Hemlock Smiles
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 15308
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Lady Rowena D'Honaire sighed ruefully as her servants saddled her horse
for the journey. She had been ill at ease ever since her elder brother
left upon the King's quest, but it was another matter which taxed her
patience now. If there was one thing which Rowena despised more than anything, it was visiting the royal court. However, go she must, for there were rumours that her brother had been sighted... Adjusting the elaborate coiffure courtly etiquette mandated, Rowena stepped out into the great hall. Smiling primly, if forcedly, she made her way through the milling nobility. As she mingled, she barely contained a frown at the sight of a small, smirking group of three nobles. The Jackals of the Court. That's what the servants called them when they would gossip late at night. Lord Sarlo, Lady Constantine, and Duke Zular. They held no great positions within the court, at least not publicly. Individually, they were thought of as only minor nobles, rulers of inconsequential fiefs. This was an image they themselves cultivated. None sought to contradict them on this matter, for collectively, they had enough power to bring the court to its knees. Of course, they dared not do so overtly, and so to the more soft-headed and jovial of the nobility, they had no reputation, save perhaps as horrid gossips. Rowena, however, had felt their power almost intimately of late, particularly in the events that followed her father's death and her brother's quest. For many years, her father had ruled Suffex only in name, having become a recluse, and only having gotten worse with Jarlath's departure and seeming death. Frederigo and Rowena had seen to the day-to-day maintenance of the fiefdom. Upon the death of Charles D'Honaire, it was assumed by the entire Duchy that Frederigo would be named Duke. This was not what occurred. In a whirlwind of events that had the mark of Zular's hands upon them, Frederigo's competency and legitimacy in holding the Duchy was called into question. Frederigo asked to prove himself, and King Emery Exultane set him upon the quest. Since his departure, Rowena had paid the royal servants good money to keep her informed, and a plan most foul had come to her attention. For many years, evidently, Lady Constantine's contacts within the grand kitchens of the royal palace had been tainting Queen Sovay's food, causing her to be barren, and thus the King was without heir. Lord Sarlo, likewise, had managed to marry a cousin of the King, fathering a young boy who might soon be named the King's Ward and Heir. Everyone knew who would be named Regent, should the King die before the boy came of age: Duke Zular. He'd done his job too well. The Duchy of Suffex had no true voice in the Court, as Frederigo was on the quest, and possibly dead, and nobody dared oppose Zular. Even now, the rumours of Frederigo being sighted in were being twisted by the three Jackals into a tale of disloyalty, as they implied that it meant he had abandoned his quest. Though it was a horrible thought, Rowena mused to herself that it might just be simpler if her brother was truly dead. She put on a courtly false smile, and excused herself. Rowena wasn't sure what exactly brought her to the Palace Catacombs, as the chapel bell above pealed the Witching Hour. The only thing she could say for sure was that tonight she would learn the truth of her brother's fate. Her formal wear was discarded for her riding clothes, soft boots padding on wet stone, her blonde hair hanging free to her waist. She carried a hooded lantern, making her way to the appointed spot, looking for the one she was to meet. A man with thin, filmy, almost translucent skin stepped into the light of her lantern, clad in the tattered cloak that marked him as the caretaker. His name was Aliester Mireaux, second son of a minor noble, and the Chapel's dirty secret, which was why he was the caretaker of the Catacombs. He was a caster of stones, a shewer of fortunes, and a sorceror of no small skill. To the church, these practices were an embarrassment, and so he was hidden away, but not ignored. To those willing to deal with the unsavory man, he was potent aid. He spoke wetly, "are you willing to pay the price, milady?" Rowena nodded and removed her glove, offering her finger. Aliester reached out swiftly with his knife and pricked her, running the blooded blade along his tongue as his eyes rolled back in their sockets. "He has died." "My brother is dead, then? You are certain?" "I said he has died. I did not say he is dead. He still walks, and he still quests, though for what I dare not say." Rowena felt her lip quaver, and left the Catacombs in silence, retiring to the guest chambers and her bed to ponder this strange portent.
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The Traveler
2/16/2001 12:17:26 AM
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