Day 61 of Winter 514AV
A new day had come and passed the baton to night, changes in appearance taking place both in the sky and in the city, the former getting darker, adorned with twinkling stars and the silver orb that was Leth, while the latter reflected these changes by growing darker also, as well as the skyglass’s glow becoming more like aquamarine in color and shine. People hurried to and fro as actively as during the day hours, not caring about the normal pace of the days. Well, this was normal in Lhavit, conventional hours for sleep were a foreign concept and the citizens stuck to the unique system the crystal city used.
Of course, there were a few oddballs to be found here and there; tourists who weren’t accustomed to the new rhythm of life yet, or stubborn people who clung to the rhythm that they believed suited them best. At least two such people in Lhavit could be named, two individuals Brandon knew did not follow the set hours of sleep; the bat himself and the Councilor Radiant Alses. The periods of time those two spent awake were the complete opposite of each other though; she favoring the shine of Syna while he preferred the steady glow of Leth and the darkness of the night. To make the contrast between them even greater, Alses and Brandon found themselves at opposite sides of the law, and now the bat had even been tasked with her assassination. Drastic measures, it wasn’t something he’d seen his ‘employer’ using at all since he had been forced to work for him. Kriegsfelt had always seemed calm and chose subtler measures than simply and straightforwardly ordering Brandon to kill her. Then again, as seasons had passed the man had grown more and more agitated and less at ease.
This appeared to be the result, and it wasn’t a good one, yet Brandon could not do anything else than obey. Or at least pretend to obey while plotting his escape from Kriegsfelt’s grasp. This order had been the push to set Brandon in motion, this was beyond what he was willing to put up with; he was a thief for Yshul’s sake, not a murderer or assassin! Well, a better chance than this one he wouldn’t get, letting this chance slip would be an insult to his own personality. Besides, if he did as asked there was no doubt the assignments would only get more extreme and unpleasant, getting away would be close to impossible –without the death of either himself or Engghaen that is. Or perhaps Kriegsfelt himself, though Brandon did not want to kill the man; he’d only get into more trouble. It was possible that if Brandon tried to kill him after Alses’s death –and failed- Kriegsfelt would put all blame on the bat. No one would believe him if he tried to tell the Shinya it was Kriegsfelt’s plan, that he had been set up. There was no denying that he was Incognito, that he had killed Alses. And Solomon Kriegsfelt was a respected merchant. What was the worth of a thief’s word? What was a thief’s honor worth? In the eyes of the guards it wasn’t even worth shyke. No, he’d only worsen his own situation, and Enggy would suffer the consequences too. There was no way he wanted that.
As such, the only option he had was to go along with the merchant’s plan, but instead of killing the Councilor Radiant he’d make a deal with her. Sure, it would take a while, but he doubted that the Councilor was an unreasonable person. Brandon believed he should be able to persuade her. Time, however, was his enemy in this plan, he needed as much of it as possible, and that’s why he had suggested to kidnap her. Maybe not the most logical approach, seeing as he could sneak in and talk to her there, yet it was simply not practical. There was no telling how long he’d need to convince the Eth, it could very well take several hours, maybe even after sunrise and that would be a problem. No wait, it would definitely be after sunrise, she drugged herself at night. When would she wake up? He had no idea, but logic told him the drug would probably be taken in in a dose that made it so she’d sleep all night and wake up in the morning. During the day she’d be at the Radiant Tower, and abducting her from there was just asking to be executed, no he had no choice to kidnap her and wait until she woke up. The downside was that people would immediately know there was something wrong if she did not show up… Damn, they’d go searching for her for sure.
Brandon bit his lip in thought, searching for other ways to counter it, to maybe start negotiations earlier, but it seemed not immediately possible. He sighed, this was bad. Somewhere deep inside he knew there was but one way this debacle Kriegsfelt had brought upon him could end.
Without a doubt, this situation would end with the thief’s hands shackled and his person escorted by the Shinya. There was but one place this situation would inevitably lead him to, and that place was jail.
A new day had come and passed the baton to night, changes in appearance taking place both in the sky and in the city, the former getting darker, adorned with twinkling stars and the silver orb that was Leth, while the latter reflected these changes by growing darker also, as well as the skyglass’s glow becoming more like aquamarine in color and shine. People hurried to and fro as actively as during the day hours, not caring about the normal pace of the days. Well, this was normal in Lhavit, conventional hours for sleep were a foreign concept and the citizens stuck to the unique system the crystal city used.
Of course, there were a few oddballs to be found here and there; tourists who weren’t accustomed to the new rhythm of life yet, or stubborn people who clung to the rhythm that they believed suited them best. At least two such people in Lhavit could be named, two individuals Brandon knew did not follow the set hours of sleep; the bat himself and the Councilor Radiant Alses. The periods of time those two spent awake were the complete opposite of each other though; she favoring the shine of Syna while he preferred the steady glow of Leth and the darkness of the night. To make the contrast between them even greater, Alses and Brandon found themselves at opposite sides of the law, and now the bat had even been tasked with her assassination. Drastic measures, it wasn’t something he’d seen his ‘employer’ using at all since he had been forced to work for him. Kriegsfelt had always seemed calm and chose subtler measures than simply and straightforwardly ordering Brandon to kill her. Then again, as seasons had passed the man had grown more and more agitated and less at ease.
This appeared to be the result, and it wasn’t a good one, yet Brandon could not do anything else than obey. Or at least pretend to obey while plotting his escape from Kriegsfelt’s grasp. This order had been the push to set Brandon in motion, this was beyond what he was willing to put up with; he was a thief for Yshul’s sake, not a murderer or assassin! Well, a better chance than this one he wouldn’t get, letting this chance slip would be an insult to his own personality. Besides, if he did as asked there was no doubt the assignments would only get more extreme and unpleasant, getting away would be close to impossible –without the death of either himself or Engghaen that is. Or perhaps Kriegsfelt himself, though Brandon did not want to kill the man; he’d only get into more trouble. It was possible that if Brandon tried to kill him after Alses’s death –and failed- Kriegsfelt would put all blame on the bat. No one would believe him if he tried to tell the Shinya it was Kriegsfelt’s plan, that he had been set up. There was no denying that he was Incognito, that he had killed Alses. And Solomon Kriegsfelt was a respected merchant. What was the worth of a thief’s word? What was a thief’s honor worth? In the eyes of the guards it wasn’t even worth shyke. No, he’d only worsen his own situation, and Enggy would suffer the consequences too. There was no way he wanted that.
As such, the only option he had was to go along with the merchant’s plan, but instead of killing the Councilor Radiant he’d make a deal with her. Sure, it would take a while, but he doubted that the Councilor was an unreasonable person. Brandon believed he should be able to persuade her. Time, however, was his enemy in this plan, he needed as much of it as possible, and that’s why he had suggested to kidnap her. Maybe not the most logical approach, seeing as he could sneak in and talk to her there, yet it was simply not practical. There was no telling how long he’d need to convince the Eth, it could very well take several hours, maybe even after sunrise and that would be a problem. No wait, it would definitely be after sunrise, she drugged herself at night. When would she wake up? He had no idea, but logic told him the drug would probably be taken in in a dose that made it so she’d sleep all night and wake up in the morning. During the day she’d be at the Radiant Tower, and abducting her from there was just asking to be executed, no he had no choice to kidnap her and wait until she woke up. The downside was that people would immediately know there was something wrong if she did not show up… Damn, they’d go searching for her for sure.
Brandon bit his lip in thought, searching for other ways to counter it, to maybe start negotiations earlier, but it seemed not immediately possible. He sighed, this was bad. Somewhere deep inside he knew there was but one way this debacle Kriegsfelt had brought upon him could end.
Without a doubt, this situation would end with the thief’s hands shackled and his person escorted by the Shinya. There was but one place this situation would inevitably lead him to, and that place was jail.
credit goes to Estrellir Konrath