They gained back to the hotel in the mid afternoon. Vitruvion hid the mage with a strange kind of invisiblity spell that Stare had only seen him use once before. Apparently he could not do complete invisiblity, but rather constructed a way that made people completely disregard them. Their eyesight just slipped over their company, and as long as they did not directly interact with them and were careful he managed to drag a chained body through the streets of Radasanth and into the hotel suite.
"Throw that in the closet, will you?" He threw the man on the ground.
Stare raised her brows as she began to reduce her baggage. "You want me to ... In the closet?"
"We have nowhere else to put him," the god responded, "That or-" he paused. "The room beyond that. There. Leave him chained of course."
Stare blinked at him, thinking in her mind, But that is my room. Though she had not spent her night there, because of Vitruvion's strange requirement for company in his bed the night before, it still had her belongings in it and she definitely intended to stay there that night. Her eyes glanced briefly to Merla, who was standing in her rags in the centre of the fancy sitting room, awkward as a rabbits amongst hares. Truly, the elf had to be given some commendation for putting up with the strange, power-lusty white haired man and his bizarre kenku slave, who had a dynamic that seemed to shift constantly. Yet still here she was, saying nothing and letting the organisation of god and employee entact before her.
"Yes, that same room. Take him, make the space, leave him. Yes?"
Looking back over to him she grunted, before turning around and heading to the mage. It made some form of sense. She guessed she would just sleep on an armchair the next night. Grabbing his chain she groaned, not feeling any pity for the merciless kidnapper who endorsed rape and force-feeding, and was likely connected also with the mysterious 'brother' in all of this.
Yes - the brother! After all this she had forgotten him, in the heat of the moment with Merla and the man who knew secrets, Stare had completely forgotten about the whole issue. Standing straight up she gazed back at Vitruvion, the question clear in her mind. What had he found in the office, if anything? What had the mysterious secret man said that had made him need to meet his end? What did Vitruvion plan on doing with the mage? What was the idea next? What-?
Lady Merla first, all of that second, he told her.
And it took a long moment of looks between them for Stare to accept it and leave, heaving the lump behind her.
Once she was out of ear shot, Vitruvion moved closer to Merla, his tall, handsome form filling her view. Close to her he suddenly focused in and spoke in a low, quick tone.
"There is one condition on working for me," he practically whispered, "If that is what you truly wish. You say you are good at organisation, and believe it or not I am a very dire need for such a person," he watched the elf, who gazed up him with large eyes, her reaction to his stance before her mild supplication. When he took too long to continue she nodded.
"I am decent at it," she murmured back, "My basic bastard royalist education came with learning numbers, administration, languages and theory. It is usual practise as my kind are excepted to go into government positions."
"Well," Vitruvion continued, regarding her with a nod. "That is near perfect then. We simply need to ensure you can fit into the household and society. However," and he clasped his hands over his cane. "Right, two things rather than one. One, I have made an agreement with Stare that the truth of her physical bondage to me is to remain a secret. I would require for you to keep that. The second is that ..."
He paused and glanced over to the other rooms, just to ensure no one was watching. Instead a door clicked closed.
"A requirement that you respect both Stare and another employee of mine, Captain Raevin. They run my estates, my businesses and, every single one of my employees is adherant to one or the other. They deserve every regard."
Merla blinked. "If you do not mind me saying, sir, you do not treat Stare the same ..."
"She is mine, and she had no choice in the matter, Lady Merla, and sometimes she needs to be reminded where her loyalties lie. I make her life difficult, I know, but she makes mine hard also. Still, I require her to be respected, because she deserves it, despite what-" he paused. "They are my issues, my problems to deal with. No others. Unlike the rest of everyone I employ there is the chance that they can walk away, or I can fire them and never need to see them again, but not Stare." He tapped a long finger on the cane and admitted it. "I cannot let her go. For reasons you would never understand. But think of it simply as I believe her and my souls are bound together, in a way that few can comprehend."
