The Amell Legacy: Transgressions

[Bethany]

Beth winces, her hate for Jadan- still very present despite her recent admittance that he might actually care for or even love Carver (Carol)- wars in her heart against her love and need to support her twin. And, for the first time in over a year, loses. "Oh Carver," she says softly, reaching up to cup his cheek. "I'm sorry that..." that you have to deal with this atop everything else.

[Aveline Vallen]

"One of his clubs burnt to the ground, investigators found cells underneath that... were empty but it's raised some concerns. In addition, he went missing only the day before your mother..." Aveline trails off. "And, yes, there was some concern he had either kidnapped the two of you or had assisted in your running away."

[Carver Amell]

"Burned--!"

Carver chokes on the word, shaking his head. Jadan... Someone tried to hurt Jadan. Tried to kill him--

"It wasn't Beth," he whispers, instantly concerned. Mother will find a way to blame her, Mother will--- Mother won't. She won't do anything, ever again. Because of me.

"I-- I need to--- I need to lie down," he mumbles, finally. I want a bath, he thinks, but it's lying down, recovering from the vapors, that he reaches for, out of long habit. 

[Bethany]

Beth winces a little at his claim of her innocence. "Come on, let's... let's head to the Oak. We can grab- Shisou, can you find Merrill and have her met us at the grotto? We can rest and soak and..." Be together. And...

"Hunter, fetch Roland," she orders. The mabari standing just to the side and slightly in front of them, between them and Aveline, huffs loudly and doesn't budge. Or break his steady stare on Aveline for that matter.

[Aveline Vallen]

"It happened long after the two of you left Nyra so... she was never a suspect," Aveline says slowly, though she finds it interesting that Caro- Carver felt the need to make that protest. "His bank account and office were emptied, by him as far as we can tell, afterwards, so he's still alive and unharmed." At least as of a week or so ago.

[Carver Amell]

"Our family is gone," she says, quietly. "Can't you just leave us be? Beth is-- Beth is all I have left, now."

[Bethany]

"And Marian..." Beth begins, then winces. Who left with a goodbye but not a backwards glance. Who... "Well. Hunter. And Merrill," she amends weakly.

[Aveline Vallen]

Marian? Isn't that the name of the natural born daughter? She's around? "That's rather the problem," Aveline says gently. "But we can talk more tomorrow. Rest for now." She hesitates, then sighs. "I swear on my faith, in Vangal's name, that I will not use force, be it magic or martial, to take you back to Nyra. I cannot promise for others sent if I fail, but I will not assist them either."

[Carver Amell]

Carver nods, numbness spreading through him. "Merrill's not family," he says softly. "You're all for family."

[Bethany]

"Not yet, but maybe..." Beth says warmly, resting her head against him again. "Come on, let's head to the grotto or Shisou and Merrill will beat us there."

[Aveline Vallen]

Aveline hesitates, then just nods at them. She bows to dragon-Dau and turns to leave, mulling over what she's learned. I think... I think that perhaps I've been too focused on Coalside. Perhaps I should speak with the Ciren church and see if some help can be given to their programs for protecting children. If this sort of thing can happen in a Light's family... I need to do more.

[NPCs]

Having successfully slipped away from the their rented rooms without an escort, Marian quickly locates a bookstore. And just as quickly leaves, attempting a sneer at the obviously frivolity of the store's stock. At least in her opinion anyway. It takes a half hour and a few silver, but she finally locates a used bookstore in an out of the way lane, the sort that only has a person's name on the sign with no indication of what sort of thing they sell. Nothing says quality like exclusiveness and an easy way of getting an air of that is by making it so only the brave, the lucky or those already in the know enter your shop. The store is cramped, with tall shelves packed tightly with books and just as tightly packed in the room. A little more spaced out than the same sort of shop in Draslina, perhaps, but given that dwarves are more broad than nearly any race, that make sense. That same scent of rock and cave air- more an absence of plants than a presence of something- is joined by the musty smell of old, old books that even an ex-Alydran has trouble resisting. No candles, of course, but instead hanging dishes of glowing rock cast a faintly reddish light. All in all, it's almost exactly what Marian might be expecting in her first occult shop now that she's on the Path of Perfection, seeking the Power and Respect she deserves.

She's browsing for perhaps five minutes- or to an outsider's perspective, one not enthralled by the written word, an hour- when she hears a soft chuckle next to her. "I'd give that one a miss, if I were you," a soft, Allessian accented voice says. "Rockfort talks big, but the he never wrote a single useful secret down, if he ever had any. Chitmasme is a good choice though." Which is the book Marian has tucked under her arm. Turning her head to look at the speaker, Marian sees that Haliel's older, sexier sister seems to have joined her. An aasimar, with long platinum-white hair and smooth creamy skin, and generous curves clad in tight leathers that are made polite by a crimson silk robe clasped at the neck by a thick iron buckle. Across her brow, a series of floating crystals shed soft light as they rotate slowly, proving that she's either an adventurer, a noble or a rich merchant. She smiles, revealing slightly pointed teeth, clearly catching Marian checking her out- and returning the favor. "New to town?" she asks coyly.

[Marian Hawke]

"Unfortunately," she agrees, giving the woman a hungry look as she takes in the curves, the leathers. "I could spend a week here and not miss the time, merikos or not."

[Tanna]

The aasimar laughs, and it's like Isabela spent a year teaching Haliel how to turn that light, ringing merry laugh dark and sultry. "Shame that you're so easily satisfied with just books," she teases. "Chitmasme's study of elemental binding is interesting and useful, true, but reading a book is not exactly something to warm the blood at night." The book is just embossed with the name of the author, so she must have read it- or at least knows about the author enough to guess at what the book is about, which is pretty good too.

[Marian Hawke]

"Who says I'm satisfied?" she asks, moving a bit closer, her voice a little lower. "During that week I'd fill multiple notebooks with plans, I'm sure. I'm always eager to try new... things."

Sounds like someone's been paying attention to Isabela's speech patterns lately.