Hyathic Homicide - The Mage of Lost Magic

Chapter 7

Ghorza stepped ahead and grabbed the door for Selevin, following the lad inside the ornate inn. There were golden sconces along the walls and the tables were etched with silver. It was, to her eye, a poor person's idea of a wealthy place. The truly wealthy that Ghorza had met while on the job knew they did not have to flaunt it at every opportunity. Their regal bearing and expertly tailored clothes did that for them. The inn, however, had garish strokes of gold and silver always in sight, an attempted scream to its patrons that the place catered to the ultra-wealthy.

"Inkeep!" Shouted Selevin mere seconds upon entry. The Quarithi were often thought as pompous and overbearing, but she hoped the man didn't oversell it. "I, Lord Serrivi, require your finest accommodations. Post haste!"

Ghorza had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. He was laying it on a little thick, but the looks he drew helped to sell the farce. If the people there believed him some rich Quarithi merchant or lordling, so would the innkeeper. Even better, when their suspect came back home, he would have no reason to question rumors of other foreign nobles arriving. Had they presented themselves as police, even if the rumors went unsaid, the unease they caused would have set the suspect on edge.

"My Lord!" Called the rotund innkeeper, coming out from behind the bar. "Master Lakewin, if you will. Please, my Lord, we have Quarithi accommodations in the basement, filled with the resplendent flora of your lands. There's no place like home, right!" He called, cheeks red and puffing at the effort.

Selevin looked to Ghorza for a moment, unsure. She could not help him here. It would be unbecoming for a bodyguard to step in and speak for their Lord. She just had to sit back and hope that Selevin could figure it out.

"Bah!" Called Selevin, admonishing the innkeeper. "I've come from home, and while the Quarithi lands are more vast and wonderous than the likes of you could imagine, I have come seeking adventure! I will have your finest room, on the top floor. No Quarithi accommodations, I wish to experience the splendors of Hyathic life!"

Ghorza let out a deep breath at Selevin's lie. It was truly marvelous, they way he'd managed to escape the trap the unsuspecting innkeeper had laid for him. The man was more than happy to rent Selevin a room upstairs, apologizing again for assuming that he could know what the Lord would truly want. Selevin played his role, and he played it well.

When the innkeeper had tried to send Ghorza to the servant's quarters, again Selevin stepped in, demanding that Ghorza be permitted to attend to his person at all times. No servant's quarters for her, she would sleep on a mat by the door to Selevin's room.

The innkeeper had moved quickly to accommodate Selevin's demands. He played the role of haughty lordling so well, that the patrons in the common room had begun to look away, already convinced that they knew the entirety of Lord Serrivi's intents and countenance and that he was hardly worth listening to anymore.

Ghorza followed Selevin and the innkeeper to the room they'd been given. A stern look had pushed away the innkeeper's questions about horses and equipment, which if explored could have blown their cover. All Selevin had to do was flash his winning smile and expensive armor for the man to head back downstairs. Lordlings did not pay upfront, and any questioning about payment could upset them. You simply did not question a lord's ability or desire to pay. But when they paid, they paid well.

All said, it took them approximately ten minutes to get in and upstairs to their room. Selevin kept up his haughty air but dropped it at Ghorza's command. They needed to get to work. They could hardly break into the other four rooms to determine which belonged to their suspect. That would cause too much commotion. So, the duo set about trying to figure out their next steps.

Ultimately, they decided upon two courses of action. Ghorza would stand guard outside Selevin's door. Presumably something a lordling might demand of his bodyguard. This would grant her a view of the comings and goings of the residents upstairs.

In the meantime, Selevin would carefully scout the rooms from the outside. The inn had a small lip of stone running all along the outside of the upstairs windows. It would be dangerous, but Selevin's natural balance would come in handy and allow him to peer inside the rooms without notice.

The two left the room, Ghorza through the door and Selevin through the window. Ghorza prepared herself for a good, long while of standing on guard. She had done this as a cadet and as a young, uniformed officer, and knew how to slightly bend her knees. Those who stood at a perfectly straight attention with locked knees ran the risk of passing out from lack of blood flow to the lower extremities. Ghorza had learned that one the hard way.

She knew it would be a while before the suspect came back home, assuming he had gone to the gala. Those tended to run late, and even if the suspect left early, it would likely not be for at least a couple more hours. Still, Ghorza had to keep up her airs in case the innkeeper or another patron came upstairs.

She had been at her post for a little over an hour when Selevin opened the door behind her and asked her to come inside. Ghorza followed but stayed near the door so that she could hear if anyone came up the stairs.

"I think I found him. Third door to our left." Selevin whispered.

"What did you see? Why this room?"

"I saw a man standing in a corner. A human male. His height matches the blood spatter from the crime scene. But more than that, he didn't move."

Ghorza tilted her head questioningly, inviting Selevin to continue.

"He didn't move, boss. He stood in that corner, in the dark, not moving. I watched for almost twenty minutes. Not a muscle. No shuffling, no repositioning, nothing. Perfect stillness. It was eerie." He finished, shivering slightly at the disconcerting sight.

Ghorza hummed as she thought. This was odd, but not unexplainable. It could be an illusion, created for some distracting purpose. The subject could also be enchanted in some way. It was odd, possibly even illegal, but it didn't necessarily fit the unexplainable school of magic that the suspect had been using. Still, it nagged at her.

"Your gut, my boy. What does your gut tell you?" She asked unexpectedly.

"My gut? You always tell me to use my head not my heart." Replied Selevin, unsure.

"Just answer the question. Is this our guy? What about the other rooms?"

"I caught a merchant and his wife in various stages of undress." Said Selevin, blushing. "One room appeared empty. The other had the curtains closed, but I could hear the soft tones of a dulcimer through the window. This room was the only one that had something out of place."

"New lesson, son. Sometimes you get all the information there is, and still can't put it together. Never let perfection be the enemy of good. We go with what we got. Can we get into this room through the window?"

"I can." Replied Selevin, nodding unsurely. "Do you think you can brave the ledge to get there? There's not a lot of space to move out there."

"I'm nimbler than you think." Replied Ghorza, hiding her uncertainty. She was built for speed and raw power but knew she would have to find a way to make it work. "Is the window even unlocked?" She continued. "We can hardly break in. Too much noise, and we risk the suspect seeing the broken glass as he enters the inn."

"Its open." Replied Selevin. "I checked but didn't want to go inside without you. I'm telling you, there's something not right about that guy in the corner. You'll see."