Of Kith and Kin

[Stare]

Quite deliberately, Stare was gone for a while.

To put it simply - she wanted to be away to think. Despite the fact that he could still see into her mind she coule forget about him as she descended into the depths of the hotel. From room to kitchen, from high society to the servant quarters, she went to the place where people like Mrs Deerling and Druss reigned supreme. They were those who she had come to know and respect, truly, in her role as caretaker of the estate. She had come and found the dinners already being prepared, and it was of little request to add a third into the mass dinners that the kitchen was making for everyone. They offered her to wait, and so Stare accepted, relaxing into a chair as she finally remembered the wound she had sustained on her shoulder. Asking for water and rags, she stared away any questions, and cleaned it.

Once that was done she let herself think about what had been. About what she and Vitruvion needed to talk about. He had been in the office - had he found anything that could help them find his 'brother'? And there was the questions still about the Man of Secrets - what had he been, who was he? Somehow he had been able to determine the deepest, darkest secret of all of them. For Merla, that had been her mother, and for Stare it had been her enslavement. For Vitruvion, Stare could only presume it had to be his godhood, unless some other terrible secret was there that he had not told her. Whatever it was it had angered him enough to end the man's life. Was it possibly then, connected to this brother who should not be? The brother who Vitruvion had sworn to end.

"Miss?"

Looking up Stare saw one of the kitchen staff looking at her, holding onto a tray. Two large plates topped with serving domes stood there, as well as a smaller plate. Three glasses of some dark red liquid accompanied them. Pausing, Stare grunted, then heaved herself to her feet, forced out of her thoughts. She remembered the mage that they had trussed up in the other bedroom - her bedroom - and thought about whether or not they needed to get him anything. It occurred to her that a day of starvation would likely not be the worst he went through in the next few days.

She strode up the stairs, then pushed into the room just as the elf and god were shaking hands. The door shuddered closed behind as she stopped, and looked from one to the other with complete surprise.

Vitruvion turned around slowly, his ice blue eyes already full of scheming.

What has happened? she asked.

His smile grew. "My dear, I said I needed someone to help you in the day to day running of your work in Beinost, and Lady Merla has agreed to take that on. Assuming you are happy with this appointment ..."

Stare locked eye contact with him and blinked.

"Lady Merla has agreed to this?"

The elf shifted foot and looked away. "I have, Lady Stare."

Of her own volution?

The god simply arched an eyebrow. "Do you have any objections, Stare?" he asked.

She blinked and eyed him with intensity. "I think it your and her decision to make."

He inclined his head. "Indeed. It could be said ... In that case may I introduce your future working compatriots."

Stare took a moment to look the elf up and down and then grunted a sigh, moving fully into the room. She knew there would be a reason behind Vitruvion's quickness to trust the elf and offer it to her. But that being what it was, the god was not a stupid man and would only offer employment to those he could trust - and use. Furthermore he had now collected himself a princess into his empire, even if it was out with the Hollow. For he had used the word 'work' and that would not mean Hollow, she did not think.

Heading over to the table Stare set down the tray of food and took a moment to look between the two.

"Lady Merla, I will get you something more ... Adequate to wear," she said before heading off to her own piles of clothes.

There was a pause as Merla whispered to Vitruvion. "So ... I will be working under Stare?"

"Indeed," he agreed.

Stare came back a moment later, holding out a simple black tunic. "It is all I have," she grumbled. "Back at the mansion ask to see my room. Druss can show you ... Borrow what tunics you want."

[Stare]

He raised a finger for her to wait as he placed down his own glass again and began to slide his hand into the inner pockets of the coat. As he did so Stare began to hear the unmistakable sound of the rustling of paper. Sitting up, intrigued she realised this must be what he had procured from the mage's office.

"Indeed," he nodded, then he paused before bringing out a hand full of papers.

This time Stare got up of her own accord and she grabbed the tray from the table to carry it away and dump it beside the door. By the time she had come back he had three good piles of scraps, bound notes and assorted documents. Seeing this and seeing he was still pulling out other items she proceeded to clear the entirety of the table. He made a small nod and began to spread the papers around as she moved off the various goblets, maps and books that had been left there. Grabbing various small smooth rocks that they had used the day before for the maps. Vitruvion said nothing but moved in harmony with her, spreading out the papers in various piles. As she looked around she saw the amount of articles there and she let out a soft gasp.

"Is that ... Everything from the office?"

He nodded. "Everything. The drawers at the desk, and there was a cupboard behind a wall also. There was all of this and ..." He brought out a series of refined metal cubes. Both in bright gold and another dull grey. A metal that looked very similar to ...

She raised her wrist and compared it to the tarnished, unshining silver. The metal could be said to be the same, in fact she was ready to swear it. It was the same as with the type of blue stone that Vitruvion had enchanted to send Merla back, and the one Raevin had used to come and get her from Corone in the first place.

"This is called dehrtine," Vitruvion said quietly, plucking up a nugget of the grey material. "Yes it is the same thing that makes your cuff. It is a mixture of delyn, adamantine and a rare metal called platina. Adamantine as you know is unknown as to its origin, but ancient relics can be found that are melted down to make dehrtine." He fixed his eyes on her. "Very few know how to make dehrtine, Stare. Very few know of its properties. It is indestructible, acts as both a resistor to and holder of magical properties, and is far stronger than any other material I know. Besides perhaps dragon bone and so on. But," he tapped the small nodules and she felt her heart pound. "It is very, very rare. Only the wisest even know of its existence. One of these could feed a town for a year."

The realisation of just how much Vitruvion had used for her cuff hit her and she clasped her hand over it. "You spent ... That much?"

"I have spent much more money on you than just that," he started to pick up the nodules and place them back in his pocket, "But my point is, they should be very rare to get. Only the greatest mage orders have them. Know how to make them!"

Stare blinked, "So how did you ..."

"A mixture of contacting my father at the time ... And I may have some influence with the high bards of Istien University," he mused. "When I first arrived in this world I went there to see what I could make of this land. They offered me a permanent position teaching. That would have been a very different life."

An image of Vitruvion bustling through town as a lecturer caused Stare to smile. But it faded fast, to be replaced by the strong-willed, well-respected meglomaniac she knew him as. Her eyes briefly flittered over him, taking in his almost white hair (she was sure it had once been more blonde) and his cool blue eyes, before she sighed and looked down.

"Okay so, something that only the Istien has was in there. The gold is ...?"

"Just gold," Vitruvion shrugged. "It was the dehrtine that I was more concerned over. Now. These papers."

She looked at the gold for a moment longer, still considering the power of the dehrtine - which showed just how powerful a demon there would have had to have been before to be able to take off her cuff - and then nodded, finding both of their wines and setting them back on the table.

"Right. Well," he laid two fingers on a large stack. "These, from what I can tell are nothing more than orders, internal notes from hunter group to hunter group. These," he pointed to a smaller, neater stack, "Are reward posts for the different victims. Call outs, that sort of thing. Then we have the messages, letters and the like some of which might be useful," he moved to a further pile, "The journals of the leaders of the room. The notes, logs and so on." He finally touched the notes bound with string. "What I want to know is the person in command of this all, and the notes concerning you. I suspect what we found is one hovel out of a few, but we will be able to find links to others, mentions to them."

Stare grunted. "They might have been stupid enough to make a map of them."

He nodded and gestured at the top bound stack. "Start with then."

The kenku's eyes looked over the tightly bound pages and immediately felt grumpy. Grumbling she reached for the first, knowing though that it was really the only place to get answers. She paused when she saw Vitruvion begin to stand.

"Where are you going?" She asked, confused.

He looked down at her and smiled brilliantly. "I am going to consult our other line of enquiry," he said.

Then his smile expanded to reveal his full set - she had to admit then - of extraordinarily sharp teeth. It could have been a trick of the light, it could have been some illusion by him, but she knew she saw them. Then he turned, a swirl of black on white, and began to march away, cane rapping.

She watched until he disappeared through the door.

The screams began a minute later.