6 Ymiden 723
It was about mid-trial when the plans Balthazar had made fell apart entirely.
He was in his office with Robin and Lyanna. They were discussing- more like debating, which building to lend their aid to since as usual they knew that they could only fix one per trial. Croft was on a trip to one of the back rooms to make a drink out of a strange bean from Rynmere that he had a very limited supply of... or perhaps he didn't want to share. Whatever the drink was, he always seemed to have a little more energy after he drank it than he did before.
Knock, knock, knock!
Doom tapped at the door and Lyanna was quick to move over and open it, thinking that it had been Croft who knocked on his way back from retrieving his dark but energizing bean drink. It wasn't Croft. Avery Fairchild, the receptionist and most social of the Black Cats, stood at the door with a look on her face that even Balthazar could not decipher. He could tell that something was wrong and he could tell that she didn't know how to say what she wanted to say but he couldn't figure out what might have caused the look on her face. He'd known her long enough and knew her well enough that he could figure out what she was going to tell him most of the time. The fact that he couldn't tell now was just enough to concern Balthazar. He stood from the chair behind his desk and Robin stood from the chair in front of the desk in response.
Balthazar said nothing. He didn't need to. His eyes gave away everything that he wanted to know from Fairchild. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. She genuinely didn't know how to say what she needed to say. "We have a problem." She quickly decided that the first words were not the message she intended to convey and quickly tried to shift her story. "We have unexpected guests. A lot of them." Instinctively Robin's hand slipped down to his sword while Balthazar did not shift at all. Avery saw Robin's hand slide to his sword and she shook her head. "Not that sort of guest." Her eyes, shaking more than ever, shifted to Balthazar. "I don't know how to explain it. Please, come see for yourself."
~~~ A Confusingly Uncertain Time Later ~~~
"How many of you made the trip?""About twenty five of us- we're all that is left. We fled to Hopetoun and found passage here from there."
"Do you have a place to stay? I'm making arrangements for as many of you as I can. We'll set up lodging in the training area and extra offices."
"Thank you, we didn't know where else to go."
"Is everyone alright? Lyanna can tend minor injuries and we can send for someone from the order."
"We're alright, just shaken. We weren't ready for an attack like that."
"What of the settlement? Are the buildings intact? Can we return to them?"
"There was damage, but it isn't safe. How are we going to protect ourselves if the pirates come back? Without Edasha..."
"What about Elisabeth?"
"We don't know. She wasn't there during the attack and we didn't want to wait for another."
It had been about three breaks since the last remaining settlers of Haven arrived at the doorstep to the Black Cats headquarters with nothing more than what they managed to pack and carry. The snippets above were just the prominent memories of the conversations he had been having with all of the settlers over the last few breaks. There were too many unknowns and he had no way to cope with the most looming of them all. He could not feel Elisabeth through their connections. Not through the bond and not through the ring Saoire had given him. If he had to theorize, an immortal was interfering with the first and the second was suffering lingering effects from the investigation on the ship. Maybe both were. He knew that the ship was why he could not project himself to her. The ship had cut off his magic and as a result, the active frequencies. The people knew nothing useful either.
If he couldn't get an answer to his biggest concern, he would find answers for all of the smaller ones in hopes that it gave him some hint towards the larger question- where was his wife?
As noted in his conversations, Balthazar has given out orders to begin converting the Black Cat's headquarters into a temporary place for the twenty five-odd settlers to rest while Balthazar figured out what to do next. He was back in his office again with Robin, Lyanna, and Croft. Now his office was the only room in the building that had any sense of privacy. It was good the Black Cats did not have secrets to hide. He was sitting behind his desk, staring down at the wooden surface as he drowned in his thoughts. The other three captains looked to each other for guidance before Robin stepped up to try and free Balthazar from the sea in which he had gone adrift.
"The headquarters can house them for a few trials. Most of our members live in Almund, some of them may be willing to offer temporary stays." Robin said.
"I'll offer those who do some incentives, you won't have to worry about it." Croft chimed in. Both of them were trying to make it better because both of them knew what was going on in Balthazar's head. Lyanna knew as well but she knew that silence was better for the mage to work through his thoughts. As soon as the other two said their bit, silence filled the room like water. The longer it had to fill the room, the greater the pressure felt for all of them to find a way out. Balthazar's head bobbed slightly at first but the second time it was more clear that he was nodding.
"Get them as settled as we can for now with the space we have access to." Balthazar said quietly. "I'll negotiate with an inn or two that needs our help over the next few trials- see I can't get them to put up the people until I have time to find out enough to..." He paused and his head tilted to the side as if somewhat in defeat. "Time to figure out what to do next."
"Why not bring them back to Haven?" Lyanna asked carefully. "The buildings are still standing. Leave Black Cats to protect them until the guard can be rebuilt."
Balthazar took a deep breath and turned his eyes to Lyanna slowly. He didn't mean to intimidate her but she began to regret her suggestion as for what to do next. "All I know is that I need to know more first." He said, "Why come to me for help? Why would they abandon Haven like it was some common in? They left their homes behind because they were afraid. Why not fight for it? Even without Elisabeth... I would have thought a leader emerged among them before they abandoned all hope."
"First the volcano, then the badlands, then the storm, now the pirates." Croft said. "They fought with you and Elisabeth to rebuild their homes and at every turn after that they've found the land itself pushing them away."
Balthazar understood the message. "Everyone has a breaking point. Let's get them settled. If any of them want work to keep busy, see if they can help with any of our active contracts. Once we've figured out a more comfortable place to shelter them I'll start a few follow up investigations. Once we figure out what the pirates plan to do next and locate the missing settlers, we can- hopefully, offer them all enough security to return to Haven."
No one asked the lingering question. The question burning in the spot where Balthazar had forced it to sit in his mind. Where was Elisabeth? It was going to haunt him until he got an answer but he had already exhausted his immediate methods. Just because he didn't know didn't mean there was anything wrong... but he didn't like it. The more he knew, the more comfortable he'd be.... well as comfortable as he could ever be. It was a difficult time.
