Completed The Noblest of Deeds

"I don't know," Kristen whispered, and it was the most honest answer she could give. "I wish passionately for justice to be done, for myself and for all the soldiers who died on the Isle of the Blades, yet...I simply cannot say at present what form that justice might take."

She glanced around a touch anxiously, her eyes flicking here and there about the Atrium. Yes they were secluded, yes they were speaking only between each other, yes plenty of other people were likewise about the Atrium having their own conversations, but...even if they were in a deserted forest still this oppressive worry would have its say.

"He was there. Garron. Whilst the entirety of House Banick attended Theodore, he was there, and he was smiling at me. Were I without this knowledge such a gesture would have seemed innocuous, no different from the rest of Garron's kin, yet with Walter's whispered words...I could see the gloating malice lurking behind that handsome face and charming smile."

Garron's features made him well-liked, and quick were people to trust and forgive him. Kristen knew several Pirians who only ever spoke highly of him, despite their House rivalries. He was not the head of House Banick, but he was a nobleman of great standing and great power.

Kristen understood that all too well.

"I feel..." she looked down. Bit her lip slightly in her nervousness. "...overwhelmed. There is nothing I can yet do, with no proof nor backing against so titanic a personage, but..."

She looked back up to Alistair.

"...I needed to tell someone."

Alistair Krixus
 
Alistair nodded along as his mind jumped into overdrive. His head just kept bobbing as he did not know what else to do. It felt like his brain was trying to put together a puzzle where he did not have all the pieces.

Without thinking, he reached out and took Kristen's hand. It was not for any romantic reason, it was to ground Kristen, to calm her down.

"And you did, now take a deep breath...If what you said is right, then you may need to take this slow. You have to strip away his advantages and power. That could take years. You have to isolate him politically. Only when he is alone can you act."

Messing with anyone in the great houses was a mess, especially when they were liked by all. It wasn't like his father who he could just show up and kill the man for Kristen, which he would do without question.

"For now focus on this, he failed and you are stronger for it. You will get him back for it, but you need to take it slow or it will only hurt you."

Alistair took her hands that he was holding and he pressed them together. This was what his mother had always done when he got nervous or scared when he was a child. He took a deep breath.

Kristen Pirian
 
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The bundling of her hands together did, indeed, help. Power wrapped up in simple touch, for the burden of knowing so immense a secret made her feel horribly alone, stranded (perhaps all too fittingly) on a woeful island. Alistair's gentleness and understanding helped assuage her more dire thoughts. And truly, who else among their peers could be trusted to offer what he had?

Only Alistair had been there. Only he knew intimately how she felt about her kidnapping, the Battle of the Blades, all of it.

She took that deep breath. Let it out slow.

"Yes. Long has Garron's justice been in coming, and longer still shall it be. Yet I swear it will come."

With care and concern did she gaze into Alistair's eyes.

"Be wary of him, in this intervening time. And if ever you should learn anything which could be advantageous in this, you'll tell me, won't you?"

Alistair Krixus
 
"Absolutely Kristen. I'll help tighten the noose."

He emphasized with a squeeze of her hands. He had committed, and Alistair was someone who did not back down. His eyes flickered down to her hands and he realized that he might have been holding them for to long. He did not want to make things awkward.

Alistair dropped her hands leaving them to press against each other, while he tried to focus back on the situation and what was important.

"I don't know too much about Garron, but I will see what I can find out. Every little bit will help."

The information would have to be surface-level to begin with. Accidentally alerting the man to their curiosity so early on could be disastrous.

Kristen Pirian
 
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Oh, but for their present surroundings! She wanted to hug Alistair—

(kiss him, maybe?)

—right then and there.

"You truly are a blessing to me, Alistair," she said, her smile as warm as the sun. And for a moment she reflected not on the things of the past, but of the wonderful things which may yet be to come.

Alas, though, for the present was the present, and they needed to return to the Academy, their great and clandestine deed in Ostia Anir done.

With a little tilt of her head, indicating where they ought to go, she said:

"Shall we?"

Alistair Krixus
 
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