Aramora

Chapter 8: Innocence

Malachi growls and shakes his head. "We're not going anywhere. We need this fragment," he states and crosses his arms. Socles glances over at one of her guards and nods.

The next thing they know, they're outside of the palace as the massive doors slam shut behind them, leaving them standing on the stone steps in the cool autumn air. Naomi chuckles. "It's just like being in school again..." She sighs and turns to the others. "So what now?" she asks.

Malachi grumbles. "We should just stay in town and try again tomorrow. We can't leave without the fragment," he says.

Nesosa laughs and shakes her head. "Bugger that! Ah say we just storm the place 'n' take it by force!" she shouts and draws her blade.

Naomi holds up her hands and takes a step back. "I will not be an accessory to murder, but I'll bail you outta jail when this goes south," she says.

Malachi grumbles. "We're not using force. Put that damn thing away before we get kicked out of the city next. We need to just lay low," he says.

Naomi sighs. "But even if we do try again tomorrow, how do you plan on convincing her? She seemed pretty set on her choice," she questions. Lavern shakes his head and stares at the doors.

"She can't help us; she doesn't have the fragment," he states and turns to face them.

Naomi eyes him curiously. "What? How do you know?" she asks.

Lavern snickers. "Come on, she had so many tells she might as well have just shouted it at us," he says.

Malachi crosses his arms. "Explain," he demands.

Lavern shrugs and leans his back against the stone wall of the keep beside the door. "When you mentioned the fragment would save Aramora, her calm demeanor crumbled. Her eyes held guilt. Regret. Her name doesn't have 'Hu' in it for nothing. She's kind. She wants to help people. If that's the case, then why does she refuse to help us? And her choice of words when she tried justifying herself was that she 'can't give us the fragment', not that she won't. This isn't a matter of 'public image', she won't help because she actually can't," he explains.

Naomi smiles and chuckles. "Damn, Lavern... you really picked all that up?" she asks.

Lavern shrugs again and winks. "Remember, you're talking to a professional Cle of Balmoral. I've learnt a thing or two in regards to reading people," he says.

Nesosa sighs and puts her greatsword away. "Fine then. We won't storm the palace. But what dae we dae next then?" she asks.

Malachi sighs. "We need to find out what she did with the fragment. Any ideas, boy?" he asks.

Lavern groans with a smirk. "Really? I thought that much you could figure out on your own."

He motions around the city. "We're in Balmoral; the city of thieves. It's no secret who really runs this place. Not the queen up in her castle, but the rats pulling the strings beneath our feet. The guild has had the throne on a tight leash for longer than anyone can remember. If something as rare and powerful as a Schism Fragment is just laying around in this city, sooner or later it will fall into the hands of Guild Master Cle'Mishari Nessan."

Naomi nods as she begins to understand. "So, we need to talk to the Guild Master?" she asks.

Lavern nods as well. "That's right. She's my boss, but I'm sure I could talk her into it. But something you should know about her is that her only love is numis, no matter what it takes to get it in her hands. Keep that in mind for future reference, but it's probably best you let me do most of the talking," he explains.