Private Tales Don't Be Suspicious, Don't Be Suspicious

[Meika Haoqi]

Meika Haoqi, the very grumpy amanuensis for Queen Mab, sat at her desk in the archives. She had one in the archives themselves and then one out in the main office area. She liked this one because it was quieter. She was one of the few people who had access to the archives and she preferred to spend time smelling the parchment and ink. So why was the lovely cwn grumpy? Because she had a meeting with Addako Nachamek, the Head Inquisitor of the Winter Court. Why? No idea.

She was getting tired of not being told why lately. She liked to know the reasons for things and why she was doing them. She took meeting notes and wrote speeches. She was not that special and her attention had been demanded more than she liked recently. She grumbled as she scribbled down some notes on some paper. It was more of a to-do list than actual notes. The first thing on the list? Do not stab the inquisitor with her quill. She had not had the pleasure of meeting him but she had heard stories about him.

She checked the time, stuck her quill in her messy bun, and headed out to the front office to meet Addako. She glowered the whole way. He better be there. She did not like waiting especially when he wanted the meeting.

Addako Nachamek

 

[Addako Nachamek]

If this woman was as prickly as he'd heard, this was bound to be a fun affair. At least, Addako certainly hoped for something interesting to inject itself into his day. The entire week had been nothing but a dull slog. It wasn't as though the court were in any sort of turmoil, so there was hardly much work for an Inquisitor among Mab's trusted.

Still, it was a job, and it was really all that Addako had here in Underhill. The place he'd lived nearly his entire life had tossed him out like refuse, and he'd be damned if he was going to rot in obscurity, doing nothing with his time. So what if he wasn't as sought after and admired as he was in the past? It didn't matter. Addako Nachamek wouldn't be forgotten. He'd die first.

There was one point of interest that had come up though. There'd been whispers for a month now about a 'mole' amongst them. Somebody who was listening in on Mab's dealings and spreading the word around other Courts. Basically Addako's job, but the difference was that Addako wasn't so stupid that people took notice of him.

That was what had brought him here, to the archives. Meika Haoqi was in charge of documenting meetings, recording everything that was said, and also wrote speeches for the Queen herself. If anybody would be of use to him in plugging this leak, it would be her.

When he walked in to see her looking like she'd already been thinking of a quick clean way to kill him though, Addako knew it wasn't going to be so simple. "Miss Haoqi?" Nachamek smirked, extending a hand. "Addako Nachamek. Pleasure is all mine. They didn't tell me you were a Cwn... you're the first one I've seen in quite a while."

Refreshing, if not worrying. She wouldn't fall for his tricks as easily as a common Fae.

Meika Haoqi

 

[Meika Haoqi]

Meika looked the Inquisitor up and down before deigning to acknowledge him. "I am sure it is quite a surprise and whatever," she turned on her heel and started walking without another word. Duanann often held positions like this one and he wouldn't be the first to comment on the fact that it was strange to see a Cwn in it. As if being a Cwn made it impossible for her to do a job.

She didn't know if she was irritated with him or the situation, but the poor man was stuck with her prickly attitude for now. She just didn't have the patience for interruptions and it seemed that those had been the norm lately. She did have her actual work to do.

"So what are you here for?" The walk to the archives did not talk more than five minutes and she was pushing the door open as she asked the question.

Addako Nachamek

 

[Addako Nachamek]

Addako raised the unaccepted hand with the click of his tongue. Apparently, she'd taken his comment about her being a Cwn as something other than what it was. Certainly, he didn't think her unable at her job because of it. She must have thought him some unprofessional clod.

The obvious chip on her shoulder aside, at least she seemed to the point. Neither of them particularly *wanted* to be here having this little meeting, so at least they could get it over with. The brief trip into the archives was awkward, but Nachamek wasn't going to be deterred so easily. He yawned as he fell in behind her, making the daring attempt to speak further. "I just meant I don't see as many of us in Winter as I did back in Autumn. It's refreshing, in a strange way."

He'd only been in the archives a few times, but it never ceased to impress him just how massive in scale the place was. Addako could hardly see the ceiling, and it made him uneasy on his feet just to look up. "Honestly I commend you. Working in this place would drive me mad. I need to be out in the open air." Meika had gone quiet, obviously waiting for him to get to the point.

"Tough crowd. Anyways... D'you keep records of people who attend the Queen's speeches? I have reason to believe she may be in some level of danger from somebody who attended the last speech."

Meika Haoqi

 

[Meika Haoqi]

Meika just kept walking towards the archives as Addako continued to speak. The words he was saying had nothing to do with the reason he was here so she did not reply. She did not care where he worked. She got plenty of air when she was not working but he did not need to know that much about her life.

"Yes...well I do not take the notes on that but they are in my archives. What sort of danger?"

She wouldn't say she was close to Queen Mab but the two of them did spend a lot of time together. She liked the Queen and she thought she was a great ruler. A threat against her did not sit well with the cwn.

"The list consists of names only and I believe the last speech had over fifteen hundred fae in attendance...if I am remembering correctly." She was. She knew the numbers for all the speeches that she had been employed for. She just did not want to sound too full of herself.

Addako Nachamek

 

[Addako Nachamek]

A low whistle left Addako's thin lips at those numbers. Names only too. Well, he had the name, but the Inquisitor was sure Haoqi wasn't gonna be happy when he asked her to file through all of them to find just one. Not that he'd won any points with the icy woman so far; he was growing more and more certain that were it not official business, she'd have slammed the door on his face.

"The sort of danger where a known outspoken critic of hers, one suspected of conspiracy, was possibly for some reason in attendance."

The allegations against the Fae in question, Falle' Tav, weren't common knowledge. It was an ongoing investigation, and the nitty-gritty details were strictly to be kept hush-hush on order of the Queen. It wouldn't have come up as a red flag if he'd shown, not to the common eye anyways. "Fifteen hundred though... That's a lot to look through. I assume you've at least got it sorted by name, right? We could find a 'Falle' Tav' pretty easily?" Knowing for sure he was there was step one. Addako just hoped this Meika had a little more than that stashed away in here. Tav was slippery, and Nachamek never seemed able to get a hand on him.

With any luck this would be the break he needed.

"I'd also like the speech itself, assuming you recorded what was spoken. If my man was there, I need to know what he heard."

Meika Haoqi

 

[Meika Haoqi]

Meika looked at him with a smug smirk. "Of course, I have it in alpha order. I have a perfect system in here. It took me the better part of the last year to get it done. The person before me was a mess. It drive me mad within the first few days."

She walked over to one of her filing cabinets and opened it slowly. The cwn spent a few minutes sifting to the right date and pulled out the entire file folder. "Come here," she set the folder down and opened it. On top sat a large pile that was clipped together full of names. She then pulled the speech out from underneath it and handed it to Addako.

Her nimble fingers unclipped the papers and started to thumb through them. She ran a finger down a page with T names on it. "Here it is. He was in attendance." She tilted the paper towards the other cwn.

Addako Nachamek