Chapter 409: Chapter 409 - The Fall From Perilous Cliffs... And One Was A Cushioned Splat
"What exactly would this help involve?"
"Just using your time and essence to operate the ferry construct from the water surface while I work below. It will be completely safe, I promise. Though... getting down to the lake in a reasonable time does require jumping from the cliff."
"Absolutely not."
The scout firmly rejected it in a way that she never would have done months before. Without fear of reprisal for being rude... and even with a sense of ’do your worst’ in her heart.
"It’s only seventeen hundred feet!"
"Seventeen hundred feet of falling!"
"And I’ll be right there to catch you when anything goes wrong."
"WHEN?! Why are you assuming something goes wrong this time!?"
Sevra stared at the small brunette in disbelief. Then narrowed her eyes at the now missing ’innocent’ begging..
"There is no universe in which I voluntarily throw myself off a cliff to be part of one of your experiments."
"What if I mentioned that I could make you some fruit wine in return? Something you could use to watch the... we’ll call what happens in this place a ’sunset’, I guess, even if there is no real stellar body out there."
"Wine..."
Having talked to the woman about her life here and there over all the time they spent together, the schemer had figured out all sorts of ways to get the woman to do what she wanted... if it really came down to it. For the most part she tried to hold back, but Elua could only prevent herself from being herself for so long.
"I know of a ritual that can accelerate fermentation. Reliably turning fruit juice into a very respectable vintage in a matter of days rather than years. I’ve been meaning to test it anyway."
With illusions of the supposed ritual being shown off in those floating blueprints the ancient cultivator loved to use as well as a small distillery building that could be thrown up quickly... the Shadow Whisker Sorority member looked over toward the arch - the place that represented the cliff edge in her mind. Then back at Elua’s very *expectant* face.
"And you swear you’ll catch me?"
"I swear on my love for Qatrand that you will reach the bottom safely."
The solemnity of that particular oath made whatever rising protests were remaining die in the woman’s throat. Sevra understood that when the ancient cultivator invoked her feelings for her spouse, she meant it absolutely. Though only the heiress knew for sure that her word meant nothing to someone... in the instance she intended to remove them for the sake of the person she loved.
’Good thing for her that’s not what this is~’
"One time. One trip down however you intend to do it. I help with your ridiculous ferry boat, then on the way back up... we figure out a way that doesn’t involve you carrying me like a sack of grain."
That single experience had been so demoralizing that Sevra sat there curled up in her little Walk improving sigil area for an entire day cycle. But Elua wasn’t thinking about that single setback and was already moving toward the cliff edge... with the eager energy of someone whose manipulation had succeeded perfectly but wouldn’t last forever.
"Thank you, Sevra. Truly. It means a lot to have your help with this."
She paused at the last step and looked back with an expression of gratitude. One that somehow made the scout feel even more tricked... and yet oddly pleased at the same time. The sincerity in her voice made it impossible to maintain any real annoyance.
’Even knowing I’ve been maneuvered into compliance by the promise of an alcohol I’ve never tasted...’
"That wine better be exceptional."
"Oh, it very well might possibly be. Now, when you start to fall, I need you to curl up into a ball so that you don’t... well, just curl up, okay? It’s better not to know what may happen if you keep your limbs loose."
Sevra found herself following the silver-dressed heiress toward what was undoubtedly going to be the most terrifying few seconds of her life. Until Elua could discover another way to both test a theory and torture her.
⟠ ⟠ ⟠
The month that followed revealing her secret to the Goltbred Patriarch and his wife had tested Qatrand. In ways she hadn’t anticipated. Rather than storming into the Yecine estate to confront her father immediately after learning the scope of his conspiracy, she had chosen restraint.
Her in-laws had asked for patience - to let the investigation run its full course while he was still unaware of it. Let the evidence speak for itself to the Guild Council rather than risk missing something he’d done by acting too soon. It wasn’t as direct as she would prefer, but the swordswoman knew the ways of administration sometimes were indirect for a reason.
So she had returned to her war assignments. Returned to leading her strikeforce through three more successful critical operations while the bureaucratic machinery of the continent ground the gears of her patience. Each night in her tent, she had to practice the advanced meditation techniques Elua taught her.
Had needed to channel her discontent into something more useful. Like reabsorbing that burst of accumulated spirit that had been trapped into a little mint gem from her breakthrough. Something that felt like progress rather than everything stalling.
Of course, the fox and mirror had made some clear headway on finalizing the Echo Coin foundational work during her absence, so not all was moving at a snail’s pace Nysoi had also efficiently managed the material requests Qatrand had delegated to her. The merchant’s daughter had them sent to the Coiled Serpent branch location that Dima was in control of for Klaytei to collect.
Competence in handling the highly specific requirements without batting an eye had proven to Qatrand that the Valmenf woman was someone worth delegating to. A skill she was learning the need to trust now more than ever. Standing outside the modest building in their city that Lirades had claimed control over during the wartime for the sake of managing the network around the conspiracy defense...
The blonde felt the full weight of her accumulated expectation settling on her. That month of patient waiting was about to be rewarded with answers from the eldest living Yecine... and Lirades indeed looked older than she had before the war began. Youthful energy being renewed from gaining a will to scrap only lasted so long against the stress of managing her covert investigation.
It seemed to have etched some new lines around her eyes... and her usually immaculate ’lady-like’ appearance showed signs of too many late nights spent poring over documents like a scholar. A woman who it was known, to those family elders that would be her opponents, that - if she was anything - she was a fighter.
"Qatrand. Thank you for coming so quickly."
The woman’s voice carried a tone to it that immediately told the young Hero... that this meeting would not bring the satisfaction she’d been hoping for. Lirades gestured to a chair across from her desk, which itself was covered in neat stacks of reports bearing Guild seals. Months of work was visible in every precisely organized pile.
"The investigation is complete, right?"
"Officially, yes. The Guild Council convened three days ago to review the findings and determine appropriate action. Your father and many other Yecine elders have been found guilty due to substantial amounts of evidence and testimony. They weren’t particularly subtle once we knew what to look for and who to press down on."
A disgusted scoff rang out in the room. She’d been fed up with corruption within her own family a lot of the times in the past centuries. Excising it each time never felt good, but it had to be done.
"Then again, if they could plan so well then they could have retired from active roles as an Elder and just snuck off to manage our own holdings instead of attempting to hoodwink it out from under everyone’s noses."
Qat stood there for a while, then finally settled into the offered chair. She didn’t think sitting was going to help with whatever she was about to be told, but it was still polite to not stand. Especially while the person with more familial authority than you - and that you respected - was seated and had pointed out one for you to take.
"What consequences did they face?"
"Formal, if unpublic, censure. The ones involved directly removed from any current positions of Guild authority, which the Ironclad Order was not happy about. But they were even less happy to be there in that meeting over something so cloak and dagger at all."
As a primary witness, she had been allowed to attend the proceedings despite not being an active member in any Guild for a very long time. The Void Defense Society had demanded it, considering she was doing the work of dozens of their investigators for free... in a way that protected the name of two of their official heroes.
"The Yecine are also expected to face some percentage based financial penalties in tithe for the next three Descent cycles. Awarded to the family they attempted to misappropriate from. Which the Goltbred Patriarch fought against openly."
"Yes, that does sound like what he would do."
"Indeed. But, the stubborn man finally agreed to it. On the basis that it would be placed in a financial trust..."
At this, the old woman’s expression changed. But she didn’t continue to speak on that topic, yet. Lirades moved on with the rest of what she actually had planned to say.
"So all in all, their plan got nothing except our name dragged through the mud to the important people on the continent, incurred a loss that in their eyes we couldn’t afford anyway if we truly needed resources so dearly to steal them... and a house arrest imposed by our own council for a three year duration."
The flat delivery of what amounted to a slap on the wrist by the other Yecine Elders made the Gravity cultivator’s jaw clamp tight. She could feel that familiar cold anger spreading from the ’stab’ in her chest. The same feeling she’d had when learning the conspiracy involved the people who raised her in the first place. When reasoning out her own ’role’ in it.
"...Only three years."
"The Guild Council felt that given the situation, removing experienced cultivators from potential defensive duties would be... counterproductive. And that if those members did not commit any crimes while on the sort of probationary period leading to the end of the war, then everything might as well be kept in private."
"I see."
Two words spoken in such a low voice by the heir, the hero, the warrior... carried enough frost behind them to make Lirades wince. And considering some of what the old woman had discovered in her deep searching...
She really did not blame the girl.