Re: Hunting Through Keliac - 119 4A

[Nara-pyon]

"It might be interesting to find out what happens if you do go out hunting," Wren murmured, sounding thoughtful again. "It might give us an insight into how things work here - in case of attack, where do they go? What do they do? Can we take advantage of it?"

"Should we look for Kyrie, then?" Iorlas asked, frowning slightly.

Wren shrugged. "If you think it would help."

[Kara Winters]

"Getting Kyrie, is more I think getting the go ahead to do one thing or another," Lin murmured, "We can go get her now if you want, if you want to give some input, or we can wait and gather everyone to get some opinions."

Though it sounded Wren was getting tired, and didn't seem to care neither way from that shrug she was giving.

[Nara-pyon]

"Gather everyone and see what they think," Wren decided suddenly. She looked sharply towards her door. "I'll contact you again as soon as I can."

She reached out and touched the mirror, terminating the link. In the mirror on the wall, the others could watch as she moved to answer her door.

[Kara Winters]

Curious, Lin and the others waited to see who would be on the other side the door. The advantage of having an eye on Wren, was being able to see things like this.

[Nara-pyon]

On the other side of the door was another of Mara's personal bodyguards, and after only a few words, Wren fetched her sword and dagger and headed off with him.

"Should we get Kyrie now?" Iorlas asked Lin and Miyuki. "It looks like something might be happening ..."

It was the first time that Wren had been interrupted in her room when it wasn't time for her regular shift.

[Kara Winters]

"I think so..." Lin got up from her seat, "She's also grabbing her weapons, something has happened."

She rushed to get Kyrie, hoping to get the woman before Wren reached her destination.

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie was not the kind of person to stay inside long at all, or to sit still, and so at this time she was in the dojo with Mailon, and the two of them were sparring - though it was so intense, it looked as though it could very well be a real fight. Both of them were sweating, though they were both moving so quickly that the only way anyone could tell was because their bodies were glistening in the light as they moved.

The moment they noticed Lin in the dojo, however, both of them stood back, holding their weapons low.

"Hi, Lin," Kyrie panted, wiping sweat from her brow. "Something up?"

Mailon was also panting hard, trying to get his breath back, and he looked as curious as Kyrie.

[Kara Winters]

"Wren has been called out before her shift," Lin explained, "And she had to grab her weapons so something happened."

She was glad they noticed her, sometimes in spars like that both fighters might not notice, which could make it dangerous for anyone coming in.

"We thought you might want to watch, in case anything important happens. Iorlas, Eron and Miyuki are there now."

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie nodded. "Yes, I think I'd like to see what's going on," she agreed. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "All right, you go ahead. I'll be there shortly."

"I'm going to wash and then see if Daenis is awake yet," Mailon murmured, smiling. "Thank you for the spar, Kyrie."

She smiled back at him. "And you. See you later." Turning back to Lin, she added, "I'll be right there."

[Kara Winters]

"Okay," Lin nodded before going back to the others.

Once back, she sat back down in her seat and asked.

"What happened while I was gone?"

[Nara-pyon]

It was Iorlas who took it upon herself to answer Lin's question, though she was still on the floor with Amir.

"They picked up another person and then took Mara away from her dinner," she explained. "They all brought weapons."

At the moment, there were four people - Wren included - surrounding Mara, two in front and two behind, and the five of them were heading towards what they now recognized as a side door of the mansion. They went outside, and the door was closed behind them by two more men who had been watching it. Whatever was outside, it clearly didn't present too much of a threat, because Wren and the other three bodyguards relaxed and moved ahead of Mara.

As they moved forward, Mara reached out and put one hand on Wren's shoulder, holding her back, and it was then that Kyrie joined them as well, still wiping away her sweat with a towel.

"Well, that doesn't look like a stroll around the grounds," she quipped, leaning against the table. "Especially at this time of night."

[Kara Winters]

"They went out a side door," Lin murmured as she watched.

She was glued to the screen like a Gaian would be glued to a TV set.

"It's interesting how Mara seems to show preference to Wren, she's not allowing her to move ahead with the rest of the guards," Miyuki commented.

[Nara-pyon]

For a moment, Wren looked confused, but when Mara said something to her, she nodded and her expression cleared again. Then the two of them moved forward with Wren half a step behind her employer. After a moment, they approached a wagon drawn by two horses. Two men had climbed down from the wagon's seat, and the three other guards were talking with them. For a moment, it seemed all was well; but then suddenly one of the guards turned to Mara, an expression of outrage on his face. He spoke through clenched teeth, but whatever he said, clearly Mara didn't agree: she shook her head firmly and turned away from him.

"If only someone had the ability to read lips," Kyrie murmured as the guard seemed to argue with Mara's decision.

Wren looked a bit lost as Mara turned around and replied to the bodyguard again, and then both Mara and the bodyguard were speaking at the same time.

[Kara Winters]

"No kidding...." Eron replied, "Though at least we can tell there's an issue. The one guard seems angry, we just don't know why. I wonder if he's going to be escorted out."

He doubted that Mara would want to keep someone who didn't agree with her, but it was hard to tell what was going on.

[Nara-pyon]

The two continued their argument, but when Mara turned around again and her face became visible in the mirror again, she didn't seem angry. If anything, she seemed amused. She gave a dismissive wave over her shoulder and said one last thing before she started walking back towards the house with Wren and one of the other guards in tow. The others stayed back with the wagon and the wagoners.

As the three of them headed inside, Mara seemed to be explaining something to Wren, who nodded periodically throughout. Someone else passed them, heading out as they headed in, and Mara snapped her fingers at him and gave him an order. He bowed his head and hurried out.

The second bodyguard with them headed in a different direction once they were inside, and now Wren went with Mara to the dining room - apparently the arrival of the wagon had interrupted her dinner, which looked delicious. Unsurprisingly, Wren was not invited to sit with her, but took up her position a step behind and to the left of her employer.

"Now I'm really curious," Kyrie murmured, almost to herself.

[Kara Winters]

"I think that's all of us," Miyuki pipped up, "You get a feeling she should have been something other than amused, but she was."

Eron added, "I wonder if those people were bringing something to her, supplies or maybe even something from one of her investments."

[Nara-pyon]

"Why would that one man be angry about that, though?" Iorlas asked, confused.

Kyrie just shrugged.

A few minutes later, the man Mara had sent out entered the room, bringing with him what looked like a leather journal. With a bow, he set it on the table next to Mara and then left the room. Once the door was closed again, Mara opened the journal and began to flip through it. Wren wasn't close enough to read it (not that she could read it even if she were close enough), but Kyrie stepped closer to the mirror to try get what she could out of it.

"Lists?" she ventured hesitantly. "Inventory ... prices ..."

In the mirror, Mara turned and spoke to Wren, who shook her head and shrugged apologetically. She gave a brief reply, and Mara nodded and, smiling, slowed down her flipping of the pages, taking the time to read through some of the entries more closely.

Kyrie grinned. "Brilliant. Nicely done, Wren."

[Kara Winters]

"What did she do?" Miyuki asked, not understanding what had happened.

Only that they had a good view of the book now.

"Can you read that?" Lin asked Kyrie.

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie nodded, still grinning. "So if Mara trusts Wren enough to take her into her study with her, I'll be able to read whatever she does in there, too."

Iorlas smiled widely. "Then we can make progress," she breathed excitedly.

[Kara Winters]

"I wonder what Wren told Mara, we had thought that Mara wouldn't trust her enough to view things like that in front of her..." Lin trailed off.

"Maybe the truth," Miyuki replied cheekily, "That she can't read it."

[Nara-pyon]

Half an hour later, after another bodyguard had taken over for Wren and she had returned to her room, Wren contacted them again and was able to confirm Miyuki's suspicion.

"I was hoping someone there would be able to read it," she grinned. "I'm glad someone could."

"It was a brilliant idea," Kyrie told Wren sincerely. "And if she knows you can't read anything she has out, maybe she'll take you into her study - you may not have to break in at all."

"That's a relief." And Wren did look relieved. Then her expression turned anxious. "Did you find out anything interesting?"

Kyrie shook her head. "Nothing about Eausin. Those records looked like regular business records, nothing questionable, even if she didn't want you to see them."

[Kara Winters]

"What was the argument earlier about?" Lin inquired, "We saw that too."

Since she was also curious about that as well.

[Nara-pyon]

Wren blinked. "Oh, I'd almost forgotten," she admitted, blushing lightly. Her brow furrowed. "Mara was amused ... one of the other bodyguards, Erlan ... apparently that wagon had come from his house, they'd made a delivery for his family. He was angry because apparently a Dark Elf showed up at the house while the men were delivering the goods. He wanted to go home and deal with it, even though the guy was apparently just bringing food or something. I don't know why he would be so upset about that, and apparently Mara just thought it was funny."

"Do you think this man would have been worried about the goods?" Iorlas asked hesitantly, unsure why else he would be disturbed.

"Maybe some of us should check it out," Kyrie murmured thoughtfully.

[Kara Winters]

"I'd like to check it out!" Miyuki waved her hand, "Well... I mean.. I know that might be a bit risky, and I'll fully admit that's cabin fever talking, but I would be willing to check it out."

Lin was amused that Miyuki was admitting to cabin fever before her, but then again, Lin tended to spend time with Earendil whenever she was getting a bit twitchy. Miyuki had nothing except more tasks that required sitting still for long periods of time.

[Nara-pyon]

"Do you know where it is?" Kyrie asked Wren curiously.

The princess nodded. "Fairly well. On the border, not far from here, just south of where the jungle ends."

Kyrie was surprised. "That is close. Half a day's walk." She looked thoughtful.

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