fandomhigh | The Library: Friday [26.10]

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The Library: Friday [26.10]

Karal, coffee in hand for the first time in a very long time, opened the library. He was a little distracted, so it took him longer than it usually did.

But finally it was open and he settled behind the desk, sipping at his coffee gratefully. And fidgeting. A lot.

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He laughed a little at that and rested his forehead on the heel of his hand. "I-- Yes, and no. I want to do something that may possibly be very stupid, and I can't do it alone," he replied. "Do you remember I told you of the Imperial soldiers in Hardorn? How they are cut off from their Empire and are outside the Alliance's protections?"

"Yeah," Gavin said, nodding. "You're not...going to join them or something, are you?"

Karal's mouth dropped open and he stared for a moment. "No! Glory, no! Though Altra thinks it is nearly as stupid as that," he added, and the Firecat rumbled in response. "It was my suggestion that the Alliance consider opening negotiations with them that saw me labelled a traitor. All of that was dealt with, and any lingering suspicions were wiped away when Solaris arrived." He sighed. "The other thing which was wiped away was any chance of those Imperials ever being approached by the Alliance."

"I'm with you," Gavin said slowly, trying to figure out where this was going.

Karal rubbbed his forehead. "There are people, Companions, who are certain that the final solution, the permanent barrier to the mage storms will have to involve Hardorn, and that is the country they have occupied. Conditions are desperate over there, for the Imperials and the Hardornens both. But no one on the Grand Council would ever consider offering them a place in the Alliance. So my thought was that...maybe the Alliance could go to them. Maybe I could go to them. If the Imperials approached the Grand Council, then they would have to listen."

"You want to go into a potentially dangerous situation without any knowledge of what could be waiting for you, without any weapons...by yourself?"

He didn't even let Karal answer. "Hell no."

Altra started purring. Loudly. Karal ignored him. "No, no I am not that foolish." And ignore that he'd been considering that exact thing last night.

Which would have been easier had Altra not chimed in with, :He was going to do it. It's the only reason I agreed to help him with this.:

"If you think about that again, I'll hit you," Gavin threatened. Who knows if he meant it.

Altra purred louder, looking at Gavin with distinct approval.

Karal shook his head. "I won't! If it were any other circumstance, I would just send Altra with the message tube! But the man in charge, Grand Duke Tremane, I've been watching him all week in a scrying stone. Jaina helped me think of it, to do reconnaissance to find someone to approach. He is a good leader, he cares for his people and for the townsfolk under his care. He went out into the freezing snow after lost children, Gavin, into drifts higher than your head!" Karal stopped and took a deep breath and another. "He is the perfect person, except--" And he couldn't get the words out.

"Except what?" Gavin prodded. "He sounds like a good commander, one in charge of both the military side and the personal side of a command. What's wrong?"

"Except he was the one who ordered the assassinations." His voice was barely above a whisper. "The artist, the agent at court, who murdered Ulrich. It was Tremane who gave the order."

Gavin fell quiet, processing that information.

"So..." He trailed of when the first attempt at words failed. "This is a personal thing for you?"

Karal clenched his hands together so tightly his knuckles went white. "I have to know why. Why he did it. I can't, I won't invite someone to open negotiations who cannot be trusted. I have to talk with him, I have to." It was personal, deeply, deeply personal. "I have to know, Gavin. I have to know why he did it."

"You planning on doing this alone too?"

"Not if you'll help me." He turned to look directly at Gavin, eyes pleading. "Altra says he can bring him here, Jump him here, but I need your help. Altra can block his magic, can cast the tell-me-true spell on him, but Jumping twice between worlds will tire him. Tremane will still be able to move, and he is a soldier. I thought, if you could fire your blaster, he would think it was magic, a weapon. It would keep him still while I question him. And you know about the military, where I don't."

"I was going to come even if you didn't ask me," Gavin said, nodding. "So, yeah, I'll come. I'll help you."

He'd never doubted it; it was why he hadn't wanted to ask. "Thank you. Thank you, Gavin." Karal sagged forward, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off him. "It was Altra's idea, to bring him here, but I don't know when..."

Altra stared at them both, tail lashing and ears flat. :Tomorrow. Tomorrow at dawn. Out in the Preserve.:

"There's your answer," Gavin said and almost laughed. Altra had such timing.

Karal smiled, just a little, but it faded. "I, there is one other thing I have to ask," he said seriously. "Tomorrow, if I ask you to do something...stupid, to harm Tremane, don't listen. No matter the provocation, he needs to return safely to Hardorn."

"I will," he said and nodded. "It'll take a lot to get me to do something to him so don't worry. You won't reach that point."

Right now, he wasn't sure he trusted himself, but he did trust Gavin. It was enough to make him smile properly. "Thank you," he said again. "I think I'll be saying that to you a lot."

Altra still didn't look pleased, but he'd settled down to a low pitched grumbling.

"What are you doing tonight?" Gavin asked suddenly.

Karal blinked and answered honestly. "Sitting in my room and worrying, I'd imagine."

"No, you're not," Gavin said. "We're going to Jim's party."

"We are?" He blinked again, not arguing. "Jim is having a party?"

"Birthday," he said quietly. "Surprise though. We should go support our fellow gremlin bite victim, after all."

It did sound better than sitting in his room. "You're absolutely correct, we should," he decided. "So we'll go. Just no coloured drinks, please."

"And no gremlins," Gavin added.

"And no singing." He frowned. "Unless we should? It is his birthday."

"If we sing, it'll be quietly so everyone drowns us out," Gavin decided.

He nodded in agreement. "We can pretend to sing. No one will notice if we aren't actually making noise."

"Exactly," Gavin said and grinned.

Karal rubbed his forehead again, then let everything go, at least for now, and grinned back, bumping his shoulder against Gavin's. "I think this will actually be fun."

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The Library: Friday [26.10]

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