Location: Port Witch Coven House
As the sun rose up in the sky, it seemed to breathe life into the Port Witch Coven House. Malekith could detect the stirrings of people as he stalked through the hallways, and as he rounded the corner, a couple of witches came into view. He inclined his head slightly in a simple greeting before throwing them a wink over his shoulder as he passed by them. To his mundane sastification, the action elicited a blush from the younger of the two. There were certainly perks to warlocks being a rarity. It meant being surrounded by a multitude of pretty witches, which of course appealed to him as much as the next guy. Unfortunately, they did not stay pretty for long. Stress and age did a number on their looks, making them more ghastly in appearance over time. As far as he was concerned, they could go burn at the stake at that point in time.
Just then, the sound of pounding at the front door, followed by the angry words of some deranged soul, reverberated through the halls, causing him to stop short in his tracks. He turned wordlessly on his heels and walked through the house to the front door, getting there slightly after Fleur did. He came up behind her as she addressed the individual whom was rudely disrupting their morning. He braced one muscular leather clad arm against the door frame and nonchalantly rested the other hand on Fleur's shoulder. He threw a knowing smirk in her direction before eyeing the intruding stranger with his dark blue and black flecked eyes. Needless to say, he was thoroughly unimpressed by what he saw.
"Yes, do come in for tea. We can scrounge you up a fresh brew," he reaffirmed Fleur's last statement whilst giving the person a disarming smile.
Yes, a fresh brew with a dash of poison in it.
Location: Servants' Quarters - The Palace
Lyra turned on her heels to face Myrus once more when he had entered her room. Her smile soon faded as a note of sadness seeped into the young prince's voice as he replied to her. Lips thinning, she nodded her head in sullen understanding. It couldn't be easy losing your mother at such a young age and let alone in such tragic circumstances. Today's coronation marked a new era, but it wasn't lost on her that it also marked the all too soon passing of an old one. The weight of the loss was still so raw in the hearts of many, most certainly to Myrus and his siblings who had lost the most. Lyra's heart went out to him, but she was at a loss for any words that could possibly ease his pain. Perhaps her calming, reassuring, and ever loyal presence during these hard times would be the better testament.
She gave him a small reassuring smile, before looking down at the book that Myrus now held out in his outstretched hands. Her eyes took in the cover, and she instantly recognized that the title was written in the Old Tongue of her people.
"Organic Synthesis," she translated the text out loud, glancing up at Myrus as she did so before looking back down at the book. Her eyes took in the fine cover for a moment longer before finally returning her attention to Myrus. Her brow quirked upward the slightest bit as he explained to her what he wanted her to do with the book.
Just a friend, eh? she thought. The corner of her lips pulled up slightly, but she otherwise kept her mouth shut. She didn't wish to make him anymore uncomfortable than he already was by inquiring about this
friend.
"Certainly. I'll deliever it to her," Lyra replied, nodding her head in agreement.
Her brows then furrowed as a small slip of paper fell out of the book and fluttered down to their feet as Myrus made to open the book. She stepped back slightly as he bent to pick up the paper and quirked a brow in question as he straigthened back up. She glanced up at him in time to see a look of confusion overcome his features, before he gestured for her to take a look. She gingerly took the piece of paper from him. Her brows furrowed deeper as she looked down at the strange imagery.
"It's certainly strange. It's not like any land I've ever seen in my travels," she replied, looking back up at him.
Myrus nodded, his eyes flickering between Lyra, the book, and the image.
"I've never seen a portrait so small and so lifelike...Maybe it's some form of Magyk?" Myrus suggested. He couldn't imagine someone with paint and brush spending so long on such an odd scene and not making a single mistake. His brows then furrowed as he noticed what looked like a smudged word. The book was a rather ancient one to be written in the Old Tongue - maybe this image was just as ancient? Yet that seemed almost like a contradiction to him - why should ancient images be more refined and sophisticated than ones they were capable of producing in the current day?
"Hmmm, maybe. Perhaps that would explain the realism of it. It's like one took what they were seeing and casted it straight to this paper," Lyra replied.
"The question is what land looks like this, and if it's not a depiction of a known land, then what inspired it." Her eyes squinted slightly as she inspected the indiscernible word in the upper right-hand corner.
Strange indeed. "You can keep the image, if you'd like," Myrus then said.
"It's from your homeland - I know that much at least. Maybe a scribe or a wizard could tell us more..." "Well, I certainly cannot deny the opportunity to solve a mystery in my spare time," Lyra remarked, smiling up at Myrus.
"Thank you." She then glanced around her room for a spot to put it for safekeeping. Seeing as it was more or less an artifact, she did not want to simply carry it around in her satchel and risk damaging it. She then promptly walked the short distance across her room, deciding to put the piece of paper inside her jewelry box. Once it was safely inside she then walked over to her bed, which was still currently littered with weapons.
"So, deliver the book to Room 106 in the Pye House on Alchemie Way to one Mavis Moll, correct?" she reiterated. As she spoke she picked up one of the dagger from off of her bed and then grabbed a piece of paper. She tested the sharpness of the blade by seeing how easily it cut through the paper. She gave an imperceptible nod of her head when it proved satisfactory. If push came to shove and she had to shove her dagger into someone, she didn't want it to be a wasted effort. She glanced over at Myrus before sheathing the dagger to her thigh just inside the slit of her dress.
"Yes - Mavis Moll," Myrus confirmed. Had he not known Lyra, he would have been a bit thrown off by her use of a knife - perhaps even insist that Mavis wasn't to be harmed and this wasn't some assassination code. But Lyra was a bit odd as servants went - and Myrus didn't mind that in the slightest. It was what made her special.
"And, um...If she says anything...tell me what she says, yeah?" Myrus then added, a bit of a blush to his cheeks.
"I just want to make sure she likes it and if there's anything wrong with it, I'll have the restoration scribe have another crack at it." Lyra reached for a knife this time and repeated the same process she had done with the dagger. She typically preferred to carry at least two weapons on her at any given time. That way if someone managed to disarm her, she would always have a backup. After all, safety first. She glanced back over at Myrus after tossing the now
pieces of paper aside. Her perceptive gaze took in his facial features, noting the hint of a blush as he spoke.
Oh yeah, she's *just* a friend. Lyra looked away from him just as the corners of her lips once more curled upwards in seeming amusement.
"Mhm," she murmured simply as she sheathed the knife in her hands. She then bent down to place it in her left boot. Once she straightened back up and turned to face him, her facial expression was more composed than it had been mere moments before.
"I will take it to her post haste and then report back to you, Prince Myrus," she exclaimed before holding out her hands to take the book from him.
"Thank you, Lyra," Myrus said, a bit of relief in his voice. He handed the book over to her carefully, a bit worried that he might drop it and scuff up the cover. The blush spread a bit more as it suddenly hit him - did Lyra think he
liked Mavis?
"She's just a friend," Myrus added quickly.
"Yes we did date for a while - she broke things off but it was really mutual, just two different people...She's like my best friend, you see? We've been friends since we were small - you'd love her, she's brilliant really. I once saw her turn a toad into gold...Well, it was a dead toad...and it was only a bit of a shimmer...but..." his voice trailed off.
"I'll shut up now." "Any time," Lyra replied earnestly. She took the book from him just as carefully as he had handed it over. She made sure to keep a tight secure grip on it from thereon. The last thing she wanted to do was drop it before it even made it to Mavis. Just then, as she looked up at Myrus, she witnessed as a delayed realization struck the young prince. Her eyes widened slightly, and she bit her lip to keep back the smile as he began babbling incessantly in a vain attempt to cover his tracks.
"Uh huh," she managed to reply, her voice wavering slightly.
"Just a friend."
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