A Tutor's Council

As he eased his aching back into his chair, sore from a long day's ride, a page was scampering about the cliffside villa, looking for Magnus, wherever the manmage could be.

Jorah's study embraced him with the smell of ink, burnt candlewax, and dust. A single window looked out onto the ocean, where the bright eye of a lighthouse blinked in the distant darkness. The dull echo of the waves against rock muttered their power up to this high room. He lit his pipe with a candle, then looked down with concern at the note which greeted him at the entrance to his Vineyard Estate.

Two young crows had not returned from a messenger errand, each sent out on two separate days. They had been sent as heralds to Juan Cortez, a race-horse breeder, and assassin with skills in magic, who led a lower house of crows. Cortez was known for keeping mistresses behind his wife's back and could not resist a gamble. The man's friendship had always been a good distraction from Jorah's own foul moods, however unhealthy the guilty pleasures and sins he fell into. He held much business with Cortez, and more than just crow business. There was wine business and horse business and whore business too.

Your wife no longer walks this earth, so live a little, he recalled the taller man, eyes glazed over, mutter sloppily and drunkenly. He always seemed like another person when he drank.

Jorah sighed, burning the small paper over the candle as is the way of the crows, and set it aside in an ornate tin, closing the lid with a tink. By now, footsteps were around the corner. His eyes shot to the door as he leaned back in his uncomfortable chair, impressive but uncomfortable.

[color=orange]"I've got a situation, Magnus. I fear something has befallen the Cortez family. Have you heard anything?"[/color] he asked, knowing the rhythm of the mage's gait from around the corner.

Magnus entered the study to find Jorah sitting behind his desk in the dim amber glow of candlelight, an aromatic halo of pipe smoke lazily drifting away from him and into the shadows.  He had a troubled look on his face - something that did not bode well for his too-frequent dour disposition.  

Magnus wasn't surprised by the question - he too had noticed the conspicuous silence from both the family and contacts who typically whispered information about Cortez's clandestine machinations.  Given the ever-present threats that seemed to lurk in every shadow, the silence quiet screamed for attention.  

[color=#7CD98A]"I have not, which is a matter of grave concern.  Nor have I heard from a messenger sent to retrieve information about the matter.  Under even the best circumstances, the lack of communication would signal trouble."[/color]  Cortez was not a tactician, but even he would not be so foolish as to cut off contact before making a move for power.  Something must have happened.  

Magnus had, in fact, decided just that morning to question one with intuition about coming challenges.  He had not, however, had a chance to do so.  

He mentally chided himself.  He'd been so focused on protecting his family that this had not been given enough consideration.  It was an intolerable mistake - one that would not be made again.  

[color=#7CD98A]"I had hoped to ask you for information when you arrived, as he is your vassal.  I suspect the situation may warrant more direct investigation."[/color]

[color=orange]"Well at first, we thought it was the boy becoming a run-away. That one is said to be easily frightened. But Little Tricia's disappearence is more strange and what brought the fledging-keeper to notify me and bring all this to my attention. As you know, everything has been quite chaotic this days, Magnus," [/color]he looked sadly into the man's eyes. Jorah did not hold much respect for most civilian tutors, their hands were too soft. [color=orange]"Whatever the fuck Cortez is up to, he's a fool to stop the fledglings between our houses, of all ways to pick a fight." [/color]

Jorah stood up, hesitated for the barest instant after rising, a hesitation that began a few years ago, and walked to the door of his study where Magnus stood. Jorah knew the directions the Mesoneros had to go in, but many days, it was Magnus who attended to the finer details. Too often, the man was a messenger on the days Jorah was stretched-thin. Magnus was incredibly well-informed on the affairs of the Mesonero household and this loyalty had lasted several years. Jorah patted Magnus's shoulder as many a time he'd slide a task off to the tutor.[color=orange] "Ride with me to the Manor in two days time, or find someone better than you to send with me. Assemble anyone you see fit,"[/color] he said, sighing, he continued more tiredly, [color=orange]"knowing Cortez, we'll need to be ready for anything."[/color]

Magnus perhaps only heard of Cortez, a rogue with a sprinkling of magic in his fingers. Or he had seen bits and pieces of him, as their affairs rarely should intertwine past his aquaintenceship with Jorah. Cortez was a slim man of average height and build, whose lips were curled in a perpetual, catlike smirk. He loved horses, in a deeper way than Jorah, as horse-breeding was his family's original trade before it served the crows. He held lands in the Antivan countryside, and his horses were often sought by domestic nobility for their entourage and foreign lords for their generals' mounts.

But many kept their distance from Cortez, for he spent a lot of time in the prisons as a visitor. Sadism attracted many a crow to their station. Juan Cortez threw the types of parties where everyone wore masks, and left with a bloodstain on their clothes, and Magnus would know all this too.

Magnus nodded.  In the past, he would have left with Jorah without a moment's hesitation.  That, however, was no longer true.  With peanut on the way, he couldn't ride into danger without a compelling reason.  And, as repulsively slimy Cortez was, he just didn't justify the risk.  

Cortez still had to be dealt with.  

And then there was the other thing.  This morning when Magnus had walked into his own study, he had been surprised to find Jaq sitting in his chair, her feet propped up on his desk.  She had grinned like a Cheshire cat before sobering and telling him that she had woken up with that familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach - the one that said she and Julian needed to be somewhere else.  

Magnus knew all too well what that feeling meant, which is why he knew who he had to send with Jorah.  

[color=#7CD98A]"Sadly, I have a task that prevents me from joining this mission.  I will, however, ensure you are properly supported.  I have two people in mind - people who I have trusted with my own life on several occasions." [/color] He hesitated, hoping this next part wouldn't be a problem  [color=#7CD98A]"There is one thing I must note - the pair, should they accompany you, work under the condition of anonymity.  If that is an issue, I can seek alternatives...though they would no doubt be less skilled."   [/color]

He looked to Jorah, waiting for the signal to proceed. 

The risk involved with this plan bordered on insane, but Magnus knew enough to trust Jaq's gut.  If she said that she and Julian had to go, then chances are that whatever happened on the trip would be much more deadly without them.

Jorah nodded. In Antivan society, where no one kept a standing army, this was the way. Nobles did their own dirty work, as was to be expected of a Talon, and if they needed help, they offered their coffers to a few other elite, that for whatever reason, did not make a grab for political power, whatever their reasons. Maker knew anonymlty in and of itself a blessing.

[color=orange]"Thank you, Magnus. And if they weren't halfway decent, I'd expect nothing less," [/color]Jorah accepted, offering another fatigued glance towards Magnus.[color=orange] "A crow's best weapon is not his talons,"[/color] he said tapping the side of his forehead.[color=orange] "Any questions before I turn in for the night?" [/color]he hesitated, leading into something he cared about more but felt foreign to ask...[color=orange] "How is Julian taking to his studies?... There has just been so much business these past few months," [/color]he trailed off, cracking his knuckles ironically. Most of his business had been regarding the affairs of his late wife's estate, nothing requiring the skills of a Talon.

[color=#7CD98A]"No questions at this time, sir, though I expect some may come as preparations are made.  As for Julian..." [/color] Magnus hesitated, trying to gauge his response before giving it.  [color=#7CD98A]"He is...improving.  He's a quick learner...but headstrong and reactive."  [/color]Magnus sighed, knowing that Jorah wasn't only asking about the academic studies he was tasked with teaching.  [color=#7CD98A]"He'll be a good leader, once he stops getting in his own way."  [/color]

It was true.  Julian was already formidable but if the boy could figure out how to get control of his emotions, he would be unstoppable.  It wouldn't be an easy task...but that just made it all the more important.  

Passively, Magnus noticed that Jorah had asked only about Julian and not his twin sister.  He imagined Jaq bristling at the perceived slight - though he did not let any hint of the thought slip through the steely grasp on his countenance.  Sometimes it seemed as if the father and daughter were staring at each other from opposite sides of a great canyon, seeing the same things from completely different positions.  It was a divide that Magnus would never even attempt to try and address.  Magnus was given a lot of latitude by Jorah - latitude he had earned through years of thoughtful council and loyalty - but there were some things that were just off limits.

Jorah nodded, looking around the dismal hallway of the villa, lit by a single candle. Jorah once had a deeper hand in his children' upbringing, but ever since Tomas's symptoms grew more, and Julian was named heir, Jorah could feel a great distance loom between his children and him. He planned to teach Julian a few lessons himself, while his old-man-strength made him tougher than he was 20 years ago, but the longer he put it off, the harder it became to start. The older they grew, the more he felt Elena gaze back at him through their eyes. The older he grew, the more he couldnt face her.

[color=orange]"You'll have to tell me more the next time we sit down,"[/color] Jorah said, his eyes not focused as he thought about 2-year-old Julian refusing to eat his plate of food. The servants were at their wits' end, but when Jorah was summoned at last in desperation by the governess, the child finally put a morsel in his mouth.

Jaqueline would be spared much difficulty in life thanks to her twin, but Jorah did not dwell on the atleasts. He shook off the thought, giving Magnus a small smile.

[color=orange]"Thank you for seeing to the preparations. It's been a long day, Magnus. Sleep well," [/color]Jorah said his farewell and made his way to his bedchamber.