Lareth's room

[Red Gypsy]

Hot Champion_of_justice

Cynthia gave a soft smile as she held the lace lingere to her chest briefly, "Please, Aeriolous, tell them that it will be one of the precious gifts I will ever receive and that I understand exactly what it means," she said softly, knowing that she'd be explaining it to Lareth later. Of course, she also implied that Aeriolous would know exactly what to say to his people hen he returned to them.

She set the gifts aside and moved over to the bassinets in time to see Brianna wake up and fix clear green eyes on the drow king, making her smile at the sight. She collected Merrick and passed him off to Lareth to check that the boy had only farted and hadn't made a mess. Then she picked up Brianna and passed him over to Aeriolous and watched his face as she fist simply looked up at him then gave a soft coo that sounded suspiciously like the first part of his name and reached one hand up towards his face.

Cynthia smiled at it all, "I think she likes you. I think Merrick is going to be more like his father than either of us will be comfortable with, but I think she is going to keep us guessing for a while longer. But that's the most reaction she's had to anything since she was born. Merrick fairly raised the roof when he was born," she explained softly then looked up at his face again for a long moment.

She, more than most, knew how much that gift for her meant and what it meant to the drow as a people. She'd been there when the last child was born to them and helped his sister as a second midwife to the woman. So Cynthia knew what children meant to the drow, she also had seen first hand that he gave gifts to each child born to his people and knew what children meant to him.

She didn't know what else to say and hoped that he understood what she couldn't say right now. Then something occurred to her that made her give him another of her soft smiles, "Maybe when they're old enough, you can teach them to dance under the stars, just as you taught me once," she added, knowing that it would diffuse the situation and distract Lareth a bit more.

Admittedly, Lareth knew that she'd known Aeriolous and his brother back when they were children. But Lareth would give him a 'hard time' anyway because it was Lareth's way. One of the many reasons she fell in love with the demon...  

[Hot Champion_of_justice]

red gypsy

Aeriolous smirked as Cynthia mentioned how the new prince would be most like his father.
"If Merrick is going to be much like his father, you best be prepared my dear Cynthia. You will be having a house full of chittering and giggling girls."

Aeriolous looked down at Brianna as he held her and she cooed softly the first syllable of what sounded like his name. He brushed his finger gently against the child's cheek and chuckled as Brianna turned her face and tried to nibble him.

Lareth had to change Merrick as the boy had a fart/explosion of body waste and when he was done cleaning him up he brought his son over to his daughter.
"I wouldn't worry too much on Merrick bringing the girls over...I worry about my daughter attracting attention. She is going to be beautiful just like her mother and that means I am going to have to keep a stick nearby to beat them off with.

The drow raised a brow.
"Only a beating? Why Lareth, I thought you would have incinerated them on sight?"

Lareth watched how Brianna was fixated on on Aeriolous and wondered if all babies stared at people like that...oh well.
"I figure if I simply turn them all to ash, she won't have any suitors...but at the same time, I can torture them and filter them out. See if they are good enough for my girl."


After some more chatter and such, Aeriolous took his leave to go back home and Lareth helped Cynthia with the children.


((you can skip to anywhere you like now.))  

[Wolfe Garm]

Being Courteous, and patient

Red Gypsy

Lady Zosne Shunloh
Primus Gul'Sarac

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The Primus couldn’t help but shake his head at the comment of Al’gaan needing plenty of stamina, but didn’t dwell on that to much, though the news that Lord Harrow had spies in the castle watching Brimstone was a surprise to him, though before he could say anything a voice cam in behind him “Primus Gul’Sarac, you are a long way from your cohort are you not” the Primus turned around and bowed “I am indeed milady, but I am here for a reason” Zosne smiled as she held up the report while stopping in front of him “I imagine it has something to do with this and the prisoner I have in my custody is it not?” the Primus nodded “it is indeed, new evidence came to light which led me and Grinnen to be sent here as a precautionary measure” Zosne looked at Grinnen and replied “indeed, well then I guess you best come along, it is likely that Brimstone has already approached the queen” looking at the legionnaires with the Primus she continued “Remain on station here, if you are needed we will send for you, you two follow me I believe it is time to hear what has brought you hear” Primus nodded and watched as his legionnaires moved out of the way for Lady Zosne to walk by and looked at Grinnen before he stepped in line with Lady Zosne and simply followed her. Zosne led the way up to the royal quarters, and glanced over her shoulder “I don’t have to remind you to be on your best behavior while in the presence of the queen” The Primus replied “of course milady” she nodded in satisfaction and eventually they stopped at a door, and she turned around “wait here a moment” The Primus nodded and watched as Lady Zosne knocked before she opened the door and went in. Once inside she noted that Brim was already there and with Queen Cynthia and bowed “your majesty, Brimstone, there are a couple of gentlemen waiting patiently” Zosne stepped forward slightly still holding the report in her arm as she looked at Brimstone with a level of understanding that would likely escape him.

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is better than being rude, and no one wants that.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Cynthia looked relieved as Zosne entered, "Zosne... Thank goodness... Could you explain what's going on? Brim can't tell me anything because he didn't ask anything. He just brought Grinnen and company to the door and something about a search..." she said softly.

The nursery was in the next room and Brianna was in there, "I've only just gotten Bri to sleep. She didn't want to lay down today, which is odd for her. I was planning on taking a nap since Merrick kept us awake all night," she added, even looking a little tired.

With Lareth and Merrick still visiting the Drow, they had a little leeway to get the search finished, though it wouldn't last long if the king got word of it. Lareth took his family's safety VERY seriously... As evidenced by the last pile of ash to be swept out of the throne room...


Brim looked at Zosne with a small smile, "I was just given the code word you set up with Galen for a search of the royal quarters. That's all I know. I know Galen wouldn't use it with me without good reason. We're all just lucky that things are light in the hallways right now," he told her, knowing that she'd understand what he meant.

If any of Harrow's spies suspected what Brim was doing, it would mean his life, and that of his sister... He'd trusted Cynthia and Zosne with that information and they were all three building the evidence needed to take Harrow out, but it was taking time...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Being Courteous, and patient

Red Gypsy

Lady Zosne Shunloh
Primus Gul'Sarac

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Zosne’s features grew more serious when she was told that and stepped over to Brim and handed the report to him “well I imagine this whole issue has something to do with an assassination attempt on your sister in law your majesty, though why that would give Galen cause to send an armed escort to search the royal quarters is uncertain, but! I do know someone whose more informed than I” stopping at that moment she looked behind her and yelled “alright you two come in!” the Primus shivered slightly as he reached for the door and opened it leading the way with grinnen behind him closing the door behind them and both stood before Cynthia, the Primus knelt down and spoke up “forgive the intrusion your majesty, I am Primus Gul’Sarac with the 2nd Burmois shock legion, Primus for the first cohort currently assigned to the third cohort whose on mandatory training at the request of Commander Al’gaan who was also onsite.” Zosne looked at him and spoke up “alright Primus what’s going on, speak freely” the Primus stood up and continued “well the situation was grave enough to warrant an search of the royal quarters after the discovery of multiple catalysts being placed in both Galen’s office but also across the rooms of Galen, Commander Al’gaan and Gypsy’s. this information had yet to be relayed at the time of the prisoner who orchestrated the attempt on Gypsy had been sent off” Zosne lifted a hand up to get his attention “Catalyst are you positive of this, and what kind?” the Primus nodded “yes ma’am the one we found in Galen’s office was a destruction catalyst that had been hidden inside a small box, the other ones I wasn’t familiar with but Galen identified them, the one’s in his room and Commander Al’gaans had the aim of killing them, while the one’s in Gypsy’s room were meant to either subdue her by triggering her demonic needs or kill her if they deemed ineffective. All of them were place strategically to ensure that no one survived, with the ones in Gypsy’s room being specifically placed one embedded in the mattress of the bed while the others were place around the room. By my count we’d pulled easily a dozen or more catalysts from the officer quarters alone with the one in Galen’s office, for whatever reason they’d intended to kill them all in one fell swoop” Zosne was composed considering what she’d heard, an attempt on the royal family but also officers and one specifically from the legion, that wouldn’t stand and she had half a mind to go down to the dungeon and start squeezing the child for information now but refrained from doing so for the moment.

After a long moment of silence Zosne finally spoke up “were you able to identify who’d made them” she didn’t have to really ask since she suspected who’d done it but wanted to be sure, the Primus shook his head as he looked at Zosne “apologies no, there were no identifying marks as to their creator, but after Galen had seen them he sent us here with an armed escort to search the rooms here to be on the safe side that there were no other possible threats to the royal family” Zosne sighed heavily and looked at Brim, and spoke up “the prisoner is a noble child though her name is unfamiliar to me, I thought I knew most of the nobles families within the houses and the clans but she’s a mystery for me, is she familiar to you” Zosne glanced over to Cynthia and could tell she was not pleased by the information she’d heard so far and understandably so, eventually she looked at the Primus and Grinnen and spoke to them “Primus go ahead and start with the bed chambers for the time being and give us a moment to speak with the Queen alone, inform us of anything you find there” The Primus nodded and bowed respectfully to Cynthia before they took off to the bedroom and started their search, though most of the reason Zosne wanted them away was so that Cynthia could speak with them more freely.

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is better than being rude, and no one wants that.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Grinnen followed Primus for the search. When they found the first device in the mattress, he passed a grim look with Primus then simply continued with the search in silence.


Meanwhile, Cynthia shook her head, "I don't recognize the name. But I'll need to know where they find anything, if they find anything here. That will tell me what's going on," she said softly.

Brim looked down for a moment, then looked up at Zosne once he knew the three of them were alone, "I recognize the name... But she's not noble at all... She's one of Harrow's 'pets' from home..." he said softly, knowing that Zosne would understand the implications. While the devices weren't traceable, the girl was. Along with whatever information she could give.

While Harrow had a very low opinion of females, he wasn't below using them.

Cynthia reached out and put a hand on his shoulder in sympathy then looked at Zosne, "We have to come up with something to cover him being here. Let me think... Um..." she thought hard about it then bit her lower lip as something sparked in her mind but wasn't sure how successful it would be in the end, "You know your sister well... Would she agree to a pretend betrothal?" she asked him, thinking that negotiations on bethrothing Tempest to Merrick would certainly make Harrow think well of him.

But Brimstone had to dash that one, "She might be, but Harrow wouldn't," he pointed out. So far, only he and Zosne knew of Harrow's plans for his sister. The Baron was planning on marrying her off to Baron Neelis' son when the boy was old enough. He and Zosne were waiting on that contract to take down his uncle, knowing that it would violate the Law of Female's Choice. That law stated quite clearly that no female could be married against her will or knowledge. After all, no one wanted the groom to die on his wedding night...

Cynthia would have said more but the nurse brought Brianna to Cynthia since she'd woken up grumpy, "Oh Bri... You're supposed to be asleep..." she said simply, waving the nurse to go take a break.

Brimstone simply smiled and held his hands out for the child, Cynthia passed her over willingly. Thanks to his heritage, he knew what was wrong with the girl, "Have them check the nursery," he said simply, having a feeling that the girl knew more than she could say... She simply laid her head on his shoulder and went to sleep as he rubbed her back, earning him a relieved look from the queen.  

[Wolfe Garm]

Being Courteous, and patient

Red Gypsy

Lady Zosne Shunloh
Primus Gul'Sarac

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Zosne brow furrowed when she was identified as a pet and knew there that Harrow would have much to answer for by the time she was done with him. Eventually she spoke “Brim, we’ll need to transport the girl to a more secure location, with Harrow coming here if he catches wind that I have her in interrogations he’s likely to either demand for her release or have her killed, the 2nd legion having been seen transporting her… the way they did is likely to attract more attention than we’ll likely want right now. Ultimately, I do have authority to hold her but if he makes it a case for nobility to handle their own I’d have no choice but to release her before I can extract any information. I’m fairly certain I can extract plenty from her but I need a safe place to do it I’d take her to my manor but I’d be more concerned that they’d be escorted before they got there.” She paused when the primus and Grinnen showed up with a fair number of devices and shook her head “where were they?” the Primus shook his head “nowhere good, the bed had one fairly good sized one, as did most of the room, I’d figure with as many as there were no one would survive the collapse of the tower even if they did survive the initial explosion” Zosne stepped over to them and picked up the larger of the catalyst and growled “someone’s being particularly tidy about making sure that there are no identifiers though based on the magic contained it’s not hard to guess who had them placed, Primus check the nursery while the little one is with us and be especially thorough” he nodded and took off into the nursery with grinnen and began his search.

Zosne growled again as she showed it to Cynthia and Brim “this is a nasty little cocktail of magic, thankfully it is dormant but I imagine an activation rune would have to be fairly close to activate it, it’s not unfamiliar to me since I’d been the subject of a similar attack during the first war of survival which left me with one less arm, honestly I’m amazed that anyone would still be using this kind of magic since it is very complex, and not easy to stabilize once you’ve stored it in a catalyst. Unfortunately to my knowledge those who’d been using it then were thought to have been destroyed, especially since I was the one who’d hunted down the traitors who’d been using it on our own, seems I didn’t find them all or someone was keeping them hidden or...” Zosne didn’t need to say anything further since it was pretty obvious what she thought. She noted the shadow on her left and thought it was unusually out of place, changing to her demon form she growled as she drew her pistol swiftly and fired at the shadow drawing blood instantly, and near immediately someone fell out of it and exposing someone who wasn’t supposed to be there. Drawing her rapier she scanned the room around them, the Primus showing up with sword in hand and uncertain as to what had happened “Primus notify your legionnaires to secure the tower I don’t want anyone coming in or going out until the tower has been swept of catalysts” the Primus looked at grinnen who nodded and left to go downstairs, sheathing his sword he returned to his search.

Stepping over to the body she looked at the man who was laying there and shook her head “Oris, a new addition to the servants, his background didn’t give any indication that he’d been hired to be a spy or that he’d even had any interactions with Lord Harrow” she pulled a ring off his hand and showed the signet on it which only showed that Harrow had taken similar measures to ensure that he had eyes and ears within the castle, that is until she finds them and root them out. a moment later the Primus came back in “Ma’am…” she looked at the Primus and growled again “where were they?” the Primus replied “well two of them was surprisingly hard to find I’d almost missed them, they were where the young miss was sleeping at, these two seem different from the others, as the others were scattered about the room like the ones in the bedroom were” sheathing her rapier and holstering her revolver she walked over to him and took those two and noted the ones he’d been cradling in his arm “those are explosive essentially they’d intended to kill anyone here, while these two were very specific one a gas possibly to keep Brianna asleep while the other is a protection ward, whoever placed these had intended to make sure that she was quiet and safe when the tower collapsed, Primus put those someplace safe for the moment and continue your search for catalysts” he nodded and took off through the door downstairs to keep them close to his legionnaires and then would continue searching the rest of the rooms. Shaking her head again she looked at Brim and Cynthia and spoke up more calmly “well I don’t have to guess who’d done this since it is pretty clear what the end goal was.”

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is better than being rude, and no one wants that.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Cynthia went pale at the sight of the other devices and explanations of what they were for. She looked at Brianna, still asleep on Brimstone's shoulder and shook her head, "She knew... That's why she wouldn't go to sleep..." she whispered softly then visibly pulled herself up and turned a stony look to Zosne, "You'll have access to the blood lock on the Pit in fifteen minutes. Move her there, along with anyone else you find. No one else gets in and no one leaves alive. Only you and Baron Shale have access to that room, and Shale is taking over Darkness Abounds for us. Do whatever you need to do," she told the female as the body of the idiot was instantly consumed by an emerald fire.

So many in the castle and the realm had started thinking that Cynthia was weak just because she was human. But she was immortal... And, before her marriage to Lareth, she'd been under a death sentence issued by Lareth's father. So many tended to forget that Cynthia was a sorceress that had once dabbled in Death magic and was even more ruthless than Lareth...

Brimstone just shook his head slightly and closed his amber eyes for a moment with a heavy sigh, "He's gone too far this time... But all we can do is gather the evidence and wait... As for me... We'll just put it out that Brianna was restless and you called me in to help with her. We've already established that I can get her to sleep easily. I spent the last Council meeting with her on my shoulder. That' probably what drew his attention to her, thinking that she'd be compliant or something. But it can play in our favor for now and allow me to spend more time with her and Merrick as they grow. He'll see it as a sign of favor, and a sign that I'm basically useless. We want both," he suggested and silently prayed for his sister again...

Thankfully, the twins were growing fast, as most demons did. They only had to wait five years, maybe seven. Then they'd be old enough, and mature enough, to marry. By the end of this year, they'd both be in training with Gypsy and start being able to defend themselves.

Cynthia looked at Zosne with a frown, "I want their bodyguards either cleared or rejected by the end of the week. At least one of the bodyguards will be with them every minute of the day, so take training and lessons into consideration. Personally, I still like Al'gaan for Merrick and you for Brianna, but I'll leave the final choices up to you. Now get those damned things out of here before I lose my temper," she finished and motioned for Brim to follow her into the nursery with Brianna to put the child back in her crib to sleep.

Thankfully, she stayed asleep this time, "Go on Brim... I'll get some rest and then deal with Lareth. I'm also going to work on the paperwork for getting your sister here, where we can keep an eye on her. We finally passed the mandatory training laws, so that should help. But go on. You still have your sparring session then a meeting with the tailor, I believe," she said softly, earning her a grin over the tailor.

At least the tailor was discrete....  

[Wolfe Garm]

Being Courteous, and patient

Red Gypsy

Lady Zosne Shunloh

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Zosne bowed her head and replied “of course your highness” and took off with what few devices were left, and made her way back down to where the others were. As she reached the bottom floor the Primus looked at Zosne and stood straight and saluted “Ma’am” Zosne nodded and returned the salute “Primus collect your men we’re moving the prisoner to the pit, and also make sure those are disposed of” the Primus nodded and replied “understood, Commander Galen gave us instructions to bring them there so we’ll do that soon as we move the prisoner” she nodded and replied “very good I’ll trust in his judgment. Also, how many more men do you have?” Grinnen looked at the Primus before he replied “ I have a full squad, half of them are standing by at the barracks with your men why?” she grinned and replied “good we’ll be collecting them when we move the prisoner I don’t want to leave anything to chance when we move her” The Primus looked confused and replied “won’t your men be sufficient?” she shook her head “no Primus they won’t as they’ll be too busy sweeping the castle for Traitors so I need your men with the escort” the Primus nodded and motioned for his men to form up as Zosne led the way back to the Dungeon. As they walked her eyes were constantly scanning the area and caught a few shadows “Dross, Russo” they both came out of the shadows and bowed “yes Commander” she stopped and looked at them both sternly “order the Legion to arms, and rouse the guard, we’re on full lockdown pending a complete sweep of the castle for traitors, detain any and all suspicious personnel and move them to interrogations. MOVE it we have a castle to take back control of” they both saluted instantly and took off without question to fulfill their assigned tasks. Looking over her shoulder and noted their confusion and simply spoke up after sighing “Primus, with the castle locked down it’ll ensure that anyone who is not loyal to the crown and plotting against the crown won’t be able to get out or report back that they’ve been found. By the time we’re done they’ll all simply disappear from existence” The Primus couldn’t help but shiver at what wasn’t be said since he knew that she’d have her way with them before they’d disappear. Nodding he spoke up “can’t be helped though won’t the one they’re reporting to suspect that he’s been made?” she smiled and replied “I’m counting on it, after all it’s about time we close the noose around his neck, and make him feel very uneasy” she didn’t have to say any names on who she was referring to and simply continued on walking and eventually led them to the main entrance and led them over to a door, one of many that led to the dungeon, and simply led them down there.

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is better than being rude, and no one wants that.

 

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Cynthia gave Brimstone a smile as he left, knowing the pressure he was under but still hoping he'd hold up until they could take care of everything. For now, she had to deal with Lareth. Which meant that he wasn't going to be happy with her plans on it all. But he'd conform in the end, knowing that she was right.

For now, he would have to act as if everything was business as usual, that they didn't know anything. There was no telling when those devices were supposed to go off, so they had some time to set everything up...

She reached into the crib and gently caressed Brianna's cheek with a soft smile then firmed her expression and moved to set up the mirror-call to her husband...


Needless to say, he was definitely not happy... But even he had to admit that Zosne was as ruthless as he'd like but with a little more subtlety to her tactics. Cynthia gave a heavy sigh as the mirror went back to normal and rubbed at her eyes for a moment, only giving herself that one moment...

Then she got to work...  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Haeo

Cynthia looked around the rooms she shared with Lareth and wondered how she was going to do this. Suddenly, she felt her age. Every year of it, even though she'd given up counting them. The bedroom was still the same. They'd expanded the bathroom, added the nursery, and added a separate office for Lareth.

She gave a small smile as she looked over the reinforced bed where she'd spent so many days and nights, where she'd even given birth to the twins. She'd also laid there as she'd recovered from her torture by Goh. Lareth had taken care of her through the whole thing.

She got to her feet and moved into the nursery, checking on Brianna as she slept peacefully. She heard a small sound and noted that Lareth had sent a sleeping Merrick back, placing him perfectly in his crib. She checked him and covered him with his favorite blanket.

She gave a heavy sigh and moved back into the bedroom then down the stairs into the sitting room. She usually had light meals in here, read a book when she had the time, even met with some of the other people that needed to see her from time to time.

She opened the door and noted one of the guards Zosne trusted and asked for him to make sure that she got a coffee tray with something to eat. She nodded when he smiled and assured her that it would be done then closed the door and moved to sit in her usual chair.

She had to plan. She had to work on more protective spells over the twins and their nursery. She had to try to figure out the next step in the plot. She had to work on guards for the twins.

She closed her eyes for a moment then pulled up her proverbial bootstraps and got to work. By the time her tray showed up, she knew what she was going to be doing. She nodded as the guard pushed the tray in then left her be.

She considered the tray and moved to get a cup of coffee, setting it on the table beside her chair. But she closed her eyes as she got to her feet and started layering the spells she'd decided on. These spells had saved her numerous times in the past and she remembered them by heart even though she hadn't used them in a long time. They were powerful spells but once laid wouldn't be felt by anyone until they were triggered.

She protected the twins, the nursery, even the tower. But she didn't think about protecting herself. She hadn't thought about needing to in a long time. Her last enemy had been killed and she'd felt safe. She was going to have to think differently, but likely wouldn't' think to do so until the danger to herself was pointed out.

By the time she finished laying the spells, her coffee was cold. She sat down in her chair to pull back in the energies she was going to need later. She needed to send the tray out and have another brought in. But all she could do was sit and wait until she could stand steady again...

 

[Red Gypsy]

Hot Champion_of_justice

Wolfe Garm

Haeo

Cynthia didn't notice the communication stone blinking at her because both twins were being fussy. First, Merrick was hungry then dropped some toxic waste into his diaper that required a full bath.

Then Brianna got very upset about something and simply wouldn't settle down. She cried, screamed, and fussed until Cynthia was about to resort to drastic measures to get her to sleep.

Then it happened.

The shaking of the castle was bad, but it was the power wave that knocked Cynthia out. She dropped to the floor in the middle of the nursery while Brianna and Merrick both started crying. The twins knew what it meant.

But the nursery was also now the most protected room in the castle...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

After a while Zosne pulled Brim out of the shadows in front of the door to the royal quarters the guard that she had stationed there was shaken up but lowered his weapon when he saw them and simply stepped aside, it was at this point that Zosne’s grip on brim was loosened up as they went through the door and heard the children crying. Looking at Brim a moment she stepped over to the door to the nursey and saw Cynthia on the floor “Brim in here!” as she rushed in and knelt down by the Queen’s side pulling her up into her arms as she checked to see if she was injured or for that matter alive and was relieved that she was alright though unconscious and simply left the children to Brim to look after as she tended to Cynthia “GUARD!” the war demon came in and saw Zosne holding the Queen, ignoring the concerned look Zosne continued “get the Physician in here now!” the guard nodded and left with all haste. Zosne looked at Brim and simply sighed as she looked at Cynthia again and simply kept her close.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Brimstone moved instantly for the twins. Merrick was easy to calm down with a bottle for the moment. Brianna, however, wasn't having any of it. As he reached for her, she rolled away from him, "Come here Sweetheart. Let me hold you," he said softly to her.

But she disappeared in a flash of fire that made him gasp and back off in shock, "Zosne! We need her awake to tell us where Brianna just went!" he called out as he moved to pick up Merrick and carried him into the bedroom where Zosne had just put Cynthia on the bed, "Brianna just ported out on me. I don't know where she went, but she may have gone to her father. Merrick is too young to tell us for sure, though," he told her.

Then Cynthia gave a soft groan and put a hand to her head as she started to sit up, "What?" she asked in a groggy tone. Then it hit her and she sat all the way up with wide eyes.

Those eyes made brim take a step back in shock: they went from clear green to an emerald so dark that they were almost black. And they were glowing...

She looked at Zosne, "I want the one that hired the assassins and the one that developed the sickness that killed the Drow village. While you're finding those for me, I want the guards for the twins set up and I want the Barons assembled in the throne room yesterday," she ordered simply then got to her feet to head for the door.

On the way, she looked at Brimstone, "You're on temporary babysitting duty. Keep an eye on Merrick. Someone will bring Brianna home soon," she told him as she sent a mental message to someone that could be trusted.

Anyone that knew of her history, a history that Lareth had been working hard to hide, would know that the rune that briefly appeared on her cheek then faded from sight was a bad thing to see... That rune was very bad news...