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That's concerning. Kylo, back at that mingle, said that Cadens saw us Summoned as "weapons Thorne was stockpiling." That he seemed to think there were going through with summoning people to counteract Thorne.
I wonder if Cadens is thinking about creating waves...
Maybe when they "contracted" us they stole your soul.
[it's a slip. he's done well enough with this form of communication until now]
I imagine you can sit back and have nothing to do with their little spat over the Singularity, or whatever else suits their fancy to throwdown over, but if war does come to Thorne, you will have to care one way or the other.
Yes. And I bet you war will come to us before Thorne moves outwards. Fear makes people go forward with foolish, disastrous ideas. It's good to be prepared.
Edited (timeline collapse) 2022-08-13 06:02 (UTC)
It's important to be aware. Just something to keep in the back of your mind. I've met others from other factions, sure, I'm not saying everyone is bad.
But everybody wants something.
[and yet here they are
Lucifer doesn't reply further, he let's the kid sit on all that]
Lucifer doesn't reply further, he let's the kid sit on all that]
Oh, hi. Yeah, I remember.
[He's not always great at remembering names, but it did strike him as sort of funny that a guy who steps out of portals would have a name as ordinary as Kyle.]
I'm okay.
[Well, that's what you're supposed to say, anyway.]
I didn't see you at the werewolf party.
[He's not always great at remembering names, but it did strike him as sort of funny that a guy who steps out of portals would have a name as ordinary as Kyle.]
I'm okay.
[Well, that's what you're supposed to say, anyway.]
I didn't see you at the werewolf party.
[So far, the small talk has provided a decent distraction from the tense atmosphere that the evening has descended into as the carriage rattles its way back to the square. Then Kyle has to ask about his magic, and the question lands like a punch to the gut. In the dark of Wilhelm's thoughts, that tarot card burns perpetually.
A minute spins away before he responds.]
Fine, I guess.
[No, he will not elaborate.]
Did any messengers show up where you were?
A minute spins away before he responds.]
Fine, I guess.
[No, he will not elaborate.]
Did any messengers show up where you were?
Edited 2022-09-03 22:49 (UTC)
[ He means to respond, he really does. But there is a sudden flurry of activity that interrupts his response. A call to a meeting, first with Ambrose and then one directly from the Queen. In between he tries to look for Wilhelm, but the boy is nowhere to be found.
It's noticeable - and a little concerning, when he's escorted to the throne room by guards.
They watch the destruction rain down on a city. The Queen speaks of open war. His thoughts scramble in the aftermath, and Wilhelm isn't the first person he contacts - there's someone in the Free Cities he sends a message to and waits for a response the second he is able to get out of the throne room.
But not long after that conversation concludes, his mind circles back: ]
What happened after we met with Ambrose? Why were there guards with you?
It's noticeable - and a little concerning, when he's escorted to the throne room by guards.
They watch the destruction rain down on a city. The Queen speaks of open war. His thoughts scramble in the aftermath, and Wilhelm isn't the first person he contacts - there's someone in the Free Cities he sends a message to and waits for a response the second he is able to get out of the throne room.
But not long after that conversation concludes, his mind circles back: ]
What happened after we met with Ambrose? Why were there guards with you?
[The answers to all the questions clattering around in his head come soon enough. What the tarot cards were supposed to do. How many cards were entrusted to their care, not one of them escaping that small parcel of responsibility.
Most of them had squared up to the task. But not all of them, and a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The spell had broken because a card had been damaged.
As Ambrose makes this grim pronouncement, Wilhelm looks away — half sure that if he meets the mage's eye, he'll be able to see inside his skull and find the singed edges of his tarot card there. His chest tightens. His knees wobble. His arms prickle as if his own edges are wearing away.
The moment they're dismissed, he pushes through the study door and spills out into the corridor. In the stream of people flowing solemnly toward the throne room, he slips away.
When he reappears in the throne room, several minutes late and shadowed by a guard, his face is pale. And it only gets paler. He'd burned a card, and someone was dead. He'd burned a card, and a whole city was on fire.]
I wasn't feeling well. I just had to sit down for a minute.
[By which he means he was having a panic attack and needed to find an empty nook in which to collect himself.]
The guard that found me seemed to take it personally.
Most of them had squared up to the task. But not all of them, and a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The spell had broken because a card had been damaged.
As Ambrose makes this grim pronouncement, Wilhelm looks away — half sure that if he meets the mage's eye, he'll be able to see inside his skull and find the singed edges of his tarot card there. His chest tightens. His knees wobble. His arms prickle as if his own edges are wearing away.
The moment they're dismissed, he pushes through the study door and spills out into the corridor. In the stream of people flowing solemnly toward the throne room, he slips away.
When he reappears in the throne room, several minutes late and shadowed by a guard, his face is pale. And it only gets paler. He'd burned a card, and someone was dead. He'd burned a card, and a whole city was on fire.]
I wasn't feeling well. I just had to sit down for a minute.
[By which he means he was having a panic attack and needed to find an empty nook in which to collect himself.]
The guard that found me seemed to take it personally.
[ He has no reason to suspect Wilhelm might not be telling the truth - they had just learned a fellow summoned was injured and someone else had been murdered. He expects that might affect the boy even before he saw the Queen's attack... ]
I'm sorry. I know this is a lot to take in. Please, please be careful. Do what you can to keep your head down, don't give the guards or anyone else from the castle a reason to turn their eye on you. Their anger is focused on the Free Cities right now, but we're outsiders here too.
I'm sorry. I know this is a lot to take in. Please, please be careful. Do what you can to keep your head down, don't give the guards or anyone else from the castle a reason to turn their eye on you. Their anger is focused on the Free Cities right now, but we're outsiders here too.
[He knows Kyle is trying to help, but his advice only sharpens Wilhelm's anxiety. Had the queen noticed his tardiness? Would the guard bother to report the incident to her? Would his attempted vanishing act inflame suspicion?
From the throne room, he'd gone straight to his bed, where he oscillates between hoping to actually disappear and trying not to throw up. Unfortunately, throwing up seems the more likely outcome of the night — and every passing minute tilts the odds more decisively in its favor.]
I'll be careful. Don't worry.
[He shouldn't ask, but...]
Do you think they'll find out who ruined the spell?
From the throne room, he'd gone straight to his bed, where he oscillates between hoping to actually disappear and trying not to throw up. Unfortunately, throwing up seems the more likely outcome of the night — and every passing minute tilts the odds more decisively in its favor.]
I'll be careful. Don't worry.
[He shouldn't ask, but...]
Do you think they'll find out who ruined the spell?
[ He hopes Wilhelm will take his warning to heart - ]
I don't know, I'm not sure how the spell was meant to work.
[ He got the sense that at the moment their focus is on the item found on the delegate. A slight pause. ]
Did you see something during after the ceremony, when we were told to place our cards?
I don't know, I'm not sure how the spell was meant to work.
[ He got the sense that at the moment their focus is on the item found on the delegate. A slight pause. ]
Did you see something during after the ceremony, when we were told to place our cards?
Edited (awkward wording) 2022-09-04 01:56 (UTC)
[ He's starting to have his suspicions and oh, he really hopes that Wilhelm was miles away from whatever happened. But if he wasn't - ]
No, it probably won't. They still need to be very careful.
But if it was an accident, that person isn't responsible for what's happened. Ambrose made it sound like more than one of the cards failed, and in any case, they were caught off guard from the beginning. The blame lays squarely on whoever attacked the delegates and killed that mage, and the queen for giving in to her anger.
They should do their best to remember that.
[ He can hear John telling him something similar, many years ago in those other memories.
He imagines it doesn't sound as convincing as John managed it, though. ]
No, it probably won't. They still need to be very careful.
But if it was an accident, that person isn't responsible for what's happened. Ambrose made it sound like more than one of the cards failed, and in any case, they were caught off guard from the beginning. The blame lays squarely on whoever attacked the delegates and killed that mage, and the queen for giving in to her anger.
They should do their best to remember that.
[ He can hear John telling him something similar, many years ago in those other memories.
He imagines it doesn't sound as convincing as John managed it, though. ]
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