Sparnas

The Next Arson

The next arson never happened because nothing got burnt. Dimma had an open file in front of him. A note from the Matron Igqirha of Medici, telling him of the missing onyx necklace in bold letters on top of his report. He had gone to the Medici at the break of dawn where the Matron personally led him to the inner shrine.

The whole isle was unguarded save for two BlueWings guard at the main gate. Nothing else was missing, just the Kryloan pendant, given as a gift for the WhiteWings after the break of the Great War as a token of good faith. The WhiteWings, in turn, kept it in their shrine, with the blind faith that no one would dare to take it.

A bright colored fabric caught Dimma's eyes. He knelt at the side of the altar peering at the back. The small scrap was stuck under the altar table where the necklace was proudly displayed. Somebody snagged it on a gem-encrusted nail. Dimma kept it in an envelope. It was made of a soft material like silk, obscenely red.

The Matron Igqirha denied knowing the silk, saying no WhiteWings would've worn anything as extravagant as that. She did not even want to touch it.

The whole shrine was cleaned every morning. The neophytes who were supposed to clean the inner shrine were not allowed to enter it that day before Dimma got there. The Matron Igqirha had barred anyone from entering the previous night. So it might be the only piece of evidence concerning the onyx Necklace.

For the first two arsons, thefts of the two relics were not public knowledge. The onyx necklace being taken might change the game but as no other priceless artifact was taken Dimma was confident Admiral Modry could keep the case in the Brotherhoods hand.

"Matron, please be assured that the Brotherhood is spending all their resources to procure the necklace and return it back to the Igqirha. All we ask is for you and anyone in the know to keep this quiet for the time being. We humbly ask you to accept extra guards station here at the shrine. They were supposed to begin their duty on the fifthday."

"Isn't it a little bit too late? We do not prefer armed sparnas on living on this isle. Their weapons will be a distraction for the WhiteWings. I'm sorry but I have to decline."

"Your safety is still our concern. We do not want the thief to come back for these other treasures." He knew the excuse sounded weak as it left his lips. "My Brothers will come this evening, with a letter from Admiral Modry."

After a long, quiet contemplation the Matron Igqirha finally nodded in assent. "Alright. Make sure they are invisible, make sure they won't interfere with our daily rituals. May all the forefathers be with you, BlackWing. Will you pray with me?"

Dimma knelt with the Matron. He prayed with the Matron in the lead. She uttered a long prayer of long dead words, praying for blessings to curse the thief to a life of fear and unpleasantness. Although the WhiteWings were sworn to a life of giving, Dimma had always wondered why their shrines were all extravagant. They could have easily channeled the money to charities.

The Igqirha used to be revered for their spiritual strength and magical powers. As time went by, sparnas beliefs changed. They knew the magic was only fancy alchemy. Sparnas began to lose interest in magic and the Igqirha, although still respected, were treated almost the same as otherWings. They were held in high regard by the more religious sparnas. They were still feared by some of the more superstitious sparnas.

The Matron ended her prayer by placing her forehead on the ground. She turned and placed her hand on Dimma's forehead and blessed him. She smelled like lavenders. He thanked her and she escorted him off the isle.

Coming back to his office, he was waylaid by a BlackWing special messenger. She passed on a letter from the Raudonas. The Raudonas claimed that the Gold Coin in their safekeeping was missing.

Dimma changed his course and flew to the Raudonas Isle. The RedWing family as almost as rich as the lesser GrayWing clan. They were chosen to be the keeper of the Gold Coin as the family's head was the Patrician right after the Great War.

He was welcomed by Lady Raudonas. She apologized for the absence of her husband and led him straight to their personal vault. The vault where they kept the Coin was otherwise untouched, all the Raudonas wealth were still there, all the gems and everything. Dimma spent almost five hours in the vault with the help of a butler and a guard, checking off the vault's inventory, gem by gem, painting by paintings.

The Raudonas was one of the few respectable RedWings families. The sparnas common prejudice on wing colors pegged prominent RedWings as scalpers, skimmers, and morally ambiguous. The Raudonas were a line of ancient RedWings with most of their ancestors having held important positions in the Senate. The current patriarch was also superstitious, Dimma knew the reason they chose the eastern gazebo was solely for having the blood of the sacrifice splashed on to them. The blood signified a shower of prosperity, and the Raudonas tried their best to get that spot, overbidding other superstitious families.

He met with the rest of the Raudonas family as they were already assembled in their large study. The Raudonas testified that they did not notice when the Coin was taken as they took random inventory of their vault and it was still there two months ago. They had kindly invited him to tea but Dimma had declined. He left them with the same instruction he gave the Igqirha Matron, to keep quiet and not advertise the theft. He also informed them of the Brotherhood guards who were to come and guard their vault that same evening.

He now had four relics stolen. The Tome and the Scepter in the previous week, the Necklace the night before, and the Gold Coin, Atavus knows when. He added an extra passage at the end of his report that he thinks they were all linked together, done by the same person or persons unknown, to undermine the Kryloan Brotherhood. It was not Hegal's paranoid thought anymore. The thief took specific Krylo relics and none of the other treasures abundantly available in all of the scenes. Dimma added two hypothetical theories. The thief might believe in the magical properties the relics supposedly had, or, he might be on a personal mission to cause dissension among the Brothers.

He had expedited the deployment of eight guards for each of the safe keepers for the rest of the relics. Admiral Modry had issued a letter saying the miner's strikes down at Morsterra as the cause. Dimma hoped that most of the families were as open as the Raudonas, that they would not mind the extra security measures and that they would not care less about the pretense as long as the Brothers did not interfere with the family and their personal security.

By late evening Dimma received a note from the BlueWings Castra Base. The biggest headache he got was from the BlueWing Fleet Admiral. They were always against Brotherhood guards in their midst. They relented only after Admiral Modry proposed a meeting with the ranking admirals. All of them.

Dimma decided he needed to clear his head before sending his report. He would submit his report personally to Admiral Modry by midnight.