Summer Garden

First

He stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the fire silently. The master's breathing changed subtly. He kept his face impassive but felt a small spike of glee at having surprised the man, despite the number of years he had served him in this capacity.

Janus waved a hand tiredly, "Report."

He sighed, "The ghoul was a blacksmith's apprentice, without promise, skill, or apparently a future. He was on the verge of being fired for substandard practice. He was killed by a mage. The one who killed him is a female, who has served effectively in a human military force. She has killed somewhere in the region of ten thousand people. He was killed simply because she saw no value in his life, and nor did anyone else. He was given a pauper's burial."

Janus sighed, "Anything else?"

"Personality attributes are interesting." He continued, "The man is a flirt. He finds himself drawn to any attractive female. He had indeed flirted with the one who took his life. I posit that his death was in fact an attempt at gallantry, which failed because he has no worth. He also highly prizes honesty, and finds it difficult to lie, which has lead to many making use of him as a scapegoat for their own actions. His sense of morality is much stricter than most Fae, and the values that he holds because of it are unlikely to mesh well into our culture. The values he seems to hold highest are modesty, honesty, generosity, kindness and justice."

Janus' mouth twitched a little. His master was clearly pleased by the combination of assets that his observations suggested. Manipulating this conservative individual wouldn't be difficult. He could already see a half dozen ways to force the man to earn a death penalty.

The master glanced at him, "Is there more, still?"

"Yes." He replied, "It might be worth exploring another option, as well. It appears that the one who killed him, the mage, has regretted her actions. She has begun to experience nightmares. It would not take much to push on these emotions and accentuate her current experience. If she was then provided with a sample of the subject, she would likely attempt a resurrection. She is a highly skilled practitioner, but is not a pyromancer as might first be supposed. She is a summoner. She has open contracts with several multidimensional creatures, including a few Fae. If she were attempt to resurrect the ghoul, she might be able to summon him from our realm back to his, and bind his soul to earth so that he may not return."

Janus blinked in surprise, "And how would that help my goals?"

"The Lady has imprinted upon him." He stated, casually revealing he had also been surveiling her without orders, "She would pursue him, no matter how strong her will. The end result would either be abdication and her permanent stay in the human realm, or more likely, she would breach our barriers to return him to her realm, and in doing so violate many of our unbreakable laws. Thus, charges could be directly brought against her, without need to use the subject as a proxy. The blame would fall on the Lady, and on the human mage, increasing our current xenophobic tendencies towards them. There would be no obvious signs of your involvement, as the human and the Lady shall have acted of their own accord."

Janus couldn't help but smile at the idea, "Now that is devious."

He waited for instructions silently as his master mulled over the idea in his mind. It was already clear what the solution would be. Janus would choose to use the mage, or at least attempt to, with several other plans ready to be enacted at the opportune moment if it should fail.

"How long do you estimate it would take to break this mage's spirit?" Janus asked, and he shrugged, "Humans are difficult to predict. A more subtle approach, guaranteeing that the interference not be uncovered would take several weeks of increasing nightmares. A less subtle approach, flinging the mage into hysteria, through the use of night terrors would take only two to three days."

Janus sighed, "Is there any possibility that we could time this so that the mage summons him during the wedding ceremony?"

"Not without doubt." He replied, "And performing the act early could cause members of the Council to sympathise with the Lady."

His master sighed, his enthusiasm tempered. "Begin lacing her dreams. We can reorganise and wait the weeks required."

He faded silently into the shadows.