The Mayor's Home

Robert sighs, looking down at his expensive, custom-fitted shoes.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I just..."

He groans again.

"I don't know what came over me."

Neferet opened her mouth to say more, lifting a clenched hand to gesture. As if suddenly aware of her state of anger, she turned abruptly away from Robert. Her dark hair whirled with her, lending a view of her beautiful naked back with one the thin gold cord to cut across it. Curiously, there were very, very faint... perhaps scars? upon her back, thin whisps of a soft shell pink that could have been only a trick of the light.

Bracing her hands on a window ledge, she looked out over Gaiaton and its sparkling lights out in the night. She took a breath and forced herself to calm down, closing her eyes for a moment. She regained her stoic center, locking away her passions and emotions, and glanced up and over her shoulder when she felt the heat rise.

Oleanna's scar was burning on her eye. It only served to remind Neferet that the more passionate emotions of humanity were not meant for her. She turned all the way around, the silk of her gown qietly whispering around her long legs as she did so. Gold glittered at her forehead and wrists, as with her usual grace and aplomb, she began anew.

"Robert, please explain yourself, and leave no detail unspoken," she said.

A moment later, a servant came to inform her of Kinzokan Krypt, or the Gray Warrior as he was becoming known. "Send them both here to me," she told the servant.

Robert sighs.

"Well, I ran into my cousin Rafaela earlier. She's always been a troublemaker..."

He recounts how he left her with Inam, then went to go look for her, then met Fenris. He talks about how he found her in the lower city, and how he saw her fighting with someone. He told her about how she had a statue in her hands, and how she argued over it with Fenris. He tells her about Fenris's theory about Opong and Inana. In short, he tells her everything except the bit about him and Inam.

"...and then she ran off. Again, I'm so, so sorry..."

She wasn't expecting Oleanna to calm her temper, but the noticable drop in temperature, or rather the uncomfortable heat that ebbed away had the beautiful oracle looking the captain's way and offering a small smile of thanks.

When her gaze was back on Robert, it did not wander and it did not move. She was very, very still while Robert spoke and explained only what little he knew. There were gaps in his information, and while jumping to conclusions might suffice, it would hardly work given no one in this room save for herself knew about the politics of Gaiaton.

Krypt arrived and dumped an unconscious body at her bare feet, and she instinctually pressed herself more firmly against the window sill at her back, just in case the body on the floor woke up. She lifted her head to look at Krypt, and suddenly she felt a pang of... annoyance? Irritation? It wasn't with Krypt specifically, but with the entire troop of foreigners.

She reached out and held her palm open so he could drop the golden tassel into it. "This belongs to Inana," Neferet said quietly. She glanced up when Akbar slid quietly into the room, but otherwise stepped carefully around the hog-tied suspect and began to pace smoothly.

"I want to make sure I understand things; Robert, you only know a theory thrown together by a foreigner who has been here for all of two hours. You state that your cousin, Rafaela, has stolen a statue and so is the sole reason this attack on Gaiaton has ever happened, and you state this loud enough that now the city is in an uproar.

The only evidence we have that Inana might be a part of this insane scheme is this golden tassle, and the man on the floor, for Rafaela has escaped, the mythical statue has escaped, and no one can confirm that either Opong or Inana were truly in residence." She held up the tassle. "This could belong to any of the nobility in the city, unless we find the garment it belongs to."

"Neferet," Akbar's deep voice spoke, gaining her attention. "The people are restless. They want to know where the thief is." He glanced at Robert. "They want to speak to Robert."

Neferet cursed beneath her breath, but then took her down breath to steady her nerves. She was trying to avoid a witch hunt... not only for Rafaela, but for Robert who would be guilty by association, and for herself, who, as Mayor, was responsible for all of Gaiaton.

"Inform the people that I am looking into possible allegations. Theories are present, but we have no true evidence as of this moment, and when the help of the people is needed, I will make a personal request. Ask for patience and understanding, as its crucial that we do not make a mistake of the heart that will cost us our minds."

Akbar nodded, and left the room. Neferet looked down at the hog tied man. "Can someone please rest him on the chaise lounge and wake him?"

[[ I just read back over the logs, and I'll put down the information so we're not meta-gaming. There was a lot of OOC discussion in the chat at the time of all the hodge-podge in the City Lower, so I want to make sure that we keep IC information correct.

What was seen by those present (general):
Rafaela wrestling with an unknown assailant at the back entrance of a building in the City Lower, to which Krypt and Fenris rescued her. A second unknown assailant came out to also attack her, saw that he was out-manned, and ran into the City Lower, unfollowed.

Rafaela and Fenris argued over a blue-wrapped item. Fenris stated aloud that he thinks Inana and Opong are behind the attacks, but he does not know, or at least did not state, how Rafaela was involved, nor did he talk about his theory on HOW Inana and Opong are involved in any of the attacks; all he said was "Inana and Opong are behind this somehow...". Fenris made no remarks about the statue.

Rafaela was not forth-coming with any information on how everything worked out. She did not state any names, any affiliations, or how any of the pieces fit together. She did not even regard the statue by a name, proper or otherwise, and simply insisted that Fenris let HER work out the details. Fenris did not push for answers, and let her go.

She told Robert to leave the city and then she seemed to disappear, too.

No one saw Opong. One person (Krypt) saw a figure that resembled Inana go into the back-entrance of the building, but Krypt did not follow inside at that time. By the time Krypt did go inside, no one was in the room, and there was only the golden tassle that he handed over to Neferet. Neferet has since identified that the golden tassle belongs to Inana.

Fenris stated that the scent of the Merchant (presumably Inana) was near. He did not state whether or not he smelled Opong. Fenris did not see Opong or Inana enter the building. He trailed Rafaela's scent using a scarf Inam gave him to the front of the building, and when he heard the ruckus, went around behind. Opong and Inana exited from the front of the building, but no one saw this, as they were all at the back entrance.

Robert did not overhear any conversation, as he was busy with Inam around a corner. The only conversation he heard was whatever was said between Fenris and Rafaela when they were both holding onto an object (it was not verbally identified as a statue). This is also all that Krypt heard, as well.

Now back to RP! Robert and Krypt need to post next.]]

Rather suddenly, Krypt's gaze turned to Dame Oleanna with a fierce hostility in his eyes. "I followed, after the streets were ordered to be cleared for the safety of it's people, an unknown figure I witnessed meeting and whispering with another in the dead of night. The only person I 'attacked' was low-life scum who had a knife at the throat of a woman whose identity I did not know, but I chose to save out of a sense of empathy and public decency. Now keep your mouth shut until we are finished speaking, or accuse me again of crimes I didn't commit and fight me to decide the truth of it."

Krypt sighed, releasing what frustration he had built up to follow Neferet's request. He picked up the thug, placed him down in a sitting position on the chaise lounge, then removed the binding gag that would stop him from screaming or biting. His hands and ankles were, however, still tightly bound and he would likely be no danger otherwise.

Leaning down to face the man at head-height, he began lightly slapping him across the cheek. "Wakey wakey, odorous gentleman. We have some questions we need answering."

Neferet could feel hostilities rising, especially when Oleanna began to claim that they were all "fucked" and immediately stated that they needed to arrest Robert and Krypt.

Naturally, they were resistant to the idea and true to Krypt's behavior so far, he made his displeasure known. However, before Neferet could speak, Oleanna mouthed off with a very colorful speech that had Neferet narrowing her eyes.

Passion she loved in a woman wanting to be Captain of the Guard. A fierce, judgmental attitude prone to jumping to conclusions and washing innocent-until-proven-guilty victims with a brush was not what Neferet needed, nor what would help the situation.

"No one is being arrested, for a crime has not yet been committed, other than an alleged attack on a woman who is not here to say so," Neferet said firmly, clearly, cutting into the tension like a knife. "The people of Gaiaton have been stirred to ask for blood; that does not mean that we give them someone to crucify to assuage their fears."

She moved towards the man that Krypt was currently waking. He groaned, and when he realized whose face was in his own, he stirred backwards. With a sudden remembrance of what happened, he began to panic and look around.

"Calm yourself," Neferet said. She was not necessarily warm and inviting, but diplomatic and distantly polite. "What is your name?"

"Kalil," he answered, eying Neferet and Krypt, since they were closest.

"Kalil, allegations have been made that ou have assaulted a woman's person with fatal intent."

He stared, and Neferet took a small breath, "Someone has said you tried to kill a woman."

"Not a woman," Kalil scoffed, "a thief. She's stolen from the Kings. She's the reason why the Demon and the Pitch have fallen upon Gaiaton." He looked at Neferet with derision. "You would know this were you truly gifted with the Eye of Amun Ra, but instead you send foreigners to do your dirty work and cost us more lives."

And he spat at Neferet.

Neferet had not yet lost hope in Oleanna, but her outburst had marked a need for a future conversation. Neferet could already sense that Oleanna's mouth would be her undoing, not so much her passion but her untrained need to defend herself. Neferet assumed that being a woman in Oleanna's field constantly came with challenges that were not present if she had been a male, and Neferet could commisserate with those emotions.

The difference between Oleanna and Neferet was the Oracle had lived her life from a young age by repressing her passion and emotions until the desert native felt empty and dead inside. She admired those that still had a fire in their chest, although something could be said for reserve and poise.

Kalil's saliva marked Neferet's gown, and Krypt's violent reaction and words were done too soon. Neferet lifted a hand to touch the warrior's arm, but she stopped before she could. Aware of how it would look to the prisoner if the authority was fighting amongst themselves, she did not scold Krypt.

Yet, she was also aware of how it would look to the people, and... of the very few emotions Neferet had left to feel, guilt was very much one of them. To her knowledge, Kalil had not said anything untrue. Yet, the Oracle knew better than to appear weak.

Even so, the violence and the anger in the room had to cease, at least from her allies.

"Thank you, Krypt," she said, once more calm. She wasn't sure what inspired such loyalty, given that she also felt guilty for the future she had foretold of the handsome, exotic warrior. His question about the love of his life and who it might be still echoed within her mind. She shoved it away. "I think things will be fine from here." A quiet request, in her voice, in her tawny gaze upon him.

She looked at Kalil, who seemed defiant and proud and hateful now, but also leery of being maimed. Neferet turned to him.

"Can you describe the thief?" Neferet asked, using terinology that was more likely to get a positive response from him. "Can you describe what she stole?"

Kalil spat again, but not at Neferet. He cleared the blood from Krypt's strike to his mouth, then turned burning eyes onto Robert. "Looked like him. And Inana didn't tell me what she stole."

"So Inana knows what the thief has stolen? How?"

Kalil frowned, as if he had never considered that possibility before. "I don't know."

"What was the thief trying to do tonight when you attacked her?"

Kalil stared hard at Neferet, and then ganced at Krypt and Oleanna. "I... I don't know. She wanted to talk to Opong and Inana. She..." he trailed off and scowled again.

"A thief stole a priceless artifact from the Kings, and instead of leaving as thieves do, she stayed in Gaiaton and met with Inana in the City Lower to talk about this irreplacable treasure, a treasure that Inana knew about?"

It was easy to look on Kalil's face and see that with this new light on things, he was piecing a puzzle together. So was Neferet.

Contrary to what Neferet and Krypt might think Oleanna was in no danger of losing control. Anger was a tool the knight used often it fueled her magic, kept her focus, and made her fight harder. When Krypt turned away from her any respect she might have ever had for the Ash Kin evaporated. He was just another chauvinistic alpha male moron like so many men she had dealt with before. He lived in some fantasy land where it was acceptable for him to tell her to shut up or he would make her shut up. Yet when she told him exactly where he could shove it instead of following through on his threat he instead acts like he won some kind of morale victory. What because she was willing to stoop to his level? Because she wasn't willing to be a meek little sheep who did what she was told? Because he knew he would lose an actual fight so he needed to pretend he won the arguement?

Oleanna didn't know and didn't care she dropped the spell she was building and instead turned to Neferet. She says her tone back to its normal clipped tone.

"I take it by your reaction things at as bad as I feared. Still to clarify arrest may have been to strong a word for what I wanted. Detaining persons of interest in an on going investigation would be a more moderate way of putting it."