**[Couer Grain Warehouse](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMZnYXkoLbw&index=5&list=PLx_FNwLpYQV2snWmETpu8EGZpfMX63QXD)**

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"I ask you again, Lucius, though this time more seriously... What are you doing in Voltas? Surely you must have some plan."
 

Somehow, the Prince had seemed very glad he'd encountered Daedhel and couldn't have chosen a better coincidence than this very moment. This initially provoked attempts to elaborate upon carefully laiden lies to masquerade and prevent the fate in addressing the situation's embarrassing realities, however, as he met her cold and ruthlessly judging stare, found himself fumbling for words. In the end, he found himself forced into a dilemma that involved expelling the truth and nothing else. After a short sigh, the Prince's head lowered before he moved to speak.

"Honestly, Dae," Lucius began, "There *is* no plan given that fate has granted neither time nor proper freedoms to face the Sarifens. Not after Sarifen Sipahis chased Ona and I here from their underworld abyss. We'd only just reached the resistance circle north of Valania proper, just a few kilometers short of the Côte d'émeraude and ... unfortunately we found only corpses. I'd initially hoped to regroup the various resistance pockets to counter the increased Sarifen conscript arrivals, whom, if you haven't noticed, gather in the droves, but! Alas ... it appears that *even the resistance* proves unreliable ..."

"No plan?" Daedhel's eyebrow shot up as Lucius spoke. Well that was certainly not news that she wanted to hear. While she had never, of course, openly supported the resistance nor came into contact with them, they did fight the Sarifens. She did have a burning hatred for the Sarifen's. It was one that she had cultivated during her years, from the young age she had lost her parent's. If she had been a better person this would have only been towards the authorities. She was not a better person. "And unfortunately I have noticed the gathering of the *Sarifen*," as she spoke the word so looked almost more threatening, and murderous, "conscripts. It is difficult not to."

She gave a soft sigh, a slightly thoughtful look crossing her icy blue eyes. "Well if the resistance is not reliable, we will have to go about everything in a different way. It will be more difficult to... get the Sarifens out of Valania. I do not know what you originally wanted to do when you regrouped the resistance pockets, and countered the conscripts, but I doubt that will be possible now. An offensive is of course out of the question. Unless you know anyone else who will resist the Crown Regent, and is still alive, it looks like it is just the three of us." She glanced at Ona. Well, two who had a proper ability to fight. "We cannot do nothing, though. That is not something you can argue with. Of course, I could just kill everyone who stands in your way. That is fully within my abilities. Well, it is mostly within my abilities. I am not sure that would be the best course of action." The way she looked at the knife in her hand, however, suggested that it was something she very much wanted to do. "Do you have any ideas to put forth?"

"I do hate to interrupt, however, your meals aren't getting any warmer," a kind and elderly voice began, "All this talk of the times and you haven't even touched your food. I hope a cooked stew and baked bread would at least take your minds off the wretched matters concerning king and state. There isn't enough food to go around these days and common folk aren't particularly kind in these parts."
 
Lucius had eyed the door ever since it'd opened, but hadn't taken notice of Michel's entry. The man's sunken eyes and kind features had made a mark on the Prince's life and it was to him that he and Dae both owed their lives. Generous as he'd ever been, the merchant had made a name for himself even amidst Conqvist's reign and the vile conditions plaguing the city. The man's gaze had often brought him back to Lothair's reign under more calming of times when he could awaken every morning to bathe in sunlit bed chambers and terraced balconies. Those times were long gone, though he could still recall the memories gained during his youthful days as if they were yesterday. The merchant had simply offered his hospitality without scorn or reluctance and simply brought them in even through the dangers lurking. 
 
"Ahh ... yes," he answered, "A warm meal certainly wouldn't hurt. Thank you, Michel." Smiling, the Prince quickly tore through the bowl as would a beggar and did not pause to down the merchant's carefully placed mugs.
 
"Apologies Dae," Lucius ruefully voiced upon refilling his cup, "Your presence is both highly valued and acknowledged and I *truly* wish I could offer more pleasant tidings, however, I'm afraid you are right in that we are presently on our own." In a look of angry despair, the Prince found himself dreading the very truth laying before his eyes, however, in its present condition and Conqvist's indifference, Voltas and Valania Proper seemed doomed.
 
"Thank you," Daedhel gave the slightest of smile towards Michel and began to eat, though she did it at a much slower pace than Lucius. She finished the stew, though it certainly did not take her mind of the important matters. Very little would. Not until the Crown Regent was dead, and the Sarifen's pushed out of Valania. 

"In this time there are few pleasant tidings, so I have came to expect the worse," Dae replied evenly, eyes fixed on the Prince. "We will go forward, even if we are on our own. Of course, we could just kill the Crown Regent. It would be difficult but I'm sure there would be some way for me to do that. Maybe if we can get you back on the throne, then there will be a way to begin sorting everything out." Of course it was highly unlikely she would be able to do something like that. While she was an incredibly skilled assassin she was sure the Conqvist would have plenty of defences. He would be protected from assassins such as her. 

"There must be something that can be done."

"I am not a warrior and never have been," Michel voiced as he seized a seat near Ona, "However, I am certain the resistance still operates within the city. I cannot fathom the merchant circles nor all under Conqvist treasure Sarife's lecherous patrols marauding through Valania proper. If not for Ivalian riches, I'm uncertain we could withstand another winter."
 
"You don't understand, Michel. The resistance is compromised and we *cannot* expect their assistance to quell the Sarifen Paighans as they sack our homelands." Grimacing, Lucius glanced towards Dae only to provoke a shiver as her icy blue gaze pierced his heart to surface both fear and a slight melting emotion. In that moment, he felt if he was to fear anything, it was the wrath of the woman standing before him. Should they survive the coming year, he nearly felt pity towards those that would bar their paths in the weeks to come; *nearly ...*
 
Sighing, Lucius's hands knotted before his mind began to race through the very reality concerning Emperor Anoush' iron fist across Carcassonne. He was not about to cast aside his education within Vorst, nor his Vectisian Legionary military guidance to the carrion birds. Not after what he'd endured and lost following his father's death. "Dae, you are the one of most accomplished blades in Voltas and I have no doubts in your ability to murder Conqvist in his bed, however, *if* we are to accomplish anything, we must first ensure we have enough dependable intelligence to operate. Trust no one for you are now the eyes and ears against the Sarifens, against Conqvist, and Emperor Anoush himself. Informants, potential recruits, contacts, and financial leverage; we'll require it all to even *conceive* the notions associated towards moving forward. We are starting anew and *nothing* is more perilous than to lose the war of information. My father was a brilliant man of sound wisdom, however, he failed to see the merits towards retaining proper information. For that he lost everything including his life and I do not intend to repeat his failures ..."

"You speak as if I trust those I do not know," Dae responded almost instantly, arching an eyebrow. She would certainly not be one to give any information to the enemy. In fact, Lucius and Michel were among the very small number of those that she trusted. Trusting people often lead to your downfall. Most of those that she had trusted she had not really chosen to, it was more through gratitude or... attachment. As she aged it had grown increasingly difficult to depend on people at all and she felt that that often came hand in hand with trust. Quite unfortunately she did trust Lucius quite a lot, due to many reasons some of which she would not admit even to herself. But no one else. "We will not lose this war of information."

"Then you will learn from his mistakes. I am more than happy to aid in getting what is needed before moving forward, and while I may specialise in the actual killing of people I can be quite adept at the discovery of information if so needed. I will trust your judgement in this case, and follow your leadership." She pursed her lips, looking somewhat relucant. It was not because she did not accept him the future King. Of course she did. It was more due to always preferring independence, everything being her own decision. Of course her recent decisions had not been particularly benificial. "If that is what you say we must do, then that is what we will do. If you wish someone to be killed, then I will do that. I am, of course, stuck in your company now for better or for worse." She gave a slight smile at this, almost teasing. "Though unfortunately I do not believe I will be able to show my face on the streets for a while."

Dae is silent for a few moment before something crosses her mind, remembering something that had been pushed to the back of her mind due to the events that had occurred the day before. "Actually, thinking about the gathering of the information..." trailing off she pulls out what would appear to be a piece of parchment, carefully folded when it had been put into her pocket. She carefully unfolds it, getting up as she does so and moving around to stand beside Lucius. She places it in front of him with a slight smile. "So, what do you think of that?"

Lucius' eyes quickly narrowed as suspicion and intrigue. His mind raced again as the possibility of intermingling amongst various members of court. Only the prior year had he gained the Lord Regent's favor through certain underhanded manoeuvres that had left one particular aristocrat poisoned and another without his inheritance, the later of whose assets and title were covertly seized by none other than his truly. Others present within the Voltasian courts had undoubtedly taken notice and considerable aristocratic attention had begun to surround his newly found presence where he'd soon found himself in a delicate position. The initial goals involving infiltrating Conqvist's retinue had unintentionally attracted too much attention too quickly and the Prince was forced to feign illness and treatment to avoid the Regent's demanding court functions and unethical requests.
 
If that wasn't enough, there also posed the threat of particular Sarifen eyes directed towards his appearance within the courts. The games of blood politics surrounding the Sarifen courts spoke of conspiracies, politics, alliances, and fickle meddling that may have only slightly proved a notch above tolerable barbarism. The Sarifen courts were an entirely separate entity that lingered as did a snarling pack of wolves and many of the more devious aristocrats saw other individual advancements with both contempt and calculating treachery. Power, wealth, and prestige dominated the factional circles within the upper classes and few could survive the political surges that unpredictably fractured the status quo. The power vacuums usually involved said entities gaining handsomely whilst others lost everything.  The aristocrats hailing from Orad and the more prominent Sarifen courts would see that their lecherous ambitions were fulfilled at another's expense. It was, as Sytonia mentioned, a classic and tragic case of the centuries of nepotism plaguing Carcassonne.
 
In that moment, Lucius' hands quickly slid towards his firearms where additional shot and powder neatly laid in wait. His blades sat only several meters away and proved a soothing reminder towards a rather age old last resort to resolving otherwise ... *irreconcilable* differences. His gaze turned to the other women sitting before him. Dae had remained vigilant, however, Ona had largely remained silent to where she had not even touched her bowl. Her silence somehow surfaced certain concerns, however, given the state of affairs; the past hours' incidents had demanded greater attention.
 
"Dae, I will not try to understand how you acquired this opportunity, however, I see the merits an attendance of such importance may hold, most particularly that of the Lord Regent. Never fancied aristocratic dinner gatherings myself, but ... if they are a means to unshackling Valania, they will do; though I may strongly rule towards extra precautionary measures involving additional firearms given that we both aren't exactly ... *able bodied* ..."
 
Exhaling, Lucius winced as he sported his aching arms. The musket balls had been removed, however, the pains and irritation still remained. His wounds spoke as much and dictated that they weren't in any fight shape ...

"I am not particularly fond of the idea of going, however I also know it's necessary, thus my decision to show this to you," Dae responded, narrowing her eyes slightly as she thought. She did not particularly like the idea of having to rely on firearms but she understood that that was a sensible idea considering both of their injuries. "Extra firearms would certainly be... Useful if things went wrong." She moved slightly, though there were no visible signs of the extent of her injury. While it had been quite bad in her back, enough that she knew her fighting would be impeded if it came down to that no matter how skilled she was. It was something that frustrated her. Even so she would not visibly show this weakness. 

"It may also be wise to acquire more appropriate dress," she added, glancing between Lucius and Ona then down at herself. "After all it is an *aristrocratic* dinner gathering and we will need to blend in as much as possible." She glanced down at herself. The blood stains and rips would certainly not help there. It would certainly be best to appear as if they were nobility. "Though I am certainly cautious about this... I do not know entirely why I was invited, and how much they know about me. It will certainly be best to be prepared." It was something she was suspicious of, and there was most likely a risk of meeting one with an affiliation with St Melita's. That would be interesting considering she was most likely wanted by them. "Will we all be going?" After all, she was the one the invitation was addressed to her. However she was sure they would all manage to attend some way or another.

Frowning, Lucius momentarily emptied his pockets before affirming his fears. The previous evening's flight had certainly left little to account for belongings and in the ensuing efforts to escape the pursuing Nezamissaries and dock massacre, dropped his belongings. The improvised munition charges, javelins, poisons, medicines, bandages, incendiary powders, false identifications, ropes, and most of all ... his coin pouches.
 
Sighing, the Prince once again grimaced before initiating an attempt to retain a resolute composure.  He'd suffered through worse, however, the lack of said equipments had inevitably brought severe limitations towards his ability to conduct his journeys through Voltas. Alone, information starved, and without tenable resources, he could only accomplish so many objectives before his actions possibly exposed his clandestine activities. voicing, "I'm certain we might find a manner in accordance to allowing the luxury to attend together, though it pains me to affirm my financial misgiving aside from my own clothes. There *is* the matter of my earlier infiltration endeavors. I still retained my title as Count Lucius Le Crosse of Van Aster, though as far as matters concerning courtly appearances, the Count is currently absent and seeking poison treatment for a certain deceased Lord Al-Dhakeel and his supposed corruptive conspiracies."

Onatha listened to everything.  She never left Lucius' side. They began to eat but she was listening too intently to the conversation to pay attention to the food. The smell hit her nose and her stomach rumbled in response. She ate somewhat quickly, fearing at anytime someone might take it from her as if it was a mistake that she had been fed. A habit leftover from her time spent chained to a desk so long ago.

Her meal done she went back to listening to them speak. She bit her lip a little wondering if she should do something to help them, if she could do something to help them.  Onatha knew which way to look even though she had never been to the castle. It was part of her ability, to know where things were and to see them.

There was a lull in the conversation, everyone thinking on the new problem of clothes.  Onatha turned her head, pupil-less emerald green eyes wide and staring at nothing it seemed.

"He has called people to him. Officers and other nobles."  

Her voice was clear and sharp. Her head tilted a little. "He has a seer. He is certainly using her to help him keep control. I can feel her... and she is a woman...."

Onatha blinked and looked back to Lucius. "I can try again but she will know I have been prying." Her voice was softer now, more shy and nervous.

"I ..."

Several moments passed before Lucius' watchful gaze slowly evolved from an incredulous expression to a flash of outright intrigue. 

Onatha looked down at her hands feeling unsure and perhaps as if she should not have said anything. She was not sure Lucius approved and disappointing him was the last thing she wanted to do.

Dae had narrowed her eyes sightly as she listened to what Ona had said, head tilted slightly. For a few moments she thought on the other woman's words... Considering them and trying to work out exactly what they meant. "And how do you know this information?" she asked in a harsh, cold tone.

Onatha put her head down further as if somehow she could hide away from the cold tone of the woman's words. "Because I can see it. I can see things, it is something I can do and why I was kept..."  

Her words were quiet, cropped run on sentences. It was the most she had really spoken to someone who was not Lucius. Her eyes lifted ever so slightly. "I am able to see things from afar, it is how I know."

A simple theory formed as the Prince's expression drilled upon his companion's location. His eyes never left the woman as he paced towards a large crate stack before climbing the netting. The bodily strains proved jarring and greatly inhibited movement without some form of constant, agonizing throbbings, however, through an iron willed determination and sheer physical agility, Lucius continually scaled the crate heights before finally reaching the large cellar's ceiling. The following moments involved laborous breaths before he simply spared no liberties as his gaze trained upon the narrow hole above his head. Hardened laborers manned the warehouse merchandise whilst several notable workers simply hid from view as they fastened ropes and netting along various cargo. Ona couldn't possibly have discerned the Lord Sovereign's exact locations. Or could she? Such feats were not without some rational explanation as Sytonia would have believed and if such information were not acquired through devious means had almost *certainly* exposed the mark of unknown super natural entities. Lucius had seen much to know that ration and logic dictated what would have otherwise proven highly supernatural. 

Onatha watched as Lucius got up and walked away over towards some crates. He began to climb them and Ona frowned, unsure of why he was doing that.

"Ona?" The Prince inquired as his eyes surveyed the floor above, "You *do* know what is happening above our heads don't you?"

It became clear a moment later when he asked her if she knew what was happening above their heads. She stared off towards the ceiling. "Do you mean the hole up there? You seem very intent on it. The workers use it to tie things off." 

"*Mother of blood farking* ... how ... did you know that?"

Frowning, Lucius' attentions quickly reverted back towards the hole before observing the laborers, earning his companions' stares. Michel and the adolescents simply remained silent, however, the Prince could've sworn he noticed a slight smirk touch upon Dae's face. His attentions quickly redirected back towards the miniscule hole, which unveiled an insightly scene involving one particular laborer as he unscrupulously opened a particular crate filled with spices before unloading several along his coat pockets.

"Yes he is stealing...you should not stare. It is rude."  Onatha softly chided. "I told you I can see things. My people...we...some of us had the ability to see things at great distances, to know where things are."  

Her eyes shifted to Dae, "It is why I was chained to the desk in the library where Lucius found me in the rubble. They used my ability to find books, scrolls, and other items in the great library ..."