A Scribe Inside (Jygust 30th, TT)

[Yelena Kintessia]

After being dismissed from the classes of the Rocky Isle school, Yelena prepared herself for her work as a scribe. The blond was a very diligent with her work, although she had never met the woman she worked with. Well she knew the name, Macy Fets. She was the Secretary of the Watch and coincidentally she dealt with things regarding the Blues. Yelena would have loved to meet Macy Fets and find out more about the Blues (out of curiosity), but she had no basis for what to do if she had met Macy Fets. The girl continued her work, pondering the rest of her day and hoping for something mildly interesting but not too serious to happen.

[Meridiuz]

The first part of her day was pretty boring indeed. There was lots of work to be done and no one seemed to be around to have some small talk with. It was just Yelena and her work, nothing else. The office wasn't really much of a distracting place either, it was all designed for work, nothing else. But right as Yelena was about to start another task, the door to the office opened and a tall woman jumped into the office and quickly closed the door. It was as if her prayers were answered. The woman turned around swiftly and leaned against the door with her eyes closed. Inhaling slowly and deeply, she held in her breath for a few flickers before exhaling again. "That bastard" She huffed.

It was only then when she opened her eyes and realized that Yelena was in the room as well. "Oh my! I....hadn't realized anyone was in here." There was merely a flicker of surprise visible in her face before she regained her almost arrogant posture and her usual playful smile appeared. "You must be..the new scribe? Ye...Ye...Yelena, right?" She had to think hard, but she remembered hearing the name.

[Yelena Kintessia]

Yelena flinched at the sound of the opening and closing of the door. The silence of the office for most of the day must have settled into her. Straightening up some loose papers, she turned her head to find out who had come in. A tall woman had entered and she looked like she ran into a little trouble with someone. Yelena let out a quick breath, happy that she would get to talk to at least one person while working.

"Oh my! I....hadn't realized anyone was in here." There was merely a flicker of surprise visible in her face before she regained her almost arrogant posture and her usual playful smile appeared. "You must be..the new scribe? Ye...Ye...Yelena, right?"

The girl nodded. “Yes, my name is Yelena. And it is okay if you did not realize anyone was here, the silence would lead anyone to suspect that.” She picked up the set for her next task while continuing to talk. “You seem relieved now that you are in here. May I ask what happened?”

[Meridiuz]

The woman nodded as Yelena confirmed that she was right. She snorted as the adhiel asked what happened. "Men. That's what happened." She sat down on a chair that stood against the side wall, sighed and just started at the ceiling. "You know, I thought I understood them. I thought their reasoning was always quite simple and it was so easy to make good use of them. But now, more recently I...think I'm losing my touch."

She turned her head to look at Yelena now. "It's ok for men to do this, you know. Men can just play around with women as if we are all their toys and they can pick us up whenever they feel the need to have some fun and just toss us aside again when they are done!" She rolled her eyes as she started waving her hands as she talked. "But when any kind of intimate bond comes along, any hint of a relationship, they retreat even faster than they had come onto you in the first place."

Standing up, she walked to a cabinet on the other side of the room. "I mean..I look good, right?" She slammed the left side of the cabinet with her left hand. "Damn good I might add." Indeed she looked quite stunning with a very well shaped figure. A kick on the lower part of the cabinet with her right foot followed. "I deserve to be treated with respect." She added as she punched in one of the wooden knobs that looked like it had only been there for decoration. Right below the knob a part of the wood clicked open and an apparently secret compartment revealed itself. Yelena watched the woman as she reached into the compartment and grabbed two tumblers and a small bottle of brandy. The woman walked over to the desk, poured some brandy into the tumblers, picked up her own tumbler and emptied it in one go.

She inhaled deeply. "Ahh..that's what I needed." Looking at Yelena, she smiled. "Oh, I am Macy Fets, by the way. Pleasure to meet you."

[Yelena Kintessia]

Yelena downed her tumbler just as fast as Macy, swiping away some loose hairs after. So this is Macy Fets. A very interesting lady. She propped herself up on the desk with her left hand under her chin, where she always liked to put it. “Yes, you are a damn good looking woman.” She reiterated the woman's words some more. “You do deserve to be treated with respect. I would.” Yelena was being honest with her last addition. Macy, in her eyes at the moment was a nice person. Actually she never treated anyone without respect, at least the last time she checked.

“As for the men, I can't say I have too much experience in that area, but I will take your word for it.” The adhiel tilted her head slightly to the right. “Perhaps it's not that you have lost your touch, but that they are simple enough to evolve past your methods.” Of course, Yelena did not have too much information on what happened, but what she said made sense.

[Grey Wolf]

OOC: I shall be taking over if you do not mind

Macy plopped herself into a chair, throwing her legs over the arm-rest and stretched while the brandy she just drank started seeping through her veins warming her slowly. “Thanks, Yelena.” She reached for the stack of papers that the other girl was working on and lifted one edge, taking a peek at their contents before letting it fall down. “But, enough about men for now. We’ll discuss them later, after I have had a few more drinks.” She refilled her own tumbler and held the bottle tilted, offering to do the same for Yelena. “Tell me how you like your new job? Need anything? Anyone giving you hard time? I am in a mood for fight and you are too nice to suffer for that bastard’s greed and need to be seen as a macho man.” Macy stretched once more and downed her second tumbler, inhaling sharly to cool her throat.

[Yelena Kintessia]

Yelena took the offer kindly, letting her tumbler be refilled. “I like the job. There's nothing really bad about it at all. However I would like some company. It gets very silent in here sometimes.” She downed the brandy, shaking herself as it went down. “I used to like being alone in some quiet place, but my friends have slowly been leading me away from that.” It was her 'family' at Rocky Isle that was helping her become more social, since she would have many talks with Paige, and Aerin as well as their classes. “No one is giving me a hard time, but it looks like you have one. Who is this 'bastard' you are referring too anyway?”

[Grey Wolf]

Macy’s eyes lit up at Yelena’s question and she spat the name out as it left the most sour taste in her mouth. “Michael Ranier, Pan curse his dick and make it fall off.” She grunted and refilled her tumbler, tossing the contents down her throat and then did another refill, remembering Yelena this time. “But, enough about him. I want to hear something nice. So, why don’t you tell me more about yourself? How you got here? What you like and what you dislike? What makes you smile?” She sipped the drink this time and then added with a sigh, relaxing in her chair. “What I would give for a nice back rub now? I am so tense.”

[Yelena Kintessia]

Yelena nodded after her series of questions. “Well then, to make it quick...” She paused to sweep back a stray lock of hair. “I came from T'aquar on a ship. The trip had me with a lot of free time that I spent reading and writing. Both of which I like. I dislike...” She paused again although this time she was a bit stumped over an answer. Ah. She did not know why she blanked for that flicker. “extremely rash and cocky people. Most of which are men. And what makes me smile would most likely be my new life ever since I arrived in the Citadel.”

Yelena let out a small laugh. “If you really want one I could try...” She did not know much about the art of the back rub, but if it would help the woman relax it was a good thing.

[Grey Wolf]

Instead of replying Macy slipped more firmly into her chair and scooted closer to the girl, sinking down and exposing her shoulder. “Yes please. And go on. Tell me more of Taquar and your life there. I alike hearing of people and of their life. It helps me get a better picture of the kind of person they are.” She shited once more, and should Yelana give it a try, she would find the girl’s muscles all knotted up and tense, even though the muscles in her neck were relaxed and did not stand out. Macy’s skin was soft and silky and a faint scent of jasmine emanated from it, the woman nothing like Krys even though they both wore the same uniform. “I am a strong believer that our past defines s and that every criminal’s actions can be explained by the events in his past. We are not born murderers or thieves, but are made that way by what we experience as we grow up and live. Thing is that the punishment as it is applied does not have the desired effect always and that with a bit of effort we could turn criminals into good people. But, not all, since some changes are irreversible.” She shook his head and drew her hair over her right shoulder to keep it out of the way. “But, enough of that. Tell me more about yourself.”

[Yelena Kintessia]

Yelena smiled as Macy accepted her offer to be massaged. The blond stretched out her fingers making a few wave-like motions to warm up her hands. She placed her hands on the woman's shoulders, feeling around for some tense muscles. When she found it she began to rub slowly trying to loosen them up before applying a bit more pressure. It was the first time she had ever given anyone a massage so she had hoped that it was well enough. “That is a very nice thing to believe in. I agree with it, but I also believe that there are exceptions to that method of judgment.”

As the flickers passed by she began to notice Macy's smooth skin and her pleasant fragrance. She smiled again happy that she wasn't doing any work at the moment. “Well, I led a calm life in T'aquar. My father was an Emerald Guardsman and my mother was a writer, mostly poetry. She raised me for the most part. However back then I loved being alone. Go out into the forest with a few small books. Find a tree to lay back on near a nice patch of sun that beamed down from the leaves. It was bliss. Is the massage alright? I apologize if it isn't.”

[Grey Wolf]

As tense as Macy was, it was a surprise she was not screaming in pain each time she moved, and even the unskilled touch of Yelena’s fingers was doing wonders, the woman wincing and squirming under it, but enduring everything, though a few times she almost reached to move the hand as pain became overwhelming. She turned and smiled, placing a hand over Yelena’s at her thoughtful question. “It is divine. It becomes uncomfortable I will say so. But, tell me of T’aquar and the Emerald Guard? That place is so far away from here that all we get is legends and stories that are hard to believe in. It would be a nice change to hear it from someone who actually lived there. And I heard there was a war there. We heard half the forest was burned down by the Oneists. Luckily they have been beaten in Aveas, even though I dislike how we sold the island to the World’s Mouth for what was basically a treachery. They will betray us just as easily as they betrayed the King. Heck, they will be even bolder since we rewarded their treachery.” She sighed and leaned forward, undoing the shirt some more and letting it drop down her back, offering more room for massage. “Marshall is quite right to dislike that upstart Ambassador of theirs. Always looking so royal in those big skirts of hers, and assuming she is important, not realizing that she is the main representative of a nation of traitors. Sad, isn’t it?”

[Yelena Kintessia]

“I do not know much about it, since my father brought my mother and I away from T’aquar to Kislevy. It was true that the forest was burned down, very badly. It was unfortunate. I would like to go back one day, however.” Yelena continued to work her hands, moving them down to the rest of the woman’s back. “Ambassador? The ambassador of World’s Mouth?”

[Grey Wolf]

Macy chuckled at the mention of Kislovan, looking at Yelena over her shoulder. “My, you have traveled quite a bit so far, haven’t you? So, now you get to tell me all you know of Kislovan too. Such luck.” At the mention of World’s Mouth, the girl could feel the muscles in Secretaries shoulder tense and knot once more, though Macy’s voice was calm and composed when she did speak. “Yes, the olive-skinned, petite monster. Looking cute and innocent, until she stabs you in the back.” Then lowering her voice she added. “I hear she nearly killed old Baron on their wedding night. Clearly a marriage made for connections and not for love, but still….. I did not believe the rumors that she was defending himself when an angry spirit possessed him for one flicker. Heck, I would not be surprised if she herself hired a mage to control the Baron so she could kill him. One would just think she would have a grace to wait a few days.” This time she sighed, even though the tension in her shoulders remained. “Marshall can’t do anything since Baron runs the Guild and they are worse than any gang. As long as they bring in the money to both the Duke and Empire they are untouchable and through them the Mouthie bitch too.”

[Yelena Kintessia]

“I don't have much to tell about Kislovan because I was not there for long. However for the time I was there I could see it was a beautiful place.” Yelena kept her hands working as best as she could, but from the woman's reactions her proficiency in massage needed much improvement. As she listened to Macy speak about the ambassador her expression changed from attentive to surprised. “She nearly killed him?”

Yelena could feel that she was stepping into something, learning more about the inner workings around the Citadel. From her deduction many of the people in power clash with each other, whether it's their affiliation, attitude, or what not. “Untouchable. If there was a chance would the Marshall make a move?”

[Grey Wolf]

Voicing no complains, Macy suffered through Yelena’s massage, shifting and groaning as adhiel’s fingers found particularly painful spots, her smooth forehead creasing in a frown as she fought against the pain. “Cracked his head against the bedpost or something. He was in bed for a week, and barely left his house for a month. Seems fine now, but I doubt a man of his yahren will ever recover fully. He is no longer young. Nearly fifty.” She paused, breath catching in her throat, as Yelena touched a hard, lump of knotted muscle between her shoulder blades and then hissed through clenched teeth. “As for Michael making a move if he could….. I don’t know. Probably. That girl did something to him that made him hate her deeply. But, as long as the Baron does not ask for an investigation and continues to be Duke Erwin’s money-maker, we can’t do a thing. If we do, we won’t stand a chance. Would be worse than what happened to Purples last yahren.”

[Yelena Kintessia]

Yelena thought of herself in a similar position, marrying a man older than she was for political reasons. She could not even imagine what it would be like. Perhaps it would have benefited the Ambassador, but was it worth it? Yet another question that could not be answered. Yelena continued to listen to Macy. The Baron held a very big influence, enough to scare the Marshall from action. “So, what happened to the Purples?”

From her wincing, it was clear that her massage was not one of the best amenities in the Citadel. “Should I stop?”

[Grey Wolf]

Despite being quite a bit more painful than usual, the massage was having the desired effect. The only real advantage a skillful masseuse had over Yelena was knowing exactly how the muscles worked and responded to pressure, and how much pressure to apply to ease the tension and still not cross the edge of pain. Thus Macy’s hand went to the other girls and pressed it back to her shoulders. “Just a bit more please. It helps a lot.” She waited for the massage to continue, delaying the telling so she could moan some more and then took a deep breath. “Purples? They overstepped their authority. At least that is what the charges I brought against them before Lord Advocate were. They went down to the Outer Ring and went about arresting people and closing down the inns. Saying there were demon worshipers and dark mages there. So, people got angry and there was a riot. Around fifty score people died. Tenth of those were Purples. I think only a couple of them managed to escape. Maybe five or six.” She sighed and gasped as Yelena’s fingers hit another sore spot. “And since they made a mess of it, Marshall asked me to file an official complaint and seek their disbandment due to being out of control.”

[Yelena Kintessia]

Yelena continued her massage on Macy's shoulders as she requested. A load of questions popped in her mind as Macy continued to tell her more, this time about the incident with the Purples. Why would they overstep their authority in order to hunt down and arrest some worshipers and mages? Surely they would have needed proof of some sort. With the conversation heading towards talk about the Purples, Yelena remembered about the Blues and how she wanted to know a little more about how they were operated. “If I may ask yet another question Macy, who is in charge of the Blues?”

[Grey Wolf]

Knowing that despite the massage doing her good, enduring under the finger of skilled masseuse for too long could do more harm than good, so Macy shifter from under Yelena’s fingers, pulling the shirt up over her shoulders once more. “Thank you. I feel much better now. Not perfect, but much, much better.” She turned and faced the scribe this time, tilting her head as she sighed deeply. “The City Watch is run by Provost Marshall Michael Ranier. I am Secretary of the Watch and it is my duty to see to issues that arise daily and also represent the organization in legal and financial matters. Think of me as the number cruncher of the Blues.” She smiled, revealing a set of white teeth behind her well formed lips. “The entire legal system of the city is managed by Lord Advocate Stephen Matiro, and so the Watch is under his command. He is Marshall’s boss to put it plainly.”

[Yelena Kintessia]

“Thank you. I feel much better now. Not perfect, but much, much better.”

“No, I'm sorry I did not really know how to massage in the first place.” Yelena watched as Macy turned around to face her before giving her answer. Ah so the Lord Advocate commands them and is above Marshall. “Oh, that clears it up a bit. Do you know all of the issues that the Watch faces besides the daily issues or are those part of it? Because I have a friend...” The blond's voice trailed off.

[Grey Wolf]

The apology about the lack of her skills as masseuse were waved off and then came the question, with Macy tilting her head slightly to the side and hesitating a flicker or two. “Well, I don’t handle everything there. I don’t know everyone that has been arrested or…… But, it would be easy to find out if your friend has ended in Gaol. Not sure I can get her or him out, provided you convince me of their innocence, but I can ask around.” She smiled encouragingly and took Yelena’s hand in her own. “Why don’t you tell me your friend’s name and what he or she did and I will ask about them when I am back in Gaol?”