For some things, there was no going past the old classics. Chains, for instance. Everyone with the sense Ansgar gave a goldfish knew Connlaoth made stronger metals, and lighter ones, but when you figured you had a dangerous mage on your hands...you couldn't go past a nice hefty set of solid, pure iron chains to decorate magical wrists or ankles.
Right now, he had wrists and ankles both. Heavy ones. And a tall, fierce looking Adhara on the cell door.
Murray slumped in the corner.
Twenty years of loyal service - more than that; he'd known His Nibs since before he'd even inherited his father's duchy, much less become the Grand Duke of all! - and here he was, sitting on his arse in a drafty cell with a bowl of cold slops he wouldn't have fed to a bleedin' rat.
To be sure, he'd had plenty worse in the service, but that wasn't the point!
"I need to talk to Lord Geisler. I can explain it all. That's it, that's all I want...just get him for me, hey?"
The young girl wouldn't look at him. She looked like there was something unpleasant been shoved right under her nose.
Come now. He didn't smell that bad.
Well, bugger. Time for plan B...make some noise, boyo.
"Geisler? GEISLER!"
He was still in shock. Bernard couldn't believe this. There had to be some terrible mistake. Some enemy of his had gotten some magic user to frame Murray. He had known Murray since he was a child! He wasn't some tainted mage! Even if he was, there was no way Murray wouldn't have turned himself in.
Thank God for Eloise. She had been his rock. Even now, she was the one handling everything. She would make it all better.
Pausing outside the cell door, Bernard could hear Murray inside. Glancing over at his wife, he frowned, "It all has to be a mistake love. There is no way he's a mage."
It was the same thing he had repeated to her several times since they had gotten the news.
And what if he is a mage?
Eloise didn't have the heart to say it to her husband; looking him in the face, into those green eyes that were already laced with such pain and conflict. She could not say she could understand what Bernard was going through, she had felt no such feeling of loss before even if it is too quick to judge. However, that had the possibility of all changing if they, or rather she, did not grab a hold of this situation and crush it between her fingers.
Luckily for her, she already had an advantage. A mind unclouded by the sting of betrayal. Eloise had never trusted Murray. No matter how much faith Bernard had placed in the man, all she could see was a liability; a person that was not her had gotten close enough to hear secrets and ride on the privilege of the Grand Duke's protection. If Murray thought he could still grasp onto it and expect her husband to fall to his knees to the courts, to the nobles, to all of Connlaoth in the defence of a suspected mage - of all things - he was sadly mistaken. Bernard had a sense of honour and of duty to his country and he had her at his side to push him towards it if he faltered. Eloise would not let one man destroy it all.
She slipped her hand in to hold his, squeezing tightly. "We'll deal with this, Bernard, no matter what the outcome ends up being." Eloise said, "and I do think he's screamed for you enough. Let us not let him annoy the Mordecai further, hmm?"
Oh, joy of joys, Bernard had arrived.
Of course, he had Madam with him (Murray had never been all that sure just what it was Bernard saw in the woman) but...oh, who gave a shit? As long as she didn't interrupt him, it'd all be apples.
He wasn't a young man no more, not by any shake, but he didn't think he'd ever run so fast in his entire bleedin' life as he did scrambling to get nearer to the door. It was sodding hard to run when your legs were shackled at the ankles!
He pulled up short when the chain ran out, doing a funny sort of lopsided skip to catch his balance and stay on his feet. Blasted thing, bolted to the wall...
"I'm sorry Geisler." Now he was here...he'd been planning what he might say, but none of it was coming out. Truth and all, it felt like he was trying to puke up a doorknob. He scrambled for any words he could find. "I can't...I never...how many times have I saved your arse? If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have let it happen then."
Oh, for the love of kittens, it sounded even worse then he'd thought it might.
"Oh Carwardine." Bernard felt a sharp pain slice through his chest. He wasn't denying it. He wasn't explaining how it was all some misunderstanding. The apologies twisted into Bernard. Gripping Eloise's hand tighter, the Grand Duke stared down at his former friend.
"Why?"
Murray shrugged helplessly. He couldn't remember ever being so miserable. So bleedin' helpless. It wasn't right for a man.
"Never thought I was a mage. I still don't think I am one, but I can't...I don't...after this, I 'spose I must be."
Come on, boyo. Man up, and never mind the tears he could feel prickling the back of his eyes. He'd be damned if he would cry in front of Herself. Bernard too, of course, but mostly Herself.
"I'm sorry man."
Eloise squeezed Bernard's hand back in response. She knew this would trouble him, far more than even he himself could have expected. That was why she was there, at his side. To take care of it all.
What she would do for Murray on the other hand was another story. All he was, was a wretch, no, a rat. She wanted to strike out her hand and grab him by the collar and make sure he could not look away from her as she said her piece. But she didn't. Eloise stared stone faced at him as he and her husband exchanged words. Until..
She clicked her tongue. "Careful, Murray, that could be a confession." She said, "I don't advise on supposing anything if you wish to keep that life of yours." Not that it would mean much of anything. Once a name was marred, it was marred even after innocence.
Bernard took a step back from Murray, his expression heartbroken before he slid a stony mask into place, "Are you saying you are a mage? How could you not have gone to the church?"
Even as a marked mage, Bernard would have kept him, the scandal be damned. He was a friend. But to hide it like that? To let the taint in. The mask slipped, and Barnard looked angry now, his voice a low hiss, "I let you around my children. How could you?"
"Tell the church, he says. And then what? Have your name, and your children, and your wife,"
(It was a right pain in the arse to include Herself in this - and she was still looking daggers at him, the foul-tempered little witch - but there you had it. Bernard loved her. Nothing to be done about it now.)
"and...oh hell man, why not include all of Connlaoth? Have all of that dragged through the mud because your name's harnessed up with mine? Lose my position anyway, even if by some miracle the rest of the palace didn't have to wear it? All this for something I don't remember ever learning? Geisler, my boy, what a genius you are."
Murray drew himself up to his full height. The chains made it difficult, but even in chains he'd be damned if he didn't try. Feet together, shoulders squared back, staring at a point somewhere off on the horizon behind Bernard's head (just let Herself try and take potshots at him, just let her try)...it was the closest he'd get to a proper military bearing these days, but somehow that was important. That mattered.
"I served the best way I knew how, sir. Always."
Eloise put her free hand on Bernard's arm and pushed her body closer to his. "Sweetheart, our children are far stronger than any taint by magic. Do not worry about them." She said, she did not need her husband to lose his cool now, not when much was at stake. Unlike most, she did not have a fear of magic. It was like any other weapon that could maim and destroy, mages however, could not put theirs away. She could respect that kind of power and realise the threat of not being able to dismember it.
It was a wonder why she herself was not taken aback by Murray's demeanour, the things he said that insulted not only her but the Grand Duke with out an ounce of reverence needed in addressing someone of power, regardless of the situation - because she was expecting this. An animal would chew off its own leg to get out of a trap. And his arguments were weak at best.
Eloise did her best to keep her face as stoic as possible as the accused rose himself up to his full height, a meer one inch above her own. Honestly, was that supposed to intimidate her? Really? It was difficult not to laugh, though she managed.
Oh bollocks. Ansgar's sagging, hairy, wrinkled, sweaty bollocks.
This wasn't going anywhere.
Just one look at the expression on Herself's snooty face said it all. He'd have liked to slap her, if he hadn't known Bernard wouldn't stand for it. He'd have liked to walk away, too, and give himself a tiny scrap of dignity...if the cell had been big enough.
It wasn't. That was the point of cells.
Bernard growled, raking a hand through his hair. He knew what he had to do, what duty told him was required here. But it was Murray. The man who had practically raised him, had been with him longer than he could remember.
It was at that moment that Michael arrived, breezing into the cell and gave Bernard and his wife a quick salute, "I came as soon as I heard Sire."
Bernard nodded, feeling his heart grow heavy. There was no more time. The truth was going to have to come out and Sir Weiss was one of the best. "Ah. Yes. Thank you Michael. We...haven't gotten anything out of him yet."
For a moment, Bernard's mask crumbled again, "He is a good man-I'm sure-...I'm sure he would never harm this nation."
Bollocks again. Of all the people they could've sent for...he knew Michael Weiss, he'd seen a fair chunk of her career play out over the years. This little missie was a hard nut. Damned good at her job, but being on the other end of one of her sessions was not a place any man with half his wits left to him would ever want to be.
Should've expected they'd ask her.
He tried to smile. That blasted doorknob was back in his throat again, rising pretty bleedin' fast.
His voice shook. Damn and blast.
"Hello Weiss. How's tricks?"
"Not so good Carwardine." Michael shook her head, looking the man over, "I've heard some bad rumors. That there was magic done by you. What do you have to say about that?"
Maybe this would all get worked out all nice and polite like, not have to resort to torture. But it almost never did. While she wasn't close with Murray, she had known him for years and disliked hurting Bernard through him.
But magic wasn't something to take lightly and she would get to the bottom of it.
She couldn't help that a playful smile danced on her lips when she first saw the form of Michael entering. And it just happened to reach her eyes as the head of the Mordecai gave a respectful salute. It was a genuine expression, not one that was hiding daggers behind it - the kind quite similar to the soulless stare she had been giving Murray, all wrapped up in chains like a poor, poor little animal. She tightened her grip on Bernard's arm and hand, reassuring him that she was still there and was one of the few things he could squeeze and not break.
Perhaps asking Michael herself to come was a little much, anyone with the abilities of a Mordecai would do. However, the responsibility of this particular assumed mage rested on both hers and the Grand Duke, considering how very close he managed to wiggle himself. Eloise liked Michael on the fact that she tended to take reputation seriously.
"Yes, Murray, what do you have to say for it?" She said, and if he was less of a fool than she pegged him as the man would choose not to recite the same things as he did before in front of the Mordecai. While he may still be a mage, he might have not been the one using magic. There was a difference. Just because you know how to wield, or had the potential, a sword didn't mean you were the one to stab. A game of politics began to unroll itself in Eloise's mind. The magic could have come from anyone. Murray could have been framed by one of the more obnoxious Lords, using a hireling or an innocent bystander on the point of blackmail. She could use this as an excuse to investigate the nobles. No one could see the skeletons unless the door was open...
But that was in the future. The present was just as it unfolded before her. She was not about to ask for mercy to be played by Michael. No, let the man squirm. Innocent or not. He was hurting Bernard. No one did that.
Oh, shut up you daft bint...
He wasn't going to say that, but he was thinking it for sure. Trust Her to chip in where she wasn't ruddy needed. For the love of kittens, you'd think she thought it wasn't bad enough already!
Murray made sure to look directly at Eloise as he spoke, slowly and carefully. She wanted to know so badly, she could damn well listen. Be the first time in her life she ever did, most likely.
"I never hurt Geisler. I never hurt Connlaoth. I never would, and even if I wanted to I wouldn't know how. The only magic I know any-sodding-thing about is to protect the man."
There. Now it was out.
He took a deep breath and tried to keep his hands from shaking.
"Eloise..." Bernard squeezed her hand back, his voice slightly chiding. He knew there was little lost love between his wife and his...whatever Murray was now. But he didn't want to see them bickering now.
Though when Murray finally spoke, he went very still. So it had been true. Murray was a mage, a tainted practitioner of dark magic.
Michael just sighed, shaking her head, "Carwardine, Carwardine, Carwardine. You know as well as I that doesn't matter. You broke the natural order. You brought evil into our land, destroyed the balance we are trying so hard to create. You know I can't let you go."
He would have to be purged, cleansed of the sin of magic and punished for his crime.
"Yep. I know. Near shittin' meself at the thought, actually." Murray laughed, a short huff like a dog's bark, bitter as an olive pip on his tongue. "It's not just the food in these digs that's got me dropping my dacks!"
Murray sat down. These chains were heavy after a while, and strong as he was it just wasn't comfortable hunching over to keep them all loose. Not much to look at except his feet...but then again, he wasn't a wordsmith. He didn't have the sweet talking thing down. Maybe it was better if he didn't have to look at anyone right now. Least of all Bernard.
"Those mages you chase. Like me, I 'spose, but the ones who get away. Where do they go?"
It's a right struggle getting this lot out. Every time he opened his trap, the words kept getting faster and faster, tumbling over each other in a rush.
"They don't just stop doing magic, they don't just forget. They can't. Every time they send something off this way hoping to catch Geisler without his guard, asleep, in the bath...every time they try, I've known. I've stopped it, or tried. I've asked for the guard to be increased. I've moved his schedule for the day, so he's not where the magic will hit. I've put shields up. Weak ones, cos that's all I can do, but enough to fill the cracks. Enough to keep the worst of it out. I've been doing it for years."
Deep breath. Okay. That was the hard bit over and done. He could feel Weiss watching him. This bit, this bit she had to understand...
"It was worth it, but. I'd follow that man up a dragon's arse if he told me to go. Selling my soul to keep him safe...that's just the next step up. Leastaways for me it doesn't hurt. A banged-up old soul like mine, it's even a fair trade."
He looked up. Smiled.
"'S nice, telling the truth for once."
Eloise stared at Murray as the confession - the real honest to Ansgar confession - tumbled out of his mouth. Well, this certainly wasn't good for her. With Michael there to hear it all, every single word of heresy, it damned the man to a wonderful hot date with coals and the smell of burning flesh. But, in her own mind it played against her sensibilities, she was stumbling over her thoughts to find a way to reproach it. The man was a fool. An absolute fool. And the entire speech hit every note that signalled her to believe that this was a person who was giving into defeat.
She hated when people played powerless, even in the position that Murray was in, he could at least attempt to show he was willing to fight. The chains were not too heavy, he could still stand tall, but he choose not to stand at all. Eloise could feel the hairs on the nape of her neck raise as she became aware that the coolness of the prison was making her uncomfortable. Or perhaps it was this. She hated the man more knowing that he was giving up on what he said he protected with his very life. He didn't even try to lie his way out of the interrogation!
What use are you if you're dead? She wanted to take him by the shoulders and shake him until those words got stuck in his head.
And perhaps, perhaps she was stinging from the blow against her pride. It showed her weaknesses. Murray claimed to protect Bernard. From mages. She should have known about this!
Ugh. She was starting to get a headache.
"Are you done?" She said, dismissively and wanted to slap that smile off his face. So badly.
"Yes'm. I've said my piece."
Murray didn't even look at her. She - cold little bitch that she was - didn't understand.
That sodding woman and her endless politicking. It'd get her into trouble one day, you just wait and see. Her and Bernard both, and the poor boyo didn't even ask for the trouble.
"I'm gunna die anyway. On the torturer's table pretending I didn't do it after all, in the fire...one way or the other I'm out. I already know I'm going where the bad people go, but if it's all the same to you, ma'am, I won't go with a lie."
Ha. Chew on that, princess. Don't forget to choke on it on the way down.
She'd never understand.
That was not at all what Michael had been expecting. But it made things much, much easier. Reaching out, she placed a hand on his head, "If you like, you can repent and go to God with a clean soul. The fires will cleanse you."
It was the least she could do for him.
Bernard just stared down at his friend, his hand a death grip on Eloise's, "Murray...you stupid ass. You should have told me. We could have figured something out, dealt with those mages. You shouldn't have resorted to magic. Not for me."
"Repenting implies I'm sorry, and I gotta say I'm not. I made my choice. I'd make it again to keep him safe. Even to keep Her," he jerked his head roughly towards Eloise, "safe, because it'd break his heart to lose her. If that sends me downstairs..."
Murray shrugged.
"Geisler, man, if I'd told you I knew, I'd have to tell you how I knew. You're a good man. You've got a sense of duty weighs heavier than this city. What would you have done, eh? After all this time, from before you ever moved your digs to the Palace?"
He shook his head. Oh, that boy...
"Let it lie, man. No hard feelings."
The grip Bernard had on her hand was enough to settle her decision.
"Hold, Weiss." Eloise said. If she did not say anything now, if she did not stick out her tongue and bite it off to swallow her pride, she could lose a huge opportunity. And Bernard...How long would it be until that look in his eyes would disappear? That pain, that betrayal so deep she herself could not empathize with.
She smiled towards her husband, wanting him to trust her like he had. She had this. She could make it all better. Eloise needed his backing, she needed him to believe her. While Michael had the right intentions, by all things known Murray was a mage who had used magic. But there were contradictions in his character. She could fall on that. "This is a man who has given up. They are words from the all ready dead. Please pray tell that I am not the only one to notice this?"
"Bernard," She was addressing him specifically. It was a way to make it seem like he, too, came to the same conclusion that she did. "Carwardine had stated he did not know of his magical capacities, it came to him as a shock to be accused of such taint, however since he had been it must be true."
She took her hand off his arm and gestured to the man in chains in front of her. "And yet now he speaks in absolutes. I do not believe he had an epiphany in as little as time. You are giving up, Carwardine, even though there is no evidence. You could be framed. You could very well be innocent but you find this easier."
She wasn't about to bring up the mention of possible other mages involved with attacks against the Grand Duke. It would be a backhanded slap against Michael, Eloise did not need the Mordecai to have more fuel against her. Not now. She needed Bernard before she could risk it.
What in the...
Murray didn't actually notice it when his jaw dropped.
What the flipping hell was she doing?
She hated him. Always bleedin' had. It was a fair cop, to be sure - he didn't like her much either! - but still. The only reason they had anything to do with each other (and reluctantly at that) was 'cause Geisler thought the sun shone out her snatch every morning, and probably the moon out her arsehole each night.
He'd have figured she'd be glad to see the back of him, and yet here she was...trying to save him?
He'd just about resigned himself to dying, too. He'd have liked to live - Ansgar's balls, he wanted to live so badly it hurt - but...some things were more important than what he wanted.
"Ma'am, with all respect, he confessed." Michael wasn't thrilled at the idea there were mages outside the country that were attacking their Grand Duke. That was something she was going to have to look into. Even beyond the boarders, if they threatened her country at all, she would go to them.
It shamed her that she had been utterly unaware of that threat. And she would be getting more out of Carwardine later. That was for sure.
Murray's head snapped to look at Weiss. This was going to be like watching two kids on a seesaw, he could see it already.
Weiss was cranky, too. Real cranky. Soft-spoken still, for sure, and still turning up the deference, but her shoulders were squared tight like she was waiting for a fight. He couldn't help smiling a little - secret-like, not enough for anyone to see he didn't think - at just what it might be that this whole business had spoiled about her evening.
...He could make a pretty good guess.
Sorry Weiss. When you get back...kiss your pretty boyo for me? Haven't had much of a chance for that lately!
"All I see are pretty metaphors, albeit a tad bit Serenian in their execution, but metaphors nonetheless." Eloise said. This was going to be difficult. And she hoped to Ansgar that she was making the right decision in trying to turn this in favour of a man she so dearly hated. However, she doubted if Murray was truly a mage, Ansgar would condone her actions and words instead of punish her. She was a woman who was the enemy of everyone, it seemed. Everyone but Bernard. It didn't matter. None of that mattered.
It doesn't matter at all.
"We have no evidence that he has done any sort of magic, present or past." She continued, she needed to remain in control of the direction. It needed to go her way. "Weiss, you said yourself you were brought here by rumors, no less."
"If we put the stake on every paranoid person who thought they did magic when it was the wind who knocked over the potted plant, and confessed when there wasn't an ounce of mage blood in their veins, we'd have more witchhunts on our hands." She said, her voice calm and even. A political tone. "More illegal burnings, more vigilante heroes thinking they are doing the country good by killing those they think are mages without warrant. Are we really going to do the same thing with Carwardine?"
Welp, now he had no idea what was going on!
God help him.
Bernard squeezed his wife's hand, glad she was standing up for his friend. Murray was obviously trying to protect something or someone. There was just no way he was a mage and Eloise was right, his story wasn't adding up.
"Eloise is right. We need not be hasty. Things aren't adding up. What if Murray isn't the magic user and some mage is still roaming free? Working their taint."
Michael just nodded. She wasn't going to argue with the rulers of the country, and like many people, she was well aware the real power behind the throne was the pretty woman just to its right.
"Well, I can...see what I can get out of Carwardine. If I can break his story." And after the shame he brought down on her, she wasn't inclined to be all that gentle at the moment.
He'd never thought of himself as a coward. Scared, yeah, oh hell yeah - some of the hairy situations he'd seen as a young buck, you'd have to be out of your bleedin' skull not to get scared. Just not a coward. Never a coward.
Until now. This horrible, cold, twisting mess that rose in his stomach when Weiss said she'd break him, like he had a gutful of snakes all alive-o and mad as hell...
That was new. That was something beyond fear.
He gulped.
"Make-"
Damn. Try again.
"Make it quick, eh?"
She had made the right move, didn't she? So far. Eloise made no illusions, she was walking on unsteady ground. And she had no intention of tripping and falling down a cliff if Ansgar so helped her. She had to get Murray away from Michael. If she knew anything about the Mordecai, from her own dealings with a pride parasite, the woman would be acting with a cold, ruthless, anger towards the accused. Shame. It was a difficult thing to carry.
Eloise turned her grey eyes on Weiss, her expression stoic, "I am not certain you can do that without bias, Weiss. Certainly it must sting...To have mages running under your nose going unnoticed." She said, "our eyes and ears can see and hear what they want them to, not what is truly there."
Eloise found that amusingly ironic that she herself said those things. She was the one spinning webs. "I do not believe that any of us here can contest to an unbiased opinion. At the very least, not at this time."
Michael's face tightened and she had to bite back a snappy comment to Eloise. No shit she wasn't without bias. And then she had to rub the salt in the wounds by reminding her of her shame. But she simply bowed, fist over her heart, "As you say. I will wait until you are ready to have me question him."
Cor.
He never, ever thought he'd see the day when Weiss backed down over a mage hunt. She was as much Geisler's weapon as the man's own sword, and probably at least four times as dangerous.
And here was Eloise Bloody Geisler herself, queen of the ice bitches, able to shut the whole thing down with a sentence!
Huh. No wonder Bernard was so devoted to her. If she was as fierce as all that, she'd have had his bollocks on a silver plate if he so much as thought about anything otherwise, served up nice and ready for him to eat along with his words! The way she was going, she could probably get them to shrivel up and fall off just with a look. One of those looks; he didn't even like women, he'd never liked women, and he still knew well enough about Those Looks.
The question now was pretty simple. He almost didn't dare hope. God knows, he wasn't going to look.
Come on Bernard me boyo, it's on you now. What are you going to do?
Bernard took a long moment before he spoke, mulling over his thoughts. His words were spoken slowly, carefully, "I think that my wife is right. This is not something to be handled in haste. I want the mages found, all of them. Michael, I want you to investigate what Murray said, about the ones to the North. We can't allow them to work against us, work against the natural order."
He looked over his friend, his hand tightening around Eloise's, "We will get to the bottom of all this. Find out what the real story is."
Well, he wasn't dead. Not yet, anyroad.
He might yet kick it when Weiss got back, but...
Yep. For now this would do fine, ta very much.
Perfect.
Whilst she might've, most certainly, lost points with Weiss on this case, she luckily didn't play to be anyone's friend. However, Eloise would have to watch her steps, perhaps picking at a wound that had not even begun to scab over was going a tad too far on her part. But, she could only move forwards. Always forwards. If she had the power to fix everything that could have come back to bite her, she would never leave the past.
The sound of Bernard agreeing with her was absolutely wonderful, powerful, invigorating. His voice no longer felt so downtrodden and out of hope. She needed him focused and she gave him a target that would ultimately benefit her own little political upheaval. On top of it all, and on a tangent, her mind wavered to how her slender hand was sweating under her husband's grasp. Ew.
"If it is settled," she began, "then best if we leave Carwardine to mull over this, as well as Bernard." There was still one thing she wanted to do. She wanted to speak with Murray. Alone. Before Weiss had a chance to herself.
He wasn't all that sure what to say once Weiss and Bernard had gone. In some ways - bugger it, in most ways - it was easier now he didn't have to look at Bernard's face, the raw pain in the man's expression like he'd dug a knife in and was twisting it good and proper.
Course, now he was stuck in a cage, with Herself on the other side of the bars. Oh bugger. He had to say, this wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind for a pleasant afternoon's entertainment!
Murray shifted awkwardly from foot to foot.
"Missus...thank you."
"Yes Ma'am." Weiss gave a sharp salute, then turned on her heel, body stiff with anger. That bitch hadn't needed to rub her raw wounds. She had served them well for years and apparently that meant nothing.
Bernard gave a small sigh when Michael left. He was glad she had left, her temper was too high. But he was sad to see her insulted like that. He would have to make it up to her. He leaned over, kissing his wife's hair, "Don't be too long."
He trusted her. Trusted her to figure this all out.
Then he headed out. Maybe he would find the kids, sit with them for a while until his head cleared.
"I promise I won't take long, love." Eloise said, her hand lingering a little while longer in Bernard's grasp until the distance between them was too far to hold on for. She watched her husband's back until she was certain both him and Weiss were out of range for listening. Then, she turned to Carwardine.
What was she going to do with him? That could have been an exasperated thought, one more suited to an owner looking down at a dog that had just chewed up the very expensive and imported decorative pillows. Or, it could have been literal.
"Your thanks is early." She said, crossing her arms. He shouldn't be thanking her at all, there was nothing to be grateful for. Carwardine seemed to forget that he was still bound in chains that have not moved an inch. "I have done nothing but stall your interrogation with Weiss. Do not waste the time I bought for you, use it to get your story straight." And by story she meant: You better say exactly what I tell you to.
"I'll not lie to him. Don't you ask me to lie to him."
He'd never yet told a boldfaced lie to Geisler, and by god he didn't intend to. Grateful as he was...Eloise the Icy would just have to suck it up.
"I am not asking you to lie to Bernard." She said coldly. Eloise used to think why people thought the worst of her and even tried to stem that. Then she realised she did not care. It was the tiniest bit of annoying when she had to correct other people's assumptions, however.
"Nor would I." She added, running a hand across her bangs to push dislodged hair back into their place, though it didn't need it. She had to stop herself from doing it a second time. Carwardine need not know she was stressed and had the desire to fidget. Nor did it suit her. "It's about Weiss, I thought you would have clued into that."
"What about Weiss?"
This would be a turn up for the books and no mistake. Suspicious as he still was - he figured he'd always be a little suss about matters concerning Herself, even if she DID manage to get him out of trouble - Murray couldn't exactly deny that his ears had pricked up.
"She's the one to worry about." Eloise said. At that moment, she was. There could be many other implications that could crop up in the future. However, she herself had to convince, no matter now horrible that notion was, that she had no intention of being Murray's enemy. "Once Weiss has your balls in front of an Iron Dragon, there's nothing Bernard nor I can do to keep you out of it, lest risk our own station for abetting a mage."