Of Eyes in the Shadows
Seventh Day of the Second Month 293 AC
Though surprised by the reaction you are far from displeased. Better by far that the priest's eyes be turned to the farthest North than to any meddling closer to hand. "That they are vicious things of cold and darkness. That they gather their twisted hosts to make war on the living as we speak. That those deluded fools who serve them walk among us to sow chaos, madness, and death, so that we are easy prey for their masters."
"When? How?" Baedor catches himself, glancing around at the curious sailors and then moderates his tone. "Your pardon, Lord, but I know of the foe of which you speak. It is its deeds that are most pressing to uncover."
"It seems I am the bearer of ill tidings indeed, that such a thing could come as a shock to one so blessed by the Red God," you answer gravely. "It is not only in the wilds that this Enemy of all Life was found, but amidst the faithful of R'hllor, masquerading as a priestess in Volantis the Great. I confess I found her by chance or perhaps by fate if such a thing can be said to exist..." you trail off, feeling ill at ease at the manipulation behind innocuous words. Though you very much doubt it was the Red God who ever guided your steps, one of his devout servants might easily come to believe so.
How is it any worse than theft and murder for profit?
"You have given me much to think of, Your Grace," the red-robed priest replies shakily. "I must pray and then send word to Lys." So saying he bows departs with hurried steps, talk of temples forgotten for the moment.
***
Ninth Day of the Second Month 293 AC
A few days later as you are leafing through a handful of minor decisions from Alinor by the fire, to keep your hand in the business of ruling, you are drawn abruptly from your thoughts by the most unlikely of sounds:
a dragon roaring in your ear.
"That was a little too close, Glyra," you say pointedly, not raising your eyes from the parchments. "Try something more subtle next time."
"Wasn't trying to trick you, just greet you friendly-like," the little gremlin replies glibly. For some reason known only to her she is floating upside-down in Maelor's wake instead of walking. "That's how you talk dragon, right?"
"No, this is:
'Two can play this game of yours, little menace,' " you say in the old tongue of wyrms.
"What's that mean?" comes the inevitable question, as she abruptly rights herself with a flip that lands her mere inches from the fire in the hearth.
You feign thoughtfulness for a moment before replying with a smile: "Dragons are rather secretive beings, you know."
"I could teach you the tongue," Maelor offers, struggling not to laugh at the look on her face. The laughter ends rather abruptly at Glyra's reaction.
"Alright then, thanks for offering," she says with a lighthearted smile, leaf-green eyes glittering with mischief still.
"Before you launch into your next bout of teaching, I would know how the previous one went, including your hidden assignment," you bring the discussion to more serious maters.
"No point trying to wake power in the blood for them that already learned to cut up magic," Maelor begins, taking a seat across from you. "I'd have to start with a whole new bunch and teach them different. About the only thing that makes sense to keep is Ser Richard's lessons."
"Because it's funny when he throws magic back in their faces?" Glyra asks, her smile growing just a bit wider at the memory.
"No... well, alright, not
just because of that," the boy admits. "They need to know when to fight, went to talk, and when to run. A little while trying to throw spells on Ser Richard is great for teaching the last part," he finishes, showing once again the insight that is as much a part of him as sorcery.
"You shall have your pick of would-be initiates, then," you reply, satisfied to see the notion paying off. "What of our traitor?"
"We weren't able to pick out answers out of anyone's heads, but we did find something going through the bedrooms," Maelor explains. "There's this magic pouch, barely magic mind... we figured that's our sneak, but all that time poking magic trinkets paid off. There was a trap on it. Nothing dangerous just a bit of a silent bell for our 'friend' to know someone's getting close and snooping 'round the quarters."
"So then we caught a mouse and I charmed it with my flute," Glyra picks up the tale. "Maelor was looking through it's eyes so he saw as soon as someone came to weave the spell again,
not the girl it was supposed to belong to. He had a really clever bit of magic about 'im to make sure he
wouldn't stand out, but since we weren't there to be glamoured, it didn't do nothing to fool Maelor."
"Bastard might have gotten away with it if he just learned to whisper his spells," the boy adds, darkly amused and pleased at his success all at once.
What do you do?
[] Confront the traitor
-[] Write in plan
[] Trail the traitor for a while longer
-[] Write in plan
[] Write in
OOC: Literally as I was writing this I remembered another magic item I did not put on the front page, Glyra's flute for controlling small animals from the Opaline Vault. Anyway, it makes a potent combination with Maelor's Chain of Eyes.