29 Cylus Arc 720
"There was a boost in business during the Lighting of the Dark. Lot of people interested in lanterns," mentioned Watcher while he flipped through the scrolls, while they walked across the Inner Perimeter of Etzos. "Spiders everywhere after that, webs and the like in houses. Blizzard slowed things down. You are already aware of the ghosts?"
"Yes," answered Llyr simply. He strode up the stairs that led into the Towers. The heels of his polished black boots clicked against the similarly shiny floors. He glanced at the assistant behind him - a young girl, originally from Desnind, known as Fiona. She smiled, then hurried back to taking the notes in her journal. Llyr shook his head, then turned his attention back to his friend and employee, Watcher. "What date about was that, would you say?"
"The ghosts?" Watcher glanced at Fiona with his one uncovered eye (the other hidden by an eyepatch), and then switched to speak in Vahanic rather than common. "Hard to say that she hasn't been doing it for a long while before the public display of it. Maybe middle of the season? So, 15th?"
"And when did the violence begin?" asked Llyr, in the shared southern language of Vahanic.
"Twentieth, about."
"And all of the ghosts brought back have been marked?" inquired Llyr while they walked upward along the tower levels. He could her Fiona lightly panting in the exertion to keep up with his pace. The blond mage's wings fluttered. He glanced at a couple guards, who looked back at him but said nothing. It wasn't as if Llyr tried to hide. His halo flickered above his head, his gossamer wings at his backside, though his fitted attire hid most of the rest of his mutations - except for the mark of Yvithia slashed across his right eye like a silvery scar on the biqaj's face. "And the children?"
"Still missing..."
Llyr nodded, then snapped his fingers while he came to a halt before a corridor. Fiona ran up, and hurriedly recovered the scrolls from her bag, then set them in his waiting hand. He offered a thin, forced smile, then tucked the scrolls under his arm. Continued on, he recognized the man who waited near a set of dual doors: Dale Garnet, an Etzori SEC guard and accomplished mage of attunement.
"Watcher, if that will be all? I will speak further with you, later," said Llyr.
Watcher nodded, with a single glance at Garnet, before he turned to leave the Tower instead. He didn't fit with the ambiance, but he wasn't exactly in rags either. Unlike in the isolationist city of Quacia, Watcher found himself able to find an approximate lifestyle of good taste rather than impoverished scraps.
"Sir, sorry, uhm, did you want me to..."
"Huh? Oh, Fiona, yes, yes. I do want you to. You'll need to make sure I have enough paper and ink for any notes required." He said while he walked forward. Dale moved away from leaning against the wall, upon recognizing the far younger mage. "Garnet!"
"Llywelyn," returned Dale, with a pat of his shoulder against the tall blond's shoulder. "You given any trouble?"
"Not in the slightest," admitted Llyr. He switched to the Ith'ession language. "I thought you must have pulled some strings!"
"Only one or two," replied the older Etzori. He glanced at the doors, then gestured down the corridor to a different single door. He lingered with a key, hovered at the doorknob. "You sure about this? There are wards in place..."
"I said I would, and I'm here because I will," said Llyr. He glanced at his assistant, then motioned for her to follow inside. They walked into a small room. At a long table, a blond woman sat with chained cuffs on her wrists and ankles. She looked in poor shape, with bruises on the side of her face, and exhaustion in her eyes.
Llyr immediately recognized her. He walked over, then sat in the chair set across from her spot. The biqaj gestured for Fiona to put out the writing kit, then he set the scrolls in front of him. A slight tilt of his head, and he asked, "Lyssa? Lyssa Mag Raith?"
Lyssa looked up, eyes of blue, and for a moment she looked surprised to see the biqaj. She shifted her posture to sit taller, though her cuffs clinked against the chains. Whatever moment's of energy had existed, it was gone in the next. Her gaze drifted and she looked to the side.
"What have they given her?" asked Llyr while he turned to look at Garnet.
"I don't know," answered the gruff guard. "Is this going to be a waste of time?"
"No... but... leave us," decided the biqaj.
"I can't do that."
"Garnet, if I wanted to abscond with her, I could do so regardless if you are here or not," reminded Llyr. He stood, then nodded toward the door while he added in Ith'ession, "This is for the better. She's more likely to speak if we're alone."
A moment's hesitation, then Garnet relinquished and left the room. Fiona went with him, though she glanced a few times as if uncertain.
Llyr waited until the door shut, then he walked around the table. He pulled at the chains, then eyed the cuffs. There were wards in the room, but the mage had encountered wards before and recognized the usual pressure of limited ether. The biqaj channeled magic through his Transmutation spark, and corroded the cuffs so they fell away from Lyssa's wrists.
The blonde sighed with relief at the lack of metal around her joints. She rubbed at the spots, then sleepily smiled and said, "I recognize you... Holbert's boy."
"That is not what I am. Now, Lyssa, focus." he set a hand against her shoulder and tried to direct her gaze to look at him. "Do you know where you are?"
"Hmm," she exhaled. "Etzos?"
"Yes, Etzos, and do you know where in Etzos you are?"
"Uhm..." she closed her eyes, then rubbed at the bruised side of her head. Old, dried blood dappled portions of her hair. "I can't... I'm tired, but I can't sleep."
"They're keeping you from dreaming, aren't they..." deducted Llyr while he gently rubbed some of the old blood away from her strands. "Can you Cross?"
"Cross... cross... I don't know," she murmured. She lolled her head back, then sighed again.
"Okay..." Llyr walked back around and unrolled a couple scrolls. He glanced at the charges being brought against the other dreamwalker. Most of them had to be faulty, but some struck as likely true given Lyssa's relation with the criminal dealings of one Lord Jeremiah Holbert. "They really are hitting you with a lot. Trying to keep you here. Now, I can't represent you but..."
"Are you here to help me?" asked Lyssa with a confused furrow on her pale brows. "Why?"
"Not for free," he insisted. Llyr unfolded a contract, then set it in front of the dazed woman. "This is a contract for you to be a client of Curious Constellations. Upon agreement, while I cannot represent you since I have no legal certification, I can provide expert testimony in your favor."
"You can?" Lyssa rubbed at her weary eyes, then laid against the table with a yawn. "I just want to sleep."
Llyr considered, then he shoved a quill in Lyssa's hand and set it where she needed to sign. He snapped as to jostle her alert, "Sign the contract, Lyssa!"
Startled, she scrawled a signature across. Then nodded when Llyr plucked her fingertip and pressed the print of blood next to it. Once the ink and blood dried, he rolled up the contract, then returned it to his own messenger bag. Llyr fixed his gloves, then his suit, and said, "I will be in contact with the bank about any accounts in relation to you, to cover your fees. Once complete, then you have me on retainer until the verdict on your trial."
"And what if I just want to leave?" whispered Lyssa.
"...we will approach new obstacles as they come. For now, wait."
Llyr left the room behind, and returned to the corridor. He nodded to Garnet, and gestured for him to walk. "Whatever your lot gave her, she's completely out of her mind. There's no way anything useful could come from a state like that, let alone a confession of any misdeeds. You said they interrogated her like this?"
"Not to a lot effect, but yes. It's what they're currently using to hold onto her longer, even though ain't no one charging crimes against her in the first place. I thought given your background of knowing each other, you might-"
"Yes," interrupted Llyr. "Thank you for sending word. Much of what they are claiming cannot be accomplished through magic. They are false charges. As for the testimony, can I provide that in writing or person?"
"Better in person, but it can be private like, just the judges and representation," answered Garnet. "Can't promise you immunity if you do, though..."
"Makes no difference. I am here on matters of business, though, and if Lady Sintra wishes to take offense to that... then I doubt I have much say in the matter regardless. I won't avoid when a client needs me, though." Llyr paused, then said, "Let me visit the bank first, then I will return to give testimony. But she needs to be treated better, and whoever might be in charge of that... you let me know."
Garnet nodded, then stopped while he watched Llyr and Fiona walk past to head away from the Courts of Etzos to the Bank instead.
He did not have to wait long. The bank went smoothly, especially when Llyr gave an oversight view of his profits for potential return to his share of a loan taken out from the bank. He accepted a couple letters of requested investment from those aware of his dealings, but Llyr would look at them later. Lyssa had an account linked to Holbert's name, and it had more than enough to cover her fees... and payments... and everything else that had been listed on the contract.
Did Llyr feel poorly for having a clearly exhausted lady sign away what wealth she had?
Not in the slightest.
For he followed through with his word, at the risk of undue attention placed on himself, in returning to the Court. He followed Garnet into the well-kept room and sat in a leather chair across from the judge.
"Your honor," he started with a nod, then cleared his throat while he watched a scribe record his words. He offered them in Ith'ession, "In the case of Lyssa Mag Raith, my name is Llywelyn, and I would like to offer my expert opinion about the role of magic by request of Lyssa as a client of mine. My qualifications include a diploma of Arcana from University of Viden, and personal familiarity with sparks and similar. On the record, I have read through the charges brought against Lyssa and frankly, they are a horrific example of bigoted superstition."
"Have you read the wording on some of this? With flaxen hair of pale white, the sign of an advanced etherwalker, the seeming beauty is an illusion crafted by manipulation of the average person's mind to create a waking dream?" Llyr read from the scroll he had in front of him. He shook his head, and ignored the irony of his own pale hair. "None of that is true or accurate. Neither is that Lyssa is capable of making a person experience a nightmare while in a dark room."
"Simply put, Lyssa is not a mage. She harbors no sparks, and whether or not this etherwalking is an actual magic is up for debate. There is certainly no evidence that it is magic anymore than alchemy or even... print-making! If by chance, Lyssa is capable of such a thing, she might not even know how to control it fully. But it is my understanding that Lyssa has a powerful imagination that tends to inspire others to have the same."
"These claims are ridiculous, and there are no crimes actually put forth by so-called victims of... dreams? Victims of dreams? It sounds to me like some city guards might have paid a little too close of attention to Miss Mag Raith's pretty face and got themselves twisted up over that. And now, perhaps those same guards are taking advantage of her imprisonment to treat her poorly," decided Llyr with a blue-eyed glance at the judge. He rolled up the scroll, then nodded as the judge thanked him for the recorded opinion.
Once he left the private courtroom, he looked to Garnet and said, "What now?"
"The judge will look over the opinion, and then the arguments made from the representatives, and then make a call whether to keep Lyssa or to let her go," answered Garnet with a shrug. "Don't know how long that'll take though."
"You know how to contact me, if I'm needed again?"
"Sure do, that Madam Miller of your's is a peach to visit," mentioned Garnet.
"Careful, Dale, don't let your wife hear you say that," teased Llyr while he entered an empty room across the hall. "Fiona, if you'll go catch up with Watcher for me..."
The assistant nodded, then hurried away to do so. Llyr closed the door behind her, then smiled. He took Garnet by the hand for a quick shake, and said, "Take care, okay?"
With the farewell said, and job done, Llyr vanished into Emea as the dreamwalker crossed into the hidden world.
"There was a boost in business during the Lighting of the Dark. Lot of people interested in lanterns," mentioned Watcher while he flipped through the scrolls, while they walked across the Inner Perimeter of Etzos. "Spiders everywhere after that, webs and the like in houses. Blizzard slowed things down. You are already aware of the ghosts?"
"Yes," answered Llyr simply. He strode up the stairs that led into the Towers. The heels of his polished black boots clicked against the similarly shiny floors. He glanced at the assistant behind him - a young girl, originally from Desnind, known as Fiona. She smiled, then hurried back to taking the notes in her journal. Llyr shook his head, then turned his attention back to his friend and employee, Watcher. "What date about was that, would you say?"
"The ghosts?" Watcher glanced at Fiona with his one uncovered eye (the other hidden by an eyepatch), and then switched to speak in Vahanic rather than common. "Hard to say that she hasn't been doing it for a long while before the public display of it. Maybe middle of the season? So, 15th?"
"And when did the violence begin?" asked Llyr, in the shared southern language of Vahanic.
"Twentieth, about."
"And all of the ghosts brought back have been marked?" inquired Llyr while they walked upward along the tower levels. He could her Fiona lightly panting in the exertion to keep up with his pace. The blond mage's wings fluttered. He glanced at a couple guards, who looked back at him but said nothing. It wasn't as if Llyr tried to hide. His halo flickered above his head, his gossamer wings at his backside, though his fitted attire hid most of the rest of his mutations - except for the mark of Yvithia slashed across his right eye like a silvery scar on the biqaj's face. "And the children?"
"Still missing..."
Llyr nodded, then snapped his fingers while he came to a halt before a corridor. Fiona ran up, and hurriedly recovered the scrolls from her bag, then set them in his waiting hand. He offered a thin, forced smile, then tucked the scrolls under his arm. Continued on, he recognized the man who waited near a set of dual doors: Dale Garnet, an Etzori SEC guard and accomplished mage of attunement.
"Watcher, if that will be all? I will speak further with you, later," said Llyr.
Watcher nodded, with a single glance at Garnet, before he turned to leave the Tower instead. He didn't fit with the ambiance, but he wasn't exactly in rags either. Unlike in the isolationist city of Quacia, Watcher found himself able to find an approximate lifestyle of good taste rather than impoverished scraps.
"Sir, sorry, uhm, did you want me to..."
"Huh? Oh, Fiona, yes, yes. I do want you to. You'll need to make sure I have enough paper and ink for any notes required." He said while he walked forward. Dale moved away from leaning against the wall, upon recognizing the far younger mage. "Garnet!"
"Llywelyn," returned Dale, with a pat of his shoulder against the tall blond's shoulder. "You given any trouble?"
"Not in the slightest," admitted Llyr. He switched to the Ith'ession language. "I thought you must have pulled some strings!"
"Only one or two," replied the older Etzori. He glanced at the doors, then gestured down the corridor to a different single door. He lingered with a key, hovered at the doorknob. "You sure about this? There are wards in place..."
"I said I would, and I'm here because I will," said Llyr. He glanced at his assistant, then motioned for her to follow inside. They walked into a small room. At a long table, a blond woman sat with chained cuffs on her wrists and ankles. She looked in poor shape, with bruises on the side of her face, and exhaustion in her eyes.
Llyr immediately recognized her. He walked over, then sat in the chair set across from her spot. The biqaj gestured for Fiona to put out the writing kit, then he set the scrolls in front of him. A slight tilt of his head, and he asked, "Lyssa? Lyssa Mag Raith?"
Lyssa looked up, eyes of blue, and for a moment she looked surprised to see the biqaj. She shifted her posture to sit taller, though her cuffs clinked against the chains. Whatever moment's of energy had existed, it was gone in the next. Her gaze drifted and she looked to the side.
"What have they given her?" asked Llyr while he turned to look at Garnet.
"I don't know," answered the gruff guard. "Is this going to be a waste of time?"
"No... but... leave us," decided the biqaj.
"I can't do that."
"Garnet, if I wanted to abscond with her, I could do so regardless if you are here or not," reminded Llyr. He stood, then nodded toward the door while he added in Ith'ession, "This is for the better. She's more likely to speak if we're alone."
A moment's hesitation, then Garnet relinquished and left the room. Fiona went with him, though she glanced a few times as if uncertain.
Llyr waited until the door shut, then he walked around the table. He pulled at the chains, then eyed the cuffs. There were wards in the room, but the mage had encountered wards before and recognized the usual pressure of limited ether. The biqaj channeled magic through his Transmutation spark, and corroded the cuffs so they fell away from Lyssa's wrists.
The blonde sighed with relief at the lack of metal around her joints. She rubbed at the spots, then sleepily smiled and said, "I recognize you... Holbert's boy."
"That is not what I am. Now, Lyssa, focus." he set a hand against her shoulder and tried to direct her gaze to look at him. "Do you know where you are?"
"Hmm," she exhaled. "Etzos?"
"Yes, Etzos, and do you know where in Etzos you are?"
"Uhm..." she closed her eyes, then rubbed at the bruised side of her head. Old, dried blood dappled portions of her hair. "I can't... I'm tired, but I can't sleep."
"They're keeping you from dreaming, aren't they..." deducted Llyr while he gently rubbed some of the old blood away from her strands. "Can you Cross?"
"Cross... cross... I don't know," she murmured. She lolled her head back, then sighed again.
"Okay..." Llyr walked back around and unrolled a couple scrolls. He glanced at the charges being brought against the other dreamwalker. Most of them had to be faulty, but some struck as likely true given Lyssa's relation with the criminal dealings of one Lord Jeremiah Holbert. "They really are hitting you with a lot. Trying to keep you here. Now, I can't represent you but..."
"Are you here to help me?" asked Lyssa with a confused furrow on her pale brows. "Why?"
"Not for free," he insisted. Llyr unfolded a contract, then set it in front of the dazed woman. "This is a contract for you to be a client of Curious Constellations. Upon agreement, while I cannot represent you since I have no legal certification, I can provide expert testimony in your favor."
"You can?" Lyssa rubbed at her weary eyes, then laid against the table with a yawn. "I just want to sleep."
Llyr considered, then he shoved a quill in Lyssa's hand and set it where she needed to sign. He snapped as to jostle her alert, "Sign the contract, Lyssa!"
Startled, she scrawled a signature across. Then nodded when Llyr plucked her fingertip and pressed the print of blood next to it. Once the ink and blood dried, he rolled up the contract, then returned it to his own messenger bag. Llyr fixed his gloves, then his suit, and said, "I will be in contact with the bank about any accounts in relation to you, to cover your fees. Once complete, then you have me on retainer until the verdict on your trial."
"And what if I just want to leave?" whispered Lyssa.
"...we will approach new obstacles as they come. For now, wait."
Llyr left the room behind, and returned to the corridor. He nodded to Garnet, and gestured for him to walk. "Whatever your lot gave her, she's completely out of her mind. There's no way anything useful could come from a state like that, let alone a confession of any misdeeds. You said they interrogated her like this?"
"Not to a lot effect, but yes. It's what they're currently using to hold onto her longer, even though ain't no one charging crimes against her in the first place. I thought given your background of knowing each other, you might-"
"Yes," interrupted Llyr. "Thank you for sending word. Much of what they are claiming cannot be accomplished through magic. They are false charges. As for the testimony, can I provide that in writing or person?"
"Better in person, but it can be private like, just the judges and representation," answered Garnet. "Can't promise you immunity if you do, though..."
"Makes no difference. I am here on matters of business, though, and if Lady Sintra wishes to take offense to that... then I doubt I have much say in the matter regardless. I won't avoid when a client needs me, though." Llyr paused, then said, "Let me visit the bank first, then I will return to give testimony. But she needs to be treated better, and whoever might be in charge of that... you let me know."
Garnet nodded, then stopped while he watched Llyr and Fiona walk past to head away from the Courts of Etzos to the Bank instead.
He did not have to wait long. The bank went smoothly, especially when Llyr gave an oversight view of his profits for potential return to his share of a loan taken out from the bank. He accepted a couple letters of requested investment from those aware of his dealings, but Llyr would look at them later. Lyssa had an account linked to Holbert's name, and it had more than enough to cover her fees... and payments... and everything else that had been listed on the contract.
Did Llyr feel poorly for having a clearly exhausted lady sign away what wealth she had?
Not in the slightest.
For he followed through with his word, at the risk of undue attention placed on himself, in returning to the Court. He followed Garnet into the well-kept room and sat in a leather chair across from the judge.
"Your honor," he started with a nod, then cleared his throat while he watched a scribe record his words. He offered them in Ith'ession, "In the case of Lyssa Mag Raith, my name is Llywelyn, and I would like to offer my expert opinion about the role of magic by request of Lyssa as a client of mine. My qualifications include a diploma of Arcana from University of Viden, and personal familiarity with sparks and similar. On the record, I have read through the charges brought against Lyssa and frankly, they are a horrific example of bigoted superstition."
"Have you read the wording on some of this? With flaxen hair of pale white, the sign of an advanced etherwalker, the seeming beauty is an illusion crafted by manipulation of the average person's mind to create a waking dream?" Llyr read from the scroll he had in front of him. He shook his head, and ignored the irony of his own pale hair. "None of that is true or accurate. Neither is that Lyssa is capable of making a person experience a nightmare while in a dark room."
"Simply put, Lyssa is not a mage. She harbors no sparks, and whether or not this etherwalking is an actual magic is up for debate. There is certainly no evidence that it is magic anymore than alchemy or even... print-making! If by chance, Lyssa is capable of such a thing, she might not even know how to control it fully. But it is my understanding that Lyssa has a powerful imagination that tends to inspire others to have the same."
"These claims are ridiculous, and there are no crimes actually put forth by so-called victims of... dreams? Victims of dreams? It sounds to me like some city guards might have paid a little too close of attention to Miss Mag Raith's pretty face and got themselves twisted up over that. And now, perhaps those same guards are taking advantage of her imprisonment to treat her poorly," decided Llyr with a blue-eyed glance at the judge. He rolled up the scroll, then nodded as the judge thanked him for the recorded opinion.
Once he left the private courtroom, he looked to Garnet and said, "What now?"
"The judge will look over the opinion, and then the arguments made from the representatives, and then make a call whether to keep Lyssa or to let her go," answered Garnet with a shrug. "Don't know how long that'll take though."
"You know how to contact me, if I'm needed again?"
"Sure do, that Madam Miller of your's is a peach to visit," mentioned Garnet.
"Careful, Dale, don't let your wife hear you say that," teased Llyr while he entered an empty room across the hall. "Fiona, if you'll go catch up with Watcher for me..."
The assistant nodded, then hurried away to do so. Llyr closed the door behind her, then smiled. He took Garnet by the hand for a quick shake, and said, "Take care, okay?"
With the farewell said, and job done, Llyr vanished into Emea as the dreamwalker crossed into the hidden world.
