Chapter Five
Kellis storms out of the capital building, fuming at herself. This is ridiculous! She's acting like a little girl with her first crush on a boy! She'll have to get a hold of herself, even if that means keeping her sister at arms length, though the very thought of that leaves a pang of longing in her chest. She's quite distracted as she storms through the bustling city streets, her very nature letting glide through the crowds without so much as a brush of a tunic, barely even noticing the people around her. It takes her several minutes to notice she's being followed again, and this time not by one lone stalker, but four. Add to that the fact that they're really not even trying to hide it makes her mind go into the cool, calm place she gets when its time to be serious about her work. She stops, and moving to the nearest open booth, she casually browses the wares, wondering what this group is up to. She doesn't feel any real danger; attacking her in broad daylight in the middle of the street is a good way to meet a guardsman's cudgel, but she is curious to see what they'll do.
After several moments of admiring the porcelain vases and other knick knacks, some of which were really quite nice, she notes the movements of the largest of the four, who sidles up to her. His stench is awful; the wretch must not have bathed in months. She keeps her eyes on the table, ignoring his presence.
"M'lady," he growls. "My boss wants ta invite ya to a meeting."
She slowly turns her head and looks up at him: his dark hair is a tangled mess and his teeth so brown they're nearly black. She quirks a brow. "Is that so? And just who is this boss of yours?"
"He wants ta introduce himself, but not out in publics. If you'd come with us, we'll takes yas to him."
She stares at him, dumbfounded for a moment, before replying with all the sarcasm she can muster.
"So let me get this straight. You want me to follow strange men to an undisclosed location to meet some mysterious boss who won't identify himself. How could anything go wrong with THAT?"
"We'll keeps ya safe lady, don't ya worries your pretty head about that."
"I'm so comforted. Listen, tell your boss if wants to talk to me he can come do it himself. I'm often at the state house. Surrounded by guards."
"He's not gonna like that lady. He's a very private man."
She stares at him a moment more then rolls her eyes. "Give him my condolences. Now if you don't mind, I have my shopping to do." The man continues to stare down at her, clearly frustrated, giving a heavy sigh and grunts and mumbles, but eventually relents.
"Ok lady, I'll tells him. But he ain't gonna likes it."
Kellis waves a hand to dismiss him, but keeps a watch out of the corner of her eye to see that he and his fellows do indeed depart. After a few moments she decides to follow them and see where they go, with a suspicion that they'll be heading to the state building to report their failure to Nevall.
Following them discreetly is easy enough; they're as clumsy as oxes. As it turns out, however, they do not head there, but rather to the docks. She keeps her distance to see where they go from there, and nods a bit as they head to a large galley flying a Tampline flag. Could it be Drax? Why would he want a meeting? She ponders this a moment before deciding to head back and start arranging for a few of her spies to look into Minister Nevall, when she suddenly feels a pin prick in her side and a very firm hand grip her arm, holding it painfully tight. She immediately reaches for her daggers and she feels the point in her side press tighter, piercing through her leather tunic, which makes her pause. She feels the hot breath of a whisper on her ear.
"Don't struggle, girl. My Master just wants a meeting. You won't be harmed. No need to make a scene," the man almost hisses.
Her heart is beating rapidly, but she remains calm and cool. "Who are you? Who is your Master?"
"All in good time," the whispered voice answers, and with another push of the blade in her side he quickly removes both her daggers from their sheaths. "I'll give these back when we're done. Now walk. Slowly. No need for anything rash."
She thinks about resisting, always confident in her ability to handle any situation like this, but she knows nothing of this man, other than the fact that he is clearly very skilled to have caught her off guard like this, and that vice grip on her bicep doesn't give her confidence that she's any stronger, even with her magical help. She decides to play along for now, and gives a curt nod, and they begin slowly making their way through the crowd. No one pays them any attention, so he clearly has the blade she can still feel pressing into her side concealed somehow. She's not surprised when they make their way to the same Tampline ship the other goons went to. When they climb up the narrow plank that leads to the ships hull, the guards there give them both a smirk and a nod.
She's led down a short flight of stairs till they reach what she assumes is the captain's quarters. The small room is lushly decorated with an intricate carpet and tapestries on the walls. Near the far wall is an ornate desk, carved with the likenesses of dragons up and down the four posts, and there are gold and silver statues and other trinkets decorating it, and more on shelves lining the walls. Behind the desk sits a dark, lean man, his skin a rich copper, his black hair cut short with a well trimmed mustache and beard.
Her captor lets go of her arm, and she glances over at him for the first time, and is shocked for the second time today, for despite his cloak and hood hiding his appearance, she gets a clear look at her second elf of the day. Only this one has skin obsidian black, with shimmering gray hair flowing down past his shoulders. His blood red eyes regard her coolly, though a little smile quirks one corner of his lips. A dark elf! She wasn't even sure they were real; most people would call them fairy tales to frighten children. She takes a calming breath and puts him out of her mind, returning her gaze to the man behind the desk, who clearly noticed, and enjoyed, her reaction to his henchman.
"Hello, Kellis Jai'mai. Pleased to finally meet you," he says. His voice has the practiced air of an aristocrat. "Sorry to use such... uncouth means, but you were asked nicely at first." She rubs her side and looks down at where the dagger was poking her; and yes, there's a little blood and a hole in her armor; have to replace it yet again. She looks back up at him.
"I've had worse such meetings. So, who are you and what do you want?"
"I am Lord Broderick duLace, of the Tampline High Council. My very helpful companion is K'zat of the Messarin clan." He gestures to the dark elf, who takes a very small bow. "What I want is your help, in an endeavor I'm sure you'll find very worthwhile." She quirks a brow at this and folds her arms over her chest.
"Go on."
"It has come to my attention that there is a plot afoot, one that would have very bad consequences for both you and me. Your Minister Nevall is plotting with a member of my High Council, one Lord Cerio Nysten, to murder and oust your Lord Prongald and install himself as undisputed ruler of Felucia. Cerio in return would take full control over the High Council, probably even disbanding it once his power was secure. Cerio has access to dark people and dark magic, and Nevall has access to the funds that will secure them. If one were to examine the book keeping of Minister Nevall, I'm quite sure they'd find many... discrepancies."
Kellis frowns. Gerith did say Nevall was acting suspiciously, but this? Dark magic? She looks over to the dark elf and her frown deepens.
"Yes my dear girl, K'zat's people are well-known for their skills. In fact that's one of the ways I found this plot out." He gestures to the elf, who nods.
"Cerio has been in contact Clan Breshin," the elf says, "a rival of ours going back centuries. I was sent to foul their plans. Letting them get any advantage is not acceptable." The dark elf's voice seems to never rise above a whisper, yet can be clearly heard.
Lord Broderick continues. "You also helped me, by fouling that assassination attempt a month or so back. But I'm afraid that was merely a feint. A probe, if you will, to find out the extent of Lord Prongald's defenses. And you, my dear, is what they discovered."
Kellis ponders this a moment, not at all convinced by any of it, but there is enough there to be concerning. She tilts her head, then asks, "So, was Drax's little kidnapping ploy part of this too?"
Lord Broderick scowls and shakes his head. "No, that was just a coincidence, as far as I can tell. Drax is an over-ambitious fool, though one can't deny the strength of his magic. It seems he learned your true role here as well, and tried to take advantage of it."
Kellis bites her bottom lip and nods, her mind a-whirl. Could any of this be true? She'll have to do a deep dive into just what Minster Nevall has been up to, other than banging his secretary. She looks to Lord Broderick again.
"So why all this subterfuge? Why drag me in off the street? Why not just inform your High Council, send a message to Lord Progald?"
Lord Broderick grimaces again. "If only it were that easy. Cerio is too well positioned on the Council, has too many allies that will back him if I make a move. I don't want him taking power, but I also don't want my head on a pike. Him and Nevall have quite the head start on us, and we need to gather our own forces if we're to come out of this alive. As for marching a delegate in to see Lord Prongald, that would merely force their hand, and the outcome of such a conflict can't be predicted. Right now they're still cautious. In fact, you, my dear Kellis, are one of the reasons why. They're not sure just what your reach is, how many agents you have in place, how much you know. I'm curious about that myself."
Kellis nods; what he says makes sense, but there still seems something off about it. Still, it won't hurt to play along for now. "So what do you want of me?" she asks.
"For now, I just wanted you informed, and to see what steps you can take to thwart this. I can't tell you if you should inform your Lord Prongald or not. You know him better than I, but if you do I'd urge you to tell him to not act too quickly. If he tries to simply take Nevall by force it could spark a civil war within your city, as it would in my own. And as I'm sure you are aware, there is trouble brewing in the south, and the two most prominent city-states of the north in civil war would only make that situation worse as well. No, we need to gather more evidence, gather more allies, then we can strike. We are behind in this game, spymaster, but we haven't lost yet."
"Very well M'lord," she nods. "I was already looking into Nevall, though if this is all true perhaps I should resign as spymaster, as I never saw anything this... deep."
