Legend of Ransera

Posted: **Tue Nov 12, 2024 11:41 pm**

Valentin was still there when Darus returned. He'd settled, somewhat, and was busy sorting through papers when the flicker of movement on the screen alerted him to his compatriot's return. He glanced about, then leaned into the mirror, as though proximity to the Window would hide the words he spoke from prying ears.

"You're back." the lawyer remarked, "Is he...?"

The auditor didn't wait for Aurin's response. He didn't need to; not really. There was only one thing he could have been going to do, and he wouldn't have returned at all if he hadn't done it. Valentin's gaze flickered briefly down to the surface of the table, to his own fingers resting on it- a classic sign of a moral conundrum. But he resolved it quickly. This was not the first time Valentin Valentin had been party to death in his employment, and in his own calculation this one was particularly needful.

Still, his breath shook a little as he closed his eyes and steadied himself. A man resigned to death, perhaps, but not inured as yet.

"It's the right move. I imagine the butler will cover it up for now, as he can't risk the notoriety of an official inquiry. Without that damn clown, perhaps this shopkeeper's insurgency will die quietly in the cradle."

He would have to hope for that. The Inquisition were particularly restless, just now, with the membership all eager to find something to bring them to prominence. A toy rebellion and the discipline of an entire city would be just the thing for some ambitious young Inquisitor. And then? Well, Valentin knew Aurin was good at his job, but he doubted anyone was good enough to get away from that pack of baying hounds once they'd scented blood.

No, safest by far to finish this purge.

"Change of plans, Darus." Valentin's voice had recovered now, fully, and he'd regained that cold edge which made him sound like he was about to spring a thousand-aven fine on someone. "I'm going back to the capital, and with ample evidence of fraud. A few months, and I'll be back with an entire bureau to do a proper audit." He spoke the word with unnatural relish.

"Here's what we're going to do- I'll drive the remnants of the Allstead Shipping Company out into the open, and they'll panic. That's when you show up again, offering them and their money a way out of the country. Got that?" Valentin waited for any objection, then nodded. "I'll be in touch."

The Window closed, and the night was dark and quiet once more.

Posted: **Wed Nov 13, 2024 12:51 am**

"I am, and he is," Aurin said, but swallowed the end of it as Valentin had found his moment and seized it.

He listened, amused, nodding. While he hadn't Valentin's lofty education, he was quick and cunning enough to follow along. It might not have been how Aurin would have handled it, but Aurin also wasn't a tax lawyer. The plan would serve. He offered a jaunty salute, but Valentin severed the connection before he could get off his witty one-off.

"Ah, well. Lawyers."

Aurin turned around in the mundane mirror, eying himself and scanning via his Rune. There had been no struggle, no blood. Everything he had stolen, from documents for Valentin to more liquid booty for himself, was safe in his junction. There was nothing to trace it back to him, and Valentin was probably right: there would be no official inquiry. He unbraced some of his clothes, rubbed vigorously at Darus' face, and then went down to have a nightcap and be seen. Alibis were good to have even if it was just in case.

Darus had been seen with Frederick that evening, of course, but he was hardly the only one, and certainly not the last.

"Darling!" he greeted the bartender downstairs regardless of their gender. "Couldn't sleep. Fuck me up, won't you?" He took a seat. "Did I ever tell you about Celisa the impresario and how I rocked her world? Would you like the in-depth, blow-by-literal-blow? Of course you would! What would you do without Darus, eh? Die of boredom."

Aurin-as-Darus would while away a few days in the would-be capital of a breakaway realm. Some might consider it boring, but he could keep himself occupied. There were plenty of people to fuck and fuck with, and most would be sad to see him go, having no idea he had snapped the neck of their would-be ruler, who had come too, too close to incurring an imperial holocaust.

"The good I do and nobody the wiser," he murmured to himself later, shaking his head.

Practically a saint.

fin.

Legend of Ransera

Party To Treason [Aurin]

Re: Party To Treason [Aurin]

Re: Party To Treason [Aurin]