Another Life
Part 1 Part 2
Gabriella smiled winningly at Abelhelm's man as he and his escort dismounted. Of all the opportunities to come of this con, she hadn't expected to be hosting negotiations between a representative of Stirland and a student of a vampire. Mathilde reached out through her for some reason, though, and it seemed that the promise of released prisoners in exchange for simply attending the meeting had been enough to entice even a former Witch Hunter. The hints she'd already received from the necromancer were already enough to have her invested in the meeting working out, though.
"Baron Anton Kiesinger the second, welcome to Nachthafen. I do hope your trip was a pleasant one?"
The boy nodded at that, a bright smile on his face that was, surprisingly, genuine. "The scenery was a bit bleak, but the journey itself was exciting. We almost got attacked by ghouls, but a wandering bear of all things intercepted them. Is that normal?"
Gabriella allowed her confusion to slip through a bit. The bear was almost certainly Mathilde's handiwork, but to send someone so guileless to negotiate with- Oh, this was going to be
some sort of entertaining. Behind her back, she crossed her fingers and prayed for a comedy. "Wandering undead of various types aren't unheard of, nor are wild animals. This is the first time I've heard of such a clash being witnessed, though."
"Really! Something to tell the folks back home about, then." The Baron Kiesinger nodded in apparent satisfaction at that before he handed his horse off to one of the servants. It didn't take long after that for his eyes to fall on the beast that Mathilde had ridden in on. "Oh, wow! I hope that that's what the necromancer from Teufelheim came in on."
The creature in question was clearly intended to resemble a griffin, at least within the loose framework of a land predator with parts from an aerial predator. It had the body of a wolf that was the size of a pony, though, with massive bat wings for flight. If there were anything to the muzzle but exposed bone and a hanging tongue, Gabriella would think it was still alive.
"She flew in while providing her charges with an eye in the sky, to catch trouble before it approached." Considering the risks of losing even a single one of her entourage to the dangers of Sylvania, Gabriella appreciated the precautions Mathilde had taken. Left nothing to luck, although she suspected her old friend would be sympathetic to the necromancer in this particular case. "She called it her puppy."
"Sounds like she has a sense of humor, then." Anton let his smile slip back a bit, and Gabriella mentally applauded his optimism. He frowned after a moment, though, and he looked to her in confusion. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing? With necromancers, that is."
"It varies, but you lucked out with Mathilde." Gabriella gestured for the Baron and his men to follow her inside. Delightful as the girl was, Gabriella could only keep her distracted from exploring the castle for so long. "She's more social than the typical necromancer. So long as you can look past her love of mischief and dark magic, you'll get along
splendidly."
"Mischief
and black magic? I suppose I'm already meeting her halfway geographically." Gabriella blinked and looked back at the Elector Count's diplomat, who continued to be the picture of innocence. How he managed to avoid coming off as smug, she'd have to figure out. "Speaking of meeting someone halfway-"
"Oh, if you'd arrived during daylight hours, I wouldn't have been able to come out." Gabriella smirked as she heard shoulders stiffen at that declaration. The Baron's escort might not be as permissive as the conspiracy's plant, though. "Too much needs to be done before sunset, for obvious reasons. I don't know how much experience you have with the other Sylvanian nobility, but entirely too many of them have forgotten how to really
live."
The Baron walked alongside her, nodding thoughtfully. "Really? I heard that they were all sanguine to a fault."
She looked, and he'd done that smile again. Oh, this one was
entirely too much fun. Gabriella found herself setting him up for more jokes as they proceeded to the hall where she had Mathilde waiting. As her guards - militia in scavenged armor - opened the doors for them, she was greeted with the sight of the small black-robed woman grinning with enthusiasm as she gestured excitedly with her staff while addressing her audience, a mixed group of captured Stirlanders and children.
"The cut hurt a little bit, but the scent of blood drew the daemon away from the merchant... and
right into my ghosts!" A swing of the staff caused the children to shriek and cheer, and Mathilde basked in their excitement long enough to take note of Gabriella's arrival. Nodding in acknowledgement, she brought a staff of warped ivory to the floor with three loud taps to cut short the cheering. "The ghosts quickly overwhelmed the daemon, and just
what I told that reckless merchant will have to wait until my meeting is done. Gentlemen, I believe that your escort home has arrived?"
The children groaned, but the men who'd been standing behind them quickly made their way toward the door Gabriella had just come in through. The apparent captain of Anton's escort moved ahead to greet them, his gaze never leaving the necromancer who was currently meandering away from the children. Anton himself, the dear, proved ready to take Mathilde's surprise in stride. "Mathilde Weber, right? I'm torn between asking why you brought so many children to the meeting and asking how a daemon got unleashed on that poor merchant in the first place."
Mathilde smiled at that, glancing toward the children. "Who wants to tell him? Johann?"
A boy who'd raised his hand spoke up. "He was out traveling while both moons were full."
"Sounds like you gave him a lesson that the children would benefit from hearing, then!" Anton turned toward Gabriella, looking at her expectantly, "The meeting can wait a bit, can't it?"
"Baron, I must recommend against delaying-" Any further words from the captain were drowned out by the jeers and complaints of the children, saving Gabriella from having to endure what would have otherwise been an inevitable cacophony of pleading.
Three strikes of the staff on the ground calmed the children, or at least quieted them. Gabriella looked toward Mathilde expectantly, but the younger woman was mirroring her expression. "I believe it was our kind host that the Baron asked to weigh in on whether or not the story would continue."
She could already hear the inhalations in preparation to shout and plead. "Who am I to refuse?"
The children cheered, and Gabriella found herself moving behind the children as Mathilde threw herself back into her performance. It didn't take long to figure out that the story was an act, if not entirely fictional. A way of communicating the dangers of the green moon's power to young minds in a way they'd be happy to remember. When the story was done, she and Anton were applauding along with the children.
As the children began to settle down, Gabriella gestured for waiting servants to tend to their supervision before guiding Anton and Mathilde to an area of the hall where the former's guards could be properly alert, while still keeping things out of earshot of the children. "I do hope, Mathilde dear, that you'll finally tell me the
reason you brought all of these children halfway across Sylvania."
Mathilde sighed, looking from one noble to the other. "That gets into the 'what we want' half of the negotiations. Teufelheim is currently suffering from sustained attacks from a particularly problematic necromancer, and I was hoping that either Nachthafen or Stirland could shelter them until the danger could be dealt with
properly."
"I'm sorry," Anton held up a finger, "I thought vampires usually
win against necromancers. Is your master not in residence, or...?"
"Emphasis on the usually, Anton dear." Gabriella sighed the words out. Mathilde making a point of mentioning how problematic the necromancer was meant that this was someone who'd gathered enough power to themselves that they could match a vampire, or even exceed them if they attacked from an angle that didn't play to their strengths. Alkharad was a Necrarch if she remembered right, so a militant necromancer of sufficient power would have an edge. "Although I'm curious as to why the children are in danger in particular."
Something flashed in Mathilde's eyes. Nothing magical, or at least not obviously so, but there was a sense of danger about her now. "Because
that pretender is only interested in getting my master's research. He's refusing, because she's already indebted to him. So, she's lashing out at
everything of his that she can. He..."
The anger left her eyes, then, drowned in sorrow and disappointment. "My master has prioritized the defense of his assets that are of immediate use. So, I'm evacuating those that
aren't. Extra mouths to feed that won't serve."
Anton furrowed his brow, considering the necromancer's words. "I'm sorry, I think I might be confused. Are you a representative of your master, or refugees from his land?"
...Oh, Gabriella had to give the boy credit. Diplomacy involved talking around matters so often, most weren't prepared for reality being thrown in their face. Mathilde, it seemed, was no exception. One could almost see the girl stopping herself from screaming over her newfound identity crisis.
After a tense moment, though, her free hand began popping belt pouches, unleashing rat skeletons that began rapidly opening the remaining pouches. In one, Gabriella noticed a distinct purple glow, and that was the pouch that drew Mathilde's eye. She counted the contents, looked up, then nodded. "Alkharad, the Necrarch who reigns over Teufelheim, has been running a College of Necromancy for years, one with over a hundred students."
