[Haven] I'd Hammer Out A Warning

[Balthazar Black]

18 Ashan 721

The whole of the settlement had been gathered to address the incident from the earlier in the trial. The fire that had broken out under arguably suspicious circumstances. Everyone wanted to know what was going to be done about the damage and if they were at any greater risk. Balthazar, after speaking with Balder, Silk, Ronan, and Elisabeth to figure out what was the best course forward, decided to tell the people as bluntly as he could. He was not trying to scare or intimidate them into behaving like more civilized people. He was merely going to lay the facts out before them and allow the people to come to whatever conclusions they wanted to as a result. Balthazar could not let crime transpire in his settlement without justice being delivered. Especially not while he was being watched. Law and order were going to be necessary for the growth of the settlement and the security of the refugee lives.

"As many of you know, a fire broke out in the buildings last night. We managed to get it under control quickly and repair the damage done." Balthazar began speaking and as he did all the murmuring in the crowd subsided. They wanted answers about what had happened and were eager to hear them presented. "I've been assured that the building is safe for the Lynn family to return to." Behind Balthazar sat the former build area where five structures sat completed and one building sat to be finished by the settlers. Two of the buildings that had been put up by the settlers while Balthazar was away to gather a better workforce had been fortified by the builders who knew what they were doing and had a room added. A small room but a room all the same. The rest of the buildings had been put up in remarkable time thanks to the constantly watchful eye of Balthazar.

It was hard to make a job take long when the man was pushing you to get it done but he would have to give them more space or a greater reward when it came to building the windmill. He could sense they were growing tired of building.

"I have reason to believe that this fire was no accident." At that, the whispers began rippling through the crowd again. Settlers turning on each other with gossip and pointed fingers. Balthazar raised his voice to take back their focus and to stop their discontent from spreading beyond his control. "I could be wrong, but I am going to take this moment to remind everyone here that we follow the laws of Scalvoris and it's people. We are forging our own lives here but we are still beholden to them for now. Look to your left, now your right. These people you see are your neighbors, they are your friends. We are building a community here that is supposed to be better than the crime-ridden Alumnd. I don't want any more Elements patrolling our streets than we already have." Balthazar paused and adopted a slightly more stern tone. "Those who hurt our neighbors and our friends have no place in the haven we are trying to build. To the arsonist who lit the blaze last night, I have but one warning." Balthazar paused, scanning the faces of his settlers as they were gathered around him, but more importantly drawing out time for Elisabeth to do the same.

"I don't know who you are, I don't know what you wanted. If you were looking for more attention I can tell you I don't have any to spare, but what I do have is a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare to people like you. If you come to me within the trial, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. However if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will put you in a hole so deep you never see the light of the sun again." Balthazar stopped there, letting his warning sink into the minds of the settlers who'd just heard it. A trill later he added, "In other news, the Munny family has moved into the house near the windbreaks and they've assured me that as soon as we get the seeds we need, they'll have the land ready to begin farming. If anyone would like to volunteer for a trip back to the mainland to get the seeds, tell one of the guards."

And as quickly as they'd been gathered, the group was dispersed, some of them moving much more quickly away from the gathering than others.

[Elisabeth Black]

18 Ashan Arc 721

The trial before had been a bit intense. Later that evening, Balthazar had called the guards to him to discuss the investigation. Elisabeth quickly conveyed the sum whole of her conversations with the settlers and listened as everyone else chimed in with their thoughts.

After they left, Balthazar asked her to do a special task for him when he pulled the settlers together the following trial. He didn’t tell her what he was going to do but did tell her what he wished her to do, and a plan had been developed between the two of them.

***

As the settlers gathered together, the young mage positioned herself in the most advantageous spot she could for watching the group. Her task was to watch everyone throughout the meeting and note any unusual reactions. Sometimes she could see things others couldn’t and since they were low on leads, Balthazar was hoping the meeting would give them something to work with.

As he began talking, Elisabeth assumed a neutral expression and began watching people, never letting her gaze settle for long. She herself wasn’t even sure what Balthazar was going to say but so far, so good. No one seemed to be acting abnormally. They were being attentive, concerned, and in some cases angry - appropriate for the situation.

When the mage launched into the second part of his speech, however, that changed.

Most of the expressions stayed the same. Most. She had to double-back a few times to make sure, but she hadn’t noticed that person behaving oddly before Balthazar had launched into his “I will hunt you down” monologue. Still, she didn’t want to miss anything, so Elisabeth let her eyes roam a bit more but each time, the nervous facial expressions and body position of one person drew her back.

The meeting was dismissed and quickly her eyes found Balthazar’s. Dammit. He was not going to like what she had to say.

Rising, she found her way to his side, before anyone else had a chance to, letting her sapphire eyes lock in on the anxious departure of their suspect.

Eric.

[Balthazar Black]

18 Ashan 721

The gathering had ended and the settlers began to disperse but Balthazar remained where he had been standing during the speech with his eyes scanning the scattering crowd with less discerning eyes than the eyes he'd tasked with a special assignment. Eyes that quickly closed in on Balthazar when the speech had come to a close. It seemed Elisabeth had found something that he had not but he didn't ask her anything out in the open. Instead he gestured for her to follow him and he made his way down the row of tents towards his at the end. The tents stood more as a monument now than anything else. Housing for his guards and the troopers who watched him due to a lack of a barracks but most of the thirty settlers had moved into the wooden houses that had been constructed for them using materials provided by the Elements and labor provided by the settlers themselves.

He was not overly concerned that the arsonist would escape because they had few places to run. They could go into the Badlands, the Serenity Garden, or the sea and none of those options would really be enough to get away from Balthazar when he finally knew who had started the blaze. They had the whole trial before he could really begin the hunt because that was what he had offered. A trial to come forward and admit responsibility or be punished. When they reached his tent, Balthazar held the flap open for Elisabeth. Once she entered he was not far behind, moving over to and sitting down on his cot while he removed his boots.

"So what did you see?"

[Elisabeth Black]

18 Ashan Arc 721

She knew better than to speak of her observations in public. Her time with Balthazar had taught her that. Matching steps with him, she remained quiet as they strode towards his tent. The mage had asked her to observe; she had…but that didn’t make telling him what she saw any easier. Her curious mind immediately skipped to ‘why’, especially for the individual she had singled out, but Elisabeth stopped herself from going too far down that road. Best not to get ahead of things.

Stepping into the tent as he held the flap aside for her, she stretched a bit, watching him settle onto his cot and followed, sitting next to him, hands clasped on her lap in contemplation, waiting for the question she knew was coming. Noticing her cold hands, she rubbed them together vigorously, trying to work some heat into them. Their Element shadow was there, garnering a small smile from the mage. She disliked their presence on principal...but not the men themselves. They were doing the job they had been tasked to do. On the other hand, she wouldn't let their presence keep her from showing Balthazar affection. It was something they were working through.

His question found its way to her, causing her to sigh. Sapphire eyes glanced over at him.

“For the first part of the meeting, nothing out of the ordinary. Appropriate reactions really. People are worried, concerned…. angry even. If someone was acting out of sorts, I didn’t see it.”

She went over what she saw in her mind one more time. The expressions. The body language. The fidgeting. Was she sure? As sure as she could be.

“Once you launched into your warning, that changed. Only one person stood out to me after that - Eric, the teenager. He was excessively fidgety. Glancing around without any particular focus. Rocking on his feet. I would describe what I saw even as scared. Wide eyes and such at certain moments. He left in a hurry as well. I remember seeing him at the first part of the speech and he wasn’t exhibiting any of those traits then.”

Elisabeth disliked the implication but they needed to get to the bottom of the mystery before something worse happened. At least giving him a place to focus would give him a place to start. His abilities would be able to quickly confirm or dismiss her observations.

[Balthazar Black]

18 Ashan 721

Just as Balthazar managed to pry his first boot off, he seemed to change his mind and put it back on. He had realized there was still plenty of time before he'd collapse and so there was plenty of work that could be done. Even if he was going to sit on this one particular issue, there were many more for the settlement to manage. He needs to go turn the screws on the builders again to make sure that the last shelter got up before anything terrible happened. As Elisabeth explained how she'd perceived the reactions of others, Balthazar listened closely. He admired how thorough she'd been with her report but part of the man simply wanted a name. When the name finally did come, he didn't believe it. "Eric?" Balthazar seemed surprised to hear that but he didn't give away much more than that. He showed a little disappointment, maybe, but still not much else.

His eyes drifted to the ground and Balthazar slowly began lacing his boot again as he considered what to do about Elisabeth's hypothesis. It wasn't hard to figure out what his next move should have been because he was more than decent at getting information. It was hard to figure out what his next move would be because he wasn't sure that now was the right time to accuse a sixteen arc old boy of trying to burn down a building in a struggling settlement. People were cold and cranky and they liked Eric. Eric was a good kid most of the time. Balthazar needed to be certain. "I'll have the guards ask around about where he was but I'm giving him the trial to turn himself in." Balthazar decided, finally looking back at Elisabeth. "I hope we're wrong. I liked him." Balthazar was more than curious about what would have driven Eric to do such things but he couldn't look into it now. He needed to give the kid more time to think about exactly what a hole so deep you never saw the sun again was.

"I have a little time now." Balthazar said, "I want to go help the builders get the rest of the work done but we could do something else if you'd like. We're just about out of supplies and will need to wait for another ship before starting a new project anyways."

[Elisabeth Black]

18 Ashan Arc 721

Elisabeth watched as he pulled off one of his boots…and then put it back on again. Some trials, that was how it felt as she observed the mage – he never seemed to know if he was coming or going. She wished she could shoulder some of the stress for him, but he’d never allow it. All she could do was be there for him.

After revealing what she saw and her opinion on it, she noted his reaction was about what she expected. In truth, she hoped she was wrong too…but she really didn’t think she was.

Balthazar then surprised her a bit by offering some of his time to her. Those trials, it was a rarity. They spent a lot of time in same areas, but this was different. He wasn’t asking her if she wanted to come with him. He was saying he wanted to do something BUT he would give a bit of the time to her instead. A gift, and a sweet one at that.“I appreciate the offer. There are lots of things I want to do with you here, like exploring the area and figuring out what is here. But I think what I want most right now is just a few minutes with you, without the others. We spend so much time around them…helping, talking, worrying, encouraging.”

Reaching out, she gently caressed his face. “I just want to stay here with you for a bit. It’s not often we get the chance to just be us.” It was the truth. The pair tended to be caught up in one thing or another all the time and while it was something she enjoyed and was used to, she also never wanted to forget what it felt like when responsibilities, duty, magic, monsters, Immortals – the very universe itself – was stripped away…and they could just be Balthazar and Elisabeth for a few moments. Those moments were few and far between...

[Balthazar Black]

18 Ashan 721

It was unfortunate that they would never have the moment alone she wanted. Not while they were awake. Kura had ensured that. Someone was always watching him and by extension her. There was work to be done and he needed to make sure it was done well... but he couldn't ignore what she wanted entirely. He'd done that far too much already so that he could help people. She deserved more. She wanted a moment and he didn't even feel he could give her that... but maybe something else. Something she had earned that he had allowed uncertainty to prevent him from telling her about. His eyes shifted to the Flame Trooper in the room and then a spot on the ground.

He stared there for a few trills that would feel almost like a bit while he had an unheard conversation with a normally unseen companion. He was making a decision and convincing the opposing side to go with it. "We are never really alone though, are we?" Balthazar asked as his eyes drifted away from Elisabeth's to one of the cots in the tent with a small, now visible, flaming rock sitting beneath it. Fuego rose onto his stubby legs and waddled out from beneath the cot. "Fuego, Elisabeth. Elisabeth, Fuego." Balthazar introduced the two long after he should have. "All of the Fire Forged have a diri, and he is mine. Though he'd say that I am his Fire Forged."

Fuego waved his little arm and looked at Balthazar. "He doesn't talk but he likes you. More than Nimue at least." The mage grinned.

[Elisabeth Black]

18 Ashan Arc 721

Being with Balthazar meant learning something of a new language. The way he saw and interacted with the world was different than most, and the learning curve was steep. Some trials, Elisabeth felt she made progress, and others, not so much. A gesture from him that another would see as insignificant could very well be meant by the mage as substantial. It had taken her a while to understand and while she didn’t, and probably never would, completely understand how his mind worked, the young woman felt that she was leaps and bounds ahead of most people in that regard.

As he looked at her, she could tell his mind was somewhere else. To be fair, his mind was usually somewhere else but then again, so was hers. They were alike in that regard – always thinking. She couldn’t, however, have predicted what was actually transpiring. It wasn’t until Balthazar’s gaze towards the other cot clued her in.

A diri.

Elisabeth had seen a few diri before. Vega and Gennadiya’s specifically. She knew the diri had something to do with the women being Wardens, but the connection never had fully been explained to her. Balthazar had a diri. The young mage wanted to be angry that it had taken him so long to tell her. She wanted to feel that emotion, but she couldn’t, for she saw the gift she was being given instead. Not unlike the night in front of the fire when he had told her the story of Faldrass, he was giving her another piece of him in showing her the diri. Others, perhaps, would not see it as such…but she did.

Lowering to the sand, she smiled as the diri stepped out, waving an arm at her. Giving Fuego a small wave, Elisabeth greeted the diri gently. “Well, hello Fuego. It’s a pleasure to meet you finally.” A quick thought came to her, turning her head to look at Balthazar, a soft grin upon her face. “Fuego is always with you?”

Well then….

To see the mage grinning - did he not know how much it meant to her every time he smiled? Those trials, there were so few of them.

The mention of Nimue made her smile more. Despite the ghost’s dislike of her, Elisabeth actually was fond of Nimue and tried to be understanding. She wasn’t sure Nimue liked anyone really, so it wasn’t so bad. In Elisabeth’s view, the worse slight would have been if Nimue simply didn’t care about her. Dislike implied emotion so the fact that the ghost felt something, was better than not.

Sighing quietly - a happy sigh - she leaned back against the mage's knee, letting her words find their way to him. "Thank you."

He would know what she meant.

And no....she did not care that the shadow was in the room. She knew that Balthazar did to a degree. Yes, intimate moments between them should have been for them and them alone...but they were not going to be alone for a while and she refused to withhold affection. What was the Element going to report? That she and Balthazar had a relationship and kissed sometimes? Let them...

[Balthazar Black]

18 Ashan 721

Elisabeth seemed happy, or at least pleased, to meet Fuego and that was enough for Balthazar. He watched her go over to and speak to the silent burning rock but he heard no message from Fuego's mind to his own so he assumed the wave was as much of a greeting at the diri would give. Fuego was, as Balth had said, not the most talkative. When Elisabeth had asked if Fuego was always with him the mage gave a small nod. It as more or less true, whether or not Fuego was always watching was a different issue. Hopefully he wasn't, but more often than not he was around to provide commentary on whatever Balthazar was doing. Elisabeth leaned her head against the sitting mage's knee and he looked down at her as she thanked him. He didn't feel like she owed him that.

"I'm sorry about how you had to find out. I didn't mean for it to become a secret. When I left Scalvoris I didn't remember if I could tell people and when I was arrested in Quacia for being a mage I decided there were some secrets worth keeping. When Vri... fixed... my memories I just... never brought it up." Balthazar sighed and did what he was mostly likely to have done anyways, he ran from having to come up with a better apology.Balthazar ran his hand along Elisabeth's hair, accidentally shocking her again at the start, and then stood slowly as to avoid jostling her too much. "I'm going to go help the builders now. Maybe after, or tomorrow, we could go look at the Serenity Garden? It's a nice place. Then the Badlands maybe?"

[Elisabeth Black]

18 Ashan Arc 721

“You don’t owe me an apology, Balthazar. Not for this. I’m where I want to be…and with whom I want to be with. Not much that happens in our lives happens in a normal way…and probably won’t ever. I know that.”

Leaning against his knee, she felt his hand on her hair, closing her eyes to simply enjoy it. They had gotten their moment, and that was all she wanted. As he moved, she lifted her head and glanced up, rising with him, listening to his words. “That sounds promising. I will go and do my rounds. There are a few people that I promised to check in on to-trial. Then I will come to the build site and see if there is anything I can help with.”

Smiling at him as they walked over to the tent flap, she held up her finger, indicating for him to wait one moment. Sticking her head out of the tent, the young woman looked around for a brief moment, checking to see if anyone was coming towards the tent. Noting that the immediate area was clear, she moved back into the tent. Glancing over at the Element, she smiled. "Sorry..."

Only then did Elisabeth lifted up on her toes, giving the mage a sound kiss. At the settlement, she resisted showing affection in view of the others, allowing him to take the lead in that area as he was comfortable, especially with the shadow...but there were times when she just wanted to remind him of that side of their relationship. Yes, he had a perfect memory and could recall anything when looking for it, but sometimes he needed a push in the right direction.

Stepping out of the tent, she looked back one last time, smiling. “See you in a bit.”

They both had work to do. The work in Haven never stopped.