Spirits of the Earth

In spite of his Dukely duties, Audric still liked to visit the town.  Actually, it was pretty much because of his duties that he liked to visit.  Now that he was a Public Figure, it was harder to sneak around and chat with his contacts throughout the city.  In fact, at first, he thought it may not matter; he hardly stood out in the townsquare to make proclamations!

Unfortunately, there were plenty of other opportunities for the townsfolk to catch a glimpse of him...and it wasn't long before someone, somewhere informed everybody of who he was.

Still, the castle was stifling at best, and if Audric didn't get out to go for a walk like a regular person, he was going to stab his pillow.  Not wanting to lose a very comfortable pillow, he had instead managed to fall in with the servants as they left the palace.

The cloak he wore to conceal his identity was wrapped tightly around him now, not looking so conspicuous with the chilly wind coming down from the north.  His fine clothes had been replaced with something a little less fine, and he had his sword at his side.

And a good thing too -- because he was going to need it.

A scream shattered the silence of the darkened streets, drawing Audric's attention immediately.  He bolted in that direction, coming upon what had the makings of a grisly scene: a well-dressed girl was in an alley and surrounded by some rather dirty, crass thugs.  It didn't take a scholar to know what it was they wanted from the pretty young thing...

Audric would be sorely outnumbered -- but he wasn't about to let a silly little thing like that stop him.  He drew his sword and stepped into the alleyway.

Every night for countless months it had happened; he'd be up all night, brooding away as he crawled beneath his skin, waiting to get out. And much like Audric, Leif Arrant needed to get out to breath, lest his political duties suffocate him. And it was as it had been for countless nights before- that he'd slip away, dawn his mask, and drape himself in clothing and a cloak as dark as the shadows.

The leather armor was form fitting, and allowed easy range of movement as he crept through the quiet night streets. Though the murmur of night life reached his ears, he found, much to his dismay as he reclined upon a roof top, gazing at the stars, that there was relative peace here in the city.

That was, until a woman screamed.

He sat up suddenly, green eyes cutting through the roof tops and trying to decypher where the sound was coming when he saw the shadows creeping up in the alley way just a block away. With a grunt, he was off, sliding down the side of the building as quiet as the shadows. The men were laughing, the  woman was not- and it looked as if things were about to get fiery as one of the men, an obvious mage, was 'playfully' trying to get the woman to 'Shut up' as he took the hem of her shirt and burned it with flames that lapped off his finger tips.

It was mages like him who got the whole lot in trouble.
It was time to put his fire out. He only had to walk a few feet when the fire mage would notice his powers suddenly going 'poof' as all flames died away instantly.

"Hey- what the hell-..."

"You don't suppose we've got noticed by any mordecai, do ya?"

"Damn grand duke's dogs.." the other growled.

"The only mordecai you've awaken is me," came a voice down the way and the men all halted to peer over int he direction of a man, who steppedoutinto the shadows just as the moon light revealed him to be...

"Shit. It's the masked mordecai."

The other man laughed and slipped out a gun, while the first took a knife tot he girl's throat.

"Don't come any closer dog, or we'll cut the woman's throat."

"Yeah," the one with a gun snickered. "Or I'll blow that mask clean off your face and reveal to the whole world just who and what you fucking are."

Audric had been a soldier too long not to take advantage of the sudden appearance of an ally...even one in as questionable garb as this man wore.  He had heard of the Masked Mordecai -- you would have to be truly blind and deaf to not have heard of the man.

From his position on the other side of the alley, he couldn't see the entire exchange -- but he saw enough to know the mordecai had evened the odds a bit.  And now it was time to even the odds a bit more.

Audric stalked forward, as quiet as a cat hunting a mouse.  He had his pick of men to choose from...  The man holding the girl hostage was, naturally, the primary one; Audric was, after all, a sucker for a damsel in distress.

Fortunately, the idiotic was so focused on the masked man that he wasn't watching his own back -- and neither were his buddies.  He had moved towards the back, either intending to flee or, perhaps, assuming his friends would protect him.  It didn't really matter; he would make an easy target.

With the mask covering the man's face, Audric couldn't read his expression -- but he hoped the man would act on his attack...

Audric moved forward suddenly.  He hooked the knife-wielder's arm in his and pulled.  At the same time, he positioned his leg to trip the man backwards and away from his hostage.  In less than a second, the man's face had been crushed against the building hard enough to knock him unconscious, and Audric was holding his knife and standing protectively in front of the poor woman.

To any soldier, it would be clear that she was his priority.

The guy who had been standing nearest the knife-wielder half-turned with a look of surprise.  Audric moved quickly with a deadly precision, his blade finding the man's throat.

The other man seemed to come out of no where, no doubt some civilian who had heard the woman scream; but as it seemed the tables might have turned, the group of men went into a panic when Audric showed up, and the masked figure swore between his teeth as the gun man averted his eyes for one moment before looking back to him and pulling the trigger.
It would be harder to hit a moving target, except for the fact Leif was aiming to run the man through-

Though with a bullet now to his shoulder, it only amplified the ferocity within; and in seconds, his blade was out and the gunman cut down, leaving another bloodied corpse int he ally- and just as the three that remained decided it was a good turn to turn tail and run, Leif whirled around on his heel and growled in Audric's face.

"Stay with the girl to see she doesn't get hurt," he growled, obviously displeased with his helper before he tore off down the darkened alley after the three remaining men.

Audric couldn't help but roll his eyes slightly at the order.  It had been a long time since anyone had given him orders, period, except for Calent...and those didn't really count for obvious reasons.  Apparently, it made him a bit snarky!  Was he really going to chase all three of those men down?

Maybe he was getting lazy, but that seemed like a lot of work.

Flipping the knife in his hand, Audric drew his arm back...and the knife sailed end over end before burying itself in one of the men's backs.  The man stumbled forward before collapsing in a heap.

"Oh, I think she's pretty safe with me."  Already, the pair of men were reaching the end of the alley...

The girl behind him let out a cry, suddenly, as if her reactions were on delay.  Audric whirled, putting as much energy -- and grace -- into catching the swooning girl as he had in taking out her attackers.

Hadn't he told the other man to keep back? Oh wait, maybe he should have specified to stay with the girl meant 'don't throw knives at other men's back', for it had his own back itching over the reality this other man could easily do the same thing to him.

Pissed, he took on the other two men with ease, bones cracking beneath heavy kicks and blows untilt hey were both pathetic, bleeding heaps upon the ground. Then, turning back towards the man, he noticed the woman in his arm as he growled, wiping the blood away from his own lips.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he growled, stalking back Audric's way.

"She fainted.  You don't expect me to lay her in the gutter, do you?" Audric asked skeptically, unable to look serious, even now.  He shot the guy a grin then lifted the girl up into his arms easily and gestured to the Masked Mordecai's shoulder with his chin.  "Sorry about your shoulder.  What were you thinking, charging a guy with a gun anyway?"

Obviously, dropping into the midst of a hostage situation was much smarter...

"Oh, pick that gun up, will you?  Common brigands shouldn't have such a weapon."  It was formed as a question, but the tone made it sound as though he expected to be obeyed...as if the thought of such commoners having a lofty weapon like a gun offended him!

At his tone, Leif growled. But the man was right, like an obedient dog, he scooped the weapon up, holding it naturally in his hand as he followed after.
"And just where do you think you'll be going with her? She'll need to see a doctor..."
And from the way things were looking.. he just hoped this man hadn't saved this woman merely to sweep her up to rape her himself.

"Guard station," Audric answered immediately, then glanced at the man over his shoulder, wearing another grin.  "Unless you have a reason for me not to?"

He was baiting the man a bit, he had to admit, but there were some rather troubling stories regarding the man, after all.

But, then, if she were a mage of that sort, chances are she wouldn't have been caught alone in an alley...

Leif narrowed his gaze.
"And get the city guard involved? They'll know a mage has touched her and probably lob her head off. No, it's best you give her to me so I can get her to a doctor."

Audric's eyebrows rose slowly.  "That seems unlikely."  First, why the hell would they do that?  Second, they wouldn't.  Third, he would make sure it didn't.

Cheerfully, Audric wondered, "You don't really expect me to give the care of a traumatized maiden over to a wanted brigand and mage-sympathizer.  Do you?"

That seemed sort of silly!

Leif's gaze hardened upon the man.
"And you don't expect me to simply trust a careless stranger? You're trying to feed her to the mouth of a hungry lion. Are you blind? Do you not understand the formalities of war? The current Grand Duke has done enough to parade around his ideals. So now those who so much as stare at a mage unknowingly are beheaded, in one form or another." Leif wrinkled his nose. "Who are you anyways? You could have killed me but a moment ago with your throwing knife, unless.." he said, hardening his jaw. "You're not as ignorant as the rest of them." Since if the guards HAD shown up, they would have tried to frame him for this mess, one way or another.

"I think that's a bit extreme..."  It was true that a fervor had taken hold of the people, but as long as Audric as (begrudgingly) Duke, a murder was still a murder.  Calent, he was sure, would agree.  Good men and women didn't deserve to be killed, after all!

Rather than answer with his identity, though, Audric shrugged slightly.  "Why on earth would I attack the man trying to rescue the same girl I am?  You were obviously on the side of Right, and I've witnessed you commit no crimes."

"Also, I only had one knife."

Leif's eyes hardened, but he said nothing for a moment.
"Either way, I'll help you escort her.. to a doctor. When she comes around, she can decide for herself to whom she reports her eye witness account to." He said, eying up Audric with suspicion. "Unless you plan to baby sit her during her time of recovery-"

But it seemed they might not have to as the woman murmured and began to come around.
"Huh?" She stared upat Audric with half lids. She was a pretty little thing, with ruby red lips, hair and cheeks and the moment she spotted the handsome man who was holding her, she gasped.
"Goodness,w hat happened?"
But then as she turned and spotted the man int he mask, her eyes went as big as mill wheels.
"Oh my God! The masked Mordecai!"

Could she say it any louder? The words echoed throughout the alley- and ironically, where the woman's screams failed to draw the attention fo the guards, somehow they had managed to hear that. Seeing their shadows at they approached, Leif growled beneath his breath before casting a glare over towards Audric.
"See that's she's tended to." He said,a nd dashed off downt he alley. "And see no harm comes to her! Not even the guards can be trusted!" he called back.


The woman could not believe this!
"I can't believe this! Was that really him!?"
Then at the sights and sounds of the guards who came charging in with swords drawn, her eyes went twice as large as a mill wheel and she fainted..
again.

Audric would have face-palmed if his arms had been free...  As it was, there was a pretty little girl situated there that would have suffered for it, if he had.

The guards worried Audric very little.  He had reasons, of course, for that, but he also didn't want to be caught out and about.  Well, damn.

Then again, perhaps he should be worried; there were swords pointed at him in a very unfriendly manner!

"You there!  Put the girl down!"

It made Audric sigh!  "Do I look like the Masked Mordecai?"  He wasn't even wearing a mask!  "A mage and his friends attacked her in the alley."

"If it was a mage, how did you overcome them if you aren't the Masked Mordecai?"

This guy was obviously very stuck on his point.  "I stabbed them.  That works, you know."

"Ah-hah!" the leader acclaimed stoutly.  "So you killed the mage, and this girl saw you!  Who else could you be?"

Audric's gaze was flat and unamused.  This man was an idiot.

"Now, put the girl down and come with us quietly.  Or else!"

Leif hadn't made it that far when he caught wind of what was going on. Cursing beneath his breath, he snuck back over towards where the man and woman had been. He was hesitant to even show his face, but the fact the guards were claiming the unmasked man was the masked man, was down right irritating, and also offensive. He didn't even have a mask on! Then again, how ironic was it that another noble in disguise be assumed as the OTHER noble in disguise?
Holding his breath, he waited to see what Audric might do, his eyes focused on the moving shadows, and the words of the guards. He counted at least three of them- maybe more? It was hard to tell from where he was hidden.

Audric had options here.  He could just tell them who he was (whether they'd believe him or not), but, with the brilliant genius of the guards, that would no doubt only lead them to assume that Audric was the Masked Mordecai.

Yes, they were just that dumb.

"She'll tell you once she wakes up that I'm not," he answered with a slight frown.

"We'll see about that," the man replied snootily.  "Aiden."

One of the men moved forward cautiously to take the girl from Audric.  He was, at least, gentle with her; if he had thrown her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, Audric would have snapped!

Audric felt a sword at his back, then, and a soldier yanked his sword from its scabbard.  He had to bite his tongue to keep from snatching it back; he'd grown rather attached to that thing over the years.

"The crest of the new Duke..."  The guard lifted his eyes from the sword to Audric.  "Steal this, did you?"

Audric groaned out loud.  Idiot!

Leif  contemplating intervening, but once it was revealed the man had a sword on him and was in association with the Grand Duke; all plans for any sort of rescue were halted. Who was this strange man cloaked in mystery that helped him save the girl? And a man who, if associated truly with the Grand Duke, should want him dead... yet this evening, he not only helped him, he did so without so much as a flinch...

True guards, or those categorized as Duke supporters would have ignored the girl to slit his throat....


Peering around the corner, he watched through a cringe as the men began to usher Audric away- probably to a holding cell for questioning.
Keeping to the shadows, Leif followed after. It was a quiet night anyways... other nightly rendez-vous rescues could come later.

Idiots.  He was going to have a word with the...somebody!...about this lot...

While that would, simultaneously, ever spoil any chance he had of getting away with this, he couldn't let idiots like this go around arresting innocent people for possibly being the Masked Mordecai...

"I didn't steal it," he answered pointedly, beginning to grow steadily more and more irritated.  "It's mine, and I can account for every knick on the blade.  I know it better than any other weapon in Allar."

"Oh, really?" the sergeant answered, amused.  "This should be entertaining!"

Really?  Audric sighed.  "The biggest knick about three inches from the top.  And a dent on the flat just beneath the guard.  The guard itself is uneven, but it's still perfectly balanced, and if you look close, you'll see the Allarrick shield has been replaced.  The idiot blacksmith didn't set it perfectly."

The sergeant guffawed, until the man holding the sword nudged him.  "Actually, he's right, sir.  Look."

He stared at it, then turned his pudgy little nose up in the air.  "Even if that is his sword, he's still the Masked Mordecai!"

Like a dog with a bone...

"The Masked Mordecai has never been seen in Allar!"  Audric snapped, impatience growing.

"Ah, but we don't know he isn't from there, do we?  He must have followed the Grand Duke to cause trouble for him!"

...What?

OOC: These guards are great XD

-------

Audric wasn't the only one growing impatient with the guards. Then again, Audric rarely would have had to deal with these idiots..
the 'Masked Mordeca'; did.

Leif also had little patience for such things. Having grown up in such a family, and one of blood, wore at him and made him feel a hundred years older, and more irritable, than he ought to be. So without further hesitation, he figured he'd better act now rather than later...

Yet when he stepped out from the shadows, the woman was coming around again,a nd catching sight of the leather and mask, she gasped; and all eyes went his way.
Shit.

"Hey, look!"

On eof the guards nudged the other.

"It's the masked mordecai."

"Yes, and you're about to eat shit."
And before they realized what was going on, a whip was snapped out into the darkness. The guards sword was then yanked from his hand as Leif cracked the whip back his way, the metal sword of the guard now in his hand before he returned it to it's proper owner.

The guards all stood, slack jawed before realizing..
"Get him!"

Sighing, Leif simply snapped his whip toward the men, causing them to all cower back before he snapped it up towards a building nad had it latch onto a metal scaffolding from the roof top, and soon the dark figure was air borne.

"He's getting away!"

No shit he was getting away, and the woman fainted for the third time that evening.

"...See?"  Audric asked, even though, clearly, they did see.  His exasperation changed to delight, however, as he once again held his sword in his hand.  He had missed its weight on his belt, even in the short time he had gone without.  It just hadn't felt right!

And now here he was again armed and, momentarily, out of the clutches of the guards.  He grinned broadly and mock-saluted the masked man...and then, subtly, he took a step back as the guards shouted after the Mordecai.

Then another.

And another.

And then he broke into a run.

"Hey!  The other guy's gone now too!" one of the guards exclaimed.

"There he is!  Go after him!  You two, go after that one!  There must be two Masked Mordecai!"

...Yeah, these guys really were stupid, weren't they?  Audric turned into an alley, then barged in through the backdoor of a restaurant.  He wasn't going to kill anybody, but, somehow, he didn't think these men felt the same way about him!

"What?" Leif was just as confused by the guards 'dumb-assery' as Audric was. Growling, he was vaulting himself from roof top to rooftop until he lost the guards trail that were after him and had them going in circles. He doubled back, curiously checking in to see what 'the other' masked mordecai was up to as he slipped into an upper window of the restaurant, knowing full well the man was still inside as there were shrieks and screams down below.

Audric excused himself and apologized profusely to the kitchen staff as he ducked through the kitchen and out into the main dining hall.  A glance around gave him a good idea to buy himself some time, and he wedged a dessert cart up against the kitchen door.  No sooner had he finished than he heard a bang as a guard attempted to throw open the door in his wake, only to be rebuffed, unexpectedly, by the table.

Even though Audric had always been on the side of the law, it made him laugh out loud -- but he wasn't stupid enough to stay.  He hurried out the front door and did, precisely, what the guards would least expect; he rounded the corner, scurried up the fire escape, and very soon, stepped into the upper room of the restaurant.

And it was already occupied...

His hand fell to his sword a moment -- but, then, realizing who it was, he released it with a grin.  "Masked Mordecai.  I owe you a thanks for returning my sword."

Leif had a blade ready, but then lowered it upon hearing Audric's voice.
"Consider it a welcome so long as you don't aim to point it at me."
Then with a nod, he looked down at the floor boards, the beating of the kitchen door evident.
"So they think you're still in the kitchen?" he said, raising his green eyes up to his. Then after a moment he considered... "How are you at jumping on roof tops?"

Audric grinned cheekily.  "I generally don't threaten my friends."  Audric made friends easily!  Especially if it was someone so clearly on his side and willing to risk the wrath of the guards...even if it was something he did on a fairly regular basis.

He glanced down at the floorboards as well, considering a moment before looking back up to the Masked Mordecai.  "Actually, I locked them in the kitchen.  By the time they--"  There was a crash from downstairs, and then some swearing as the dessert cart finally gave!  "Ah, that is, they'll notice I"m not in the restaurant.  I assume they'll be directed to the front door, where the guards will find an empty street.  It seems doubtful they're going to look for us up here, don't you think?"

They were idiots, after all!

His eyebrows rose slightly, then, and he added, in response to the query, "I can't say I've much practice."

Leif hesitated as he stared over at Audric. Friends? Hardly, and he snorted at the word. But at his mention of the guards not finding them here...
The foot steps confirmed that as, a moment later, they were racing down teh street. Peering out from the window, Leif smirked.

"The guards here are quite charming."

"I was going to use a more unkind phrase than that," Audric answered cheerfully.  He settled back against the wall to watch the masked man with his arms crossed and an expression of amusement.

"I can't say I've ever had to run from the guards before."  No, he was usually the one doing the chasing!  "And even if you may have been a bit right, I'm not going to admit it, so you may as well save your 'I told you so' speech."

He thought it over a moment, then he straightened slightly with a curious expression.  "Do you actually enjoy running from the guards like this?"

Leif looked Audric over in  silence. Though Audric's identity was still unknown, he supposed it was for the best. He doubted he knew this man anyways. Though his mannerisms..
They were a lot more.. refined than most he ran into. Though not entirely so. Perhaps he was looking into it too much?

Glancing away, he peered down at the now empty streets.

"It would be easier if we were all on the same page, but it seems the laws write themselves now. Guilty is up to the interpretation of the men carrying blades; and those who employ them are doing a shitty job. Too many innocents are being lumped in with the guilty, and we have the new Grand Dule and his chaotic new laws to thank for that."

Really, the way he wrote them.. it was as if he intended for loop holes that directly affected the welfare of mages, and any of those associated. Not to mention the increase in taxes and the half-assed training for these so called 'guards'.

Audric's temper momentarily flared, but he regained control of his tongue before he could give himself away.  More mildly than he felt like speaking, he answered, "The Grand Duke cannot be held accountable for every man in Connlaoth.  He is trying to protect the people."

Curiously, he asked, "What would you have him do, if you could advise him?  You are clearly closer to the people than he is, or his Court."

Leif shot Audric a sharp stare.
"Stop suffocating the people." And he moved to open the window before slipping out.

Audric frowned thoughtfully at that, stepping over to the window and leaning out as the Masked Mordecai left.

"That's hardly constructive criticism..."

They weren't suffocating anybody!  Well, except, maybe, the mages, a little bit, but...

"What is it, exactly, you think you're going to accomplish by wearing a mask and rescuing the odd maiden, anyway?"  It hardly seemed like a reliable platform for change...

"I doubt I'll accomplish anything," he told the man cynically from where he was now perched upon the roof. "But it's better than doing nothing. Though I suppose I could try to put my thumb up the Grand Duke's ass like all of the other nobleman. Though I'm not fond of the smell of shit."

"Nor am I," Audric agreed wryly.  He knew exactly what the Masked Mordecai meant...  He had never cared much for many of the nobles that now preened over Calent, hoping for a bit of recognition.

He paused then, a look of curious triumph crossing his face.  "...Did you just say other noblemen?"

The air was quiet for a while, before the sounds of boots marked the disappearance of the man in the mask- and now the only sounds that came were the crickets chirping inthenight, and the rowdy crowds eventually heard in haunting echoes from the whore houses or taverns on the seedier side of town. Though the guards were still prowling, for that moment, it seemed as if Reajh lay in peace.

(OOC: A bit mature!)

It was some months later on the eve of the Grand Duke's wedding.

The night air was surprisingly cool and welcoming after the heat of the banquet hall.  Audric breathed in deeply, relishing the way it made his head spin a bit after the wine he had imbibed.  It wasn't enough to make him dizzy or unsteady -- but it was enough to make him a little more independent than a man in his position should otherwise be.

"We'll have your carriage here shortly, my Lord," a servant said with a bow, then scurried away.

Audric looked after him a moment, then around himself.  There were servants and nobles milling everywhere, preparing to depart for their night lodgings...  A smart man would have waited for his servant to return; Audric had had just enough wine to make him the opposite.

Pulling a random cloak from the arms of a servant, who assumed it must belong to him (because, really, why else would Audric have taken it?), he walked towards the gates himself...and stepped out into the city.

His path was, at first, fairly aimless.  He was unfamiliar with this city and had only wanted to go for a walk by himself...until, that is, he overheard something rather alarming.

A voice, gruff and hard, was speaking, and it was answered by a quieter, more timid voice of a woman.  Peering into the open archway that led into a private garden, he frowned at the trio gathered there...and the body at their feet.

"I didn't know you were such the accomplished assassin," the man was saying to the woman.  He said something more, but the words were lost as he pressed his lips against the woman's throat.

The woman laughed quietly, as though she enjoyed his attentions.  "I thought we knew each other better than that."  From his position, Audric could clearly see her hand go between the man's legs.  He released a low, eager moan that changed pitch, suddenly, sounding more strangled.  "Now, back off, or I'll make sure you join them."

The man raised both hands and took a step back, making her grin look more catlike.  She nudged the body with her toe.  "Put on his uniform.  You'll look like any other guard in the Grand Duke's service."

"What about you?"

"I'll be stealing her clothes."  She gestured to the woman sitting on the other side of the couple, away from the body.  Looking more closely, Audric could see the woman was hog-tied.  "I'll be in the kitchens.  With this."  She produced a vial from her sleeve.  "If the poison fails, we'll kill the Grand Duke and that pretty little wife of his with our bare hands."

The pair chuckled, and then he gestured to the girl.  "And why has she lived long enough to hear our plan?"

"I thought we'd have a little fun with her.  Wouldn't want blood on her clothes, would we?  Just be sure to be careful removing them."

The man's grin widened to match the woman's, and the pair advanced on the woman as one.

Well, Audric thought, there were so many reasons to get involved here...if only he had a weapon.  The best he could do was a fallen branch...

The woman was ungagged and unbound, but she had little chance to fight the pair.  To her credit, however, she was struggling and screaming loud enough to wake the dead...and that gave Audric the chance to get close enough to swing the stick down over the man's back.

The stick snapped in half...and the man turned with a blink, as though Audric had flung a flower at him instead.  "Now, what's this?  A hero?"

"Oh," the woman purred as she straightened.  She made a gesture with her hand, and suddenly Audric found himself flung backwards and pinned against a wall by an invisible force!  The next thing he felt was a blade pressed to his family jewels in a light caress that was terrifying.  "It looks like I'll have a little fun too..."

The girl screamed even louder, now, while the man began to slide the dress from her shoulders.  "I'll give you a better use for that mouth in a minute, girl..."

The Grand Duke's Wedding, an overly posh occasion that only fueled Leif's distaste for his own kind. And as usual, he made himself sparse at night, so when the party was well over, he slipped away and dawned on his more shadowed persona.

Now fitted in his tight fitting, leather armor and mask, he was slicking back his hair in oils when something caught his ear. He hadn't thought many would stick around this location for long much after the events, but keeping to the shadows; Leif Arrant had heard enough to know he ought to intervene; though the first thing the 'mage' might notice is his powers suddenly... ceasing; and in the shadows, Leif's dark green eyes pierced out like a wild animals as the man was cursing upa storm.

"Is there a mordecai nearby?"

"Shit, the guards- do you think they-"
That's when a fist met to the woman's face. Propriety or not, Leif could not classify that whore as a woman, so when his fist met to her face, it felt pretty satisfying. Then his gaze met to the man who had tried to use his magic to 'deter' the other hero- a man who Leif paid no mind to, as his green eyes remained locked upon the villians as he reached for his blade at his side.

"Shit, it's the Masked Mordecai!" And he turned tail to run.

Propriety or not, it was damned satisfying to see the Masked Mordecai punch the woman.  For a moment, Audric weighed whether he should be ashamed of himself or not...but his thoughts were interrupted by the fleet-footed masked man finishing off the mage.

It was no less a disappointing performance than Audric had witnessed before.

When he was quite through with the man, and only then, did Audric step away from the wall.

"It seems my debt to you is mounting.  Pretty soon, I'll owe you the whole of Connlaoth, my friend."  Audric was joking...mostly.  "For my sake, we have to stop meeting like this.  I'm afraid you'll find me with a knife in my back next time."

At the familiarity of the voice, Lief's head jerked up; and to see a man in another cloak (albeit,a  lot fancier); his eyes widened a moment in obvious recollection before his gaze narrowed as he snorted and smirked.

"Perhaps." Though he righted his shoulders and squared off his jaw, looking the man over. "I don't suppose you know if these two were conspiring with others?"

"I thought that may have been the reason you kept the girl alive," Audric mentioned, reaching up to rub his chin beneath the shadow provided by the cloak.  He had mixed feelings about interrogating a woman, even one such as this...

Realizing, then, that the other girl had stopped screaming, Audric turned with his mouth already half-open -- only to find himself face-to-face with another corpse with an arrow in its neck.

"I'm thinking probably."

Another arrow landed less than two feet away, this time landing in the assassin's chest.

"Definitely."

Audric lifted his eyes to meet those of the masked man.  In spite of the obvious danger, he seemed almost...relaxed.  "We should go."

The girl, Leif punched hard enough to render her unconscious, but before he could reply- both the girl and well, the other one, were most assuredly dead. His eyes then went to Audric who only casually suggested they leave and couldn't help but smirk.

"And here I thought you enjoyed these types of scenarios," he said, wrinkling his nos as his eyes flickered around. Where had the arrows come from? He wasn't about to go home until he sniffed out the hidden dog.
"Perhaps you ought to make that get away now. My night has only just begun.."

"My pride has been stung," the former soldier admitted with what might have been a pout.  "With you here to even the odds, I think I'd prefer to settle the score and learn the extent of their plans."

In short, mages couldn't kick his ass if there was a Mordecai present!

He folded his arms, just as an arrow caught the fabric of his hood.  The expensive, but thin material split as the arrow burrowed into a tree.  Audric reached up to feel the tear with a frown.  Better his hood than his face.

"Did I mention I think we should go?"

Leif snorted, but nodded his head- though he had thought he asked the other man to leave, it seemed Audric was hardly willing to part. Casting a menial glare his way, he sighed and took off through the gardens, crossing the distance quickly from where he believed the arrows were coming from-

and then he spotted the figure in the window above. Growling, he dashed tot he side of the building and noted an open window- and without a second thought, he crossed the distance beside it, took to the air- before leaping inside. The man was the next level above them- so he had to be quick if he wanted to catch up with him- but by the sounds of the sudden commotion upstairs..

The assassins trail would not be hard to follow-
That was until he rounded the bend and nearly ran into a pair of Calent's 'high-end' mordecai dogs.
Shit.

And without further adieu, Leif took off running- back the way he came.

"After him! It's The Masked Mordecai!"

And Leif was beginning to wonder if he even liked his little heroric nick name...

Audric had followed Leif up to the door -- but had decided, rather than spring up into the air like a crazy person (because, you know, this wasn't crazy at all), he decided to go for the other side of the building to cut off his escape route.  He, after all, knew how deadly the Masked Mordecai was...and, if the assassin were smart, he (or she) would flee.

Instead of finding the Masked Mordecai (dubbed Cai in his head now, because the whole title was just too damned long!) or their attacker, Audric instead found something infinitely worse: a pair of horses bearing the insignia of Calent's personal Mordecai.

"What the hell are they doing here?" he wondered to no one in particular.  One of the horses snorted in irritation and stamped.  It momentarily made Audric grin...that is, until there was a ruckus behind him.

The door to the house burst open to reveal Cai coming towards him at a dead sprint.  Audric had reached for his sword (that, of course, he didn't have) and had only enough time to relax before the shapes of the Mordecai loomed in the doorway behind Cai.

Audric, naturally, did the only thing he could think of; he untied the horses and swung up into the saddle of one, signalling Cai to come over with a shrill whistle.  His horse pranced under him, annoyed by the sound, but he held the beast -- and the other beside it -- under control as he waited for Cai to join him.

"Look!" he added cheerfully.  "I found us some horses!"

Exploding outside of the door, finding 'the other man' with a pair of horses, on the saddle nad ready to go, was hardly what he expected to find in this moment. So he stared back at the man, breathing heavily and looking at him in wide surprise before he gave a laugh and leaped into the saddle.

"Aiming to get into the nightly hero business are you?" he said, giving the reins a snap and the two were racing down the road. "The only problem with this optin is we'll hav eto double back tot he other side of the palace.. If the assassin remains inside, the Grand Duke's life is in danger-"
Then he paused to consider, before sighing,"And as much as I'd like a new man on the thrown, there are worse men who could rule. And if I were to simply allow these men to kill the Grand Duke willingly... I'd feel no better than he. Besides.." he gave a scoff. "The whole world would just blame mages again."
Even if it might be true....

The guards were left behind them, calling out and demanding they stop as they shook their weapons uselessly.  Audric couldn't help but laugh, even if he had been on the other side of things a time or two.

"Right now, I think I'm more horse thief than hero."  For some reason, he didn't sound too upset about that!  "I think we have some time to find him.  They weren't planning to make their move against the Grand Duke until morning.  Our discovery will move up their timetable, probably, but they don't expect a pair of outlaws to be much threat.  After all, no one is going to listen to us, are they?"

Well, not as they were, perhaps...

Audric looked sideways at the man again, grinning mischievously.  "You're a noble, aren't you?  Can't you talk to them?"

As their horses tore down the path, his dark cape snapped in the winds, and at Audric's last statement, his eyes snapped coldly at the man.
"We part here," he said, and gave a heavy kick to the beasts side, and it neighed but pounded it's hooves before turning harshly down another path as Leif called out, "Just keep the mordecai and guards distracted! I'll deal with the assassin!" he said, shouting back to Audric as he tore off down the back narrow path.

For all his blustering and posing, his skill, and his attitude, Audric just didn't find the man as scary as the man thought he was!  Instead, his reaction drew a short laugh from the former soldier, as if this were all a game.

And, in some ways, it was.

It was hard to sit back and let someone else be the one to rescue Calent -- particularly a man Audric didn't even know -- but he seemed genuinely interested in saving Calent's life...and, well, Audric wasn't a man who was comfortable breaking into palaces and running around rooftops.

"Don't worry about me!" he called after the masked man.  "They're only the most elite guards in Connlaoth.  I'll be fine!"

The question remained: how best to distract the guards without doing more harm than good?

Tossing the black cloak into the street in his wake, Audric turned his horse back towards the palace.  He would have to avoid the Mordecai, who might ask some uncomfortable questions about how he had obtained it, but there was one thing he could think of that might do the trick.  It was the one thing that universally dulled guards' senses while increasing the number of patrols...  Elite or no, the Mordecai were soldiers, after all...

...And it seemed it was time to do some drills.

The trick was getting inside and sniffing out the rat. Though the assassin was at an advantage, Leif knew well enough the grounds to find a swifter way to pursue, or so he thought, so as he slipped through the palace like a shadow, he must have miscalculated the room he was in as he rounded a bend and halted suddenly.
There were women everywhere... And as Leif began to mentally recall his steps, he cursed inwardly as the women shouted.
"It's the masked mordecai! Protect the duchess and alert the guards!"
Figures he'd run into the Grand Duchess's preparation room on her wedding night....
But as luck would have it, that's where the assassin suddenly popped up, and the sea of women all gasped when the masked man drew a.dagger, and it landed right in the assassins chest as he fell over, dead at Kathryns feet.
While the women remained stunned, Leif rushed out the door.

Now came the hard part.... Getting out.

The Grand Duchess, though new to her position and marriage, was certainly no shrinking violet.  She half-rose at his entrance, eyes smoldering with indignation at his appearance -- until, that is, the assassin appeared.  She glanced down at the body as it fell, and then her voice rose, easily heard above that of her shrieking and panicked maids.

"Molly, go to the Grand Duke's quarters and inform him immediately."  Her toe nudged the would-be assassin, and she stared down at him contemptuously before adding, "I want that man alive!"

----------

It was not difficult to convince a guard on duty that someone wanted to see drills being run, and he wanted them now.  The guards had behaved in the usual way of scurrying about looking busy while muttering to each other how much they hated drills.

The Mordecai, however, were in admittedly better condition.  That was no matter -- there were fewer of them, and they were much more focused on protecting the Duke and Duchess anyway.

An alarm was raised, then.  He had no sooner heard the cry then there was a flickering black shape along the wall in front of him.

Aw, hell.  And he didn't even have his sword with him!  It seemed, though, that the Masked Mordecai was headed in his direction, regardless of whether he was armed or not.

OOC: I was hoping Leif's run in with Kathryn would be ok, but since you posted... <3
and now for a short, half-awake attempt at a post!
<3
-----------

His legs couldn't have carried him faster, and in a panic, he had almost forgotten where he was. The damn Grand Duke's Palace was massive- and for now, he was focused on simply trying to keep it from becoming his grave..
or worse, from him getting caught on the Grand Duke's property, running around in a mask.. and well, ever becoming demasked; so when he suddenly stumbled to a halt in the same block of road as Audric, he swore beneath his breath and looked around, groping for ideas on a way out.

(OOC: If this isn't OK, you just let me know!  I'm taking some liberties here!)

Before Audric could quite make up his mind what to do -- or, apparently, for Leif to even notice him -- the pair were joined by a third.

Audric saw the figure before Leif did, and he could scarcely believe his eyes.  The Grand Duchess herself, still in her wedding gown though now with her hair unwoven and curling about her shoulders, had arrived.  She moved almost silently, looking ghost-like in the white, poofy dress.  If that wasn't surprising on its own (where were the guards and her maids?  where was Calent?), the bow she held, arrow at the ready, certainly would have done it.  (and where did that bow come from?)  The dress aside, she looked as though she were stalking a deer through the forest...

Great.  Now what was he supposed to do?

Kathryn stopped then, training the bow on the outlaw from, perhaps, twenty feet away.  There was a certain no-nonsense about her tone and posture that spoke both of a willingness and the knowledge to use it with some accuracy.  She cleared her throat in announcement, in a most ladylike manner, in spite of the situation.  "I believe this wing of the palace is a dead end.  I suggest you put down your weapons, Masked Mordecai.  The guards may be too stupid to see what's under their noses, but my husband is no fool.  He will find you as easily as I have."

And how, on earth, Audric wondered, was it she had done that?

Kathryn watched the masked man sharply.  Although the arrow remained nocked, she lowered the bow to toss a roll of cloth in the bandit's direction.  Even before it hit the ground in front of him, the bow was already back up and pointed in his direction threateningly.  "Bandages.  You're bleeding all over my house.  I assume you cut it on the broken glass from the window."

Well, well, well.  It seemed the Grand Duchess was a very capable woman indeed.  How she had slipped by the guards, however, remained a somewhat troubling mystery!  Rather than make his presence known, Audric remained in the shadows, simply watching the drama unfold and wondering what the cat would do with the mouse, now that she had it cornered?

Whirling around at the sound of someone approaching, the man's eyes went large as he was confronted by none other than the Grand Duchess herself-
and by the looks of her, boy was she ever furious. His lips were in a constantly moving state, for it was hard for Leif to settle on scowling or smirking, but the arrow reminded him of his place here, and his real goal as his eyes narrowed upon her.

He had no weapons in hand, and lifted them as if to indicate it so.
"The only dagger I had in my hand is in the man's back whom resides on the floor of your room. Even from where you stand, Grand Duchess, you can see my hands are empty."

He wasn't about to press his luck here, but he was also not about to let himself simply be caughtand reprimanded by the Grand Duchess herself-
though wouldn't it be quite the fitting tale? Thankfully, he didn't know Kathryn well enough, so hopefully his voice was as undetectable as it had been to most.

Either way, he held his breath and glared back at the woman, setting his jaw as the moonlight shined down upont hem, capping his black leather armor and slicked back hair,  in silver light

"You had better keep it that way," Kathryn warned.  She was still watching him closely, scarcely batting an eye.  Audric had little doubt that she would loose that arrow if he gave her reason to...

She remained silent a moment, then sighed softly, as if turning to logic only because threats failed to work.

"Aren't you wondering why I thought to grab bandages for the man who broke into my room to murder another man?  Contrary to what you may think, I'd rather have you leave under your own power than in a body bag.  Anyway, if you don't put it on and somehow manage to escape, we'll just track you down again.  So, while we're chatting, you may as well do yourself some good."

If she was growing tired of holding her threatening pose, she wasn't showing it...

Civilly, instead, she asked, "Why were you in my room?  And who was the man you killed?"

Leif looked down at the bandages, then back up at the Grand Duchess.

"Forgive my.. rudeness, Grand Duchess Kathryn, but I'm not exactly in a position to tell you yes or no, but the hesitation comes from me stepping any closer to that arrow..."
And to prove his point, he still didn't step for the bandages, but instead, continued to look at the woman in white. After all; if he looked away for just a second, or got down on one knee- how much easier it would be for her to shoot him between the eyes.

"And you know about as much as I do. I over heard them talking about killing the groom, and as much as I'm not a fan of the new Connloathian law, I even further detest rats who crawl around in the dark to get the results." He gave a dry smile, before it faded away, as he added, "Though I'm not here to talk, though I am interested in why you'd think it is wise for you to help me..."

Though perhaps he shouldn't be pressing his luck as she was still pointing the arrow directly at his head.

Kathryn's smile was almost serene in response.  "If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it from the doorway before you knew I was here."  And she would have had no trouble in doing so either...  There really was no need to get so close to what was, purportedly, a dangerous man.  "But if you are truly so threatened by a defenseless woman with only a bow and single arrow, you may stand there and bleed."

Really!  Some people!

Her smile became a shade...darker...somehow when he related his tale, and she thought over the information before responding.  "Perhaps I simply don't want you to bleed out before you're interrogated.  Or perhaps I've sprinkled the liquid from the vial I found on the dead man in my room into the bandage and am curious to see what it will do to a man."

Audric never thought he'd see the day when he was more concerned for the life of the Masked Mordecai than he was for the Grand Duchess...but there was a sadism in the way she answered him that he didn't care much for...but that she had hidden very, very well on the previous occasions they had met.  But then, perhaps, it was simply the stress of the day catching up with her...

"You said you heard 'them'.  Where are the others?  And how many are there?" she pressed, conviction (and arrow) unwavering.

(OOC: Kathryn is so naughty sometimes...)

At her words, the masked man only frowned, his gaze narrowing upon the sharp end of the arrow before looking over at her.

"There were two others in the garden," he said between his teeth, hesitant to say or do much more. He still... felt quite uneasy beneath her arrow, despite her claim to be 'defenseless' and the reasons behind the bandages...
Well, he was used to bleeding out. Besides...
Did she not realize, despite what had happened, he and her were... enemies?

"And are they still alive?" the Duchess questioned pointedly.

Half-afraid Kathryn would loose the arrow the moment she had her answer, Audric took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows.  The tiny, vine-covered alcove where he had taken refuge was quite away from the action, giving him time to move before announcing his presence.

From Cai's point of view, Kathryn's demeanor would suddenly change when she saw Audric even as he heard the footsteps on the ground behind him.  Kathryn's smirk softened into something a bit more feminine, although there were still a deadly serious expression in her eyes.

Audric paused some ten feet from Cai, effectively trapping the masked man between them.  Of course, Audric had no weapon, yet...  He cleared his voice softly, putting on his own 'mask'.  After all, he didn't want to be recognized by the masked man either.  "There are," he said in a serious, very un-Audric-like tone, "Four bodies in the garden, my Lady."

Kathryn's gaze, which had flickered to Audric, sharpened and went back to the Masked Mordecai.  "Four?"

"A guard, a kitchen girl, and two strangers."  It was surprisingly hard not to say something snarky!  "It looks as though the assassins may have been planning to infiltrate the palace."  He paused, then added, pointedly, "The fletching on the arrows that killed them match the arrow you're holding, my Lady."  That was clearly where the bow had come from: the assassin.  It made a sort of sense, now -- if he could just wrap his mind around the Grand Duchess attacking the Masked Mordecai in her wedding dress...

"Is this your bow?" Kathryn asked the bandit, her eyes studying his face for any indication of a lie.

It wasn't.  Audric knew that already.  And as stressed out as the Grand Duchess appeared to be this evening, she certainly wouldn't kill an unarmed man.  He remained silent and at parade rest, looking every bit like the guard he had formerly been...except more serious, for once.

(OOC: Audric to the rescue!  <3  Also, I think Calent can crash the party too anytime you like!)

The exchange was... interesting, and the masked man kept himself braced. For at any moment, this situation could not only have him wind up killed on the spot (something he could only wish for), but demasked as well; and a man in his position, who he was, who he was intended to be, and what the meant for the future of his duchy, his wife, his name...

All of it could be plucked away by whatever this woman commanded. She was the Grand Duchess now, after all. And although the sudden approach of a new person tensed Leif Arrant, his eyes never once left the duchess, whose arrow was pointed still at his face. So at her question, he hesitated not in a reply.

"No, it is not."
And now begged the question, was anyone else to interfere.. and was there any way for the masked man to make his great exit? He could just take a leap of faith, literally, and risk the arrow...
but those fuckers hurt, and for all he knew the man behind him was fully armed with a sword at his back....
and he wasn't entirely sure he was ready enough to simply die...
Or even put his masked persona away. The world was not ready to meet the face of the man who worked in the night....

Kathryn's eyes continued to study the man before her, taking in his expression and body language.  Apparently, she had decided he told the truth, because she did not loose the arrow.  Instead, she chose another route.

"Where are you bleeding?"

Once she had her answer, she responded with a curt nod.  "Audric, you have your men nearby, I assume?"  Audric opened his mouth to answer, but she swiftly made up her own.  "There's no need to summon them.  Not yet.  Help the Masked Mordecai dress his wound."

"Yes, my Lady."  How...odd.  Scooping up the fallen bandage, he considered it a moment before offering it to the masked man.  As a soldier, he naturally kept slightly to the side of that deadly arrow, so as not to provide a shield for her target...but, from the corner of his eye, he could see her strafing sideways, as if she had had the same thought.  "I suggest you do as the Lady commands."

It was too perfect of a situation not to act upon, and the King of Thieves, who had been watching, for many hours in the shadows, had grown a bit jealous over. The masked mordecai was about to steal the show, and such a pity; he had quite an elaborate scheme still about to be played out. So once the Grand Duchess was left outside of the focus and Audric moved to tend to the masked mordecai, a shadowed figure stepped up behind the Grand Duchess to whisper in her ear.

"You might want to call off any guards," his voice purred. "For any sudden movements, and you might end up without your dress." And as quickly as his words came at her from behind, they were gone, and she migt not realize it but...
if she were to move in any certain direction; she'd feel an unusual tug at her wedding garment. It seemed her jest from earlier, her challenge had not gone ignored. Yes... it would be quite the feat to steal the Grand Duchess's wedding dress clean off her back side, and a reminder at how amusing her idea was, Dekka left her with but a ghost of his laugh before he was gone again.



~*~*~*~*~

And as Audric approached, even the masked man was momentarily distracted, and albeit, a bit relieved. But it still hadn't made a lot of sense, and the masked man grew silent as he brooded over this ordeal. Perhaps it was an eye for an eye, but the Grand Duchess herself at the grand opportunity to be rid of a menace, yet she commanded her man to treat his wounds instead.

"Is she always like this?" the masked man question. "If so, perhaps there's hope for the country yet."

Kathryn should have been alarmed at the boldness of the thief -- but she could not stop the grin from her lips.  This was really not the time for his games...or the place.  She would have much preferred to let him steal the dress from her body in private, but...

Well, that's what made this little affair interesting, wasn't it?

And just what, she wondered, had he rigged up against her dress?


Meanwhile, Audric was happily oblivious to Kathryn and the King of Thieves.  "She's certainly full of surprises," he agreed lowly.  That seemed an understatement...

Leif released a frustrated sigh upon Audric's approach and agreement. He knew not what to make of these circumstances, and the peculiar smile the Grand Duchess was wearing was almost... unnerving.


But elsewhere, the source of her smile gave a brief chuckle.
"You know, we haven't had a moment to be truly alone all day," the thief said, an obvious pout within his tone. "I wonder how we might be able to remedy this?" And then a brief pause, he added, "Just how quickly can you dismiss the masked vigilante and your guard? I'd like to see how much of your dress I can steal before the end of the night.."

Stupid decisions indeed.  Kathryn hesitated for scarcely a moment before announcing, coolly, "I've shown you my good intent, Masked Mordecai.  I believe, now, it's time for you to show me yours."  Nevermind he had saved her life!

"The Duke of Allar will escort you through the palace and to the front gates as my personal honored guest."

Audric looked at her in surprise.  "My lady..."

Kathryn ignored him, speaking instead to the vigilante.  After all, she trusted Audric to follow her orders.  If he weren't a good man to be trusted, her husband would not have made him the Duke of Allar in his place.  "No harm will come to you, and your identity will remain a mystery.  Does that sound fair to you?"

Only once she had his answer did she cautiously lower the bow, eyeing the masked man as though he might go back on his word.  "Audric, if he tries to flee, you may kill him.  Until that time, you are to treat him as a guest.  If anyone questions my orders, inform them that the Masked Mordecai saved my life, and he is to be afforded all respect due a hero while on the palace grounds.  Is that understood?"

Audric was confused!  This seemed a sudden change of pace -- but, then again, perhaps it had been her intention all along...  "Yes, my lady."

If Audric was confused, imagine the thoughts reeling inside Leif's head. This was... definitely not what he had expected, and he found himself gaping at the Grand Duchess.

But... it was what it was...
If he was to be hanged later and this a game.. so be it. He had little choice. Bowing gracefully, he said, "Thank you, my lady. This will not go forgotten." And once he raised his head, he nodded to the Duke that he was ready to be escorted out.

Well, that left Audric little choice!  Not that he was complaining...  It was a better outcome than he could have hoped for.  He had expected to have to plead and pull some strings to free Cai...but, it seemed, the Grand Duchess was happy to do that for him.

"This way," he directed the masked man.  Rather than stand behind him like a guard, he fell into step beside him.  Without a weapon, it was probably the more effective way to "escort" him off the property.

It didn't take long to encounter the guards.  Audric barely kept the smart-ass comment off his lips when they stepped into sight.  He glanced sideways at Cai, then said, in the voice of a commander expecting to be obeyed, "Step aside.  By order of the Grand Duchess, this man is her personal guest.  He is to be escorted -- as a hero -- from the grounds in thanks for saving her life."

Naturally, the guards hardly believed him at first, and one cracked out, "And you expect us to believe that? You've got a known criminal in your custody... surely the Grand Duchess would want him escroted to the dungeon. Not out the front door!"

Leif hardened his gaze and wondered- could this Duke actually pull it off? With the heightened tensions of the war... it seemed everyone was out to kill someone. And a man in a mask was as good as any to hang.

"If I were escorting a known criminal to the dungeons, I do think the Grand Duchess would have ordered me to be armed," Audric replied plainly.  Holding his hands, palms out, slightly to the side and in front of him, he said, "As you can see, I am not."

His tone sharpened, and his eyes narrowed in a glare.  "Now, put your weapons away and move aside.  Or do I have to explain to the Grand Duke that the man who saved his wife's life was murdered by his own guards?  How well, do you think, he would take that news?"

The men hesitated, but as the Duke explained himself, the more and more they seemed to be forced to believe it. But that didn't stop them from cutting the masked man a sharp look.
"Very well. Shall we escort you so that there will be no more trouble?" the one guard inquired, hesitation still ever present in his voice.

"You may, if you like," Audric replied dismissively.  "But only if you put your weapons away.  You are escorting a royal guest, not a prisoner."  He leveled a stony gaze at the men in front of him.  It was a look at promised trouble for any man who stepped out of line.

With a slight bow, he gestured for the masked man beside him to step forward.  He, too, began to stride forward with long, purposeful steps that would carry him into the midst of the armed men -- and, yet, he walked with a confident air, expecting them to part before them and to obey his commands.

They were, after all, the words of their new Grand Duchess.  Even so, all of the attention made him feel a little uncomfortable...  All it would take was for one man to decide to be an idiot, and God knew what would happen.  They were forming quite the parade...  It made him glad that the gates were just around the corner.

They had an entourage as they approached the castle gates, and naturally there was some speculation by the guardsman there, but eventually it was so that the Masked Man could pass, and as they were stepping out through the gates, Leif sighed heavily.

"I suppose I owe you and the Grand Duchess my life.."

Audric quirked a grin at that statement as the gates swung open before them.  Cai was free to go, to return back to...wherever it was he came from and whatever it was he did.

"I think she must have felt the same way about you."  He gestured towards the gate with a hand, inviting the masked man to step through it.  "Or she would not have gone to such lengths to save your life."

Because there was no other reason the Grand Duchess herself should have left her rooms to hunt him down...  Nor was there any reason she should have spared him when it would have been a simple thing to shoot him in the back.

"I do feel obliged to warn you that aren't likely to find a welcoming reception the next time you visit the Grand Palace."  He had a feeling Calent was not going to approve of this little stunt -- of either letting Cai go or his wife's admittedly impressive capture of him.

The masked man gave a scoff, but it was a playful one. Little did this duke know who he was...
Considering, if he wanted to, he could easily be invited to another function.. mask excluded.

"I guess that so much is obvious.." Leif muttered, adjusting his gloves as the pair stepped out into the moon light. He couldn't help but feel something like this has happened before... and he shrugged his shoulders in attempts to discourage the feeling from settling in. Naturally, nothing like this has happened before, but it did pull up some memories when he had a run in or two and a certain mystery man had aided him...

Audric's grin widened slightly, and he gave a nod in response.  "Indeed."

And with that, the Masked Mordecai had once again been turned free to continue his one-man crusade against tyranny and oppression.  Or something like that.

It was soon public knowledge, whether the Duke wished it to be or not, that the Masked Mordecai had saved the Grand Duchess's life as a wedding gift.  She personally called him a hero and ensured his safe conduct from the grounds.  It didn't take long for the rumors to begin to circulate and for the masses to wonder just why he had saved the Grand Duchess when he was, supposedly, an enemy of the Grand Duke's.  And there were some rather savory theories...and a kernel of suspicion cast on the masked man's motives.

It was some weeks later that Audric found himself needing to take another private walk...with plenty of distance between himself and his guards...  He was irritated (and, he thought, rightfully so) about a scheme he had just uncovered regarding a certain masked bandit.  There was, of course, little he could do to help Cai, especially since the Grand Palace had stopped targeting the man himself.  They were going after something far more precious: his reputation.  And they were doing it in the most underhanded way imaginable.

He had decided he didn't care much for his friend's new wife after all...

Naturally, the best way to ponder the situation was with a bottle of liquor in hand on a perch above the city...and garbed in his now usual disguise, with his identity safely hidden beneath a cloak.

Pissed was an understatement. He would have preferred tar and feathering to this none sense, unless of course, his ears deceived him.  But the word was already on the street, and there he felt, a mockery. Sure, he had chosen to exclaim himself personally to be on the side against the Grand Duke and his unbridled politics, but now from outside resources since the events at the Grand Duke's Palace have suddenly launched a campaign that more or less was a proven statement he was for the Grand Duke.

The Grand Duchess was a conniving bitch, and he wished she would have shot him when she had the chance. At least that way he could be more at peace. And it wasn't as if he was even looking for peace when he dawned his masked persona, but to have the very person's he was attempting to rescue be terrified of him made any sort of easy get away nearly impossible- and also put those he was helping in grave danger.

Too many times he was fumbling in the night time shadows, too many times did the guards interfere. At first, he had no idea what was going on until he had to personally witness an entire family of mages in hiding be taken away.

Those bastards. Brewing over the last few nights of his failed 'salvations'; the masked mordecai was out again, his eyes, scanning the city from a roof top- dark and malicious and pissed. He wasn't sure exactly what he was looking for, but he was searching for something- anything...

Any spot of trouble would do,.. or, even a lonely guard. He had to re-establish what he was before the nobles made a ruin of him- and frankly, he was beyond irritated because for his entire life, living as a noble- it already was ruined for him.

Yes, Leif Arrant was pissed; and perhaps he should not have gone out that fateful night. It was dredfully cold, and as he scouted the streets, his breath came out in white puffs from tightly drawn and pensive lips.

It was time for Connlaoth to remember...
It was time for Connlaoth to pay.

Audric might have spent the whole night there on his perch, staring thoughtfully over the city and nursing his drink.  A flash of movement to his right caught Audric's eye, however, and immediately a grin stretched his lips.

Cai was back.  And he had no doubt heard the bad news as well...

A normal man might have avoided Cai, but Audric had already decided they were friends...even if Cai didn't know it yet..

Downing the rest of his drink, he set the bottle down and slid down from his post.  Cai wasn't exactly subtle, he figured; all he had to do was get to the general area, and the masked man would probably do something to let Audric know where he was.

And the night continued on as usual, not a peep nor sound of distress. Just a few guardsman playing a game of cards nearby some more important nobleman's manner, a few late night rendez-vous schmoozes, and an old man's coughing echoing down the street.

And it had grown cold since he had first left his house, thankfully his leather armor afforded him some warmth as he continued to creep his way from roof top to roof top. Yes, it seemed ironic that the night be so quiet just hours after he digested the news..
It was almost as if the guards were doing their job, the world was sleeping in peace...

That was until he heard an angered lover's quarrel.

"You're a mage, admit it, Loritha!" he heard a man spit.

He could tell teh woman was rolling her eyes.

"Still your tongue or I'll tell Madame LeFonte," the woman threatened through a growl.

"I can see it in your eye, whore," the man growled. "I didn't even get a change to pop and you're pushing me out the door."

"That's becuase you broke the rules," she growled.

"MAGE!" he shouted, throwing his arms into the air. "The lot of you! Ungrateful, just like my wife had been! And you're no better than HER!"

"Will you still your tongue before I still it for ya, Frank? This is no time to be making false accusations because you're too drunk and too stupid-"

ANd then he heard his fist connect to the woman's face. He supposed now was as good a time to act as any. Jumping down from the rooftop, he appeared from the shadows, a looming form glaring out at the man who was now menacingly approaching the fallen women, and Leif stalked forward, menacingly approaching the man.

At the realization of the type of person he attracted, the man looked up at Leif.
"Eh? Well, I'll be damned. If it ain't the masked mordecai!" and with a drunken finger he pointed down at the bloodied lipped whore. "I heard you be on our side, and this woman is a mage."

Leif's eyes went cold as ice as he approached the man.
"False accusations do not look favorably upon the law-"

Though Leif wouldn't have to react- it seemed the woman was a ball of fury as she was already on her feet and throwing her fists at the man unrelentingly.

"Frank! You ass hole! The madame will hear about this and have you thrown out for good!"s he shouted, a fire burning in her eyes as she spat at the man's face. And that's when Frank clocked her one again- Leif only had a chance to catch the woman before another voice came from down the way-

"Hey? Who goes there?"


Shit, it was the guardsman. They must've been disturbed from their game of cards.

As Audric suspected, it didn't take Cai long at all to make his move...and what a move it must have been!

He pressed himself against the wall in an alley as several guards stormed by, calling out orders and beginning to bare their blades.

Audric's eyebrows rose slightly, and he self-consciously pulled the hood of his own disguise down lower, as if it might hide him completely from the questing guards.  They had no interest in him, though; they were too busy charging into a house to notice.

The door to the house stood no chance against the pair of bulky guards that threw their shoulders into the wood.  It shuddered once, then gave with a resounding crash inwards, spilling the guards into the small room as well.

"In the name of the Grand Duke, what's going on here?" one of the guards demanded -- but, then, he, along with the other guards, spotted the masked man.

"It's the Masked Mordecai!  Arrest him!"

Outside, Audric was frowning at the small house, daring to creep a little closer.  That was a lot of guards for one man to deal with...

It didn't take long for the guards to arrive and Leif was swearing up a storm. Setting the whore aside, he did the only thing he could think of-
he grabbed onto Frank and shoved him clean at the guards feet, and while they were momentarily startled, he made a run for it-
Up the whore house steps, kicked a room open, passed by a pair of busy patrons before punching open a window and leaping out.

By the time a few of the guards made it up there, they were also swearing up a storm.
"After him men!" the head guard snarled as he unsheathed his blade. "And you know the drill! The Grand Duke wants him brought in... alive!"

Luck was not with Leif today!  He managed to escape from the cathouse...only to land in the midst of a patrol on their way, likely, to that very building.  The men looked startled to find the Masked Mordecai himself dropping in front of them, and they gaped openly.

Until, that is, one of the men from inside stumbled out to point an accusing finger.  "There he is.  Stop him!"

And as Leif scurried away, the guards drew their weapons.  He would hear from behind him, "The bolas and net, you idiots!"  And a second later, it would become clear what was meant by that as one of the new weapons hurtled through the air.  The heavy weights at the end wrapped neatly around Leif's legs, tripping him up.

It would, in theory, give the guards enough time to come close enough to drape their nets over the man.  They were, after all, supposed to take him alive.

(OOC: Totally CCed, but someone had to do it since you won't!  *shakes fist!*  Audric must be dashing!)

OOC: You forget how I love flares for the dramatic <3
So I enjoyed the Cc thoroughly <3<3<3
Though it might have looked like too easy of an escape.. naturally, he would never actually have gotten away
>:3

And...
please allow me to add...
BWAHAHAHA

-------------


The strike to the cheek as he landed on his face hurt the most, and were smarting him as he swore between his teeth. ANd not a moment later, the shadow of a net fell over him, and it was clear- the masked mordecai was finally caught.

He supposed his luck couldn't keep up forever, it was just.. a shame that this was how he was supposed to go, and despite his efforts to wriggle free of both weights on his heels and a net over his head; he would't have to struggle for long when one man forced his boot on his back, then yanked the net from his face.

"What a pretty little picture," the guard say, clicking his tongue between his teeth. "Think a promotion will be in order for you boys for this sort of capture." His men all smiled through the darkness, teeth cutting through shadows.

Then he gestured with his gloved hand to one of the men standing before him. "Help me keep him down. Let's find out who this masked pestilence really is..."
Though as the man reached for the mask, he let out a yowl as Leif's teeth came clamping down, hard, right ontop of his fingers.

It drew blood and the man turned away, but two other guards were already upon him, wrestling with Leif by his shoulders and moving to tear off his mask....
But with his head bucking they had to restrain him again, and by the time they were reaching for his mask, he could feel their fingernails digging into his skin as the mask began to drop off his face, and dishevel his hair.

The men all held their breaths, the mask still in the way of his face as they went to reach again to remove the mask...

Panic set in, Leif threw his head back and bashed it against the man who held his shoulders, and with that, freeing one arm as the man cried out in pain. Jerking a fist forward, he punched the man before him in the face before another trio of guards was on the scene and wrestling Leif to the ground. And it seemed they were all reaching for the mask....

"YANK THE MASK OFF OF HIM, MEN! YANK IT OFF SO WE CAN TELL THE GRAND DUKE WHO HIS PET RAT REALLY IS!"

And all of the struggling in the world could not stop them from the deed...
The mask was taken off- his face exposed...
Though as they tried to get a good look at him, his hair a mess in his face, Leif suddenly spat in their faces, goading one of the guards to slam his fist into Leif's face. ANd he felt the hot blood trickle from his nose.

"Grab him by the hair so we can see the rat clearly!" the guard shouted, his body tense in anticipation. This would be the moment they were all waiting for, and it seemed all of Connlaoth was holding it's breath as Leif was smashed up against an alley wall- and the men coming in ever closer... hands reaching out, shadows looming over him like daggers, and Leif's eyes wild beneath his hair.


OOC:
And this is totes happening now..
Poor Leif
(http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2013/226/8/b/the_fallen_mask_by_visualspice-d6i74y9.jpg)

Audric was, maybe, a little late on the rescue...  But he had run into trouble of his own on the other side of the building.  It was difficult, he was discovering, to mount a rescue mission without killing anyone -- because these were guards.  They were supposed to be the good guys!

One of the guards was unconscious, now, and the other had suffered a much more fatal wound...but only because Audric couldn't get by him, otherwise.  He came running around the corner at a run, surprising the guards who happened to be looking in his direction -- but giving them no time to react as his sword fell down on their sergeant's shoulder.

"Tsk, tsk," the swordsman scolded.  "If you don't want to lose that hand, I think you had better let him go."

"Who the hell are you?" the sergeant swore, freezing immediately at the threat.

"You want the long version or the short version?"

The sergeant ground his teeth together so hard it was nearly audible.  "Jones.  Smith.  Kill him."

A pair of men swung suddenly out from the mob pressing Cai against the wall, but Audric was quicker.  He pulled the sergeant's blade from its sheath and brought both his own sword and the borrowed one upwards to block the pair of swords.  Over the clang of metal on metal, he sighed audibly.  "And I was hoping we could do this as friends..."

The sergeant gestured to another soldier.  "Percy, keep that dagger on his back.  He has to be brought in alive.  They didn't say anything about damaged..."

Audric's eyes narrowed at that.  Well, that was enough, wasn't it?  What had, primarily, been a defensive strategy at once became an offensive one.  He shifted his stance and stepped forward between the pair of soldiers attack him, and, with a gesture, stabbed both men in the gut.  He left the sergeant's blade in Jones, but pulled his own blade free of Smith.  Both men toppled over with pained grunts.

That was four down.  Only another half-dozen to go!

Two more men peeled away from Cai to engage Audric.  He met the blade of the first and lifted his knee high to catch the man in the groin -- a low-blow, he'd admit, but it was better than having to kill another soldier.  He turned, then, in time to disarm the second attacker with a blow to the man's hand that would, no doubt, leave him unable to hold a sword for some time.

Six down.

From one of the soldiers he had just taken down, Audric scooped up a pole arm, and, then, Cai's mask from the ground where it had fallen as he continued to move forward at a leisurely pace.  "Is this the best Uthlyn has to offer?  I'm surprised you were able to catch the Masked Mordecai at all."

"Come any closer, and we'll kill him," the sergeant threatened, glowering hard at Audric -- but Audric could see the way his eyes flickered away to the side...

...And this was why he had grabbed the polearm.  He jammed his weapon into its sheath in order to spin the weapon expertly around in his hands, tipping it upwards as the shadow of the finely woven net fell over his head.  The long pole caught the force of the entangling net, and Audric used it to flip the net in the other direction...then swung the pole so that the blunt end of it crashed into the sergeant's nose.

Blood gushed down the man's face as he slipped to his knees with a pained yowl.  But Audric wasn't done yet.  He twirled back around and buried the spearhead into the net-thrower's throat.  Audric's eyes slid over the boy who was still holding his groin protectively, now looking terrified out of his mind.  And, Audric thought, rightfully so.

"The way I see it, the rest of you have two options.  You can run, or you can die."

The trio still holding onto Cai exchanged a look.  They looked down to their sergeant, who was cursing and threatening them in order to get them to stay, and they unanimously decided, it seemed, that discretion was the better part of valor.  Cai was suddenly released, except for the sergeant, who had taken to clutching his leg as he bellowed for his men to come back.

Audric paid the sergeant little mind.  "You okay, Cai?"  He fished the mask out of his belt and held it out towards him, averting his eyes away from the man's face.  Sure, he wanted to know who the Masked Mordecai was -- who didn't? -- but finding out this way felt...wrong.  And so, beneath the hood of his cloak, he did the honorable thing...and looked the other way.

(OOC: I...may have made Audric unrealistically kick-ass...)

OOC: It seemed realistic to me
8D

---------

The event unfolded like something short of a dream, and even the de-masked masked man found himself gaping with blood rushing down his face. Remarkably, the shadows hid the point of his nose well, and the high points of his cheeks- and his hair? - which looked like a squid ripely burned, then soaked in waters (and in that order), hung about his face in a wild array, like poised curls of serpents. And it wasn't until the last men fell was Leif able to move or react, as he gave a sniff, then wiped the blood from his nose off on the back of his hand and stared up into the shrouded darkness beneath the masked man's hood. Though he saw no clue's to his face, he found his own self looking away so as not to identify the man who was trying not to identify himself.

Without a word, he took his mask in hand and stared at it for a good long while, part of him wondering what the point of it all was before he bowed his head low, and slipped the mask back over his face. And once it was secured, he slicked his hair back the best he could (thank goodness he used a ton of oil) and raised his eyes to Audric.

"If you came here for a rescue," Leif began, as he used the wall to right himself. "You came a few minutes too late." And he looked down from Audric to the bodies on the floor. "Suppose I couldn't do better myself." he said, giving another sniff and wiping of his bleeding nose. Then, curiously, he looked up at Audric and to the shadow under his hood.

"You may want to consider a mask too... it.. would be increasingly more easy for men to yank your hood off than a mask." And without another word, the masked man took a step out into the street to walk away.

"I know," Audric answered, looking down at the death surrounding them.  "But I didn't expect them to actually succeed in capturing you.  The guards around here..."  Well, they both knew the guards were utter idiots, and now, looking at them, it was clear why.  "They're just kids."

He glanced up then, realizing Leif was stalking away.  He followed in his wake with a slight frown.  "Yeah," he agreed, reaching up to pull on the hood self-consciously.  "But I wasn't expecting this to become a thing."

Although, it was apparent to them both, now, that it had...

"I'm guessing the new equipment was also the Duchess's idea."  That explained why everyone was suddenly so confident that the Masked Mordecai was going to be captured...  Not only were they discrediting him, but they were also changing their method...

Leif sneered and scoffed at his words.

"No doubt the seed of a snake," he said, pausing to spit out blood on the ground. He frowned and ran his tongue along his teeth,a nd spat again to clear his mouth of blood, and then moved his gloved hand ot wipe more blood from his nose. How annoying,i t was still bleeding.

Audric frowned at that, a rather ingrained reaction to an insult against his friend's wife...and their Grand Duchess, at that.  But he didn't approve of any of this, and so he couldn't say he blamed Cai...especially not after the way he had been mistreated.

"Hey," he said, giving the other man a single tap on his shoulder to draw his attention as Audric peeled off towards a barrel.  He glanced around suspiciously, but there was no one around -- and plenty of escape routes if someone did appear...  "Come over here."  The barrel itself was set in a corner, hidden, very nearly, by the shadows of the building it stood against.

He fished his handkerchief -- a plain, white soldier's handkerchief, made more to be functional than to be pretty or impressive -- to dip into the cool water in the barrel, then extended it expectantly towards Cai.  "Here.  I'm not having you choke on your own blood after I went to all that trouble to save you."

Growing more and more irritated by the moment (especially since he was still on edge after almost being caught), Leif sighed irritably before finally moving to follow after him, and was... surprised when the man offered him something to clean his face with. He thought for sure the barrel held some other sort of secret.

He gave a snarled laugh and shake of his head.
"I'll hardly die from a bloody nose.." he said, but took the kerchief anyways and dabbed at his nose, then lifted his gaze to Audric's hooded cloak.
"Back there, after you took care of those men... you called me something... Cai." And he paused to push a little harder on the wet clothe about his nose before pressing,"Why?"
Did this RANDOM HOODMAN think he knew his identity? For if that was the case, he'd be sorely mistaken...

Audric's grin was immediate beneath his hood, and he laughed outright at the other man's open suspicion.  Cai had a lot to learn about Audric...although, for the life of him, Audric couldn't understand why.  He thought it was entirely too obvious!

"Masked Mordecai is too long, so I've been calling you Cai.  Plus, it's got a little more personality than Masked Mordecai."  He drew the name out, giving it an over-the-top dramatic edge with his tone.

"If I get a moniker, you'll think of one for me!"  He had no doubt about that!  It was just too hard having the formal names...

His grin widened slightly.  "I almost went with Mord.  But I knew a Mort once, and he was kind of an ass."

Leif scoffed through a smile and shook his head.
"You already have a moniker," he said. "Don't you listen to the word on the street, Shrouded Swordsman?"

Audric blew out something between a sigh and a laugh.  "Yeah, but I was kind of hoping they'd change it.  It makes me sound like a damned corpse," he grumbled.

Turning it over in his mind for a moment, he finally shook his head.  "None of that shortens up very nicely, doesn't it?"  At least, it didn't shorten to anything remotely resembling a name!  "Well, I suppose you could call me Al."  That grin reappeared, as though it had never vanished.  "Short for Allar.  I don't think it's any secret to you that that's where I'm from."

And then he could always hold out hope his moniker would change to something more dashing!  And less dead-sounding...

Leif rolled his eyes at Audric's suggestion.
"Then I might as well call you Allarrick, or Rat," he said bitterly. "I'm not so unworldly not to know where the Grand Duke was born and raised, though your home duchy does pose a lot of questions- starting with your sword.." And his eyes glanced down towards it, notably catching to the crest.

"Now you're just trying to be mean," the swordsman answered good-naturedly, as though Leif were only teasing.  He knew, of course, that he wasn't -- and today, even more than a few months ago, he had cause to dislike Calent...

"Is it so unusual that a man from Allar would have a sword with the Allarrick crest on it?"  He folded his arms over his chest, looking at Leif curiously.  "What other questions do you have for me?  Why am I here in Uthlyn?  Business.  What am I doing helping you rather than trying to capture you?"  Yes, he was going to ask the questions and answer them; he was a one-man show!  "I told you already that I've seen you commit no crimes.  I would have preferred not to kill those soldiers, and I don't intend to break the law by helping mages like you are rumored to do.  But every time I've encountered you, you've always done what's right -- even if that means standing up or running away from a few guards.  And I think Connlaoth needs more men who do that."  He paused, then asked, "Honest enough for you?  Anything else you want to know?"

Leif made a face as Audric went on to bring up questions and then... answer said questions that he himself only mildly seemed to care for.

"So are you some bored nobleman?"
The crest, naturally, could be a soldiers... and quite frankly, those moves were more of a soldiers as he turned away to shake his nose.
"Or more realistically, a man bored with army life?" For clearly, that's what it seemed. Shaking his head, he turned back to Audric as he gave him a once over.

"And if I had to come up with a name for you, it'd be something just as endearing as Cai."
Leif sighed irritably as he looked down the street.
"Seems the streets as clear as ever.." Though even still, he hesitated to leave.
"You still didn't answer one question." he said, peering back towards Audric. "You seem to think you know so much about me, and with that, you'd know I'd have a hefty bounty on my head. It begs the question why you'd want one on yours."
And he looked the man over before turning away, and walking down the street, kerchief still to his nose.

Some bored nobleman?  Why, yes.  Technically.

"I give you that whole speech, and you think I'm helping you just because I'm bored?"  Silly Cai and his silly assumptions!  "Nobles and soldiers both have better things to do with their time than to run around in silly masks just for the sake of boredom."

Audric's gave his head a little bit of a shake, and he shrugged a little in response.  "I don't know a lot about you.  That's the point, isn't it?  But I'm giving you more credit than that.  Me?  I don't believe that nobles are the only ones who deserve help.  Or the only ones who should be helping, for that matter."

Yes, that was pointedly directed at Leif.  After all, it was his fault for owning up to that fact, wasn't it?

"And I knew you'd like that name!" he called after him, sounding remarkably cheerful.

A mask, huh?  He'd have to look into that.

OOC: TOtally keeping my typo of 'shaking his nose' from my last post.
CAUSE

---------

Leif groaned and continued forward. This was the start of a beautiful friendship.
"Perhaps I'll call you Abigail.." he muttered. "After my late Aunt, who was blind, fiesty, and unrelenting. She also owned a lot of cats..."
And he stared away, idly brushing off some of the debris from the fight off his shoulder.

It had been some time since the Swordsman had made his appearance outside of Allar -- but, in his home province, at least, he had become a household name.  Unlike the Masked Mordecai, with whom he was associated, the Swordsman focused on crime -- be it against innocent children or against mage-sympathizers.  In spite of his rumored skill with a blade (it was said the sword he used was enchanted, providing no end of irritation to Audric), he often went out of his way to do as little damage to his targets as possible.  Many were discovered unconscious and bound.  In this way, the Swordsman served as a source of irritation for the guards, although he rarely stood in direct opposition to them...  In Allar, at least.

The rest of the country was another matter.

And it just so happened Audric was visiting the capital when he heard a rumor that caught his attention.  Like so many rumors before it, it concerned mages and their deportation to the camps set up for their kind.  (Which was not something Audric agreed with, either.)  Normally, that sort of thing wouldn't concern the Swordsman; he never interfered with the deportations.  However, there was something unusual about this particular rumor...  Rather than be commanded by Mordecai, the soldiers assigned the task would be led by the clergy.

And that was just...odd...

And so the Swordsman had returned.  He was moving through the streets quietly, wondering where to go to begin his investigation, when a shadowy figure ahead caught his attention...  He grinned broadly.  It had been some time...and he was curious to see how Cai was getting along without him!

"Waiting for me, Cai?"

Trying to be stealthy didn't seem to be 'Abigail's' forte, and the second the other man was close enough, he socked him hard on the arm.
He dind't even say anything, just glared at the other man and held a finger to his lips befre peering around the bend towards men working in the back of the church.
It was hard enough to hear what they were saying without the interruption, and as the men moved to the other side, Leif cursed beneath his breaht for having possibly missed some vital clues.

Audric blinked, obviously a little confused.  He, too, peered around the corner of the building, and he strained his ears...but, alas, their quarry had moved on!

And so that left him no choice but to stand there and frown at Leif until the other man stole a glance in his direction.  'What are you doing?' Audric mouthed, though, knowing Cai as he did, he didn't expect much of a response.

Leif sighed once he realized his chance to eeves drop had been for not, and slowly turned around to his 'side kick' (who, fo ra second, he wanted to really kick!)
"I heard a rumor and wanted to investigate.." and he stared off thoughtfully, before explaining. "They said something about the clergy handling the next batch of mages to be sent North. But something just doesn't.. smell right."

Then he looked over at Audric and noted his smile and asked him cautiously, "And.. just why are you smiling." Then he blinked and sighed, pinching at his nose as he rubbed it, "Don't tell me.. let me guess... you heard the same things." And then he drew in another breath and added, "And you too, wanted to see what information you could gather."

And he finally sighed again and turned away, shaking his head.
"Well, if we're to gather any information, we might as well get ourselves closer to the church. There's no good in hanging out in the dark alley way except wasting our time. Come on."

"Aw, come on.  You could at least pretend you're happy to see me!" he chided good-naturedly, although in a quiet voice.  "I'm happy to see you.  Have you ever heard of anything like this before?"

Because, obviously, Cai would be the one to know!

"By the way," he added as they moved along the wall.  "How's that nickname coming along?  Just need to know what I'll be listening for when you're screaming for help..."

Leif tried not to grumble or sigh irritably (at least not TOO loudly) as he pushed through the alley way, careful not to make any loud footsteps as they crept. And at his first question, he shook his head, "No.. that's why I thought it was odd." And then as he moved along, he paused a moment, hand resting against the alleyway wall before he smirked and whispered, "What's wrong with Abigail?"

And that is, of course,w hen someone heard them.
"Hey- who goes there!?"

"Shit."

PLacing an arm over Audric, he forced his swordman friend up against the wall beside him. With the two pressed beside one another against the dank darkness, a light flickered through the way, sweeping down quickly, but missing their boots by a hair.

"Probably just rats, Harold, now come on. We haven't got much time. The town thinks we're taking mages OUT, not dragging them in. They can't see what we've brought back this time or the town'll flip."

And as the two men shuffled away, Leif's eyes hardened. So that's what they were up to...
and without another word, he moved forward to follow.

Audric stared at Cai, a corner of his mouth trying to twitch into a grin, as if he weren't entirely sure whether the man was kidding.

He often had this same problem with Calent.

But, then, there was no time to wonder as a light swept into the alley.  Audric froze, listening for any indication they had been discovered...but there was none, and, eventually the guards moved on.

But they did share some interesting information as they left...

All traces of mirth vanished from Audric's face as he considered the words they had overheard.  What, exactly, were these people up to?  And did Calent know?  He would have to gather some more information before passing it along to his friend...

And so, when Cai moved forward, Audric fell into step beside him.  They moved quietly over the cobblestones and paused in the shadow at the mouth of the alley as they came upon a terrible scene.  Cages on carts sat in the moonlight, surrounded by guards...  Audric turned to give a questioning look to his friend.

No, he didn't like this at all.

Leif's face went hard as stone as the sight came clear before them. But then there was a squeak, squeak from the nob being turned on a lantern as it flashed brighter, nearly blinding Leif as he tucked back into the alley. He needed to be more careful, he could have got them exposed.

"We're too close here," Leif whispered. Then as a pair of bats scattered up above, it drew his eyes skyward. "To the roof tops." he said, hitting Audric lightly on the chest as he wasted no time disappearing back into the shadows and began scouting the buildings nearby.
"There, we can climb up from here," he said, pointing to an array of barrels conveniently lined up against a nearby building that sat alongside the church. And he wasted no time in scaling it.

Audric craned his neck upwards with a slight frown.  What was it with this guy and rooftops?  Did he think he was a bird or something?  No, Audric amended with a slight shake of his head as the shadowy figure vanished over the wall, not a bird -- he wore too much black for that.  Perhaps a bat.  Some kind of bat...man...  Batman.  Audric snickered at the thought.  What a stupid idea.

The sound of approaching guards interrupted his reverie, then, and Audric had little choice but to follow Cai up the side of the building.  He did it with less grace than his counterpart -- but, at least he was quiet about it.

Creeping over to Cai, he hunkered down on the rooftop beside him to peer down at the scene below.

There were three carriages, and a few carts, unfortunately for the two peering over the side of the building, the contents inside each was hidden well from view. Though curiously enough, a lot of men without armor were moving quick.
As Leif's eyes continued to scout the area, he took in what appeared to be an unarmored mordecai, and then as his eyes continued to sweep the area...
He held his breath as the church door's swung open. A priest stepped out and filled the night with a rush of golden lamp light that hung behind him from the church's crystal chandeliers...
That, in itself, was a detail that made Leif's brows arch. It had been some time since he had attended church, and he hadn't recalled those...

"Hurry up and get them inside, my children. I have the basement door key.." And he moved swiftly, his robes swishing against the ground as he turned around to lead the men down an alley way... which, unfortunately was not visible from 'Cai' and 'Abigail's' perch.

As all f the men began to disappear, carrying and pulling the cargo with them as quickly and discretely as possible, Leif's eyes focused on the open door of the church...
and only one idea came to mind.

"I'm sneaking inside the church."
There had to be some sort of clue, shouldn't there? ANd before Audric could protest, the masked man was already descending back down the way they had come.

Of course he was...

Audric looked skyward a moment, thinking, "Angsar help us."  And then he was following in his friend's wake!

Stealth, while not Audric's area of expertise, was not completely foreign to the soldier.  He moved silently through the alley and across the courtyard.  Their shadows looked like long, black caricatures of the pair slithering across the pavement.  At the door to the church, they merged into one black mass before vanishing altogether into the interior of the church.

It wasn't difficult getting into the church, but remaining unnoticed might be a lot more tricky. Leif's eyes were quick to scout the area as he moved through, and once he noticed everything inside the main church hall was clear, he gestured for Audric to keep a look out and keep close as he moved towards the back. A small door near the alleyway the Priest and his men were moving was his obvious destination. And the door was rather beautiful, ornately carved mahogany of one of the patron Saints. Testing the door, Leif frowned as it was locked, but wasted no time in picking it. Once the lock clicked 'open', he released his held breath and opened the door.

A long, narrow hall stretched before them- it's path lit by scones who's flames flickered and danced upon their wicks. Leif's eyes continued to grope through the halls, not missing any details as they moved, but soon came to a door that simply lead out side. This didn't seem right, and as Leif turned around, he growled out his displeasure. "There's got to be more to this hall.."
And as his eyes cleaved through the darkness, he spotted something odd.
One area had a scones no longer lit. Upon closer study, the candle was simply missing. ANd upon even further examination, he noted there was a hidden door.

He ligthtly knocked and confirmed the paneling was hollow before turning back to Audric.
"Help me find a way to open this." And as the two worked together, fingers groping in the dark, eventually the panel pried free...
ANd before them lay a cold, crawling stair case that disappeared into the shadows of the church's basement. And further down he heard some foot falls as he held his breath. That was definitely the sound of the men from earlier. And as soon as the foot steps faded...
Leif wasted no time in making his way down.

"You've gotta teach me how to pick locks," Audric muttered as they worked at the secret door.  It was something his training as a soldier had failed to cover, after all!  He was more accustomed to just breaking the damned door down if it stood in his way...

When the door opened to reveal the spiraling staircase snaking downwards, Audric nearly whistled -- but stopped himself just in time.  That would have carried too well down the stonework...  Well, this was certainly interesting.

Having no choice but to follow, he moved as silently as he could after Cai...though they didn't have to descend to the bottom to glimpse what was happening.  Or to see it was swarming with guards.  He put a hand on Cai's shoulder to draw his attention and gestured to a gap in the brickwork.  They had to crouch down a bit to see, but the sight turned Audric's stomach.

Cells.  And, beyond them, something that looked far too much like a torture device.

Angsar above, this was a Church, not a prison!  What the hell was happening down there?

Audric's stomach wasn't the only one that sunk and turned cold as Leif watched in horror as the men moved along, quick as they could, carrying, in some instances, what appeared to be people lying beneath covered cots.
He furrowed his brow, steeled his breath, and just observed. Not sure what they could do, it appeared as if the duo would have to bide their time.

"It seems as if they're bringing in people to this place," he whispered, his eyes watching as guard after guard brought in discretely covered cots, or cages.

Audric nodded in agreement.  "But, why?  What could the--"

That was all the further he got.  A high-pitched scream rose up above the dungeon they had discovered, ceasing Audric's tongue and making him reach for his weapon, even as a chill of horror ran down his back.  What he had first taken to be a woman's scream had a deeper edge to it, just beneath that initial sound.

The screamer wasn't a woman; it was a man.  Audric didn't dare imagine what could be done to a man to produce such a sound...

Where Audric paled, Leif felt his blood boil like the molten lava of a volcano. But he kept it all in, eyes seering down at the men as they brought in the last of their cargo. And after all went silent, he moved away from the wall and descended the stairs.

Keeping careful, quiet steps, Leif found himself in the hallways. And they appeared endless. The murmur of men and shuffling of feet could be heard from down a dark pass. The men had obviously gone in that direction, but the question was- what was hiding in the bowels of darkness from where that man had screamed?

Uncertain what they'd find, Leif swallowed back his fear and continued to walk down the hall. They'd pass room after barred room, that was, after Leif checked, locked. They couldn't even look into it, for the small windows of the doors were locked shot from the other side. Frowning, he wasn't sure what more they would find besides trouble as he turned back towards 'Abigail'.

"It's not safe if we continue to linger here. We might have to wait until morning to break back inside. I can still hear all of those men down the way, and this seems to the the only hall to access this area. Come on. Let's head back out into the street."

Audric was uncharacteristically quiet.  It wasn't that he was afraid, per se -- he just never wanted to meet whatever had caused those screams earlier.  He and Cai were good, but a dungeon full of guards seemed destined to end in failure.

He nodded mutely as Leif made his decision, momentarily pleased with the choice...

...But how was he to find the time tomorrow?

He'd just have to do it...and hope no one noticed.

"I didn't realize the Masked Mordecai worked during the day.  This isn't just a ploy to get rid of me so you can be the hero by yourself, is it?"

Alright, so Audric was mostly mute.

"What? Afraid of a rendez-vous in daylight, Abigail?" The masked man said as he made his way quickly down the hall. "As much as I'd like to think we're invincible, we're out numbered by a lot here and I can only see this shady business being conducted at night. During the day... I hope this sort of place might be unoccupied, but I could be wrong."

Making his way back to the staircase, he paused a moment to listen. Good, no one was approaching,a nd without further hesitation, he moved up the stairs. The pair now found themselves back at the top of the stair case, though as he stepped out into the hall and sighed with relief when he thought they were safe, a noise came frombehind them.
"Hey- who are you?"
And upon seeing the masked man, the other man gasped.

"The masked mordecai!"
And Leif wasted no time throwing a knife to his throat.

"Come on!" he said, rushing down the hall. "Who knows how many men might have heard that. Let's just get out of here as quickly as possible."

Knowing just how little Leif liked to be reminded that Audric knew something about him, he answered cheerfully, "Nope.  Just worried that your absence from Court might be noticed."  Like his might be...

As for the question of it's occupation...  "It's a Church, Cai.  Of course it's unoccupied."  Unless it was a holy day, of course, and lucky for them, it was not!

And then...they were nearly discovered!  He frowned at his partner in crime, reaching out to grasp the other man's cape as quickly as Cai had thrown the knife a moment ago.  "Not so fast there."  The cape stopped the other masked man dead in his tracks; had Cai been going any faster, it probably would have pulled him off his feet!  Once Cai had come to a complete (and somewhat sudden stop), Audric let him go.

"If you hadn't killed him, we could have interrogated him."  Obviously.  "And if you leave him here, they'll know to expect us tomorrow morning.  How many throwing knives do you go through, anyway?"  Did he never retrieve them??

Leaning down, he hefted the dead man up over his shoulder with a soft grunt from the exertion.  Dead men weren't light, after all.  "And, just so you know, I'm not climbing up onto the bloody rooftops with this guy."

Leif shot a glance back to 'Abigail'. Court. Right. He narrowed his gaze and tried to recompose himself before yanking the throwing blade from the dead man's throat.

"I've got at least one," he said, wiping the blood off on the corpse before slipping it away.
"And if we have to climb... I'll help you." And he pushed passed Audric towards the door from earlier...
only to find it locked.
Frowning, Leif tried it again before he realized...
"Shit."
There was no lock on this side to pick. They were locked in! And had panick set in he might almost forgotten...
"The other side of the hall. Quickly. It's the only way out in a way we can do so quickly. We can get the corpse onto a horse and ride out of here. Hopefully no one will stop us."
And he moved swiftly towards the only door- hoping to find it wasn't locked as well, or had any other quirks involved with it, too.

Taking note of Cai's glower, Audric offered him only the biggest grin ever!

The door posed a small problem...  Audric frowned immediately at Cai's suggestion.  "And I suppose you're hoping they won't notice that either?  If we do that, why am I even carrying this around?"

It was then that he noticed a tiny staircase tucked away in the corner.  Craning his neck upwards, Audric could just barely make out the bells above...  And that gave him an idea.

"Speaking of climbing..."  Audric gestured to the stairs with his chin.  "I bet that goes up to the bell tower.  And from the bell tower, we can get onto the roof.  And from the roof..."

He stopped.

"Actually, nevermind, that's a bad plan.  A very bad plan."

But Leif disagreed.
"To the roof top." He said, and moved to the stairs. "Hope you brought your climbing boots." It was going to be a long way up.

Audric sighed softly.  "I hate you."

But it was his own fault for letting his mouth run away with him, wasn't it?

It wasn't long before the body draped over his shoulders began to feel heavier than he would have liked.  "I'm getting too old for this," he groused, rather annoyed at his lack of fitness.  It wasn't really that, though -- or so he hoped.  "How much further do these things go up?"

He'd almost rather fight his way through the entire guard down there than have to deal with anymore of this!

"By the way," he panted, "I was thinking.  If you're going to call me Abigail, I should find something more appropriate for you.  Like Caitlyn.  Cai could be short for that, right?"

His comment was caught by the masked man by the time he reached the top of the stairs and he smirked down handsomely at the other man. It was only then he reached down to pull the corpse from the other man- it must've been exhausting work, before he dragged the body out beneath the hanging bells.

There were a great number of bells hanging above them- all hanging like massive jewels that draped from chandeliers. He took this time to admire them, seeing as no one would follow them up there before depositing the dead body carelessly in a corner.

"Help me look for a place to get onto the roof. We can see if there's a way to get out of here."
Then he paused to consider...
"Or.. we wait up here until morning."
Chances were, no one else would come up here.
And if they did, they'd be as dead as that other corpse.

Audric doubled over as soon as the corpse was taken from him, breathing a bit harder from the exertion than he would have liked.  He put a hand against the wall to steady himself, then peered from Cai to the stairs with a slight frown.

"It's moderately defensible," he concluded.  "I wish the walls were on the other side of the steps, but...we could make it work."

Dealing with his wife, however, was not a battle he cared to think of...and so he turned his attention towards finding an exit.

"Besides, we're more likely to be discovered by an altar boy come morning than any soldiers.  I don't know how you feel about it, but that's not something I want on my conscience."

Leif shrugged.
"Knocking a boy unconscious need not be your concern. I wouldn't kill an innocent." Or at least he hoped he'd never have to. But it was a war they were fighting, or did the other man forget that?
"Well.." he said with a sigh, as he paced around beneaht the bells for a bit. "I suppose we'd best find ourselves a place to get cozy, unless you want to scout out the rest of the church from the roof.."
But how far up they were- naturally, the implied action was foolish.

"Man was never meant to do all this climbing around," Audric answered with a mutter.  He plopped down on the floor unceremoniously.  Nera was going to kill him when he got home...

And then Calent would probably whine about Audric being late...because Audric was dead...

He really needed to rethink this whole vigilante thing...

"Maybe they'll go before the boy arrives to ring the morning bells..."  He glanced over at the body, frowning.  "That doesn't solve our problem of what to do with you, does it?"

Leif continued to glance up at the bells before he coined a plan.
"We could hide him up there." He pointed to a series of small bells." String him up inside, though that seems a bit gruesome."
THen again, he was already dead.

Turning to Audric, he studied him.
"That's a good plan. They should be gone before the bells are wrung. Though... this a rather big church. We havne't quite scouted it all."

It was true, they were barely skimming the surface of an even deeper problem tha tno one ever knew.

"We only need to hide him long enough for us to scout below," Audric pointed out unhelpfully.

"And my guess is that they'll want to leave well before dawn.  I assume the clergy arrive early to do...religious stuff..."  If Leif hadn't guessed already, Audric was clearly not affiliated with the church!  "And they won't anyone asking any questions, so they'll want to leave well before that."

He thought about it a moment more, then added, for Leif's benefit, "Clergy will be a lot easier for us to sneak by than armed guards.  They'll be busy praying or reading the holy book."  Probably.  "Kind of dark for us to go exploring now, don't you think?"

Leif sighed irritably.
"Then we wait a few hours and go back down. Or.." Leif glanced back towards the roof. "I could climb up there to see if the trace of the caravan have gone. They won't want those horses to be found, and if they were smart.. they'd begin getting rid of them, and the wagons, within the hour..."

At least this mean they wouldn't have to camp out all night!

"Promise not to slip and fall to your death?" Audric prompted.  He was grinning again.  "Because that would give away our position too."

He jerked a thumb in the direction of the corpse.  "I'll just stay and keep Oscar company, shall I?"

Leif rolled his eyes, and turned away to examine the bell tower to see where the easiest access to the roof might be. Thankfully, there was a notch work, similar to a ladder, chiseled into the stone, and he began to climb it with ease. At the top, he glanced just once over his shoulder back down to 'Abigail' before disappearing onto the roof.

The roof was a lot more steep in the way it slanted than he would have liked. And he never thought he was afraid of heights until now. Steeling hismelf, he drew in a breath and made slow work down the shingles. No use falling to his death. As his partner said, it might give away their position.

And you know, offer death.

Once he made it to the bottom, he clutched onto the statue of a saint and peered out below.
Then cursed when he realized, shit..
This was not the right side of the building. He was too far left.
Moving across the roof, he finally made it to the alley way, and was relieved to find the men were packing up.

Time to go back and let Abigail know.
Onc hee was back, he reported his findings right away.
"The men are on the move. If we bide our time now, wait about an hour, I think we can sneak back down into the basement and be in and out before the sun even rises for morning mass."

Then as Leif looked around he furrowed his brow.
"WHere's the corpse?"

Cai was gone an awful long time.

Okay, so it wasn't that long.  But it was boring sitting around with nothing better to do than to talk to a dead man!  And that bored on crazy, so Audric wasn't about to be caught doing it.

That left just one thing: finding somewhere to stow the cooling body.

By the time Cai returned, Audric had just taken his seat again.  He looked up at Cai, then offered him a shrug.  "Dunno.  Maybe it just got up...and walked away."  He was pretty terrible at keeping a straight face...

Leif glared at him.
"You know, I can see the foot sticking from behind you." He sighed. "I didn't think you'd take my suggestion of putting him inside a bell..."

"He's not inside a bell," Audric answered matter-of-factly as he rose.  "He's outside the bell.  If I put him in the bell, he would have dulled the sound of the morning bells, and they would have found him a little quicker.  But, like this...  They're going to have to look for him."

Probably when he started stinking.  Ew.

Leif sighed, but found himself actually smiling.
"Right then. I suppose now all we can do is wait."
Taking a seat against the wall, he sighed and leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
"So.. how many weapons do you have on you?"

Audric stared at him, although a grin was tugging at the corner of his lips.  "You're stuck alone in a room with a man you hardly know, and the first thing you want to do is compare our weapons?  Well, I hate to break it to you, but...  Mine is bigger."

Smirking, the Swordsman reached into his cloak to draw out the sword with which Cai was already familiar.  But that should have been fairly obvious.

More weapons appeared, then, all laid out in a neat little line on the floor of the bell tower.  In addition to the sword, there was a regular dagger (that was more like a bayonet), no less than two throwing daggers, a pair of small axes weighted for throwing, and a small butterfly knife tucked away in his boot.  Just in case.  All of the weapons were military grade, and they looked well-used.

"But if need be, I just use what I can find," he ended, cheerfully.  "Your turn."

Leif looked at the man flatly.
"I'm not taking out my weapons."
ANd he sighed and shook his head. His attire was no where near as 'shrouded' as his friends, and if Audric would look closely, he'd notice that there were weapons cleverly crafted and nestled into 'Cai's' leather armor, almost invisible to the naked eye.

"I showed you mine," Audric answered cheerfully, beginning the process of tucking his collection away again.  He rarely needed to use so many weapons, in particular because he preferred not to kill...but lack of preparation was a terrible way to die.

"Don't tell me you have weapons envy?  Anyway, you're the one who asked, so you can't take it back now."

"Asking is different than showing." Leif said. "Besides, it would take too long to dig all the hidden blades out."

"Oh?" Audric questioned curiously.  "And just where do you hide your blades?"  That outfit didn't leave many hiding places...  He considered the other man curiously.  "So, you have throwing knives.  What else?"

Even if he didn't show him, well, he was curious now!

Leif sighed and looked around them.
"Throwing blades are only a start. I travel light, so I make sure my weapons are as such. You'd be amazed the great lengths you can go with such a small item. Even needles can kill." He turned to Audric. "You should be familiar with Connlaoth's weaponry. I'm sure you've noted it's technology is superior to most. It's not hard to find a contractor if you know the right people to get you exactly what you need..."
And as he turned away, he gave a flick of his arm- and suddenly,  a three inch, single blade jutted out, (ooc: think wolverine claw style). He turned his arm over to let Audric see it in the moonlight, before he shook his arm and the blade was as good as gone.

"Almost like magic.." he said, staring down at the cold stone floor.

Audric whistled softly.  "Now, that's a big knife."  He, himself, preferred to use what he knew...which is probably why the Swordsman was running around with the Duke of Allar's sword...

But, no one ever got a good look at it while he was masked.

And, now that he was a Duke, he didn't get to carry it around with him to Court.

"And you've got those things all over your body?"

Leif remained quiet a moment before he gave a tap of his boot and another blade shot out. This made him smirk.
"Yeah.." he turned to him, and tapped his boot again so it'd retract. "I got a few."

"Well, call me crazy but..."  He patted the hilt of his sword lovingly.  "I like the feeling of a weapon at my side.  And they aren't so heavy, once you get used to the weight.  Plus, sometimes, it's easier to show your enemies how many weapons you have and scare them than to have to kill them."

Audric leaned back against the wall, eyeing Cai curiously.  "How'd you get into all this, anyway?"

Leif went quiet after a long moment before he sighed.
"Most stories always start out with a girl."
He didn't have to elaborate it was his sister. And feeling uncomfortable the questions came a bit too close to him, Leif stared at the floor a moment before getting to his feet.
"I think we've waited up here long enough. Let's see if the coast is clear down below."

"Mine doesn't," Audric reminded him.  "Mine starts with you."

He flashed the other man a grin.  "You know, Cai, you don't have to tell me anything."  His hand fell heavily on Cai's shoulder in a friendly gesture of camaraderie.  "If I'm prying too much, it's okay to tell me to shut the hell up, you know."

Leif yanked his shoulder away.
"You know, you're probably just as crazy as I am," he growled.
"Come on. No more fooling around." And as he began to descend the stairs he peered up at him. "And you're sure the corpse is secure?"
That's the last thing they'd need..
The corpse somehow following them.
Well, more or less 'giving them away' prematurely.

"You're not afraid it's going to escape, are you?" he wondered, looking amused.  He wasn't offended at all when Cai pulled away!  He was moody -- and that was okay!  "You're the one who killed him, after all."

Leif just shot the other man a look and continued down the way in relative silence. Once they made it to the ground level, Leif peeked out from behind the door. When he felt the coast was clear, he gestured for Audric to follow him out into the hall.

There seemed to be not a soul in sight as they made their way over to the hidden door.  This time, it took them less time to find the switch to pop open the doorway.  Once it swung open, they descended, again, into the bowels below.

Compared to the noise of before, the dungeon was eerily silent.  Torches continued to burn along the walls, as though simply waiting for their masters to return in need of them.

"I think it's even creepier this time," Audric murmured softly.

Leif silently agreed with a snort.
"It's like the after math of war."
Not that Leif knew, but he read enough about it-a nd new the silence after torture.. and death.


As they crept their way along the walls he noticed something they hadn't seen before-
Anther door.. this one unlocked, which didn't look like the others..
and this door lead down even further into the bowels of the church.

He wasn't sure why he decided to try it, but something drew him down those narrowed steps as he continued deeper down the rabbit hole.

"Yes," Audric agreed softly.  The image did not sit well in his mind, even less so than the silence had.

He followed Cai further down, feeling more and more uneasy as he did so.  "How far does this go?" he asked out loud, knowing, of course, that Cai wouldn't have the answer.  And how long had this been going on for?

Leif only held up a hand to request silence, and they continued further down, and as they did so, he was surprised to find himself in a massive, open basement, with a few still statues off in the corner. And as his eyes observed, he realzied, they weren't statues.. and the closer he went, he realized that these were bodies.
And even closer...
dead bodies.


Rearing back, Leif looked desperately around the room. There were stone beds all along the floor, a stone and glass saint marking on the floor. ANd chains, lots of chains.
And cages.

A chill ran up his spine at the sight.
There were devices all around, clearly meant to strike the devil out.
Real devices... meant for torture.


Leif slowly backed away when something moved. He could have leaped out of his skin as a hand fell out from beneath the blanket laying upon a stone bed. He held his breath, and a second later, he saw the clothe move.

Audric had seen a lot of awful things in his time, but nothing could have prepared him for this.  All mirth left his expression as he surveyed the room, his expression becoming stony and angry as he took in all of the death.

And the torture.

"These people deserve a proper burial."  He said it knowing they would not get one...  "And justice."  Now he sort of wished they had just killed everyone...

For a moment, Leif was still frozen in panic, but curiosity got the better of him. Soon his dark boots were carrying him across the room, but not without a dagger in hand. And as he stared down at the clothe over the stone bed, he thought he heard a woman's groan.

Whoever it was beneath there was still alive. And he wasn't sure what posessed him, but his hand struck out suddenly as he yanked the clothe blanket aside-
and stared in utter shock to find a woman, ghostly pale, with long, disheveled hair, arms chained down and body all marked over with symbols of the church- as if she had been cut or burned...

and the woman flinched, and he swore he felt that flinch too, just before her green eyes lifted to his.


He dropped his knife. By the Gods... he recognized that face.




It was his sister.
His sister was still alive.

It was the sound of his weapon hitting the floor that got Audric's attention.  He spun, his hand falling to his own sword, certain he would find them staring at an armed battalion, but...

...But, instead, there was only Leif.  And a girl.

"She's still alive," he breathed, at once striding over with long, purposeful steps.  "Cai, your lockpicks."

That was something only he could do...

Reaching for the cloth, Audric tucked it gently back around her to hide some of her exposed body as he looked down at her in worry.  "Hush, now.  You're going to be alright."

Her eyes were swimming, she could barely see beyond the light them from a few fat wax candles encircling her upon the floor. But at the voice, so soft and tender, her green eyes turned from the strange, masked man to another. And she saw right up his hood unto his face. To handsome eyes, to a handsome smile.

Her lips curled, but only a little, for it was just about the only thing she could do.


Leif, too much in shock to obey, found himself only staring, before reality hit him like a ton of bricks.
The church would pay. So help him, he'd go up into the realmof the Gods and strangle Angsar himself for this.

Throwing out his arm, he opened up a small compartment and began to fuss around with a few small pieces of wire, and moved over towards her and began to pick each lock on each cuff. THen, once hse was safe, he stood back to study her, eyes still wide.

Fuck. What was he to do with her? How were they to get her out?

Audric remained patiently beside her as Cai went about his work.  "We'll get you out of here."

But how?

"Cai," he began, keeping his voice in a calm, level tone.  With any luck, she wasn't conscious enough to understand him -- but a soothing tone, even expressing something like this -- could work wonders.  "Once you're done, I need you to go up the stairs ahead of me.  We're going to need those horses."

Audric's calm voice was something he needed in that moment. He thought he was going to blow his top. ANd he wouldn't leave his sister in this condition alone with anybody else.
"Consider the horses ours," his voice came out darkly. Assuming Audric was strong enough to carry her, Leif prepared a knife and stalked his way back towards the stairs.

Oh yes.. the church would pay.

Audric nodded slightly and, after tucking the sheet more closely around the girl, he gently lifted her, bridal-style, into his arms.

"Alright, dear one, here we go.  We're going upstairs, and then we're going for a little ride.  And then, when you wake up, you'll never have to think about this ever again."

He moved carefully and gently, taking care not to bump into anything or to jolt the poor girl too much.  She had already been through too much already...and he knew that, although Leif would hurry, he could afford to take his time.

But woe be to any who stumbled into his path; he was not in the mood to be merciful, just now.

Attalia felt his strong arms go around her, so warm and protective as he held her close. She hadn't realized she was cold, or not even dressed, until she began to tremble. Her lips, nearly purple in color, began to vibrate along with the chattering of her teeth. And she had not even the strength to wrap her arms around Audric as he held her. SHe simply was just there, in his arms, long hair flowing like a veil over his shoulder, and fluttered lightly behind them as he walked, the clothe of her temporary clothing scraping against the floor.

And as he held her, she stared up at him, to the only thing she could find comfort in. His face. A gentle face.
Her rescuer. Her hero.
ANd he promised her light. He promised her salvation.
He promised to take her away from the bowels of this church.

And as she looked at him, eyes pale, eyes green; tears began to shine across them, as a soft sob escaped her lips.

"No tears now," Audric said with a gentle smile, looking down into the poor girl's face.  "Tears don't belong on a face so pretty."

They were on the first level now, still below the church but moving steadily towards the church above and the exit.

At the base of the stairs, however, he paused.  There was a commotion upstairs.  It didn't sound like fighting, but...

"We're almost there."

Audric was right. It wasn't fighting. Leif's job had been too easy. ANd he had found oil. Lots of it. And when he'd make it to th eone level, he'd see Leif spilling it in the hallway of the church.

Upon seeing Audric reach the top of the final flight of stairs, he dropped the last pot of oil and looked back at him.

"I hope this fucking church burns to the ground." He growled, not realizing what sort of consequences this could mean to the other 'prisoners'... if any were still alive.

Audric opened his mouth and shut it again with a slight shake of his head.  "I have to say, I'm having a hard time convincing myself not to let you do it."

He should stop him.  He knew that.  For religious reasons, for tactical reasons, for Calenty reasons...

But, right now, he couldn't make himself care.

"Are the horses out front?"

Leif stared at the sconces on the wall. THeir flames lapping wicked colors across the walls. And after a moment he finally answered quietly.
"Yes."

And he couldn't look at him. He couldn't look at his sister. He needed them out of the way. He needed to do this. He had to let the church know...
they would pay.

Audric nodded grimly, only adding, "Just be careful, Cai.  And hurry.  We may need those blades of yours to get out of here."

With that done, he moved outside and towards the waiting horses.

"How are you doing?" he asked, looking down at the girl.  He didn't exactly expect an answer, but it still felt polite to ask.

Everything hurt. It was something hard to explain, especially since she wans't sure if she even had a voice. So she merely stared at him, eyes tired and full of tears as a few rolled down her cheeks the moment the pair stepped outside.

She was so close to freedom. She knew it. ANd something stirred inside. And as the two of them got mounted onto a horse, it could almost be heard her saying 'Thank you..' but it might have been inside her heard.


Leif had let Audric too it, wiating for both of them to get outside the building. For a whle, he glared down the hallway, blade in hand, before anger over took him. He struck out,a d hard, bashing a scones off the wall and the hall took to light- a wall of flames scorching down the way.

The heat was intense, and he watched for less than a minute before he tucked his cape against his body and bolted out the door.

Audric arranged the girl as comfortably as he could, keeping her nestled protectively against his midsection.  He looked towards the door as Cai emerged, somehow relieved to see him.

"Do you have some place we can go?"

Audric certainly couldn't take her home to Nera...

Approaching his own horse, he frowned at the question.
What could he do with her? He could take her home but...
It would alos bring up a lot of questions with his own wife. Then again.. his family was awfully rich. But who could he trust to take care of her if not himself.


"I.. I don't know.." he said at last, mounting the horse. "Let's get to the woods and we can discuss it there."
His head was swmming too fast for him right now for him to keep up.

Audric nodded, mind whirling.  He wasn't familiar with this part of the country.  If he were in Allar, he could think of a number of places to hide the girl...

And so, for a time, they rode in silence.  The Church yard and street were, blessedly, deserted.  It seemed the city had caught a little of their mood, not daring to challenge the masked vigilantes as they made away with their prize.  Behind them, however, they could hear the roar of the blaze, shouts of people to form a bucket brigade, soldiers calling for order...  Ahead, of them, however, there was only empty street.

That is, until they reached the gates.  They stood open, but there was an obvious presence of the guards milling about the area.  Audric stopped his horse, just out of sight of the gate.  "I'm going through at a gallop."  With his free hand, he slid one of the axes out of its sheath.  He hoped he wouldn't need to use it -- but the men at the gate had pikes, and that could be deadly at this point.  "Can you cover us?  There shouldn't be any need to become separated, but if we do...  I'll meet you at the Crossroads."

Leif nodded and let one throwing blade slip down his hand.
"Leave it to me. I got your back."
No one would stand in his way. And as they neared the gates, he thought up a plan and turned to Audric.
"Keep her safe. I'm going ahead. If they see me, they'll make chase. It'll buy you enough time to get out of here."
Attalia's freedom, he rlife was more important now, and of course getting out of the gate wouldn't be easy. There were more guards as usual on duty, and hadn't been alerted to the church's fire just yet, but someone must've tipped them off.

Moving out ahead, Leif dismounted his horse and picked up a piece of fallen brick work-
then hurled it at one of the guards heads. It clanked off his metal helmet and as he turned around, Leif remounted and gave an extra flaunt to his cape.

"The masked mordecai! After him men!" And the two extra guards raced after him, weapons in hand, as Leif galloped back into the city. And as he was leaving the place, he made quick work to configure his collapsable crossbow, before taking aim and shooting a bolt into the shoulder of the man on watch in the tower- stunned, the man doubled over and fell from his perch...

Hopefully that was enough coverage that Audric and Attie could get out of town safe.

Audric, being the person he was, winced slightly at the impact of the brick against the man's body...  But there were measures that needed to be taken...

Once the gate was cleared, Audric looked down at the girl nestled in his arms.  "Hold on," he murmured, not even knowing if she was conscious or not.  He spurred the horse forward, and, soon enough, they were flying through the gates and down the dirt path to freedom...

He trusted Leif would be fine -- hoped so, anyway.  The man was resourceful, to say the least.

As the horse took off, her make shift dress took to the winds, fluttering as wildly as the horses tail. Though she was barely hanging onto consciousness, the full throttled feeling of the horses hooves beating beneath her, and the warm arms holding her tight was enough to send a thriving chill across her body.

And as they continued on the path, and buildings turned to tree and the cobblestone to mud, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to be lulled back to sleep. Though the second darkness became her, her dreams were ripe with nightmares.

Hands moving out from the dark.. eyes watching, wanting, grabbing. And the chains were there, an the cold stone bed, as the cold metal instruments were brought before her.
and the machine...
The dreaded machine whcih made her scream.


A moment later, not realizing her and Audric were in the clear, out in the woods all alone, she sat up suddenly and began to scream.

Audric had long given up thoughts of pursuit as they meandered through the sun-dappled forest paths.  He had discovered a game trail running parallel to the road, and, for the sake of safety, had decided to take that to the Crossroads to wait for Cai.

He wondered if Leif knew anything about hunting.  He could make some trail sign indicating that Cai should go in the direction of the woods...

But a plan had formed for where they could take the unfortunate girl.  His wife (and Calent) were going to kill him, but he could, in the very least, use the burning church as a sort of excuse.  Maybe.  Fortunately, there was a hunting lodge not too far away owned by the Grand Duchess's father...  The Duke of Highheart loved to hunt and had several lodges scattered throughout his territory -- but, fortunately for them all, he was away for, in the very least, a week to celebrate his beloved daughter's birthday, being held in the Capital by the Grand Duchess herself this very week.

It wasn't a fool-proof plan, no, but it would buy them some time.  And from there, they could probably move up into Allar...and he could offer one of his own lodges...

And that was when the screaming began.  Both Audric and the horse reacted in similar fashions; Audric jumped about a foot out of the saddle while the horse bucked in a panic at the shrill sound delivered into its ears.

If Audric had both hands, he would have easily been able to regain control of the beast.  However, he was still supporting the girl in his arms, and he didn't think her well enough -- or coherent enough -- to be able to hold on for herself...so he did the next best thing: he cradled the girl in his arms and let go.

Audric landed hard on the path as he cradled the girl protectively against his larger frame.  His cloak wrapped intimately around them as they rolled a bit, pinning them cozily together as they came to a stop.  Audric glanced after their horse, who cantered away from them up the path, and then he turned his attention to the girl.

"Shhh," he murmured softly.  "Hush, now.  You're safe.  I've got you."

The drop to the ground and roll was enough to scare her even more, but this time into silence as she peered up, once again, more coherently into the shrouded darkness beneath Audric's hood while her chest heaved heavily beneath the meager fabric that, by now, was nearly falling off her naked form. Her eyes, once an illustrious deep green, now appeared as pale as her skin as she trembled and fresh tears stung her eyes. And it wasn't long before she was whimpering and asking through trembling lips.
"Who... who are you?" Then after a fearful blink, she added as she cowered from him. "Where are we? What do you plan to do with me?" Then, as her memory swam back to her in a nauseating stream, her eyes widened in realization-
"Don't take me back there!" she said suddenly, a hand pressing to his chest as she sat up. "P-please.. I'll do anything." And her vision blurred as hot tears ovewhelmed her eyes. "Please Gods... never take me back tot eh church." ANd she shook and trembled in fear.

"Whoa, whoa," Audric answered quietly.  He frowned at her sheet -- which looked to be doing her no good anyway -- and began to work at his cloak pin as he spoke.  He kept his tone soft and even, trying to be soothing rather than frighten the girl even worse.  "That's a lot of questions.  Why don't we get you warmed up while I explain?"

He swept the cloak off his tall, broad-shouldered frame to reveal a dark mask like Cai's, short blonde hair and light blue eyes.  He was dressed in nondescript, high-quality clothes meant to be more functional than pretty, and a dazzling array of weapons stood out on his person.  It was little wonder she was terrified...

"Here," he offered with a kind smile, taking a step back from her and sitting down, cross-legged, on the ground to minimize how threatened she might feel from him.  "Now, first of all, I'm called the Shrouded Swordsman.  My friend should be here soon.  He's the Masked Mordecai."  He paused to see if that garnered a reaction, then went on.

"We're taking you away from there.  Probably to Highheart for a few days, then maybe to Allar.  Cai and I haven't really talked about it yet."  So...he really had no idea.  "But we're going to make sure you're somewhere safe, where they can't find you."

With his cloak around her body, she trembled beneath it as she stared over at him, gripping the fabric tightly around her form until her knuckles went white.
The names of the two were almost lost upon her, considering her disappearance happened long before either was established as a famed, crime fighting name in the cities.

But it didn't matter, she was still cold as she trembled beneath the clothing, or rather, still so frightened over what had occurred. Though his face was warma nd kind, handsome even, despite the mask attempting to jar her perception, to see all of the weapons on him made her flinch back, her back now pressed against a tree.

She could see where her eyes went, caught by the shining metal of the dozen or so weapons secured about his person.  After what she had been through, it was little wonder she had a fear of blades...

Audric sat still with his hands flat on his knees, the very image of patience itself.

"Here's what I'm going to do," he explained carefully.  "I'm going to sit right here and wait for you to feel a little better, no matter how long that takes.  If you like, I'll even lay down my weapons and let you take one for yourself.  You can even throw pebbles or acorns or anything you like at me, and I won't move an inch unless you tell me to.  Is that okay?"

God knew what had been done to her in that place...

From where she cowered, she looked at him and trembled still. Still clutching onto the cloak, she blinked back a few tears and asked, "But why would I want to hurt you?" She tried to calm her breath, swallow back her tears as she studied him a bit more calmly. "You... your the one who took me from the church..."
And she remembered him, even if it was a glimpse in the dark.

Audric's grin rose immediately to his lips, as if summoned.  "Dunno.  But I was kind of hoping you wouldn't want to."  Because who wanted to let someone else, even somebody like this poor thing, attack him?

"I thought you might feel a little safer if I let you take my weapons.  And I thought if you threw things at me, you might see I don't intend to hurt you either."  His grin widened a little more, then, and he added, in a softer, more conspiratorial tone, "Not that a few acorns or pebbles would hurt me all that much."

He looked her over, frowning at the ensemble.  It was just no good, really, to have the poor girl dressed in a sheet like that...especially a sheet as dirty and disgusting as that one.

"Would you mind if I gave you my shirt to wear?  It won't be any warmer than that sheet, but it will be cleaner.  And you'll still have my cloak for warmth."

And, still, he hadn't moved, simply waiting for her permission to do so.

Attalia stared at him curiously before she looked down at her outfit and sheepishly tucked in her bare toes beneath the dirty sheet. It was at this gesture she realized she was completely naked beneath it before she looked towards him.
"But I.. I couldn't inconvenience you.."
Ah, her proper tongue was coming out. ANd her proper ways as she turned away, embarrassed by the incentive, but by no means, untouched.

That made Audric chuckle softly.  "Believe me, it's no inconvenience."  It was, truthfully, more inconvenient to have her wandering around in that sheet...

"May I?"

Having gained her assent, he rose slowly, giving her ample time to see each movement and to realize he meant her no harm.  To access his shirt, however, was no small feat, as it required him to unstrap several weapons from his person.  "I'm just going to put my weapons down on the ground.  Alright?"  Slowly, he removed the pair of axes from their sheaths and set them down, then the series of throwing knives.  From there, he was able to remove the straps that held them in place, and this, too, joined the weapon collection.

His waist coat was next.  He undid the buttons slowly, then smoothly slid out of the top layer, followed, then, at last, by the white shirt beneath.  He pulled it over his head to reveal a body that was in very, very good shape indeed.  Scars -- some deep, some barely noticeable -- marked him to be a warrior, as did the muscles rippling beneath the skin.

"Here," he offered, holding the shirt out to her but not making the first move to approach her.  "I'll turn around while you dress."

Watching his careful motions, she already began to feel at ease. Her rescuer was a true gentleman, and as she watched him strip- she realized, a warrior as well. Was he a soldier? Though would a soldier truly save a woman from the church? It was hard to say with how this world was going. Connlaoth was falling to ash, and her world, along with it. Once she realized he was nearly done,s he remembered her manners and cast her eyes down to the dirt. A soft blush graced her cheeks, and at first, she didn't notice the offered shirt until she saw the shadow swinging upon the ground.

Raising her eyes, she stared at him for a moment before hesitantly, she reached for it. But even that little bit of strength took a lot out of her as she doubled over, clutching onto it as a wave of pain and fatique became her.

In an instant, Audric was beside her with a support arm wrapped around her.  "You're alright.  Just take it easy."  He glanced around, taking note of a stump that looked particularly comfortable.

Well, just as far as comfortable went for the woods.

"I'm going to pick you up and carry you over to that stump, okay?"  He barely waited for her to signal that it was okay to do so before scooping her back into his arms.

They were at the stump in a few short strides, and she was lowered gently down onto it, as though it were a bench.  He crouched down in front of her, his expression full of concern and a hand at her back to both comfort and support her.  "Here we are.  Just take your time.  It's okay."

She couldn't feel much weight on her body, almost like she were a ghost. She leaned against him for a time where she could, before finding the strength to lift her head. She was breathing a bit harder than before, it almost strained as she blinked her eyes up at him, trying to keep her vision focused before she collapsed against him again.

Well!  This certainly put them in a pickle!  Audric considered his options, a minute, then gently picked her up once again.

Cai would, no doubt, be wondering where the hell they'd gone by now...and, with any luck, the crossroads were just ahead.

But, first things first...

"I'm going to put you down, alright?  Just for a minute."  He had no way of knowing if she was conscious or not, if she could hear him, or if he was just talking to himself.  Still, he wanted to make sure she knew he'd come back for her.

He settled her down against a tree, tucking her in as best as he could with his shirt, the sheet, and his cloak.  Once she seemed comfortable -- temporarily, anyway -- he turned back to his pile of belongings on the forest floor.

The waist coat came back on, although he looked ridiculous without the undershirt, followed by the straps and, finally, his weapons.  Only then did he pick the girl up again and make his way back down the path.

By the time they reached the crossroads, Audric's arms felt like lead, in spite of the girl's slight weight, and he could already feel the bruises forming from their rough landing off the back of the horse.  He spotted it ahead, grazing innocently, and he frowned.  Stupid beast.  With any luck, Cai hadn't seen it and assumed the worst...

"Alright, here we are.  Just have to wait for Cai, and we can go.  I'm going to put you down again, okay?"

Audric vanished just long enough to retrieve the horse, who, fortunately, didn't bolt upon seeing him.  He led the horse back onto the deer trail and secured him off to the side, then hovered over the unconscious girl.

They could see the road from here.  It wasn't the Crossroads, but they would be able to see if anyone was coming towards them from the city.  It would have to do.

But what to do about the girl?  Use the opportunity to pull the shirt over her head, or let her do it herself when she awakened?  What if she thought he was trying to take advantage of her?  What if Cai came in at a gallop with soldiers on his heels?  What if, what if?

And how was Cai not here yet?  He was, Audric realized with a critical look towards the sun, quite late...

And that only gave him one more thing to worry about it.

Fire lit the sky like a storm. The fire from the church was growing, no thanks to the masked man that went foolishly back. And he would pay for it.

It took him longer to return, the sun nearly rising when he groaned and stumbled, horseless down the trail. But there it was, the cross roads...
and there he fell, still a few yards away, face first in the mud with arrows sticking out all over his body and blood slicking his black leather clothes.


~*~*~*~*~

And not too far away, the woman stirred. She needed more than sleep. Food.. a terrible hunger had rotted her stomach for so long, and her muscles ached and burned, as did the very blood that ran through her veins, but as she awoken, to the sounds of the blue birds calls, she actually smiled, forgetting her pain and recalling her love for animals, back to when she lived in her families home.

She never liked caged birds, she always felt their songs were sadder than those that were free- and eventually when her family caught on that she was letting them go, they stopped purchasing them, finding it a waste. Even stil, she could be foudn in their gardens, whistling to the song birds or just laying int he grass ad enjoying them singing back to her.

Audric saw Leif before he saw his female companion open her eyes...

Which was just as well, because she would have, otherwise, heard some rather colorful curses leave his lips as he left the safety of the trees to kneel beside Leif.  "Cai..."  His eyes rose to the road behind him, searching for signs of pursuit...but, seeing none, he focused his attention on the unfortunate man in front of him.

"What in the hell happened, Cai??"

Pushing himself up, he grit his teeth and spat out blood.

"I..." he began to say, arms buckling. "I got distracted."
For a while he looked around, not seeing Attie anywhere in sight. He glanced up at Audric questionably. "Where... where's the girl?"

"Asleep.  Over there."  He jerked his head to the side where he'd left her.  As he had done for the girl, he had immediately reached out to support his friend.  "Let's get you up and into the brush.  We've got to get you patched up..."  And figure out what the hell they were going to do...

Audric was beginning to think Highheart was out.  It might be best to go directly to Allar...

"No bull shit.  How bad are you hurt?"

It was strange, the small moment of reverie was short lived when she sensed something, almost like when the church drained her of water-
This moment, was it surreal? But she could taste it, she could breath it...
But it was then, as she sat up ad realized she was alone-
And that very idea made her screamed again.


And at Audric's question, he looked right intot he man's eye, one of his gloved hands clutching a wound before he sputtered out blood onto the grass. He barely had the chance to wipe the slobber from his mouth when the scream struck the air. He made a noise, as if swallowing his own tongue, before he collapsed against a nearby tree. There were wounds and cuts all over him. And as his chest heaved deeply he looked back to Audric and commanded, "Go to her."
Lest his entire sacrifice be in vane.

Audric's head whipped back towards the girl.  "Angsar damn it all!"  He was 99% sure she wasn't actually in any danger; she had done this once before, after all.  "Stay here!" he ordered -- as if Leif were really capable of going anywhere.

He crashed through the underbrush, arriving back where he had left her in a matter of seconds.  Bad timing...  That's what it was!

And he mostly wasn't surprised at all to find her by herself...

"Easy there!  Easy!  I'm right here!  It's me.  Remember me?"

Terrified beyond belief, she was relieved to see Audric's familiar face and soon found her entire body trembling again as she held onto his shoulders, lowered her head and began to cry.
"Gods.. I wasn't sure if this was real. If anything here was real... and then I woke up, all alone and I...I was just so afraid."
She was like glass, so easy to break, so fragile as she looked back up at him, tears bubbling forth from her eyes.
"Oh, Gods bless you, or whatever else is out there. You have no idea the nightmares I see. The nightmares I have been through." And she found her cold hand finding his, as her own shook and trembled.


Leif watched the exchange through the broken brush path Audric had created when he rushed off to tend to his sister. He half smiled, noting she was ok and the way Audric soothed her. But it was just the right moment, a perfect end to his day, to his run; as his tired eyes closed and he collapsed onto the ground, never to awake that day again.

Audric's expression softened, and he allowed the girl to sob into his shoulder.  "There, there.  It's alright.  I wasn't far.  I wouldn't have left you, except..."

Still holding her in his arms, he half-turned -- just in time to watch Leif topple over.

...Well, damn.

"What's your name, dear one?"

At his question, she searched his eyes long and hard, tears still sparkling across their surface before she answered, "Attie." And though she recalled his name from earlier, she frowned and reached a gentle hand forward to touch his mask. "And you? Do you have a real name that I might call you?"

"Attie," Audric repeated with a genuine smile.  Somehow, it seemed to fit her...

"My name must, for the time being, remain a mystery, but I have a feeling you'll know it very soon." Gently but firmly, he took her hand in his, guiding it back down to lie between them.

"You've been very brave, Attie.  And I know you've been through a lot.  Can I ask you to be brave for a little longer?  My partner, Cai, is very gravely wounded.  I can patch him up, but we can't stay out here, and we only have one horse.  I need to go back to the city for a coach."

He half-turned, looking, once again, in Cai's direction.  That must have been one hell of a distraction...  Looking back to Attie, he gave her a gentle smile.

"I won't be long, but I need you to look after Cai while I'm gone.  Can you do that for me?"

Slowly her eyes moved from Audric's over to his friends and gasped when she saw the body. Fear filled her eyes and in silence, she nodded. Tears clung to the edges of them before she blinked and looked up at him.

"Are you sure it's safe for you to do that? You could take him to a healer. I should be alright here by myself" And even though she offered, even she knew she would not, considering she couldn't even walk.

Once again, Audric flashed her a grin.  "After we went to all the trouble of bringing you out here?  Of course we're not going to just leave you."  Picking himself up, he added, "Besides.  Cai would kill me."  Somehow, he still said it with a grin!

"Do you think you can manage to put that shirt on yourself?  We're going to need to tear that sheet up for bandages."

Looking back down, she blushed and recalled his request from earlier,a nd clung onto the bed sheet, as if fearful it might fall off nd gave a weak nod. Once Audric turned around, like a gentleman, she too, turned from him and let the blanket fall to the ground while picking up his shirt and slipped it on. It smelled of his musk, and the scent warmed her, comforted her as she lifted a hand to her lips, the long sleeves just covering over her fingers as she paused a moment to consider their plight...
and just how lucky she really was. And then she thought back to her parents and found herself beginning to cry.


This was only the beginning.

"Are you alright?" Audric asked softly, stiffening at the sound of her tears but not turning around to investigate -- at least, not at first.  He risked a timid glance over his shoulder after a moment and, seeing her dressed, returned to offer her a smile.

"Hey, now, Attie," he murmured softly.  "I have another important job for you.  Do you think you're up for it?"

Reaching for the knife on his belt, he held it out to her, hilt first.  "Take this.  I need that sheet torn up into strips for bandages.  Can you do that while I bring Cai over?"

Attalia looked up at Audric and nodded. Where her legs still felt numb and ghosted, she could at least try to use her hands. And she set to work, folding hte clothe over tomark where she'd like to cut,t hen took the sharp blade across it, cutting neat ribbons as best she could.

"Thank you, Attie," he said, rewarding her with a smile.

And then it was time to check on Cai.  Spitting up blood was never, ever a good sign...and treatment had already been delayed too long.  Audric was no doctor, but he'd seen enough in the field to have some idea where to start.

Once Audric was in the shelter of the trees, Audric began to examine the wounds he had taken, enlisting Attie's help with the bandages.  Cai was still alive, but his breathing was shallow, he was pale, and, it seemed, no matter what abuse he suffered at Audric's hands, he remained entirely unconscious.

At last, all the wounds were bandaged, and there was nothing more to be done.  Audric wiped off his hands as best he could on what little remained of the tattered sheet and sat back on his heels, exhausted from a long sleepless, emotional night.  And there was still much to do...  Thank Angsar Allar wasn't far off.

"Are you sure you haven't had any medical training?" he asked the girl beside him lightly, offering her an almost-dopey grin.  "You're not half-bad at this."

Growing more solemn, then, the masked man said, "Now, I have to go.  Remember what I told you: stay hidden here until I come back for you."  Once again, his weapons -- the poor things! -- were being placed on the ground.  It would look even more suspicious if he came back into the city armed to the teeth.  He would keep his sword, however, and let any guard who questioned its presence answer to Calent!  "I'll bring back some proper clothes, some medicine for Cai, and some breakfast for us to eat on the way."

Sure, this could work.  And they just might get away with it, too...

He left her with a gentle kiss atop her head, like a parent would a child, and his usual confident smirk.  "You're an angel, Attie.  Cai's lucky to have you watching over him.  I'll see you in an hour."

Not liking being alone, she steeled herself, knowing that freedom couldn't be that far off, and took comfort in feeling humbled she was able to help. She blushed at Audric's kind words and bowed her head. "You are too kind. The most experience I've had on this sort of thing was patching up my younger brother when we were little." She smiled fondly at the memory before peering up at him.

"Do not worry. I will stay here and stay quiet, and try to make sure we are safe."
For there was little else she could do, but before the man left, she took his hand and pulled on it gently, just enough to get him to turn her way as she kissed him softly, but once upont he cheek.
"Thank you."
And her eye met warmly to his as she squeezed his hand again.

Audric's smile was equally as genuine as he squeezed her hand back.  He nodded slightly, then, and took off upon the horse in silence.

Unlike Leif, who was easily distracted, it seemed, Audric returned to the City with a singular purpose.  He barely remembered to remove his mask before approaching the gates, having to wind his horse carefully around the gossips and curiosity-seekers who lined the streets following the burning of the Church.  It didn't take Audric long to learn the details -- at least, the details that the folks on the street knew.

Distracted?  Indeed.

His departure from the rooms in which he was staying was tense and vague at best.  He hastily scribbled a note of apology to Calent, then rounded up the supplies he wanted to take back, including a few changes of clothing (and some of his wife's, which he fervently hoped she would not miss), some food from the kitchen, and some medical supplies from a local surgeon.  Audric gave him a little extra to be discreet.

By the time he returned to the Crossroads, he felt, and looked, almost a new man.  Dressed once again in the rich clothes befitting a noble with his hair combed into some semblance of order, few would suspect Audric of being the Swordsman who had had a hand, it was rumored, in the destruction of the Church the previous night.  The circles beneath his eyes and bruises on his body told a different tale, however...

And so it was that the Duke of Allar, unaccompanied by his wife or guard, pulled the carriage to a stop and hopped out of the driver's seat.  He looked around at the empty road, then strode purposefully towards the place he had left his charges.

And this time, he wore no mask.

"Attie?  Cai?  I came back as soon as I could.  How are you doing?"

No response would come from Cai, but Attie peered up from where she sat beside. She had done the best she could to clean the man, but... for his own sake, left his mask on. So when Audric approached, she smiled.
"I see you've got no mask." And her smile broadened. "It's good to see you without it. You are very handsome."

Audric laughed quietly, looking a bit sheepish...though not entirely unlike a rogue as he leaned forward to catch her hand in his.  "I think I look better with it, personally."  He gave her a friendly wink, then, in the manner of a gentleman, he bowed lowly and brought her hand up to his lips.

"Audric Molneux, Duke of Allar, at your service, my lady."

That was maybe more information than she needed to know, strictly speaking, but, at this point, he would look like a right idiot if he didn't tell her and Cai figured it out...as well he should, because he was nobility himself.

"Congratulations.  You are the first person to know the identity of the Shrouded Swordsman."  He glanced down at Cai, then, and added for her benefit, "Not even Cai knows who I am, nor do I know who he is.  But, at this point, I think keeping you two out of harm's way while you recover is more important than hiding my identity."  It was all about priorities!

"I've brought you something.  I don't know if it will fit, but it's better than what you're wearing."  Here, he produced his wife's clothes for her, offering her a cheerful grin as he did so.  "And while you're dressing, I'm going to lug Cai over to the coach and give him something to bring his fever down."

Oh, wasn't he a charmer! And she felt her heart flutter at that smile.
"A mask means a man has something to hide. I like to see honesty, Duke." She smiled warmly. "And I still like it without the mask."
She would have hardly expected to be rescued by a duke! But who was she to complain? And at the sight of the dress, she was glad she knew he was a duke before hand,f or it was beautiful and made of only the finest material.

"It's beautiful..."s he said, running her hands across it. "Thank you." And she kept her gaze upont he dress before peering over at the unconscious 'Cai', and simply nodded when Audric mentioned he'd be tending to the man first.

"Yes, I'll go dress."And quickly. She found a secluded area, and once she found her legs again, she was able to slip int the dress. Once she ws in it, it fit like a glove, and she had to hodl a hand against the front as she steppe dout from behidn the trees, her green eyes wandering over towards Audric curiously as she waited for him to be done. She needed help with the corset, after all, and could only tie up so much of it by herself, especially in her condition.

"When you have a moment I... I need your assistance."
And when she turned around for him to help, she moved her dark brow hair off of hershoulders, exposing the bruises, cuts and markings on her back and neck.

Cai was taken to the coach, where Audric rechecked his wounds and settled him in a seat as comfortably as he could.  Many of the wounds had started to heal, he thought, but one or two worried him.  In these, he sprinkled an herbal mixture that would help them to knit back together.  There would be scars, and, likely, they would be ugly, but Audric wasn't willing to open up the wounds again once they had closed to sew them back up again.

And he didn't have the time to sew them up right now, either.

Rock and a hard place...

He turned curiously towards the girl, he frowned slightly as he caught sight of the marks on her back.  He wasn't sure he ever wanted to know what had caused them...  Nevertheless, he stepped up behind her to see what he could do about the corset.

"I'm not very good at this," he confessed as he carefully began to draw the strings.  "My wife swears up and down the maid has had to cut her out on three separate occasions after I bungled the knotting."

A lady's corset knot was, apparently, different from field knots.

She felt her heart leap. Oh! So he was married! It made sense, such a handsome man as he! And despite having a crush on her hero, she was glad for him and turned around once she was secure and looked up into his eyes.
"Thank you."
Then, after realizing she ws staring for far too long, she looked over at the carriage, then down to her feet. "I suppose we ought to be going?"

Audric's smile came as easily as ever.  "You're quite welcome."

He extended an arm out to her, as much to be a gentleman as to steady her as he escorted her to the wagon.

"When I told you earlier that you were a good nurse, I wasn't paying you an empty compliment, Attie.  Thank you for helping me to look after Cai.  He's quite the handful.  And a little prickly, but he's a good man."  They had arrived at the carriage again by now!  Audric helped her inside, as was a gentleman's duty.

"There is one more thing I would ask of you.  There are a few wounds that are still bleeding.  He's in no immediate danger, but I've treated them as best I can out here and rebandaged them.  And I've given him something to help him sleep through the worst of it."  Otherwise, he'd probably be trying to fight on the roof of the coach with...well, just about everybody.  And that would be no good for him!  "If you can keep an eye on those bandages and tell me if they keep bleeding, we would both be in your debt."

He thought of something else, then, and leaned into the carriage.  A picnic basket had been laid neatly inside, and he offered it to her with a smile.  "Eat as much as you like.  It was rather hastily packed, I'm afraid, but it should make for a good enough breakfast."

She ate in silence, and with as much dignity as she could muster from the confines of their 'vehicle'. Though she was starving, she could only eat so much as her stomach felt as if it were rotting on the inside. She only ate a few pieces of bread and bites from the jerky, before she needed to rest. And as their ride continued to move them closer to their destination, she asked Audric quietly, "I know Allar is a supporter of this war." And he knew she was a mage for where he had found her and her condition... "So I know what sort of dangers you might face if it were found out you had helped aid in my mistake. I will be forever in your debt for this."

(OOC: Oh, he isn't in the vehicle with them.  He's driving!  <3  But we'll say she can easily converse with him, because of reasons!  Also, I assume you meant "escape" instead of "mistake."  Even more reasons!)

Audric, in fact, had no idea she was a mage!  How on earth would he put two and two together so quickly?

"I love Calent as a brother," Audric answered willingly.  "And I truly believe I am closer to him than most.  What's happened...  What is happening...  It's not something he ever intended.  So...  I support Calent.  I obey his commands and uphold his laws.  But I will not stand by and let good, innocent people be used, frightened, or abused."  He frowned slightly, thinking over his position.  "No one should be forced to endure what you have, Attie.  I would not see anyone face such a trial.  Not even the ones who put you there."

Attalia smiled at his words and leaned against the inner wall of the carriage. The view from the front window allowed her to see just a glimpse of the blonde man manning the horses as she went silent for a time to digest his words.

"I do not believe he is a bad person, either." She said softly. And to the last one, well..
that was obvious she silently agreed.

Audric nodded slightly in response, and although she couldn't see it, she could no doubt hear the smile and gratitude in his voice.  "Thank you."

The road to Allar was long but, for the most part, deserted.  There were few travelers on the road, both due to the time of year and tension rising throughout the country of Connlaoth.

Audric occasionally asked about the health of his comrade, though he seemed to be holding together well enough.  He was grateful for that.

The carriage rolled on towards its destination, stopping only when either the passenger or driver found it necessary.  They passed through Matron's Hollow into Allar as the sun was setting.  Audric was worn through, but he kept a smile on his face and answered his companion's questions cheerfully.  He was trying to tell himself that he had stayed up longer than this while serving on the borders, but, to be honest, that was rather a long time ago...

It was well into the night, and he was nodding off in his seat, in spite of the aches and pains, when the carriage bumped over a pothole.  It almost sent him careening off the driver's seat in his surprise -- and, after a moment of panic, he settled back down with a sigh.  "Sorry, Attie," he told the girl, assuming she'd been shaken up a bit as well.  "But I think we're almost there..."

Peering out through the carriage window, she smiled over at him and rested her arm against the lip of the window, then her cheek ontop of her arm.
"Do not worry about it, Audric," she said, smiling softly she got to learn his name. But the more she thought of it, the more she began to wander..
"Audric, I do not believe we've met beore- and I know, since I met the former duke of Allar before. You... what relation were you to the Allarricks?"
And not realizing by her question, she had revealed she was a lady of means- not that she was trying to hide anyhign from him

Well, that was interesting...  Not many people could claim to have met Calent...

"I grew up a ward in the Allarrick household and, eventually, became head of Calent's guard."  He grinned at nothing in particular.  "And when Calent became Grand Duke..."  He chuckled softly, indicating his amusement.  "...Well, I must have done something to anger him, because he stuck me with this job."

He was still a bit sore over it!

"Addie...  I did think you'd look familiar."  He was musing over her identity, but was not rude enough to ask.  "Ah, here we are," he added a moment later as the dirt road below them suddenly became a cobbled path.  "This is one of my lodges.  We should be safe here."

Attalia smiled at his words. Wasn't he the charming fellow? Too bad she couldn't have married a nice man like him. Instead, she was condemned for being able to play with water..

"You might have known me. My full name is Attalia Arrant. My parents are the rulers of Castavar."

"I do remember you," Audric said warmly, after a moment's thought and with a smile.  "I recall your parents visiting Calent on one occasion.  You were in tow -- and your brother as well.  Leif, wasn't it?"  What a queer name!  "You've certainly grown more beautiful -- it's little wonder I failed to recognize you."  But what on earth was she doing in that church?  The last he had heard of her, she was being accused of being a mage...

...Well, shit...

Turning his attention to the lodge, he frowned slightly at the darkened windows.  How quickly one became accustomed to having servants to do everything for you!

"Once we get inside, I'll get Cai put to bed, then get a room ready for you as well."

Attie smiled and blushed at his compliments.
"You're too kind." And as they moved towards the lodge, she stepped out of the carriage herself.
"Might I be of some assistance?" she inquired. She hated knowing her rescuer was in distress. "Perhaps I can help you bring the man into the room? Or at least get the door?"

"Actually," Audric said, looking up at the darkened house with a frown.  He joined her on the ground after securing the reins, thinking for just a moment.  "I think so, yes.  Reaching up for the lantern, he offered it to her, along with a key.  "If you could get the door and hold the light..."

Leif was gathered up carefully again, and, giving directions to Attie, the pair soon found themselves inside and settling Leif down into a bed.  "Can you hold the light up?  I want to check his wounds..."

Everything still seemed to be in order, so Audric turned his attention to starting a fire in the fireplace.  Fortunately, everything was already kept at the ready.

"I'll start the fire in your room next," he said, gesturing for her to follow him.  And through the house they would go, lighting fires in an attempt to take the chill out of the place.

Attalia obeyed, keeping the light and getting the door. Once Leif was settled int a bed, she made sure he was comfortable while Audric prepared the fire, and as she studied Leif's face, she couldn't help but think he looked awfully familiar...

Reaching forward, she contemplated removing the mask when suddenly, the man's green eye opened. Gasping, she jumped back the moment Leif shot up from where he now sat upon the bed. His eye were wild as he looked aorund, throwing off the blankets, and again, Attie gasped as the sheets entangled him.

It wasn't until he was half on the floor did he realize he was in some strange room, with his sister and... turning his gaze over towards the fire, his expression went white at the sight of...

"The Duke of Allar..."

Audric had just returned, and he watched Cai's dramatic awakening with a look of vague amusement...but it wasn't until their eyes met that his usual grin emerged.  "Hey, Cai..."  He lifted a hand to scratch the back of his head, looking, perhaps, just a touch sheepish.  "Not really the way I expected us to meet, but I didn't know where else to take you.  We're in Allar, at one of my lodges."

He stuck his arm against the doorway and leaned casually against it, adding, "I patched you up the best I could.  Seems you're going to make it, but you're going to have some ugly scars.  Oh, yeah," he added with a bright grin.  "And this lovely lady is Attie.  She's one helluva nurse.  You should thank her when you've got your bearings."

He would have said 'I know' and 'Don't look at my sister like that' and 'You're a Calent supporter' all in one breath, but somehow, words failed him. He looked at Audric, then to Attie, then back to Audric again, glancing around for a weapon, finding none, before glancing back towards his 'friend'.

"We're.. we're in Allar?" he repeated, his voice a bit unhappy, and gruff.

"Yes." She said softly, and smiled back at the masked man sweetly. "I'm glad to see you're alright."

Turning suddenly to his sister, his eyes didn't even soften, he was just so perplexed over the whole thing he turned away, and let himself lean, with one arm, against a nearby wall as he tried to digest this entire situation.

Maybe he was dreaming...

"I think you should stay in bed," Audric warned gently.  He was still smiling, but he looked tired indeed.  "You were unconscious, and we couldn't leave Attie in the woods alone, so I made a decision."

And if Cai didn't like it, well...

"Do you need anything?  Water?  I think we've got some sandwiches left."  He looked to Attie for confirmation.  "Oh, and I've got a change of clothes for you.  I'm not sure how well they'll fit, and they're not in your color, but..."

This was almost too much for him, and his mind, still dizzy and heavy from his injuries, could barely register what Audric was saying. So instead of replying, he simply repeated...


"You're the Duke of Allar.."
As if that needed to be established again.

"Yup," Audric answered plainly.  "Audric Molneux."  He strode forward to hold a hand to the masked man.  "We've probably met, but..."  He lifted his other hand to tap his cheek just beneath his eye.  "We didn't unmask you.  Obviously."

He glanced to Attie, then, and shrugged apologetically.  He was used to people being cranky all the time, but she probably wasn't...

Looking back to their patient, he added, a touch more seriously, "I figured hiding my identity wasn't as important as getting her to safety, so..."

From where he was poised against the wall, he noted Audric's gesture and touched his cheek. He felt the mask there before he frowned and turned away, and after a while, he closed his eyes and touched his forehead to the wall. This was really a difficult pill for him to swallow, considering...
This man was known to be Calent's right hand man (Vesrik aside), a man he trusted enough to inherit the entire duchy of Allar- without any questions at all!

Lineage questions aside, her peered over at Audric, eyes still tense behind his mask. He still had no idea what to say- but he didn't have to. Attie spoke up first.

"Please.. sit down. You are not well. It would be unwise to continue to stress your body any further."

Glancing over to his sister, he found himself softening, although his frown deepened.

"ANd please.. do not fear any of us. Why would your partner harm you? He just saved your life."
STill seeing the man remaining silent, Attalia then added, "And you helped save mine." And she approache dhim, gently touching his arm. "Please.." and she tried to read the man behind the mask- a very familiar seeming man. "Please sit."

ANd at her words, Leif shot Audric but one sharp glance before he obeyed. With Attie's help, he was sitting again, and once he did, he leaned forward to rake a hand through his slicked hair, whihc released a few sharp curls from their once confining position as he groaned.

She had a point!

Audric seemed not to care too much, however, as he strode forward to pick up the lantern from where it was left and flashed them both an easy grin.

"I'm going to go get the things from the carriage," he offered.  He trusted Attie to look after Cai -- even if the man was a bull-headed idiot, much of the time.  She seemed tough enough to take it.  "Hey, Cai...  Don't feel like you have to take that off.  Our agreement still stands."

With that much off his chest, he vanished to return to the carriage for their belongings.

Leif, not knowing how to react, kept his hands now ove rhis face before peering over at his sister. To see her expression, once again, finally softened his eyes as he lowered his hands. And now, seeing the curls coming undone, Attie had to do a double take as she tilted her head to one side curiously and whispered, "Leif?"

Leif's eyes widened at her guess, and it was then, Attie stepped forward, staring into his face again.

"Oh my God.. it is you."

Leif's eyes shot to the door, not sure if Audric was around or would have heard it before he turned to Attie and his lips twitched into something of a soured smile, and suddenly, he saw the tears in her eyes as she threw herself at him and sobbed.


He was still pale for the moment, and numb to the world, And although it hurt to have his sister hugging him so tight, slowly he wrapped his arms around her and just held her in silence, his chin resting to her shoulder.

Audric heard none of it!  He was far too busy.  The food and water, the extra clothes, and left-over medical supplies were all brought in...  His voices drifted in from the front room, then.  "If you want some food, it's in the kitchen!  I have to put the horses away!"

All-told, he was gone for quite a while.  He re-emerged from the hallway with the bundle of clothes, his mouth already open to speak...but he closed it again upon seeing the pair.  He'd done enough hugging and comforting of the girl to assume what was happening.

"I'll leave these here when you want them," he murmured softly, so as not to disturb them.  There were still other things to do, after all...

Leif stiffened beneath his sister's embrace when he heard Audric return. ANd for a while, he did not move, but once the other man had left the room, Attie looke dinto his gaze.

"Can I remove it?" She asked, looking at his mask. ANd Leif stared at her for a good long while before slowly slipping the damn mask off of his face.

To see him now, like this, all cut up and bruised, even worse off than she, made her tremble as she lifte d ahand to his face and touched it, before hot tears began to spill from her eyes down her cheek.

"Attie I.."
and before he could stop her, she was hugging him again, this time, the arrow wounds got the best of him as he let out a grunt of pain.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Leif I just-" and she  backed away, staring at him in disbelief. "Gods..." She knew what happened. "Did you nearly kill yourself... for me?"

And, just to add some music to the mood, Audric's voice came from somewhere.  He was, in fact, engaged in light fires in the adjoining bedrooms...and singing nursery rhymes.

"Three little maids
In the mid of May
Sat upon a log
In the middle of the day.
When he hopped out,
The dog began to bay,
The little maids screamed,
And rose to run away.
'But I was a king!'
The frog began to say
'Kiss me, little maids,
Break my curse today!'"

Holding onto his sister, he heard the song eventually break through their tender moment. And Audirc's singing was horrid. He saw the small smile from his sister's expression, but instead of being humored as well, he threw a pillow at Audric's head.

"You sing like a drowning whale..."

The pillow was remarkably aero-dynamic and true to its mark.  It bounced off his head.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, looking down first at the pillow and scooping it up off the ground.  A pillow fight?  It was on!  "My son likes my..."

He made the mistake of looking up, then, his expression perfectly mirroring Leif's from earlier.

"...Leif Arrant."

He looked from Leif to Attie, then back to Leif again as the dots connected, one right after the other, to form a picture of the Masked Mordecai.  "Ah."  Instead of tossing the pillow back, he held onto it and grinned.  "If you don't need this, I could always use an extra."

Leif just gave Audric a look.
"Your son must be deaf." And he meant it in the sweetest way possible!

Attie looked from one man to the other before rising. "Is it true then? The pair of you ran around the city in masks, aiding one another but never knowing your identities until now?" She was in disbelief by this, and also that her brother was truly involved in such a thing as she looked at them both expectant of an answer, but Leif remained quiet, looking to Audric then quietly to the bed.

Audric nodded slightly, looking curiously at Leif, unsure of what that look meant.  "I wasn't lying when I said you were the first to know who I am."

He drummed his fingertips against his pants leg a moment, then asked, "Attie, would you mind just giving us a minute?  You can check out your room if you want -- right across the hall.  Or see the rest of the house?"

Because he wasn't at all sure how this conversation was going to go, and it would be unfair to put her in the middle of it...

"I-" Attie began, but then her brother cut in.

"No." He gave Audric a sharp look as he stood up from the bed, using the wall as support to take a few steps. "You and I can go elsewhere to talk." And his voice meant it. There would be no negotiations. Yes..
they needed to 'talk.'

"You're going to make your sister sleep in the room without the pillow..."  He gave the pillow still tucked under his arm with a wave.  "Because you want to make a point by killing yourself just to walk somewhere else?"  He paused, then quirked a grin.  "I know you think I'm good, Arrant, but you're barely patched together.  It's not going to be too tough to hold you down and force-feed you another dose of medicine."

He crossed his arms, cutting something of an imposing figure in the doorway -- in spite of the grin somehow.  "Sit your ass back down before I put you down."

And then he remembered Attie, and he glanced at her apologetically.  "Sorry, Attie."

Leif, not deterred by his words or logic, cut a glare into Audric.
"I said we're going to talk... in the other room," he added, almost speaking through his teeth. He frowned then as he glanced over at Attie as she suddenly stood between the two of them.

"Please.. do not fight. You two have been through a lot in order to save me." And to her brother, she gave one apologetic look before turning to face Audric. "I'll go." Then to Audric, she smiled. "Be kind to 'Cai'," and she offered him a wink. "He can be very stubbrn- but he is ticklish under his armpits if you get desperate in finding a way to get him to listen."

"Thank you," Audric said softly, grin widening to almost dangerous proportions.  "You're one helluva woman, Attie.  And don't worry about your brother.  I'll take care of him."

He nodded slightly to her, then turned back to Cai.  "Are you going to sit down, or just stand in the middle of the room in pain looking like an idiot?"

Because he did look like an idiot!

Attie smiled sweetly at Audric and kissed his cheek before she stepped past.
"You two behave," she said, and then stepped out the door.

Once the door was closed, Leif shot Audric a glare.
"Anything for the Duke of Allar," he said, with some bite before taking a seat after groping his way back, using the walls for support. He dropped back dwon onto it, before continuing to let his eyes bore into Audric, as if trying to drill a hole through him with his mind.

Audric waited until he was seated again, then stepped forward with a soft sigh.  "Are you alright?  I was serious.  There's only so much patching I can do."

He glanced at the door, then tossed the pillow back to Leif.

"She's okay out there, you know.  We're the only three people here.  This isn't some elaborate trap to take out the Masked Mordecai.  I would have just let the guards do it if that's what I was after."  He smirked.  "And I wasn't that upset about you calling me Abigail."

Leif had a lot to chew on here, and it showed on his expression as he made a face. Then he cast his eyes down towards the floor, then around the room and back to him again.
"So you brought me to Allar?"
He wasn't sure how well recieved that would be, but after a moment, he sighed and finally felt the pull of his wounds as he rubbed at his aching shoulder.
"And if you must know, I feel like horse shit. My entire body aches. Arrow wounds are the ones that hurt the most. I'm impressed you got them all out."
And he spoke as if this was nothing new-
and sadly, it was not. And the scars on his body were to attest to that.

After a moment, he finally considered something and looked up into Audric's eyes.

"And if I thought you were to turn me in, you would have done it by now. You showed me your unmasked face first." Even still, he couldn't unharden his gaze. This was just... so strange..
This man before him..
He was the best friend of the Grand Duke!

"I didn't think I had a choice.  But the pair of you will be safe here until you're fit to travel...and then, I suppose, you'll be wanting to go home?"  He left it as a question; they'd be welcome in Allar for as long as they needed to be here.

And, as for his wounds...  "I think I get why you did what you did.  But don't do it again.  Your sister would have been devastated if you'd died in there, and after what she's been through...  You can't do that to her.  And that's exactly why you're going to take it easy here."

And his tone suggested he would not take no for an answer -- after all, he could always drug him!

"Do you need to write to your wife to let her know of your absence?"

Leif glanced over at Audric,then away, staring bitterly at his boots. He didn't like any of the ideas, nor the suggestion and reminder of his wife. But Audric was right...
"Yes, get me a pen." AN dhe sighed and raked a hand through his hair. Gods, this has been a long day. "But I can't stay for long.." he said, shooting Audric a sharp look.

"You'll stay until you can walk without collapsing, Arrant."  That was non-negotiable, his tone and expression clearly said.  "And once you cease to be my patient, you become my guest."  Audric's stern expression faded into a grin.  "And you can come and go as you please."

A yawn interrupted his train of thought, then, and he waited for it to fade before asking, "Is this going to be a problem for you?  Who I am?"

They had never been on good terms...  Leif was fairly openly opposed to Calent, while Audric, well...  He was the opposite.  He should have seen that Leif Arrant was the Masked Mordecai...  It seemed rather obvious, in hindsight!

Leif was still scowling over the idea as he turned his gaze from Audric's and muttered.
"You do realize I hate you.." he said, but then turned back to Audric and looked the man square in the face. "Yet you ... surprise me. I would never thought the Grand Duke's right hand man would play hero against the war efforts of his own friend..."

That comment about hating him only drew a laugh from the Duke.  That was fairly common knowledge, after all!  He only seemed a little more serious as he said, "I believe I did tell you, once upon a time, that I was fighting to uphold decency and honor.  I think I've done that.  As for the war effort..."

Now, he truly did look grave.

"I've never helped a mage escape the law before, Arrant.  That's your work.  And now I understand why."  The reason Cai had begun his rampage had been a woman, as he recalled; now, Audric knew as much of the story as he needed to.  "Your sister's a mage, isn't she?"  Of course, he already knew the answer...  "I won't send her back to...that.  What was happening in that Church isn't something I'd wish on my worst enemy, and it's a greater crime than any I've ever seen."  His tone and expression were hard, very unlike his usual laid-back self.  "No, I would never send anyone to a place like that.  I heard the story -- the lie -- that was told about her death.  I won't send her back, just to risk her falling into their hands again."

Leaning forward, the blonde extended a hand towards the other man.  "You have my word, Arrant.  I will do everything in my power, as the Swordsman and as the Duke of Allar, that I shall do everything in my power to keep Attie safe.  And should you ever need me, you have but to call, and my sword is yours."

Leif was quiet,chewing on the other man's words. But could he keep them? This, he knew he would, for it was a code of honor that came along with the mask. Realizing this, he lifted his head to stare up at Audric.
"And you can hide in Castavar if you should ever need to..... just.. don't bring the mask." he said, then smirked and looked away.
"I.. appreciate you caring enough about my sister's safety to keep it secret. She... has been through a lot." He didn't even want to think about it, for it made his blood boil.

"You know, to make it a deal, we kind of have to shake on it."  Audric had been standing there this whole time with one hand extended in offering.  He was looking more like himself now, sporting his usual easy grin.

"I'll send Attie back in with some paper and ink, and I'll take it to town to be delivered while you both get some rest."

Leif stared at the hand for a while with some mild hesitation.
"You know.. Leif Arrant would't be caught dead shaking Lord Molneux's hand.." but he moved to slip his own hand in the other man's before raising his head and gave a single shake. "But I suppose there's always a first time for everything."

Audric laughed out loud, clasping Leif's in both of his for a hearty handshake.

"That's Duke Molneux," he answered him good-naturedly before releasing him.  "Now, I'll go get the writing supplies and let Attie know she's welcome to come back in."  He hesitated.  "She had some pretty bad nightmares on the way here.  She might feel more comfortable if we move another bed in here..."

That wouldn't be hard to do, really...

"Would you mind?" he added.  The room was big enough, and with at least one of them relatively bed-bound, it would suffice...

Leif stared at Audric.
"Of course. Anything to help my sister." ANd he moved to rise, as if to offer to help Audric move the bed. A few arrow wounds couldn't keep this Arrant down...

"Stay," Audric said immediately, extending a hand to point at the bed.  "Stay, Arrant."  He was backing towards the door slowly, chuckling even as he did so.  "Stay..."  He turned the door knob in his hand.  "Good boy, Arrant!  What a good boy you are!"

Okay, yeah, because treating his wounded friends like puppies in training was somehow hilarious.

Opening up the door, he added, "Seriously, though.  You take one step, and I'm giving your sister permission to tickle you."

He gave him a stern, no-nonsense look, then left.  "Attie!  Attie?  We're done talking.  I have a question for you..."

THe last look Audric would see was Leif glowering at the door.


....


Attie had made herself at home, taking a look around the lodge and admiring a small series of oilpaintings on the wall when she heard Audric's voice. Turning, she smiled, happy to see him, even blushed when he approached.
"Yes, my duke?" she said with a curtsy. "How might I be of assistance?"

Audric laughed out loud and put a hand to the back of his head.  "Please don't do that...  I get enough of that on a daily basis without seeing my friends do it too."

Rifling through a nearby desk, he produced some ink, paper, and a pen.  "I have a favor to ask of you.  I know, I know, another one..."  It seems like all he did was ask her favors!

"Would you mind if I moved one of the other beds into Cai's room?  I need to go to town, and I'd feel more comfortable if there was someone there to make sure he didn't do anything stupid to hurt himself while I was gone.  He's writing a letter home to explain his disappearance, and I need to get it to a messenger tonight."

Attie tucked back a smile at his words and nodded.
"Alright, Lord Duke Audric," she said playfully, and then noting his suggestion, she nodded and gave him a playful look. "Yes, I know my brother well enough. I do not mind baby sitting him." Tossing her  long hair from over her shoulder, she put out her hands.
"Here, give me those supplies. I'll take them to 'Cai'. And you.."s he said, taking a step nearer to him as she gave him a look. "Can go get the bed."

Through a chuckle, the Duke of Allar replied, "Of course.  After all, I've given you the hard job."

Babysitting Cai would be much, much more difficult than moving a simple bed!

Once he had seen Attie into Leif's room with the writing supplies, Audric turned his attention to the job of moving a one of the beds.  It wouldn't be as easy as he had assumed, but, then, nothing ever was.  After fighting with the contraption, he got the bed up onto its side, and walking backwards, tugged it into Leif's room.

Once inside, of course, he found he had to rearrange the room a bit, dragging the chest of drawers over to one side...but, after quite a bit of fighting with the furniture, the second bed was finally inside and remade for the young woman.

He huffed out a tired sigh, but he did it with a smile.  "There you are."

Well, Leif was attempting to pen a letter to Valentina, a difficult thing to concoct, considering.. he had to create a compelling lie. His sister, now taking interest, smirked and asked, "So you've finally married her, have you?" As she looked down at her ring, his eyes did the same, before he sighed and looked downa t his paper.

Glancing up to his sister, he didn't get a chance to explain when Audric came in, scraping, very noisly, a second bed into the room. It was just too distracting, and  all Leif could concentrate on now, after he sighed frustratedly and set down his feather pen, was Audric. So he sat there, waiting for the man to be finished, and Attie, smiling, did the same.

"Thank you, Duke Audric," she said playfully, and at her words, Leif cut her a look, then over to Audric. He knew his sister only liked to flirt with men she truly liked, and he wondered if his sister was already growing soft on his companion. Either way, he shook his head at the pair of them and went back to his letter writing, but he found nothing coming to mind. So he just stared at the blank page with a frown.

"It was my absolute pleasure," Audric replied with a smirk.  Well, maybe not absolute, but...  It was necessary and much better for them both.  "Now, Attie, my room is just at the end of the hall there.  I won't be back until dawn, likely, but if you need anything, or if Arrant needs anything, you just come right in, okay?"

He didn't mean to snoop, of course, but he couldn't help but notice...

"Sorry.  Want us to leave you alone for a minute?"

It wasn't an easy thing to lie to one's wife...  Audric felt terrible for doing it today...and every other time he had donned the mask.

Leif said nothing, only frowned, but his sister knew that look as she tucked back her smile and peered over at Audric. She gave Audric a nod before rising from the bed.
"Yes.. let's let him work." And she took Audric's arm with a smile. "And you can tell me all about how you've become quite a dashing duke who wears masks all night! I'm sure I'd love to hear all about your two silly stories of adventures."

"We won't go far," Audric promised, although he gave no clarification as to why he assumed Leif should care.  Taking his partner's missing sister by the arm, he led her cordially down the hall.

"Most of them aren't really all that silly," he confessed.  "In most of them, I'm nearly arrested or killed.  Your brother has saved my life more times than I care to think about..."

Attie giggled as she was guided down the hall on Audrics arm. Her eyes were dancing at all of the stories he was sharing.
"That sounds like my brother," she commented with a roll of her eyes and then, thought about it with a slight frown. "So you have been friends this long and never knew who each other was? Wasn't that... maddening?" She hoped he didn't mind her asking.

"I'm sure he thought about who I was every bit as much as I thought about who he was."  Had he said that right?  He thought so, but, then again...

"I knew he was a noble.  He knew I was from Allar and a soldier.  I'm not sure he knew I was a noble as well..."  Audric looked amused.  "I like to think I was sneakier than that."

But that wasn't the issue!

"At the end of the day, though, it was about respect.  I respected him enough to let him keep his secret, and he respected me enough to keep mine."

Attalia grinned softly at the story and leaned in tired against Audric.
"That sounds like my brother. He would become a masked vigilante... though, I can't recall if you told me... which of you started all this? I think you said my brother, but perhaps my ears are deceiving me..." and she gave him an even softer, more playful smile before stifling a yawn.

"It was your brother indeed," Audric answered with a chuckle, his arm going around the girl to better provide her support before he, too, yawned.  "We should get you to bed," he told her cheerfully, guiding her back in the direction of the bedroom.  "If Cai hasn't written a letter by now, I doubt he ever will."

By the time they had gotten back to the room, Attie and Audric would find Leif had fallen asleep. Wit his face now stained with a half written letter, and the ink well just about to fall off the table, his sister moved forward to remove it before she gestured to Audric to help her settle Leif better into bed. He needed his rest, and so did she. They all did. And after Leif was tended to, she smiled up at Audric and took his hands, then gave him another kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you so mcuh for all that you've done," she whispered against the candle light. "You and my brother will always be my heros." Squeezing his hand, she moved to ly in her bed and blew out the candle.
"Goodnight."


Three days rested, three days had passed- and so far, it took about that long for Leif to send his letter. He just hoped his wife wasn't too upset, and he began to grow anxious as he mulled about the lodge, seeking out Audric. WHen he found him, he stood in the doorway and said.
"I have to head home."
Three days was really too much time for them both- and despite the wounds, which were still relatively fresh, and he- walking with a limp- he had to get back to Castavar.

"You look as though you're doing much better," Audric answered, looking rather unsurprised by the announcement.  He was, in truth, more surprised Leif had held out as long as he did.  "I wish I could offer you two a more permanent home."

He really and truly did...  If only they were from Allar!

Leif frowned at that comment.
"I need to get Attie home." Wherever that may be...
"My family has some private lodgings I can keep her safe at. No one visits them, and they were given to me at the wedding as a vacation home for me and Valentina."

"Good," the older man answered with his usual grin.  "You may as well take the carriage with you, Arrant.  And whatever supplies we have left.  When are you going?"

Audric could close up the house himself and walk to town.  There were only two horses, and Leif's home was too far for them to share a mount.  Audric, however, could probably make it to town after a brisk walk and buy a horse...

Leif hesitated, but realized that would be most wise as he nodded.
"You know... it will be.. difficult to attend social functions now that I know the truth."

"Why?" Audric asked, sounding absolutely clueless.  "Truth about what?"

There were a lot of options and truths that had just been uncovered in the past few days...

Leif gave the man a half sneer, and a partial roll of his eyes.
"Audric Molneux, Duke of Allar, arch nemesis of the heir to Castavar, that's what." He turned away, shaking his head. "Seeing you in public now.. knowing you were with me all those nights..."
How was he to act the same?

Audric blinked at him, then out right laughed.  "I'm your arch-nemesis, Cai?  I'm honored!"

Because, really, who knew he had so much influence?

"Anyway, I don't know what the problem is.  Just because we don't agree on policies, we don't have to be enemies, you know."

Leif glared at the other man.
"I am aware of that," he said, then looked down with a sigh. "Audric.. we can't just... change our public personas. Wouldn't that seem just a bit... odd?"

Audric's eyebrows rose.  "So, I'm not allowed to talk to you without asking the teacher first?"

His public persona?  Sheesh, it was almost like Leif didn't know him very well!

Leif glared.
"I just don't need people talking. I'd rather not have any more attention drawn my way. Valentina she.."
he almost let it slip, and he closed his lips tightly nad frowned.
"Attalia..s he's a mage, and there are others, I'm sure, who might be affected if anyone catches any sort of hint of who I am."

"Arrant, relax," Audric laughed and clapped his reluctant friend on the shoulder.  "I'm not going to be offended if you treat me the way you always treat me."  His eyes shone in amusement.  "But I'm going to keep treating you the same way I've always treated you, and you're just going to have to deal with that."

Audric Molneux could and would talk to anyone, after all!  He treated even those who disapproved of Calent's policies with kindness and respect, and Leif had certainly rebuffed him enough times in the past.

But, then, Leif rebuffed pretty much everybody.

"Keep me updated on how Attie is doing."

"I... suppose I can do what I can with my correspondences," he replied. "But I... with my wife and all..." Here he frowned, not even knowing how to explain what he and Valentina had. They had... an interesting relationship if anything. He had found himself becoming in love with his wife, but was too crippled, emotionally, on that sort of playing field that well...
Any chance he had to confess just never came to fruition....
Too bad there, he wore a different sort of mask.

"Just send me your usual scathing letters condemning my support of Calent," Audric advised cheerfully.  "I guess we could come up with a cipher, if you want.  Actually, really, we probably should."  Maybe...  The more he was thinking about it, the more useful a cipher could be...  "You know, in case we need help from the other.  How about every third word?  To be used only if the first statement of the letter is in regards to the Church."  Not that he'd been thinking about this at all...  "If I receive a letter from you and the Church isn't mentioned in the first line, I'll assume everything is well."  He paused.  "You know, unless the letter is something like, 'Oh, God, please, please help me.'"

Leif almost spat out a laugh, though his smile stopped it. He shook his head, then grew more serious and closed his lips as he studied Audric.
"This is... peculiar. I don't have any friends."
The only one, sadly, besides the shrouded swordsman was his wife! And that sort of relationship ws almost a roller coaster in itself!

"Then you're lucky to have found one as awesome as I am."

Audric grinned at him broadly.  He was kidding!  ...Mostly.  Nah, actually, he was a pretty awesome friend!

"Let's get you and Attie packed up and ready to go.  Where is she, anyway?"

Leif cast Audric a glare before shaking his head.
"You would say that." And he got up from his chair and nodded in agreement as he reached for his coat. "She wanted to go outside to get some fresh air. I'm hoping she's kept to the grounds like I asked. But it shouldn't take us long to prepare to leave."
Considering.. they hadn't been expectant visitors, after all!

"I'm a very honest fellow," Audric replied good-naturedly!

"Why don't you go pack up what food is left in the kitchen for your trip?" he suggested.  "Anything else you would like to take is yours as well -- a blanket or two, perhaps.  I'll go get the carriage and horses ready, and you can meet me out front?"

Seemed like a reasonable plan to Audric!

Leif nodded and made his way back to the room, and was surprised to find Attie already in there. She smiled at him when he entered.

"Leif.." she rose to her feet. "So I suppose we ought to be going now?"
And at his expression, she pressed her smiling lips together. "I over heard you two talking... I'll fetch the few things that I have. But I'll be ready to go whenever you are. Just say the word."

Leif took her in for a moment before crossing the room to be at her side, where he found himself suddenly embracing her and holding her close.
"I'm so glad you're alive, Attie," he whispered.
ANd she found herself hugging him back and telling him, "You too. I'm glad you did not die over me."

Pulling away, the two shared a rare smile before gathering their things and then moving to the front of the lodge house to where Audric was greeting them with a smile.

"You're seeming pleasant today, Audric," Attie commented smilingly.

Leif only grumbled, "He's always like that. YOu should see him when we run around in masks."

"Oh! Dare I think of the horror that would look like!" she commented in good nature as she looked from her brother, over to Audric before releasing a held breath.
"I suppose this is the long road to goodbye.."

"Well, one of us has to have a positive outlook on things!" Audric announced warmly.  He pulled the girl into a warm hug, then.  "And that's nonsense.  This isn't goodbye.  It's only farewell, until we see each other again."

Because goodbye was too sad!

"Now, Arrant and I have come up with a code.  If you ever need me -- or if he needs me, and he's being far too stubborn to admit to it -- write me.  Start the letter off with something about the Church in your first sentence, and I'll know it's in code.  Every third word -- that will be the message.  Alright?"

It was at the mention of the church Attie faltered with her smile,but it returned soon enough as she nodded and turned to Leif.
"I'll be sure to take care of him." And she glanced back towards him, studying his face. "And what about you? Will you be alright?"

Leif rolled his eyes at that.
"He's the only one that came out unscathed..."

And even Attie had to smile at that, but she kept her warm gaze upon Audric, looking up at him and imploring him kindly to reply.
"At least let me knwo you won't be too lonely without us. THough I'm sure your wife and child will keep your spirits high." And seh squeezed his hand affectionately.

Audric chuckled.  "Yes, but there will be no adventure with you two.  And I'll miss my oldest child."  He shot Leif a broad grin; well, perhaps second oldest, because Calent was definitely a child too!  "You two will have to find the time to come visit.  Perhaps, Arrant could make an excuse during hunting season for a week or so?"

He glanced questioningly at the other man.

"Hunting season?" Leif made a face. "Gods, I've befriended a man who's lost his mind." And as he was shaking his head, Attie only laughed.

"No wonder you two are friends. But perhaps we'll figure out something clever?" she said, giving Audric a playful grin.

"I've no doubt," Audric answered her with a laugh.  "You seem to be the smart one of the family."

Spinning around to Leif, he pulled the other man into a hug as well, whether he liked it or not!  "Arrant, it's nice to finally meet you."  He grinned and pulled away, sticking out his hand as well for a friendly handshake.  "The real you."

"I know," she told him pointedly, playfully raising her chin. "I should have known when I was presumed dead, my brother would find an excuse to get himself into trouble. Though... in all honesty, I owe you both so much. You have... no idea what it means that I was able to escape that horrible place. The things they've done to me.." she grimaced and stared at the floor.

All the while Leif was ruffle from the hug he had barely pried himself loose from. Staring down at Audric's hand, he gave it a shake and grin before turning to Attie and nodding at her heart felt words. He approached her and allowed himself to put a one armed hug around her-
though that hse took as an excuse to sneak a full hug from him- which he shook his head at, but obliged.

"Attie... I just can't believe our parents lied about you. But don't you worry, now that I knwo yo're alive. I'll keep you safe. I promise."

"And I'll do anything to keep you safe as well," Audric put in helpfully, watching the pair with a vague smile.  The horses obviously felt left out, because one leaned over and snorted directly in Leif's hair, making Audric laugh out loud.

"Looks like the horses are eager to be off."

Leif had to give a shake of his head to knock that peculiar feeling out from his ear.
"Gods.. yes, let's be off then." And then to Audric, he gave a nod befre opening the door to the carriage for his sister and the two siblings piled in. They would be on their way home, but who knew what sort of future was before them or what new dangers may lurk around the corner.
All Leif knew was that a major chapter in his life had just started, and he had to take careful, quiet steps towards the unknown future.

Leif's letter had been most unexpected...and that was putting it mildly.  Weren't they supposed to be careful?  Weren't they supposed to keep meetings to a minimum -- especially in public?  What the hell was Leif doing?  He was practically rolling out the banner...

Not that Audric was terribly concerned about their friendship being uncovered...  Who would put it all together?  They hadn't been caught yet -- either of them -- and he doubted their friendship, while unusual, would be reason for anyone to suspect their hidden identities...

No, what worried him was how out of character this was for Leif.  It must be something urgent...

He hovered on the steps of his home, finally falling into a parade rest stance as the carriage pulled up.  His scouts had reported Leif's arrival in Allar the previous day, giving Audric a rather good idea of when to expect him.

And here he was, right on time...

OOC: Sorry this took so long to reply to D: I'm gonna try to posty something now :T
-----

The letters had been such a nuisance to write, and while by now, Leif Arrant was fully recovered (or mostly so) from their last nightly rendez-vous, he was more haughty and impatient than usual. Things had been much different than before, though Duke Audric would have known- as it was public knowledge that both he and his wife had 'made up' at the Grand Duke's masked ball. And that was precisely part of the reason he was out here for a visit. Or rather, mostly so.

It was true that now, due to Leif conceiving a love life, he had more things to worry about, and in fat, his mind was racing faster than a horse, so as his carriage rolled up onto the property, he felt himself sweating as he wiped his hands off upon his pants before resigning himself to re-wearing his gloves. Though he'd prefer to go without them, he'd rather not have Audric suspect more than he ought to- for this was a matter of delicacy, and he had no idea where to turn, so when the front door opened for him long before he had made it down the path, he cast a scowl Audric's way before bowing before him when he finally reached the front door.

"I know it seems I've come at a most inconvenient hour, but believe me when I say I've got a lot to discuss with you."

"There's no such thing between friends," Audric answered warmly, extending his hand out to the other man in welcome.  "Are you in a great hurry to talk, or can I offer you something to eat and drink after your journey?"

He glanced back towards the carriage, but there was no movement there.  It seemed Leif had left his sister at home...  That was a shame, really...

Leif, glaring at the word-choice of 'friend' and Audric's cheery personality, he gave a scowl and shake of his head, pushing past his friend nad entering his house as he worked at removing the mud from his boots.

"I can't stay long, so let me be frank. You'll only have to deal with my company for the day. I leave in the morning. I have... left too much I have to attend to back at home."

It was Leif's words more than his tone and glare that made Audric frown slightly.  Rather than pursue the line of questioning, he said only, "I see."

To his butler, who was, immediately, on hand to take Leif's cloak and luggage, Audric said, "Show Lord Arrant to my study."  He took a few steps down the hall, then turned to add cheerfully, still in motion, "I'll meet you upstairs!  Try not to get into any trouble between here and there!"

Leif would hardly be alone in the comfortable study more than five minutes.  Calent had taken most of his possessions (the study, of course, being his favorite room), leaving Audric to decorate it as his wife saw fit...and Nera, apparently, had only interjected enough to add a few womanly touches.  The study itself was comfortable, although the paperwork on the desk seemed a touch disorganized, perhaps.  A fire burned merrily in the fireplace, throwing heat into the room, although the room was lit brightly enough that the additional light seemed unnecessary.

Audric joined Leif a few moments later, trailed by one of the kitchen staff.  A pair of sandwiches was set down upon the table on a single plate, while the servant set the tea nearby.

"Will there be anything else, Duke Molneux?"

Audric gave his head a slight shake.  "Nope!  Thanks for the help!"  Once the servant left, he closed the door softly in the man's wake and gestured for Leif to take a seat.  "I had them nearly convinced to let me take the sandwiches and the tea, until the housekeeper started in about the mess I'd make if I dropped it..."  He gave his eyes a roll and his head a slight shake as he sank into his chair.  "If it were left up to them, you'd be waiting eight hours for them to make you something for dinner."

He leaned back in his chair, obviously leaving the food and drink to Leif.

OOC: whoops, don't ask how I misread the last post XD this is why you don't multi-task and post (if you're me) it r be fail *goes to rewrite post*

----


Leif didn't bother to sit. This was a most serious moment with a lot of serious things to discuss. Yet here his masked companion was, smiling and offering him sandwiches. Never mind he preferred sandwiches over most roasts any day, that did not stop him from refraining to touch one, as his eyes went from the food and drink, to this 'friend'.

"I trust you've been well?" And Leif paused to glare over towards the door, hoping the staff wasn't lurking nearby as he bent over paranoidly to peer out through the keyhole.

Audric stared at him a minute, then folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.  All he could see of Leif right now was his posterior.  What the hell was the man doing?

"You look ridiculous," he decided at last with a smirk as he helped himself to the tea.  "Most people sit down and eat what their host prepares, rather than...whatever it is you're doing.  It's little wonder people don't invite you out to visit."

It was a bit odd, even for Leif!

"And I've been well enough.  Tired, though.  My son has an ear infection, and he's been keeping us up at night."  He shot a grin in the other man's direction.  "You would have met him otherwise, but we're keeping him warm and away from drafts until the infection passes."

At the mention of a child, Leif shot the man a glare, but it was a different sort of glare than Audric might be familiar. Though perhaps it was only in response to the other man's ignorance. Could he not see he was double checking the door!?

"I was making sure your servants were gone," he quipped, fluffing his coat, then smoothing it down. He kept his fixed gaze on his friend, and remained standing rigidly before him, not trusting standing by the door- just in case.

"I have news I'm not even sure how to explain, but I can't be here long and I might need your help." At such an idea, he shifted his weight uneasily before he sighed. "The church knows Attie's alive."

OOC: If you don't like the idea where this is going lemme know XD I was originally thinking someone might be onto them, but then last night I thought Attie being in trouble might make more sense since someone is investigating the scene. Even if they knew it might be the masked mordecai's doing, his sister is more important to him and they never left a trail or clue as to it being the nobles doing it but yeah XD
For now, I'm thinking Attie's safety and new baby are why he's upset so lemme know if that's not ok XD
Seriously changed my mind last night :T (when I should have been sleeping)

Audric looked unimpressed at the explanation.  Really, to think of his servants would be so bold to listen at the door!  ...Or spies, for that matter!

His expression quickly shifted to something more serious, however.  He even sat up straight and turned slightly to give Leif his full attention.

"How?" he wondered, then gave his head a small shake.  "It doesn't matter.  What can I do to help?"

"I've got my speculations, but some templars showed up at my parents house the other day. News trickled down to me, and a few days later, they show up at me door."

Setting his jaw, he lowered his gaze to the floor. "You can see my urgency.. I... didn't want to leave Attie alone for long, but I also didn't want to alert her. She... the less people know about her, the better. But I'm just afraid if these templars keep sniffing around, they'll come to find her sooner or later. I.. wasn't exactly the nicest of hosts when they were in my home."
Not that he would have been nice to them if Attie were actually dead; but that was of little consequence to him now.

"But I need your help. I have to find a place that's safe for her, but I'm not entirely sure what to do. I might be over reacting, she might be totally ok, but the only thing I can think of is to possibly find a place for her to stay up here in the North until the war blows over. So I came here to ask you, seeking a way for me to protect my sister. Do you... are there... any places you know of I can send her?" He knew he was asking a lot but... he didn't want to ask this in letters. No, no. This needed to he handled in person and he had to see this place for himself before shipping Attie off to some location where he'd have less access to her than he did now. But he knew the church was now watching his family, and it was only a matter of time before she might be found lwhile left in his care. And if Audric was friends witht he Grand Duke- there was no doubt no church going pansies would be sniffing his ass.

But it also brought out other notions.. like the church sniffing out his night time alter ego...
but for now, that was the least of his worries. Though perhaps that is something he and Audric ought to discuss while he was there.

Audric did indeed understand, now, why Leif was acting so out of character.  He nodded slightly and leaned back in his chair to think.

There were any number of secluded places to send the girl -- but, of course, that would hardly do.  She was a sweet thing, and vibrant -- sending her away would destroy that.

"Does your sister like children?" he ventured after some thought.  "My sister is in need of a nanny.  I would offer her a place here, but if the wrong person were to visit and happened to recognize her..."  No, his home was much too public...and he could scarcely change his policies now without stirring up suspicions...

"Children?!" Leif had just paused a moment to pick up.his drink in the middle of his pacing when the glass slipped fromhis fingers and smashed into the ground. His face filled with color. "What does children have to do with Attie?!"

That was unusual.  Even for Leif.  Audric regarded him calmly for a moment, and then rose.  Wordlessly, he slipped the napkin out from beneath the sandwich plate and knelt to spread the napkin over the rug.

Leif would have to sit and stew in silence while Audric carefully picked up the pieces of shattered glass.  Rising, he left the napkin over the stain and deposited the collected glass in the garbage. 

"Sit."  The single word was no longer an invitation; it was a command, and he expected Leif to obey him.

Turning his back on the other man, he poured out a cup of tea in silence.  Once the teacup was filled, he glanced over his shoulder with a frown.  "I told you to sit."

Setting the cup upon a saucer, the former soldier leaned back against his desk and leveled a solemn stare at Leif until the younger man obeyed.  Once Leif had finally settled down, Audric extended the cup towards him.  "Drink."

If the man insisted on behaving like a child, Audric would treat him like one!  But Audric could be just as proud and even more stubborn, if necessary.

"Now," he said, a full minute after Leif had finally relented.  He perched on the edge of his desk, looking down at Leif now with an air of seriousness that was usually quite unlike him.  "Talk to me, Cai.  What's going on?"

It took two commands, but with a glare and sigh, Leif took a seat. Though when he ordered him to drink, he gave Audric an indignant expression. He wasn't ready to sit and sip tea. He was too anxious for that! Setting the cup aside, he looked up into Audric's face.

"I just told you. I'm worried about Attie..." and he grumpily shifted his weight upon the settee.

"Drink your tea," Audric emphasized, his eyes narrow ever-so-slightly.  "It will calm you down...and Angsar knows you're jittery as a virgin on her wedding night.  I don't think I've ever seen you so distracted."  He said it lightly enough, but there was an air of seriousness about him, and the combination gave off a dangerous aura.

"If you weren't distracted, you would have heard me when I told you my sister is looking for a nanny.  That's why I asked if she likes children, Cai.  She strikes me as someone the kids would adore."

Leif held onto his cup, but at Audric's command, he glared up at the man and steeled off his nerves.

"I suppose she does, though would your sister not recognize her? I thought we were trying to keep this a secret."A nd his eyes looked about the room with suspicion.

"My sister is a merchant," Audric said plainly, looking at the other man skeptically.  "I was raised here in the palace, but my sisters were raised by my parents.  I visited them, but they never visited me.  They do now, of course, but they still live in town.  So, unless your sister is known to the working class of Allar...or, perhaps some sailors..."

Leif glared at him.
"What are you implying?" He growled.

Audric simply stared at him.

Why, he wasn't implying anything...  Obviously.  Leif was acting like a crazy person, and Audric found himself quite unsure how to deal with that...

Leif's brows furrowed even more. "Why would you consider her friends with sailors?" Though he hadn't to put a label on them- saying a woman was friend with sailors was certainly implying she was loose- and Leif was already quick to his guard. Had he not been so tense and jittery, he'd realize Audric would never imply that. Audric teased, yes, but the tone was evidently serious.

Audric still wasn't quite understanding why Leif was so upset...  After all, from his point of view and mindset, that certainly hadn't been what he meant!

"Merchants, Arrant.  They work with sailors to import goods.  Not the common sailor, obviously, but..."  A lightbulb came on suddenly, and Audric's frown deepened.  "Oh."  He had the grace to look a little uncomfortable, for a moment, but then he pursued his line of logic.  "What I'm trying to say is that your sister would be exposed to relatively few people, none of whom should recognize her or have reason to suspect who she is."

Leif still felt uneasy. But he knew he had little choice on the matter, and after calming down some, he found himself sighing.

"I.. I suppose we could try. but she'd need an alias, an alibi, a whole different back story and..."
All sorts of things a masked vigilante should be great at! But it seemed, since it concerned his sister, (who was presumed dead), it put him on edge more than usual- and it also didn't help the fact that well...


his wife was pregnant.

Audric shook his head, ever so slightly, more in exasperation than refusal or denial.  "Your sister is a remarkable woman.  I admit, I don't know her that well, but from everything I've seen, she's clever, and she's resilient.  A lesser person, man or woman, would not have survived all she has been through."  And even if they did survive, their mind, likely, would not...

Hell, Audric had been horrified enough simply seeing the aftermath.  Living through it...  He doubted he would have made it out the other side intact.

"She'll be fine.  If, that is, she wants the job."  Because she might hate children -- you just never knew!

Leif took in a deep breath before slowly, ever so slowly, releasing it.
"I can talk to her once I get home," he said, sitting back in his chair as he swallowed the lump in his throat. Not bothering to look at Audric, he then added, "But that's not the only reason I came here." And those last words came out soft and croaky, and Leif's eyes now remained solely focused on the ceiling above.

Audric studied the other man wordlessly as a heavy silence descended on the pair.  Leif's sister was not his only concern, then, although it may have been the easiest for him to speak of...  It made him wonder what other trouble Leif faced that would not be so easy for him to share...

"Alright," Audric prompted after some time had passed.  "What else is troubling you?"

Leif's expression went grim. He tightened his lips however, and peered over at the other man before revealing...
"Valentina's pregnant."

Audric's frown deepened, taking on a slightly puzzled expression.  Surely, he must not have heard the man right...  How could one look so unhappy while announcing such fantastic news?

He rubbed his ear a bit, then prompted, "Say that again?  I don't think I quite caught what you said..."

Leif growled.
"Now's not the time to toy with me, Audric!" he snapped. "I said my wife is pregnant!" And he was shouting it this time- did he not hear him? Cause now he would, and angrily he rose from his chair.

Audric looked a bit crestfallen.

"That's what I thought you said, but..."

Again, who could look like that when it was obviously such a good thing?

"Why are you so upset?  It's a good thing -- a really good thing -- for most of us.  I mean, sure, she'll get a little moody, and she's either too hot or too cold, and she wants to eat the weirdest thing...  But, eventually, it turns out to be a good thing!"

Leif cut Audric a glare.
"Do you know what you're saying? Do you even realize how dangerous this could be?" Here he shook his head, finding himself trying to fight off the anger that shook him. "And it's not the pregnancy that scares me, Audric, though I highly doubt I'm fatherly material- it's everything it entails. If we bear a son, there's an heir, if not- well, it might not matter. If someone were ever to find out about us, about what I am, what I do after dark..." He shook his head and lowered his voice, realizing how terribly loud he had become. "I'd hate to think of all those who hate me who would love to get a hold of my child. It's just one more thing to worry about that.." and he cast his gaze to the floor. "I don't know what I'd do without Valentina." He hadn't considered child birth being able to kill her... but now, it was a very real threat along with the rest.

"She's barely along," he added quietly, leaning a hand into the back of his chair as he looekd at the wall away from Audric, but not at him. "It'll be only a few more months..... maybe I should give this all up."

A wise man wouldn't have even batted an eye in doing so...

"But what do I do about Attie? What about those mages? About those who I could make a difference for?" He shook his head and looked down at the floor with a frown.
"No.. having a child will be a nightmare."

"I think I realize how dangerous it is a bit better than you think," Audric reminded him kindly, ignoring the other man's mantrum and clapping a hand on his shoulder.  "I have a son myself, remember?"

And Audric was in a far more dangerous situation.  His enemies -- Calent's enemies -- knew who he was and where he lived...  His masked persona, like Leif's, remained a mystery, yet...

"I don't think there's an easy answer.  You have to do what feels right to you -- and, no matter which you choose, there will always been a tiny voice in the back of your mind reminding you of what might happen if..."

And there were a lot of if's in their line of work...

"But I do know this.  You can't half-commit to one and half-commit to the other.  You have to commit to one -- completely.  If you choose your family, you give up being the Masked Mordecai.  If you choose to be the Masked Mordecai, your relationship might suffer, because you may not be there when your family needs you."  And that was not always an easy line to walk...

Long after Audric spoke, his masked assistant (thought currently unmasked, remained in his chair in thoughtful contemplation. Many harrowing images flashed through his mind- considering what could be as he rose to his feet. Time was rushing through his, racing his mind and beating the drum of his heart and slowly ever so slowly, he made his way over to the window.


"No choice we make is ever simple," he began, green eyes hard and listless as they peered out into the gardens below. "This war has begun years ago,a nd only now it has ever become so bloody..."
And he took a hand, and it shook as he clenched it into a powerful fist at his side.
"And if my blood were lost before it would not have mattered. In fact, I took on the mask in order to challenge that death against a life I so despise- inwardly knowing I would lose and at least if I were to die, it would have taken me away from this life and I could have gone out doing something good."

He lowered his fist now, resting it upon the sill.

"But now I see I've dug my own grave, and now I have to choose if I wish to dance on it or walk away..."

"You don't have to decide today or tomorrow or even this month."  Audric put in helpfully.  "Wait until your son or your daughter is born, Arrant.  It might change things.  There is nothing, nothing like becoming a father.  And you should know what that's like before you decide."

It was rare that Audric was so serious for so long.  He had been almost nothing-but since Leif's arrival, and the change was almost remarkable.  However, family was a sobering subject in this context...

"I wish -- I truly do wish -- I had better advice to offer you, but each of us is different.  Do what your heart tells you -- protect what you have or risk your life hoping to take what you do not."

Leif continued to rake a hand through his curly hair, playing with it as he lamented internally over his own thoughts-a nd what Audric said.

"You... have a family. I know this hits close to home for you." He peered over at Audric questionably. "Yet you seem to juggle it so well."


"Why?" he asked, turning to him.

And how?

Audric's smile was light, and there was a sad element to it as well.

"I learned a long time ago to compartmentalize.  If you lose your focus in battle, you're a dead man...  So when you're on the battlefield, you have to be, heart and mind, on the field.  When you're at home, your heart and thoughts should be at home with your family.  Never do anything by halves, and when you make a decision, stick to it.  It's better to make a bad decision than to do nothing at all."

He paused, then added, "Besides, I've had a few years to come to terms with my demons."

Leif registered the words quite clearly. The life of a soldier- he should have guessed.

"I supposed I was too selfish to realize any of this.."
That aspect of his partner in crime- and aspects of himself he was only beginning to learn.

"Hardly selfish," he answered confidently.  "It isn't something I shared, and it's not something I wanted you to know.  Unless you had a reason to, anyway."  He rather enjoyed the ease with which he was able to step between his lives: that of a duke, and that of a vigilante.  "And, anyway, you've had a lot on your plate yourself."

Leif frowned at the thought.
"The only thing I ever had to deal with was the ignorance of my parents." He turned away, staring off listlessly at the wall as he became quiet in his contemplation.
He supposed, he could also say- 'and the ignorance of the world'.

"And, as I recall, several matters concerning your wife?"  Obviously!  There was, after all, some scene or another at a certain ball...

"Be happy, Arrant, for yourself and for your wife.  Try looking at the good things, for a change.  You'll be a great father, I think."  Audric's grin suddenly re-emerged, as he clapped a hand down on Leif's shoulder.  "But you will have to learn some nursery rhymes about ducks and frogs and things."

Scowling, Leif socked Audric on the shoulder.
"Do not taunt me, Audric," he growled. Shaking his head, he raked a hand through his hair.
"I just... I never pictured myself as a father." He peered down at his hands now with a frown. "I don't even think I'd know what to do..."

"Hey, who was taunting?" Audric asked innocently.  "I was just trying to give you the facts..."

The Duke retreated a few steps from his friend in order to retrieve and refill his guest's cup with fresh tea and to fill one of his own.  As he poured, he repeated, "You will be a good father, Leif.  You love and protect your family, and that's the most important thing."

He returned to Leif's side and offered him the teacup.  "Here.  Now, drink this one, or I'll be really insulted."  So saying, he held his own glass up slightly with an honest and easy grin.  "To you, to your lovely wife, and the next chapter in your life together."

Leif looked at the tea, then up at Audric; to the toast, to his honor- to the bizarre friendship of this man. He wasn't sure if he cracked a smile or not as he held up the cup with a frown.
"To a new chapter."
It would certainly be a new adventure....