Bystander Day 3
The following day, Hiram decided to handle the news a little differently.
Once he had found out from the proprieter that the roads remained closed, Hiram did not return to the room and wait for Opalneria to rise, like he had the previous two mornings. Instead, he strode out of the inn toward the local Magistrate's office. He was met outside by a guard who held up his hand. "I'm sorry, sir, but we are very busy with the latest deaths and we can't..."
Hiram cut him off. "Please tell the Magistrate that Prince Hiram Courvoisier is here and wishes to speak with him at the earliest convenient time."
The guard stared at him a moment, at first annoyed at being interrupted, then shocked at what had been said to him. The guard finally turned to the other one on duty, who nodded to him, then walked inside. Hiram was left with the staring guard. He hated being stared at, but it made good practice for returning to court... which he had to do from time to time. Not that he minded the way his mother had worded the request – he missed her as well, after all – but after being in the Tower for so long as just Hiram, another magician, he found that he greatly preferred it. He hoped that his own gaze back at the guard was impassive.
The other guard came back and waved Hiram in, leading him to a room in the back that was not unlike many studies for noblemen – or men who wanted to be noblemen. The man behind the desk regarded him over steepled fingers. Hiram wondered if that was meant to intimidate him if he were an imposter.
"The prince, hmm? To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" the Magistrate asked.
"While I was hoping that you would have successfully apprehended the culprit for the crimes that you continue to hold the roads for by this morning, I awoke to find that you hadn't. As a prince of this land, I cannot simply stand by and watch any longer. I wish to help you in your investigation, if you believe that I can be of service."
The Magistrate sized up Hiram for quite a long time before responding. "No, I do not think that is wise. Either you are Prince Hiram, and therefore too important to endanger during this investigation, or lying to me, and therefore I cannot trust you." He sighed. "I actually believe you are telling the truth, though, considering what I know both of you and the crazy situation that we find ourselves in." He then suddenly looked at Hiram shrewdly. "May I ask why you haven't left yet? You know very well that I couldn't hold you here, given who you are."
"I cannot abandon my countrymen," Hiram said simply.
"That settles it, Your Highness." The Magistrate stood and bowed deeply enough that he could have kissed the papers on his desk. When he rose, he gestured for Hiram to sit in the chair facing the desk, then waited for Hiram to sit before he did. "I cannot risk your life, and it is becoming increasingly clear that risking one's life may be an inevitability in this case. I implore you to stay at the Inn as much as you can; no one staying there has been affected yet, and it may be relatively safe there."
"I might remind you that I am a Necromancer of some note, and travel with a Professor at the Silver Star Tower, who is also a Necromancer. We would be in little danger from anything but a concerted magical attack."
"I'm becoming increasingly afraid that this case involves quite a bit of magic, though as unversed in it as I am, I would not be able to tell you what kind," the Magistrate told Hiram. "I have sent a runner to the nearest member of the Mage Society, but that could take days."
"There's not a member closer?"
"There was a retired member," the Magistrate allowed. "But she was killed last night, along with several other victims."
Hiram frowned and thought a bit. Why did the Magistrate only think to call a member of the Mage Society once it was basically out of reach for several days?
"It is in no one's best interests to have you die here, Your Highness," The Magistrate said, rising. "If you would like, I will let you know if there's any magic that needs to be done that doesn't involve putting you in danger, but that's all I would feel comfortable having you do."
Hiram sighed as he rose as well. "That is a shame, Magistrate, as I would be far more prepared for a magical danger than you would be, it seems."
"But I would not be the greater loss to the Kingdom," the Magistrate said. "Please. Stay out of this, for your own safety."
Hiram bowed, then left the room, disappointed, but not all that surprised with the Magistrate's reaction.
That didn't change that he wanted to do something about the problems in Sallah, though.
When Hiram returned to the inn, he found Bartido and that young lady – Silvaner? - playing a card game at one of the tables. On a whim, he came over and sat at the table. "Morning, Bartido. I guess we're all still stuck here another day."
"Of course," Bartido replied, playing a card. "But I must stay being stuck here has advantages where there are good ladies about."
Silvaner quirked an eyebrow. "Oh, you're talking about me now?"
Bartido leaned over to Hiram, but stage whispered. "She's a tough nut to crack."
Silvaner huffed.
"Miss... Silvaner, was it?" Hiram asked.
"Gertrude, please."
"Gertrude, then," Hiram allowed. "May I ask what you are doing in Sallah that unfortunately got you stuck here?"
She shrugged. "Just passing through. I never intended on staying here for more than a few days, but I ended up staying one day too many. It's hard when you don't have the opportunity to stay at such a nice inn every night."
"You're not sticking to the road?" Bartido asked. "I mean, that's too bad. To the west, I'd be able to escort you along for a while, and Hiram east, since he's heading to the Silver Star Tower."
"Oh, you're headed home, Bartido?" Hiram asked.
"Yeah," Bartido said as Gertrude played her next card. "Home to visit the family, pass messages back from the crown, take new ones from ours. The whole life of a diplomat thing. I'm in this town quite a bit, it seems. It's nice, though since I have a few friends in town."
"Like that cousin of yours you were telling me about," Gertrude said, stopping Bartido in his tracks as he tried to play a card. A moment later the card slapped to the table deliberately.
"Cousin?" Hiram asked. "I didn't know that there was anyone in this town related to you, Bartido?"
"The guy you saw me talking to. He's my cousin," Bartido said, with his trademark grin back on his face, though Hiram remained unsure it had ever left. "His parents want him to come home to them, but he wants nothing to do with them. I always bring it up, which he probably doesn't appreciate much." He smiled more genuinely at Gertrude. "As I was saying, it is too bad that you aren't leaving such that we'd be able to escort you."
Gertrude gave Bartido the once-over with her eyes. "Mmm, I doubt I'd care to be escorted by you, noble or not. Your friend, maybe."
"Ah, but good Hiram's taken!" Bartido said. "And so far as I know, it was a long time in coming."
"Almost too long," Hiram admitted. "What with the fact that I might have died several times before it ever happened; I only admitted feelings for her shortly after our favorite Mage Consul arrived at the Tower, meaning that there were probably several times that I didn't."
Bartido's eyes flickered to Gertrude, who just looked vaguely troubled. "Yeah, well, the Archmage left a lot of -" the word Bartido used made one of Gertrude's eyebrows disappear into her hairline, and both of Hiram's "- to clean up after. We were lucky it was Lillet, really. But since I want to save compliments for the Mage Consul while she's present, why don't we talk about something else?"
"How about why your cousin decided to settle here, of all places?" Gertrude asked.
Bartido shrugged. "How would I know? He's just a strange one."
"In your family? He must fit right in."
Bartido feigned great shock, even dropping his cards so he had to pick them all up (though Hiram noticed that he was never able to see what any of them were). "A joke! From Hiram! That's two while we've been here, right? You really must be mellowing out. I knew that getting a girl would be good for you."
"Though you did try to warn me away from her."
"What did you expect me to do? Encourage pining after one of our teachers? That doesn't really feel like the best idea in the world when you're students and you're watching that particular teacher go nuts over every perceived slight from another teacher that she was in love with."
Hiram laughed. "True. But it all worked out in the end."
"Better than I could have hoped, my friend." Bartido lifted his mug in a salute to Hiram before taking a drink.
"What's your cousin's name?" Gertrude asked once Bartido had put down his mug.
"Grot Greenham," Bartido said. "Why? Do you not like the way I act, but like the way I look and are hoping for a better catch?"
"No, I'm trying to figure out who I should avoid."
Bartido looked crestfallen for a moment, which set Hiram off into gales of laughter. Bartido threw him a glare before returning his attention to Gertrude. "That was kind of harsh."
Gertrude shrugged. "If he's anything like you, then it's clear I need to be as far away from him as possible."
"You accepted my card game challenge," Bartido reminded her.
"Before I knew it was just an excuse to flirt," Gertrude countered. "Besides, there's nothing to do here while we wait for the roads to open up again." She looked at Hiram. "Any news?"
Hiram shook his head. "Not really."
Bartido sighed. "Yet another day late. Mother is going to have a fit. Again."
Hiram smiled. "You say that like it's new."
"Hiram!" Hiram looked up to see Opalneria leaning over the railing. "I need to... Ballentyne?"
Bartido looked up at her squinting. "I thought you were with Opalne-" His eyes widened and his head whipped around to look at Hiram. "-ria. That's her, isn't it?"
Hiram chuckled. He loved when Opalneria elicited reactions like that. "Something happen with a specimen?"
Opalneria shook her head to clear it. "Yes. If you could come help?"
Hiram rose. "Sorry to dash so quickly, but duty calls."
Bartido nodded to him, though he still looked a little confused. "Later."
Gertrude inclined her head as well, and then Hiram went upstairs to see what Opalneria had discovered.
It took most of the rest of the afternoon, but Hiram finally convinced Opalneria to come out of the room in order to take Amy and Astoria up on their offer for some tea. Hiram led her out of the inn without too much fuss. The fuss, though, was clearly happening in front of the shop where they had been headed.
The Magistrate was visible outside the shop, talking to one of his subordinates, though Hiram's eyes were drawn to the destruction wrought. "What happened here?" Opalneria asked breathlessly. Hiram suddenly noticed that Amy was standing off to the other side of the street, holding Cavan close to her and staring at the ruined shop. Hiram headed over to her, and Opalneria hurriedly followed after a moment.
"Oh, it's you," Amy said quietly, w hen Hiram came up.
"What happened?" Hiram asked.
"The… the Beast," Amy said. "Nothing else could have done… that…" she indicated the shop with a flick of the wrist. "Or caused Astoria to do that much damage to her own place."
Hiram blinked. "So she's capable of magic, then."
Amy looked at him blankly. "She owns a Glamour shop; hadn't you figured that out?"
Hiram shrugged. "You could have been the primary maker of the goods, for all I knew." He tilted his head. "Is there anything you need? I originally c ame out here intending on taking you up on your offer of tea, but I have a feeling that's not what you would like to do at the moment."
Amy sighed. "There are many things I'd like to do at this moment that I can't, due to circumstances."
"Amy! There you are."
All four of them turned to see a middle-aged man stride up to join them. "I don't want you wandering about what with all that's going on."
Amy nodded to the man before turning back to Hiram and Opalneria. "In that case, I do have a request. Could you watch Cavan for a bit? Mr. Medoc will be by to watch him when he's done with… whatever's done when…" she trailed off. "It'd only be a half-hour or something like that."
"I'd be happy to," Hiram said. Opalneria looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but no comment.
Amy smiled wanly at Hiram before kneeling down to Cavan's level. The man clearly looked impatient to go do whatever he wanted Amy to be doing.
"Can you stay with this nice man?" Amy asked him. She looked up at Hiram. "What do you want to be called?"
"Hiram's fine."
Amy turned back to Cavan. "Mr. Hiram will be watching you until Mr. Medoc gets done with h is investigating. Okay?"
Cavan nodded, his expression still blank.
Amy rose and Hiram looked up to see that Opalneria and the man were staring at each other. "Sorry," Opalneria said. "But I believe we have not been introduced."
"And that's the way it will stay. I am a very busy man." Hiram raised his eyebrows at the brusque dismissal. "Come, Amy." He started walking away.
Amy sighed. "He never changes." She turned to Hiram and Opalneria and bowed. "Thank you very much for your help." After she rose, she said quickly and under her breath. "He's Pabst Ribbon. Stay away from him." And then she was run ning after him to catch up.
Hiram and Opalneria looked at each other. "Well, I don't think that's what you were intending when you said that you wanted to have tea with a couple ladies of the town, hmm?"
"You make it sound so… dirty," Hiram said, unable to come up with a better word on short notice. He looked down at Cavan. "Are you alright there, Cavan?"
Cavan was staring up at Hiram in the same creepy way he always was. "Death is coming soon," he said.
"Cheery one, isn't he," Opalneria deadpanned. "Is he always like that?"
"So far as I know," Hiram said. "All the more reason why Amy would want him well-watched."
"Death is around you now," Cavan said.
"Yes; after all, he could be saying these things to people he doesn't know very well," Opalneria said.
Hiram gave her a look. "If he's not quite all there, then it's best if he doesn't run into this Beast that Amy keeps harping about."
Opalneria huffed. "Oh very well."
"Is that good little Cavan?" the Magistrate's voice came, and the man followed shortly after as Hiram looked toward the shop. "Where did Amy go, leaving you with these nice people?"
"She went off with a Mr. Pabst," Hiram said. "You'll be looking after Cavan?"
"Yes," the Magistrate said. "I try to keep him out of trouble ever since his parents died. I can't always be looking after him, due to my duties, so Miss Waldorf and Miss Foster have been picking up the slack for me out of the kindness of their own hearts."
"Is there someone else who might be able to…?" Opalneria asked.
"Yes, many in the town are willing to look after him, but I try to keep as much stability in his life as I can." The Magistrate shook his head. "It's not always possible, though."
"Good luck with your work, Magistrate," Hiram said, and the Magistrate thanked him before maneuvering Cavan toward his office.
"I didn't say anything to him," Opalneria pointed out.
"I'm proud of you," Hiram said.
