Remember... Ch. 09

"Linae must have left with the drow peacefully to ensure her daughter's safety."

"Perhaps. I don't mean to sound calloused about this, but her fate should not be our concern right now. The only reason I mention her is because of the drow. According to the prisoners, she seems to be the one that orchestrated all of this. There is a rogue mage that partook in your joint kidnapping who is currently imprisoned by the Society. I've heard that he has said similar things about a drow contacting them to assist in the abduction. Unfortunately, he was not part of the leadership that met with the drow, so he doesn't know anything about her, either."

"I remember her," Ellisa nodded. "When I first woke up after being taken, I noticed her hiding in the shadows. She had a hood on, so I wasn't able to see her face, but I would guess she's about my height, maybe a little shorter. She mentioned something about their Goddess, but she wore no identifying jewelry or crests at all. I don't know if she was associated with any known Drow organizations, religious or otherwise. That was the only time that I've seen her."

"My sources tells me that the relationship between Mise and Azin has been cool but stable. Am I correct?" Mark asked. He knew the answer already, but he decided it would be polite to ask.

"Of course. It's no secret that we aren't fond of Azin and their version of our Goddess's message, but we have no shared borders, nor do we compete in any significant way over resources. Our relationship has been stable for nearly two centuries now, and Queen Renia had always been fairly flexible with the interpretation of their scripture. I don't think they would suddenly decide to antagonize us like this over our theological differences."

"I agree," Mark nodded. "Azin currently have a very unstable neighbor in House Norfald to worry about. Picking a fight with Mise wouldn't make sense right now. Also, it's unlikely that the Council of Hek is responsible. They know that tampering with Mise would be frowned upon by King Andrew. It is even more unlikely that the drow is working for Mamet. Most of their houses are much too xenophobic to trust anyone not human."

Ellisa sighed. "We've came to the same conclusions. Everything seems to point to a dead end."

He shrugged. "I'm sorry."

"Mr. Raven. Mark," Falalie said. "Now I have something to say as well. I think you may have noticed this, but last night, our lady showed faint signs of Suppression again soon after she had retreated to her chambers.''

"Yeah, I thought so at the time too," he nodded.

"You'll be happy to know that I didn't detect any magic around you, so I'm now certain that you are not directly to blame for this."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Celistra and I will continue to monitor our lady to see if we can figure out why this is happening to her. Obviously, we don't want to tell her this right now, so not to worry her. I will instead apologize ahead of time to you for the inevitable invasion of your and Amanda's privacy."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Uh. As long as you don't mind sensing what happens when her symptoms appear."

She laughed. "Mark, there's very little that I haven't seen at this point in my life."

"Just please, don't tell us," Ellisa added. "I don't know how her father will react to this, especially if it's happening with our tacit approval. I can go without hearing any sort of details."

"I understand."

By the time Amanda had joined them, Mark was alone again.

"So, plans for today?" The elf asked, picking up a small scone from a plate brought over by Ella moments after she sat down. She looked at it curiously and nibbled.

"There are some things I have to take care of today, so I should leave soon."

"Aww," she pouted. "What kind of things?"

"Certain things related to what happened last night at your party. Certain thing related to your kidnapping two months ago. And certain things that are secret," he smiled mischievously.

"Ah. I haven't gotten you in trouble, have I?"

"No, it's fine. Probably. Andrew allowed it. I don't think he's going to go back on his word. But given our positions, there's a list of logistical matters that I need to take care of."

"All right. Will I see you later tonight?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll come here again, probably around the same time as last night."

"Okay. I'll be waiting for you."

"You don't have to. I'll wake you up."

"Oh, I can't wait," she laughed.

Mark seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking. "Are you free in the evening next Friday?"

"Sure, why?"

He leaned in close and motioned for her to do the same. "There's a party that Andrew has been invited to. He's taking Mari. I have to be with him that evening, and I'll need a companion as well. I would like that to be you if possible."

"Okay. I can probably come."

"Well, hold on. This isn't a normal party. It's going to be a masquerade. A kinky masquerade."

"Kinky? Like... with ropes and stuff?"

"Something like that, but probably a little more intense."

Amanda took a deep breath and grinned. "Tell me more."