Leaks in the Noose | Refresh

Easy Lies | S 1 ♦ M 4

It was now very late in the evening, and the Kadlaw brood's long-held duggae servant, Hunnel Kardin, was delicately making his way into the young master Erinde's chambers after having spent an extended period attempting to gain access through knocking.

"Eri..." Kardin repeated, moving further past the double doors into the expansive space. "My apologies for disturbing you. This is really quite important."

The great square room was weakly lit by a loose series of candles placed idly about the floor as well as the six—out of the sixty—bracketed candles encasing the room; their dancing lights now odd and disparate in this cluttered expanse with so few kin to share their breath. Still, they lent Kardin flashes of the palatial bedding at the far side of the room, undulating now like a choppy sea beneath a lightning storm. Ecstatic sounds of lechery splashed out from the writhing mess, arriving at all volumes and in fierce enough succession to drown out any attempt from the soft-voiced servant; who still continued his own stream of half-hearted attempts, nonetheless, as he edged forward.

"Young Master... Master Erinde... I really must speak with you."

"What do you need from Erinde?" a dense and patient voice sounded from just behind Kardin.

It rattled the servant, who'd uncomfortably flinched, as well as managing to get the attention of Erinde; now beginning to dislodge himself from the bedding with a series of fierce, jerking motions. It let him clash with the far gentler silhouettes that his still unaware sheet mates were casting beside him before he began batting their shapes with slack arms and hurried whispers to stop and leave, never letting his gaze fall from the source of his sudden alarm.

"My most sincere apologies, Axis Ojine. I did what I could to inform your son but you ha—"

"I understand, Kardin. Tell me now what you meant to tell my son. And I suppose I can only wish that my son will be present for your words."

The old Axis Ojine strolled over to a large, dark-wood armoire and pulled out a candle from its bracket. He then began making his way around the wall lighting all the candles that had been skipped. His sudden appearance and present actions were gradually infusing a narcotic level of anxiety into everyone present. They could partially make out his tightly wrapped cloak of burnt grey when it wasn't just a flickering silhouette. It grew clearer and clearer as the Axis moved down the wall towards the bed until the gaunt figure was hovering at the side opposite of Erinde's guests; a boy and two girls who'd been frantically dressing and were now making their way towards the door. Erinde himself had partially dressed though hadn't found his undergarments, so he'd seated himself in bed with a sheet wrapped around his waist.

"Kardin?" he asked again in a tired drawl.

"Oh, yes, I am so sorry, my great. The message is from Nalunteddi Ayom, the much exalted blue hat commander, and this is as she has written, 'Erinde of the Kadlaw brood, son of the Axis of Sintal, you are to travel immediately to the southern lands to meet with myself, Nalunteddi Ayom, so that I may prepare you for a diplomatic mission. Your presence is not negotiable, and there is to be no delay in your arrival. Due to its size, I don't anticipate any trouble in locating the Grand Excursion force. I expect your presence by the next moon.' The message finished with her mark and the approximate location of where the Grand Excursion force is expected at that time." Kardin had spoke slowly and with clear trepidation, afterwards, lowering his head and taking a step back, avoiding the mortified gaze of Erinde.

The Axis, however, appeared almost delighted, his thin lips carving the lightest grin into his cold and waxy features. After a moment, he let out a few faint yet deep laughs.

"How wonderful," announced Ojine. "Here I was believing that whatever message you'd slipped off to deliver my son must surely bode ill for me... yet what a treat." The Axis stooped down and picked up a pair of long tights then tossed them at his son before walking over to one of the large chairs surrounding a table in front of the room's unlit hearth. "To suffer such a craven child and to receive such a blessing..." He let out another deep laugh. "My instincts had me bracing for something horrid, some new curse."