In the corridors of the Temple, a small troupe of black-and-silver robed Elite Guards escort a single red-maned Savanite slave, half dragging, half carrying her.
It appears the guards are headed through some of the outlying corridors of the area used for offices of the Inquisition, typically poorly lit, with only an occasional wall-mounted torch along the way.
Leeta's crying has stopped, and she makes no resistance as the guards drag her along. Her hopes have crashed, and there's nothing she can do anymore.
Turtle stands outside her office, riffling through some of her paperwork, grumbling, when she notices the red-haired cheetah being dragged her way.
The wolves look about, a certain urgency in whatever mission they have that could involve a cheetah. One of them sees the Aeonian. "Inquisitrix Turtle!" the wolf barks.
Turtle narrows her eyes in her usual vain annoyance at being disturbed. "Yes?"
{Please Star, not Vindicta, anyone but her,} the red-maned slave begs in her mind, as she stumbles along after the guard. Hearing the name, she tries even more to be out of sight, fearing the Inquisitrix will remember her from before.
Turtle has already noticed Leeta, and stares after her as the guards approach.
The wolf pounds his chest in a salute, then says, "My apologies, Inquisitrix, for disturbing you, but this is a very delicate matter. We have a slave in our possession who is at the center of some sort of dispute, and we need to ensure her safety until this issue can be resolved. She has some sort of important information."
Turtle expression softens a bit as she looks over the Savanite, but it fades as she turns again to the guard. "And just how may I help in that?"
The Savanite stands awkwardly, held in the guard's grasp. She doesn't struggle, just looks down at the ground, her fire-hair hanging to cover the top of her face.
The guard says, "We need to keep her somewhere safe and secure. Many in the Temple do not even know about you – or of your whereabouts. Your office and quarters are still listed as unoccupied. Perhaps … she could be stored in one of your … " He pauses, as he starts to think about the implications of his directives. "… ah … Would you mind keeping an eye on … " His ears droop.
Turtle clasps the paperwork tighter, getting the point. "You want me to play guard for a while."
The Elite Guard nods. "My apologies, Inquisitrix. But this is a very awkward situation."
A voice familiar to the Savanite's ears can be heard heading in her direction. "I do not remember this to be the way to the library … although I might just be confused again." There's a small chuckle. "The walls were much lower when I saw them last." It's the candidate, Tahir.
Turtle raises an eyebrow, frowning. "You realize how much of an incon-" She then looks over the bedraggled cheetah again, and sighs. "Very well then… "
The Elite Guard bows his head. "Thank you very much, Inquisitrix." He makes some motions to the guards, then says, "We'll … see about getting a collar so that she'll be marked as yours, for the time being."
The footsteps of many guardsmen can be heard as well following Tahir. "This is the proper way, sir." "Just around the corner and down the hall."
Leeta looks up, her ears flicking the direction of the voice. {Oh please Star, a friendly face, someone to save me,} wishing again this night she could call out in words.
The Elite Guard with Leeta hear the approach of the other group, perking their ears. "Look alert," one whispers, and they all move to the sides of the corridor, so that they will not obstruct the passage of the approaching party.
Turtle gives the cheetah an awkward smile, her eyes still a bit cold. "I assume she requires no special restraint now… "
Four heavily armed guardsmen appear around the corner, and in the midst of them is a very small… human boy. He spies the group assembled ahead. "Oh! I remember her… That is my musician." He waves to the slave.
The slave stands against the wall, waiting for the other procession to pass, {Please, Star.}
The lead wolf looks back to Turtle. "No, she has no reason … to … " He blinks, seeing the candidate, then snaps to attention.
Turtle gives the procession an odd look. What is the strange creature amongst the guards?
Tahir motions for his guardsmen to stop and hands a large book he was carrying under one arm to one of them. "What is happening here?"
Turtle gives the creature a good looking over. She ponders him with inward curiosity, trying to remember before her 300 year sabbatical if she had ever seen such a thing. Her outward expression remains as rigid as ever.
Leeta's eyes stare pleadingly at Tahir's. Someone who might believe her, someone who might understand, someone who's as much thrown around by the Temple as she is, but able to affect it. A friend, when she really needs one.
The 'creature' in question resembles a miniature version of one of the statues of the Captain-Astromancers of centuries past. He holds himself with the air of an adult, and speaks as one as well – although he couldn't be any older than seven years judging from his appearance. His eyes are bright blue, and is hair is coppery red. He is dressed in robes that resemble the cut of the Inquisition's, although there are some minute differences.
The lupine sergeant coughs, then says, "Well, sir, it's a rather confusing situation … ah … The Savanite here has been accused of trying to assassinate Arch Inquisitor Majoris Caesar Moffat."
The human's eyes go wide. "Assassinate? The Savanite?" He frowns and looks directly at Leeta. "Did you do it?"
The sergeant continues, "However, apparently there has been some confusion over orders concerning her, so … Inquisitrix Turtle has agreed to look after the Savanite while we try to contact Inquisitor Moffat… " He trails off as the candidate speaks.
The slave shakes her head, signing "No" again and again, her eyes never leaving the candidate's.
Turtle watches this exchange with an air of singular indifference, although her eyes constantly are drawn to the human creature.
"She says she didn't do it," the human says to the guards holding Leeta. "I know her well enough to have no reason to doubt her word. So may I suggest an alternate course of action instead of locking her up?"
The sergeant nods his head to the candidate. "Please, sir, if you would."
Turtle frowns, and just has to blurt out, "I would hardly call my office locking her up."
The sergeant stiffens at the Inquisitrix's outburst, and snaps back to attention.
Turtle snorts. "Although I will admit it is a bit run down… "
The armored guards surrounding the human shift a bit but don't speak. Apparently they're used to his strangeness.
Turtle casts a disparaging glance towards the door.
{Oh Star, you heard me!} Leeta's tension is visibly leaving, and she almost manages to smile, as she stands with her back against the wall, panting.
"You will have to speak with the technopriests about that, Inquisitrix. I am with the Inquisition, but the maintenance of inquisitor offices is none of my concern." Tahir looks back to the guards holding Leeta. "Please release her into my custody. I wish to take responsibility for her."
Turtle looks down at the cheetah as if a bit disappointed.
"As you wish, sir," the sergeant nods, and motions to the guards. They release the cheetah.
Leeta's hope surges in ways that overwhelm her despair. She moves slowly, over to Tahir, wanting to rush and hold onto him, but knowing how paranoid his guards are. She smiles, taking a place beside him.
The human smiles up to Leeta. "You are no longer wearing your collar, I see." He pokes one of his guards. "Have one made for her in my colors. From now on… she is to be my personal slave. If the Arch Inquisitor wishes to have her back, he may speak with me."
The sergeant says, "Oh. Sir … I do believe that the Savanite's instrument is currently in Arch Inquisitor Moffat's private quarters."
Tahir nods. "Fetch it then. She is my musician, after all."
The sergeant bows his head. "At once, sir." And with that, the squad of Elite Guards heads off to fetch a mandolin.
Turtle raises an eyebrow at these words. He actually sounds as if he cares for her.
Leeta stares at the candidate, his words unbelievable, her eyes wide in total shock – her happiness erasing the whole evening, her hands signing, "Tahir!" and "I'm yours, oh Tahir!".
The human draws back the hood of his robe and looks after the departing guard. He then looks back to the Inquisitrix. "Madame… may we wait in your office until he returns?"
Turtle looks nonplussed. But deep inside, her curiosity can't resist. "Certainly. Follow me." She strides into her office casually, still clutching her papers to her stomach tightly.
Leeta's thoughts explode in her mind, so many trying to find expression that she can't. All she knows is the Star heard her, Tahir heard her, and if anyone would listen and believe, it would be him, and if there's anyone she can trust, it will be him. She takes his hand, just holding, and goes where she is led.
A crow flaps down the corridor, then drops to the floor and waddles the rest of the way. The acolyte's feathers POOF out when he sees all the guards, and he timidly walks up to Turtle. "Ah … Inquisitrix? I have … oh, it can wait." He waddles on into the office and tries to duck out of the way.
Turtle turns back. "Neekto. Come back!"
Neekto looks up to Turtle. "Yes? I mean … ah … *KAW!* Oops! Forgive me." He tries to smooth out his feathers.
The human turns to his guards. "Wait outside for us, please. I would like to speak with the Aeonian and the Savanite in private if I may." He looks in the direction of the crow, then back to Turtle.
The crow's feathers poof out again. "Ah. I suppose I had best depart." He heads for the door back out of the office again.
Turtle frowns. She did so want to hear what he had to say first.
"Have you anything to write with?" Tahir asks Turtle. "I do not understand the Savanite sign yet."
Turtle continues on to her desk, a bit absorbed, and puts down her papers. She looks up after a moment. "Hmmm? Oh! Yes, Of course." She pulls open a drawer, and retrieves some paper.
The crow closes the door as he leaves, leaving just the candidate, the Savanite and the Aeonian in the artificially-lit room.
The human gestures for Leeta to sit down. "I will have to learn the hand-signs soon… It would make this so much easier." He looks around for a pen.
Leeta sits, the weight around her neck removed in more than just a physical sense. She rubs where the collar was, and looks at the Inquisitrix's desk, and the paper in front of her. She tries to still her hands, and watches the candidate.
Turtle notices, and reaches for the pen on her desk.
A wooden desk is opposite the door, facing away from it, with a modest assortment of forms stacked on it. Next to the desk, on the wall, there is a knife switch, but while the ceiling shows signs of a helmet once being installed here, it is currently absent, though the chair still remains. Some other chairs – including some specially made for winged plantigrades – can be found about the room. There is also a large wall mirror, and a few items that don't look entirely appropriate for interrogations – such as incense candles and a few potted plants.
Turtle steps to the human slowly, her face still masked. "I could offer to translate for you… however, I am a bit rusty at the Silent Tongue, considering… " She looks over herself in the mirror as she walks past it.
Tahir seats himself next to the red haired slave. "Inquisitrix, please pay attention to what the slave will be writing. I know that Aeonians do not lie… You would make a very good advocate should this come up." He smiles at Turtle's words. "If you could translate, that would be most advantageous to us. Less paper to track. I would be most grateful."
Turtle nods, quietly putting down the pen. "I will try."
Leeta looks at the paper, its white surface blinding under the working artificial lights of the room, reflecting back at her accusingly. She nods to Tahir's words, taking his hand and holding it tightly before signing, "Thank you Tahir, the whole Temple fell on me," her eyes watering.
Turtle walks back around behind her desk, looking back and forth between the two.
Tahir smiles back at the slave. "As I said, I have no reason to doubt you. Now… could you please tell the Inquisitrix what has happened?"
The red-maned Savanite nods, and with a little more encouragement from the candidate relates her story to the Inquisitrix. She describes meeting Moffat's lady friend, how she wore a cloak made from a Savanite's pelt. She goes on, detailing the encounter between the Inquisitor and the Kattha. Her signing gets awkward and imprecise, as she describes how she pulled her master out of danger, then stopped the warrior from taking her own life. Then she explains the questioning, and how Moffat suspected her of being a part of it all. She looks very nervous when she describes how the perpetrator was one of the Magenta Lance, and how the Champion is suspected. She finishes by signing that the guards sent the bats out searching, upon hearing the Inquisitor had left, with his would-be assassin and a number of guards.
Turtle manages to translate all this with only a few difficulties.
The human steeples his hands. "Has the Temple fallen so far?"
Turtle narrows her eyes, and has to speak up. "From my own experience, it has, and further… "
Leeta signs, "Please Tahir, Inquisitrix. I don't think the Champion ordered this."
The human looks up at the Aeonian. "I was not created to handle situations such as these. But I am also adaptable. What do you suggest we do, Inquisitrix?"
Turtle raises both eyebrows. "I'm afraid I could not confidently make any judgement yet, considering I have a few questions about this Savanite's story. Would you mind if I pressed further?"
"Do you mind?" Tahir asks Leeta, and gives her a gentle pat on her hand.
Leeta moves a little closer to Tahir on her seat at the Inquisitrix's tone, but relaxes as Tahir touches her hand. "I will answer any questions you have, master." Though she still looks very worried.
Turtle leans forward, looking over Leeta again with a bit of compassion. Those emotions fade as she asks, "I am curious. You say you are certain the Champion did not order this, but do you really know her well enough to judge this?" She frowns, realizing what she just said. "Not that I am accusing anyone in this matter".
"Of course not," Tahir says, nodding.
The fire-haired slave nods to the Inquisitrix, "Yes. She spoke with me on the day I spent in her Sanctuary. She told me things about her relationship with my Master." Leeta pauses, "I would be very disrespectful of the Arch Inquisitor, if I was to detail why."
Turtle continues, looking very thoughtful, "Also, there is a part of your story I find curious. Why did the Champion need to return all the way to her Sanctuary, taking you with her, just to bandage your hand?"
"She … had another reason for doing that. One that had nothing to do with the Inquisitor," the Savanite signs.
Turtle cocks her head a bit. "Yes?"
Leeta signs, "The Champion told me that the Arch Inquisitor was asking things of her, that were in conflict with her honour. That she would rather kill herself, than acquess to them." Leeta signs to the Inquisitrix as she translates, "I believe her. I think one of her warriors decided to solve the problem on her own."
The candidate rubs his chin. "I believe I now know why you wished to keep our friendship a secret, Leeta."
Turtle frowns. She has her own reasons to believe her, after all.
Leeta hangs her head, "I am very dangerous to you Tahir; you would not want me if you knew." She just stares at the blinding white paper, so clean, so empty of lines and confusion.
A sigh of mild frustration escapes the human's lungs. "So what does the Arch Inquisitor intend to do now? If he has the attacker in custody, and it is obvious that you will not be going anywhere… he should not have had any reason to leave."
Turtle looks away, feeling a large mixture of emotions descending upon her.
The slave swallows a few times, her hands twitching as she blinks her eyes. The truth will get out, and it will destroy her. Tahir's question at least, can be safely answered. "I do not know, Master. Maybe he wished to blackmail the Champion, or show the assassin to her. There may be other things I don't know."
Tahir pats Leeta's hand again. "Many things are dangerous to me. My predecessor was murdered in cold blood, if you remember. But death has a much different meaning to me than most. I am not afraid."
"You tell me so many strange things, Tahir. I do not understand, and because I don't, I find some hope in them." Leeta signs, "The Arch Inquisitor sees many enemies, I don't know which ones are true, or which reasons may be. The guards thought he accused me, so there would be delays in following him while I was questioned."
Turtle snorts quietly. "You have obviously been through a lot, Savanite." Her voice shows the first signs of any compassionate emotion ever since she first left the old fortress.
"You have said that the Arch Inquisitor is being sought out as we speak." Tahir traces a line across his cheek. "When he is found… what then? Were someone to judge from outward appearances, he looks to be more the victim."
Leeta makes a small noise, "I thought my master was going to die. I saw the knife… I couldn't just watch. I thought I was going to die, there was no one else. I have had masters … like the Inquisitor before, but… "
Turtle leans back in her chair, the emotion gone now. She runs her fingers through her long straight brown hair.
"I don't know why all these things are going on. I just could not watch it… " the Savanite finishes signing.
A crease begins to form in the candidate's brow. Such an intense emotion to fall upon a face that looks so young. "I am tempted to go after Moffat myself, but I am not allowed to leave the Temple – and my guardians have recommended that I remain as far from Temple politics as I can. I will probably catch a bit of spite when they have found that I have taken Leeta."
There's a light rapping at the door, then a voice through the grill. "Inquisitrix? We have the mandolin."
Turtle looks over to the human creature. "Would you mind if it were brought in?"
Leeta gives a small bark at the unexpected interruption, her ears wiggling as she holds the edge of the desk with both hands, breathing deeply.
"Please," Tahir responds. "Leeta is my musician, after all. Her music aides my concentration immensely."
Turtle turns to the door. "Bring it in."
The door slides in, revealing a guard who carries in the case and presents it to the cheetah. He bows, then backs out through the door, which is open long enough for a concerned-looking crow to poke his beak in for just a moment before disappearing again as the door closes.
Turtle smiles quietly to herself at the sight of Neekto. "Such a bird… " she muses under her breath.
The Savanite clutches the case in her lap, looking at Tahir with an expression that doesn't need to be translated. Happily she opens it to check the mandolin over, and runs her fingers across the strings.
"It is probably my fault," Tahir says with a chuckle. "I tend to intimidate people, although what is so frightening about a child is beyond me." His lip turns upwards in a quirky smile. "Although I can understand how my appointed watchers can be a tad intimidating."
The mandolin is in just the condition Leeta left it, unharmed, unspoiled, and the strings sing quietly as she runs her fingers over them.
Turtle looks over the instrument with a bit of annoyance.
{I wish you could speak for me, mandolin, like the things Tahir tells me about.} Leeta closes the case and sets it down gently beside her, looking between the Inquisitrix and the candidate.
There is another knock at Turtle's door. "Inquisitrix? Is the candidate with you? He needs to return to his studies."
Turtle stands up, and walks over to the door. She opens it.
Standing at the door is a rather short raccoon in technopriest robes. "Begging your pardon, Inquisitrix, but the candidate is a very busy person." He peers around the Aeonian to look at the human. "You still need to catch up on things, and we have some new books for you to read."
Turtle narrows her eyes at the 'coon, looking bothered.
Tahir stands. "Of course… of course." He rises from his chair and walks toward the door. "Inquisitrix, I appreciate your time with me. Thank you."
Leeta takes up her mandolin, and slings the case across her back as she follows the candidate. Before she leaves, she stands so that her body blocks any view of her signs from the corridor, and asks the Aeonian, "Please Inquisitrix, save the Champion from the Inquisitor's desires for revenge." She pauses, then adds, "… and his other desires."
The raccoon hands Leeta an object… her new collar. Its colors mimic those on Tahir's robes precisely.
Turtle looks over Leeta, her eyes softening for a moment. She looks over her shoulder remembering that the human creature doesn't know Savanite. She stares intently at the cheetah, wiggling her fingers a bit, obviously very rusty at signing. "I shall try. I pity your situations, child." She turns away, her expression just as cold as ever.
The slave smiles as she looks down on the collar, and snaps it around her neck, adjusting her mane behind it. She bows respectfully to the Inquisitrix, then waits to follow the candidate.
"This way, sir," the raccoon says, with just a tinge of nervousness in his voice. "We've found some nice technical manuals for you to read… They should keep you busy for awhile." The human follows behind with his entourage of guards.
Leeta follows behind the candidate in his circle of guards. The mandolin bounces against her back, and the new collar feels somehow lighter around her neck than all the others. All the paths she was being taken down tonight, finally led her to where she wanted to be.
Once the human and Savanite are gone, a timid-looking crow hops into the Inquisitrix's office. "This came for you," he caws, and hands Turtle a sealed scroll.
Turtle smiles politely down at Neekto, "Sorry they kept you shut out so long." She takes the scroll, and walks slowly back towards her desk, examining it.
The scroll is addressed from a travelling airship. The writer would be one Inquisitor Raphael Melchizedek.
Turtle scowls a bit, then sits down, opening it thoughtfully. Why on Rephidim…
The content of the letter is fairly short. "Regarding our discussion at the Sanctuary of Amber. You are right. I was wrong. It has to stop somewhere." It is signed, and there is no more. It DID seem to be a fairly small scroll…
Turtle is taken a bit aback. She rereads the short message a few times, then puts it down, pondering.
The crow looks to Turtle, and at her reaction, then caws, "I will let you be. Good evening, Inquisitrix." He waddles back out of the room.
Turtle looks up to crow. "Neekto. Wait!"
The crow stops abruptly. "*KAW!* Apologies. What is it, Inquisitrix?"
Turtle picks up her pen, and scribbles a bit, with flourishing letters, on the paper she pulled out earlier for the candidate. "I wish to send a letter… "
