[Mkguild] Life As We Know It XXXX

[Jack Moore]

AN: Some days loneliness is almost crippling.  Today was one of them.
Writing for me means getting into the mindset of my characters and today
that really hurt today. I hope some people read this.

The room was as we left it; dusty, dark and covered in dust.  I lit the
candles again and we took our seats.  All our notes from the last day lay
in a pile, but at least not covered in ink.  Remmie pulled out her list of
books from the library.
“You said you found some of these in her room?” Remmie asked.
“Yes, the most in depth ones on the curse.” I said.  “Marked with pieces of
parchment on important pages.  I have an idea what it means but…something
is wrong.”
“You mean with my list?” Remmie asked.  I shook my head.
“No, I mean with the room.” I leaned back in my chair.  “I found an ink
well, a set of quills, those books, three metal plates with hair on them,
melted candles and a few burned out tapers”
“The usual stuff you find when staying up night studying.” Remmie said.
“You usually keep hair samples with you?” I asked.  “Look, I know what she
is doing.  Or at least I think I do.  I think you do too.”  Remmie glanced
up and gave me her theory.  I nodded.  “That’s what I’m thinking too.  But
something is missing.”
“I believe Chammomile worked for that Nas...Nos...whatever guy.” Remmie
said.
“As do I.  Do I believe she’s a killer?  I don’t know about that.”  I said.
 “What do you remember about the Assault last Yule?”  She laughed.
“Uh I killed lutin.  A whole lot of lutin?  I took a blow to my head.”
Remmie said.  “I uh I didn’t like it.  It was chaotic and…it was really
scary.  And a lot of people died.”  She swallowed.  “A whole lot of
people.”  I nodded.
“It was a horrible experience for us.” I said.  “But it was a horrible one
for those on Nasoj’s side as well.  We killed his mages, his mercinaries,
anyone high ranking of his we could get ahold of.”
“Yes what about it?” Remmie asked.
“Well, why didn’t we kill Chamomile?” I asked.  “If she really was there
for the whole of the Assault like she claims, how is she still here?  Why
are we arresting her almost four months later, instead of cutting off her
head?”
“Don’t ask me how this works.” Remmie said, “I’m just a Warden.  Ask the
guys in charge, they’re the ones who would know.”  I nodded.  “You don’t
think she was there the whole time do you?”
“No.  She knows how the Assault began but not how Assault ended.” I said.
 “She didn’t even know what day the Assault ended.  Again had she been
there that day, she’d have been killed herself.”
“Maybe she got away then in the chaos…” Remmie said, “Except why would she
come back?  That doesn’t make any sense.”  She sighed.  “She didn’t have to
be here to do what we think she did.  Janie, if I didn’t know any better,
I’d think that woman wanted to die.”
“Oh not think” I said, “That woman wants to die.  But it’s the how that
interests me.  Chamomile means to be executed by us.”  Both our heads
drooped in unison.  “And we can’t trust her for information because every
word out of her mouth is lies.  If this is her goal, she will stick to it
until it is accomplished.”
“Well, we can’t quit can we?” Remmie’s head perked up, a little smile on
her face.  “We’re the Watch, the Lantern and all that?  We gotta find the
truth and stuff in the lies?” I smiled back.
“Yes we do.” I said.  “Thank you for reminding me Warden.” I stood up.
 “Let’s go speak to the witnesses again and see if we can find some new
information.”  Remmie’s eyes darted down to my lap.  “What is it Warden?”
“You got a big black stain on your crotch.” Remmie said.  “You spill ink on
yourself?” I sighed.
“Not exactly.  I was making some notes about the case when Kaysar spilled…”
My fingers drifted to the stain.
“Janie?”
“Ink…” I whispered.  “It's that simple.”  I laughed.  All this time my
thought process had been blocked by such a simple obstical.  But now I saw
it.  “Oh Eli I know what was missing from that room! Remmie, we found an
ink well right?”  She nodded.  “We found quills, we found research
materials.  What did we not find?”
“Uh parchment?” Remmie asked.
“Parchment, a journal, notes of any kind.” I said.  “If Chamomile is
running an experiment, she would have been taking notes.”  I rushed out of
the room, Remmie following closely behind.  Tibble’s head popped up as I
rushed in like a storm.
“Corporal is something the matter?” Tibble asked, “The prisoner is still
locked up.”
“I know she is.” I said.  “When we brought Chamomile in, you took
everything she had on her.  Did she have a notebook?”  Tibble raised an
eyebrow.
“Excuse me?  You mean like”
“Like a small journal, or any parchment at all?” I asked.  “Anything to
write on?”  Tibble shook his head.  “Then, it’s in her room at the inn.”  I
could see it now.  “Thank you Seargent.”
“No problem Corporal.” He said.  “I hope it helps.”  I stood up and
signaled Remmie.  It had helped, more than he could imagine.
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