[Venora] The Hierarchy of Loyalty

[Faith Augustin]

15th Saun, 716
The Middle Of The Night

Even slaves were allowed to sleep, eventually, in this place and Faith had needed to wait. She knew that the thing that she had heard was potentially important to Master, and she knew that he wanted her to tell him. In fact, his precise words had been "let me know immediately" when she and he had discussed a quite different situation with House Warrick. However, that was in some confrontation with another order he had given her. That one was to not get into trouble here in his home. So she had considered it and then she had come up with a plan.

While the family slept, there were a small group of slaves who worked cleaning floors and so on. They had to do this, because they could not inconvenience the family by cleaning the floors they wished to walk on, so there was a group who worked, very quietly, throughout the night. That was good, she considered, she just needed to get on there without someone becoming suspicious. So, she had watched and one of the overseers had dished it out as punishment. That was what she needed. So, earlier on that trial Faith had 'accidently' knocked over the bucket she was using, just as he came past. It had earned her a backhand across the face, but then he had assigned her to the night shift for the next three nights alongside her day time duties. She had apologised, thanked him for the lesson and then gotten back to her work, pleased with herself and what she had done. The split in her lip was enough, also, for her to be given some sympathy by one of the cooks who also provided some more details to what she had heard.

That meant that this night, whilst the house was in a state of quiet, she was in the corridor where Master's rooms were. She had made sure that she was alone and she had checked that he was alone in there. Not that it was her concern had he not be, but Faith had a very clear idea that she had to speak to him about this alone. Because, in the hierarchy of loyalty which existed in Faith's head, Master was above all other mortals.

So, in order to ensure that she was as quiet as she could be, Faith slipped off her shoes and held them in one hand. Then, walking only on the carpet, she moved to Master's door, which she opened with slow care and then slipped inside. She made sure that the door was closed behind her and then she padded over to next to Master's bed. There, she knelt on her haunches and put her hand out to stroke his hair from his face, as she whispered to him. "Master? Master I need to talk to you. I am so sorry to disturb you but I think it is important... I am sorry" and indeed, as Tristan woke, there was Faith kneeling next to his bed. The light that shone through the window showed that her face had a bruise and her lip was split, but neither were brand new and she would not wake him for something so minor. She watched him with an earnest expression "I have heard something from the servants, Master, and I think you will want to know it. May I speak with you?" she asked, looking up at him. Even for her, she was whispering.

[Tristan Venora]

“I’ve been waiting for a man like you all my life!” Ilaren said and laughed before she took another gulp. The Immortal of Alcohol and Brawling didn’t care about etiquette, she drank straight from the bottle as a woman in her position should. “Where were you all this time?” “I wasn’t born yet!” Tristan replied and took a big gulp from his bottle as well. It was already half empty. Soon he’d need to get another one!

“We should go somewhere private and make love before we are too drunk to do so!” Ilaren suggested spontaneously. They had met in the Blacksmith Arms about a break ago and already sampled about every alcoholic beverage that the tavern had to offer. “I agree!” Tristan replied and quickly finished his bottle. He got up from his chair and put an arm around the Immortal, and then …

… and then he woke up. “Ilaren”, he murmured groggily. “Leave me alone. I’m sleeping”, he continued and turned his head away, hoping to fall asleep and dream about the beautiful Immortal again, but to no avail. Somebody was whispering in his ear, and they just wouldn’t shut up. Eventually he reluctantly opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times as everything was still a little blurred.

“Faith?” he asked once he could see clearly again and abruptly sat up. “Faith!” He could see that she had a bruise, but then he realized that it was old. She wouldn’t wake him up because somebody had hit her a trial or two ago, so what did she want? Did she want to join him in bed even though Grandmother Ebony would probably throw them both out if they did that? He wouldn’t mind that – he’d always enjoyed doing forbidden things - but unfortunately the tone of her voice was not quite seductive enough. She seemed a little … worried.

Had the rebels arrived then? Had Veljorn come to visit his wife? Had the war finally started for good, and Cassander and his army had come to Sabaissant to kill Zvezdana, the evil wannabe queen? He opened his mouth to ask her whether that was the case, but closed it again immediately. She didn’t look worried enough for that to have been the reason for the unwelcome interruption. So what …?

“You may speak”, he said, now fully awake and capable of thinking halfway clearly again. Whatever it was, it would be better if he knew about it, even though she had come to visit him at a most inopportune moment. “What were the servants talking about?”

[Faith Augustin]

15th Saun, 716
The Middle Of The Night

Oh, he was dreaming. She hated truly hated to waken him from the dream and she looked at him with sincere regret in her eyes. She really wasn't sure that she had heard it all correctly, but enough of it had registered that she knew she had to tell him. If she was wrong to do so, then she would be more than sorry and she would accept her punishment for it as the right thing to do.

But if she was right, then to not say anything was much much worse.

As he awoke and came to full consciousness, he might well notice two things. The cut on Faith's lip and the bruise on her face was not trials old, not by a long shot. Both were fairly fresh, but any bleeding from her lip had been stayed awhile, maybe a few breaks. But also, she held in her hand a carefully folded parchment. As he sat up she put her fingers to her lips at his exclamation of her name. "Yes Master. Please... I will get into dreadful trouble if I am caught" she said and, of course, she would not be able to tell him everything she needed to.

He got himself together and he woke up and she wished that she had thought to bring him a cup of coffee, but she didn't see how she could have done so without alerting others. Still. She waited until he gave her permission to speak and then she looked at him with earnest silver eyes as she knelt next to his bed. "Earlier today, Master I heard some of the slaves talking about a noblewoman being held captive. I thought that it was strange, but they talk about all sorts of things and make up stories about the noble families they serve" her voice was low, but she spoke with a very strong sense of urgency. "And then I heard them talking about someone called Elyna. And I remembered that name, Master, you told me it before when you said that she had found you talking to a sculpture?" the young woman kneeling in front of Tristan had a good memory and a sharp brain; something that he had been discovering himself, since buying her, but it might just be serving Lady Burhan in very good measure right now.

"So, I listened more. Another one of the slaves used the name, and said much the same thing. So, I knew that I had to speak to you." she nodded to him "So, I listened some more and found that one of the supervisors gives slaves the night shift as a punishment. So I spilled something in front of him. He beat me, and then gave me the night shift as punishment too" she motioned to her face, knowing that he had seen it. Besides, it had led to another piece of the puzzle "But I had to see the cook to tend to my lip, it wouldn't stop bleeding and she says tomorrow, my eye will be black. But she was talking whilst she tended to me, and I saw this on the table" she handed him, then, the carefully folded piece of parchment.

"Master there, look, it says that Lady Elyna Burham is with child by Marcus Krome. I was looking at it and the cook was pleased that I could read. She didn't really believe me, though, so she asked me to read something out. I read that bit and she tutted and said that it was a shame, that Lady being held there like that and that they were on their way to Krome to be wed." she stopped then and watched him. "I am sorry if I did the wrong things, Master, but I thought that you would want to know and the only way I could get to you was to do what I did. There is one more thing that I should tell you, but it is probably nothing and was just a... well, a dream, really. So it is probably nothing at all, but it seems linked. Would you like to know it or have I made a mistake in coming here?" she said and she knelt there, waiting to see if she had gotten it right or very wrong indeed.

[Tristan Venora]

Now that he was fully conscious and not thinking about the beautiful Ilaren anymore, he could see that the bruise on Faith’s face was not as old as he had thought. She didn’t seem to be seriously hurt, but still, he considered asking her about it. He didn’t like it if people hurt his slave. Only he was allowed to do so, but he never did so. In his opinion there were better ways to deal with a disobedient slave than hit her or whip her. He was just about to ask her what had happened, when his gaze fell on the parchment in her hand.

"What is that?" He raised an eyebrow. She was worried that she would get in trouble. It had to be because of that. Had she intercepted some sort of secret message, spied on a secret conversation? Were the rebels in the palace, visiting their wannabe queen? No, apparently not, he concluded as she spoke about a noblewoman being held captive. Who was she? Had Granny Ebony finally come to her senses and locked Zvezdana up somewhere so that she couldn’t cause any more trouble? He wished that were the case!

"Elyna?" he asked. His eyes were wide. He had managed not to blurt her name out which was quite an accomplishment, considering his surprise. He definitely hadn’t expected that! "Why would they hold her captive? She seemed so nice. Is it because of her uncle?" He was pretty sure that Veljorn Burhan was her uncle or at least a cousin. Maybe they had captured her, hoping to use her to exert pressure on Veljorn. Unfortunately he wasn’t sure if Veljorn wouldn’t sacrifice his relative for the throne.

The man really seemed to want to be king …

"You are quite the spy", he remarked as she revealed how she had spilled something on purpose in order to be punished with the night shift and secretly wondered whether he should have a word with the supervisor. But then again, the bruise would probably heal soon, and it might be unwise to draw more attention than was absolutely necessary to Faith, not in the current political climate and not with all the things that were going on in the family.

Besides, she had practically asked for it!

"That’s the Gazette", he said, dumbfounded, as she handed him the piece of parchment. "They have an article about my art this season. I read what they wrote about Elyna as well. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I’m pretty sure that she doesn’t love Marcus Krome. I was a guest at her wedding – to his father, Malcolm Krome. They were really in love. So, unless Malcolm is dead, she can’t be marrying his son." He briefly wondered if he really should have told Faith about Elyna’s wedding, but alas, it was too late to take his words back. Besides, she wouldn’t gossip about it anyway, would she?

"Do you think …" he began as something truly terrible occurred to him. He lowered his voice to a mere whisper and looked around as if he were suddenly worried about spies being hidden in the shadows in the corners of his room (you could never really be sure!). If the wrong person listened, it could have dire consequences – for both of them!

"… do you think he abducted her and raped her because he wants her for himself? You mentioned a dream. Did Marcus and Elyna appear to you in a dream?" He pulled the blanket back (Faith could see that he wasn’t wearing anything – besides a pair of underpants), quickly got out of bed and put on his dressing gown (a very nice one made of yellow and golden silk). Once he had done that, he gave her a sign to rise to her feet. He didn’t feel like sleeping at all anymore. There were important things happening!

[Faith Augustin]

15th Saun, 716
The Middle Of The Night

"Malcolm?" she asked with an incredulous gaze. "As in... the Knight Captain who works at the University?" she asked. Surely there couldn't be another of that name and Faith looked surprised "Master that... oh that makes it make more sense" she said and she looked at him. Now, Faith had the crush to end all crushes on Malcolm, there was no doubting that, but bizarrely that might just of use to them here. That Malcolm had a wife, that he was in love, well that all made sense of course, he was a man who would have women falling at his feet, she did not doubt. But that his wife was this Elyna Burhan, Faith had no idea of that and it made perfect sense.

As he asked her about the dream, Faith shook her head "No, Master, and it was just a dream so I'm sure it's nothing. But it was last night" she explained. The timing of it all seemed a bit too convenient to be a coincidence, too. "I was in the university, in Malcolm's classroom and there was a woman there" she explained. Frowning, she focused with the aim of remembering. "She was sad. Beautiful and sad. She took off her wedding ring and then Malcolm was there too. He picked up the ring and then it was like I was an observer in their dream. It was..." she rubbed at her temple and concentrated and then she closed her eyes and spoke, like she was remembering the dream by closing her eyes. "She was bleeding Master. Her leg, it was bleeding. He didn't like that she'd dropped the ring and he told her that she was his. His to love from wherever he was. Just like....oh" Faith opened her eyes then and she looked at Tristan "He said to her... 'you can only choose to accept or refuse to acknowledge that my love for you exists, just as it does for Vanessa, Marcus, Vaughn, Ava, those who are long dead, and those I am yet to meet but have already pledged my love to.' Marcus was one of those names, Master. His son... "

She looked at him as he motioned for her to stand, and she did immediately. "So the noble lady that's being held is more than likely Lady Burhan. Held against her will. Shall I get your clothes, Master? What shall we do?" she asked, and she looked up at him with determination. She thought they were probably going to go and rescue her right now and that was very exciting to Faith. It would be a chance to really do something useful for Master, rescuing his friend.

[Tristan Venora]

"That’s him", Tristan confirmed. "Unless there are two professors named Malcolm Krome at the university which is always possible, I suppose." As he said that he wondered why exactly Elyna had fallen in love with Malcolm Krome. The man was certainly good looking, but he was trouble. He had been arrested for the alleged murder of his wife the season before, and his family were a little unstable as well (with the exception of Victoria maybe). She should have married Alistair – or him. Unless Malcolm was really innocent?

"Dreams are rarely nothing", he disagreed, secretly hoping that this was indeed the case because it would mean that his dreams of becoming king were more than just wishful thinking and that he would really be rich and famous one trial. "The people we meet in them are real, even if they may not always look the way they do in the waking world. At least that’s what I’ve been told. So I wouldn’t dismiss what you saw."

He frowned a little as Faith recounted the dream in question. Elyna had taken off her wedding ring? Was there already trouble in paradise? He could have told her that such a marriage wouldn’t work out in the long run! But then, you couldn’t always choose who you loved, and at least she had gotten the man she wanted instead of the man her parents wanted.

Or had she taken off Malcolm‘s ring because Marcus wanted her to become his wife? It was all so very confusing, but despite everything he realized that he pitied her. He had liked her, back in Ymiden when they had first met, although nothing had ever become of her promise to spend an evening with him so that he could show her the secrets of Andaris.

"If she’s being held by Marcus against her will, we need to get her out of there. I’m not sure what to think of the whole thing, but she doesn’t deserve to be locked up and fear for her life. We need help though. But who can we ask for help?. Not Granny Ebony or Aunt Willow. Alistair maybe? I remember that our families once discussed a marriage between Elyna and him …"

He broke off abruptly and furrowed his brow. Would Alistair help Elyna? Or would he just scream at him because he had disturbed his sleep and come to him because of a dream and rumors? He knew that he didn’t want to go and do the whole thing alone. It sounded like it would be dangerous, and he valued his life far too much to sacrifice it for anybody, even the very nice and most likely innocent Lady Elyna Burhan.

"Clothes?" he repeated and looked at the dressing gown he was wearing in confusion. It was as good as new, it didn’t have any obvious holes, and it wasn’t dirty yet either. "I’m already wearing clothes! But you are right, I should probably put on a shirt and pants. Can you find some clean ones for me? I don’t think Alistair would survive the sight of my glorious body. And he’ll probably be more inclined to listen to us if I come to him dressed like a proper noble lord. He is a little conservative in that regard."

"I’m proud of you by the way", he added because it really needed to be said. "If you want me to, I can ask Alistair to give you something for your bruise. He lives in one of the towers. At least I hope he’s there and not in his office and up to his elbows in one of his patient’s entrails."

[Andráska Venora]

"My two natures had memory in common."

• Review

• Faith

  Story: 5/5
  Collaboration: 5/5
  Structure: 5/5
  
  Basic Knowledges:
  Emea: Gathering Clues From Dreams
  Master Tristan: Proud of you
  Utilizing Punishment As A Tool
  
  Specific Knowledges:
  Lady Elyna: Pregnant by Marcus Krome
  Lady Elyna: Being held captive
  Beloved Malcolm: Married to Elyna
  Investigation: Seeking Multiple Informants
  Sneaking: Removing shoes to quiet footsteps
  

  Tristan Venora

  Story: 5/5
  Collaboration: 5/5
  Structure: 5/5
  
  Basic Knowledges:
  Slaves make great spies
  Faith: Quite the impressive sneak
  Emea: Gathering Clues From Dreams
  
  Specific Knowledges:
  Lady Elyna: Being Held Captive
  Lady Elyna: Pregnant by Marcus Krom
  Analyzing Spy Reports
  
  Comments for both Faith & Tristan: I thought this thread was very well paced and an interesting means to introduce future plots. In fact, reading the secretive exchange between Faith and Tristan was very fluid and natural. And as a reader it felt that I was in the room with you two, conspiring with bated breath. Great job in capturing tone in this piece and I really look forward to reading more. Seriously. If there's a sequel, someone should link me part II.
  
  P.s: Illaren is bae.