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Confessions
It was close to midnight when all inhabitants of the Brigshack had gathered around the big table for dinner. All, except for Turglind of course and the empty chair sadly indicated the fact. The two apprentices were showered with questions by Khozo Mas who well remembered her first days with the Order. Eagerly Lillyveen chatted away in her usual colourful and rapid rain of words, accompanied with vivid gestures that soon Martha fetched everything on the table within the girls reach into safety. Lendear listen only half-heartedly, his mind was on the upcoming conversation with his teacher. He was sure that shortly after dinner he would be called to his masters study and there he would receive his blessings. But he was quite wrong about it as Thealdi, who, after patiently hearing out the tales of Lillyveen addressed the party:
“My dear friends, what great joy to learn about the initiations and first training phases of Martha and Lillyveen. I thank you for the elaborate report.”
He turned to the girl, bowed his head slightly and continued, leaving her in high colours, thus causing quite some amusement and mumbled assents around the table. “Apparently there is another story to be told. Let us hear what Lendear has in stock for us.”
He had turned to the boy, fixing him with his stare, his expression now unreadable. Lendear joined Lillyveen in the changing of his faces colour, suddenly his mouth had gone dry, heart hammering against his ribcage. He was mightily relieved, when after what had seemed like an eternity, the Thealdi smile appeared on the old mans face. So in exchange for a ranting session, the old man seemingly had decided to make him own up to his silliness in public. If that was to be his punishment so be it and he began to tell his tale.
He relayed the encounters with the shop owner, the street gang and his escape from the city grounds into the Thari Cees mountains, only interrupted once by the old man who had wondered how the boy had been able to leave the grounds of Brougoth unnoticed. Khozo Mas made a mental note of the fact, determined to investigate the matter at a later time.
Finally Lendears story found its end with the fall that had almost cost him his life.
An awkward stillness fell, eyes avoiding contact, no one seemed to either find the courage or the right words to break the silence. Thealdi knew quite well what he wanted to say, but he decided to let the boy stew in his own juice for a little while. Khozo Mas had asked him not to take it too hard on the boy and he was willing to adhere to her request, but a little punishment he felt was called for. He let the moment linger, then finally decided for a change of moods and announced:
“A toast to the Ladies who successfully mastered their initiation. And a toast to our young Master Lendear, who has without a doubt learned a great lesson. We shall see his little mishap as a worthy experience and may it aid in hardening the character of our Messenger to be.”
He raised his glass and mightily relieved the entire congregation answered with likewise gestures, everyone taking in more than just the courtesy nap. Soon the room was filled with laughter, even Lendear found some ease and slowly regained his composure and after a while even found the bravery to chat with Lillyveen, his affection for the young girl ever increasing. The worries concerning the whereabouts of Turglind momentarily forgotten, the party celebrated their reunion to hours well past midnight.

“It has come to the attention of the High Council that you have been involved in business that could place great harm on the folk of the Gemlats, who are guided and guarded by us, the High Archmages, members of this tribunal. The accusations against you weigh heavy and it is this Councils will and duty to explore and extract the truth.”
Groonhark Minh opened the session in the Great Hall where the High Council had gathered to hear out the shop owner. According to the report, Thealdi had given him when he had handed over the shop owner, this villain had indeed subjected the Gemlat empire to great risk and Groonhark Minh was determined to gather the whole story so he could plan the necessary counter measures. The punishment for the traitor was not too much of a concern at present, the High Council would see to that at the given time. What he needed now was the background intelligence on the matter and he needed it quickly.
“You may speak now. Leave out nothing.”
He needed the shop owner to tell the story out of free will as only that would guarantee that no detail was left undiscovered. They had the means to force every answer out of the accused, but that always bore the risk of vital nuances being left undiscovered as there was no guarantee that they would be asking all the right questions.
“My Lord, I am only a small trader! I was never meaning no harm to our folk, you must have received some bogus information!”, the shop owner proclaimed sounding quite offended, yet there was an underlying notion of arrogance swinging in. Apparently he was quite sure that he would get away unscratched, whatever gave him such confidence however was still beyond the inquisitor.
“The accusations against you come from a trustworthy source and as long as you cannot prove them to be false, they will stand. You were in the possession of an item that truly belongs to someone else. We are not debating a simply theft, what we are investigating is the motives that led you into your actions. Consider yourself warned, you just insulted the intelligence of this Court and this was your first and only attempt. We shall give you a little time to reconsider and next time you speak before us, you might want to offer some true insights. You will be detained until the Court sees fit to continue the hearing.”
Motioning one of the guards, Groonhark Minh ordered the shop owner to be taken down to the dungeons, where a windowless prison cell was waiting for him. A few days in total darkness with nothing but a little stale water and a wide assortment of four, six and eight legged inhabitants would probably help to change the shop owners mind about what he wanted to tell the Court.
It was only the next morning that the shop owner had had enough. He yelled for the guards to be released and taken before the Court. Days! They had said a couple of days would give him time to reconsider. Not another hour would he survive in this place.
The night had been horrible, not only was he subjected to total darkness, but the stench of the place was unbearable. A mixture of decay, the odours of fresh and old excrements, rotten and mildewed walls and ceiling wavered in the cell and clung to him as if they were alive and determined to swallow him. The guards had taken his clothes and naked as he stood, he was trembling from cold and revulsion.
Rats had seen in him a welcome variety to their standard menu and he had suffered numerous bites. Only when he had managed to kill one, had he been granted a few moments of peace, by the sound of it his victim being mauled by its fellows. Spiders and insects of all sorts bugged him, drinking his blood from the many bites he had received and adding a wide variety of stings, nips and bites to the wounds inflicted by the rodents. The floor was wet and muddy, the ceiling too low to stand upright so he had been forced to a bent position, soon developing a soaring pain in his back. Laying down had been out of the question, the ground being the main source of the horrendous reeks rendered the option all but impossible.
He heard a key turning in the lock of his door and when it swung open, the sudden flash of light stung his eyes and with a yell he quickly covered his face. The guards dragged him into another room, he heard the ripple of water, but dared not take his hands from his eyes which probably still hadn’t adjusted to the light well enough. The next thing he realized was two strong arms gripping him, lifting him off the floor and thrusting him forward. With a mighty splash he fell into a water basin and after overcoming the initial shock of the cold water, he started to frantically rub his body, trying to wash off the rot and smell from his prison cell.
When he finally dared to open his eyes, he made out the outlines of one of the guards standing by with some clothes, indifferently waiting for him to finish his cleansing.
His stomach gave auditable testimonial of his collywobbles, but nothing had been offered to him, probably just part of the treatment they had arranged for him. Back in the Great Hall, the Court was already assembled and the abbot opened the session.
“So you have made up your mind after all. Well then, shall we?”
The previous evening, the shop owner had still been determined to withhold the truth and he had been sure to be able to wiggle himself out of it. But the night in the prison cell not only had left physical traces in form of the uncounted bites, but something deep down in his soul had cracked. He no longer cared about anything. Not the possible punishment from the strangers who had started it all, nor whatever thing the Court would decide as penalisation. Even death had lost its menace and so he began his relation and eventually the whole story was revealed to the High Council.

A loud screech indicated the falcons return from his mission. Thealdi who had just finished to prepare breakfast and about to retreat to his study, turned and quickly crossed the main hall to let the bird in. He was still wondering on how he would communicate with Parvilmus as understanding was only half of the price, whereas the means of how the bird was to relay information still lay in the dark when Khozo Mas appeared. She too had heard the falcon and had hurried down to greet him.
“Good morning, you two”, she greeted the ones in attendance, stepping over to the chair on which the bird was perched, stroking his head briefly, then turned to the old man and offered him a brief hug.
“Good morning to you, my dear”, Thealdi responded and added:
“Well, now that Parvilmus has returned, I’m quite eager to learn what he might have discovered, albeit I’m at a loss of how I might achieve it.”
He faced Khozo Mas with raised eyebrows and earned himself an almost pitiful smile.
“Oh, that is quite easy, am I not right, Parvilmus?”
The bird answered with a rapid vertical seesaw of his whole body accompanied by a loud screech. Both Khozo Mas and Thealdi couldn’t help but sniggering at the sight, however quickly turned solemn again as neither wanted to give a notion of indignity.
“Dear Parvilmus, did you happen to spot those strangers, Miglim had told us about?”, Thealdi began his investigations.
The bird repeated his up-and-downs to express his assent and the old man, now all excited asked:
“Yakhaths?“
More he couldn’t muster, his worst fears about to be confirmed he held his breath.
Parvilmus seesawed yet again.