(no subject)
Title: Protection
Prompt Set: Various #2
Prompt: 082. Protect
Timeline
Istrel's stomach plummeted. She closed her eyes, feeling a little faint, and felt a hand grip her elbow - Arrel, the woman in the nearest chair. Thankful for that little support, Istrel opened her eyes and focused on Rentia. "Why?"
Rentia sighed and tapped her fingers on the desk. "That's what we're trying to find out. It wasn't... announced at the execution, from what we've heard - none of us were there." Us, of course, being the courtesans, the guild members. "If it was because he was connected to us, to you specifically, because of the information he's been giving you, then we have a problem." She paused, and then said with, for the first time, a hint of real uncertainty, "Which I suppose there must be anyway, for you of all people to be traveling with a Ghost. Why is it here and, not to put too fine a point on it, why isn't it trying to kill us?"
Istrel charged past the question unheeding, determined to have her own questions answered first. "Why wasn't I told about this? Everyone else is here, and you didn't think to even tell me that my-"
"Istrel Addar!" Rentia rose from her chair, hands flat against the desk. "What god would it have done you to know a few hours earlier? Those here tonight live in and around the house - you were too far away, and I would not send someone for you when none of us wish to be on the street at this hour. Anger and accusations will achieve nothing." She sank into her chair slowly, looking wearier than Istrel had ever seen her. "The Ghost?"
There were no spare chairs in the room, but Istrel didn't feel as if she could stand any longer. Thankfully, Arrel rose from her chair and gently pushed Istrel into it, taking up a position behind the chair. Istrel eyed Rentia in silence, half resentful despite herself - maybe more than half. "It's not safe to be on the street but I was perfectly safe at home not knowing the mages might come after me?"
That the mages killed one of my friends?
Rentia didn't answer her, and with a sigh Istrel finally answered her question. "The Ghost... found me. It left the mages, it says - I guess they couldn't control it, or... I don't know. Something about... something wrong with the spell." She glanced up at Skailari, who still stood just inside the door, but the Ghost did not seem as if it would speak to help her with this. "It, um... I didn't want to tell you about it."
"Why not?" demanded Norlan, the man seated at the other end of the room. Istrel turned to face him and meet his challenging look. "This... thing affects all of us, whether we can use it or..." He didn't complete the sentence, but Istrel knew exactly what he would say - or if we need to get rid of it. She'd been thinking the same herself, in the back of her mind.
"I wanted it to go away," she said, barely above a whisper. "I thought it would."
Norlan looked as if about to speak again, but Rentia stopped him with a sharp look. Her voice was surprisingly gentle when she asked Istrel, "How did it find you?"
It all tumbled out of Istrel's mouth and she didn't bother trying to hold it back - Skailari's arrival the other day, how it had been meant to kill her, how the mages must know about her, if not the entire organization. What she knew about Skailari itself (with some input from the Ghost itself on the point, in whispering tones that clearly unsettled even Rentia). The spy-creature that Skailari had killed.
And all of that led to questions. Was Siaph's death because of his association with Istrel and the courtesans - did the mages even know of the guild's less than legal and more than slightly treasonous activities? Would they next come after Istrel, or another of the guild? Was Skailari of any use as a weapon or tool, or was it more of a liability? Could it be trusted? (Norlan pointed out that the mages hadn't been able to, and they created it. Skailari said nothing. Though unaccountably uncomfortable with Norlan's point, neither did Istrel.) Istrel joined in the conversation, determined to be of some use - and, more, determined to shove away all emotion surrounding Siaph until it could be dealt with quietly. But there was only so much information and not enough answers, and finally they had to stop searching, give up until there was something that could actually be done beyond speculation. The others left the office to go home, and that left Istrel, Skailari and Rentia alone there.
"You should stay here," Rentia said to Istrel, paying Skailari no more attention than she might a piece of furniture. "You'll be safe here, and I can't say as much for anywhere else."
It was past dawn, morning sun lighting the room through the thin white curtains pulled over the window. Istrel glanced to the window, lips pressed together so tightly they were only a thin line. She couldn't leave Skailari now - there would be no way of disguising the Ghost in daylight, even if it pulled the hood up over its face - and the idea of leaving here without it didn't seem much better. But...
She shook her head. "I have to go home. I'll stay here until dark, at least, but I'd rather be home than holing up here for who knows how long."
"It may not be safe," Rentia reminded her. She sounded almost worried.
Istrel glanced to Skailari, who met her eyes with ice-blue impassiveness. She turned back to Rentia after a moment. "If it's not, I'll at least have protection."
Prompt Set: Various #2
Prompt: 082. Protect
Timeline
Istrel's stomach plummeted. She closed her eyes, feeling a little faint, and felt a hand grip her elbow - Arrel, the woman in the nearest chair. Thankful for that little support, Istrel opened her eyes and focused on Rentia. "Why?"
Rentia sighed and tapped her fingers on the desk. "That's what we're trying to find out. It wasn't... announced at the execution, from what we've heard - none of us were there." Us, of course, being the courtesans, the guild members. "If it was because he was connected to us, to you specifically, because of the information he's been giving you, then we have a problem." She paused, and then said with, for the first time, a hint of real uncertainty, "Which I suppose there must be anyway, for you of all people to be traveling with a Ghost. Why is it here and, not to put too fine a point on it, why isn't it trying to kill us?"
Istrel charged past the question unheeding, determined to have her own questions answered first. "Why wasn't I told about this? Everyone else is here, and you didn't think to even tell me that my-"
"Istrel Addar!" Rentia rose from her chair, hands flat against the desk. "What god would it have done you to know a few hours earlier? Those here tonight live in and around the house - you were too far away, and I would not send someone for you when none of us wish to be on the street at this hour. Anger and accusations will achieve nothing." She sank into her chair slowly, looking wearier than Istrel had ever seen her. "The Ghost?"
There were no spare chairs in the room, but Istrel didn't feel as if she could stand any longer. Thankfully, Arrel rose from her chair and gently pushed Istrel into it, taking up a position behind the chair. Istrel eyed Rentia in silence, half resentful despite herself - maybe more than half. "It's not safe to be on the street but I was perfectly safe at home not knowing the mages might come after me?"
That the mages killed one of my friends?
Rentia didn't answer her, and with a sigh Istrel finally answered her question. "The Ghost... found me. It left the mages, it says - I guess they couldn't control it, or... I don't know. Something about... something wrong with the spell." She glanced up at Skailari, who still stood just inside the door, but the Ghost did not seem as if it would speak to help her with this. "It, um... I didn't want to tell you about it."
"Why not?" demanded Norlan, the man seated at the other end of the room. Istrel turned to face him and meet his challenging look. "This... thing affects all of us, whether we can use it or..." He didn't complete the sentence, but Istrel knew exactly what he would say - or if we need to get rid of it. She'd been thinking the same herself, in the back of her mind.
"I wanted it to go away," she said, barely above a whisper. "I thought it would."
Norlan looked as if about to speak again, but Rentia stopped him with a sharp look. Her voice was surprisingly gentle when she asked Istrel, "How did it find you?"
It all tumbled out of Istrel's mouth and she didn't bother trying to hold it back - Skailari's arrival the other day, how it had been meant to kill her, how the mages must know about her, if not the entire organization. What she knew about Skailari itself (with some input from the Ghost itself on the point, in whispering tones that clearly unsettled even Rentia). The spy-creature that Skailari had killed.
And all of that led to questions. Was Siaph's death because of his association with Istrel and the courtesans - did the mages even know of the guild's less than legal and more than slightly treasonous activities? Would they next come after Istrel, or another of the guild? Was Skailari of any use as a weapon or tool, or was it more of a liability? Could it be trusted? (Norlan pointed out that the mages hadn't been able to, and they created it. Skailari said nothing. Though unaccountably uncomfortable with Norlan's point, neither did Istrel.) Istrel joined in the conversation, determined to be of some use - and, more, determined to shove away all emotion surrounding Siaph until it could be dealt with quietly. But there was only so much information and not enough answers, and finally they had to stop searching, give up until there was something that could actually be done beyond speculation. The others left the office to go home, and that left Istrel, Skailari and Rentia alone there.
"You should stay here," Rentia said to Istrel, paying Skailari no more attention than she might a piece of furniture. "You'll be safe here, and I can't say as much for anywhere else."
It was past dawn, morning sun lighting the room through the thin white curtains pulled over the window. Istrel glanced to the window, lips pressed together so tightly they were only a thin line. She couldn't leave Skailari now - there would be no way of disguising the Ghost in daylight, even if it pulled the hood up over its face - and the idea of leaving here without it didn't seem much better. But...
She shook her head. "I have to go home. I'll stay here until dark, at least, but I'd rather be home than holing up here for who knows how long."
"It may not be safe," Rentia reminded her. She sounded almost worried.
Istrel glanced to Skailari, who met her eyes with ice-blue impassiveness. She turned back to Rentia after a moment. "If it's not, I'll at least have protection."