Snippet #2623306

Morgan did something that would probably seem completely intrusive, both physically and verbally. She didn’t seem the least bit offended that Falke declined her invitation to dance, in fact she maintained her demeanor as if he’d said nothing at all.

She stepped closer, almost looking as if she was going to force her waltz upon him anyway. She raised her arms in unison and kept on until her hands, cupped and curved, glowing like twin moons were in his face. Displacing any such obstacles like hair, she placed her hands on his eyes, careful not the jab him but gently brushed his lashes downward.

“How blind are you?”

On a New York street this might have been a brash insult. But Morgan’s voice fluttered with curiosity.

-------------------------

It had been almost a week since Haru’s encounter with Amber and he wasn’t sure how he’d gotten to his bed that night.
After the drinking contest Haru completely blacked out. All he remembered was slumping in his chair and watching the blurred motions of the party. His fingers were splayed sloppily across his mouth, calloused pads gently pushing his upper lip toward his nose. The way his gums were exposed gave him a bit of a sneer.

And the next morning he just woke up in his room. Dressed only in his pants and dress socks—his blouse and coat hung and folded near his stationary desk. He did not go down to breakfast that morning. Instead, he spent the day staring at the sun-lit wall and trying to recall Amber’s message.

Haru wasn’t sure he could handle this situation without letting everyone else know. But he was especially sure that he had to handle it without any members of the court finding out. Because of the terms pushed by the council, the warriors couldn’t do much of anything alone.

The terms—they were complicated. Haru wasn’t opposed to extra help regarding cyclopean, or even the orphans. He was just fine with getting the word out to the public in order to guarantee the group warm places to sleep while out on the road when they made their final trek to fight Oblivion. But regarding matters so… supernatural… he wasn’t sure if he could allow ordinary people to get too involved.

The terms—Goddess he forgot to tell them didn’t he?

And here Haru was, nearly a week later, attempting to address these complicated issues with the group. He had to approach them tactfully—everyone was so prone to getting upset these days. He finally resolved that the best place for him to start was with the guardians.

He spent the earlier hours of the day making his rounds around the estate. Knocking on the doors of guardians and asking them to meet him during the lunch hour. He even went searching for Princess Morgan (an early bird who was out in the garden rather than her bed) to ask her about reserving a meeting place that afforded a comfortable amount of privacy. As expected, she happily obliged.

Haru always preferred to arrive early for tense meetings. If he could help it he would go to meetings an hour early and let himself get comfortable with the environment. This is exactly what he did in that cramped conference room with its shiny wooden table and antique cushioned chairs.

He greeted guardians as they came in, and apologized if he disturbed their sleep. When everyone was settled Haru stood up and stretched toward the window, reaching to pull the curtains shut.

“I have some problematic news,” he began. Haru was a big fan of just spitting it out when it came to the guardians and tried to keep introductory rambles as short as possible.

“Amber came to the ceremony and he was very straight-forward when he said he wouldn’t hold back on us. Yet he was very ambiguous about what he and his group stands for. I’m beginning to sense that they are the work of a third party—not Oblivion. And this is particularly concerning because members of his group seem to mirror the warriors in supernatural ability. He also spoke feverishly of a book down in the “Great Escape.” I’m wasn’t too familiar with the concept so a few days ago I tried to refer to the estate library. But the few books featuring segments on it were very limited. Most of them dismissed it as a myth or folk legend over in Ira—I large crack in the ground leading to some hellish dimension. I’m not even sure the crack in the ground is supposed to be a physical, geographic anomaly or a state of mind… Nonetheless he spoke very much of “a book of truth” that could be found there. And that this book is essential to our survival. I’m truly conflicted—I don’t know if it’s a trap or not. If it’s a battle for us to fight or a whole new can of worms to open... And even if we were to pursue this book, we have a bit of an issue with the government. Back some time ago I went to discuss the terms of our recognition with the king, elders, warlords and whatnot, and we got everything I was hoping for as far as shelter and civilian assistance. But there were a few sacrifices. We are technically bound to bring representatives of the RK with us if we go off on any campaigns. This was more than likely a hook for the RK to ensure power upon the salvation of Aires… And I agreed to it, not really expecting us to do much moving after moving here. We are also asked to periodically attend RK campaigns. However, I’m more concerned about the former…If we go after this book I don’t want the government to have a stake in it.”