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"Yeah, inconsistent," Riya muttered while Sebastian was busy looking back at Sylvie. Once Sylvie had stopped speaking and Sebastian still kept staring at Sylvie, Riya couldn't help but add her piece. "Just what kind of moral compass is that, promising that... pig something and then making him maudlin?"

That caught Sebastian's attention; he narrowed his eyes and turned to stare at Riya instead. "It's one that's both angry and sorry for him, and I'm having trouble keeping it in check. In any case, you're right, Sylvie. Let's go through this pointby point. "I wanted to genuinely know why he thinks his string of the family doesn't deserve it, just as I wanted to know if he's relieved. I'm still trying to reassure myself that I haven't made promise that will come and bite me in the ass.

"Second, satchels? He can have mine if Auker doesn't have any to spare, and I'd guess she does."

But it was the third point that actually made him look uncomfortable. "Third... I worry about that quite some."

Quietly, Sylvie suggested, "Maybe don't stare quite that hard if you ask questions of that kind," Unconsciously making a rippling motion with the fingers of her free hand as she remembered the knife-twirling Sebastian had started with. In a more normal tone she tried to reassure him, "I got the feeling he knew that business was wrong. Otherwise he'd have held out for longer, or tried to make excuses for himself."

"Did he say so?" Garren asked.

"Not exactly, no. And asking..."

"I wanted to have a word with him, anyway, if there's opportunity. Maybe he's less scared of me." With a shrug, Garren moved on. "Normal rules applying would mean he stays until the case is brought before a court, to be judged with the others."

Once again, Garren provided a pleasant surprise -- which, naturally, meant that Sebastian promised to himself to keep a close eye on the scholar in the future. He raised his brows and blinked. "Normal rules don't apply now. I don't like it, but I'm almost certain he had no choice in this -- and considering just how... final Ludovic's solutions to problems tend to be..." he trailed off for a moment, letting that pause sink in.

He breathed out. "It's a scarce wonder he's convinced he's dead meat. Ludovic will kill him and Brice thinks I'll get him killed. Or the courts will. No, I don't think there's much justice in that. But, Garren. Good idea. I'd be grateful if you'd talk to him," Sebastian said, eyeing the man warily. He had a sneaking suspicion Garren was far more perceptive than he'd thought -- his intellect had already been proven, but perceptiveness...

...as applied to people was something you could learn when the rest of your family did most of the talking.

"All right. So, what's the earliest you could let him go?"

"We're on a tight leash here. I wanted to keep him here to explain it to Tin's clergy, but I have to say -- the sooner he gets out, the better for him. I was sure I wanted him here when to talk to the Jackites or Gold's people. They'd make meat patties out of him," Sebastian said, not hesitating a bit now. He glanced at Sylvie for support before saying: "But we've enough physical evidence in addition to what Brice has already written down. I'm inclined to say he can go as soon as he feels a little better." The half-elf bit on his lip. "I haven't been quite fair to him, anyway. Best keep promises."

Sylvie looked wrily amused. If "what's coming to him" was getting even more confused, Brice was absolutely going to get it.

"If you're certain about the evidence..." Garren said. It was more of an implied question than a statement. "What has he written down?"

Sylvie wondered if she should bring up what Brice had said about Ludovic's parents' influence.

---

Elsewhere, Brice's mind was wandering a bit. "Sister? What is the proper address for him, anyway? Or Sylvie, for that matter."

Auker's mind was wandering a bit too, but it involved other things. After an initial "huh?", she tried to comprehend the question. "Son, call that lout whatever you want. Goes by Sebastian, mostly. doesn't really care if they call him Saucerhead or something like that. Sylvie is Sylvie is Sylvie. Just like you can just call me Auker. Not much for pleasantries over here."

"It's a habit."

"I've got one too, only I'm wearing it," Auker provided, slightly tipsy. "Oh, I get it. Politeness. Uh, no, just act like he's your average thug. I think he expects that. I don't know," came the somewhat unhelpful but honest continuation to her answer.

Elsewhere...

Figures, thought Sebastian upon seeing Sylvie's expression. He shrugged and glanced toward his satchel. Then toward the door, the one Auker and Brice had went through. "Last night, he was told to write what he knows about the Sabas' plans, who is involved and what happens when. How they managed to collar Langoll into this, plus a short account on exactly what Ludovic has been up to otherwise. We do have Ludovic's diary and some of his letters, but... ah, that diary's... not quite as helpful. Only vague references and some insulting rants about people." He snorted. "I hope Auker put the papers somewhere save from the dragon. I doubt Brice would like writing it down again."

Riya finished her cup of tea. "So, you're just going to let him walk?" Sebastian tilted his head questioningly. Riya stared back sternly.

"Just?" Sebastian said after a lengthy silence on everyone's part. "I've just destroyed his lifestyle and his family's and probably scared him so bad, he's going to be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. I wouldn't call that just walking away free."

Sylvie had been curious about his reasoning. She didn't care much either way what happened to Brice. The mage responsible for this was already dead, she was willing to believe Brice would not do something like this again, and she really had no idea anymore what passed as justice here.

Garren nodded. "A commuted sentence, not necessarily--" Garren started, but broke off before saying "milder" when the subject of their discussion returned. The hair around his face was damp.

"That's true," Sylvie said, just to make the break-off less obvious; she wasn't entirely certain what Garren had wanted to say.

"Just so," Sebastian added, fixing his stare on Brice and then Auker. After one short glance at Sylvie, Sebastian rubbed his face. "Brice, you're free to go after you've talked to Garren. That is, if you wrote all what you were asked to, last night."

"Oh, he did," Auker said, absentmindedly glancing over her shoulder. "They're in my office. I don't think he left anything out. Would've noticed." Auker and her club would have, at least, although she'd been a little confused when asked for paper and ink.

"Good," Sebastian sighed and leaned back in his chair, examining both Garren and Brice. Riya's contemplative frown and occasional glances at Brice didn't interest him.

Brice gave a little sigh. Another change of plans. Of course.

Garren git up and gestured for Brice to take a seat near the fire, where if they kept their voices low they could pretend they were having a private conversation.

Sylvie looked at Riya, wondering if she should try to provide a distraction.

Once they were both seated, Garren asked calmly, "I've heard a detailed account, and saw one of the artifacts, but I'd like to hear it in short from you. What has been going on?"

All right he knows already, get the worst over with... "We flooded the city for profit, to raise grain prices and suchlike.

"Ludovic's parents and Langoll developed the plan, Ludovic was put in charge of realising it. I did most of the local organisation, like seeing to getting locations to hide the artifacts." He looked at Garren for a cue how he should go on.

The look he got in return was... disappointed. "How did an apparently intelligent, conscientious young man end up thinking that was a good idea?" He had mostly dealth with Ludovic, but occasionally Brice had acted as proxy, and left a good impression.

"It's not important what I thought."

"I would like to know."

He had thought about it last night while writing that confession, or what you wanted to call it. After a pause he started slowly, "I don't even remember what I thought at the start. Once I understood the whole picture... I lied to myself about just how bad the consequences could be for the region and its people. In hindsight, I could have walked away, or sabotaged the project, or exposed it, but I told myself it was a minor matter. A lesser evil than betraying my family. I just went along and did my best." He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. The worst part was that he also still felt ashamed for not succeeding. It was wretched. He whispered, "None of us deserves to get away with this."

"Ah." No wonder he expected to be killed, indeed. "Look at it like this: When you are allowed to leave here, you will have to tell the same to your clueless family, help them to get through this..."

"If they don't tell me to leave and never come back," Brice breathed without thinking.

"Just so." He let that sink in for a moment. "You owe them a warning and an explanation. A swift death might seem easier right now, but this isn't about you."

Garren's words left his mind feeling strangely empty. At least it felt better than panic. Eventually Brice answered, "I need some time to set my head straight. You really think they're letting me go?"

"Yes." Garren got up.

Brice frowned up at him. "Anything else you wanted to know?"

"No, we're finished."

In the meantime, Riya had been glaring at Sebastian long enough to annoy him to say: "Look, I need your help at the neighbour's, and if you're unhappy with that, you can leave as long as you keep it to yourself."

"Really, that's a bit disingenious," Riya muttered, glaring toward the fireplace. She was still angry about all those days she'd spent scrubbing mud and dirt off the floors. And, judging by how she glared at Sylvie, affronted about her silence concerning the real issues and identity of this so-called pilgrim.

"Oh, but it'll be fun. This might sound manipulative, but the Jackites might actually pay for information with either gratitude or currency. I know I will, but you'd probably take--"

"Neither," Riya snapped quietly, careful not to make Brice even more twitchy. "Only reason I'm doing this is because of father."

Auker snickered. "Yeah, sure, kid," she said, measuring a stiff amount of something translucent into a tea cup. "Look, the thing is, we don't know where we're --"

"Stow it," Sebastian snorted. "I know full well Brice got into trouble he didn't want to get into. And so did your brother, Riya, who made his choice."

"It's not the same!"

The half-elf smiled and steepled his fingers. Trap sprung. "No, it's not. Your brother chose to run off and apparently because he wanted to. Brice had to do it for family loyalty, and weren't you considering leaving your family to follow your dream, too?" he said softly, tilting his head.

Riya glared for a moment, nostrils flaring. "...yeah, pretty much," she had to admit.

Sylvie frowned - considering that Fren probably wasn't involved in causing a failed harvest anywhere, the matters seemed quite different to her - but opted for distraction instead. "What do you need help with?" Distraction was important; without it she might start thinking about her family.

Riya copied Sebastian's eyebrow trick fairly well, that much he was willing to concede. "What she said."

Sebastian scratched his stubble. "Well, basically, I get the feeling you know one or more people from the gambling hall. I need you to get someone to come over here so we can explain what's been going on." He paused. "You might need a while."

For a moment the Old Ivy's only daughter considered this, staring at the empty cup. "Fine. Why won't you, though?"

"I get the feeling they're terrified of me," he said, helpfully.

"Robare looked about ready to faint when you let him know who you are," Sylvie confirmed.

Garren took a seat at the table again.

"And I didn't even tell him directly," Sebastian added, causing Riya to look at them both with a deep frown. "Plus, they've seen Sylvie with me."

"So... you want me to just waltz over there and tell them... what?" Riya asked.

"That there's cash to be made. It always works. Especially if there's mention of Tin and Gold."

Somehow, this didn't seem to convince Riya immediately. In the end, she looked at her father.

Auker, at this point downing her next cup of something, said: "I'll go with. They don't dare toss me out, and it'll be educational for you, darling," she said to Riya -- who took this as a hint that she was going to be Auker's babysitter.

Garren looked from Riya to Auker and back. "Take care."

That obviously wasn't what Riya was expecting by a long shot. She began to say something, then swallowed the words and tried her best not to look as though she was enjoying the permission. She didn't have to try hard: Auker grabbed her by the sleeve. "Come on. It's early, but they're boozing anyway before they go to bed," Auker began, dragging Riya toward the door and explaining how they made most of their profit during the night and thus slept most of the day over at the gambling hall. That, naturally meant that drinks all around for the staff during the mornings.

Sebastian kept his eyebrows raised until the door closed. Then he looked at Brice and Garren expectantly.

"We're finished, as far as I'm concerned," Garren said.

Brice lagged behind, but slowly approached the table. He still kept his eyes mostly closed and wasn't completely steady on his feet, but visibly more relaxed. Still a little wary he aasked, "You're really letting me go?"