Chapter 51 Michael.
“Izen’s is almost definitely bad news.” Isaac commented and then looked at Lenna with a raised eyebrow. She nodded so Isaac grabbed that one to open first. “Bad news first so the good news makes it suck less, right?” He asked her rhetorically.
Lenna smiled at the fact that he remembered such a random comment of hers. “Yeah.” She agreed.
Isaac broke the seal on the letter from Izen and the letter itself opened into the message. The annoying part about sending messages that way was the four creases crisscrossing the page. “I’ve already heard the story. You are getting a one thousand gold fine for dueling outside of the arena.” Isaac read aloud and winced at the price of the fine. “Be glad I am not charging you with murder.” He continued reading and shrugged at Izen being right. Isaac was glad that he wasn’t being charged with murder. The reason nothing had happened when Lenna was fighting in the street was because the person who reported was ignored on the grounds of ‘Not being fit for proper testimony.’ Which was political speech for getting the case thrown out because the guards hate the victim. Nepotism at its finest. Isaac wasn’t going to get out of killing a guard as easily even if he did warn them that something similar was likely to happen.
“That’s double the normal fine.” Celeste commented during Isaac’s brief silence as he frowned at the bill.
Isaac nodded and then continued reading. “The guard who is delivering this will take you to meet the new magistrate. He arrived yesterday. Be glad he was not settled in yet when this happened so I handled it. Introduce yourself and please, Lord Wexler, try to stay out of trouble.” Isaac sighed. He didn’t like the general tone of the message but was actually glad that Izen had handled it and not whoever the new magistrate was. He tossed the letter onto the table. “He didn’t have to talk to me like I was his troublesome nephew.” Isaac grumbled.
Lenna chuckled. “That is the exact tone of that message.” She commented.
Celeste nodded along. “Yes. It’s kind of scary how accurate that is.”
Isaac shook his head and handed the other letter to Lenna. Lenna looked at him quizzically. “I’m still hungry.” He replied to her question and dug back into his ‘breakfast’ with renewed vigor.
Lenna chuckled while shaking her head at his antics. She opened the letter from Sera and pulled out a much smaller note from the inside. “It just says to not forget to come for tea tomorrow.” Lenna explained and then a short moment later her eyes went wide. “We did forget, didn’t we?”
Isaac smirked through his full mouth. He swallowed his food. “Yes, but I made sure to order more clothes and get our old ones repaired so we’ll be fine.” He tilted his head in thought for a long moment. “I don’t remember getting invited back for tea.”
“I do, vaguely.” Lenna confessed. “A lot happened right after we left. It just slipped my mind.”
Isaac nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’d classify getting stabbed as ‘a lot’.” He hurriedly finished his food and paid for a sandwich as he was still hungry. After they were both done with their meal they decided to face the music and go talk to the guard that had been patiently waiting outside for the better part of the morning.
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Isaac and Lenna followed the guard to the same office where Gio was ‘removed’. Inside was a much younger man and both Isaac and Lenna felt that he was weaker. He was a half-elf with emerald green eyes and autumn red hair. His skin was pale like birchwood but his features lacked the inhuman sharpness of an elf. His ears were slightly pointed but if it weren’t for his elvish coloring he would have been able to hide his heritage easily enough. He looked to be in his twenties, young for a magistrate even if he was probably in his thirties. The office was stripped of everything save for the country flag behind him and the old hardwood desk of his predecessor. He looked up from his paperwork when Isaac casually strolled into his room with Lenna in tow.
Isaac frowned at the lack of chairs opposite the new magistrate. “You need chairs for visitors.” Isaac told the magistrate by way of greeting.
—
The young magistrate took a moment to fully take Isaac in, his pitch black leather armor and cloak, void black hair and silver eyes made an impression that he was sure the other man intended. His eyes moved to the intruder’s companion. The dark elf’s helmet was off and tucked under her arm. Her face was hard and her eyes sharp. Her armor looked to have a mostly fresh coat of royal purple paint but it already had scratches and it was clear that plenty of old dings and gouges were simply painted over. Her ear twitched and then a moment later he heard footsteps coming from the hall. Her eyes never left him for a moment. It was clear that these two were not going to be his easiest customers. He had been given a short briefing by the duke about the two people in front of him and had taken note of a few warnings. The first was to be polite, especially to the dark elf unless he was prepared for the human to send him to an early grave. The second was to play along unless they were being unreasonable. What that meant he wasn’t entirely sure but he figured he’d find out soon enough.
“Lord Wexler and Lady V’Nova I presume.” He replied to Isaac’s nonexistent greeting.
Isaac smiled casually. “Good.” He replied with a nod. “I didn’t get your name though.” Right after he said that his eyes caught a nameplate on the desk but he still made it a point to have the new magistrate introduce himself.
“Sir Michael, knight of his majesty the king, new magistrate of Safeharbor.” He introduced himself formally.
Isaac found it interesting that there was no family name given, much like with Gio. “Do none of you knights have surnames?” Isaac asked and sat down on the shadows that seemed to rise out of the floor to form a chair for him.
Michael was so stunned by the feeling of magic that Isaac’s casual act gave off that it took him a moment to respond. Other than slight hesitation he showed no reaction to Isaac and his antics whatsoever. “Once we have sworn to the crown our surnames mean nothing. Any who insist on bringing them along are clearly knights for the wrong reasons.” He explained.
Isaac thought about his answer for a moment and then nodded. He was pretty sure he had the measure of the new magistrate. “Straight and narrow is fine but remember one thing, Michael.” Isaac spoke after his moment of contemplation. He specifically didn’t call Michael ‘Sir Michael’ to gauge his reaction and got nothing out of the other man. “A sword too hard is brittle and will break.” He rose from his chair and grabbed onto a sack of coins that seemed to materialize in his grasp and he set it on the desk. He grinned and winked at Michael. “But a sword too soft is useless.” With those words he vanished without trace nor flourish.
Michael stared at the empty space and then at the coins and then at Lenna. Once his eyes met hers she spoke. He was surprised at how deep and smooth her voice was. He expected more roughness and an accent but hers was only noticeable if he was looking for it. “That is the payment for his fine for unlawful dueling.” She explained. “Good day, Sir Michael.” She told him, turned, and walked out without waiting for a response.
Once the pair had been gone for the better part of a minute Michael’s assistant walked in. He was a young guard who had proven better at numbers than swordplay and was thus assigned to a non-combat role. “Sir Michael?” He spoke when Michael hadn’t acknowledged him entering.
Michael nodded slowly. “Have you had any dealings with those two?” He asked the young warrior.
The assistant shook his head. “No Sir. I have specifically avoided it on multiple occasions.” He took a few steps closer to his new supervisor and leaned in while dropping his voice to a whisper. “Rumor has it, he killed Sir Gio.”
Michael nodded. He had been informed of the entire event. “He’s going to be trouble. I can feel it.” Michael replied, more to himself than the other person in the room. “Send a letter to Duke Arbencroft for me.” He directed. “We need to talk about Isaac Wexler.”
—
Isaac heard the entire thing. He had instructed Lenna to walk out as if he was in her shadow because he wanted to snoop about a little longer. Hearing Michael’s conversation with the assistant only reinforced the image of the knight that Isaac had in his mind. “He should be easy enough to deal with. I just need to make sure I don’t execute someone in Celeste’s tavern again.” A smile spread across Isaac’s face. “But maybe a duel in the arena would be good.”