The Archman

Chapter 6 - An Onerous Disclosure

A crisp breeze blows through an open window, pouring into a large third-story room. The fresh gust helps clear out some of the stale air which had accumulated during the morning, though it does little to remedy the stuffy feeling present in the space. Despite being quite a large room, the interior is filled with all manner of elegant furnishings and apparel, which makes it feel much smaller and more constricted than it would otherwise be. The walls are covered with several paintings which occupy more surface area than the wallpaper behind them - most of which are landscapes of vast oceanic expanses, sandy beachfronts, and detailed renderings of large battleships.

There is only one portrait in the room, but it is significantly larger than all other artistic works which surround it. It displays a man from the waist up, his chin lifted regally, a hand resting on the handle of a rapier upon his belt. He is dressed in a finely tailored naval uniform, his right breast decorated with all manner of medals and ribbons. His hazel brown hair matches his eyes with an almost perfect hue. It can be considered an artistic shortcut on the part of the painter, but it is in fact an honest depiction of the model's real-life features.

The portrait is hung on the wall behind a large desk, behind which a single man is sitting. He bares a perfectly identical resemblance to the painting behind him; uniform, hair length, and natural poise all exactly the same as the day the painting was made. The man is writing on a sheet of paper with a colourful quill, which flutters and flicks back and forth with each slight motion. The man arrives at the bottom of the page, where he signs his name in bold, refined lettering: Commodore Roy Kinsley.

He finishes the lettering with a quick swish, a gesture he was quite practiced in. He returns his quill to the inkwell it resides in, taking a small metal bowl in one hand and pinching the fingers of his other hand inside. He draws his fingers out to retrieve a small dusting of fine sand, which he sprinkles across the fresh ink of the document before him, helping it to dry.

A modest tap on the door brings Kinsley's attention up from his desk, the surface of which is just as crowded with extravagance as the room around him.

"Come in!" Kinsley calls out to the person behind the door, directly across the room from him. The crowded layout of the room is quite deliberate, as the constrained space on the outskirts of the chamber creates a natural pathway which guides guests inwards, directly towards Kinsley's monolithic desk.

Kinsley is quite fond of the room's topography, as his place from behind the desk grants a sense of elevation and prestige, like the raised bureau upon which judges sit in their courtrooms.

The heavy doors open into the room, a single elderly servant walking in just far enough so he can speak to Kinsley without raising his voice.

There was an unspoken rule amidst the household staff not to talk at a volume above what was absolutely necessary for discourse. If the rule had been a spoken one, it would certainly be communicated no higher than a gentle timbre. It was an ordinance which was challenging for both the more youthful and aged staff members, as the youth found it difficult to modulate their voices properly all the time, and the elderly often had trouble hearing one another.

"Captain Normond has arrived, sir." The servant says at a pleasant, inoffensive level. Even if there had been no regulation upon vocal articulation, the servant would likely still speak at the same degree, due to his tired vocal cords.

"Ah! Wonderful!" Kinsley chirps up, his voice significantly louder than the level acceptable for the servants. He pushes his chair out cautiously, making sure not to scuff the wooden floor beneath him. He walks over to the door and joins the servant as they leave the room.

"It's unlike Callum to be so delayed. I can count on one hand the number of tardy instances he's had." Kinsley holds up his right hand to articulate his point further.