Chapter 37 I Have A List

  The two ducal guards, who had been charged with keeping his grace safe, were standing halfway through the doorway into Arthur Von Sasston’s office. Towards the far end of the room there was a large desk with a scattering of work and bottles in equal measure. Against both walls there were bookshelves and cabinets packed with everything from notes scribbled the day before to tomes written by ancient scholars. In the middle of the room there were a pair of sofas separated by an ornate coffee table made of perfectly clear glass crystal, that was three inches thick and adorned with golden swirls that were entirely inside the glass itself. The massive crystal slab was held up by a frame of sapphire blue stone that caught and threw the glowing stone light of the room in dazzling patterns across the floor.

  “In or out.” A smooth and deep but commanding voice instructed them from behind. The two guards who had been used as messengers hadn’t even had the energy to take part in the interaction as the combination of exhaustion and fright left them on their rears. The two active guards turned to regard who had just appeared behind them only for a strong hand to find its way against each of their backs. “Let’s go with ‘in’.” Lenna told them as she pushed them both inside. She didn’t bother to close the door after her entrance but left it open for future interlocutors.

  The guards were too thrown off balance to try and stop Lenna as she casually walked over and sat down next to Isaac. She began taking off her helmet as the duke’s focus started to force itself to stay on her and Isaac. The duke’s golden hair didn’t have a single grey in it and his sapphire blue eyes perfectly matched the frame of the table between them. His skin was fair because the sun was not on his list of things to be sought out. His white blouse was soaked through with sweat and the scent of alcohol hung like an unwashed rug over the room.

  “Who’er you?” Arthur mumbled as his eyes kept slipping off of Isaac. He shook his head to try and clear it with little success.

  “Arthur, when was the last time you were sober?” Isaac questioned the duke. “If your sister knew, she would be mortified.”

  “Wha’oo know ‘bout m’ sister?” He questioned with one narrowed eye. The other was forced into a squint by the glowing stone behind Isaac.

  “I can hardly understand him.” Isaac said to Lenna. “I’m not even sure my translation ability is working correctly.” He added in a whisper that only she could hear.

  Lenna nodded as she set her helmet down on the table in front of her. There was a sharp intake of breath from the doorway, as one of the guards was dumbstruck by her beauty, but otherwise the audience had elected to avoid a physical confrontation with the duo that obviously didn’t mean their duke any harm. Everyone there knew that if Isaac or Lenna meant the duke harm, then the duke would’ve already been harmed. Lenna looked over at the four guards arrayed in the doorway. “One of you, go get a healer, or something to sober up your lord. We can’t even hold a proper conversation with him.” When they didn’t move immediately she added: “Don’t make me inform Duchess Arbencroft of your behavior as well.” With her final proclamation the guards quickly designated one of their number to go complete her order.

  Arthur had continued mumbling and it was getting old. Isaac got up from his seat and walked over to the duke. He reached down and grabbed the slightly taller but slightly thinner man by the shoulders and hauled him to his feet. Isaac all but drug the man out of the sitting space and over to the open space between the sitting area and Arthur’s desk. He then helped the duke fall onto his back without hurting himself and glared down at the older man. “Arthur, you aren’t going to like this, but I need you at least slightly coherent until the healer arrives. The incoherent mumbling is annoying.” Isaac told him and held out his hand towards Lenna who was almost a dozen feet away.

  Lenna pulled the Ocean in a Bottle out of her Bottomless Bag and held it out towards Isaac. “Here.” Lenna told him.

  “Thank you.” He replied before he gave the magic item’s shadow an order: “Come.” The bottle flew into Isaac’s outstretched hand without him even sparing it a glance. “Arthur, hold your breath.” Isaac told the duke and then dumped the bottle over top of him. Water came gushing out like a punctured barrel and utterly soaked Arthur who began sputtering as water was sent up his nose and into his partly open mouth.

  One of the guards looked like he was about to move to help his duke when a piercing glare from Lenna locked him in place. She slowly shook her head at him while maintaining eye contact. “Go get the duchess, or at the very least, tell her that we are here.” Lenna told the guard. “The state of this place is pitiful and she should be ashamed of herself for letting it get this bad.”

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  The guard just stared back at Lenna for a long moment before he finally broke eye contact to tell one of the other guards to go and let the duchess and magistrate know what was going on. “What is your goal here?” The guard questioned Lenna.

  Lenna sighed. “There is a list. Take a seat, or at least get out of the doorway, and wait.” She told him.

  Five minutes later, Arthur was able to form coherent sentences again and had drank four glasses of water. He was sitting on the floor to keep from getting his nice sofa soaked but also because he was still not very stable on his feet. “I see.” He told Isaac who was crouched in front of him so they could look mostly eye to eye. “You are the ones my sister told me about. She said that you are a disruptive force but usually a good one.” He added while a healer sent gentle waves of healing magic through him. The healer had his work cut out for him while he tried to battle the alcohol, the withdrawal, and countless other small things that had arisen from the duke almost killing himself with alcohol poisoning.

  “Yes.” Isaac replied calmly. “Now, because you are Sera’s brother, I am going to be as gentle as I can be with you.” Isaac explained. “You are going to help me round up everyone that is involved with Topaz in any way. After that, you are going to prosecute them according to the kingdom’s laws. That means average punishments for whatever their crimes are across the board. That should keep you mostly impartial. Some of your prisoners, depending on their crimes, may just happen to vanish from their cells overnight, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.” Isaac informed him. Isaac’s tone and casual demeanor while talking to the duke brokered no argument but left enough room for the duke to actually object if he knew he had the moral high ground to do so, he did not.

  “Your grace!” A powerful voice called out from the doorway as a man that stood over six feet tall and was built like a city wall filled the space almost entirely. His hair and eyes were dark brown and his skin was tanned almost to the same shade. The only things that marked him as possibly being related to Topaz were their similar cheekbones and eye shape. The man was wearing casual clothes under a breastplate with his sapphire and gold badge of office hanging on his belt. The man did not look like he had just come from fulfilling his legal duties. “Who are you?!” He demanded of Isaac and Lenna. His furious gaze seemed to flash with recollection upon seeing Lenna’s unusual skin tone and Isaac’s annoyed silver stare.

  “I am Lady Lenna V’Nova.” Lenna spoke while she rose to her feet. A weight seemed to settle on everyone in the room, except for Lenna and Isaac, as she released her control on her aura. Instead of the soul-deep fear or blazing fires that were usually associated with Lenna’s aura, there was simply a feeling of a mouse being caught under the gaze of a cat. Everyone froze as she finished introducing herself and Isaac. “And this is my husband, Lord Isaac Wexler. Now, sit.” She ordered him and gestured to the sofa across from the one that she was previously sitting at.

  A moment later, barely enough time for the Captain to do as he was told under the imperious gaze and aura pressure of Lenna V’Nova, there was a stir of magic and Alejandro appeared right in front of Isaac and Duke Sasston. “W-AH!” He screamed in start and toppled backwards into the duke’s desk.

  “Alejandro, take a seat, there is as good a place as any.” Lenna ordered him.

  “Your people are gathering.” Isaac told the duke. “Topaz is being held prisoner at the moment and the Guild Master is running for the hills. That means that the rest of your people should be in the citadel, right?”

  Arthur was entirely blindsided by the knowledge that Isaac had just casually dropped on him. The Guild Master and Topaz were the two strongest people in Sapphirestone and Isaac and Lenna had already dealt with them. “Y-You’re sure?” Arthur questioned Isaac. “That was actually those two?”

  Isaac nodded. “Yes.” He replied simply. “Topaz is a real pain in the ass. Benedict probably survived and has probably already left the city to avoid everything that is about to go down.”

  Arthur nodded slowly at Isaac. “I see.” He replied but it was clear that his brain was having trouble coming to grips with everything that was happening around him.

  “Ex-Excuse me!” A guard called out from the doorway. As one, everyone in the room turned to look at him. “Th-The duchess has decided to stay in her quarters, with the young master. She sends her regards and trusts his grace an-and the captain to sort everything out.” He ended with a hard swallow and bow before he dashed out of the room… right into a solid wall of shining steel.

  The messenger toppled to the ground as a man with pure black hair and eyes with almost platinum white skin let out a quiet ‘oof’. “Watch where you are going, guardsmen. This is not a playground.” He scolded the guard.

  “M-m-my apologies, Sir.” The guard replied quickly with a nod as he scrambled to his feet and got out of the way.

  The magistrate sighed and entered the room. He took in the circus that had found its way into the duke's office and just sighed while shaking his head. “It was only a matter of time, your grace, I warned you.” He spoke and stepped entirely into the room. “Are you waiting on anyone else, Lord Wexler, or can we get this over with?”

  Isaac rose to his feet and eyed everyone present. “Magistrate, Duke, Court Mage, Guard Captain.” He nodded once. “We are only missing the Duchess, who is taking care of her child, the Guild Master, who probably won’t be coming back, and the Crime Queen who is too much of a pain to move at at the moment.”

  “What do you mean by that?” The Guard Captain demanded.

  “Silence.” Isaac ordered the shadows around the man that had spoken out of turn. The shadows that the Guard Captain cast, on the sofa of which he sat, reached up and wrapped around his mouth cutting off all sound and holding him in place. Isaac sighed. “Duke, Magistrate, Court Mage, squeeze onto the sofa with the Guard Captain, would you?” Isaac had phrased it like a question but they all complied with little more than a scowl. The sofa was only big enough for three to sit comfortably but the four of them somehow managed to squeeze in while Isaac took his seat next to Lenna.

  “Please,” Arthur spoke with a grunt as he elbowed the Guard Captain to try and get some more room. “just get this over with.”

  Isaac nodded. “Don’t worry. I have a list to make sure we don’t miss anything.” He assured them as he pulled a piece of paper out of a plate of shadows that appeared over his lap. “Let us begin.”