* * *
Kevrin
* * *
Landing is a bit of an issue with Djardrik this time around. He keeps screaming.
"We're gonna die! We're gonna die!!!" He seems to have it in his head that landing in the Armed Hall is a dangerous thing. I don't know what gives him that idea - it's a well-defended compound with lots of allies inside of it. "Kevrek, we're gonna be surrounded by Armed if we land down there!" He holds onto me for dear life. Unfortunately, his grip is around my throat. After a bit of gagging, I manage to dislodge him.
"Djardrik! Please, calm down! Everything will be fine!" I try to keep control of the bird. I'm perfectly used to this place, but the poor thing's used to rural areas, not cities. "I know some guys here!"
"The guys with the p-p-pointy weapons?" Djardrik's shaking so hard that he's about to fall off of the bird.
"YES!" I say with exasperation. "Why else would I come here?"
He quiets down, mulling that over. "Oh," he says, "sorry."
"Quite alright," I say, taking a slow spiral down on a few low-lying gusts. Thankfully Dram and Buidhe have already been in steady communication with the Arms of the Armed below. Those are all guys I know, as well. Well, I guess everyone knows me. I've been told I'm a friendly guy. I'm kind of grateful that there's a Trial going on right now, though - usually the Hall is crawling with Armed, a lot of them rookies. Rookies who might get the wrong idea about Djardrik. They're all watching the Trial, though, and by the bareness of this place so is anybody else who can find an excuse to attend. All I see down there are the cursory guards. Must be a pretty big event. I query Dram.
Cade Fayegeaux, he replies with a smugness and a longing.
Well damn, now I want to be there too!
Sometime during our circling the bird got a bit lighter. Lute's off to where he needs to be, then. I wonder if I'll ever hear what his fight was all about, but I doubt it. Shadow news stays in the shadow brigade. Most of the time we pretend they don't exist, and some Armed go a lifetime without ever seeing concrete proof that they do. We keep to our own jobs - gets the most done. "Alright, hold on, I'm gonna land this tired bird."
It's quite delicate about the landing, even with the fatigue. Windbirds are sturdy beasts, and very friendly. Not sure what I'm going to do with this thing, though. It won't fit in the paddock. Guess I've got time to figure it out, though. Dram says Diyn says that the Judge will be occupied until the Trial is done with.
"Hey Djardrik? Help me with our birdy here. None of these guys are gonna know what to do with it." It works out as a pretty handy way of keeping Djardrik's attention off of the fact that we're surrounded by Armed. We are, in fact, working side-by-side with Armed! After some deliberation, everybody agrees that the only place to keep a windbird for now is the practice arena. It's a large open-air space that nobody will miss if it's commandeered for a day or two. We can probably build a paddock for the thing in that amount of time. I mean, now that I've brought one home we might as well keep it. I'm sure it'll come in handy.
That being done, I escort Djardrik into the living quarters of the Armed Hall. Pretty much it's just a place to keep a bed and our things when we're not out on missions. "Okay, here we are," I say, opening the door to my room. Bed, desk, odd little trophies here and there. Stuffed head of a half-gator monster that we could never really identify the origin of. The usual bachelor pad things. "Sorry, it's a bit cramped. I don't really stay here much."
Djardrik's distracted by something, so what I said clicks for him a few moments after I said it. "Oh! Right. No bother, it's much nicer than the holes I've had to hide my head in before." He steps in, I follow, and then I close the door. Buidhe stays on alert, but I don't think we'll have any problems. "Hey, Kevrek, I was wondering."
"Yeah?" I check over my desk. There's a few letters and notes here. I've only been gone for a day or two, but like I said, I'm popular.
"How'd you swing this? A room in the Armed's... fortress place. That's pretty hard to come by. You know the guy who lives in here or something?"
I chuckle. "I'm the guy who lives here. The Judge gave me this room since I don't have a house nearby or a local family who sponsors me. It's pretty normal."
"Really?" He seems pretty surprised.
"Yeah. Hey, look, Jhe Averseen sent me a drawing of the new chicks that hatched in the tree behind the Poet Hall. She's a dear." I shuffle through the rest of the papers. Odd, the Peacekeeper hasn't sent me any orders to report yet. I'm in his brigade, after all. Oh, that's right, he probably doesn't even know I'm here yet. Dram informs me that the Peacekeeper's in the Court, providing some function in the Trial. Not the usual, but occasionally another Armed is needed on the floor, so it's not something to worry over. It's no real surprise, in fact, considering Cade Fayegeaux is finally on Trial.
"Kevrek?" Djardrik cocks his head. "You're looking a bit ill. Like you need a toilet."
I laugh. "S'okay, just talking with my Arms. Everyone makes a face when they do. It's a weird sort of concentration."
The tiny feathers lining his brow lift. "Your Arms?"
"Yeah, my Arms. Remember? I had you hold one of them when you waited for me on the windbird."
"Oh! Oh yeah." Djardrik cocks his head again, mulling this over. "That makes sense. Wait, what?" He blinks, then looks at me more closely. "What? You're Armed?"
I look at him with a deadpan. "Well, otherwise it doesn't make any sense, does it?"
He laughs. "No, I guess it doesn't!" The joke must get funnier after he says that, because he laughs harder. It drags on for a little longer until he manages to compose himself. "Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. I think I need to sit down."
* * *
Elete
* * *
After 'Sy and I hear the boy's testimony, Lute is asked to go seek the attentions of a healer. His initial stubborn refusal to move after the request is typical of any Akribastes with a vendetta on their minds. Lute's eyes won't leave Aaren. I don't blame him - both of them have endured much, and Jhe Voitre has done a great many strange things in Lute's presence with no clear warning beforehand. Nevertheless...
"Go, or I'll skin your rear with one swing," says 'Sy as Diyn manifests visually in his hand. The Trident has a glint to it that one should not ignore lightly. Lute seems to feel the same, as he immediately vanishes into a wisp of shadow. His motivation might be helped by the fact that 'Sy has used that same threat on all of his kids since the oldest was old enough to comprehend it.
'Sy is silent for a few moments before he turns to me, raises an eyebrow, then looks towards Jhe Voitre. He motions for me to come closer as he approaches the bed.
Diyn is having a look at Schiphael again. He is asking him more questions. 'Sy frowns, mulls for a bit, then decides to go on. Are you sure that you wouldn't find something wrong with Aaren if you looked at him once more? He sounds just a touch embarrassed at questioning me.
I was very thorough the first time. There's a bit of uncomfortable silence. He might not be guilty. You would be the one to tell though... not me.
I don't want to look. His face is so pained. I can't blame him. The thought of having to try an Armed for letting his own Arms be destroyed... Besides, I already know.
I raise my eyebrows. How?
"Because I told him to do this." 'Sy breaks into open speech. I suppose he feels there's nothing to keep from Aaren now, if he might be somehow listening in secret. "I told him, if he had the opportunity, to find out how some Armed were disappearing over the years and why even their Arms wouldn't come back. I told him that if it happened that he could find out by his family ties, to exploit them as much as necessary and play along as much as it took. I told him to do it at all costs, and that if he had to die to do so, as long as he could send Schiphael back with a piece of himself. I told him to do this to himself, and Diyn similarly instructed Schiphael. I did this."
It's hard to think of anything to say to 'Sy in response to this. Even affirming that it's his job to send his soldiers out into harm's way would be like rubbing salt into a wound. But there is no consolation for this, is there? There's no time for it. "Well done. You assigned the correct person to the mission, and they succeeded in your aim."
He jumps, then looks over to me. "Are you serious, Elete?"
I clasp my hands behind my back, affecting a rigid posture. "Your agent came back alive. He can tell you what happened. You have a culprit now, and some clues as to what to defend against. That was your intention, yes?"
'Sy averts his eyes, then looks at Jhe Voitre again. "Yes, that's what our intentions were."
"Then stop moping about something you already took responsibility for, and act on what's happened."
His eyes snap back to me, his face betraying his shock. "Elete, are you telling me to ignore whatever may be wrong with my Armed?"
I bite my lip, then strengthen my resolve. "It's the only way you'll survive this, and you know it. You're trying to feel remorse, but in the end, Aaren signed his life to you already, doubly so when he agreed to the mission. If he is to be helped, it will have to be after what he's discovered in the field is acted on, isn't it? Even if he's never able to give you a personal telling of what he did on his mission, it was enough that he be there for Lute to follow in secret, as is his job. The only reason I need to tell you this, I believe, is because you are in the middle of a Trial and Katherine was almost killed off less than a day before now. You want to feel bad about something, but it's not Aaren, is it? I, too, want to feel bad about something."
"Do you?" 'Sy's tone and face are unreadable now, even by me.
"I want to feel bad for letting my Poets go unaccounted for. By my guess, by Lute's observations, and by Camden's reports, I've had quite an attrition in my forces without even knowing it. I never followed up properly on some of the missives they sent in that seemed strange - now I have quite a few I suspect or know were forgeries. There's Elric and Edward that are confirmed. Stevane and Lyric were taken at Katherine's fall, likely to the same place that the Poets have been squirreled away to." I can't quite look him in the eye now that I'm about to speak the next part. "And among others... there's my son, Elam."
"I'm sorry."
"They weren't your responsibility, but thank you for your sympathies. If it is at all possible, though, we must act now. Once your Trial is over with, you'll have all the pieces assembled. Jhe Cade, after all, has his testimony to divulge. After that... well, it's questionable whether you'll even need me anymore."
"Elete!"
"I don't mean to go into dramatics, 'Sy. You'll have most of the puzzle pieces, though, and I'll have a nice rest, just like you keep nagging me about. Relax. Go back to your Trial. It's time." I have trouble brushing off the glare he gives me, but then, I earned it. I've gotten away with quite a bit of directing his energies, or even bossing him around, and he usually prefers our arrangement to be the reverse of that.
"I'll escort you out," he says, nudging the way of things back to their natural order. I acquiesce. I've gotten my way quite a lot today, and I honestly want to rest now. The worst is coming for me, and I must be ready.
* * *
Cade
* * *
My neck hurts.
...it's broken...
Yeah, I think so. A shame, that, to be without a neck.
...anything can be fixed... if you pay...
That's great, just great. Hey, wasn't I paying for something, or working on something? I was in the middle of a thing, I know that. There were people there...
...past now... let's go on...?
Sure, if you say so. Hey, who am I?
...depends... who you were... isn't who you will be...
That's catchy. Almost sorta wise. Do you know a lot of things?
...know you... know all about you, now... want to see...?
Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Let's go.
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