A/N: I only just discovered this kinkmeme so I'm terribly sorry this is so late. I hope you don't mind me filling it now.
----- It was an accident. Wrong place, wrong time. Essek hadn’t been the intended target. But when hands began moving in familiar forms and lips shaped arcane words, he reacted. He stepped between the would-be assassin and the Bright Queen faster than anyone else could react, pushing her away and protecting her from the fray. Fortunately, the would-be assassin was dead now, three crossbow bolts embedded in her back and the acid slowly melting the skin off her face. Unfortunately, she managed to get off two spells before she was stopped.
Neither spell was strictly fatal, but they would have caused significant problems. Power Word Stun alone would have knocked the Bright Queen off her feet. But coupled with Feeblemind, it could very well have been deadly in the long run. The peace between the Dynasty and the Empire was still fresh and fragile, neither side truly trusting the other to keep to the Treaty yet. If the monarch of the Dynasty was incapacitated, innumerable problems could arise.
But the Bright Queen was spared that fate. Essek, however, was not. By stepping between the Kryn monarch and the caster, he had effectively knocked her out of range, and put himself directly in both range and line of sight. Both spells struck him one after the other in quick succession; too quickly for him to get a Counterspell up.
Essek’s expression slacked in shock from the Power Word Stun before the light drained completely from his golden eyes as the Feeblemind spell took hold. Essek staggered before slipping to the ground where he lay unmoving and unblinking.
The court was in chaos. An assassin had attacked the Bright Queen and felled the Shadowhand. Den Thelyss effectively stomped on that rumor. Yes, Shadowhand Thelyss had been stunned, but he was most certainly not felled. He was fine and doing his duties as was expected. Nothing to worry about. Even the Bright Queen herself said so. The Bright Queen was an Umavi. Her word was final.
Verin sighed, dropping his head into his hands. If only that were true. If it was, then he wouldn’t be here in his brother’s sanctum, delving into the numerous books, scrolls, and notes of arcane nonsense looking for something, anything that could help him. He was at his wit’s end. Seeing his brother like that, when he managed to actually find his brother (honestly, who knew there were so many places to hide in the Den Thelyss home!), was heartbreaking.
Veri and Essek had never been particularly close due to their differing interests, their duties, and their mother’s machinations. But they had never been enemies. They had never hated each other or treated each other any less. Essek was aloof, but Verin understood the delicate nature of his position as Shadowhand. He wasn’t a politician himself, but he could guess at how many silk sheathed blades had been aimed at his brother’s back.
Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if the Bright Queen hadn’t been the intended target like the rumors claimed. Maybe it had been Essek. They’ll probably never know now.
It had been Verin’s idea to come here and look. His conscience gnawed at him for leaving his brother alone at the Thelyss household, but he needed to find a way to fix this. None of the Luxon cleric were allowed to help. Doing so would open the door for the truth to slip out.
“Wait it out,” they said. “The spell traditionally lasts for 30 days.”
Thirty days, Verin’s ass. It had been closer to 40 days and no change. It was maddening. Why would-
That wasn’t Essek’s handwriting. Pushing aside a couple papers covered in his brother’s elegant, controlled script, Verin pulled out a single page that had someone else’s handwriting on it. It wasn’t much. Just notes in the boundaries, a circled notation there, an annotation there, an and even a finished equation.
Verin knew for a fact that Essek was very secretive and protective of his books and notes. Even Verin knew better than to go through them. ...Well, technicalities…
So that left the question of who would Essek have trusted enough to not only lend them his notes but to allow them to write their own as well? It almost looked like Dunamancy work. A fellow Dunamancer perhaps?
Well, it was as good a place to start as any. He’d have to be careful about who he spoke to and how he worded everything, but maybe he could find help from whoever wrote these notes. Quickly, he sorted through the papers and picked up every piece that had the strange handwriting on it before making his way down the tower stairs to leave.
He was still going through possible scenarios for tracking this other wizard down when he opened Essek’s front door and very nearly walked straight into someone. Who?? What??
Oddly, the stranger looked just as confused and surprised as Verin was. The man’s bright blue eyes sparkled in the false starlight and faint green light from the street lamps. His reddish hair hung in messy, chin-length locks that framed a face that bore the marks of someone who had seen too much in their short lives. And this man’s life was definitely short because Verin could clearly see rounded ears. A Human.
He opened his mouth to ask a question when the human spoke first.
“I’m terribly sorry,” he said, holding his hands up and stepping back. “I didn’t realize Es- the Shadowhand had visitors. Em, I could come back later perhaps?”
Verin stepped out of his brother’s home, locking the door behind him. He hadn’t missed the Human’s subtle slip. Very few people called Essek by his birth name. “I doubt that,” he said, tucking the borrowed notes into his belt. “The Shadowhand is currently busy running errands for the Bright Queen. I’m not sure when he’ll be free.”
The Human’s shoulders drooped dejectedly. “Ah, I see.”
Verin couldn’t help but wonder what a Human would want with his brother. Unless this was one of those odd mercenaries he’d heard about? The ones who returned one of the Beacons?
Even if that wasn’t the case, the Human had sharp eyes.
“What are doing with those notes?” the Human said, his voice carefully neutral.
“The Shadowhand asked me to retrieve them so he could work on them during his breaks,” Verin replied easily. “I hardly see how that’s any of your business though.”
“Is it not.” It wasn’t quite a question, and the gleam in those blue eyes wasn’t quite dangerous. Yet. “Then perhaps you could answer a question before you leave, ja?”
Interesting. “I might,” Verin hedged.
“Where is Essek Thelyss?” the Human demanded, his tone almost as hard as his eyes.
“Why do you ask?”
The Human shifted subtly, his hands hanging deceptively still by his sides. “He promised to speak to us when we returned, but we haven’t heard anything for over a week. We haven’t received any word, no replies to our Sendings, and no one speaks of him. Not since an… incident over a month ago. Now, where is he?”
Very interesting. “Why do you want to know about my brother?” he asked carefully.
Blue eyes widened. “You’re- You’re brother? Essek has a brother?”
“He does. My name is Verin Thelyss, Taskhand of Bazzoxan.” He crossed his arms and eyed the Human with renewed interest. “What do you want with my brother, stranger?”
“Caleb. Caleb Widowgast of the Mighty Nein,” the Human supplied readily, surprise still lingering in his face. “Has something happened to him? Please. We’ve tried contacting him and-”
“Why are you trying to contact him?” Verin insisted. “Obviously you feel comfortable enough calling him by his given name, so you must have earned some level of respect.”
“He is our sponsor here in the Dynasty.”
Good answer. It was a claim that Verin could easily find evidence of, if he needed to. But that obviously wasn’t the whole story. He called Essek by his first name. And judging by the way he corrected himself earlier, it was clearly a habit.
Damn. This could go one of two ways. One had the possibility of a good result, but also had the potential to ruin Essek’s future and position as the Shadowhand. The other option meant turning away an opportunity for answers and scrounging around on his own.
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timeasmymeasure
Actions Speak Louder Than Words (Part 1/?)
Date: 2021-01-10 09:53 pm (UTC)-----
It was an accident. Wrong place, wrong time. Essek hadn’t been the intended target. But when hands began moving in familiar forms and lips shaped arcane words, he reacted. He stepped between the would-be assassin and the Bright Queen faster than anyone else could react, pushing her away and protecting her from the fray. Fortunately, the would-be assassin was dead now, three crossbow bolts embedded in her back and the acid slowly melting the skin off her face. Unfortunately, she managed to get off two spells before she was stopped.
Neither spell was strictly fatal, but they would have caused significant problems. Power Word Stun alone would have knocked the Bright Queen off her feet. But coupled with Feeblemind, it could very well have been deadly in the long run. The peace between the Dynasty and the Empire was still fresh and fragile, neither side truly trusting the other to keep to the Treaty yet. If the monarch of the Dynasty was incapacitated, innumerable problems could arise.
But the Bright Queen was spared that fate. Essek, however, was not. By stepping between the Kryn monarch and the caster, he had effectively knocked her out of range, and put himself directly in both range and line of sight. Both spells struck him one after the other in quick succession; too quickly for him to get a Counterspell up.
Essek’s expression slacked in shock from the Power Word Stun before the light drained completely from his golden eyes as the Feeblemind spell took hold. Essek staggered before slipping to the ground where he lay unmoving and unblinking.
The court was in chaos. An assassin had attacked the Bright Queen and felled the Shadowhand. Den Thelyss effectively stomped on that rumor. Yes, Shadowhand Thelyss had been stunned, but he was most certainly not felled. He was fine and doing his duties as was expected. Nothing to worry about. Even the Bright Queen herself said so. The Bright Queen was an Umavi. Her word was final.
Verin sighed, dropping his head into his hands. If only that were true. If it was, then he wouldn’t be here in his brother’s sanctum, delving into the numerous books, scrolls, and notes of arcane nonsense looking for something, anything that could help him. He was at his wit’s end. Seeing his brother like that, when he managed to actually find his brother (honestly, who knew there were so many places to hide in the Den Thelyss home!), was heartbreaking.
Veri and Essek had never been particularly close due to their differing interests, their duties, and their mother’s machinations. But they had never been enemies. They had never hated each other or treated each other any less. Essek was aloof, but Verin understood the delicate nature of his position as Shadowhand. He wasn’t a politician himself, but he could guess at how many silk sheathed blades had been aimed at his brother’s back.
Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if the Bright Queen hadn’t been the intended target like the rumors claimed. Maybe it had been Essek. They’ll probably never know now.
It had been Verin’s idea to come here and look. His conscience gnawed at him for leaving his brother alone at the Thelyss household, but he needed to find a way to fix this. None of the Luxon cleric were allowed to help. Doing so would open the door for the truth to slip out.
“Wait it out,” they said. “The spell traditionally lasts for 30 days.”
Thirty days, Verin’s ass. It had been closer to 40 days and no change. It was maddening. Why would-
That wasn’t Essek’s handwriting. Pushing aside a couple papers covered in his brother’s elegant, controlled script, Verin pulled out a single page that had someone else’s handwriting on it. It wasn’t much. Just notes in the boundaries, a circled notation there, an annotation there, an and even a finished equation.
Verin knew for a fact that Essek was very secretive and protective of his books and notes. Even Verin knew better than to go through them. ...Well, technicalities…
So that left the question of who would Essek have trusted enough to not only lend them his notes but to allow them to write their own as well? It almost looked like Dunamancy work. A fellow Dunamancer perhaps?
Well, it was as good a place to start as any. He’d have to be careful about who he spoke to and how he worded everything, but maybe he could find help from whoever wrote these notes. Quickly, he sorted through the papers and picked up every piece that had the strange handwriting on it before making his way down the tower stairs to leave.
He was still going through possible scenarios for tracking this other wizard down when he opened Essek’s front door and very nearly walked straight into someone. Who?? What??
Oddly, the stranger looked just as confused and surprised as Verin was. The man’s bright blue eyes sparkled in the false starlight and faint green light from the street lamps. His reddish hair hung in messy, chin-length locks that framed a face that bore the marks of someone who had seen too much in their short lives. And this man’s life was definitely short because Verin could clearly see rounded ears. A Human.
He opened his mouth to ask a question when the human spoke first.
“I’m terribly sorry,” he said, holding his hands up and stepping back. “I didn’t realize Es- the Shadowhand had visitors. Em, I could come back later perhaps?”
Verin stepped out of his brother’s home, locking the door behind him. He hadn’t missed the Human’s subtle slip. Very few people called Essek by his birth name. “I doubt that,” he said, tucking the borrowed notes into his belt. “The Shadowhand is currently busy running errands for the Bright Queen. I’m not sure when he’ll be free.”
The Human’s shoulders drooped dejectedly. “Ah, I see.”
Verin couldn’t help but wonder what a Human would want with his brother. Unless this was one of those odd mercenaries he’d heard about? The ones who returned one of the Beacons?
Even if that wasn’t the case, the Human had sharp eyes.
“What are doing with those notes?” the Human said, his voice carefully neutral.
“The Shadowhand asked me to retrieve them so he could work on them during his breaks,” Verin replied easily. “I hardly see how that’s any of your business though.”
“Is it not.” It wasn’t quite a question, and the gleam in those blue eyes wasn’t quite dangerous. Yet. “Then perhaps you could answer a question before you leave, ja?”
Interesting. “I might,” Verin hedged.
“Where is Essek Thelyss?” the Human demanded, his tone almost as hard as his eyes.
“Why do you ask?”
The Human shifted subtly, his hands hanging deceptively still by his sides. “He promised to speak to us when we returned, but we haven’t heard anything for over a week. We haven’t received any word, no replies to our Sendings, and no one speaks of him. Not since an… incident over a month ago. Now, where is he?”
Very interesting. “Why do you want to know about my brother?” he asked carefully.
Blue eyes widened. “You’re- You’re brother? Essek has a brother?”
“He does. My name is Verin Thelyss, Taskhand of Bazzoxan.” He crossed his arms and eyed the Human with renewed interest. “What do you want with my brother, stranger?”
“Caleb. Caleb Widowgast of the Mighty Nein,” the Human supplied readily, surprise still lingering in his face. “Has something happened to him? Please. We’ve tried contacting him and-”
“Why are you trying to contact him?” Verin insisted. “Obviously you feel comfortable enough calling him by his given name, so you must have earned some level of respect.”
“He is our sponsor here in the Dynasty.”
Good answer. It was a claim that Verin could easily find evidence of, if he needed to. But that obviously wasn’t the whole story. He called Essek by his first name. And judging by the way he corrected himself earlier, it was clearly a habit.
Damn. This could go one of two ways. One had the possibility of a good result, but also had the potential to ruin Essek’s future and position as the Shadowhand. The other option meant turning away an opportunity for answers and scrounging around on his own.
Please be the right choice.
Reluctantly, Verin sighed. “Walk with me.”