wonder if Ms. Adisa knows one of her supporters has a rebel daughter."
Henri does not remember hearing the name Adjua Adisa before, but she thinks her mother might harbor similar sentiments about the rightful place of noble elves that she hesitated to publicly voice.
Dara returns Dulae’s nod and finishes her morning routine. She eats a full breakfast, packs up all her gear, and makes her way up to the captain’s office for the meeting.
When she arrives in the waiting room, the office door is closed. Dara sees Dulae sitting in a quiet corner with her gear piled in the chair next to her. “Morning,” Dulae says as Dara walks in, gesturing to an empty seat on her other side.
Before Dara can sit, Kieran sweeps into the room, looking tired and disheveled. Dulae rises to meet him and clasps his hand firmly. "Kieran," she greets him warmly.
“Hello both,” Kieran says also to Dara. “Sorry to miss you yesterday, I was busy a few leagues northeast of Teresct. Some damned cultists burned a human family alive. Mother, father, and their four kids. Pretty gruesome stuff.”
At his words, Dara vividly remembers the burning bodies in her dream; two adults and four children, all human. And the robed cultists who seemed to sense her there.
Picking her shield back up, "Then let's go ask him."
Without waiting for an answer, she headed downstairs. The last time someone tried sneaking into her room, they couldn't eat solid food for a month.
Hiding her discomfort, she asked, "Were there any black feathers?"
Xizoh can tell from Rik's complexion that he's been eating well and sleeping sufficiently. Rik's shoulder and ribs seem to be healing fine from what he can tell from a distance. Xizoh suspects from the way Rik walks that Rik is developing mild scoliosis. He thinks not lifting heavy weights with the uninjured shoulder might help.
A minute after Rik enters, Xizoh sees Alaina come downstairs with Cel close behind her. Alaina looks visibly displeased.
If Cel follows Alaina, he and Alaina see Xizoh eating breakfast at the bar while eyeing the healing progress of Rik's injury. Laurett is busy behind the bar cutting up a loaf of warm bread into thick slides.
"Good morning you two," Laurett says to Alaina and Cel. Noting Alaina's expression she asks with concern, "You alright, dears? You haven't had a fight, have you?"
"What?" Kieran asks incredulously. "By the bodies? No, why would..." he trails off in thought. "Wait, there were some black feathers, closer to the tree line."
Dara thinks that is consistent with where the cultists were standing relative to the flames in her dream.
"How did you know that?" Kieran asks with intense interest. "Is it important?"
”Anything else you can tell us?” Kieran asks with eager interest. Dulae also watches Dara expectantly.
Dara remembers that senior cultists would encourage newer cultists to collect any raven feather they encountered as a clear sign of favor and a symbol of their perceived mystical connection to the Raven. Some cultists use leather string to fashion their feathers into charms worn around the neck and others carried them loose. From her time in Mordhollow, Dara observed many of these collected feathers were actually crow feathers, but most cultists didn’t seem to notice the difference. A few Cult of Raven leaders swore to their deaths that the spirits of the True Kings had inhabited the Raven to watch over their works. Dara did not see any ravens take a supernatural interest in the works of the Mordhollow enclave herself, although she overheard cultists claim they heard them in the night.
Dara doesn't remember fire being used for violence by the Cult of Raven before, but she knows that as new leaders rise in the ranks claiming a strong connection to the Raven’s call, new horrors will eventually emerge and potentially spread to different enclaves as they become favored. She thinks this incident indicates that somewhere out there is an enclave leader with a propensity for burning, no doubt attributed to the Raven speaking to them and demanding sacrifice in the form of fire. She suspects such a person may have committed arson or burned animals even before joining the cult.
Laurett takes Alaina’s remark to mean Alaina would strike Cel over a disagreement. She does not appreciate the joke.
“Now young lady, that is no way to treat a partner,” Laurett wags a chiding finger. “And I’ve met enough folks from Abbhen in my time to expect you were raised to know that,” she says sternly, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Like that kid necromancer in the cave. He was probably doing something selfish and stupid but he probably didn't think it was wrong. He was an idiot for trusting disembodied voices, though."
Henri sighs at the thought of a 'buy-in' council. "Well that's certainly something my mother would support. If she could finagle her way towards being the Queen herself, she probably would, but this sounds like the next best thing..." She took a bite of the mush.
"Not that she'd ever tell anyone that of course. You think she might be getting double crossed by this... A.A. lady? Promised a seat for a vote and support, then turned on once she got there?"
Henri shakes her head. "Mom's smart, but I could see her getting blind-sided by something like that if she's focused too much on the power thing."
Henri leans back. "For what it's worth, everything you just told me makes it all the more likely that she'll keep pushing to bring me home if she can help it. I could be a crack in the barrel if word got out."
Laurett seems mollified at Cel's explanation. "You two aren't the only ones to come downstairs in a state this morning. The poor doctor here also looked a fright," she gestures to Xizoh.
"I didn't hear anything down here but that darned mouse last night. It probably was your wind dearie, or you forgot where you left them." Laurett says dismissively. "Happens to me all the time! Now let's see about getting you some breakfast." She quickly busies herself making plates of eggs, bacon, and bread for Cel and Alaina.
"Arson," Kieran repeats. "That's something to go on. And the Cult of Raven seems to fit. We've been seeing a lot of them lately. My thanks, Agent Shadeshard."
Kieran glances up at the office door. "The Captain is still occupied, it seems, but I have some news for you in the meantime." He looks as if he's steeling himself to relay something unpleasant. "That fool Captain Grener reported almost all those under her command dead three weeks ago. She’s currently facing court martial in Teresct, but she and the survivors aren’t saying much about what happened.”
Dara remembers Grener was Marcus Steele's superior when he went missing.
"Dulae tells me there is a Ms. Steele here. The daughter of Marcus Steele, I presume. I’m very sorry to say that he was among those reported dead.” Kieran pauses, then heaves a weighty sigh. "I’ll tell her myself. She deserves that much."
Dara clearly remembers she and the others just heard Marcus's voice yesterday, very much alive.
Blaine smirks at Henri's musings on listening to disembodied voices, then folds his hands together in thought.
"No, I doubt your family would be double-crossed. Ms. Adisa has a way about her. She's charming. I think she'd certainly prefer to keep your family happy and feeling empowered; it makes them much easier to manipulate in the long term. A few choice words in the right places to the right people can turn a collection of isolated, unsatisfied nobles who think they're gaining confidence in their own views into a fairly well-directed force."
Blaine frowns, looking worried, then meets Henri's eyes. "Don’t take any unnecessary risks. Take good care of that gun. I’ll be watching for your messages."
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Quietly, once Cel and Alaina are seated, the half elf says, "I don't think you imagined someone sneaking in." Pulling out the knife, he adds, "This was left in my door frame along with a message that I think is from a certain somebody." Xizoh taps the scar along his neck for emphasis as to the 'somebody'.
Rik beams at Xizoh's assessment. "I will, thank you Doctor," he says before scampering eagerly back outside with his breakfast.
Alaina and Cel see that the knife Xizoh pulls out of his pocket is a deadly-looking curved blade coated in dried blood.
Laurett catches sight of it and turns pale. "Oh my word," she breathes. "How horrible."
"It's unfortunate, but I agree. I shouldn't get involved, even for their sake. For my own sake. Seems like she's going to do this to a lot of families, then. To garner support..." Henri nods. "I'll keep you in the loop best I can. Thank you."
Blaine watches Henri with mild surprise. "It's astonishing you're still so invested in their well being. They hired this bounty hunter you're so afraid of, right?" He looks thoughtful. "Well, if it's important to you, I can have someone keep an eye on them. Make sure they get some warning if there's going to be trouble. And it might give me some insight on whatever they've got planned for you."
Henri thinks it's very odd that someone outside the Altiendel military would have that kind of reach.
She frowns for a moment. "How the hell can you swing that?" she bluntly asks. "I wouldn't think someone outside the Altiendel military would be that well connected."
Alaina remembers it was Ezikiel who gave Xizoh the scar on his throat.