The Forgotten Zodiac

Dagan laughed slightly, both at Vi's assumption that he would go with her, which he would, and at the mental image of all the nobles fighting over the punch bowl. "You assume I'm going with you, Vi. Maybe I have other girls to ask." He was joking, quite obviously. The largest flaw in any attempt like that on his part was simply that he hadn't met any other girls. Very few of the palace workers cared to investigate the barns and the creatures inside them, and those that did were rarely friendly. Any social attempts would have to come from Dagan himself, and that wouldn't happen.

"Oh, such a sour lot I've cast myself into," Vi said, in a more joking manner than Dagan's previous statement. "If love has touched you, not remains but so, 'Redime te captum quam queas minimo.'"

"I think someone's been reading too much Shakespeare again," Morgan grinned.

"Oh, very good. At least someone here has cracked a few books."

"Are you kidding? Reading is boring. But you should see the latest adaptations of that play, they're more hilarious than watching Alexander's dance lessons."

"Oh, don't be such a jerk. I'm sure Xander is good at dancing." Virellis very nearly threw her stacks of papers at him. "Isn't that right, Xander? You have poise, I'm sure you're quite graceful."

"Oh yes, he's as graceful as a drunkard!" Morgan laughed. "You want him to dance, put a sword to his feet, he'll probably do better!" Vi threw her ink pot at that, her frown quite serious.

((That quote is from the Taming of the Shrew, by the way. The latin there means, "Buy yourself out of bondage for as little as you can", which is esentially telling Dagan that he doesn't have the coin to entertain any other woman.

If you still don't get the humor, I can change it. Not a big deal. I'm tired, so it makes sense now. Might not in the morn'.))

Alexander jumped backward when Virellis hurled her ink pot, narrowly avoiding the stream of ink that spilled from it. "I'm a much better dancer when I'm not being told to get cheek to cheek and stomach to stomach with a fifty-year old man. His breath alone makes me uncomfortable." The noble smiled to himself at the idea of how loudly the old man was prone to yell after a well-placed kick to the shins. It was one of the few things that made dance lessons of any sort worthwhile.

They all had a good chuckle at that one, aside from Morgan, who was mourning his now ink-stained half cape. "You ruined perfectly good fabric!"

"It's already black!" Vi chided.

"But now it has a splotch of darker black, and it'll be rough there. What kind of monser are you?" Morgan faked being teary-eyed, pouting at her. "You'll have to buy me a new one."

"Buy it yourself, you big oaf! Here, Xander," Vi handed over the papers. "I finished all the paperwork. Aside from the one that says I have to taste-test drinks and food. I'm pretty sure that's one that Morgan slipped in."

"So you didn't notice the one that says you forfeit your week's pay when you insult me?" Morgan grinned.

"Wha--you...y-you didn't!" Vi was horrorstruck.

"Nah. But you should've seen the look on your face just then, that was gold." He laughed, grinning wide, and had to flee from Vi with a quill stuck in his cape.

"Great." Alexander took the papers, flipping idly through them. "Were there really that many? Good Lord..." He folded the paper and stuck them in his pocket, after checking that all the ink was dry. "I'll get these to the library later."
Dagan grinned, both at Morgan's infatuation with his own appearance and at Vi's moment of horror. "What's the use of writing if you don't remember what you've signed, Vi? From now on, Morgan'll just be able to tell you you signed it and you'll be stuck."

"Not so. I know when someone is lying." Vi blushed slightly, turning up her nose. "I know the major details of what I signed. I...might have skipped over a couple of pages..."

"Don't worry," Morgan grinned, though he was quite serious now. "It just states that if you leak information and I have proof of it, or if you attack myself, Alexander, or any other prominent nobleman, I'm permitted to incapacitate you. The phrase 'attack' was clearly stated as an assault and battery with intent to physically injure. So I suppose I can't incapacitate you for ruining my cloak...oh, and the second paper you skipped was about injured and sick leave. You have to tell us if anything happens to keep you from your work. Ah, the third...was about us not being responsible for your actions in the case that you snap."

"How do you know which ones I skipped?" Vi frowned at him.

Morgan chuckled. "I've been here the whole time."

"You were swordfighting!"

"Doesn't mean I wasn't watching. Even if you didn't read them, it's good that you signed them."

Dagan's jaw dropped and his eyebrows raised slightly after Morgan's recitatal, thoroughly impressed with Morgan's observation skills, unless he was lying. "You could just be lying about it and have made up a couple pages that weren't really in there or were incredibly boring, so you know she would skim." His immediate reaction to awe was challenging the cause of that awe, unless, of course, it was a magical creature of some sort. Dagan could hardly argue with those.

"Nope. These are a numbered stack, all bound together by a pin in the top." Morgan took the stack from Alexander's hands, smiling. "Let's see, page 13, 15, and....20. Here we are." He cleared his throat and began reading them in order; it was as he had said. "I put this stack together, I know which page is which."

"How'd you know what page I was on, then?" Vi frowned. "Did you count the pages I had already passed?"

Morgan wordlessly closed the stack, then began folding them back one by one, exactly how Vi had done it. With each page that passed, there was the quiet brush of paper against another paper. Vi's jaw dropped more than Dagan's had. "But you were...swordfighting, you couldn't have...you couldn't have heard it. Could you?"

"If there's one thing you should never do, it's underestimate me." Morgan grinned as he handed the papers back to Alexander. "You two honestly shouldn't be that impressed. I can kill a man without touching him. There's no way to tell what else I have up my sleeve."

Alexander took the papers back and returned them to his pocket. "If we really want to test this, we put a box around Vi next time she's doing paperwork, so Morgan can't see her. He'll still know which pages he skipped if he's telling the truth. If he's not, he won't have any idea." Knowing how Morgan was capable of killing men without touching them, Alexander was also somewhat skeptical that Morgan was hearing the page turn. It was still possible, but there were other answer that made much more sense.
Dagan gaped at Morgan but, suitably impressed, changed sides of the argument. "It actually would make sense. Those few times his opponents got near him were all around Vi finishing a page."

"Test all you want," Morgan chuckled. "Yes, concentration wavers slightly when you're distracted counting, but hey, I didn't lose my place. You're right to be impressed, I'm pretty amazing when I try." He chortled, ever the egotistical brat.

"Oh! I remember that one night, when you had gotten kidnapped, Alexander." Vi said, grinning. "Morgan just put his hands to the door and closed his eyes, and he was able to tell how many were guarding the door. Were you listening then?"

"Er...no. I was actually using something different." Morgan shook his head.

"Really? How?" Dagan perked up at the mention of a technique that had a real application, something unlike counting every page Virellis turned when she was filling out paperwork. He thought back on that day, which had barely been longer than a week ago, as long as it seemed, and remembered another important detail to the situation. "That was magic though, wasn't it? You took your hand out of your pocket and everything."
Alexander perked with interest, since he hadn't really heard the story and he'd been kidnapped at the time. "Really? I didn't know you could do that. Morgan, someday, you really should tell me all the stuff you can do." When he thought about it, it did make sense. The demon eye saw souls, which were nonphysical. There was no reason it should be hung up on stupid things like doors.

"Yes, it was magic of a sorts." Morgan shrugged. "I might tell you later, Alexander, but it's an obvious security risk. How can I pull the strings in a rescue operation if they've interrogated you for everything I can do? I'd be useless. Then again, please don't get yourself kidnapped again. Saving your butt is unpleasant."

((Aw, you figured it out. xD))

((Yup. I thought that was meant to be obvious.))

"Is it?" Alexander grinned, prefacing his next comment with a smile so Morgan would know it wasn't meant to be taken seriously. "Well, perhaps, if you did your job properly, I would get kidnapped less. I only do it to keep you on your toes."

It was in that relatively peaceful moment that a scream pierced the air. It was quickly muffled, sounding like a gag was being forced upon the screamer. Alexander and Dagan were both on their feet almost immediately and scanning the area for the source of the noise. They did not have long to look. Two large men rounding the corner into the training yard, dragging a girl between them. The girl was struggling weakly, it had been her scream earlier, but was now mostly being dragged along.

Naturally, Morgan was quick to action. He snatched up one of the training blades and stood before the two men. Ever the flashy one, he spoke loudly and with unfaltering confidence. "Gentlemen! Such a fine day, this one. Not exactly one you want to be spending in jail, either." He grinned. "As you can see, you're both outnumbered and outmatched. Even if you did manage to-" He stopped himself short, his eyes falling on the girl between them.

Vi, Dagan, and Alexander all instantly knew that he was very quickly furious. The tiny shift in his demeanor told everything, though any who did not know him would think it as nothing. The way his jaw set, the light in his eyes, shifting his weight onto his heels as though preparing to attack. But most obviously was his voice. It nearly trembled with pure fury. "Just let her go."

The hidden meaning of the sentence was also obvious to Alexander and company. 'Let her go, and you can walk away with your lives intact.'

((I'm gonna say Clarissa/Cassandra/whatever her name is was walking the dog at the time, so she wasn't seen and therefore can't be accused of kidnapping Isabella. Instead, she was found in a house belonging to Morgan...what fun accusations will be thrown about. >:3))

((Excellent. I thought Clarissa would be grocery shopping or something. We both have her out of the house. Great minds think alike.))

"Not so fast, there." One of the men, the one farthest away from Morgan, gestured at the girl he was helping to pin. "This here is Isabella Albrecht. We want the reward." Yet, some part of him clearly registered that it would be a very bad idea to keep hold of the girl, so he flung her forward to the group. "The reward, if you please. Unless you want it to be common knowledge that one of Alexander Finnigan's employees was holding the Albrecht girl."
Alexander had been on his feet as soon he recognized the girl they were carrying, interposing himself between the bounty hunters and Morgan. Thus, when they launched the girl forward, he was the one to gently catch her, though he moved her behind him and toward Morgan immediately. "Have you proof of this statement? Blackmail will do you no good without it."

Morgan swept her under his half-cape, using his wires to untie the ropes and remove the gag.

"Found 'er in a house on Sky Street. We did a bit of poking 'round before bringing 'er in," Another of the men grinned toothily, his slurred accent doing nothing but irritating Morgan further. "Th' evidence is there. Doesn't take a genius to visit th' housin' department and find out who's livin' where. Th' house belongs ta Morgan there. Usin' yer lackeys to cover up th' kidnappin'...disgustin'."

"Watch your words," Morgan hissed, his eyes thin, narrow slits. This was a tricky situation. Paying these bounty hunters would not guarantee silence. They would all too easily run off with the money, tell everyone in town, and leave the city before sunset. The guard found himself almost wishing Alexander would give the order to kill them, but there was someone here now who was preventing him from making a move. Isabella. He wasn't about to become a murderer in her innocent eyes. He would allow no such thing, no matter how much his Third Eye was egging him on.

"No, you watch it! Vatican scum, gettin' away wif everythin' they do...I think the price fer silence should be double the bounty!"

Isabella wrapped her arms around Morgan, muffling her tears in his shoulder. "M-Morgan, I-" She broke off and simply leaned against him as she silenced her tears. "They hurt my arms, and they broke the lamp. I didn't break the lamp; I was trying to be careful, but they broke the lamp, and they put scuff marks all over the wall. It was them, not me."
"Really? Is that what you think?" Alexander thought for a second, then shrugged his assent. "But, then again, you don't know that that's why she was there. Perhaps she was there to be kept safe from the true kidnappers. I couldn't exactly announce her location. My 'lackey' located Miss Albrecht a few months ago, during my annual trip to Dublin. It was under my direction that he kept her hidden, until we could locate the source of her original kidnapping. Thanks to your dedicated efforts, that is now ruined. Congratulations, she'll be a target again."

"Shush, Issy, it'll be okay. I don't care about the lamp." Morgan knelt and hugged her close against his chest, keeping her out of sight of the bounty hunters. "It'll be okay. Just stay with me, okay?"

"And wha' proof do ye' have of that?" The man chortled. "We dun' care, to be honest wif yah. Pay up, or the court will hear of yer kidnapping of the poor girl. Double the bounty!"

"Sir," Vi stood, approaching quietly. "Perhaps...you could take half the bounty, and we'll forget this ever happened? You both can be on your way and forget all about the Albrecht girl,"

"Eh? Er...ah..." He blinked at her. "I mean...yeah! Half th' money, and we'll forget all about this 'ere episode, yeah?"

"Thanks, Vi." Alexander thought for another moment, trying to find a way to avoid escorting these pleasant fellows to the treasury. "Might I borrow a piece of paper?" Without waiting for her answer, he took one of the scrap sheets of paper and wrote out the amount for the guards and his signature, complete with the enchantments to prevent forgery. Once he finished, he held the sheet out to the more vocal of the two men. "Take this to the guard house and someone will see to it."
Isabella sunk to the ground with Morgan, and her tears quieted more with every one of his reassurances.
Dagan approached Morgan and Isabella slowly, not wanting to spook the girl or antagonize her defender. He squatted down next to them and held out the container of healing cream. "This'll help with the rope burn on her wrists, if you'd like."

The two men shuffled off, albiet a bit grumpy. The more vocal of the two berated the first for handing over the girl so easily.

Morgan didn't move until the bounty hunters had gone. "Thank you," He took the cream from Dagan, but he didn't pull away from Isabella until she was done crying. "Here we are. Let's get your wrist fixed, yes?" He was gentle and kind, far from the Morgan the others knew. He applied the cream as carefully as possible, though it would still probably sting a bit. "Where's Clarissa? And Morgan Jr.? Where were they?"