Random 63

"I'm confident we can stop the rain if we get some information we're missing - information you and Herv and Selk will help us get. Having allies is a huge relief." She smiled up at him for a moment, but then her face fell and she tipped her head. "That won't make the damage done already go away, of course."

For a moment it looked as though the man might reach out to touch her hand, but in the end he just shook his head. "Won't, no, but maybe it'll be better than how it could have been, miss. I'm just glad it'll end, when it does." Kord didn't quite say if, but looked alarmed even so. "How'd you meet that wreck, anyway?" the question came, curious and a little suspicious.

"Meet what?" She had a suspicion, but was genuinely confused.

"Foxglove. Him. Like after that poisonous plant." Kord chuckled, looking Sylvie over again. "Goes nicely with Fortuna's bit, in a way, but you get the idea. Anyway, while we're waiting, how about a blanket? It's misery out there, and we'll hear them coming, with the dogs being dogs."

"How many names does he have," she muttered, mildly amused. She dropped the question of how they met, thinking she should ask Sebastian if he minded her sharing the story. "Thanks. And maybe we should plan a bit. Let's make it convincing."

Kord grinned happily, and began to go over the plan, partially detailed in the letter, listening intently to Sylvie's suggestions. For one reason or another, the man was excited.

--

Elsewhere, Sebastian-Kai was giving instructions to driver of the carriage, huddling inside his cloak and trying to keep himself from getting too chilled. Every yard felt like torture, as he kept hoping that the Lady Land's clergy had understood everything in that letter. More, Sebastian -- oh yes, now utterly Sebastian and coming back to his wits -- hoped Sylvie's nerves would hold. But that was the best part: he felt more trust in her nerves than he did for those of the clergy-wardens.

And so he kept on giving those instructions, until they heard the baying of the hounds. Soon enough, the farm came to sight -- and Sebastian smiled, patting the driver's hand and showing the way to the stables. He didn't give a damn about the men inside and outside the carriage, but the horses, well, they needed their rest.

Brice went down a mental checklist of scenarios again, not forgetting that he was not prescient, and therefore did not include all and might have to think on his feet. He had not thought of dogs, for example. Marl and Reo instructions, reminding them to not get distracted by what they would be talking about, if they'd be in the same room. He could not think which god to pray to in his situation, so this would have to do.

On his word they got out of the carriage as "Kai" came back.

"This way, sir," Sebastian said, all servitude and greed -- overall, he seemed to have the idea that he'd get paid well for a job well done, ignoring the barking hounds in the kennel just behind the house. He even opened the door and, after looking to see if the guards or Brice wanted to go in before he did, did as looked proper.

Brice gestured for him to go in first, followed by Reo. They left their merely thoroughly damp rather than entirely drenched coats one hooks in the corridor. Where Kai led them, Reo didn't spot an immediate trap, so they all followed.

"Hey gents!" Sebastian said as they barged into the kitchen where three large lumps of muscle each held onto small bottles of moonshine with calloused hands. The largest startled at first, but then relaxed, though Kord still eyed the man he was now supposed to call Kai in a coarse way. "How's that hellcat been?"

Kord began to chuckle and took a long swig to calm his nerves. This really wasn't the kind of thing he did, he hadn't lied to Sylvie about that. He rubbed a fresh cut on his face and pointed at a door with a lock. "Had to lock her up. Wouldn't take Selk's advances too well. Nearly took my eye off with a fork. You'd know better, though, runt." He put a bit of menace into that last sentence. It came naturally, because Kord still disliked this whole business, and wasn't too sure if he liked Sebastian either.

Sebastian raised both eyebrows, grinning nervously. "Well, uh... the b-- his honour here wanted to come and see her for hisself. Er, sir?" he turned to look at Brice.

The Treysens did what they always did when meeting new, armed fighting men. They looked them over, assessed and then nodded cordially, as if to acknowledge a fellow real man. Kord merely stood up, set his bottle on the table and nodded to Brice, instead. The twins continued to drink.

Brice was not a fighter. He also was not used anymore to having to look up at anyone. In addition he did not have anything near the bulk of Kord, so all in all he had to work for not looking nervous.

"Good day. Yes, I would like to talk to her. What was she doing when you found her?"

Behind a door, Sylvie was listening. She could hardly make out the words, but judging from the diction alone, none of them sounded like Ludovic.

Kord looked annoyed. "That little twit didn't tell you?" he asked, almost bellowed at Sebastian. "Kai, you son of a bitch! I told you to be thorough!"

The half-elf, impressed (yet a little angry) at the display, cowered a little. "I said she been snoopin' around, uhm... I... didn't remember to tell about the... public houses and... uhm... you know, them more private--"

"Whorehouses," Kord clarified, glaring at Kai before shaking his head before turning to Brice again. "Yeah, 's about the size of it. Asking too many question in places nearby, where we lot were."

Asking questions. Talking to people. Lovely.

"Yes, I need her to answer some questions. Would you get her out here?" He rubbed his forehead, worrying about rumours, and about rushing things. Calm, now, dammit.

Kord harrumphed an affirmative, took one more swig from his bottle and waved the Treysens to join him as they went to the door, unlocked it with little cudgels in their hands, looking wary. Sebastian, on the other hand, drifted toward one of the bottles, nervously, as if he weren't allowed to touch the stuff. He eagerly took a nip, then retreated with the bottle to a corner near the door, worried.

As he was.

Marl had stayed close to the door, and watched him through that, but focused more on the goings-on after Kai had settled. He evidently considered him not a credible threat.

Next door a scuffle erupted, with some choice words from boths sides, and inarticulate snarling from the woman. When Kord had a hold of her, she still slowed him down for a moment, bracing a leg against the doorframe and pushing them back. The big man finally pushed her into the room, holding her arms behind her back.

Dirt was plastered across her clothes as if she'd been thrown to dusty ground, her hair was wild - and the bottom dropped out of Brice's stomach when he recognised her. He had not expected it to be anyone he'd met before. "Sylvie?!"

She looked at him with brief surprise, followed by a feral grin. Tilting her head in a mockery of a polite greeting, she said, "Brice." Two quick breaths later she glared at him in pure disgust. "So you are a family of shiteating bastards."

"Sylvie, I'm sorry, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on."

When he approached her, she aimed a kick at his knee. It landed a bit too low, since she lost her balance, and only made him stumble a bit.

Brice shook his head and tried to think. "Please sit her down somewhere."

In spite of himself, Kord was impressed with the tenacity and the kind of language Sylvie threw at him. It almost reminded him of his mother. Less wrinkly and certainly darker in skin, though. With a grunt, he nodded at the Treysens, who firmly planted a heavy chair on the floor and then forcefully slammed Sylvie down on it. Not hard enough to leave bruises.

Sebastian, in the middle of a nip of moonshine, had to swallow quickly in order to leave his mouth wide open. A little bird sang somewhere in his heart. "Told youse she was a wild cat," he muttered to Marl, sheepishly.

Marl gave a hum and nodded, not taking his eyes off the scene. Brice was trying to be reconciliatory. He'd had some practise with Ludovic...

"Sylvie, please calm down. I'm sure there has been a misunderstanding somewhere."

A look around the room and she gave him a fake smile. "How about we send your thugs away and talk in private?" She concentrated fully on him. It was easier projecting fear along with the rage if she wasn't reminded more than half the men in the room were on her side, and Brice could read it exactly the wrong way around.

I'm worried you'd scratch my eyes out. He shook his head and pulled up a chair for himself. How in the world had she gotten involved in this? They had exchanged less than a handful of words, but Brice had gotten the impression she just wanted to get on with her life.

"Sylvie, please help me here. What do you think is going on?"

"You are flooding Canyet!" she yelled loud enough to make Brice wince, half getting up from the chair.

He shook his head and tried to gauge the reactions of the men he could see without being obvious about it.

Sebastian, for one, looked suitably startled. The three thugs, well, they looked confused. It was good, because even though it actually meant that they didn't know how they should react to this, it panned out quite well. But there, near Marl, Sebastian changed his stance slightly. He hadn't taken the bottle for the sake of boozing.

Kord looked around at the new faces and said, "Uh...?"

Reo was one of the few people who had actually been told; Marl had known there had been shady business going on, but not quite what, and gave a surprised snort, but in truth did not care much.

"Wherever did you get that idea?" Brice asked Sylvie in an incredulous, pleading tone. She could not have been spying on them from the beginning, or even since she returned from her expedition, or she would not have chased off-- Oh, damn. "Did Ludovic tell you that?"

Sylvie tilted her head and made a surprised-and-suspicious noise, turning the movement into a tentative nod, to see what he would come up with.

"Good gods have mercy, I can see it now. He gets sulky because you have no interest in him, and tries to come up with something to sound impressive, and since everyone is talking about the weather, he tries to take credit for that." He could really picture it. Sylvie was quiet, and not quite so tense, which he took as confirmation of his guess. "Turns out my dear cousin doesn't have sense for tuppence, but... Do you seriously think anyone could do something like that?" He waved in the general direction of the nearest window. Careful now. Not too much 'you are being silly'. People get defensive.

It looked like he was really getting through to Sylvie. She frowned at him with narrowed eyes, but she didn't sound certain anymore. "He gave me that glass spindle. Said it was a model..."

Brice hadn't known Ludovic owned one of those experiments, but before he could consider that carefully, he spun the story in a useful-seeming direction. "That thing is a novelty. An overpriced trinket he bought; he uses it to cool drinks sometimes, and it doesn't work very well." He dropped his head with the last word and closed his eyes, putting some of his deep store of frustration in the gesture.

The runty, cowardly "Kai" suddenly smiled and looked at Marl in a contemplative manner as the conversation still went on. Once he saw how Brice reacted and read his body language and tone, he stretched his neck by turning his head side from side --

And suddenly it was chaos. Sebastian tapped Marl's shoulder, and when the man turned to look, he splashed moonshine in Marl's face, turning the bottle in his hand nimbly and smacking the underling with it across the head. As if that wasn't enough, Marl suddenly found a knee in his stomach, and then Sebastian -- face utterly calm -- threw the bottle straight at Reo's head. All this in a quick succession.

While the Treysen's and Kord still only began to get ready, Sebastian took his other hand out of his pocket, producing a stiletto and advancing on Reo, smiling.