[closed] the heart of the matter

[heirring]

WHO: Bastien, Ellis, Wysteria
WHAT: Seriously investigating a Merchant-Prince's allegiances.
WHEN: Drakonis
WHERE: Antiva
NOTES: OOC Info

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STUDY BUDDIES

[heirring]

This would all be much nicer were the weather a little better. Imagine this outing as if it were to occur a few months from now when the sun is out, with the tarpaulin covered stripped from the wagon, and the three of them having a grand old time in the fresh spring breeze as they make their way cross-country through Antiva. As it is, the road is nearly knee deep with mud, the two sturdy ox before the wagon are quite miserable in their dopey way, and not even the best cloak can be fully relied on against the General Damp which seeps through the seams of the wagon cover and sheets in under the shelter from across gap leading up to the driver's seat.

Wysteria, sitting in bed of the wagon, has squirmed far enough down into the straw padding surrounding the crates of books that she is little more than a torso swaddled in a bright red, carefully embroidered winter cape. Her nose is quite red and she is pointedly aware of how much she's sniffling as she flips to the next page of her notes.

"Name the three protagonists from the esteemed works of Madamoiselle Baiser; bonus points will be awarded if you can also name the two significant traits they all share." She adds, helpfully: "You are down by five points, Mr. Ellis. Best attempt to recapture the lead while you still can."

COVERT AFFAIRS

[heirring]

Merchant-Prince Daniello Bassadoar's study is really more of a library than it is a place of business. Certainly there is a desk littered with correspondence and the appropriate number of associated paperweights, each more ornately or absurdly shaped than the last, and there is a closed cabinet with a lovely little brass key hole which likely belies a rather sophisticated lock behind the walnut panel, but it is clear that the purpose of the room is at least partly Daniello's refuge from the world and its demands (and, say, whomever is making those demands).

All things said and done, it makes for a pleasant place to carry on a casual discussion of literature on one side of the room, particularly when one definitely has no ulterior motive whatsoever with regard to the desk and upright cabinet on the other.

How she is the one casually sidling around the back of the desk while Bastien and Ellis whisk Daniello away to review a series of especially risque novellas from a rare Ferelden small press is beyond her. But needs must, and she has some practice with picking locks these days.

[heorte]

His armor might have afforded some protection from the elements but it's stowed away carefully beneath his bed. Resigned to being miserably cold and soaked to the bone, Ellis' prayers are directed at any deity that would see fit to prevent the cart from sticking in the mud.

As Wysteria speaks, he glances back to squint into the cart before he clicks his tongue encouragingly as the oxen haul the cart around the bend in the road.

"You and I both know I'm not going to overtake Bastien," Ellis points out. A man should certainly know when he's been bested. But still, to forestall any further wheedling on Wysteria's part, he fumbles for some correct-sounding names. "Blaise Brugière, Angélique Moitessier, and Sigolène Laurens."

Are these names of characters, or are they authors? Ellis can't quite remember. He shoots a quick look at Bastien, but finding no assistance—

"Stubbornness. And a quick wit."

Maybe. As it turns out, aimless reading has given him a lot of cursory knowledge but doesn't stand up to concentrated questioning.

[heorte]

What actually happens if they fail here? The stakes of this mission are so far removed from Ellis' usual scrapes that it's almost absurd. They fail, they're tossed out, someone else comes to make amends. No one is killed.

But somehow, Ellis still feels sweat pricking at the nape of his neck as he and Bastien try to engage Daniello in discussion on the finer points of wedding rituals as seen in the Lady Johanna's earlier works. The conversation is getting a little bit away from Ellis, just as their earlier study had done, but for the moment it seems the prince is happy enough to answer questions as long as they seem suitably enthused.

He is very determinedly not looking in Wysteria's direction, but he's painfully aware of her.

"And you said she was the first to incorporate this kind of accuracy in her work?" Ellis says, prompting, as he subtly tries to move himself into the best position to block Wysteria from sight.