Of Light, Life and Liches

[Another_Poet]

Radley

Hearing Seristra's certainty, Radley withdraws a folded slip of vellum from within his vest. Unfolding it, it looks a slightly different colour and texture from normal vellum. There is clearly a large arcane diagramme on it in some kind of flaking brownish ink. In the places where the ink has flaked entirely off, a sort of bruise-coloured stain remains on the vellum, like a poorly done tattoo.

In his other hand Radley holds a handkerchief, which he holds to his mouth long enough to wet with a bit of his spit. Then he uses his spit-touched handkerchief to drive a big X through the diagramme. Dust rises from it and he intones several words, which in Old Common mean "I cast aside." Suddenly the entire diagramme vanishes in a puff of smoke and the vellum falls to the floor in four pieces, as it if suddenly tore through along its folds.

Radley shakes his head. "Back to the torture I tried to rescue you from, Cal..." he mutters. He looks up at Seristra with sad eyes. "I had such high hopes for him."

But he sees that he'll get no sympathy from her quarter and so he simply shakes his head, puts away his handkerchief and tries to focus on the matter at hand.

"Our country is not some backwater barony," he says with renewed confidence. "Even if the entire court was gathered around his Majesty, there are cousins, sons and daughters in fosterage or boarding schools, dukes sent away as foreign ambassadors, generals and lieutenants, families away on processions... I don't pretend to know all their calendars, being mere bourgeois myself. But surely there are hundreds of our nobles scattered about the lands of Druth and our various neighbours. In any normal circumstance, the death of the whole court would mean our biggest worry is all the rest of them fighting over succession. As it is, it may be a blessing that there are so many scattered here and there - they surely have more clout abroad than I do."

"Regarding the survivors, my companions and I have discussed that. I will be taking all those who cannot fight and trying to get them to a safer nation. The others will remain here to try to aid in whatever we can do against Darvis. As soon as the survivors as safe, I'll return with whatever news and aid I can bring."

He does turn an eye toward Orrum and the others, as if to make sure that what he said is in accord with their understanding after the earlier conversation. He's painfully aware that he doesn't necessarily speak for the whole group.