Thankfully, while things had looked incredibly grim, it did not appear that the intention was to cause an explosion, on part of the one who had inflicted the sigil onto the earl at least. The crystal, now a deep shade of inky black, simply oscillated in place without doing anything else. Rather then having become explosive, it seemed it had just been tainted by the essence of the spell it had been created to analyze. Still, setting up measures in case something was wrong was likely a wise idea. There was no telling what that inky black substance encased in the icy chamber really was, or what it would do if it escaped.

Fanilly eyed the sigil nervously. Her knowledge of magic was hardly particularly vast, given she had no real talent when it came to the art. However, she could tell that such a symbol was likely the source of the obfuscation that had been placed on the Earl of Brennan. The man himself seemed baffled by the attention, as if he couldn't even recognize any of it had to do with him.

"What [i]is[/i] all this about, anyway?" he complained, with a frown, "And what is that black thing?"

Fanilly grimaced. How could she explain this to him, when it didn't seem like he was capable of recognizing what was occurring as long as the sigil was in place?

"Your grace," she began, "There is... a... a spell has been cast, and we are trying to remove it."

She winced. That was hardly the kind of explanation it seemed like he would except, and the Earl's frown cemented that. However, he made no further moves, for the moment.

"Dame Lockhart," she began, turning towards the mage of the two twins, "Only proceed if your actions do not risk the Earl's life. If it's too dangerous, we may have to try and get in contact with the college, or find this... Dark Lady, ourselves."

There was an air of apprehension in the earl's court. No-one knew quite what to do, or how anything would turn out.

The young girl with the big hat seemed to have quickly fled. It was quite likely she had been scared off by the crystal.

Then... a voice, in Cymbeline's ear.

"[i]Don't try to move it. Get rid of it without moving it. Moving it will only make things worse.[/i]"

And yet, there was no-one there.

[@Crusader Lord][@Crimson Paladin][@TheFake][@Raineh Daze][@Noodles][@PKMNB0Y]