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Luciprochoros
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It's been a surprisingly pleasant morning, once breakfast started. Sure, I'm running on very little sleep, nerves, and about a gallon of coffee. But I'm a natural morning person, and what's more, I'm used to all three factors by now.
But what's really picking me up is being here. Stevane's countering Ebrelle's acidity very well this morning. I think having Alestere here makes a huge difference - it means the dynamic isn't just between Ebrelle and I, and she doesn't have to constantly referee. She can focus all of her efforts on Ebrelle. Alestere himself is the perfect referee, really - he keeps distracting me from my points of annoyance. And then there's Katherine here, which means both Ebrelle and I have something to smile about. Really, I can't remember the last time I smiled around him for a good reason. Probably that was back when Katherine was a very small girl, and things were a lot different between Ebrelle and I.
...My mind is wandering. I pay attention to the conversation again. Obviously it's time for me to refill my coffee.
Alestere nods to Stevane. "I think your uncle is ready for you to propose your idea to him."
"Oh, yes," I say, "I've been wondering what it is that brought us all here." I really haven't, it actually completely slipped my mind, but I'm fine with letting it seem like I've been thinking important things all this time. Recovering from what the Crown was doing to me makes thought a more wandering process than usual, but at least thought is occurring, and all the thoughts are my own.
Stevane sits straight up, then shifts around a bit as she deals with being the center of attention. She looks over to Katherine, then grins. "You know, I didn't plan to bring you into this, but it was a really good idea. In fact, it solves a lot of the problems I still hadn't worked out!" She raises her finger in the air in a way that's startlingly reminiscent of Elete and Alestere's gestures. "So! Jhe 'Brelle and I were thinking about... well... um." Her previous energy drains out a bit, and she glances over to Alestere. She bites her lip. "I need help."
Alestere nods to her graciously. "I understand. The first part is rather difficult to deliver. But I think your Uncle will take it better than you'd expect, so why don't you go ahead with what you were going to say?"
She blushes, looks rather troubled, and then swallows her nerves down and faces me. "Jhe 'Brelle can't go back to Audiva Rocale for a long time. He can't do it and it's not his fault. But we think he can do a lot of good while he's here, so please try to take it well."
I take in a deep breath, close my eyes, and nod. "I expected as much. I'm not angry." I open my eyes. Stevane's expression is that of a person who's not yet sure if she's lucked out. "I'm more interested in what you two plan to do in the meantime. I'll handle Chethar if there's a problem, but with over half a year of time left, there's no reason to worry about that yet." It's strange to say that so blithely, but after the problems I've dealt with in the past few months, making Chethar fuss less over our business seems like an easy prospect. "So, what do I have to look forward to?"
Stevane grins in response, which is something that sends more fear in me than she'd ever like to know. I think possibly it's her connection with Ebrelle that does it. They both have a talent for appearing to be up to no good. Ebrelle, in contrast, looks away and pretends not to be interested in this branch of the conversation. Which is, of course, the most telling signal that he's direly invested in what's about to be discussed.
"I know Jhe 'Brelle has gotten into trouble in the past for his research, and his work in his palace laboratory. But considering what influences he was under at the time, it's quite remarkable how much he managed to discover, and what advances he was able to make. While it seems horrible to be able to suppress Poetry with collars, it... implies that, through his research and experimentation, he was able to find out a lot about Poetry through methods that Poets had not yet attempted. Having been one of the people collared, I can say that I learned a lot from having to disable the damn thing myself. Poetry's frustrating to use to find out about things - sometimes it goes awry or gets vague, or is led astray by forces we have no way of knowing about. And using Aim can only work for very specific cases that fall within the Law, and it gets kind of dangerous because you can end up shooting something. If we'd had a way of examining some of our problems from a different angle, maybe things would have been a lot easier. We could have saved some trouble." She tosses up her hands, gesturing a bit in a way that probably helps get rid of some of her nervous energy more than it actually helps make a point. "I'm kind of wandering away from where we were going. There's some things Poetry and the Law can't examine or explain. Ebrelle wants to research them. Here, in a laboratory."
My eyes flick over to Ebrelle. He looks like he's about to swallow a frog. Even Alestere looks a bit nervous, and he already knew what Stevane was going to propose. Katherine looks intrigued, but in a calculated way that makes me unsure of whether she's Aiming for Stevane's head.
I take in a deep breath. "Well then, what does he propose to research?" I look at Ebrelle as I say it.
"We want to take the contents of Xen Xaillyndesse's old laboratory and examine them." Stevane looks a bit queasy herself as she says it. "Jhe 'Brelle was researching Arms a little before he was captured. Not the brightest approach, mind you, but I think someone needs to take those... those rusted Arms that the ex-Kommissar had in there and see what happened to them. And there was a lot of other stuff in there too. A lot of stuff that... excuse me." Stevane has been slowly turning green while trying to explain herself. "Urp."
Ebrelle pats her hand. "You don't have to talk about it." She sighs, and Ebrelle winces. "Really, Stevane. I can feel myself how much the place sickened you."
She frowns. "It'd sicken any Armed. I just... don't like thinking about that... guy." She rubs her forehead. "We need someone who knows a lot about Arms. Someone okay with going into that place and cleaning out what we need to examine. I can't go in." She looks up at me, sheepish. "If it's even okay with you."
I shrug. "It's not my land, it's Ebrelle's. He can decide who goes there and picks at it. Or are you asking because of Katherine? She can decide where she goes herself, I'm not stopping her."
Ebrelle looks at me as if I've grown a second head, and finally he speaks up. "This is your land. My laboratory would be here."
"Ah. Yes." I wave my hand dismissively. "Jhe h'Logos, dedicate some of your Hall space as a laboratory."
Alestere looks at me as if I've grown a third head. I'm not sure if it's the impulse decision or the fact that I've saddled him with the responsibility. I try not to grin. "Just like that?"
I nod. "Just like that. Your space will be most suitable, I'd think, and it's really the most warded space in the Kingdom, outside of my own Palace, which I'm not donating towards this endeavor. More than that, it's probably the only area in which that much madness will make any sense, don't you think?" I hold up my palms, fending off a protest. "I didn't mean it to offend." Well, I did, but I don't have to say that. "If Ebrelle does his experiments anywhere else, it'll attract attention. He doesn't need the wrong sort of attention now - from Chethar, or from Nul. The Poet Hall is a distraction in and of itself, and if this is done right, I think none shall notice just what we are doing here."
"We?" Ebrelle raises an eyebrow.
I raise an eyebrow back at him, meeting his eyes. "I'm not about to let you do this without my watching." I grin. "I've enough reason in that it sounds far too interesting for me to miss."
Ebrelle ignores me and steeples his fingers. "If we are to do this, then there are logistics to consider. I'll need direct contact with the current Kommissar, which I do not currently--"
"Ah, about that," I say, smoothly interjecting. I draw a letter out from a pocket in the lining of my jacket. "He left a missive for your eyes only. I suppose that might help things along."
My ex-nemesis looks at me at is I'm a fox with the keys to his henhouse dangling from my snout. "It might, depending on what it is about. I suppose I should read it?" He proffers his hand. I give him the letter.
I nod. "I think it'd help. It's about his spies within the Poet Hall that he'd like you to get in contact with."
The glare he gives me almost burns my ears off. I just shrug.
"If he didn't expect me to read it, he shouldn't have given it to me. Besides, it's good to know that Aaren Voitre is an active double-agent. It makes sense that 'Sy would put him to work drafting someone to spy for us, while he's out of commission."
Both Katherine and Alestere look at me with wide eyes and alarm. Katherine has a lot more anger in her expression. I'm willing to guess that neither of them knew about such a thing, which is interesting. 'Sy likes to hide his actions. It doesn't surprise me that he wouldn't tell Alestere, but Katherine as well? I'm a bit thrown off of my usual cavalier disregard for social mores.
Ebrelle rips the envelope and reads furiously. Once he finishes, Katherine grabs it from him and reads it herself. Alestere peeks over her shoulder casually. Stevane sits back and gloats since apparently she managed to read the letter off of Ebrelle's own thoughts.
"I wonder if the Kommissar intended his letter to have such a wide audience," Ebrelle says in a droll tone. Katherine attempts to look sheepish as she finishes her read. Alestere keeps a perfect poker face.
Stevane shrugs. "Jhe Calyx was pretty clever. Otherwise he would have gotten killed off by his former boss a long time ago. And he acts like a pretty nice guy when there's a knife to his neck, so he's shrewd. And really, who would give a letter to Unkie without expecting him to read it?"
Katherine narrows her eyes. "That's essentially the same as outright telling Radia that one of our agents is his spy."
"Yup," I say. "He doesn't believe Aaren is really working for Audiva Rocale. I figure he's trying to see if we kill off Aaren. Otherwise he'll know Aaren is a double-agent. That's what I would do."
Alestere stares at me open-mouthed. "You say that so offhand!"
I spread my hands. "It is what it is. If we're going to ask the Kommissar for any favors, we need to iron this out, yes? Why don't you ask Jhe Voitre to come and contribute to the discussion? Chances are that he'll have some contributory input on his father's research methods anyway."
Katherine looks at me with open worry written on her face. "That's... not the best idea, considering his mental state."
Alestere sighs. "No, he'll be fine. I'll just ask Jhe Emily to come in and assist him. She'll keep him calm, same as Stevane has been doing for my brother."
I raise an eyebrow. "And would making Jhe Emily a part of this discussion be the best idea?"
"Oh yes," Alestere says, rising to leave the room. "She is with all likelihood the fake spy that Aaren recruited, after all, so Calyx will want her dead too."
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