The opening "The King will be at his Temple," said Szymon. He was still standing a little away from the group as though uncertain as to his welcome. Between him and the mages was Tomasz, and Lord Derby's bright eyes had already noticed that Szymon maintained that. There was a definite suggestion that he didn't trust people using magic. "We should go there." "This would allow us to find Samual as well," added Tomasz. "This is efficient." "But the King isn't at the Temple," said Elizabeth. She looked at both Poles as though they were slow students. "This woman has lost much of her power, and it's because the King isn't in Carcosa any more. Well, we can't say that for absolutely certain, but given what I've seen so far, I'm sure that if he were here she'd be a lot more dangerous." "See? The King could be at the Temple," said Tomasz. "We should be certain. And Grace should die before we leave, to make doubly certain." "We can make certain without needing to go the Temple," said Memnith. "The problem we have is that we don't know where he is." "And," said Elizabeth meaningfully, "we are not killing people because we don't know what to do with them. What would that make us?" "Soldiers," said Tomasz. "Is more merciful to kill than to abandon. And safest." Elizabeth's mouth opened slightly and she stared at him. She tried to close it, but it fell back open again. "Can we find the King?" said Lord Derby. "Gates leave traces, don't they?" Memnith looked at Elizabeth for a few seconds, but she was still impersonating a goldfish and looked rather stunned. He smiled. "Well, yes," he said. "But firstly I don't know if the King used a Gate -- we know so little about him really, but we do know he possesses rather a lot of Power, and it's different to the base Power. Now that itself is not a problem -- Druids and Aztecas, for example, use different Power. For a while we thought it was a different access to the same Power, but-" "Is not time for lecture," said Tomasz. He yawned, and looked tired enough that Lord Derby suspected that it was genuine and not for effect. "...quite," said Memnith. "If he used a Gate, then maybe, Ernest. But if he used something else, then probably not." "So what do we do then?" Szymon's voice surprised everyone, and they looked at him to find he'd sat down, his knees up by his chin and tired brown eyes watching them sleepily. "Sounds like everything is wrong." "Everything is," said Tomasz, sitting down next to him. "Just like always."
The discussion lasted another five minutes, with the soldiers refusing to take part. Finally Lord Derby held up a hand. "Right," he said. "London it is. We consign Grace to somewhere secure and warn the guards that she's very dangerous and might have access to the King's Power unpredictably. We pick up this Druid friend of yours, Andy-" Memnith winced, just a little theatrically, "-and we come back and see if we can track the King. If that fails, we wait for him to return. If he doesn't return then we go back to London and plan from there." "There are details," said Memnith sounding thoughtful. He caught Lord Derby's eye. "But," he said quickly, "as an overall statement, it sounds good. Elizabeth, would you do the honours of opening a Gate back home, please?"
Hah, I like Szymon. He's not replacing Samual or anything like that, mostly because you'll probably find a way to kill him off, but I'm enjoying his addition to things.
2 comments:
Still no "Splat!" as a prompt then?
The opening
"The King will be at his Temple," said Szymon. He was still standing a little away from the group as though uncertain as to his welcome. Between him and the mages was Tomasz, and Lord Derby's bright eyes had already noticed that Szymon maintained that. There was a definite suggestion that he didn't trust people using magic. "We should go there."
"This would allow us to find Samual as well," added Tomasz. "This is efficient."
"But the King isn't at the Temple," said Elizabeth. She looked at both Poles as though they were slow students. "This woman has lost much of her power, and it's because the King isn't in Carcosa any more. Well, we can't say that for absolutely certain, but given what I've seen so far, I'm sure that if he were here she'd be a lot more dangerous."
"See? The King could be at the Temple," said Tomasz. "We should be certain. And Grace should die before we leave, to make doubly certain."
"We can make certain without needing to go the Temple," said Memnith. "The problem we have is that we don't know where he is."
"And," said Elizabeth meaningfully, "we are not killing people because we don't know what to do with them. What would that make us?"
"Soldiers," said Tomasz. "Is more merciful to kill than to abandon. And safest."
Elizabeth's mouth opened slightly and she stared at him. She tried to close it, but it fell back open again.
"Can we find the King?" said Lord Derby. "Gates leave traces, don't they?"
Memnith looked at Elizabeth for a few seconds, but she was still impersonating a goldfish and looked rather stunned. He smiled. "Well, yes," he said. "But firstly I don't know if the King used a Gate -- we know so little about him really, but we do know he possesses rather a lot of Power, and it's different to the base Power. Now that itself is not a problem -- Druids and Aztecas, for example, use different Power. For a while we thought it was a different access to the same Power, but-"
"Is not time for lecture," said Tomasz. He yawned, and looked tired enough that Lord Derby suspected that it was genuine and not for effect.
"...quite," said Memnith. "If he used a Gate, then maybe, Ernest. But if he used something else, then probably not."
"So what do we do then?" Szymon's voice surprised everyone, and they looked at him to find he'd sat down, his knees up by his chin and tired brown eyes watching them sleepily. "Sounds like everything is wrong."
"Everything is," said Tomasz, sitting down next to him. "Just like always."
The discussion lasted another five minutes, with the soldiers refusing to take part. Finally Lord Derby held up a hand.
"Right," he said. "London it is. We consign Grace to somewhere secure and warn the guards that she's very dangerous and might have access to the King's Power unpredictably. We pick up this Druid friend of yours, Andy-" Memnith winced, just a little theatrically, "-and we come back and see if we can track the King. If that fails, we wait for him to return. If he doesn't return then we go back to London and plan from there."
"There are details," said Memnith sounding thoughtful. He caught Lord Derby's eye. "But," he said quickly, "as an overall statement, it sounds good. Elizabeth, would you do the honours of opening a Gate back home, please?"
Greg - no.
Hah, I like Szymon. He's not replacing Samual or anything like that, mostly because you'll probably find a way to kill him off, but I'm enjoying his addition to things.
Also - hurrah for a return to London!
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