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[Kathar - The Palace >> Kather - The Rusty Brewer]

[i]Cerise pulled up her robes as she walked briskly down the halls. In one hand, she balanced the Empress's evening tea, jasmine infused with arnica, a medicinal herb. As she neared the door to the Empress's chambers, the volume of guards grew heavier. Some eyed her with trained suspicion. Others with mild curiosity and a glint in their eyes, a look she had grown used to over her time at the palace but had never quite become comfortable with. As she approached the door, Cerise raised her free hand to knock, and then slowly lowered it. The Empress had told her years ago never to knock, as she was always welcome, but to this day she still went through the motions of knocking each time she approached the door. It felt particularly odd and unmannerly opening the door with all the guards' eyes on her, but they didn't stop her. They knew her face well enough by now. 

The room was surprisingly dark, with all the curtains drawn. Cerise found this strange, as the Empress always loved to watch the sunset in the evenings. Taking a sharp breathe, Cerise began to sense that something was not right. Something was very, very wrong. 
"Your Highness?" 
Cerise's voice came out shaky, and she placed the tea down on a table next to her to avoid spilling any from her shaking hand. There was no answer and Cerise approached the bed, where something smelled rather repugnant. Perhaps the Empress had felt ill tonight and had decided to go to bed early? But if she had been ill, Cerise was sure she would have been summoned. From her pocket, Cerise retrieved a tinderbox and carefully lit the lamp she knew to be beside the Empress's bed. She looked down. Everything felt numb after that, but Cerise was sure she heard a woman scream, only to realize moments later that it was herself. She stumbled back from the bed as the guards rushed in around her. Strong arms found her own, and she was quickly ushered back to her living quarters.[/i]

Cerise sat on the edge of her bed, recalling what had happened just moments ago. In a flash, she saw the blood gushing from the Empress's neck, staining her satin sheets a brilliant, deep red. Her eyes were still open wide, as if she stared right into her murderer's face moments before he killed her. Cerise held her hands to her head and took a deep, cleansing breath. Who could do this? Having worked closely to the Empress for years now, Cerise saw much kindness in the woman. She had never done anything to enrage her citizens, and Cerise had never seen this coming. Apparently the Empress had, though. Cerise stuck her hand between the mattress and the bed frame, feeling around until her fingers made contact with rough parchment. She slowly pulled the scroll out from between the mattress, careful not to rip it. Her eyes scanned the letter that the Empress had quietly slipped her after her midday check-up several months earlier. The Empress had instructed her not to read it until the time was right. As she read, Cerise realized that the time was, indeed, very right. But it was also so, so wrong. 

The letter instructed Cerise to journey to the far west corner of the city to The Rusty Brewer, a joint Cerise had never more than walked by on errands. Knowing she had no time to waste, Cerise pulled herself off the bed, grabbed her satchel from the far wall, and shoved the letter into it. Her eyes moved to the far corner of the room, where her staff lay against the wall. She rushed over and grasped it tightly, feeling the cool, smooth wood grow warm from her touch. If ever there were a time for it, it was now. Cerise went to the door and turned the knob, only to find that it wouldn't budge. She turned harder, and the lock resisted her. Someone had locked the door from the outside. But why? Suddenly, Cerise heard footsteps and voices growing louder outside her door. She held her breath and listened.
"You have ensured that all the Palace doors are locked?"
"Yessir."
"Good, that will surely enforce the curfew without question."

The voices faded as the made their way past Cerise's door, until she could no longer make out conversation. A curfew, huh? She would have to get creative. Cerise made her way to the window beside her bed and gave it a firm pull. Only a thin screen divided her from the Palace gardens, which were a safe fall below her window. Cerise pulled the screen out and looked outside. There were, of course, guards posted all around the garden's perimeter. Cerise took a deep breathe, pulled up her hood, and muttered to herself. "Disguise me." Her staff glowed brightly for a moment, and then dimmed. The world around Cerise grew foggy, but she was not alarmed. She knew that the guards would not see her now, but she would have to be silent, because they could still hear her. With that, she slipped through the window, landing on her feet with a quiet [i]thump[/i]. A few guards looked in her direction, but upon seeing nothing, turned away. Cerise smiled slightly, and with a tight grip on her staff with one hand, and the other hand pressing her satchel to her side, she made her way to the west Palace gate.

Upon arriving at the gate, Cerise was less than surprised to find it shut. She stood several feet away from it, trying to decide how to get around it. Before she could scheme something, a group of men in dark robes approached the gate from the other side. They muttered something to the posted guard, and the gate began to creak open. Cerise jumped back in surprise, letting out a small, involuntary gasp. One of the cloaked men swung his head in her direction and she covered her mouth. He walked right up to her so that he was so close she could feel his warm breathe on her neck. Thinking for sure she was caught, Cerise readied herself to fight. However, after several moments of staring right at her, the man was beckoned by his group to return to them, and he turned and walked away. Cerise looked towards the gate, which was now slowly closing in a foggy blurr. Uncaring at this point whether she was heard, Cerise ran through the gate just as it was closing, and slid across the dirt road to the other side. Now outside the Palace, she knew there wouldn't be any more barriers in her way to the bar. As she continued to walk west, farther into the outskirts of town, her intended location came into view. Upstairs, she could see a dim light glowing through one of the windows. Checking to make sure there were no guards around, Cerise uncloaked herself and made her way to the front door, where a man stood smoking. He eyed her with surprise but said nothing. Cerise cleared her throat and spoke up first.
"I'm here to see um--" She recalled a name from the letter she had just read. "Lukas."

The man broke out a smile, which slowly turned into a smirk as he responded.
"You? I dunno what that man is thinkin'... Go ahead, I 'pose. Upstairs. First door on ya left."

He clearly did not recognize her from the Palace. Cerise rarely made public appearances, so this was not all that surprising. To him, she probably looked frail and unassuming, not up for whatever adventure lay ahead of her upstairs. To prove him wrong, she quickly pushed past him without further hesitation, made her way upstairs and found the room the man had directed her towards. She stood in the doorway and slowly removed her hood, noticing that there were already two men present, one hooded, but no other women. She wondered for a moment if the bartender was right to be surprised she had been invited to whatever kind of meeting this was. Taking a deep breath once again, she spoke up.
"My name is Cerise Mansfield. I have been summoned here by a man by the name of Lukas, on behalf of the late Empress."

The hooded man spoke up. Asking her to please take a seat and wait patiently. Cerise cautiously entered the room and took a seat a few away from the other man in the room. She eyed him for a moment, noting his strikingly dark skin and pointed ears, making it clear that he was most certainly Elven. Then she looked away, down at the staff that lay across her lap, and wondered what she had just gotten herself into.[/center]