Private Tales The Failure of Nobility

[Edric]

Edric pinched the bridge of his nose.

Dear fuck, was everything in this goddamn city going to be a trial of talking through a dozen different means? He couldn't fucking handle it. Couldn't fucking deal with it. "Look. We need some fucking clothes alright?"

His tone was brusk, terse.

"She's going to buy from you." Edric pointed to Cyllia. "And I'm going to buy from you."

The Initiate pointed to Philip. "Good? Because otherwise we're going to the end of the market and buying from fucking Jim or whatever his name is."

He pointed towards a man who was seemingly also selling clothing. His hand raised, and he waved slightly as if the motion would be enough of a contribution to drag the two Initiates over that way. Philip and Cyllia seemed to frown, and then both answered at the same time.

"Of course!"

"Of course!"​

Both of them answered at once in a rather obnoxious chorus.

"Please, please come this way. Let me fit you, I assure you I just had to...well you know salesmanship and all!"​

Philip insisted as he ushered Edric closer to his stall, quickly beginning to talk about how silk breathes better than cotton and how he would need something nicer than the rags he was wearing now.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen frowned, and she had to will her hand to stay locked by her side and not go sailing up to her forehead or to her temples. How best to say it? Edric was...a blunt instrument. To his credit, he was at least aware of this truth. For much of the wretched journey through the desert and through Cortos this had been a strength of his (and, of course, certainly a failing of hers). As of late? Not so much.

The merchants took it in good stride, however. Mayhap they were accustomed to such ghastly tongue-lashings on a regular basis. Kristen had to wonder though: surely a large, inextricable portion of Edric's tactless terseness was a part of his nature, a nature which was only exacerbated to a smaller degree by the brutal nurturing of the Academy, right? She simply could not see him as anything other than what he was, Academy or no Academy, and most assuredly not a polite soul who belonged at any proper dinner table.

It was something of a miracle Adriana hadn't ordered him thrown overboard, wasn't it?

Cyllia came around and placed an inviting hand on Kristen's arm and said, "You, I have to say, are the luckier one. Your friend—" She caught herself. "Friend? Suitor? Husband, mayhap?"

Kristen had a slight moment of intense internal panic, this for a select few reasons: this was the moment; don't get caught sneaking the snickerdoodle cookies out from the kitchen; this was a topic of keen interest for her in more recent years, that of boys and suitors and all the things which followed.

"S-Suitor!" she said, stumbling just the tiniest bit but adhering to the story.

Cyllia just laughed at it. "Ah. Young love. Those were the days. Here, despite what that stone-headed Phillip might have said, I do have a selection of garments which would well suit your needs."

And she began to pour over her wares, presenting this and that to Kristen for her approval. It didn't take Kristen long to politely guide Cyllia to what she wanted for her garments. Practical, of course.

And dark.

Edric

 

[Edric]

"I'm going to be honest with you." The merchant looked at Edric with no small amount of hesitation, clearly expecting another lash of the tongue.

"I need something light, dark, and preferably breathable." The merchant raised an eyebrow. "And I'll pay double the usual rate to get it fast."

Almost as soon as he said the words Edric felt the man nearly hyperventilate. His eyes bulged and he quickly nodded his head in acceptance, as though the requests were entirely reasonable and something that he heard every single day.

"Of course! Of course!"​

He said, gently grabbing Edric's arm and leading him into the small stall.

"I have just the thing sir, I assure you."​

The next fifteen minutes were spent with the merchant running various clothes over to him. Eventually they managed to find a few tailored silks that fit Edric quite well. Hugging him narrowly and apparently blending in with the style of the town itself.

Edric didn't argue, and then did what every merchant dreamed of; paid full price.

He didn't bother trying to haggle or negotiate the man down, simply not having the time to do so. He thanked the man, and then walked over to the other stall as Philip was left giggling and counting his stack of newly acquired coins.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen had her garments draped over her forearm when Edric came back over (and Cyllia, mayhap in a manner she would have found appalling if she knew, was counting her coins in much the same way as Phillip).

And, because they were still within earshot of both of the vendors, Kristen said to Edric in a casual way, "I think we did well for ourselves. Just what we were looking for, and we didn't need to burn away the whole day searching."

A small gesture of her head.

"Shall we go for a walk?"

Again, the affectation of casualness. Just a young man and a young woman (a harmless couple, the uninformed eye might guess, as was apparently in keeping with sly Academy doctrine) strolling through the streets of Salesia. Kristen knew for a fact that they would not be able to even get close to Lord Oren's Estate without suspicions being raised—mayhap in a smaller town the manors of the nobility might be more accessible, less secluded, but in a city like this they would be segregated away, as it was in Vel Anir. Not to worry, though. Edric noted a vantage point, a bell tower, from which they could get a fair sight of it. One bribe to the tired old attendant and some innocent, girlish giddiness about the view (which wasn't all a pretense, hence Kristen not entirely flubbing the improv), and they were in.

Presently they stood atop the tower, Kristen with one hand on the railing.

And only a scarce few minutes into observing she noticed something which spawned a frown across her countenance.

"Does it seem to you that this Lord Oren has a plethora of guards?"

Edric

 

[Edric]

"More than I would think." Edric confirmed with a slight nod, frowning as his eyes narrowed.

Life from his reserve poured through him. His vision becoming sharper, more precise. The odd snake-like slit of his pupil becoming little more than a crease within his iris as he observed the courtyard below. It was not as good as a spyglass, but close enough.

"Two dozen." He remarked. "At least."

Lips thinned as he slowly looked towards the southern wall. "None of them are from the town though."

He could remember the uniforms well enough. If he had to guess the men inside were mercenaries. All of them wore the same dark red tabard decorated with the black symbol of an ox with a crown. Edric had never seen it before, but that didn't mean much.

Eyes flickered shut, and when they opened his pupils returned to their normal state.

"We'll have to do this carefully." He remarked, gently crouching down. His chin rested upon the railing, gaze peering down upon the compound as though he were trying to formulate a plan.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

How he could do that, use his magic to see with a clarity that Kristen could not, was, she had to admit, impressive. This was what a decade or more of constant honing of your magical ability got you—not only increasing potency and control and all of the things you might expect, but the unconventional revealed itself to you after, presumably, endless hours of experimentation.

Mayhap the real question, though: would Edric have achieved this level of proficiency without the Academy? Would he be where he was now in terms of his magical prowess had he gone to the College in Elbion instead?

Questions which did not have a bearing on their present task. Kristen refocused.

"Carefully," she echoed. Then she scanned the horizons of Salesia, eyes traveling across the curving expanse of the city's walls. "We will not be spared the convenience of having a nearby gate to escape, should things turn out to be rather much like your misadventure in Sene with Noel."

She pointed.

"But, if it comes to it, the north gate would be our best option. 'Tis a hearty sprint, no mistaking that, and though I fear we might not be able to outrun a general alarm, but it is good to lay out a plan regardless."

Just then, she paused. Struck by the absolute, practical usefulness of Proctor Magomo's exercise regimen, those ceaseless laps around the Academy grounds. Sometimes you just needed to run. And if the time came for it, why, best to be ready, was it not?

She hoped to Aionus that she was, if such was needed.

Edric

 

[Edric]

Edric slowly nodded in agreement with his companion.

He could have objected and told her that his and Noel's flight from Sene had most certainly not been easy, but such petty grievances had no place here. This was a mission. This was the goal. He might have been ready to abandon the Dreadlord's, but that didn't make him less of one.

"Let's make sure not to get caught." Edric stated plainly.

Slowly he glanced over at Kristen.

An odd sort of expression flickered over his features, and then suddenly he pressed. "You need to be ready to kill."

She had called him pathetic. She had barbed her tongue, but now it was time for her to understand.

"There isn't room for mistakes here. There isn't a second of hesitation." Edric stared down at Kristen. "A guard sees you, you end his life."

No questions. No worries about the man or his family.

That was that. The finality.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen swallowed.

I have never done so, was her immediate thought. Never killed. Some part of her knew full well that it was the culmination of everything she was learning in the Academy, and another part, a larger part, the part which adored fluffed pillows and snickerdoodle cookies and the First Annual Solstice Ball had quietly kept that adversarial voice of truth smothered.

Her lips parted, a light smacking noise as her tongue parted from the back of her teeth. She drew in a breath.

"I am not as adept as you at it," she admitted, though it was hardly an admission, was it? "But I will do that of which I am capable."

Edric

 

[Edric]

For a long time Edric stared.

It must have felt like minutes, hours, but in truth it was no more than a few beats of the heart. A few seconds where he considered her answer.

Would she be a liability? Could she do what they both needed her to do? Would she let them down? Would Kristen be the reason that they were found out? There was no telling, not now, not until they were in the midst of chaos.

Edric reached out.

A hand, a firm 'pathetic' hand grasping his companions shoulder. His eyes stared into hers. "Be the reason that we get away Kristen."

His voice was cold steel. "Or be the reason that I get away."

Whatever she thought of him. Whatever she might have pegged Edric as, it didn't matter. She needed to prove herself here. She needed to do what they needed. Otherwise he would have no qualms in leaving her behind.

A corpse.

A trail for the authorities to follow.

Edric's hand pulled away from her shoulder, his form turning on a dime as he walked away from her and back towards the Inn. They would need the night to do as they planned.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Back in the inn room, when she had suggested the very thing that Edric was now putting plainly, she had said then that it was easier said than done and, by Aionus, did she feel that very same now. There was no telling what was going to happen in Lord Oren's manor. What magic she knew wasn't directly lethal, and her martial skills lagged behind each and every one of their peers in the Academy. Even if she had the force of imagination to pretend that one of those mercenary guardsmen were Dominic or Duresh, thus erasing whatever terror might grip her from finishing them as it had with that nomad, could she even get to that point? Could she even best one of them in combat?

Hard facts of the matter, which could only be seen in the proving of the moment. A moment which would come when night fell.

Edric turned and walked away. Kristen didn't immediately follow. She stayed at the top of the bell tower and looked over the expanse of the city and into the sky and down where it met the sea on the horizon, where far off was home.

A venomous thought ruined what peace might have been found in that moment, spawned of Edric's parting words, Or be the reason that I get away.

Of course you would say that. Anything to save your own hide, you liar.

More tried to intrude, but she shook her head and shook them away. That caustic feeling though, the corrosive burn just under her skin when she'd thought that—that was something. That could be useful. A talisman, of sorts, to ward off her nervousness, her fear, when they came. Above all things, she couldn't let this happen like Vel Acan.

Kristen at last left the bell tower.

And night was soon enough draped over Salesia.

Edric

 

[Edric]

Edric was ready before Kristen, though mainly because he'd been ready for hours.

He had spent the time between sitting, thinking, wondering. His head was clouded with a thousand different thoughts, ideas. The core of him was still shaken. Still entirely unsure. He didn't know what he wanted to do, what he would do.

A part of him still considered walking away.

Ending it all and simply...disappearing.

But he didn't go. Didn't walk out the door. Instead he simply sat and waited, peering at the door ahead until finally the sun began to set. Black clothes were donned, blades slipped into hidden sheaths, and the two Initiates made their way across town.

They moved through alleyways first, ducking behind taverns and flickering shadowed steps as quickly as they could. Eventually Edric found a drain pipe, and with a quick flick of enhanced muscles pulled himself up onto the roof top it clung to.

A hand was offered, and he dragged Kristen up besides him.

When they turned they would find the Lord's Estate waiting for them. The wall standing just slightly taller than the building they stood upon.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen spent the rest of the sunlight hours back at the tavern with the red pony sign chatting with Territh. Mundane, everyday talk, nothing of Lord Oren nor Herim Urahil, just keeping the conversation focused squarely on Salesia's goings-on. It appeared that Salesia was quite large on sporting events, everything from swimming to championship wrestling to various ball-games. Territh was fervent in his support for the "blue team" of said ball-games, and took every opportunity to cast aspersions onto the hated "green team."

It was a lovely, social distraction. She almost got lost in it and forgot why she was here. But the slight dimming of the tavern's interior by the setting sun through the windows reminded her.

And she returned to the inn to change. Dark clothes, obscuring hood and scarf to cover her face.

Off, then, to the proving of the moment. To see whether she was still a liar too. You'll get home, she thought to herself. Through some means. Through any means.

She wouldn't have been able to pull herself up the drain pipe as Edric had, the strength of her upper body lacking. She accepted Edric's hand with a business-like formality, distancing herself from the staunch reservations she had of it.

Her boots clatted softly on the rooftop shingles. Low she advanced, coming upon the Estate's wall before she stood, carefully, to peer over it. Down below Lessat and Pneria bathed the rear courtyard of the estate grounds in their dual glow, little pools of silver reflecting off of the marble of statues or the smooth curve of the cobbles in the yard paths. There was a conversation, some of the mercenaries most like, somewhere close the rear door, the speakers unseen by virtue of the large hedges which grew close. Kristen thought she picked up the mention of "blue" and "green," and someone let out a belly-rocking guffaw of laughter. Fans of sport, it seemed.

There was no obvious movement visible in the rear courtyard. Only the sound of those two near the back door.

"Nothing," she whispered.

Yet her hand graced the mace on her belt. Perhaps for comfort.

Edric

 

[Edric]

His gaze flickered over the walls, ears prickling with silence as he listened. Kristen spoke, and slowly his head tipped in a nod. "Go."

He whispered.

There wasn't an easy way across the gap. Both of them would have to jump, a task that would be easier for Edric than for his companion. Magic drew from his reserve, pooling within his muscles and strengthening them. He took a breath, and then darted forward.

In a blur of darkness Edric dashed forward, kicking himself off from the roof and landing gracefully on the top of the wall opposite.

There he paused, glancing back.

He motioned for Kristen to follow. He waited there for her, mostly to ensure that she did not fall between the gap. In the distance the light of a torch could be seen, a guard slowly wandering towards where they were crossing.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Alright. A jump. Okay. Right. This is what all of Proctor Magomo's relentless physical training had been preparing her for. Not specifically this, to be perfectly clear, no, but this was, as Proctor Magomo himself would say, "within the wheelhouse." And there was no time to spare, so heralded this truth the oncoming orange glow of a torch from below.

Kristen took a few steps back on the rooftop and claimed for herself a bit more distance. A second to ensure her footing was good, that no stray part of the roof would snag her boot the moment she started to run. Clear, she burst into a sprint. And at the edge of the roof she leaped.

She almost overshot the wall, the soles of her boots scraping on the stone and her arms flung out and flailing frantically for balance. She found it. Her toes hung over the edge of the Estate wall.

She didn't waste any time. Being up on top of the wall, dark of night or no, was a terribly exposed and conspicuous place to be. Facing about and crouching down and grabbing the edge of the wall, she lowered herself down as much as she could and then dropped into the rear courtyard.

Still that conversation about the Salesian blue team and green team continued.

Edric

 

[Edric]

Edric dropped down onto the ground besides Kristen, then quickly motioned forward towards the building.

He already knew how to get into the manor, having chosen their path atop the bell-tower. Crouching low Edric began to creep forward, dashing against the wall and pressing himself flat. As soon as Kristen joined him the Initiate stepped sideways, swiveling and turning.

Magic drew through him once more, and he bent his legs. In one quick jump Edric caught onto the edges of a balcony near nine feet up, dangling for just a moment before he pulled himself up and onto the ledge. A moment later he turned.

His hand extended outward for Kristen, just within reach if she jumped.

Around the corner the light of a torch began to crawl closer, flickering against the walls and drawing the shadows of mercenary guards.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen followed after Edric, lips pursed at the faint little sounds of their footfalls in the grass. Only when you were trying to be covert about something did every noise you make seem thunderous, even if only to your own ears.

Edric jumped up onto a balcony with extraordinary physicality, something that Kristen ought to have gotten used to in the Academy by now. He situated himself up there, and offered his hand.

Kristen made ready to jump—

—when a servant's door right next to her opened, light from within slashing across the courtyard grass and barely missing catching her right foot in its illumination. A mercenary was coming out, his gaze turned to the left, away from her, toward the two other mercenaries embroiled in their conversation.

Kristen swallowed a yelp. There was no time to jump and catch Edric's hand and be dangling there for that second.

Nowhere else to go except behind a tall, trimmed hedge, in that space between it and the side of the manor, pressing herself to the wall. From around the outside corner that light of the torch finally came round as well, and the patrolman was now in the rear courtyard too, continuing on his route.

"Hey," said the man poking his head out through the servant's door. "You two."

Kristen bit her lip and closed her eyes and the orange light of the patrolman's torch burned against the lids.

"Knock it off. There's company tonight, remember? Forget the Blues and the forget the Greens." As the two conversators grumbled over by the main backdoor and prepared (slowly) to enter, the man who chastised them spoke to the passing patrolman, "Can you believe these louts?"

"Ah, give 'em a break." A beat passed. "And go Greens."

From one of the slacking conversators, obviously a fan of the Blues: "Fuck you."

Kristen stood still as a statue, wedged in-between the wall and the hedge. One stray look and a moment's worth of squinting would have her seen. Yet her luck held for now.

Edric

 

[Edric]

As soon as Edric heard the creek of the door his hand instantly shot up. Fingers curled over the edge of the balcony, his head tilted back, and he tried to make himself as small as possible.

The seconds ticked by, any moment Edric expecting to hear the guards shout about an intruder or yell about someone being in the bushes. When instead he heard only conversation his heartbeat eased slightly, lips thinning as impatience began to gather in his chest.

He had never liked these sorts of missions.

Edric was a hammer.

A fucking brick thrown through a glass window.

Stealth wasn't his forte, and every mission he spent doing something like this was another moment he felt he'd been utterly wasted. Eventually the guards below meandered away, and slowly Edric rolled over once again.

He peered down into the darkness, eyes flickering to where Kristen had been. Spotting the slight edge of her shadow as the Guards wandered away. Fingers furled outward as he motioned her over once again. Glancing around to ensure none of the guards had turned around.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

When the redness that signaled the light of the patrolman's torch dimmed, when the voices and footsteps faded, when night and stillness settled back in, Kristen opened her eyes again.

And, as well, let out her breath, that burning rock she had held in her chest, terrified that any little sound would've attracted disastrous attention. But now they were gone. If fickle fortune decided that she'd one bout of luck to save her this night, that must have been it.

Kristen gingerly stepped out from behind the obelisk-like hedge. Stepped out from underneath the balcony and to where she could see and reach for Edric's hand once more.

She jumped. Caught it.

And up onto the balcony she went.

A halting hand touched Edric's shoulder, and she leaned in so close to his ear that her lips touched the very rim of it. She whispered, "Most Lords and Ladies prefer their chambers to be on the highest floor and central in their manors. Double doors are key."

Likely the same with this Lord Oren. Inside they would need to find another staircase up to the top floor, and then find the central hallway. This hallway, of course, was also the one most likely to be heavily traveled.

Edric

 

[Edric]

When Kristen touched his shoulder she would feel the tension in his muscles.

It was like Edric was a coiled spring. Ready to jump at any moment, alert, eyes flickering to the left and right in constant vigilance. Though these missions were perhaps not his preferred vantage, it was clear that they were back in his element. The danger that surrounded them, the tension in the air. The razor margin they were standing on.

Edric could handle that better than he could politics with Nobles. Better than whispers of Oracles or debates on philosophy.

This was where he belonged.

His head tilted in a nod as she whispered in his ear. He tried to picture the building, map out the way they would have to go. With a slow creep forward Edric grabbed one of the doorhandles. It tippled slightly in his palm, the door locked.

From his belt a knife flickered out. It dashed upward between the two doors, jiggling left to right for just a moment before Edric gently wrenched the door back. There was just a slight echoing pop, and then the door freed itself.

Edric slipped through the door almost immediately, ready to catch ant Guard inside unawares.

What he found instead was a lavish bedroom. Decorated with soft laces of pink and purple. A bed sat in the corner, a young woman sleeping comfortably within it. The sound of the door opening apparently not being enough to stir her awake.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen froze the moment she saw the young woman asleep in the bed. If she'd spared a thought as to why the woman was there, it would have been naïve, innocent in nature. Maybe even true, but likely not. But she hadn't spared that manner of thought, only mild alarm that she was there followed by a cold shower of relief that she was a sound sleeper.

In a way, the woman in the bed was less a person and more an element of their mission, a thing which could spell disaster.

Through the dimness of the bedroom Kristen spotted a potential avenue, and she tapped Edric's arm to get his attention. She pointed to the wall, opposite the foot of the canopied bed. A dumbwaiter. Kristen recognized the rectangular cabinet door immediately. Edric might not have even known what a dumbwaiter was, and if so he'd be surprised. It could be a more covert way to get to the top level of the manor.

Kristen carefully walked across the room (and thank Aionus for that carpet!) to the dumbwaiter. She pulled open the cabinet door, gesturing with her hand to the inside shaft. Her eyebrows perked in the darkness to ask for confirmation.

Yay or nay?

Edric

 

[Edric]

Edric raised an eyebrow at the small space that Kristen revealed.

He was not entirely sure that he would fit into it. With a gentle step he moved towards the cabinet, poking his head in. Eyes glanced up, then down before he quickly pulled back and looked to his companion. Head tipped in a nod.

A motion of his hand, and he sent the Noble up and into the shaft first. Kristen squeezed her way inside, and then moments later Edric followed along.

The space was tight, almost constricting, but it oddly aided Edric when it came time to climb. His fingers gently pushed the door to the shaft shut, and then the two Initiates began to climb their way up. It wasn't long before they reached the top most floor, yet before Kristen could reach for the door a voice beyond spoke.

"The others are fools."​

A cortosi tongue flickered through the room.

"Don't they understand? Don't they know?"

"Calm yourself, My Lord.​

The words were tinged with an Anirian accent.

"They will see sense and reason, especially when they learn of the Republic's newest move. Security is essential, they will see that."​

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Pitch black in the dumbwaiter shaft.

Kristen shimmied her way up, back pressed to one side and feet and hands pressed to others. It reminded her distinctly of a childhood fiasco where she had tried to scale two very close, narrow walls by doing much the same thing. She'd slipped then and fell, crashing to the cobbles below, scraping both of her knees badly from the manner in which she had landed, and Amelia had to help her limp back home...whereupon Mother had given her a vicious scolding and seen to her being made ready for the night's dinner.

Thankfully, she didn't go plummeting down this time. Even if it was immensely tiring to scale her way up the shaft, she was far more prepared for it thanks to Proctor Magomo's tender attentions.

Kristen heard plenty of muffled things through the walls of the shaft, but none so clear as when she reached the top floor door. Here she froze, listened, right behind the cabinet door where normally would've been the dumbwaiter lift itself.

An Anirian accent. Could it be?

There was no way for her to signal down to Edric (mayhap tapping him with a foot, but the message was sure to be unclear). Oh, if only she knew what awaited them on the other side of the dumbwaiter door! It could be just the two people she heard; it could be them and a whole host of attending mercenaries.

Mayhap spending a moment to listen, deeply listen, wouldn't be wasted. Would in fact be prudent.

Kristen had to carefully shift herself around, biting her lip every time she made the tiniest noise in her adjustments. But she came, somewhat awkwardly, to place her ear to the dumbwaiter door.

She held her breath.

And listened.

Edric

 

[Edric]

"They will keep pushing, My Lord. That is their way. Republic or not, Vel Anir seeks to expand."

"Don't you think I know that? Your fucking houses have been pressing us for decades."

"I am well aware, Lord Oren. It is why I came to you in the first place, to save your city."

"Yes well...I suppose you did after all."

"Vel Anir is home to me no longer, it has not been for some time. I simply wish to help, my Lord. Please, allow me to do that at the very least."​

A long pause reigned within the room.

"Alright, alright. What do you suggest?"

"It's simple. House Virak has always been the hammer, even with that girl in charge they won..."​

The voices began to fall distant, both Lord Oren and Herim Urahil seemingly beginning to move away to another room beyond the one with the dumbwaiter.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Lord Oren! This was it! And so the other just had to be Herim Urahil. Not someone who just happened to have an Anirian accent, one of the mercenaries or even some other kind of friend, but Herim Urahil. It had to be. With what they were discussing, it had to be!

The voices seemed to be growing distant, crossing the room, heading for the door or an adjacent room, who knew for certain, but going away most assuredly.

This was it. She had to act.

All at once she overcame that mountainous anxiety that otherwise would have had her frozen in the dumbwaiter shaft until the coming of the next Age. Kristen found the inside latch and pushed open the dumbwaiter door, not too harshly but not slow and carefully either.

Still, with the door open she plummeted out of the shaft and fell into an ungraceful heap on the floor of the room, scrambling after a second of being dazed to rise to her feet.

Edric

 

[Edric]

The voices began to fade, clearly leaving the room.

Edric's eyes flickered upward, watching through the darkness as Kristen shifted ever so slightly. He saw her through the slight spades of light, the gentle touches of whatever lantern hung just outside the dumbwaiter. He looked up at her, watching as she reached out towards the latch.

The door ahead of the Pirian shifted, and the suddenly she tumbled forward.

A quiet thud echoed out, and for a few seconds Edric couldn't help but cringe.

He couldn't help but think that the two Nobles would turn around. Couldn't help but assume the worst. He thought any second now he would hear someone scream for guards, would hear everything turn upside down. A heartbeat passed.

Then another.

He heard no one call. No one should, and he relaxed a little. His hand coming up to reach towards the bottom of the grasping at it's edge as he pulled himself up.

Completely unaware of the silent, aghast servant standing in the corner and staring down at Kristen.