Several Hours Later
Exiting the manor through the large double doors closing behind them, Orpheus and Susanna plunge into the slowly darkening atmosphere of a time where light and dark intermingle in between night and day. Stepping forward they both land on the dirt ground, a young man sits upon the carriage awaiting their arrival. Orpheus keeps his gaze fixed forward as he softly speaks to Susanna standing beside him. "So, what do you think about Lord Dandridge?" Asking with a cold gaze chasing away his previous delighted and blissful attitude he once possessed.
Leering forward with an equally calm and emotionless expression, Susanna replies with a soft voice just below the sound of the afternoon whirling wind. "He is definitely covering up those carriage attacks, using Mavrath and the Goblins as a scapegoat, most likely he's involved in the attacks but I doubt he orchestrated them, he's under someone's thumb." Keeping her gaze firmly placed on the small gate just across the dirt track, she awaits Orpheus's reply.
Lettings out a quick sigh he lowers his gaze in contemplation, after a few seconds he turns to Susanna and begins speaking to her directly. "Your evidence?" After asking such a simple question he waits patiently as a large air of curiosity fills his eyes.
Susanna suddenly smiles before licking her dry lips and replying to his question in a slightly softer voice, just above a whisper. "First off Mavrath can't be commanding the goblins as you and I both know; we have already discovered that Lord Dandridge is involved in the coup against the Crown, his eagerness to pin the attacks on the Goblin signifies he's either inept or intelligent, either way, he's not telling us the truth of the matter." After giving a lengthy report to Orpheus her eyes glance at him for a moment to gauge his reaction.
Nodding in response to her statement, Orpheus lingers for a moment before responding. "I agree, he's either orchestrating these raids or he's involved in them." Returning his gaze to the void in front of him he nods some more as he ponders this information silently.
Turning her body to the right to face him, Susanna gazes at Orpheus with a serious expression as her eyebrows furrow before speaking. "One more thing." Pausing mid-sentence, she turns her glance to the doorway before returning his gaze and continuing. "Victoria... she is not what she seems." Turning her head from left to right during her statement, further reinforcing her dire point.
Orpheus then squints his eyes in confusion as if her words had just come at a complete surprise, lowering his head he thinks again before rising. "Very well, we will keep an eye on her." Gazing back at Susanna she responds with a simple nod as Orpheus steps forward upon the dirt ground and begins walking.
Watching his actions, Susanna cups her hands in front of her and places them upon her dress before asking a question. "Well, what's next?" She asks while tipping her head slightly to the right giving off an air of confusion and curiosity as her dresses flutter in the wind.
Turning around as prompted by her question, his hair jostles out of place getting caught in the wind direction, he smiles malevolently before answering her question with a calm and nonchalant voice. "Well, you have to get ready for a party and I... I need to pay someone a visit." Turning towards the carriage before him he steps forwards one after the other, Susanna watches on as a faint smile appears on her face before she too steps forward.
The Night of the Royal Gala
A large room bathed in the eerie blackness of night, with not but a few lanterns situated on the walls to illuminate the area. Within the darkened landscape is a large king-size bed in the centre, a tall wooden wardrobe up against the western wall, to the north are draped curtains concealing two doors leading to a small balcony. To the east is a small bedside table with a bottle of wine and a single empty glass next to it, to the south is a closed-door leading to a large hallway inside the manor. In the centre of the room just near the southern side of the bed is a six feet tall slender man with long parted golden hair, green eyes and the face of tanned porcelain but still objectively attractive.
The man stands there with black leather pants and shoes but absents any other attire, his exposed upper torso denotes a slender man with little muscle definition but more on the slim side. Grasping a wrinkled doublet in his right hand he struts over to the bedside table, pours himself some wine and carefully lifts the glass to his lips. Sipping the wine for a few moments he hears a lite knock on the door leading to the hallway, followed by a meek and soft voice. "Husband, you have a visitor and I think it's urgent." The soft voice moves passed the wooden door to the man's very ears causing his face to quickly morph into a scowl, he then chugs the wine, places it upon the bedside desk and quickly puts on the doublet.
Moving towards the door, he grasps the doorknob roughly with his right hand as fury begins to surge throughout his body flushing his face beat red. Turning the doorknob swiftly, he opens the door whilst simultaneously berating the women on the opposite side. "Dammit, Melinda tell the visitor..." Before he can finish his furious rant his eyes gaze upon the face of a beautiful blonde-haired woman and a reasonably tall man with dark blonde slick back hair, blue eyes and soft facial features. Seeing this man immediately causes the furious tension to subside before he speaks up in a panic. "Umm William, what are you doing here?" The man asks as he identifies the man as none other than Lord William Dandridge standing meekly next to Lady Melinda Winthrope.
Making a weary face as if heavily fatigued and frightened, William immediately speaks up in a monotone voice. "Evening Alistair, I know it's late but we must speak." William immediately presses forward and barges into the room causing a slight fuss with Alistair.
Alistair immediately shuts the door as he completely ignores his wife on the opposite side, moving towards the pacing William he squints his eyes and furrows his eyebrows in annoyance and concern. Turning his head to the left and the right as he tracks the pacing William, before finally asks a question. "What's wrong William? I've never seen you this tense before." He asks with still a concerned and confused expression adorning his scowling face, after waiting for an answer for roughly five seconds he immediately turns to the right and pours another glass of wine. He moves towards the bed and sits down on the side, whilst watching the pacing of William with a now amused expression.
Still pacing back and forth William turns his gaze to the nonchalant Alistair seated near him as he sips the glass of wine. Scowling slightly William speaks up in a tense voice. "Do you know who paid me a visit recently, the mage Orpheus!" In a fit William immediately stops in front of Alistair and leans forward speaking up as Alistair drops his glass to his knee. With the focus attained William continues speaking more on the subject. "This is bad Alistair, he started asking questions about the trade routes and the carriage attacks." William states as he gestures with his right hand firmly tapping the centre of his left palm to emphasise his point.
Listening intently Alistair brings the glass back to his lips and makes a small sip and asks a question. "What could that up-jumped peasant possibly know?" He asks with an obvious smile adorning his undeterred face as if he has not a care in the world.
Dropping his eyebrows in a heavy motion he begins speaking in a sterner and louder tone of voice. "He knows enough, he was asking about the specific carriage raids that were investigated as goblin attacks." Gesturing his palms outwards to reinforce the urgency of his words, he leans closer to Alistair as to speak with greater effect.
Alistair prompted by those words suddenly scowls seriously before speaking up once more. "Even if he knows the truth what can he really do anyway?" Asking with a now sour expression before sipping his glass some more until the contents were empty.
William immediately stands up straight as if dissatisfied at the question he just heard. "He is favoured by the king for saving that town remember and also he killed Lord Kencus in front of all of us with no repercussion to the act, does this not suggest how dangerous he is." Still pressing his point forward, he gestures his palms up and down as if frightened by the very words he has spoken.
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Standing up without a care in the world, Alistair moves past the shocked William towards the bed-side table as he speaks. "They have already put plans in the works to deal with Orpheus and to be honest, Lord Kencus was an idiot, the kingdom is a better place now that he's dead, but I wonder... what will his heir do." Stopping at the bed-side table he pauses before pouring another glass of wine and turns to William. "You needn't worry so much William, as long as we stick to the deal everything will be fine." Stepping forward as he speaks, he places the glass into William's right hand before moving towards the mirror upon the western wall, to inspect himself.
William scoffs as he fiddles with the glass in his hand, sloshing the wine within from side to side as he turns to Alistair and speaks. "The deal." Making that simple two-word statement immediately caused Alistair to turn his gaze and glares at William.
Lingering for a few moments he turns back to the mirror and continues inspecting his attire whilst speaking. "Yes, the deal... you make the false reports to the crown, we split the cargo between us and them and I make it seem like the profits are coming from my business ventures overseas." After adjusting his clothes, he turns around and gazes directly at William with a mischievous smile on his face. "It's a win, win situation for all parties involved." After reassuring his friend who now sports a relaxed expression, Alistair moves forward towards the bed-side table and begins inspecting the wine bottle as he speaks once more. "And with that in mind, there is nothing a little second-rate mage can do, with our associates watching our backs." With the wine bottle in his right hand, he begins inspecting its minimal contents with a saddened expression.
Shrugging his shoulders, William lets out an exhausted sigh before stepping towards Alistair and placing his right hand upon his right shoulder. "You should tell that to Kencus." Making a snide comment William dips his head downwards as if ashamed, whilst Alistair begins chuckling softly, William then whispers something under his breath before raising his head.
Still inspecting the bottle with a smile slowly morphing back into a frown, he suddenly starts feeling dizzy and lightheaded, stumbling backwards William catches him and quickly moves him towards the bed-side and seats him carefully. Now sitting as the world begins to spin, fatigue and exhaustion begin to plague his eyes, William leans forward and asks a question in a panic. "Alistair are you okay?" Frowning his face as if tense, William gazes at the wobbling Alistair as his head dips downwards before passing out.
Quickly grabbing Alistair's chin with his right hand, he lifts his unconscious face and glares at him, suddenly William's face immediately morphs as a dazzling shimmer passes his facial features transforming to resemble Orpheus's face. Now revealed to be Orpheus, he raises his left hand and places his palm upon the man's forehead before speaking. "Mind manipulation spells are never a sure thing, but I think you Lord Winthrope are an excellent candidate." He smirks at the sight of the unconscious man before uttering a spell. Imperium Animo. After casting the spell, a slight ethereal shimmer begins emanating from Orpheus's hand before washing over Alistair's forehead, he grunts slightly as the energy pours into his mind until his body droops down.
Orpheus let's go of his chin whilst maintaining his left palm a few centimetres away from his face, Alistair's face rises with his eyes still closed. With a faint smile upon his face, Orpheus sighs in relief before beginning to speak. "Now Alistair, please enlighten me on these friends of yours, whom you made a deal with." Asking this question as his slight smirk evolves into a malevolent grin whilst he waits patiently with a brightened visage.
Still with his eye's closed Alistair begins speaking in a monotone voice as if devoid of any ego within. "They call themselves the true nobility, they oppose the current royal family, that's all I know of them." With an expressionless face, he recites these words as if poured directly from his mind without any filter being present.
Orpheus scowls for a moment before calming himself and continuing his interrogation of the man. "True nobility huh, how pretentious, so how do you contact these true nobles?" Asking with a sarcastic tone whilst his grin malformed into a cross between sheer annoyance and sarcastic joy.
With those words shooting through Alistair's mind and ever ringing in his eyes he immediately responds with the same blank expression. "I don't know how to contact them, they always contact me through different messengers, I never know who could contact me next." Alistair begins to wobble side to side as he answers each question swiftly and absents secondary thoughts.
Frowning over the answers he was obtaining he starts to ponder internally. "These true nobles are rather smart, never using the same person to convey their orders, I wonder how vast their influence over this kingdom is." Immediately coming back to reality after his thoughts he asks a further question. "So how were you and William recruited by these people?" Raising his right hand to his chin he observes Alistair with keen interest.
Alistair's face gyrates slightly before answering his question after a short pause. "I was approached by a former maid of my household, she offered me a deal, but I was more interested in ravaging her petite body... but then she pulled out a large pouch of gold and stated there was more to come." A disgusting smile breaks out on his face before a lecherous expression appears to consume his mind in such thoughts.
Crossing his face in annoyance, Orpheus scowls before constricting his raised left palm aimed towards Alistair's face. With his hand constrained into a claw-like figure, Alistair grunts in pain as if experiencing an intense migraine, this goes on for a few seconds before Orpheus relaxes his left hand. Finally freed from the embrace of searing pain Alistair relaxes his body into a slight slouch, Orpheus begins to internally ponder on this new information. "It seems these nobles are far more intelligent than I had anticipated, swapping out there messengers regularly, not a bad plan, but where do they get such manpower... there organisation must be vast." Plunged into deep contemplation as the dazed Alistair quietly murmurs before him, he raises his head just after his final thought ends.
Sighing at the new troubling information he becomes perplexed towards his next action; he then shakes his head from left to right to rid himself of such sensations before mustering up the courage to speak. "What about Lord Dandridge was he made the same offer for his services?" He asks as his mind lingers to the anticipation of an answer he has attained with utmost certainty.
Alistair continues murmuring for a short period before collecting what little thought he has left to generate a conscientious response. "He declined immediately, they weren't happy about his decision, they told me to try and convince him, but unfortunately I failed." Speaking in a monotone and almost robotic voice, Alistair conveys the information without any hesitation as if his sole purpose is to dispense it.
Upon listening to these words that were uttered by the dazed Alistair, Orpheus's face tilts to the right as if supremely confused at this sudden turn of events before quickly speaking. "He declined, so what made him change his mind." Asking curiously, Orpheus curves his eyebrows and squints his eyes as he inspects Alistair's emotionless face.
Alistair immediately grunts in discomfort as if fighting the urge to speak before immediately relaxing and releases the stored information within. "He changed his mind for the sake of his family, if he didn't comply with their demands, his wife and precious daughter may meet with an accident." Immediately after speaking he begins murmuring indistinct words to himself as he sways from left to right.
Raising his chin whilst his eyes firmly look down upon Alistair with a stern and piercing gaze, Orpheus glares at him for a few moments before inquiring. "I see, so Alistair, how do you feel about your friend's situation?" With a strong inquiring tone accompanied with a stern gaze, he asks his question directing malice towards Alistair.
Felling this large degree of malice towards him, Alistair flinches harshly before attempting to muddle words from his deeply foggy mind. "Umm... I... I don't care, he... he was an idiot to refuse in the first place." Breathing heavily as the malice projected towards him slowly dissipates into nothingness and fades away, leaving him calm and relaxed.
Orpheus smirks at the man's response before lowering his chin and relaxing his left hand. He moves forward and begins glaring intently at Alistair before speaking up. "Exactly what I thought you would say, it seems your friend has greater integrity then you will ever know... now tell me about this maid, what's her name and is she still a part of your household?" He speaks whilst still maintaining his stern glare whilst awaiting an answer like a predator waiting for his prey to emerge.
Alistair's face gyrates slightly as the memories pour forth from his minds and condense into words spewed from his lips. "Her name was Angelica Rosen, she is no longer apart or my household as she left a month ago, they convey there will via messengers now." After speaking he dips his head downwards as if mentally exhausted, as his fatigue begins to reach new heights.
Slightly furrowing his eyebrows, Orpheus grunts softly in annoyance before immediately nodding for some apparent reason, he then turns his left arm towards the large wardrobe to his left. Stretching his finger and pointing towards its exquisitely carved door frame, he gives Alistair a standing order. "You really don't know much huh... get in the closet!" Speaking like a general commanding a mere soldier to obey his will, Alistair immediately spurs forward and stands up. He turns to the right and shuffles his way towards the wardrobe, opening the door and placing himself inside. Orpheus follows behind and glances down at the adult man nestled into the small space uncomfortably, Orpheus then smiles maliciously before clenching his right fist and striking Alistair's right temple rendering him unconscious with a single blow.
Lowering his gaze down to his slightly red knuckles he winces at the pain throbbing in his hand as he opens and clenches his right fist repeatedly. "What a bastard, enjoy the darkness." He throws curses towards the unconscious Alistair before immediately shutting the wardrobe door and encasing the man in a pitch-black world of endless night.