Noble Arcana

I still remember my first kill. His frightened expression as I drove my dagger into his gut. It wasn’t his fault he had to die, I was simply hungry, and I’d heard the jingling of his purse.

Emeril Farlow, The Endless Gutter

The rest of the Arcana meeting passed without note and Solomon awoke the next morning to The World in Melissa smiling above his bed uncannily. He sat up and completed the final parts of the transactions he’d set up during the meeting, thanking the World as it faded and left Melissa back in control of herself.

While she was getting him breakfast, Solomon took the time to examine the bangle that he’d purchased. He saw no glow of mana emanating from it, which was a good sign. It was silver and made to look like rope with an ornate knot on one end of it. After examining it carefully he slipped it onto his arm, finding it settling well toward the top of his bicep. As he released it with his other hand he noticed that his mana felt…muffled. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t sense it, it was just as if the sensation of it was buried under a layer of something. It was like hearing a speech while one had a pillow pressed over their head. It wasn’t pleasant, but it was certainly better than the disorientation and discomfort that had come from exhausting his mana pool completely. Even after a full night’s rest it was still slow to fully restore.

After breakfast Solomon took a few minutes to seclude himself in his library and make his way down to his secret study. He didn’t anticipate inquisitor Song appearing again so early in the morning. He climbed down the steps and went first to check on his homunculi. Two were dead, including the one that had survived his encounter with the Lord of the Black wood. Bullet sized chunks were missing from both of them. That left four that saluted him as he performed his inspection. He carefully gathered the remains of the two that had died before performing his usual blood withdrawals and checking the progress of the next batch of homunculi. He didn’t have time for any serious work beyond that as he had to attend church.

He left the library once he was done and donned his coat before meeting Melissa and the other servants in the atrium. As usual most of them would be attending the service along with him.

Yarrow was waiting for him outside as he exited. The young guard gave him an unnecessary bow and salute before speaking.

“Lord, we will need to ride with you in order to ensure your safety.”

He sighed. Now that his mana was concealed and his reserves had started to trickle back he was feeling much safer, but it wasn’t as if he could tell them that.

“One of you can ride alongside Duncan. Yarrow, you can join me in the carriage itself, and the rest can ride in the wagon with the servants.”

Yarrow nodded and gave a few quick orders to the guards. There was some grumbling from the wagon about a lack of space but after a few minutes they were moving toward the church. Yarrow was silent sitting across from him, his eyes focused on the window outside with the occasional glance toward, not him, but Melissa. She pretended she didn’t notice, looking out the opposite window. It seemed clear Yarrow had at least a bit of a crush on his Valet. He supposed it wasn’t a surprise, she was objectively an attractive girl even if he didn’t see her in that light. Not only did he not think of his servants in that way, he also felt she looked too much like his sisters.

They reached the church in short order and Solomon gave his greetings and nods to a few of the townsfolk that he passed. He recognized two of the girls from the woods, one of which seemed unable to meet his gaze and the other who was staring at him with a level of admiration that made him feel as if he needed to stand a bit straighter to be worthy of that look. Many of the Church’s attendants seemed to be looking at him with a similar expression.

He did his best to ignore them as politely as possible as he walked into the Church. He saw Luterne out and speaking amongst the townsfolk, and Hinds sitting behind the altar. It seemed Luterne’s renewed faith and vigor still hadn’t worn off as he energetically shook hands and trade prayers. Hinds was watching him with just a bit of concern.

Solomon reached the front pew where Dame Pryor was seated.

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“It’s good to see you,” he said, giving her a bow.

“You as well, though I’m surprised you ever risk leaving your mansion at this point. Between being attacked by some beast in the Black Wood and then that dreadful Neiman.”

“Well, since the first time I was attacked was within that mansion it seems I’m not safe anywhere. I may as well go and attend church with the elegant Dame Pryor.”

She smirked and gave him a rueful shake of her head.

“Since it seems you’ve already heard of what I’ve been through recently, how have you been?” he asked as he sat next to her.

“Aside from worrying for my friend Lord Morrow?” she asked. “Everything has been well. My children have decided to postpone their visit for another month however.”

“That’s a shame,” he said, even as he was secretly relieved that he wouldn’t have to move his trip to deliver the Crimson Command.

“What was their reason?”

She sighed. “They said that there was some last minute business they needed to take care of.”

He nodded, exchanging a glance with Threen. His own theory was that they heard of the increased guard presence and Blue Boot investigation and decided to wait until things cooled down before they attempted anything else.

After a few more minutes of idle chit-chat Luterne took his place at the altar.

“May the Herald sing you forward,” he said, his voice projecting easily.

“And may his song find you well,” responded the congregation.

Luterne leaned forward from his podium. “We are a truly blessed church today,” he started, smiling. “The young women that had been lost from this town have been returned to us. Largely thanks to the efforts of Lord Morrow,” he gestured to Solomon. “While it is easy to simply be grateful for this blessing and go about our days, we must also consider what evil it is that led to this happening.”

“We have amongst us here in Moonfallow, a member of the Union. An inquisitor. She is here investigating whether or not our former mayor was involved in the arcane. Would that be a surprise? That he could fool us for so long? That he could whisk young women away from under the noses of their watchful parents? Magic… it seems a very dangerous thing. It is akin in many ways to the power of the gods themselves. The Union seeks to control it, to ensure that it is used properly and that those darkest magics are never used. This is a noble goal, one that should be respected But is that not hubris? To try and regulate the power of the gods. I believe serious consideration should be made to whether or not magic, this power that can do such great harm, should not be regulated and managed by the gods… and their churches.”

Solomon listened carefully as Luterne spoke, as close as he was in the front pew he could see all the subtle expressions and gestures he was making. While the Union was, at least in theory, his enemy he actually had tremendous respect for what they did. Now that he knew how much one could accomplish with magic he could absolutely see the need for a regulatory body in charge of it. He would use magic for his own goals because that’s what he thought was necessary for them, because his power made using them in such a way his responsibility. The idea that the church should be the ones in charge, that wasn’t something he could condone. They lacked the infrastructure, expertise, and history needed to take on such an effort.

As Luterne continued speaking, he wished he could see the people behind him. He wanted to know if they were nodding along as the priest spoke, hanging on his words, or if they were simply listening with blank expressions. His speaking was certainly more engaging, more passionate, since he’d returned from Etling. Solomon wondered exactly what had happened to him to cause such a change.

When the sermon was over, Solomon made his way out and to his carriage. Most of his servants had made it a habit to spend the rest of the church day in town, and he decided he too would head for the small market street and see if he could find anything useful at Sebastian’s Rare Volumes. He’d asked specifically for anything related to the time of the necromancer rebellion.

The carriage arrived and the guards began to fan out along the street as he walked into the store. Before he could even make it inside however, a man ran at him from the alley. He was fast, and moved without any hesitation, only pure focus.

One of the guards moved to intercept him, but he dodged around him, running towards Solomon even as the other guards all began to move in to intercept.

The man reached him, grabbing him by the shoulder before he could react and drove a long dagger into his stomach. His eyes widening as he realized no blood was flowing.

Solomon’s eyes met his as he looked down and the man’s expression was one of confusion and terror as he threw Solomon toward two of the approaching guards, using his body to knock them out of the way before fleeing down the cobblestone streets as the guards pursued him. They had reacted quickly and were running him down, but the man was dodging between buildings as if he’d been there his whole life.

Yarrow ran to him, helping him up as he yelled at the two men he’d been thrown into to run after his attempted assailant.

“Are you okay, lord?”

Solomon nodded as he stood up, brushing himself off.

“Yes. The knife didn’t reach me. It’s good that so many layers are currently in style.”

“We’ll get him.”

Solomon nodded, watching the man easily outpace the more heavily encumbered guards as he moved towards the area of Moonfallow that was largely abandoned.

“Of course you will,” he lied.