The Letter

[Balthazar Black]

30 Saun 720

Of all the darkness and doom that had befallen Balthazar Black over the last arc, the letter he held in his hands now threatened something worse to his heart. Balthazar had seen children mutilated, hundreds of dead at Faldrass- some of whom seemed like they'd been enslaved, a building burned and people left jobless in Viden, the Creep in Quacia... and yet the letter in his hand seemed to hurt him more than any of that had. For all those events, none of them had happened to people Balthazar cared about... just people he felt responsible to protect.

He lowered it from his view, letting the paper slip from his hands and drift to the floor. Nimue sat on his bed, watching Balthazar as she awaited an explanation. A courier had come in the night with a message from one of Balthazar's oldest friends, Isabella. He was immediately suspicious of the message- wondering how she, in Scalvoris, had found out where he was but he'd been in Melrath for enough trials that he concluded nothing was afoot. He thanked the courier and took the rolled up message. There was no seal but it was tied together with a string... it could have been forged... but he didn't think about that until he'd read the message. Isabella didn't have a distinct seal for her letters regardless. She'd once had a fancy M stamp carved for her but since the change in her name, he'd never seen her use it.

The letter was written on a white sort of paper with black ink in familiar handwriting. It was the same handwriting that he had seen on the poem that he held so dear to his heart. Isabella's handwriting. Yet while the poem's sweet words filled Balthazar with a warm a fuzzy feeling, this letter's worried words filled him with something darker, something more sinister. Was it hate? No- he did not hate the words or the woman who had written them. He could not. Was it anger? Yes. The words made him angry, but not at them or at the woman... at himself. He wasn't there. He couldn't help her. He could watch through any of his magic abilities but he could do nothing. Yet there was something more in the feeling the letter provoked... fear. Fear. He hadn't felt fear in a long time but as he read the letter she'd sent him he felt it building in his stomach.

"What's wrong?" Nimue asked from the edge of the bed, her soft skin lit only by the shine of the moonlight coming through the window. Her hair and eyes like Balthazar's, concerned for her anchor-bearer. He saw his own fear in her face and looked away. There was more to the letter than the dark news about Isabella but Balthazar couldn't seem to focus on the other side of the bad news that had been delivered. Why could a courier in the night never be a good thing?

"We need to go back to Scalvoris."

[Balthazar Black]

30 Saun 720

"Why?" Nimue asked, the concern written clearly across her face as Balthazar knelt down to pick up the letter that his surprise had caused him to drop. Nimue rose from the bed and crossed towards Balthazar, reaching a hand out that Balthazar gently pushed aside.

"Don't, I'm in no mood for it." He urged, knowing what she meant to do. Nimue knew how to calm Balthazar down whenever his emotions began to get the better of him, syphoning them, and for the most part Balthazar never stopped her but this time he had. It only made Nimue more concerned for his wellbeing.

"What happened?" Nimue asked, lowering her arm to her side. Balthazar set the letter on the bedside table and took a deep breath to help clear his mind of the negative thoughts crawling into it. Nimue moved over, gliding across the floor to the desk and swiping the letter from where it was sitting so she could read over it herself. While she did, Balthazar explained what irked him so.

"Isabella met a Yludih." Balthazar said. "'A pleasant' and 'harmless' man who has started helping around her shop." There was a certain venom behind Balthazar's words that Nimue didn't understand. What was so bad about Isabella talking to a Yludih? Nimue immediately thought that Balthazar must have been jealous but Balthazar's concern came from a far more self centered place.

"So? What's wrong with that?" Nimue asked, her eyes tracing over that part of the letter and onto the more pressing reason that someone had gone to lengths to write to Balthazar. Isabella hadn't simply written to tell Balthazar about the new man in her life, she'd written to tell him about a danger to Balthazar's career.

"What's wrong with- Nimue you were there!" Balthazar shouted in frustration at Nimue's failure to recall one of the many, many fights they had been in. "The Yludih assassin that came for me never made it to the prison in Scalvoris. He slipped out of his bindings and escaped the Elements. I thought he'd run and hide but this is clearly his work."

"Balthazar, there are more than one Yludih in the world and you have more pressing concerns! Did you read the rest of the letter?" Nimue asked, holding it back out to Balthazar.

"What? That? I'll deal with it when I get there."

"I won't say this newfound confidence isn't appealing, but I though you cared more about your job." Nimue could support a bolder, criminal Balthazar who did what was necessary to get what he wanted. The only difference between that Balthazar and the mage who she presently operated with was a badge. A badge could be taken but the will to help was not as easy to pry away.

"I have a duty to protect Scalvoris and I will fulfill that duty to the best of my ability. I have never done anything that was not necessary."

[Balthazar Black]

30 Saun 720

"What about Victor?" Nimue asked as Balthazar began moving around the room, collecting the few things he'd left out. She was not opposed to leaving immediately but she didn't feel that it was entirely necessary. There were spirits in Melrath to syphon and she hadn't had the chance to try it out on any of them. She refused to syphon Fuego, who seemed to be asleep on Balthazar's pillow, because he was small and seemed helpless. She wanted to syphon something menacing and spiritual. Balthazar had told her of a battle with a mountain, a battle where Victor had provided valuable help, but Nimue had not been there. She wished that she had but it didn't change history. Melrath was supposed to be her second go at a big spirit baddie.

"I'll write him a letter." Balthazar replied in a hollow, thoughtless tone as he set his sheathed katana on the bed beside his other important items- the things he needed to take with him back through the Untold. "I don't have the time to arrange a meeting to inform him. I'll have to have one of the friends get him the message."

"A letter for the man who initiated you? Alright." Nimue didn't argue but she never had to. There was something in her tone that just sang judgement and caused Balthazar to reconsider his last few words... every time. Balthazar knew that Victor deserved more than a letter explaining why he'd suddenly vanished but the news had caught him by surprise and his urgency almost got the better of his judgement.

"There isn't time." Balthazar insisted. Nimue shrugged, not arguing with the mage who made most of their decisions. Balthazar grimaced. "Maybe there is a little time. It won't take long to get back." Balthazar was arguing with himself now, Nimue shrugged again. Victor had done Balthazar a great service by initiating him into Transmutation- he'd shown Balthazar a new way of looking at the world that further strengthened his core skills... but most importantly Victor had given him a magic that made it seem less painful to channel ether through his soul... with a little more practice Balthazar wondered exactly how much magic he would have at his disposal thanks to Victor's agreement. Yet there had been conditions to the deal they made. One of those conditions was more or less not to just disappear on Victor... then again Balthazar had the spark already. He could disappear with little consequence... but he didn't want to. "Alright, I'll stay long enough to tell Victor why I'm leaving but after that, we go."

[Kasoria]

Review Rewards

Name: Balders

Points awarded: 10

Knowledge:
Detection - Recognizing handwriting
Psychology - Interpreting judgement from a statement
Psychology - Silas's offender profile
Psychology - Recognizing your own bias
Etiquette - It is rude to leave without telling your friends
Etiquette - Keeping promises looks good.

Skill Review: All Skills used appropriate to level

Notes:
Hmm. Well. I wouldn't say NOTHING happens. Exposition and scene-setting happened! That's important! Especially when it's written so well. I liked how Balty-Boy is kind of stiff around Nimue; really reflected his anxious and concerned mood brilliantly. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns in regards to this review, feel free to PM.