Fable - Ask The Disappearance of Ghislaine

[Kael]

Vel Anir | Beauchene Estate | Reception Room


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The room which Kael found himself held a wealth he had never truly experienced before. The tables were carved from a deep red wood, fine and polished. The glass containing the water he was served was slender and ornately built in a way that split the light going through it into a geometric pattern. The bread was served warm and had a slight scent of cinnamon. Portraits of family history depicted Lords and Ladies of the House Beauchene adorned the walls. The portaits culminated in a larger painting depicting the Dreadlord Clarisse Beauchene baptizing a regiment of Elves from Fal'Addas in blue flames in a conflict long forgotten. It was the greatest reminder to Kael that there were those with even more power, appealing to recent victories over long history to claim their import.

Kael was here waiting for his superior, the lead for this mission. He had very little information on the mission other than he would be working with a bona fide Dreadlord. Not a Proctor who's days of glory were long past, but someone who still held the competence to be in the field. He had no guarantees he'd be the only initiate assigned to the Dreadlord, nor that he would be treated as anything other than a guardsman, but it was progress. The only information he had was a dossier on a woman named Ghislaine.

Ghislaine was obviously noble from the portrait, though a house was not disclosed. It was possible she was a member of the Beauchene family, though she did not immediately resemble the other portraits of the room. She had not been seen or heard of for nearly a week. Relatively young, perhaps twenty years. Politically there were conflicting reports on her involvement and sympathies during the rebellion, but she now worked as a clerk for one of the Councilors. There were numerous questions Keal had that seemed deliberately excluded from the report. Why was a Dreadlord needed to find this woman? If there was some suspicion of where she had gone, what was it? Kael was struggling to understand his place in this. Was he selected for this mission specifically? Was he selected by the Dreadlord? Or was it simply luck of the draw, with the Dreadlord and mission being dictated by some bureaucrat aiming to hit numbers? Kael's concentration was broken as a butler entered the room.



"Master Kael, Lord Beauchene has informed the rest of your party will be arriving shortly. He is currently engaged, but insists he will available for consultation in a little over an hour. I will inform you and your party immediately when he is available." He informed Kael in an emotionless fashion.


"My party?" Kael responded. "Can you tell me who? Or how many?"

"I'm sorry Master Kael, but such is not my business. Shall I bring another round of hors d’oeuvres?" The butler responded.

"No thank you." Kael responded. "Actually, please prepare one for each member of the party, so it is ready on their arrival." Kael continued.

"Such has already been done Master Kael." The butler responded. Kael had hoped for a slip of information, but the man was a professional.

Kael would simply have to wait.

 

[Kassandra]

Coming home from the front lines of a brewing war was no easy feat, nor was it one that she had made lightly.

Though she had been floating from regiment to regiment in the last few months, before her leave Kassandra had been due to join the 44th on the very borders of Cortos. Though she was no Dreadlord, at least not officially, her magics were now well known by the Guard. After much insistence of her recognition, Commander Olem had finally petitioned for her to join. Augmenting the regiments magical capabilities.

Which was to say, her request to leave just a few weeks before the invasion was due to begun had not been a simple one. In fact, Kassandra had needed to write a letter to her own father, something she'd utterly despised doing.

But there had been no other way.

Once she'd heard Ghislaine was missing, the Prince of Vel Anir knew that she could not simply wait for news.

Loathe as she was to use her family connection, Kassandra had pleaded with her father to allow her to help with the investigation of her missing friend. Though often isolated in the Palace growing up, Ghislaine had been one of the few friends that she'd had. More importantly, the other girl had always known of Kassandra's magic, and never once judged or spoke of it.

There had been no other choice but to help, even if the man now sweeping through the rain ahead of her did not necessarily want it. Dreadlord Taniel Garrin was a good man, from what Kassandra could tell, though their meeting had not exactly gone...well.

The Dreadlord making it more than clear that he had absolutely no idea why she was here. At least the other Initiate's would actually be helpful, while she was...well just a guardswoman thrown into the situation by the nepotism of her fathers position.

An argument she could not really counter, and did not even try to dissuade.

Still, she was here, she was going to help, and she was going to find her friend.

Ahead of them the Doors to the manor were thrown open, slashing rain quickly abating as the group stepped inside. Sweeping warmth cascading over them as a man, the family butler Kassandra knew, greeted them almost immediately. "Welcome, My Lords, you-"

He blinked for a moment, spotting Kassandra in her Guard uniformed. Her head shaking to an almost imperceptible degree to quiet any question he might have. A cough echoed from the man's throat.

"Excuse me, Initiate Kael is already waiting for you, and the family wishes to speak with you Dreadlord...?" A gruff introduction was offered by Taniel his hand motioning for the butler to lead on.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

It was time that Felix accepted the truth, it would make everything easier in the future. It might be his innocent charm, his competence, or his skill set but something in the string of fate kept attaching him to Dreadlords. What had he done wrong?

Of course, there would be no complaining today as there was a more important reason he was here. Kassandra had pulled some strings or something to get her sent home quickly just before the war, for what reason Felix had no idea, but all that mattered was that Kass was a member of the 44th and they looked out for their own.

The grandiose existence of Kassandra's lineage was still something that Felix was struggling with daily, but the more they trained, fought, and worked together the more he could look past it. Only when it was shoved into his face was he forced to acknowledge it...Like right now.

Upon their arrival at the manor, it was a miracle that Felix's tongue did not roll out of his mouth as he stood there with slack-jawed awe at this place. Was that what Kass had lived like before she joined the 44th? Why would she want to leave a place like this?

"This place is..." He whispered under his breath, more to himself, but so only Kassandra could hear him.

The young guardsman finally realized his mouth was hanging open when the butler began to lead him away. Had he said Kael was here? Wasn't that the initiate that nearly got him killed with the rogue Dreadlord?

 

[Kael]

"Right this way." The butler said after being gently invited to move my the Dreadlord. Kassandra , Taniel, and Felix Nevarre would be escorted through solid stone hallways, decorated with ornate tapestries of vibrant colors. Small columns were regularly planted by the walls, alternating between adornments of historical busts and vases with fresh flowers. It was a sizeable walk to the reception area, intended to show off the size of the estate. They would pass the kitchen, the hearth, and a small garden, each maintained by a small assortment of servants. If their status was not that of a Great House, they certainly did not admit it.

"I shall alert Lord Beauchene of your arrival. I expect he shall be ready for you shortly." The butler told the trio before opening the doors to the reception area, bringing them to the Initiate. Kael stood immediately to attention.

"Intiate Kael reporting sir." He responded, looking at Taniel. He carried himself as the man in charge. Was that the medic from the bar? And some other noble? Feth, what had Kael gotten himself into.

Before Kael had time to ponder a trio of maids entered the room, leaving plates with hot bread, glasses of water, and wine? Kael didn't get wine when they treated him. And where there was a side of butter there were now a colorful assortment of jams. Kael thought he was getting the good stuff, but apparently it had been saved for 'his party'.

Maybe this was why he was here. This place seemed like a different plane of existence. Kress, Kael should have paid better attention in Perrine Urahil 's decorum class.

 

[Kassandra]

Though she had requested to be here, the Princess was under no illusion of her role in all of this. The help she could provide would come when it came to details of Ghislaine's life, or perhaps the process of her thoughts. Investigating would be best left to the two Dreadlord's.

Particularly Taniel.

The elder of the two mages seemed to inspect Kael for a moment, frowning, and then looked around the rest of the room as though he were deep in study. After a moment he moved to one of the chairs, motioning towards the Initiate. "Tell me everything we know, quickly before the family gets here."

As Taniel made his demand, Kassandra gently motioned for Felix to join her at the side of the room.

"Thank you for coming with." She said softly, knowing that the Medic hardly had a choice in the matter.

"It was either you or Arn." Kizzie admitted with a soft smile. "I thought you might enjoy the trip more."

Plus, she hadn't wanted the big lummox to feel bad about making a fool of himself. He could hardly speak around her, Kizzie couldn't even have imagined what he'd be like surrounded by all this.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

"Y-yeah, don't mention it. The 44th looks out for each other. Even for this stuff." Felix waved his hand around at the strange opulence that surrounded him.

Her words did bring a smile to his face, and he could only imagine how Arn would feel in a place like this if it was already making him this uncomfortable. The farmboy might have just exploded on sight. This place would continue to exert pressure on Felix if he did not change his mindset. He gave his head a light shake and blinked several times. Kass needed his help, so he had a job to do.

"We'll figure this out. Get a glowing recommendation, and then we can make it back to see how big we can make Arn's eyes when we tell the story."

The young guard's eyes looked around the room taking in all the paintings and decorations. The Ghislaine girl was wearing jewelry that looked so expensive that it could buy his father's medical clinic three or four times over.

"Although, I'm not sure who would want to run away from all of this."

Kassandra

 

[Kael]

"Ghislaine went missing approximately one week ago. She works as a clerk for a member of parliament. Her house name and the name of the councilor were redacted. From a paintings in the room her connections to the Beauchene house are unclear, but likely not familial." Kaal responded to Taniel, beginning with a top level summary. He would pull up some papers not included in the dossier and hand them over to Taniel. Kael would be begin to speak again, but stopped as the doors opened. A pair of servants would come into the room, the pair placing a glass of wine each in front of Kassandra and Felix Nevarre . Taniel and Kael would both stop until the servants left the room.

"I requested information on recent legislation that Ghislaine may have worked on. The names are still redacted, but there's a common interest in metal, wood, the like. Whoever Ghislain worked for was probably on a committee focused on resources, arbor, mining labor, which narrows us down to seven or so possible choices" He continued. If Kael was more politically aware he might know who, but he tended to avoid such things.

Kassandra would be aware more precisely that Ghislaine worked under Councilor Trevant Morrison. The Morrison's were a small house that traditionally aligned with the great house of Luana, and were an insignificant foe of the Viraks. After the revolution however, Trevant had found a much greater voice than he ever could under the old ways.

"The most puzzling part is why we are here, at the Beauchene estate rather than with Ghislaine's house, or at the parliament's office. I suspect they have information they do not want to share with either party."

Taniel would keep an impassive face, but glanced first at the at the door, then to the pair of guardsman

"The key information you're missing is that this estate is where she was last seen. She left after being informed of an arrangement for her betrothal to the Beauchene heir."

 

[Kassandra]

There quiet whispers went back and forth, her smile never faltering as Felix spoke. Though her expression twinged with something unreadable as he mentioned running away from all this. The young Princess shuffling ever so slightly as she felt a pang of guilt.

It was easy to step away from luxury and opulence when you'd known it all your life. Even in Althhaven she had never wanted for anything. The life she had lead was one of privilege, she knew that. As much as she tried to insist she was like any other Private of the guard, it was a lie. She was the Princess of Vel Anir, and she had run away from a life like this.

She just hoped Ghislaine had done the same.

Kizzie was about to whisper something back to Felix when the Dreadlord's eyes began to float towards them.

Almost instantly her back seemed to straighten and her eyes set forward. Lips pressing thin for a moment as she tried to hold some semblance of authority.

Only for it to slip away as the man spoke. "Oh no!"

Kassandra couldn't help the words that slipped passed her lips. She had wondered why they were here at the Beauchene estate, but now things were folding into place.

Eyes growing wide as she realized that she had spoken when not asked. The Dreadlord's brow seemed to furrow curiously, one raising as he looked at her. "Something wrong, Private?"

He asked, blessfully using one title and not the other.

"I...apologies, Sir. I know Ghislaine." A fact the man had already been made aware of, but she figured Kael and Felix might not yet now. "And Tomund Beauchene."

Kassandra frowned, glancing at her compatriots as she tentatively revealed the personal information she knew. "They were not...fond of one another."