[hider=Authors]Ellri & Sundered Echo[/hider]

The mood in Thale manor was dour. The lady of the house had returned the previous night distraught, and all within had quickly realised as she became beside herself with grief. Though most had slept well enough, Lanaya had only found the peace of sleep in the early hours of the morning.

And so, when waking, found herself barely refreshed at all. Even a good warm bath had barely proved refreshing. Recent events weighed heavily on her mind as she dressed - in the one and only black outfit present in her wardrobe. Her illusions made a veil of shadows to cover her face, a magical facsimile of the real thing. It was unmistakable for those looking upon her that she was grieving.

Satisfied with her appearance, Lana descended from her room on the top floor of the manor to the dining hall, where her guest would be waiting. Per her request, the Lord Thale was not present, and the servants made themselves as scarce as possible. It was to be Lana and Urd alone in silence.

There had been very little for Urd to do after the king dismissed her. She had left the palace, initially heading for the Plucked Hen, only to remember that she would be staying in the Thale manor. She spent some time wandering the city before returning to the manor, all of it rather uneventful. The rest of the day was equally uneventful.

Come the following morning, she dressed herself after making it clear that she had no need for any help from any of the Thale servants to do so. Before she could plan anything else, one of them informed her that she was expected at breakfast by the lady of the house.

Having met Lord Thale, she wondered who the lady of the house was. When she ate with him the day before, she had gotten no impression that there was a lady of the house. Suffice to say, when she did get to the dining hall, she was a little surprised to see that the lady of the house was in fact Lady Lanaya, one of her teachers from many years before. Though it had been many years, she would recognize the woman anywhere, black veil and clothes or not.

She stood there a bit dumbfounded by the shock, looking at the woman, quite put out.

“It’s good to see you well Urd.” Lana half smiled at the fellow mage across the table, but her heart wasn’t in it.

“Despite current events…” She quietly added.

She remembered the mage a little, she had taught her in the Circle. Not much, illusion had not been Urds speciality, but the girl had wanted to learn some very specific things, and that made her stand out to Lana. She also recalled that they had shared some similar views on some matters… Yet had fairly different ideas about what should be done about them.

“I have had a very long week my dear, so you’ll have to forgive me for dispensing with the pleasantries.” Lana’s tone was apologetic, but as she spoke to Urd she took on the airs of the circle teacher once again. The mannerisms were a social cue placing her respectfully as the superior.

“The murder you witnessed was that of my dear friend, High Magister Aurelia. I’m sure you are tired of reliving such a terrible scene, but if you could tell me of her last moments, I would appreciate it.”

Urd finally collected herself and looked at her former teacher in a considerably less shocked manner. “Pleasantries have their uses, but directness also has its place. There is no need for them here.”

She silent for a moment after Lanaya relayed her request. “It is fine. I do not mind.” After a quick pause, she began speaking the tale. “It was a late evening. I was out in the city, wandering as I am wont to do. I saw the woman first, thinking nothing of her. When I saw the two assassins, I initially thought nothing of them. By the time I connected the two, that the two assassins were following the woman, it was already too late. I saw one of them plunge a dagger into the woman.”

“Though I had not recognized her, I tend to take offense to people attacking other people while I am near. Thus I made my objection clear, however while one of the assassins stuck close enough for me to freeze him, the other assassin ran off. I brought my new block of ice with me to the first guard barracks I could find, then collapsed, my resources drained. When I woke back up, I was in this house.”

Lana listened carefully. It was hard to hear about her friend like this. Impersonal, and knowing the way it would end. A lesser woman might’ve broken down into tears, or otherwise been overwhelmed. But Lana was not a lesser woman. She simply set her jaw and held a stern but neutral look.

“Thank you.” She said when Urd had finished speaking. “I was informed this morning that the assassin you caught in the ice unfortunately did not survive the defrosting.” The way she said ‘unfortunately’ made it quite clear that Lana thought the misfortune was hers, not his, for in dying he robbed her of the chance to interrogate and then torture him.

“I will understand should you not wish to disclose the answer to what I ask next, but I am curious… What brings you to Nyhem?” Lana asked, her voice curious yet weary at the same time.

“Personal business.” She replied, clearly not interested in sharing any details. “So he died. Unfortunate, but not unexpected. I presume his belongings and clothes can potentially reveal some, at least.” 

“No. He dressed anticipating capture it seems. He wore nothing to identify him or those who employed him.” Lana sighed. It was a morning of dead ends it seemed.

“I trust you have seen success in educating the mundanes on your travels?” She continued, interrogatively. This was a dance they had done before. Lana knew Urd shared some of her beliefs, but they had so far never quite seen eye to eye on exactly how to go about seeing them fulfilled. It had been some time however, and the world had changed. As such, she thought it prudent to ascertain once more where Urd stood on the matter of Mage rights.

“I have not had to instruct anyone about how bad an idea it is to try to burn someone alive in months, if that is what you refer to. Aside from that, I tend to avoid the uneducated masses. They rarely have much interesting to discuss, they are unclean and quite frankly, they smell.”

Lana actually smiled at that, despite her general mood at present. Of course she agreed with the young girl, commoners were rather unpleasant. Thankfully, she had long ago learned that they could be easily influenced without having to actually interact with them.

“That is good.” She stated, genuinely, before continuing, now with the disapproving voice of a teacher chiding her student for a careless mistake. “I’m sure you haven’t heard, traveling here and there as you do-” She altered her voice to be more positive “-But I have made great strides in assuring us our rightful -”

She was cut off rather rudely and suddenly as a house Thale guard burst into the room, clearly having sprinted there. “M’Lady!” He began, half bowing as he continued to speak. “A stake has been set up ‘afore the manor. There is a mob gathering, screaming about a righteous burning!”

The moment Urd heard the words ‘mob’ and ‘burning’, her head shot up, looking straight at the guard. “There will be [b]no burning[/b].” She said, her voice extremely firm. She had already begun to stand up, her meal completely forgotten, her eyes cold with righteous fury. “Come Lanaya. Let us teach them just how bad an idea burning is.”

This was [i]not[/i] good. Lana leapt to her feet, and, lifting the skirts of her dress, moved swiftly towards the door in pursuit of Urd. The guard was still stammering on - something about trying to stop it - but he was immediately forgotten. Lana was just as eager to stop this terrible thing as Urd, but seeing the fire in the girl’s eyes and the immediate shimmer of magic surrounding her also set off alarm bells in Lana’s mind. This had to be stopped, but as much as she wanted to see the mundane scum slaughtered, doing so would just make things worse and it was clear Urd was on a warpath.

---

The scene unfolding in the street outside Thale manor was one not seen in Nyhem in this form in quite some time, though it was about to become more common, unbeknownst to those present. A stake had been erected - clearly rather hastily, in the middle of the street, and below it fuel had been piled. A man had been tied to the stake with thick ropes - he was clearly quite distraught, shouting something - though what could not be heard over the roar of the crowd that had developed.

The crowd, sudden and furious, was not unusual in itself. It was partially made up of those genuinely wanting to see the poor man on the stake burn, the agitators, who whipped everyone around them into a fury. Much of the crowd was normally indifferent, but eager to take up the cause that would give them a break from their repetitive lives. The remainder was made up of those who simply came to find out what the commotion was, and stayed because of the spectacle.

Atop a nearby cart, there was a hooded, cloaked man shouting - seemingly the leader or instigator of this pop up mob. Though the crowd shouted a great deal, they were quieter when the man held up his hand and began to speak. “The church has spoken!” A roar of approval from the crowd. “Sorcerers and Mages are spawns of the devil! Wicked creatures who inspire sin in everyone around them and twist their minds!” Cries of ‘burn the witch’ ‘devil’s spawn’ and ‘it’s the will of the gods’ echoed in response to the words, but ceased when the cloaked man once more held up his hand.

“This mage stands accused of using his vile powers to seduce many a man and woman to vile sins of indulgence and adultery! What shall we do with him?!”

The crowds answer was immediate and clear. ‘Burn him!’

Lana was taken aback by the suddenness of it all. She listened in morbid curiosity as the man spoke, feeling a note of familiarity in the sound of his voice, but unable to place it. At the same time, confusion gripped her. She did not recognise the man on the stake at all, yet she had met, at least in passing, nearly all the mages in the city. This combination of things left her confounded and struck into inaction for a long moment.

When she got outside, Urd could see the gathered mob standing around the stake, a man tied to it and another, hooded man standing upon a nearby cart, making the usual speeches for a lynch mob’s leader. She needed but a glance to take it all in. Though she knew many mages, Urd did not know them all. However, that was irrelevant. She didn’t care whether someone was a mage or not. Nobody deserved to be burned alive. Nobody. Besides, more often than not, uncouth villagers tended to try to burn innocents.

She effortlessly reached for her magic, releasing it in the form of an illusion to enhance her own voice the moment before she started speaking. “[b]There will be no burning! Royal decree has banned burning as a method for execution.” As she spoke, the form of her wolf shade coalesced beside her, its mouth in a angry snarl, reflecting her state of mind perfectly. She moved towards the mob, not even a hint of fear upon her face as she did.

“In addition, possession of magic is no crime. There has been no trial. There will be no execution.” The tone of her voice brooked no question. She glanced at the presumably shocked mob leader. Without even so much as a gesture, her wolf shade ran forward and leapt through the air, easily clearing the distance to the cart in a single bound, missing with a bite, but nonetheless knocking him off the edge of the cart and into a part of the mob. As she could not see him at that point, she could not properly direct the shade to target the right individual. Thus, she recalled the shade, and it disappeared from where it was and appeared back at her side. 

For a moment, the crowd was stunned by the new speaker. But as they realised what she was, they were spurred into new action. Though the leader did not get the chance to personally throw a flaming torch on the pyre as he was assailed by the wolf, the crowd did not need any more encouragement to do it themselves. One of the faceless mass carrying their own torch cast it upon the base of the stake - where all the fuel was piled. Flames immediately roared into being, licking at the poor man’s feet as his shouts turned to screams of terror and pain.

Lana had never before witnessed such a horrific thing and it was only as the crowd began to turn its attention towards Urd that she was shocked into action. Shouts of ‘Witch! Burn her!’ rang out, though some of the less fanatical crowd had already fled at the sight of a magical wolf in the streets. Speaking words of power - Lana raised her right hand into the air then lowered it sharply as she pointed towards the ground. A wave of Force emanated from her, flowing harmlessly around Urd before smashing into the crowd with enough strength to knock them all to the ground, but not seriously injure. Like dominos, the screaming mass fell, and the roar of people was replaced by shocked silence. Lana also amplified her voice, stating one word only in an authoritative voice worthy of a queen. “Enough!”

At the exact same moment as Lana’s shockwave hit, Urd unleashed a combination of frost and fire magic upon the now-burning pyre, instantly extinguishing it, leaving a coat of rime upon the wood and man alike. It did not end his agony, but it did stop any further fire from harming him. If anything, he would have a greater risk of harm from frostbite than from the fire. Though she had not aimed to hit him, it was far more important to kill the fire than to leave him unharmed.

After the initial wave of frost, a light drizzle of snow fell down on and around the stake. Urd staggered a little, but did not pass out from the use. It was far less intense than what she had used upon the assassin.

Those Thale guards that had avoided the shock wave sprung into action then, rushing in to restrain some of the worst looking of the agitators. Lana spoke then, in a normal, unamplified voice. “Everyone will disperse immediately, or face the judgement of the King.” As if to prove her point, a detachment of city guards arrived and began to assist the Thale men in restraining members of the incapacitated crowd. Many of the rest of them hauled themselves to their feet slowly now, and did, indeed disperse. Only the most vehement members were left, but now that the guard had arrived, Lana did not trouble herself with them.

“Fetch a healer.” She stated to the nearest Thale guard, before turning to Urd. She was worried that the girl would be still so worked up that she might lash out at the villainous men that remained. She was equal parts sympathetic and commanding when she spoke. “Urd. Let us not linger in this place.”

Slowly Urd calmed down, her magic eventually dispersing, now that the guards had come to take care of the crowd. “Yes. Let us depart.” As she spoke, her wolf shade slowly faded away to whence it had come from.

The two women departed the scene swiftly, re-entering the grand Thale manor. Unbeknownst to them, the cloaked instigator of the scene had escaped relatively unscathed, fleeing as soon he was knocked off his elevated position.

---

Once inside, Lana led Urd up to her room - the most secure and secretive place in the large house. But she did not sit or speak comforting words - instead, she turned on her heel and landed a slap on Urd’s cheek. It stung her hand, unused to such violence, but she did not show it, launching instead into a stern lecture.

“What were you thinking?” She began. “Using magic to attack the instigator? Are you trying to encourage them?! They will jump on every excuse to vilify us and it is hard enough to maintain our already fragile status of being more useful to society than dangerous without our own people reminding the mindless mundane mass of exactly how deadly we can be on a casual whim.” She paused for breath, but was not finished.

“It is not through fear that the mundanes will be rendered passive and safe. Fear will only make them strike at us. If we do violence against them, they will return the favor in kind. And before you believe we are untouchable, remember that Aurelia was superior to us both, and she was struck down in a heartbeat!” Lana’s voice cracked at this, and she immediately turned away. She had let a justified lecture turn into an emotional tirade and shown vulnerability. Her cheeks flushed red and hot, and she used the opportunity of not facing the other woman to quickly hide that with an illusion.

Urd waited for Lana to finish her monologue before answering. Breaking into the middle of it would only make it take longer. “You may be older than me, but your experience with angry mobs is sorely lacking. Decapitating them is essential to making them possible to disperse.” She took a quick breath before continuing. “If I had wanted their leader dead, he would not be alive now. My shade could easily have gone for his throat. But that would not have worked well. I learned that the hard way many years ago. Killing a mob’s leader only fuels their fervor. Shaming the leader, however, that works well. I personally prefer to avoid a bloodbath. Especially considering that most of these people were largely here for the spectacle of it all.”

Lana did not turn back to listen, but she did listen. Urd’s words did make sense. When she finished, she turned back, a harrowed look on her face. She was too proud to apologise outright, or even blatantly acknowledge Urds words as right. Instead, she sat on the edge of her bed and continued on with what she had been about to say before the incident.

When she spoke, it was now in a much more demure manner. Exhaustion was clear, but a hint of respect also made its way into her tone. “I have made great strides for our cause in court of late. The ban on burning the King passed… That was at my prompting. In order to continue our cause across the land, I have organised a Mage's collective, that influential and knowledgeable mages might coordinate the efforts to rid the world of scenes such as the one on my doorstep now. Your skills and experience would benefit the collective greatly.”

It was as close to an apology as Urd would see.

“Hmm…” Urd answered. “I will have to think about it.” She was not even remotely ready to commit to anything like that at this time. First she would have to figure out what to do about the entire business with her family, more specifically, her father. “What is your opinion of the king?”

Lana smiled a thin smile at Urd at that question. It was unexpected, but not so much so that it left her flat footed. She decided to give a fairly honest opinion here, given that she was speaking to a fellow mage.

“He is a complicated man. He is partial to mages, which as you can imagine is a good thing as far as I am concerned. He has what it takes to win this war. Make no mistake, he is cunning, and does not limit himself like Manshrew does with claims of being the most honorable man in the world. I do not know him personally particularly well, but Aurelia spoke highly of him. He makes a good king, and if you respect him, he will respect you.”

Of course, she left out the part about her belief that he would ultimately fall to Eli Blackwell.

“I gathered as much from my meeting with him. It is good to see that my impression is not completely incorrect. What about the others in his family? What are they like?”

“Patrick, I have not met. I would think you would know him well enough, as the Lord of Cawanor. Isabel…” She paused. She had only met the woman in passing, not enough for a real judgement of character. All the same, she didn’t like the woman. “Isabel is one to be careful of. I have only met her in passing, but she did not seem friendly.”

“Thanks for the advice. I will keep it in mind.” She had hoped to learn more about her father, but got a pretty clear impression that Lana did not know much of anything about him. It certainly did not feel like a dodge, at least. “Any other people you think I should be careful about in court? Other than you, of course.” The last bit she added with a small grin.

Lana responded with a mocking, withering look. “[i]You[/i] don’t need to be careful of me. Your goals are the same as mine. We simply don’t always agree on how to achieve them. As for the others… Well, part of the political experience is in figuring it out yourself. Now, I am weary, and have much to prepare for later today. You are still welcome in this house, if you wish, but I would like to rest now.”

“Then I will take my leave. I have other things to do myself today.” With that said, she departed from Lana’s chambers.