"Chapter 6: Celedur Meets with Rose" by Ian Plumb

Chapter 6: Celedur Meets with Rose

Celedur watched carefully as the amber fluid filled the delicate crystal wine glass. Rose, he knew, had a penchant for late-harvest Semillon-Blanc. A knock was followed swiftly by the presence of his aide, Gilles du Jour.

"Monsieur le Mayor, the Prevot de Tharbad is here for your meeting.", said Gilles as he ushered in Rose. He bowed and left the room, closing the door quietly behind himself.

"Rose, please, do take a seat. A little wine perhaps?"

Celedur proferred a small glass of the white wine. Rose took the glass and then took a seat, draping an arm over the back of the chair as she slouched diagonally across it. Rather than sitting at his desk Celedur dragged his chair around the large table and sat near to Rose.

Rose was a Player with a long history of service to the Queen, or more specifically Cornelius. For years Celedur had known her, or known of her, by her Elven sobriquet which meant "Deadly Strike" in Cartélanois. It was inscribed down her longsword and she was known to the Orcs and Goblins of the Borders -- known and feared. She had been Capitaine of the North Gate Guard until Rana took over, freeing Rose for the politically treacherous role of managing the cities' Watchmen.

Rose sipped at her wine and made the smallest sound of pleasure. "The Mayor's cellar is well stocked Celedur. And I am ever grateful for the opportunity to partake of your largesse. Nevertheless I assume this isn't a social get together. What do you need?"

That was Rose -- ever practical. Celedur truly admired her. "I simply need to know what you intend doing about Breila. And I need to know how you came to be searching her room that day..."

Rose smiled. "I make no pretenses here. I doubt that Breila is guilty and as such I have no doubt that the evidence was planted. Breila, while perhaps guilty of the odd sexual indiscretion bears nothing but hatred for the proscribed gods and their minions here that stride this world.

"Nevertheless, until her innocence is proved she is assumed to be guilty. My writ though only extends to the city walls. Outside of Macon I have no more influence over her than anyone else in Macon. My job then is to arrest her if she enters the city. And that I will do -- no more, no less."

Celedur sipped on his wine. "Entirely reasonable, under the circumstances. Now, regarding proving her innocence..."

Rose looked at Celedur. "The tip-off came from one of my Watchmen, who said he'd received the information from a young street urchin who slipped him a note. The note was in a clear script on clean parchment. Much to my own surprise there was even a partial watermark on the parchment."

Rose drew the partial symbol for Celedur. He recognised it immediately. "That, Rose, is the symbol of the House of Finwaren. Breila's betrothed, Findegal, is the head of that House. There is more to this than meets the eye. The Finwaren estate is half a day or so north-west of the city. I believe Findegal is there at the moment. I will see what I can learn about this matter."

Rose finished off her glass. "The Watchmen are not fond of Breila. When you, er, regained the Mayorship she happily cracked a few heads of those Watchmen who felt they were better off under the, er, illegal Mayor. They have long memories. Anyway, as long as Breila keeps off the streets of Macon everything will be fine."

Celedur clasped Rose's hand warmly. "Adieu, Rose."

Note: For explanations regarding the world in which this story is set, it's peoples and language please take a look at The Encyclopaedia of Everything located in my library.