Caves Under Avery Manse. Troug, 13th.

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Mouse

Mouse could not believe it, today was the most confusing day of her life.

It was both wonderful and terrifying in nearly equal measure.

The day started as most days did after being abducted, they all woke up at varying times in the morning. Derek would have been the last to awaken had it been one week earlier; but not now.

Nope, now they had Olea!

She would always sleep at the oddest of times, sometimes she did not even lie down before she fell asleep.

Mouse knew that it was different, that these times were hugely different from sleep and that Olea had done something to make herself fall unconscious; she just could not figure out why it happened so often.

Today though, Mouse watched as Malory was brought back from her privy visit; she was waking up earlier than everyone lately. By a lot!

Mouse could not remember the last time she had not been the first to wake up, even if it were less than five days prior. These things did not seem to enter her mind as relevant, or memorable.

No, what did interest her was that today Olea had pulled from nowhere a treasure of treasures.

Mouse had no idea how it had happened but before her very eyes she saw a goddess.

In the hands of said goddess was a mouth-watering slice of pie that smelled as if it had been pulled fresh from a vendor’s heat-box.

It smelled of home, safety, and MEAT. Sweet, savory, celebratory meat pie.

It was as if she were home and strolling through the market aisle at Turning.

Mouse did not care how she got the slices of heaven; nor did she care.

It took only moments before Olea had sliced up the pies somehow using an unseen utensil to make almost even slices; Mouse saw Olea’s piece, she knew her pies.

Mouse could not blame her; it was her pie.

What Mouse could do was eat the pie set before her.

She took a large bite of hers as Quinn stooped down beside her, doing the same.

It was oh-my-gosh, bless-the-three good.

So Good!

She continued eating her pie next to Quinn, both girls equally amazed and overcome by the sheer joy of eating something that was not served as a liquid.

Mouse watched over her own baked goody as Derek took his slice after only a moment’s hesitation. Mouse could tell that Derek was too proud to take food from a girl regularly, but he had no chance of resisting something like this at a time like this.

Nope, not today.

After a few more nibbles into her pie, Mouse looked up to see Malory hesitating and asking questions about the pie. Who in their right mind would ask about where a pie came from, and why your friends were offering you a pie when it was right there!

Mouse liked Malory but sometimes the girl could be a right ninny.

Just eat the pie!

After a time, and after the pie, it was time for Olea to do her magic practices.

Mouse always liked watching magic practice, she enjoyed it so much that she would often regret having no skill points of her own to spend on lessons.

It was so rare to find a teacher for some of the spells Olea was casually casting on a regular schedule that most people would stick to the more mundane spells or go the route of combat and gathering skills before later snagging up a profession, though even those had their drawbacks.

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The girl would have dearly loved to be able to summon such a beautiful water sprite. It was just adorable, though sometimes Olea would summon the smaller, paler one; it was not nearly as pretty.

After watching Derek collapse in relief when he was finished listening to Olea do her Mistress routine, as she had been caught calling it the day before, Mouse watched in awe as Olea brought forth the water elemental with all the best colors and shapes.

Mouse knew this version was better than the others that had been thrown about, it lacked none of the qualities the others had. It was bright and spirited and it flowed ever so gracefully; Mouse likened it to a jongleur on feast day. It was so wonderful to watch.

Olea sat there for a brief time staring at the little lovely before she looked in the distance toward the location of the privy and then the little dancer was off, sloshing along the floor to its destination.

It was nearly three hours later when the other coin showed tails up.

Mouse heard Olea shout out, “Fantastic!”

Now Mouse knew that Olea probably meant to use her inside voice, but there was no way that the guards would not notice such an exclamation.

They seemed to be drawn to any incident involving fun or happiness. Mouse hated the guards.

“What be going on in there?” snapped a guard who had been walking past.

Derek seemed to take this as his cue to provide a cover of some sort and being that he was so very random he took the moment to do a handstand and make a Ta-Da gesture without losing his balance; it was all rather clever.

At least, Mouse thought so.

The guard apparently found no amusement in the display as he sent his club spearing down hard through the bars and into Derek’s hand causing the boy to topple like pile of wooden pails.

“What the hell, man?” Olea shouted, she really was brave to be shouting at someone so much bigger than herself, though Mouse thought it might not be the smartest play for the current situation.

It seemed as if the guard agreed with her as he began shouting for other guards nearby, it took but a moment before someone had pulled out one of their keys to unlock the contraption on the door.

Everything happened so fast after the door was thrown open. Three guards rushed into attack Olea, stopped only briefly by Derek who they shoved aside with disgusting ease.

Mouse recognized the power of at least one Veteran and knew no one here could put up a fight with someone two ranks higher than themselves.

She watched in horror as the guard at the door prepared a skill empowered kick at Derek even as she felt something fall from behind her, knocking her to the floor where she struck her head.

Mouse took a nap in the now-dubbed classic Olea fashion.

----

Reginald the Red

As Reginald made his way back up into the cavernous network of tunnels that lay beneath the manor of his Ladyship, he could not help but ponder the stupidity of lesser men.

For the briefest of moments, he wondered if the elf child had deserved her torment, that brief thought of what may have happened to her before just as quickly dismissing it. Deni, the man who had been slain, was of no threat to the girl.

Hells, the man had been a eunuch. Reginald was completely certain that he had merely intended to beat the girl for some small slight against his person, or perhaps a similar assault on the character of one of his fellows. It was not as if he could have put his non-existent equipment to use.

All that aside, Reginald had been forced to slay the man.

He sighed, not for the first time on this day.

Had it been any piece of merchandise aside from that particular elf, Reginald would have been happy to watch the abuse; in whatever form it took.

Sadly, the idiots had chosen the elf that was meant to be part of a pair; a pair meant to go to the august personage of a certain royal advisor.

Reginald was still unsure of the progress being made across the river in the acquisition of the other youngling, though he had tried to find out.

Reginald himself had volunteered for the task of collecting the green-haired elf, only to be informed that it would be too easy to connect his presence in town without Lady Avery to the fact that the girl had gone missing.

To be fair, this was probably the most likely outcome even if it irked him to be so hindered in the service of his Lady.

“Oh, Reginald! Fancy seeing you about down here.” Came the unmistakable voice of Stefan, another man the world would be blessed to lose. Reginald could not tolerate the man if not for his lack of principles and proclivities for baser entertainment, then for the sheer amount of pretentious dribble that the man uttered with no semblance of a filter.

Reginald made to continue in his travels upward, ambling along at a pace that seemed brisk but professional, nearly at a military marching speed. It was best not to tarry in his duties, lest he allow his current frustration to make a physical manifestation in the face of an ally to the endeavor.

No, he would hold his anger until he had gotten to a nice quiet place where he could be alone with his blades. A good dance of steel would calm the nerves; it never failed.

Perhaps sensing that Reginald was leaving without acknowledging his presence the doctor spoke again.

“I do not suppose the incident down below had something to do with a certain elf child?”

Reginald paused before the next bend in the tunnel, not quite standing in the large circular cutout of stone that provided a small gathering area nearer the holding cells.

“I see, I see. Curious thing there, I hear tell that we may have an issue with some of the staff brewing, something about the merchandise in question.” Continued the good doctor.

“I have no time for games, Stefan. If you would have news for me, I would have said news without such a mincing of words.” Reginald said with a bit more barking growl in his voice than he expected. This man could certainly anger the good Reginald.

“It had come to my attention, through various means, that one of our staff has been colluding with the prisoners.” He said simply, being much more to the point than he oft times was like to be.

“Tell me more.” Said Reginald as he turned on his heel and took a seat near the doctor, though still out of arms reach. He did not want to strangle the man regardless of how appealing it would be.

The pair discussed the topic in some depth before Reginald came to see the true extent of the problem.

Yes, it seemed that he would need to have a word with his Ladyship this evening.