Timestamp: 2nd of Ymiden - 19th Break Location: Ye Olde Inn
“I’m hoping you can help me out.” Sabine leaned over the bar counter and shot the barkeep a terse smile. He grunted and slowly disentangled himself from a hook-nosed woman who seemed determined to share the world’s most mundane story - something about cats and yarn and holey socks.
“Whaddya need, miss?”
“I’m looking for someone named Gray. He says I should ask for him at the bar.”
Sabine glanced down at the crumpled note she held in her hands and, not for the first time, wrinkled her nose with scarcely-hidden displeasure. The note - or “the summons,” as she had taken to calling it - had arrived for her at the Rynmere Gazette earlier that morning. At first, she’d been close to ripping it up and throwing it out. There was no name, not even her own, and it was so cryptic that she almost took offense at its use of the word “friend”.
Mostly because all of her real friends knew better than to call her “Scribe”.
But then she read the note again, and a memory of the cloaked man she’d met near the end of Ashan began to claw its way forward. Hadn’t he insisted on calling her “Scribe”? And wasn’t his own name, in fact, Gray? Plus, he did seem like the type to be secretive and paranoid enough to send coded messages.
Sabine gingerly touched the corner of her eye. Her encounter with Gray, and the resulting run-in with her least favourite thugs, had been less than pleasant. While the cuts and bruises from that night had long-since faded, Sabine continued to be hit with dizzy spells or headaches every time she moved her head too quickly. After confessing her head pains and occasional insomnia to one her colleagues, he'd suggested the possibility of a concussion. She hadn’t bothered to get confirmation from a doctor for fear of repeating the interrogation that Bram had already given her, but all signs seemed to point to yes.
She just couldn’t believe she was still feeling its effects, eighteen trials later.
The barkeep murmured to another staff member, who scurried off to alert Gray of Sabine’s presence. “He should be right down, miss. Can I get you an ale while you wait?”
She shook her head and flicked her eyes regretfully at the kegs. “Just a water, please.”
That was another thing. Drinking seemed to make the headaches worse, which, of course, only served to make Sabine more irritable - irritable enough to make a trip to Ye Olde Inn and give Gray a piece of her mind. She had all sorts of words ready for him, words that had built up throughout the course of the day. How dare he ask for her help. How dare he presume their friendship!
And how dare he not even bother asking how she was doing!
Rude.
The barkeep eyed her darkening expression with caution and exchanged the mug of water for coin without another word. He gestured to a free table, and she took it as a suggestion to wait.
To wait, and to stew.
Oh, was Gray ever in for a treat.
Last edited by Sabine on Tue Aug 02, 2016 1:22 am, edited 2 times in total. word count: 546
Gray was sat on the edge of his bed, lacing up his well worn leather boots, when a knock came on his door. "Who's there?" Gray called out, his hand traveling to the throwing knife he kept hidden in his boot.
"It's Stephen, sir. There is a Lady Sabine here for you." Came the quite voice of the inn's steward.
"Thank you Stephen." Gray called back, and with that Stephen left. His steps heard ever so slightly as he walked down the hall. Gray finished lacing his boots, then stood up and grabbed his gray cloak off the hook set into the back of the door. With the ease of a practiced motion Gray threw the cloak over his shoulders and fastened in just below his neck, Gray stepped from his room and locked it behind himself before heading out to the common room.
As Gray entered the room he saw his guest, Sabine, sitting at a table, her back to him. Giving the barkeeper a quick glance, the man gave him a small smirk and shook his head before returning his attention to the glass he was wiping clean. Raising an eyebrow at that, Gray began to approach the table. His leather boots make little noise on the floor, but not trying to be quiet. When Gray was a few feet behind her, he saw her face, and understood the look from the barkeeper. Sabine was a thunderhead, and glares and frowns. With a sigh Gray spoke, "You know, no matter how long, or how hard you glare at that cup it will not boil." He said as he walked around the table and took the seat across from him.
Gray ran his eyes over her as he lowered himself into the chair. Her split lip had healed, and aside from a little bit of discoloration around her eyes, she didn't look as though she had been beaten at all. Though the fire in her eyes hadn't faded, if anything it burned brighter, there was pain mixed in with it too. So she still hasn't fully recovered from that night. Gray thought glumly.
"I'm glad to see you're doing better than the last time we parted," Gray began his voice still the same mono tone he had used with her the last time they met. "I'm also glad that Knight Heywood was able to handle those smugglers." He continue, thinking of the smugglers he had left in Cyrene Bay a handful of trials before. "To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure you would show today, but I'm glad you did." Gray took a big breath and braced himself for what he was about to say. "I need your help with the information I was able to get from the smugglers, but before I can tell you what it is, I want you to know that from here on things can get... messy" Gray finished his tone dipping in volume and full of that seriousness that made it clear this wasn't a joke.
Last edited by Vincent D'Ordyn on Thu Jun 30, 2016 1:28 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 515
Sabine transferred her glare from the cup to Gray as he settled into the seat across from her. “Thanks for the tip,” she replied through gritted teeth. Gray’s note, which she had balled up and tossed indiscriminately on the table, wobbled to and fro in the warm evening breeze that passed through the Inn's open windows.
She was unsurprised to see him wearing a cloak despite the Ymiden heat. It suited him. Or suited what little she knew about him, at least. The colour, the secrecy, the inflexibility – all of it aligned with her version of who Gray was. She suspected, too, that her version wasn’t too far from the truth. Clothes spoke volumes about a person, after all. People tended to wear their clothes like armour or like trophies, and there was very little in between.
Gray, like Sabine, wore his like a shield.
She quieted as he continued to speak and returned to staring steadily into the mug of water she held clasped between her hands.
He was glad she was doing better. How nice.
If his voice had contained even a little warmth, she might have softened with his admission. But it was cold and professional and all-too-serious, much like the first time they’d met. It reminded her of the fear and the shame she’d felt when he’d forced her to answer his questions that night, and that, in turn, reminded her of the million reasons to refuse his request for help.
Or, at very least, to make his appeal more difficult.
She raised her head and smiled a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Before you tell me what it is you need or how ‘messy’ things can get, let me clear something up,” Sabine said. Her voice quivered with barely contained annoyance. “Your problems are not my problems. I didn’t agree to help you. If you think I owe you a favour, you’re mistaken. We’re even, as far as I’m concerned.
“Sure, maybe you beat back those men, but I shouldn’t need to remind you that you were half the reason they attacked me in the first place.”
She leaned back and crossed her arms tightly beneath her chest. “Besides,” she added, “I could have handled them just fine on my own.”
Obviously.
“And it’s funny you should mention Bram,” Sabine continued, raising a hand to cut Gray off if he attempted to argue. “I asked him about you. He said he doesn’t remember anyone named ‘Gray’ in the Iron Hand or otherwise. How exactly do you know him, again?”
Her unspoken question: Why should I bother helping you?
Her temper was raging and Gray knew this was going to be a long conversation. Sighing and shaking his head, Gray leaned forward and placed his hands on the table. He sat silent as Sabine berated him, and let her continue fully until she was finished. Taking a slow steady breath Gray looked the one in the eyes. "I never said you owed me anything Sabine. I simply asked you here to discuss the information I was able to gain, and ask for your help regarding it."
Sitting back in his chair, Gray turned his eyes to the ceiling. "As for my problems, you are correct and at the same time wrong, when you say they are not you own. Some of my burdens can not be shared, nor would I want to place that responsibility on anyone else." Gray continued, scratching a slight itch that sprung up under his right glove, where his Mark of Taithir was. "Though there are things that happen in Andaris that few people know about, and even fewer care to correct. Those problems are just mine, are they." Gray finished pinning the woman across the table with a look that challenged her to deny it. "As for Knight Haywood's recollection of me..." Gray began, again sitting up straight in his chair and looking Sabine in the eyes again, a little mirth playing across his face, and mingling with his next words, "I never said he knew me, I said I knew him."
Last edited by Vincent D'Ordyn on Thu Jul 07, 2016 3:39 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 249
“It’s not about what you said. It’s what you implied. You-” Sabine cut herself off with a heavy exhale and pinched the bridge of her nose.
The man was exasperating to talk to - all calm and deliberate and austere, while at the same time dropping hints of personal burdens and dramatic events that were supposedly happening in the shadows of Andaris’ society. She felt a headache coming on, and couldn’t be sure whether it was a result of the concussion or the conversation.
Part of her wanted to leave right then and there. She had already called him out and said her piece, which meant there was nothing further to be gained from continuing to berate him aside from a worsening headache.
But there was a second part of her that had bought into Gray’s claims of problems in Andaris that went unnoticed by the larger population. She’d seen it herself, in the Fighting Arena and the slave trade and the Lowtown slums. Every trial, she saw people - good, innocent people - who had fallen through the cracks and were left to fend for themselves. Some of them were able to pull themselves out, but many were not.
Sabine drummed her fingers on the table and stared at Gray thoughtfully.
“Fine. I’ll listen to what you have to say,” she said, “On two conditions. If I like the answers, I may even help you.” Her words were a close mirror of the ones he’d spoken to her in Ashan, though a tiny smirk was the only acknowledgement she gave of the mimicry.
“Condition one: Tell me exactly what you mean by ‘messy.’ I’m not putting myself in a situation where I might get myself arrested or, worse, killed.” Her expression turned serious. She had nels to earn and dependents to care for while her father was enslaved, and she had no intention of risking her life for a near-stranger before her family became whole again.
“And condition two: Tell me why you care so much about what these smugglers had to say. Bram seemed to think they were fairly ordinary, as far as criminals go.”
Last edited by Sabine on Fri Dec 23, 2016 3:48 am, edited 1 time in total. word count: 363
Gray stared at Sabine as she began to berate him for the implications he'd made. Though she stopped part way through. Then after a brief pause she hit him with his own ultimatum from their first meeting. The irony of the situation probably would have made most laugh, though that was something Gray didn't do much anymore. Instead he simply smirked in acknowledgement. The woman had moxie, that was without doubt.
Gray pondered his next words before he spoke. "The things you'd being doing aren't illegal at all. Though, if you're not careful you could draw the attention of those who would rather not have these things brought to light. Though you seem a bit brash, you also seem more intelligent than the random sot." Gray said, answering her first question. "As for the smugglers, Knight Haywood is entirely correct. They are just your average smugglers. They weren't interesting in the least." Gray continued a small smile pulling the corners of his mouth upward at the memory of his victory on the Ethereal Lady. "Their last cargo was very interesting though." Gray finished pinning Sabine with his eyes.
"I've answered both your questions." Gray stated, continuing to hold her gaze. "I will answer in more specifics if you agree to help me. As I said, nothing I ask is illegal, and the tasks actually play to your strengths as an investigative journalist." Gray said, hoping that would be enough to put her at ease.
“More intelligent than the random sot,” Sabine repeated. “I’m flattered. Truly. You’re much too kind.”
She rubbed small circles into her temples as she listened to the rest of his words, and snorted loudly once he finished speaking. “I mean, you ‘answered’ my questions…” Her expression was that of a disgruntled child - one who wanted a pony but had been given a horseshoe instead.
She should have known Gray was a dancer. He danced around her questions with practiced ease, answering with non-answers and contradictions and a vagueness that served only to further obscure his meaning. In one breath, he had told her both that she wouldn’t be breaking the law and that she might find herself in danger. He agreed that the smugglers weren’t interesting, but claimed their cargo was – without telling her anything whatsoever about the cargo or the smugglers or what in the name of Ilaren was so damn interesting.
Sabine drained her mug. The Inn was beginning to fill up with the post-dinner crowd, and she broke Gray’s gaze to scan the tables around them as she considered her next move. She was torn. She didn’t like his answers to her questions, but the mystery that surrounded his words had managed to hook her interest nonetheless. Plus, she couldn’t help but preen her ego and straighten with barely concealed pride in response to being called an investigative journalist. While she knew that a foundation of investigative skills lay beneath the banal articles she wrote about everyday life in Andaris, it was still nice to have the external reinforcement – irrespective of who it came from.
Her eyes landed on an elderly couple in a far corner of the Inn. The pair giggled like two teenagers who had just discovered the pleasures of dating. They pawed happily at each other and whispered what Sabine imagined to be sweet nothings in each other’s ears. She watched them for a moment with a small smile on her lips, and felt the remnants of her day-old anger begin to erode.
If, like Gray said, she could make Andaris a better place for people like them, even in some small unnoticed way, then how could she possibly say no? Was she really so weak that she would allow herself to be ruled entirely by her frustrations and bitterness?
After all, agreeing to help didn’t mean she agreed to forgive him or agreed to be his friend (not that he’d asked). It simply meant that she would help solve his problem and, in return, he would leave her alone.
That was all. Nothing more.
“Okay,” she said without turning to look at Gray. “I’ll help you – but that means you’ll owe me a favour. Got it?” She tucked a braid behind her ear before voicing an addendum. “And I better not get hurt this time.”
Sabine pulled her gaze from the couple and shifted her attention back to her table partner. “Tell me what you need.”
Last edited by Sabine on Sun Jul 10, 2016 4:40 am, edited 5 times in total. word count: 508
Gray watched as Sabine took in his words. He could tell by her reaction to his answers that she hadn't cared for the vagueness of them, but it was as much to protect him as it was her. Gray followed her gaze as she began to look around the room, and when it fell on the elderly couple in the corner of the room, he frowned slightly. The pair reminded him of the way his parents use to act with one another when they thought no one was around to see them.
A few trills passed before Sabine spoke again, Gray took a moment to pull his eyes away from the couple. If Sabine was watching him, she might catch the briefest signs of sadness in his eyes before he could control himself and return to the neutral mask he normally wore. When she agreed to help him Gray let out a breath of relief he hadn't realized he had been holding.
As she spoke of him owing her a favour, Gray smiled slightly. "Okay Sabine, I will owe you one favour, in which you can call on my aid. Though I will not help with anything that would harm innocent people. As for you, I do feel sorry for the way things happened during our first encounter, but I'll make you this promise, I will do everything within my power to keep you safe while we work together." Gray said, scratching subconsciously again at his right hand. With that Gray wave a hand for one of the wait staff.
"Can you bring me something to write with, and some parchment please." Gray asked when they approached the table. With a simple nod they wait a brief moment for any other order before leaving. Leaning in Gray began speaking, not quite whispering, but just soft enough that few beyond Sabine would hear him. "A few cycles ago, the smugglers that Knight Haywood took into custody, made port here for a few days, and then left again. They both smuggled in something, and smuggled the same thing out. Though it wasn't an object, it was people. A group of Aukari's to be specific, and to be precise, a group of assassins." Gray stated, watching Sabine's face to entire time he spoke.
At that moment Gray's pen and parchment arrived. With another nod, and simple thanks, Gray to them and began writing on them. "This is an address of a house in Hightown that the Aukari supposedly used. It was to act as payment to the smugglers for getting the group in and out. I need you to just ask around the area, see if anyone remembers seeing them, or if anyone has been in or out of the house recently." Gray finished passing the parchment to Sabine. "Also, there have been a string of burglaries in Midtown. Any help with the thief's previous targets, and possible future targets would be most helpful." Gray finished.
“But there were so many innocent people I was planning to harm!” Sabine complained, a touch too loudly. She was rewarded with a look of disapproval from a man sitting at a nearby table, and her nose twitched as she tried to hide an impish smile.
Truthfully, Gray’s promises and reassurances did help to ease her irritation. The man had shown himself more than capable of defending her, after all, and she was sure that his promise of an owed favour would one day come in handy. As a journalist, she was used to bartering in favours and information, which meant she treated those exchanges as seriously as coin.
She traced the woodgrain of the table with her fingertips while Gray requested parchment from the barmaid, and shook her head when asked if anything else was needed. Once the barmaid stepped away, Sabine shifted in her seat and leaned closer to Gray. Her expression turned serious, though quickly changed to one of surprise when Gray mentioned the aukari assassins.
That had not been what she was expecting him to say.
What had she been expecting? Drugs, maybe, or perhaps more of the human trafficking that was so rampant across Rynmere. But assassins, though they could technically fall into the category of human trafficking, were not on her list.
The more interesting question, however, was why they were on Gray’s list.
“Why—” Sabine broke off and held her tongue as the barmaid returned to the table with the parchment and pen, though began speaking again immediately after the woman left them alone.
“Why are you looking into these assassins?” She frowned. “You’re not part of the Iron Hand… right? I mean, it definitely doesn’t make me happy to hear the words ‘aukari’ and ‘assassin’ in the same sentence, but what concern is it of yours?”
Sabine accepted the piece of parchment and ran her thumb beneath the address. Gray’s handwriting was remarkably neat, perhaps unusually so for a man whose unkempt appearance was far from scholarly. But he was clearly educated, and probably quite orderly. She flicked her eyes up to his and tucked the information into the back of her mind.
“A house in Hightown,” she murmured. “The address isn’t familiar, but I can ask around. I’ll see if I can reach out to some of the neighbours.” Well-to-do neighbours who would likely be snooty to a journalist poking around, but that was about par for the course for her lately.
She folded the parchment in half and tucked it into her pocket as another thought came to her. “Want me to see if I can get in? See if the door is unlocked, that sort of thing?” There was little chance that it would be – especially not in Hightown – but it might be worth a shot.
As long as there were no assassins hanging around, of course.
At Gray’s final comment about the Midtown thefts, Sabine raised an unimpressed eyebrow. “Seems to me like that’s two separate requests,” she said. “I have got problems and a life of my own, you know. Are you prepared to owe me two favours?”
Last edited by Sabine on Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:46 pm, edited 1 time in total. word count: 532
A blank look and a small frown where the only acknowledgement Gray gave Sabine's little joke. Then the questions started flooding out of her as he knew they would. With a small sigh Gray answered as best he could. "The Iron Hand doesn't even know the Aukari were here, let alone that they were assassins." Gray started his tone quite and controlled.
"As for my involvement in the matter," Gray continued his mind going back to the night that he had found his family butchered, and had watched as his father was executed, all to be left for dead with their bodies himself. Pain and anger flashed through Gray's eyes as they came back into focus, before being quickly reigned in and hidden behind the calm mask he normally wore. "They're targets were the D'Ordyn family. A family I was supposed to protect..." Gray let the last bit go unsaid. As it was obvious he had failed.
"To hide the murders, the assassins burnt the family's estate to the ground along with their bodies inside. The entire family was wiped out, and all evidence of foul play destroyed. The official story was that it was a simple accident and the family burnt to death in their sleep. That's why the Iron Hand didn't look for any assassin's, and why you probably never heard any news of the murders." Gray finished, hopefully answering any questions she would have had as follow ups.
Then she asked if she should trying entering the house by herself. "Absolutely not. I have no clue who, or what could be in there. All I want you to do is gather information, and observer the area surrounding the house." Gray sighed a little as he let himself uncoil "You know, for someone who has a disdain for compromising situations, you sure tend to throw yourself into them head first."
"As for owing you a second favor, that's not much of an issue. Same promises bind it as the first." Gray answered, leaning back in his chair to study Sabine's reaction to all the information.
