The Forgotten Zodiac

Before they were quite passed the house, the door opened again, and Isabella came running out. She approached Alexander and Virellis quickly, holding out a clean, white handkerchief to Alexander. "It's- It's for the one Morgan messed up," she murmured, blushing scarlet. She clearly wanted to turn around and run straight back into the house, but she held it off until she had made one nervous request. "Would you... Would you tell Morgan to come visit soon?" she asked, blue eyes focused on the street just beneath Alexander's shoes.
She barely waited for the "Certainly," to exit Alexander's mouth before she bolted from her position, rushing back into the house and closing the door tightly behind her. Alexander turned to Virellis, raising an eyebrow as Clarissa's point about the girl's social skills was proven undeniably true. "I had to tell him we were here anyway, so I suppose it works out."

"I guess so." Vi chortled. "Were you wanting to talk to him alone, then? I get your drift...but I do want to know what he says. All this is so very interesting. Dagan actually followed Morgan to the market one day and he saw him with a girl...could it be the same girl? The description was the same...so Morgan already knows about Isabella. We asked him about the girl we saw, and he...didn't take kindly into us prying about his personal business." Vi muttered, remembering the very threatening stance Morgan had taken on the conversation.

"I don't have any particular problem with you being there; but, if he already distrusts you, it might be better for me to do it alone." Alexander had known from the beginning that Morgan knew about Isabella, but it was interesting to know that Dagan and Virellis had known for longer. "When did Dagan follow Morgan? Was this the 'personal business' he was attending to when Moria made her move?"

"I figured as much," Vi shrugged. "Actually...yeah, that was the same day. Dagan followed him a short ways, then came back and told me. By the time Morgan returned, he said you were gone and demanded to know if we had a tracker. Brutis took him to the hideout, and he and Dagan broke in to save you. I dunno what happened after that, but he wound up getting shot with that bullet thing. I heard the gunfire. And then the wall collapsed and I had to dive in and fetch everyone." She giggled. "I got you first, then Dagan, then Brutis picked up Morgan. Then we all scurried home. The end."

Alexander nodded and kept walking, pace quickening as he forced the unwanted emotion from his mind. "I was there, you know. Groggy as I was, I remember the last bit." He chuckled quietly as another thought occurred to him, one he hadn't come up with until just now. "We're lucky it was Clarissa and Isabella in that house. It could have been Moria."

"What? Don't be silly. Even Moria wouldn't have the guts to mess with Morgan's house. He'd be absolutely furious, and let me tell you...Morgan is not someone you want to get on the bad side of. But you knew that already," Vi giggled. "He wouldn't betray you, either, if that's what you were getting at. I think it was very fitting for little Isabella to name her dog after him." She quieted about it as they approached the castle. "I'm going to go tell Dagan what we found, okay? Have fun talking to Morgan."

Before Alexander could explain that he hadn't meant Moria would be in Morgan's house, he had meant that they should have checked whose house it was before going to it, Virellis had abandoned him to go speak to Dagan, who was still in the stables. Within just a few more minutes of walking, he had reached Morgan's room and knocked, nervously, on the door. "Morgan? You awake?"

Not surprisingly, Morgan opened the door. "Good afternoon." He mumbled, yawning a bit as he moved back to his bed and sat down. "I think Monet drugged me. I should wring that guy's neck...I don't want to sleep more, but..." He yawned again. He stared off into the distance for a moment before smiling a bit. "That chef, Rachel...she's a sweet gal. Brought me shepherd's pie for lunch. Absolutely delicious. I'd recommend hiring her as your personal chef, but that's a security risk..." He trailed off again, this time seemingly fixated by the mirror in the room. It wasn't even pointed at him; he was clearly very much 'out of it', so to speak.

"He did, yeah. He drugged you so that you would actually stay in bed. Looks like it worked." Alexander made his way over to the chair in Morgan's room, which he seemed to be occupying a lot recently. "Hey, Morgan. Can you focus for just a second? There's something I need to tell you."

"You're sitting there again. I should break that chair, I hate it when you sit across from me. Sit here," He patted the bed next to him. "Businessmen always sit across from each other, and you know why? So that they can't stab each other when they get pissed off. Friends sit next to each other, because they have a mutual trust to not do that to one another. We're friends, not businessmen. Sit here." He insisted, clearly far from focused on what Alexander was saying. He kept rubbing his eyes, too.

"Really, Morgan?" Despite his sigh of mock exhausperation, Alexander crossed to the bed and leaned against it, watching Morgan skeptically. "Will you pay attention now?" Knowing his guard would almost definitely not, he skipped right to the reveal. "I met Isabella today, and I figured I would tell you before she did and you flipped out."

"Oh. That's nice. I was going to tell you last night, but Monet interrupted." Morgan blinked. "She's a sweet gal, isn't she? A...a little...um...she's not exactly...herself. She, uh...well, according to her diary as of late, she witnessed something pretty terrible when she was younger..." He muttered, shaking his head. "But did you like her? I certainly hope so. You're engaged to her." He chortled, smiling a bit.

Alexander stiffened noticably and he stopped leaning off the bed to better face Morgan. "That's hardly something to joke about, Morgan. What happened to the Albrechts was awful as was, I'm sure, whatever happened to Isabella. However, sharing a first name does not make them the same person." He was clearly annoyed now, for Morgan's medicated state made it hard to discern the value of the information.

Alexander returned to his position, somewhat mollified by Morgan's assurance that he wasn't lying. "You found her in Munich? That makes sense, most of the search was centered around here." He thought for a second more before deciding to belief Morgan and move from there. "Do you think she should be moved to the palace, which is where she should technically be living, or should we keep her a secret until she's... Caught further up?"

"No, no, leave her in my house. That's the only reason I bought the stupid thing." He smiled a bit. then sighed. "Yeah. Munich. I've known she was there for a long time...I took her there myself when she was younger. I had to. To keep her safe. I couldn't keep her here, so...I took her there, then went to the Vatican. And I found her again...dear, sweet Isabella. Such a cute gal..." He sighed wistfully, then ran his fingers through his hair.

((Bun, how quickly does Alexander connect these dots? With what he knows about Morgan already...))

"Wait, you took her to Munich?" The noble's demeanor shifted again, slightly more antagonistic and slightly more defensive. After all, both Isabella and her cousin were thought to have been kidnapped. "Why would you take her there? How was an orphanage possibly safer than palace custody?"

((Very quickly. I decided not to keep Morgan's surname a secret for much longer. Alexander just has to ask one more question. o3o))

Morgan looked at Alexander, then at the door. Then back at the mirror. Then he let out a sigh. "Because, Alexander. I wanted to keep her away from the man that destroyed the rest of her family. I wanted to keep her from the marriage that had been arranged without her consent. I wanted...to keep her broken mind away from your father. I took her. Of course I did, it was the only logical option. I knew your search would only involve Lanstul and surrounding towns. I had to get her out. So I went to Munich. Dropped her off at an orphanage, paid them quite a bit to take her in and take care of her...and when we went to Munich, I picked her up again." He smiled again. "I'm very glad you can't see through my illusion spells yet. She slept right in my arms, and you saw nothing but my cloak..."

((Okay, good.))

There were a few moments of silence as Alexander digested this information. The logic did fit: they still didn't know who was responsible for the Albrecht murders, Finnigan, Sr., had been known for his ruthless politics, and the emotional trauma was enough without adding an engagement to the mix. There were still a few pieces that didn't fit Alexander's mental puzzle, so he inquired further. "Why keep her a secret, after you got her in Munich? And, how old could you possibly have been when you took her to that orphange? Where'd you get the money for such a transaction?"

"I was around your age when I first took her there. Like I said, I paid them...mostly to not ask questions." Morgan sighed heavily. "But are you deaf? I told you. I wanted to keep her away from you, because of that stupid arranged marriage. I mean, your father hardly asked. I certainly didn't approve of it...and since her parents were dead, and my parents were...incapacitated...that made me her legal guardian...and I still couldn't do anything to stop the marriage from being arranged." He sighed, then flopped back in the bed with yet another yawn. Then he said in a sing-song voice, "My name is Morgan Albrecht, second son of Raemus, but Tom is dead and Sarah is dead...and mother is dead...all because of...me..." He fell quiet very quickly, and merely stared at the ceiling in a listless stupor.

"She's all I've got left, Alexander. Of course I want to keep her safe. No matter what the cost. I won't let her die like the rest of my family."