Hamis 17th, 2719
SOMEWHERE DEEP WITHIN THE PENDULUM CLUB | LATE EVENING
SOMEWHERE DEEP WITHIN THE PENDULUM CLUB | LATE EVENING
Damen D’Arthe shuffled in his seat, uncomfortable as he sat in the dark, silent room. He’d been sitting there for a good ten minutes after being shown in by a young scrap, and now he was getting impatient. Azmus had told him to attend, that the Overseer was going to be present, but so far the person in the chair hadn’t said a thing. And Azmus was late.
And it stank. Someone had been burning incense in the room but they must be under the lavatories in the Pendulum or something because by the Gods it stank.
“…and don’t stop till every suspected house in this clocking city and Brunnhold is turned upside down. Do you understand?” An angry voice hissed from the other side of the closed office door, before the man of the hour burst in, still dressed in his court room robes. William Azmus slammed the door shut, storming in and leaning his hands heavily on the desktop.
“How could this happen?” He said with a growl, addressing the figure in the red chair, not at all bothering to acknowledge Damen’s presence. His ramscott field was drenched with rage, and something else. Something far more unusual.
It was laced with panic and fear.
From the chair, the figure spoke, though it sounded far far away and odd. Artificially deep, a little static. Damen couldn’t pick it, a man or a woman? He shooed a stray insect away from his face with a wave.
“I might ask you the same question, William. You know as well as I do, that we would never give the goods up so easily. Our agreement was her disappearance, for your cooperation. My people say that the kidnappers were like hatchers in the night. They took down two guards, one a galdori, and the Brothers own banderwolves. It was as if, they knew exactly what to look for, William.” The High Judge snorted, straightening and waving his arm.
“Are you accusing me of kidnapping her myself, that is preposterous! If it were me, she’d be dead on the floor, like I should have done in the first place.” Damen reached out with curiosity, sensing no field there before him. Were they dealing with a human? A passive? Impossible, totally impossible. The voice from the chair spoke again, with a calm that didn’t reach the room.
“You’ve been trying to turn the table for years. The Order of the Pendulum provide you with a sound and profitable business opportunity, we hide your mess, not to mention the extras over the years like the passives and humans in your experiments, and in return you turn a blind eye to our on-goings. Which I might add has been rather disappointing. Have you found Benjamin yet?” Azmus looked at Damen for answers, to which the captain cleared his throat.
“No, Overseer, we have not. The conclusion must ultimately be that someone has murdered him and disp—” The voice cut him off.
“Must it? Or must it be that Benjamin fled, having clued onto the leverage he could have should he find and kidnap the girl?” The room fell silent again, everyone thinking it through for a moment, before Azmus broke the tense silence.
“Regardless, where do we go from here? This cannot go public, at all. If it does, I’ll be ruined, and I will bring your Order down with me.” From the seat, the voice was quiet for far too long, before it spoke again.
“Is that a threat, William? Because even without the physical evidence in our possession, the Order still holds a great deal of information about the great and honorable William Azmus and his friends. It would be a shame were that all to fall into the wrong hands.” The High Judge frowned.
“You would never. You need me and my Cadre to keep our backs turned whilst your pets do business.” The words were confident, but the tone was not, and the Overseer knew it. A long, sinister laugh came from the chair, growing in volume and length until it was almost manic. Azmus stormed around the desk and turned the chair, dragging his hands back in shock. Damen jumped back from his chair, swearing and drawing his field back.
Facing the two men was what appeared to be a Seventen officer, though Damen could not recognize the face so badly mutilated it was. He only recognized the uniform, and the snaps, so well pressed and clean in contrast to his bloodied face. The officer was dead, stone cold dead, and had been for a while now. In his lap was a slightly crimson scrystone, swirling with mist of deception, the laughter ringing tinny from within.
“Don’t be so bold William. I need you for naught. Where one man falls, another will take his place. You presume too much importance High Judge. Once upon a time, yes once I needed you. But my Order has grown, it has wings and it flies over Anaxas like the great Aerra, calling others to its collective. You are a welcome ally, but you are not my master.” William Azmus dragged a kerchief from his pocket, holding it over his nose, whilst Damen dry wretched as the smell now hit him. Large blowflies buzzed lazily around the man, and their larvae had begun to burrow from the wounds.
“I ask again, Overseer, what now?” The Judge asked in a muffled voice, his eyes unable to leave the mangled corpse, hands pulling his robes together as though to ward him from the sight. The voice stopped laughing, and the quiet settled on them again.
“We need to tread carefully, until such time your spawn is found and returned to the Order’s care. I suspect if anyone had anything to do with this, it was Jon Serro and his crew. You did destroy an entire township in his name. Not the wisest of decisions in my opinion.” Damen looked at Azmus, before finding his voice in front of the stone.
“You think the Resistance knew about the girl, about where to find her?” The voice in the stone hummed in affirmation.
“That would mean that someone in our entrust, someone who knows enough, is betraying us. Somewhere in your ranks, or ours, we have a spy for the Resistance.” William Azmus’ face darkened, and he looked at Damen.
“I want everyone questioned within your ranks D’Arthe. Every single one. I will handle those in my employee. Proper questioning, you understand? I want the truth, even if it kills them. And Overseer, what about your people?” The voice chuckled again quietly.
“What makes you think I haven’t already started? Officer Monroe here wasn’t quite as helpful as we would have liked, but no matter. Plenty more where that came from.” A brief pause, before the voice spoke again.
“Good luck gentleman. I expect we shall have our mole soon enough. For now, business as usual. I will reach out again should we find her first.” With that, the stone went cold. Azmus stared at it for a moment, before turning to Damen and coming close, his field bolstering in the dark room till it pressed against the very walls.
“I want a list of every single suspected Resistance member, in Vienda in Brunnhold in clocking Bastia I don’t care, but be discrete. We need to find her, but if Serro suspects we’re onto him, if we start to pull his people I have no doubt he will go public. If he has her. I will put something in the paper, that we have leads on Dorhaven, and that people with information about possible Resistance members should speak up immediately. It might be enough to cause the ersehole to misstep.” The Bastian looked at his superior, considering his words carefully before speaking.
“And if it’s not the Resistance?” His eyes flicked to the dead officer in the red chair, before looking back again. High Judge Azmus raised a brow, smiling slowly.
“We shall cross that bridge when we get to it.”
