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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 14, 2020 3:33:14 GMT
Justine giggled as he struck a pose. "Maybe if we combed your hair and got you a new coat. I have a brooch of my mother's that would do well to pin your cravat. Oh, and never forget, pinkie out." She mimed sipping a cup of tea with a grin. It was clear she had a child's idea of noble behavior. "Not that any of that will benefit you in the Mists. I guess all there is for now is to figure out more about the Lake...while I try to comb through these papers."
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Post by Demetrius on Sept 14, 2020 7:29:20 GMT
"Please hideous mist beast," he mused along with Justine, satirizing a noble accent as he spoke to an imaginary monster standing before him. "Would you be so kind as to show me the courtesy of postponing the day upon which I am to be devoured?" He remembered to add his pinky at the last minute before he broke character, laughing at their impressions.
"Thanks for helping me, Justine." Demetrius said, his tone more serious. "Not just for tonight, but for following me into the mist." He walked over to the door and unlocked it, opening it lightly. "I'll leave you with your literature," he added, heading off towards his own quarters.
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 14, 2020 12:51:19 GMT
Justine smiled at him, her oldest (and for a long time, her only) friend. “I always will. As long as I am able.” She got up and hugged him right before she let him leave.
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Post by Ceutinde on Sept 14, 2020 18:55:56 GMT
////////////////////
Later in the day after meeting with Silvia and Carl, Ceutinde knocked softly on Justine's door.
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 14, 2020 20:43:22 GMT
Justine was about to give up on this book. It was terribly dry and people constantly stopped her reading it. She placed it on a shelf as she walked toward the door. At least it would looklike she read more than just uh...Thornheart tales.
She opened the door, pleased to see Ceutinde. She broke into a huge smile and quickly let her in. “Good to see you as always. I’ve missed you since we got back. We’ve all been so busy.”
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Post by Ceutinde on Sept 14, 2020 20:57:40 GMT
Ceutinde smiled right back. "I know! Spent the morning looking into something with Silvia, then met with Nigel..." She shook her head at her own line of conversation. "But I'd rather try to relax than go through all that. Suffice it to say, if you should run into him and he happens to ask about my...adventuring outfit, just give him a knowing smile and say something coy." She flopped down in a chair. "What have you been up to?"
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 14, 2020 21:24:18 GMT
“Im trying not to run into him at the moment,” Justine said with a smirk, “but I can’t say I’m not curious about it also. Unless it was the leather one?”
She sat down on the padded footstool as she had with Demetrius, even though Ceutinde towered over him nearly as much as he did Justine. “And my friend, the one you met recently? Well...” She detailed Demetrius’ appearance in Nigel’s book and his rightful loathing of the man. She went on to, in hushed tones, inform Ceutinde of the mysterious Lake they were going to find.
“And a Lord Terrence of Valgard came for me, had all these things my father left before he died. I barely remember it at all from back then but -can you believe it, Ceutinde?- he wants to help me regain my title!” She put her hands on Ceutinde’s kneees with the excitement of a small child and searched her face for approval.
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Post by Ceutinde on Sept 15, 2020 6:23:53 GMT
Ceutinde just nodded at mention of 'the leather one' with a smirk. She took Justine's hands in her own and smiled as the other woman turned gleeful, but there was still a bit of suspicion in her eyes. "That's wonderful! You never did go into what happened with all that...but you won't mind if I look into Lord Terrence a bit, would you? Make sure he's all on the up-and-up?"
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 15, 2020 12:49:40 GMT
Justine frowned, but looked thoughtful. “I was suspicious as well, at first. But so much of what he said matched with things I remembered. And he did have my father’s sword for me, too, which I couldn’t help but remember.” She retrieved the sword, still as proud of it as a mother of a child she had birthed herself, and the other items and her notes as well. “There’s more, too. He’s left the city, but his son Alec is staying nearby.”
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Post by Ceutinde on Sept 15, 2020 18:00:53 GMT
Ceutinde nodded, admiring the sword. "I know them a bit and have nothing against the man, or his family. They've always seemed like upstanding sorts. But better safe than sorry. Call me overprotective, dear, but you've already been hurt so much."
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 16, 2020 3:11:48 GMT
“I haven’t found anything to mistrust yet, but you’re right. Caution.” She nodded and sat down again. “He said he served with my father in the Spice Wars...and honestly it’s come up again and again. I was in the library, trying to find answers. And the Lockharts...Ceutinde, there was nothing about them in any of the books.” It was rambling, all rambling.
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Post by Ceutinde on Sept 16, 2020 6:05:06 GMT
Ceutinde squeezed Justine's hand just a bit harder when the rambling started. "Slow down. Breathe, like we've talked about." She took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth, as demonstration. "There's no need to rush; I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. Start from the beginning. I didn't know your father fought in the Spice Wars."
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 16, 2020 13:16:18 GMT
Justine closed her eyes and concentrated on the feeling of Ceutinde’s hands in hers, not speaking again until her Heart stopped racing. Well, it was still going, but she could speak without breathlessness.
“Okay. Well, I didn’t know either. But my family traded in spices and wine. I remember the vineyards. And this...” She pulled out the paper with the rooster, toad, spider, and crossed out fish. “Alec suggested they might be heraldry of various noble houses. So I went to find out. The toad...” She presented her library notes. “It suggest Philometer Tanberlin, who was an explorer and ships captain in the Spice Islands around the same time. That house was near Vittoria, near my father. It was a conspiracy, and maybe he was in on it. I think the four animals here represent the conspirators to end my father’s line.” She looked at Ceutinde for confirmation, eyes wide and rimmed with violet. Justine hadn’t slept well.
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Post by Ceutinde on Sept 16, 2020 16:04:18 GMT
Ceutinde made a mental note to make sure to magically help Justine sleep that night, but didn't comment on it. Instead she skimmed over the notes. "Very interesting. Who do you think the others are? I assume the fish is already out of the picture."
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Post by Justine-Juliette de Vair on Sept 16, 2020 16:32:48 GMT
“I’m not sure yet. Perhaps Lockhart is the spider. They’re involved too.” She thought hard a moment. “And the Magistrate...Aurelion. He’s the one that benefitted most and who made the final decision. He holds Crestwave Keep now and has ties to the Lockhart family.”
“I’m sorry, it probably sounds like a conspiracy theory. I promise you, I’m not crazy.”
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