Lillian lifted her wrist so that the bracelet caught the light, then rolled around so her back was resting against the wall of the cart. 

"That's what I thought too, when I found it. It's kinda like my good luck charm. It's been with me so long, I don't even remember how to take it off anymore." She laughed lightly, to hide her lie. The truth was that she never knew how to remove the band, and felt that it would never come off as long as she lived.

---

Artemis blustered as a troop of soldiers stormed out of his home and started yelling at him about warrants and his research.

"What? Who authorized this?!" He yelled, regaining his composure and flushing his cheeks with outrage. "I demand to see this 'warrant' you speak of! I highly doubt that the king, either the old one or the new, would allow such a blatant violation of my rights!" He pushed past the guards into his home, and nearly had a heart attack as he saw the state of it. There were papers and documents strewn everywhere, trampled on and some even torn, jars and vials haphazardly scattered around and spilled. 

"You OAFS!" He yelled, falling to his knees and gathering sheets of paper. "Any ONE of these documents contains research that I painstakingly scavenged from a myriad of sources, and probably is worth more than any of you gorillas make in a month! I would expect such an obtuse disregard for the higher sciences from YOU lot, but I highly doubt the KING would allow such a travesty!" He stood and whirled on them, rage painted across his face and a bundle of parchment gathered in his arms. Suddenly a sharp glint in his eye lit. "And if the king wanted to know anything on the subject of relics, he knew full well where to find me and ask for it. I have willingly worked with the throne for two decades. Either you decided to act in the king's 'best interests' without anybody consulting him, or you have your own agenda." He glared at them with such ferocity it begged the question if he was just a simple scholar.