Talk About Breaking the Ice

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

The shattering of the ice on his office floor assaulted Shinsou’s ears like the smashing of a tray of spilled glassware. The Telgradian rose out of his chair as the fae in question emerged from beyond the broken shards, the heavy taint of frost clinging to her skin. Rehtul briefly supported her with an arm, just before the fae regained her composure and took herself to the podium. It had not gone un-noticed that Rehtul had very briefly referred to her as “Crystal” out loud, insinuating that the two had met before. Whilst the ice mage inspected his hand, Osiris circled the desk and gave her a look over at close range.

“You’re in a town called Whitevale, at the offices of the Brotherhood, and you’re safe.” Shinsou declared. His brow shone with a thin layer of frost, but he was unsure whether Rehtul’s magic or the chill from the fae’s former prison was responsible. His eyes flitted momentarily to Rehtul, who met his gaze. “You mentioned that her name was Crystal before you worked your magic, yes? Is she in good health?”

“No apparent injuries.” The mage confirmed to him, still pre-occupied with his hand.

“Good. Please, take a seat for a moment, Crystal. I’ll try to explain what’s happening here.” Shinsou answered as he reverently retrieved a chair from the corner of the room. He guided the fae down from the podium, gently, and slipped it underneath her with a barely audible rasp. Compared to his own frame, the chassis of the fae felt feathery and fragile.

“A couple of days ago, my militia got word of a convoy heading through Underwood. Smugglers from Dheathain, new players in Corone who seem to get their kicks from trading exotic animals and suchlike.” The Telgradian started, wiping his icy hands on his heavy leather coat and looking the fae directly in the eye. “It’s part of our remit to put a stop to this trade in this part of the country. When we ambushed the convoy, we found you.”

Shinsou didn’t wait for the young fae to respond, “Now, it’s one thing to be trading in animals and the occasional spice. It’s another thing entirely to trade in intelligent life. I call that slavery, which is a very unique – and unwelcome – market here.”

His golden eyes fell upon the fae, who finally looked up once more, taking in everything he was saying to her. “Obviously our concern is twofold – firstly, your wellbeing, and secondly stopping this rather disturbing new development from growing into something larger. I’m keen to make sure that you didn’t suffer any ill effect from being cryogenically frozen, and so I’m hoping you’ll accept my invitation to rest up here for a bit, free of charge of course. Perhaps then, when you are more able, you could share any information that may be helpful to us?”

The words were spoken softly. Shinsou, too, took notice of the silent agreement in the intelligent young man’s eyes. The young man replied with a smile and yet another acquiescent nod.