The Forgotten Zodiac

((Awesome.))

"You sure you're ready for all that?" Dagan, who had hovered behind her nervously the entire time, led Vi toward the door and the outside world. "Alexander, I'll need to lock up the animals, which will take longer because they've missed Vi; so we may be gone a while." With that, the caretaker started down the hallway, taking a defensive position in front of Vi in case any careless person came running down the hallway.
Alexander glanced at Morgan, looking amused. "'May Morgan find her as attractive as I did', really? From the way Lowell danced around her, you and the good doctor have some competion."

Morgan just laughed. "I'm surprised Dagan wasn't more upset about that comment. I'm not interested, honestly; it's just quite fun to mess with her. And him, by extention." He wiped the smug expression from his face as he changed the subject. "Have you seen the animals? The crippled wyvern and the jumpy unicorn, and all the rest? Apparently they love Vi as much as Dagan does." He smirked a bit. "I'm surprised Dagan hasn't acted more nervous since our last inspection. He did almost lie to me when we first met."

Alexander laughed slightly as they stepped back out into the hallway, glancing down the hallway and seeing Dagan and Virellis. "It's fairly amusing; but, no, I haven't seen the animals since we arrived. I guess the real question is whether Dagan loves her as much as he loves those animals." He walked along in silence for a time when Morgan answer Dagan's near-lies, but he wasn't really bothered by them. "Whatever he did to get the crutches was rehearsed. It wouldn't surprise me if he was a decent theif, when necessary."

"Yeah. Would've punched him in the face on instinct if I hadn't locked myself up to avoid doing what Virellis wanted." Morgan grinned again. "At least they're gone for a bit now. We have business to tend to." He led the way to the library, where Moria was waiting. Morgan plopped down on one side of the table, waiting for Alexander to sit. "Did you find it, Moria?"

"Of course I did," She tutted, setting something down on the square table. "Imported from Russia. Only the finest materials went into the making. The pieces are ivory and gold, and the wood is flawless pine. Handpainted, at that." It was a chess board. As Morgan continued talking, Moria set the pieces in their proper positions, with the white pieces under Alexander's control.

"Good, good. What do you say, Alexander? They call this the game of Kings. Supposedly, in ancient times, they actually played this game with living people. The stakes could be anything from animals to wives." Morgan grinned. "We should play for something important. Whaddya say, hm?"

((How soon will Vi be bringing up Isabella?))

Alexander, who had very nearly told Moria to stop advertising since he'd already bought the thing, was immediately distracted by Morgan's query. "Something important? Like what? Monetaryl stakes are sort of boring, considering; and I'm not currently in desperate need of information from you." He stopped for a time, observing the pieces and thinking about anything he wanted. "I'll play for your surname. What'm I putting up?"

((Either at lunch or dinner. Most likely at a meal. It's the least evasive time for questioning things.))

"My...surname?" Morgan raised a brow. "Ah, but that's boring in itself, isn't it?" He chortled. "I'll take the monetary option. 1,000 gold."

"Your surname can't be worth that much money." Moria scoffed.

"Alexander's surname is worth more than ten of you, doll." He grinned at her. "My secrets are valuable to me. I'm putting a secret at risk here. Therefore...let's make it 5,000 gold pieces. If I win, you pay me 5,000 gold pieces, and I tell you nothing. But if you win, you keep your pocket change and I spill the beans, so to speak. Shake on it," He offered his right hand, grinning still.

((But Vi just ran away. So prolly dinner. Plus, Alexander would totally eat lunch in his room.))

"We're playing for curiosity, Moria. It has nothing to do with value." Alexander reached out and shook Morgan's hand, then moved his first piece. "I do have to ask, though. What on earth do you intend to spend 5,000 gold on? I've already provided you a job after my untimely demise."

((Dinner it is.))

Morgan grinned. "I've been needing some fancier clothes. We may wind up going to a ball or something sooner or later. You know you can't hide from those events forever. Security nightmare it may be, but I must dress the part. And...I saw some gold-lined shoes in town yesterday. I want them."

"A suit and shoes is not worth that--" Moria attempted to interrupt, but Morgan stopped her in her tracks.

"They're very shiny shoes, Moria. And I want them. So, 5,000 gold coins. Moria, doll, go get us some refreshments." Morgan waved the handmaiden off. She huffed slightly and stormed away without another word, leaving Morgan grinning as he moved his knight into play.

((Do we skip to the end, or what?))

((Yep.))

Alexander played his best, but it was entirely futile. The match only lasted a few minutes before Morgan had him in checkmate. The noble poured the contents of his purse on the table in front of Morgan and stood up. "Do you want the rest now or at the end of the month when you get payed? I don't carry that much cash, so it's just a matter of when we go to the treasury."

"As soon as possible would be best.After all, your noble companions are absolutely unpredictable. Who knows when the next ball might be." He chortled.

Moria returned by this time with hot tea. "You're already finished?" She exclaimed, watching Morgan clean up the pieces.

"Yep. My surname is safe and I'm 5,000 gold richer. I love winning things," Morgan grinned at her. "Is that Darjeeling? Oh, wonderful, I love the exotic stuff." He took his cup, smiling away. "Thanks, doll. But yes, Alexander, let's hit the treasury soon, hm? Goodness knows it's unbecoming of a nobleman to be in debt."

"Absolutely mannerless," Moria grumbled.

((I was totally going to have Moria kidnap Alexander, by the way. Been planning that for awhile. Sneak in during the dead of night while Morgan is mysteriously missing, do the whole knife-to-the-neck routine, drag him off to some Protestant demonstrators or something. Thoughts?))

"I'm glad to know you worry about my appearance, Moria." Alexander, who was taking as much joy in Morgan's torture of Moira as the heckler was himself, rose and exited the room. As a courtesy to his maid, he snagged a cup of tea off her tray, though he was much of a tea drinker. "You realize how uncomfortable golden shoes would be, don't you? It seems rather a waste of a small fortune."

"Nay!" Morgan followed, leaving the rest of the chess board for Moria to clean up. "They're gold lined. The rest of it looked like leather. Leather and gold, my two favorite materials. Quite the catch. And the real cost would be the suit to go with it. As I'm not a member of the Vatican anymore, I can't rightly wear my decorum to parties like I planned. So I have to find something just as fancy. The games of noblemen are all about appearance, you are aware. I personally think that the servant should be just as well-groomed as the master, don't you agree?" He grinned. "Otherwise, it just looks like flat out slavery."

Alexander laughed and shook his head. "What makes you think it isn't flat-out slavery? I don't have any particular commitment to your supposed personal rights, apart from the obvious problem of you murdering me." This was clearly sarcasm. Regardless of Alexander's personal stance on slavery, a subject to which he was nearly entirely impartial, he wasn't plotting the removal of Morgan's freedom. That just wouldn't be practical. "For that price, you'll look better than I do."

"Ah, but isn't that in itself secure? Those who haven't done research on you would assume that I would be the nobleman they seek. Thus they would approach me first. Which I want them to do anyway. Parties are such a logistical nightmare..." Morgan shrugged. "So, what's on the agenda for today? Paperwork, perhaps? Going through mail for poisonous dust before you get to read it?"

"Oooh..." They reached the treasury, and Alexander had to go through the motions of getting in before he could reply. Once they were away from people again, he replied to Morgan's original question. "As much as I love watching you sniff my letters, it's just more paperwork. Again."

"Oh, good. There's less threat, then. Good. After I escort you back to the palace, I'd like to assign you a generic guard to watch over your paperwork duties for an hour or so. After all...I've got to pick up my shiny shoes." Morgan grinned as soon as he had the bag of money in his hands. "I'll be back before you know it, though. Would that be alright?"

((Yes, we should either skip to dinner or have a bit of Dagan/Virellis fluff.))

The afternoon passed quite slowly for Alexander. He did paperwork the entire time, bored out of his mind. Eventually, dinner time crept around; and Alexander stood from his desk. "You coming, Morgan? I'm hungry, so I'm going now." He asked, addressing his recently-returned guard. Assuming his guard would repy to the affirmative, the noble exited his study and started down the hallway.

"Yes, of course." Morgan did indeed follow, smiling happily. "Do you think Virellis and Dagan returned, or would they have chosen to eat out?" He questioned. But it was answered for him as they arrived in the dining hall; there was the usual number of tables, and the occasional Noble at various tables. The Palace had a number of them residing, of course. Some chose to live in their personal estates, but others chose the overall security of the Noble's Palace.

Dagan and Virellis were waiting at one of the tables against the wall. There was enough room for four, so Morgan directed his path towards said seat. A maid come to serve them dinner soon enough. "I think we're having beef steak this evening." Morgan smiled as he sat down.

"Yes, a wonderful way to slay a harmless creature. I'm having the salad." Virellis tutted. Morgan opened his mouth to say something, but Vi beat him to it. "No, I'm not a vegetarian. I merely dislike the taste of beef and pork. Chicken and fish, I'll gladly eat."

"Thank heaven for that." Alexander took a seat next to Morgan and across from Dagan. After he informed the maid of what he wanted, Alexander looked over at Dagan and Virellis. "How was the city? You two look like you enjoyed yourselves this afternoon."
Dagan flushed slightly and shrugged. "Well, we didn't get very far. Vi was sort of limiting." He, unlike Vi, was completely comfortable eating beef; though it was mostly because he was raised without any choice. "It was nice enough. Personally, I would have stayed here and been productive; but Vi isn't exactly safe to let wander the streets."

Vi didn't really think twice about Dagan's choices. He was his own person, after all. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with picking up a few handouts while I can," She smiled warmly.

"Handouts?" Morgan snorted. "For a Siren? You mean you would swindle people out of their handmade goods?"

"No, no. I'd merely...ask for discounts." Her warm smile held.

"Ri-ight. And I'm a flying monkey."

"You didn't tell me you can fly." Virellis laughed, then shook her head. "This banter is amusing, certainly, but we did stumble upon an old manor on the other side of town. Much less fancy than this palace here. Most people didn't think anything of it, but it was abandoned! Such a waste of a home. So I asked around, and apparently, it's the house of the late Albrechts. I didn't know they passed. Weren't House Finnigan and House Albrecht intended to be joined, Alexander?"

((ALBRECHT))