Legacy: Beyond the Veil

The Captain-emissary

While him being among the scribes had reduced the unrest to mere uneasy tension, the mental lock that now affected any that had seen the information had more or less restored the status quo.

"A useful tool, yet a terrifying one." Thane muttered under his breath. It was an unnecessary precaution. He could have shouted the words at the top of the lungs if he so wished, the armor he wore would have caught up on his intentions and filtered them out either way.

"Good morning, my lord." A young scribe who found himself in his way said, beaming up at him. Thane looked down and instantly recognized that this youth, too, had been affected by the data lockdown he ordered. When he'd entered, not ten minutes prior, the boy had been nervously fidgeting with his fingers at his workstation. He had reminded Thane of a frightened animal, perhaps a rabbit, cowering in fear of a predator. Now that his knowledge had been taken from him, he seemed carefree and upbeat. The same rabbit hopping along a sunny meadow. Only the wolf was still there, hidden in the tall grass.
An old saying about blissful ignorance surfaced in Thane's thoughts, though he pushed it down with force. He could never allow himself to think along those lines, he could never think like a tyrant, lest he would become one. If the mental locks had not been Igrit's own suggestion, he would likely still be opposing the decree.

"Good morning lad." He said, knowing that it was not. For a short two seconds, Thane dug through his memories, matching the boy in front of him with the extensive family trees of those who resided on the Oracle's flagship. "You are Merkys, correct? Second son of Aryn and Imere? Great-grandson to mistress Igrit herself?" He asked, reasonably certain that he got everything right. It would be easy to pull up the ship's manifest and retrieve the boy's identity from there, but Thane took simple pride in knowing every one of the sixty-thousand faces on the Exemplar by name.
At the mention of his name, Merkys' beaming smile grew wider still. Thane was well aware of the game the youngsters of the ship liked to play with him. Merely getting him to address them was a highlight of their day. Even if he couldn't answer with a smile of his own, seeing theirs was something he never grew tired of, and one more reason why he would never cheat the game.
"Yes I am, Captain-Emissary Thane." The boy grinned. "Turning fifteen standard soon." He added, his voice laden with bravado. "Ah, so that's what this is about." Thane thought. Merkys' mention of his age, as well as the use of Thane's official title, signaled to the Equerry that the lad in front of him harbored ambitions to join the armed ranks of the Kinsworn. With that knowledge in mind, Thane unconsciously considered the boy's physique, judging whether or not he could be worthy to ascend to the Tidebreakers.
His trained eyes quickly garnered that the boy had potential, and he made a mental note for himself to expect and approve his application some time in the near future.

"Very well, lad. I hear you do your kinsname proud. I will be expecting great things from you." He said, reaching down to ruffle one armored gauntlet through the boy's scruffy hair. The very same gauntlets that had killed more sentient creatures than the boy had ever met.
Kill, Came a distant and unwelcome whisper, the voice which muttered cold like the void and unpleasant like nails scratching on a board of chalk. Thane pulled his gauntlet back at the sound of it, the harsh movement plucking a few strands of hair from the boy's scalp, though Merkys didn't seem to notice. Or, if he did, he simply hoped to prove his worth by showing no reaction to pain.

Thane absently shook his gauntlet free of the hairs that clung to it, his thoughts dwelling on the readings only he and a select few others on the ship still remembered.
"Move along now, lad. I have duties to attend to" Thane said, his attention returning to the dull glaze in Merkys' eyes which was only now starting to clear. Important as they were, he could ill afford the distraction such interactions brought with them. Especially today. Especially when the voice was lurking so close around the corner.