[i]The Morning After Urd Collapsed…[/i]


Thale Manor, in the heart of Nyhem, had become somewhat known as a safe haven for young mages in the City. Under Lanaya’s orders, Lord Dominus Thale had been making use of his modest house guard force to keep an eye on the city and peacefully bring stray potential mages to the house, that they might be sent to the Circle for a proper education. Though the events of the previous night did not exactly fall under this briefing, they were sufficient for the older Lord to feel it was worth investigating.


As such, the guards of House Thale had brought the unconscious young mage to the Manor, and when the city guard captain had agitated over not knowing what to do with a criminal iceblock, Lord Thale had ordered his men to take that into their custody as well.


Thus it was, that come the morning, a young mage-girl was asleep in the Manor’s guest room, and a slowly melting block of ice with questionable intent was secured in the small, two-cell dungeon off the Manor’s basement.


---


The second story guest room was warm, both due to the morning sunlight streaming in through the windows, and the insulated walls that kept the heat in and the sound of the always-busy city out. A maid, a dark haired lass named Mary, was in the room laying out a set of fresh clothes for the guest - simple, utilitarian clothes instead of anything more fitting of nobility. As much as the Lord of the house would’ve liked to treat all such guests as his own children and lavish gifts upon them, he knew most of them were eager to move on to the next destination.


The first thing Urd noticed upon waking up was the fact that this was not her room at the Plucked Hen. The ceiling was not rough, wooden beams. That alone would make it clear. Instead, it was painted the color of the fresh grasses of spring. In between the pounding drums in her head, she slowly took in her surroundings.


The walls had a similar level of opulence. This was definitely far more than an inn. As it was presumably a guest room and not a dungeon, it wasn’t the church. Either it had to be a rich merchant’s house, or a noble one. She didn’t know of any particular rich merchants, and it was far more likely for the guards to associate with the nobles. The choice of color scheme told her next to nothing, so that didn’t help.


After taking in most of her surroundings, she realized that she wasn’t alone. There was a servant in the room. The servant had dark hair and a servant’s dress of white linen marked with a yellow and gold sigil that was not immediately familiar to Urd. From the looks of that, a prosperous but not a rich house. “Where am I?” she asked, her throat dry, so her voice was not altogether clean.


“Oh!” The servant exclaimed in surprise, jumping slightly. “M’lady, you’re awake!” After a moment, she had recovered, and spoke more calmly. “You are in Thale Manor. Lord Dominus Thale rescued you from the city.” Of course she didn’t know with any certainty the means by which their guest had been recovered, but she had heard the usual servants gossip. “I will fetch his Lordship - he can explain better.” She said, moving to leave.


Upon realizing just how sore her throat was, she only listened while looking for some water to drink. Fortunately, there appeared to be some on a side table. She did not stop the servant from leaving. Fortunately, nobody had messed with her clothes. She did not want anyone to see what lay underneath those, both out of shame and fear. Most people did not trust mages, and of those who did, few would ever trust anyone malformed by it. Though there were clothes laid out, she did not move to change, as there was no telling how long the servant would need to fetch this Lord Thale. She did sit up and drink plenty of more water, though. If anything would help with the headache, that would be it.


It took only a minute for the Lord to arrive. He was dressed in green, in tailored clothes that de-accentuated his mildly rotund nature, though anyone familiar with the fashion of the courts would see that he was a little behind the times in that area. “Ah! Young lady, good to see you are awake!” He said boisterously. “You were dreadfully pale when we found you. I was concerned you’d taken ill.” He strode in and took a seat in the largest of the several chairs in the room.


“Forgive the forward and blunt nature of this question, but I must ask.” He adjusted his weight in the chair before continuing, in a serious yet concerned voice. “Are you in any immediate danger? My guards tell me you were found in rather strenuous circumstances.”


“Drained only, milord. Not ill.” Her tone now that she’d woken up completely and drunk sufficient water was perfectly polite, giving some hint to her having been educated at least somewhat. “I should not be in any immediate danger, though.” at that point, her stomach made clear its lack of satisfaction with its lack of things to digest.


Dominus nodded as she spoke, his face lightening somewhat at the reassurance. “Where are my good manners?” He said when her stomach rumbled. “How long is it since you ate?” He asked, not expecting an answer, as he continued to speak, springing to his feet. “Are you in a mind to dine with me at the table or would you prefer to eat here? The kitchens are quite efficient, and will happily prepare a full meal as well should you desire, despite the early hour.”


“Your manners are impeccable. I merely burned a lot of energy yesterday. Dining at a table is certainly more proper than eating here. My manners are certainly not as good as they should be.” She got to her feet and managed to not stumble or do anything else improper. Curtsying properly as befit her rank, she presented herself. “My name is Lady Urd Raudhfell.” 


“Lady Raudhfell?” He said, looking as if he was trying to recognise the name. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” He said with a half bow. “It will take a short time for the kitchens to prepare a meal, so you will have time to change if you wish. Ring the bell” He said, motioning to a thick velvet rope hanging from the roof - “If you wish a servant to assist you, or when you wish to have them show you to the dining hall. In the meantime, I implore you to treat my house as you would your own. You are our honored guest.” He bowed slightly again, then turned on his heel and left the room, giving her some space.


She thanked the Lord Thale before he left, then stood there in silence for a few minutes to think. She did not feel comfortable replacing her own clothes, stained though they were. She certainly appreciated the offer, though. This place was still far too unfamiliar. After looking herself over again, she rang the bell and asked a servant to show her to the dining hall.


Mary returned swiftly, acknowledging the request to be shown to the hall. They descended down an elegant flight of stairs to the ground floor, where the large room was, passing by various paintings of the previous Lords and Ladies Thale. Mary gave brief summaries of them as they passed them by, with the name and a their most prominent deed. She was clearly fairly proud of the House she served.


The table was much larger than necessary for two people. It would easily have hosted fifteen, maybe twenty people, but it was set only for two. Several other servants were just bringing out bread and various cheeses, though the smell of something more substantial wafted from the nearby kitchens.


“Lady Raudhfell.” Dominus said, acknowledging her as she entered the room. “Clothes not to your liking? I can have my servants fetch something more fitting for your station if you wish?”


“Lord Thale.” She smiled at the sight of food. “I prefer more spartan clothes, but there is no need to send a servant for any of that. I got plenty at the Inn where my family stays the rare times we visit Nyhem. These clothes suit me admirably for now.” When it was appropriate, she seated herself at the table, a bit unused to having a servant push the chair in as she sat down. She did suppose she should get used to such now that she truly was at court.


Dominus tore a piece off the loaf of bread in front of him and took a slice of cheese, taking a mouthful and chewing before speaking at a fairly leisurely pace. “If I might indulge in a question… What brings a noble of Cawanor” - he had guessed her place of origin by her name “And a mage no less, to this fair city, and then places her in such an unusual circumstance as did occur last night?”


As the Lord Thale spoke, Urd ate a few pieces of bread, waiting a little with the cheese. “There is no simple answer. On one hand, there is the brooding war and getting to know the lay of things, on the other is some family business.” she took a bite out of a piece of hole-riddled cheese, then continued. “As for how I came to be where I was yesterday? That was purely accidental. I saw a pair of assassins strike at a woman. I think there was something familiar about her, but I am not sure what. As is only proper, I tried to protect her, but I don’t know if I succeeded, for they struck her first. I did take down one of them though. The other ran off.” She then continued eating, waiting to see what Lord Thale would say.


“Very noble of you. Ahhh…. I remember the days when I would’ve done just the same, leaping into the fray mace in hand to save a fair damsel! Alas, time has not been kind to me.” He motioned slightly to his body - he was clearly not in fighting shape anymore. “I presume that the frozen individual downstairs is the one you took down. The captain of the guard was quite unsure what to do with that… And only too eager to hand the whole situation over to me. My house has become somewhat specialised in dealing with magical affairs you see. Magister Lanaya has taught us a great deal about how to properly approach the most unusual situations.” He stopped himself then, seeming to realise he was beginning to ramble, and moved onto a more relevant topic.


“You said you had family business? And an Inn where you were staying? I do hope I haven’t whisked you away from family in my desire to aid you. The guard said you had muttered something about a place to say, but they ignored you. They were quite unsure what to do with you, I heard some were considering locking you up.”


Urd smiled at the idea of the almost portly Lord Thale jumping into combat, then quickly realized that he was probably quite a different man in his youth. He could easily have been the warrior he claimed to have been. “The block of ice is the one assassin, yes.” She thought a bit on the mention of this ‘magister Lanaya’. She knew that mage, and had even studied under her at one point, but years have passed since they last met. “I travel alone, without the rest of my small family. My mother and my grandparents manage the lands and I have yet to meet my father.”


“That is a relief.” Dominus began, eating another chunk of bread with cheese. “I suppose it is a good thing I have the block of Ice in a cell then. Perhaps I shall assign another guard just to be safe though. Assassins are often more skilled than typical thugs… Do you think he survived? Lanaya will likely have questions for him if he did.”


“Not really sure. He might be alive, though he will probably die if a healer isn’t present as he thaws.” At that point, servants came in carrying several platters with more filling food. After they put them down and took away the cheese, Urd waited a moment before helping herself to some meat.


“I shall have a healer fetched then. It would not do for a killer with possibly interesting or valuable information to die in the Thale dungeon. The Magister would not be pleased at all.” With that, he began to dig into his own serving of meat, telling various tales of his younger years in between mouthfuls.


Once they had finished, he returned to the present, saying “My Lady, though you of course are free to leave whenever you desire, I must once again offer my hospitality to you. As a mage and fellow noble, you are welcome in this house any time, for as long as you wish. We have rooms aplenty, and, not to disparage your traditional Inn, we can provide more than any Inn in this city.”


If she was to fit in at court, it might be better to stay with a noble, and from what she did remember about the magister was that she had a sensible head on her shoulders. Any noble that could get along with her was probably as safe as the inn, if not safer. “What’s in it for you if I should stay here?” she asked, politely asking to be sure she would not be a burden.


Dominus chuckled lightly at that. “Your pleasant company of course. And when Lanaya returns from abroad, I’m sure she will want to speak with you - on magical theory most likely. It's all above my head but i’m sure you will find it most interesting.”


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