Private Tales Broken Fingers

[Cenric]

Cortos - Kortes; Outskirts

"P-please." The word, if one could even call it that, was barely audible.

In the din of dock-works just outside the warehouse one would have had to shout to even have a chance of hearing anything at all. Which of course, was why they had chosen this place. Couple that with a few conveniently stacked crates, a little warding magic, and one very effective rag used as a gag and this interrogation had gone rather swimmingly.

Well, aside from the Red-Guard still refusing to spill his guts. "I-I don't k-know anything."

"I very much doubt that Selero." Cenric, cloaked in a blonde man's body said as he crouched down in front of the man. "You're the Bishops First Guard. You know his movements, what he has for breakfast."

The man's eyes were swimming as he looked at the suit of skin in front of him. There was recognition in his eyes, of course, the blonde man had been Selero's friend before Cenric had taken him. "Wh-why are you doing this? Y-you-."

Cenric stopped listening as the man began to plead his case once more. Echoing arguments he had made about 'their' bond half a dozen times before.

It was remarkably frustrating just how resilient the man was proving to be. They had been interrogating him for nearly two days now, and soon his absence would become noticed. Before long the other Guards would come searching, and not long after the Solar Choire would be alerted. They had to do something, and soon. A long sigh escaped Cenric's lips. "Family it is."

He said, patting Selero on the cheek. A look of wild panic crossed his features, but before he could say another word Cenric elbowed him across the jaw and sent him spiraling into unconsciousness.

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra came back into view as Cenric knocked him out.

"Still nothing?" She asked, knowing that he had not.

Sen had been trailing the family of Solero for the better part of the afternoon, and her findings were quite boring to say the least. He was a happy, loving husband to a wife that looked after their two children, but after spending all those hours surveilling, Kit discovered that Solero had a daughter that was older, definitely before his marriage.

This girl had intrigued the Lyrebird so much, disregarding the love and patience of her step-mother. Just watching from afar told Kit that the girl was adored by her father, but the sentiments were not returned in the same aspect.

It would be her Kitra would take.

"Brought his daughter, she's still asleep from the draught I snuck her. Should I wake her?"

 

[Cenric]

Many Anirian's had difficulty paying their enemy respect.

Growing up at the Academy they had been taught through many lessons about the superiority of their people. How Dreadlord's were the strongest, most intelligent, and unbreakable backbone of Aniria. Infrequently mentioned were that other states believed much the same.

Selero and the rest of the Red-Guard were strong in their own way, but unlike Cenric and his peers they had weaknesses which could be pressed.

In this case, the man's daughter would do just fine. "In a bit."

Cenric said with a slight frown.

"I left him with the thought." It wasn't that he had any qualms about using the man's daughter as leverage, but he had a better thought than a simple threat. "You said she was...distant from him?"

He had left tailing the girl to Kitra, figuring that his new face would be better for interrogating Selero himself. His second body having been set as a watch.

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra shrugged one shoulder. "His daughter, but not his wife's. It is obvious he has been trying to win her favour with all the jewellery, dresses, and even some nice first edition books I saw in her room... but they were all hidden away." Snooping in places she shouldn't be came naturally to her, more her expertise than when it came to interrogations. Kitra would have to feel what they felt, and there were times when it could be all too much even for her, but they persist.

"I have also learned to mimic her voice, if we would like to further disturb him." She relayed, her voice taking on a youthful and more disinterested cadence. "If I had proper time to study, I could take on her features, but why waste time? She is here."

Kitra stepped forward and held her hand out, brandishing a piece of parchment to Cenric. "She was receiving the mail when I grabbed her. Sealed with the Bishop's mark."

 

[Cenric]

Cenric took in every piece of information Kitra offered, frowning in thought.

There were two paths they could take. Doubtless with enough effort they could take the girl and turn her against her father, though that might take time. The other option was to have Kitra pose as her, let the quiver in her voice betray a false knife at her throat and see if that alone would be enough to break the man.

The third option, of course, was to just actually threaten her. But that would take away another avenue. "Have you read it?"

He asked, taking the parchment and playing it over in his hands. Noting the ornate seal before he popped over and scanned the contents.

"An affair?" Cenric asked with a shake of his head. "So pedestrian."

Perhaps that was why the girl had no respect for her father, his employer clearly didn't. Cenric clicked his tongue, noting that the letter contained no real details. He doubted the girl would be any more help in getting to the Bishop, much less his vaults, but she would be useful nonetheless. "These religious types. Always so hypocritical."

He tossed the parchment onto the table.

"What do you think?" He mused to his fellow Vigilite. "Break him, or try to play her?"

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra snorted.

The news of an affair was not surprising. She had figured he had a dalliance earlier in his life that resulted in the daughter Kit had taken, and his current wife trying so hard to accept her as one of her own. This forced love would make anyone one else uneasy and distant.

"Why do I have to pick?" She scrunched her face, already tossing about her ideas... With a sigh, she looked up at Cenric, fixing him with a steady look of intent. "We break him. There is something we haven't tried yet."

Kitra looked around, finding another chair and bringing it to be placed before their target. Moments later, Kitra was hauling the adolescent into view, placing her onto the chair and began restraints. "Keep her like this, let him see you have been to your word. We wake her, let her see her father like this, and the letter on her lap to read. Perhaps she may break him for us."

 

[Cenric]

"Because I'm feeling generous." The Dreadlord said with a grin. "And Lazy."

He said with a shrug of his shoulders as he leaned against one of the crates. Lips pressing thin as he listened to her plan. A smile spreading across his face as before she could even finish Cenric caught the play she was wanting to make.

Clever.

As Kitra began to move the chair into place, Cenric whispered a small spell beneath his breath. Letting Selero sit in his silence a moment longer before wandering over and grabbing the parchment. "The bishop's fate brought about by his own lascivious heart?"

Though he supposed it would be more the vengeance of a daughter's vengeance. Cenric's steps echoed in the warehouse as he gently dumped the piece of paper in their prisoners lap.

"How dramatic." He commented, motioning for Kitra to wake the girl. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you'd stolen the idea from a stage show."

 

[Kitra Sen]

She fixed him with a large grin. "Oh? You hear Lyrebird of Vel Cirak and think, what? No dramatic flair?" She teased, pushing the sleeping girl's head forward to droop so that her fingers could press the right spot to alleviate the slumber.

Kitra grabbed Cenric by the arm and pulled him away. "I am a mimic. First instinct is dramatic, but as someone that survived the Academy at a young age? My first instinct is to succeed." Releasing him, Kitra wandered over to a mass of pillows she collected in a pile to lounge across. It had been boring listening to a man cry and plead, but Kit had managed to finish reading her book that morning.

"Let her panic for a few moments before waking her father. I am very curious as to what she has to say seeing him. And time to read her letter..."

 

[Cenric]

"Maybe you should try joining the Opera." Cenric suggested as they stepped out of the light and beyond the sight of their guests. Head turning over his shoulder and watching as the girl began to stir. "I hear the Trafalgar Company is hiring."

Mostly because he and Adira had killed their lead a few weeks back. The woman had been a Dreadlord, or rather, a rogue. Running from the Republic with knowledge that she wasn't supposed to have. Knowledge that was now his, along with the voice she had so cherished.

"Pa-papa?" The girls voice echoed out just as Cenric turned fully. Motioning for Kitra to follow as well.

Panic echoed through the girl's voice already, though tinged with confusion more than anything else. Her head shaking as she tried to look around herself. Eyes flickering back and forth in desperation, seeking for any sign of where she might be. "Papa!"

Her voice called out again, though this time there was something...else. Anger? "Look what you've gotten us into!"

The girl spat, much to Cenric's surprise.

 

[Kitra Sen]

Hearing the girl's frustrations was like music to Kitra. She gave Cenric a grin, one worn by thise that made the winning bet.

"I'll give you a song one day, Cen." She crooned. Belatedly, she got up from her throne of pillows and slid up beside her colleage. Even as he occupies a body, she could still feel the sense and presence of Cenric past all the stuck memories in the body.

From their vantage point, they would be able to see the girl yelling at her father, hoping he would wake.

"Not until she sees the letter... until she sees it, she will make up her own scenarios in her head before he could tell her differently." She cut Cenric a glance, a dark brow lifting. "Want to make a bet on whether she will read it before he wakes up?"

 

[Cenric]

"She'll read it." Cenric said with no small amount of confidence.

It was clear that Selero's daughter already knew something was wrong here. Well, aside from being kidnapped. The disdain she felt for her father was nothing short of monumental. "She's been searching for something like this."

Cenric said softly. "A moment where she might get answers."

The girl seemed to stagger to her feet for a moment, her tirade continuing as she stalked up. Fingers first testing the bonds of magic which held her father in place, then slowly flowing down towards the letter in his lap.

Fingers wrapped carefully, eyes flickering over the already broken seal as she unfolded the parchment and began to read. Her jaw falling slightly, the anger in her eyes turning towards a true seething rage.

The echo of the slap across her father's face louder than any words.

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra found herself standing on the tips of her boots, leaning forward with interest as the slap commanded a silence in it's aftermath. Dreadlord Sen was grinning, entertained by all of this. She herself had not much in way of family, not that any of them were around or alive anymore, but she felt as if she were living vicariously through the daughter.

The slap itself woke up Selero.

He gasped for air before the pain registered in his cheek. Hands bound with the spell Cenric used, he had no way of tenderly cupping it form the sting, and was left wincing.

"You can't help yourself. You've never changed, Papa. Who is she? How may are there? Just how many siblings do I really have?"

"Well, we know she is insecure about her conception. Most likely a bastard... they get treated like shit just as us orphans do." Kitra murmured. She could feel the shame and anger roiling from the girl, begging to be mimicked by the Lyrebird.

"There is no one else! Believe me!"

"LIAR!"

Her hand snatched the letter from his lap, scrunching it so hard that Kit thought it had ripped, but with a heated calm, the girl unfurled it and read it aloud. The colour drained from the father's face.

"Well, there you have it, comrade. Broke his daughter, now it's time to break him."

 

[Cenric]

"Not sure I'd call myself an orphan." Cenric contended, though didn't bother to elaborate as he watched the drama unfold in front of them. Amusement playing over his features as Selero's daughter continued to lash out. The sarcasm and venom in her tone biting far deeper than any wound either he or Kitra could inflict.

As she finished reading the letter, the parchment was crumpled in her hand. "This! All of this is YOUR fault! You're worse th-"

Before she could finish, Cenric swept into the light. His steps echoing out just in time for the girls head to shoot up. Confusion flickered over her features, and then anger returned as she suddenly turned her ire towards him.

"U-Uncle Temmir? A-are-HOW DARE YOU! YOU'RE THE ON-" Before the girl could finish, a snap rang out from somewhere else in the Warehouse. Cenric's other body using it's magic to silence the girl with an invisible gag. Hands flickering over her mouth as she clawed at the air that now occupied the space between her lips.

A second later, Cenric grabbed her by the scruff of her neck.

Selero instantly pulling against his bonds a she tried to throw himself against the Dreadlord to protect his daughter. "Enough."

Cenric said simply as he held the girl, her hands shooting to strike him when he threw her onto the ground.

"You've lost the respect of your daughter." He said to the man. "You've lost the respect of the Bishop."

He gestured to parchment. "What else are you protecting?"

Cenric asked. "Your honor? Because I wouldn't say that's worth your daughters life."

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra's entry went unseen, all eyes on Cenric as he asked the hard questions.

No one noticed Kit until she blocked the other exit, and spoke up. "If you do not speak, then we have all the evidence to have you executed publicly. Of course, we give you one more chance to save your life, and save your daughter's life. Unless you don't mind having her death on your conscience?"

The daughter whirled onto Kitra, startled. She looked between her father and Kitra, unable to look at Cenric as he kept a good hold of her, and she whimpered.

"She has no part in this!"

"But she is important to you, despite the disappointment you give her." Kitra countered.

Selero hesitated. Kitra pounced.

"You want to do better, don't you?" Kitra knew it to be true. She could feel his emotions and intentions through her mimicry. It was how she could catch liars.

 

[Cenric]

Cenric's fingers snapped, and the invisible gag within their prisoners mouth disappeared. The girl whimpered. "Papa, p-please. I don-don't want to die."

Selero's tears began to flow as he heard his daughters plea. The words seeming to break something within the man. His steel backbone shattering all at once as he felt a wave of despair and panic finally rush over him. The small semblance of control and composure he had maintained finally gone.

It was the final hammer blow, exactly what he needed.

"Th-the Bishop." He said quietly. "He is seeking support from a foreigner."

Selero whimpered out, his daughter remaining silent as she tried not to draw the ire of the two Dreadlords. Her eyes still watching her 'Uncle' more than a little wearily. "I d-do not know who. It was the Solar Choire w-who directed him. I delivered the letter to him m-myself."

His tears fell.

"M-more than that I don't know, P-please believe me." The Red Guard's eyes flickered down to his daughter, shame filling his gaze.

"The meeting time? The foreigner?" Cenric pressed, taking one step closer to the girl.

"I don't know!" Selero bellowed in panic. "I don't know! Here in Kortes! Somewhere! Their ship will arrive soon! Please don't hurt her!"

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra's mouth twisted and skewed in thought, feeling the motions of truth being told, but she could feel him withholding something. It accompanied fear, but it was not so fresh nor caused by their interrogations. This was old, well worn into the marrow of his bones.

"There's someone else holding something over you, isn't there?" She asked.

His fear hit her so hard, Kit leaned back onto her left foot.

"Whatever you feel, I feel. Who's got you so scared?" She cooed. Kit never told strangers the extent of her powers, but only the parts that should make them nervous. "If the intel is good enough, hells, we may even take care of your little problem... thing is... you have to be honest with us." Her head tilted to the side, assessing him with a blank stare. "Or I will know when you lie."

 

[Cenric]

Cenric stayed quiet, the stolen corpse he wore hovering over Selero's daughter as Kitra kept on pressing. The Cortosi man stood on the edge, a precipices that he himself could not quite define. The words he spoke were choked, broken, as though his tongue could barely offer them at all. "T-There is a man."

He croaked.

"W-with the Bishop." Cenric frowned as he noted the sweat beginning to bead on the other man's brow. His skin going noticeable more pallid. "He's some kind of-a-a-a-"

The man began to stutter, and then suddenly scream. His voice broke into a shout, hands pulling at the bindings on his hands as he screeched. Skin cracking and breaking open as fire suddenly burst out. His daughter's shrill cry joining his as some sort of magic suddenly gripped the man whole. Immolating him within seconds and filling the air with the scent of burnt flesh.

Cenric jumped back, wrenching the girl with him as she did her best to bound forward towards her father. Desperate to save a man who was already did. Within just a few seconds the flames died, leaving behind only the echoes of a charred corpse.

"Well." Cenric offered callously. "Someone wanted to keep a secret."

The Dreadlord noted, glancing over to his companion.

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra's face glowered, watching the light grey smoke reach upwards from the charred remains. The daughter was wailing, which was unsurprising, but Kit looked as if her fun had been spoiled.
"It reeks of fae magic. Sacred oaths to keep secrets are known to do this... but I also cannot believe the fae would do business with the Cortosi..."

She reached a hand to see if she could get a sense of the magic at play here, but nothing came back so clearly. Inconclusive, as if the channels between it's magic and her own were made up of muddy waters. "Well, at least he left us with a lead... just who— can you please shut her up?"

Kit scowled, looking over at the hysterical daughter.

 

[Cenric]

A loud snap rang out as Cenric broke the girls neck in one swift motion.

Her body crumpled onto the ground with a muted thud, paid no more mind than a piece of trash that had been tossed. "Fae will make deals with anyone."

As long as they got the better of it, though he would assume she was right; this wasn't the work of any Fae.

The Radiant Church was incredibly controlled in that regard. They might have been hypocritical about nearly everything else, but bargains with Fae, outer Demons, and even Celestials beyond the scope of their Church was a vehement impossibility to even the most broken Bishop.

At least from what Cenric knew, but that didn't make it true.

That left the question though, if not Fae, who? There were plenty of magical beings with enough power to set a ward like this, though few had interest in Cortos...that they knew of.

"I suppose we'll have to ask the bishop." Not that doing so was any sort of easy proposition.

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra watched the girl drop, a forgotten doll left behind. Cenric stepped over her, and Kit went to join him at his side.

They walked out from where they had been hiding out for couple of days, and the night was soon upon them. "The Bishop will have plenty of guards around them at all times."

It was merely a reminder of what was before them, but Kitra's voice was amused rather than intimidated. She was a strong fighter, knowing her magic could be used to give her an advantage once she learned the fighting styles of others.

"Shall we split up? Let you use this body to get ahead while I follow?" Kitra couldn't mimic appearances. She would have been quite the partner to Cenric's abilities if she could, but Kit learned to make do with her ability to be a Lyrebird.

 

[Cenric]

He shook his head almost immediately. "There are too many Red Guard at the Palace."

Though typically, each of Cortos' Free-Cities maintained it's own army with it's own flavor, the same could not be said for Kortes. This place had long been under the charge of the Radiant Church, and with that came the Red Guard.

Not unlike Dreadlords in some way, the Red Guard were an arm of the Church's military.

They were not quite sorcerers, but each man was mage-touched in some way. Holding a gift that ranged from being able to smell lies, to seeing trails of magic. They were also well trained, unfortunately, though not brought up from childhood like Dreadlords were.

Still, they were skilled enough in number, and there were always more than Dreadlords. The more minute magical talents easier to find and exploit.

"We'll have to catch him on the move." He mused. "Perhaps lure him out."

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kit smiled. "Lure him out? Oh, that would be much too easy for me." She used the voice of Selero, already memorising every bit of him audibly, putting on the lyrebird's mimicry on display.

In her own voice, she continued. "Any other friends you can make? Have them assist as eyes and ears? We need to know more about the Bishop's movements and plan when to strike."

This was the time they could keep low and gather more information. Selero was no help, but perhaps they would need to tread more careful when it came to the Bishop. They couldn't afford another prominent source of information going up in flame.

 

[Cenric]

Cenric shook his head. "Difficult in this place."

Kortes was almost as secure as Vel Anir. At least it felt like it. The Radiant Church had a powerful foothold here, and their Red Guard wandered about the place almost constantly. It was rare not to see a priest or a group of soldiers marching about, moving everywhere.

Taking someone off the street was actually rather difficult. It didn't help that the marks that his magic left would often be seen in the common prayer rituals.

In a strange sort of way, unless they were careful Cenric was stuck with the bodies he'd brought.

"He has an estate, just outside the city." He frowned, remembering reading about the place in the dossier they'd received. Kortes had long been at war with Tychos, an Anirian ally, now that the war had officially broken out their friend had been more than happy to share all the information they had.

"I think he only goes out there to fuck someone." Cenric said with a frown. "But there's less eyes, and if all the guards end up slaughtered there, the army is at least a nights march away."

Instead of blocking all the exits.

 

[Kitra Sen]

Kitra's brows raised, unsure if she should be surprised extra lodgings would be used in such a manner.

"Congratulations to him for getting busy, but I think you are right. A private home away? Definitely hiding something." Brown eyes seared into Cenric. Listening to him, she began to nod along with his thinking, seeing where he was going with it. "We can make some noise, make sure he has no escape if we wanted to have our fun. Other option is to kill him in stealth."

However her colleague wanted this done, Kit would abide by hus decision.

Kitra began to smile. The plan was shaping. They could have their fun with this. "Up for a little trip, comrade?"

 

[Cenric]

It was tempting to make noise. To bring some fear to the halls and homes of Kortes, but he knew it wouldn't work out well.

"The house." Cenric decided. Sneaking into the Bishop's palace wouldn't be all that difficult, especially for the two of them, but it was getting away that would be the problem. As soon as the man died, Kortes would be locked down tighter than a nun's undergarments.

Perhaps he and Kitra could escape that, but why bother when there was an easier way to get the job done.

"Let's figure out one of his lovers names." He told her with a shrug. "Send him a letter, get him out to the House."

A shrug rolled over his shoulder. "Then maybe we burn the place down for fun."

Kortes would see it, but by then he and his companion could be long gone and back on their way towards Tychos.