Mirex descended into the depths of the palace, and the warren of windowless halls that the Shining Blade occupied beneath the throne room. She had to go a fair ways to get past the offices of her comrades to the less frequented store rooms and the few interrogation cells kept under heavy guard and enchantment. This was her domain, that of the Shining Blade Interrogators. She nodded once to the trio of Blade guarding the only currently occupied cell, and entered to get a better look at the assassin they’d captured weeks before, who’d been given time to recover so he would be hail and spry for when it was time to question him.

The man looked up from where he’d been sitting, a fresh bruise starting to colour his cheek. Apparently he’d had another go at trying to get out when being fed. He rubbed the stubble on his jaw with the back of his hand, eyeing Mirex, sizing her up.

Mirex simply canted her head to one side, hood pushed back to expose her fiery hair. She met that gaze calmly, with no concern. Utterly confidant, with a hint of fire in her blue green eyes at the spark of anger for the damage he’d caused. She noted that bruise which only amused her and quirked the corner of her mouth as she sat in the only other chair in the room, the only other piece of furniture at all, directly across from him without a word.

The man looked back. He briefly quirked a brow, or attempted to, though his other brow’s following motion rather detracted from the effect. His dark eyes showed no particular emotion at all as he sat there.

“Who are you working for?” She finally asked into the silence. She didn’t expect an answer, but she didn’t really need one yet. Preparing his mind by directing it toward what she wanted to know, and offering one chance to take the easy way.

He snorted in what seems like a cross between annoyance and amusement. ‘Don’t know. Couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to.’

She arched a brow calmly, “Is that so? Do you know who you are then?” She asked with a slight amusement of her own.

‘Sam Ingrams. So far as I know.’ His slight drawl marked him as Gendarran, if it was real.

“And do you know where you are, Master Ingrams? And who you attacked?”

‘Not for sure, to the first. And some bint named Adriwyn, for the second, supposedly a Jardin. Looks like one, even.’ He shrugged slightly and rubbed at his stubble again.

“Hm. You are beneath the palace in Divinity’s Reach, Master Ingrams. In the custody of the Shining Blade. I am Exemplar Mirex Eskara, and I am most curious about these Jardins you’ve been set to hunt down by…who did you say hired you again?”

‘Below the palace, you say? That seems like it’s almost coming up in the world. Too bad it’s likely to be a dead-end promotion. And just one Jardin, if she really is one.’ He shrugged again. ‘And I still don’t know. No point in lying about it. I gotta figure, with both the Queen and the Master Exemplar being mesmers, my mind ain’t gonna be my own for long, anyway. But I really don’t know. Or can’t remember – not sure which.’

She nodded thoughtfully, “Moving up indeed, to have garnered our notice. I’m not sure I’d count it as a good thing for you, though. Unfortunately, the Master Exemplar and Her Majesty tend to avoid these discussions, so it’s just you and me, Master Ingrams. I am powerful enough as a mesmer for you, so fret not.” She regarded him again for a moment, “You’re definitely a professional, though. I can respect that. Hailing from Gendarren by that accent. Your partner. Are they also from there?”

‘So far as I know, ma’am. Not a question one usually asks in my line of work, though. And no, I didn’t figure to be worth their attention. But if there’s one organisation a guy knows will have mesmers, it’s the Blade. What’s your interest in this, anyway?’

“Because I’ve been assigned to protect Lady Adriwyn. I’ll admit, you got the drop on me outside the shop. You used Ballistae instead of your usual firearms. Much quieter. Impressive. You two must have been camped in that room across the street for some time, you and your friend….?” She left it hanging as a question to prompt him to identify his accomplice.

‘Assigned to protect her?’ He whistled softly. ‘If we’d known that, never would have taken the shot with you around. Reg argued with me about it anyway. I lost.’

“Too bad for you. And this Reg. I’d be most curious as to where he might be hiding. I take you two are only partners in this particular job? You don’t sound like you operate as a duo all the time.”

‘We d… I…’ his face twisted briefly into an annoyed snarl, glaring at the wall, then he sighed heavily. ‘I don’t know. I feel like I’ve known him for a long time, but when I try to remember…’ he shook his head. ‘Mists! I must already have been in a mesmer’s hands.’

Mirex pursed her lips, “It would be unfortunate for you if you are,” she replies, studying him again a moment, “Where might Reg hide. You two must have had some sort of fall back point in the off chance things went sour.”

‘Hmm. If they went really sour, we would have met up in the inn at Applenook. But that was only if we couldn’t report in, either. And no, I don’t know how I’d report in even if you turned me loose to try. It just… happens, and I don’t know about it.’

Mirex frowned a moment, “You’ve definitely been tampered with, then. And powerfully as well.” She grimaced, “And I was hoping your forthcoming answers might actually spare me my duty for once.” She sighed in resignation. “Tell me about the Jardins. What do you know of them.”

‘A minor House in the Settlement. Minor because small – seems they had some past glories, maybe mostly back in Ascalon. Didn’t much matter to a bloke like me. I think… there was some trouble between them and… someone.’ He sighed heavily again, his shoulders drooping for a moment. ‘Balthazar’s flaming arse! I can’t remember that either!’

“But you are certain you did know?” she pressed a moment, leaning forward intently.

He nodded, with a frowning grimace. ‘Pretty sure I did.’

“Hm. House Jardin. Were there others, when you took this job? Was it just Adriwyn you were hired to kill, or were there more and she’s the last on your list?”

‘There used to be more. Then… there weren’t any. That was… twenty years ago? Twenty-five? Somewhere in there. Then this job came up. “Last of the Jardins” we were told. Seemed off to me, but the pay was good.’

Mirex pursed her lips again, “Our records indicate a vague conflict with another ancient Ascalonian house that settled here after Rurik’s Crossing. House Valdis. Were they the ones? How did a noble family vanish overnight?”

‘Valdis? Mostly red-heads, like you? I can’t… hm. Can’t remember enough about them, so … maybe? And I was only fifteen to twenty back then myself, ma’am. I just know they went from somewheres around ten to… just not there any more.’

“I don’t know…” she admitted, “Right now Valdis is just a name to me, Master Ingrams. That will change though.” She smiled a touch sadly at the man, “I’m afraid I need more to go on though before I start snooping around them. And you know more then you are able to tell.”

He nodded, with another heavy sigh. He stretched, slowly and carefully, then sat back. ‘No objections to my getting as comfortable as I can for this, I hope?’ His pleasant baritone finally showed some trace of nervousness.

She shook her head, “No objections.” She slowly rose. “I had planned on venting my fury upon you for nearly killing Adri…. but you have been very forthcoming. A true professional. And you’ve obviously been tampered with and used by your employer. So I will be as kind as I can, but… I cannot promise you will survive this. Or that you will come out… unchanged. If you survive… perhaps we will discuss your future prospects.”

He nodded, a bit stiffly, swallowing. ‘That’s… better than I’d had any hope for, really. Though, with an employer that will mess with my head so much… well. I suppose I’ll worry about that if I still can, afterwards.’ He settled back, trying to relax, knowing that fighting was not in his best interest.

“Focus as much as you can on the things we’ve talked about, particularly your employer and the job you accepted.” She murmured encouragingly as she circled around Sam, and gently placed her hands on Sam’s temples. Closing her eyes, she began to weave her power into his mind. Obviously he’d been tampered with extensively, so she proceeded with extreme caution, seeking out hexes and snares the other mesmer might have set for anyone that went snooping. Those were the first priority to ensure she wasn’t harmed by an unfriendly curse, or that Sam’s mind was not instantly obliterated.

He nodded nerviously, liking his lips and swallowing. It was slow going. There were layers of misdirection: cloaked figures, the examination of which would lead to being trapped in a loop in the mind; some trails off to Ministers of the Settlement; some to Houses in Ebonhawke; and even one for the Shining Blade. Some of the false layerings were well done and took a while to tease out, while others were but an annoyance to anyone with real training. For some, the hardest part was keeping Sam’s mind from being blasted by the unravelling, but so far, Mirex’s skill proved the better.

Mirex bent all her focus and will on unraveling the layers that clouded Sam’s mind, expertly teasing them apart with skeins of magic. She glanced the each misdirection with a passing interest. Her unknown opponent was very good. Well trained, and highly skilled. That disturbed her. Not just any mesmer could do this to a mind without the subject becoming aware, assuming they survived the spells at all. On she delved, like passing through a dark tunnel laiden with cobwebs.

Further exploration dredged up that Reginald Pierce and Sam Ingrams had been boyhood friends, and fell into bounty hunting and then assassination together as their families came on hard times, in large part thanks to the continued centaur attacks on the Settlement. Their more nefarious jobs were the most recent, and all for Baron Valdis, who had slowly worked his way into their minds as he had their lives, hiring them at first for more honest work, and preparing them for over three years before finally sending them against the family of his wife to “take care of the issues”.

Having found something she was looking for, Mirex carefully pursued that train of thought, turning her magic on his mind in a gentle but firm grip to guide it toward those memories. Such deep memories of his childhood would have been very hard to manipulate and mask, especially with such a key figure always present. Since she’d thus far been able to work her way into Sam’s mind without having to cause any real damage, she worked to lift the compulsions that prevented him from reaching his own memories. If she could succeed at that, she might penetrate deep enough to his inner consciousness, her preferred method when dealing with someone who was not really an enemy.

It seems the Baron had underestimated just how much the two had been together in their lives, since even giving Reg’s name wasn’t supposed to have been allowed. The two had done almost all their “jobs” together, watching each other’s backs, especially in their earlier escapades, when they weren’t as skilled. Both of them had scars from fighting centaurs, as well as some from near scrapes in “bully boy” jobs of collecting on extortion demands, beating people for warnings, or killing selected targets. They’d been slowly hardened to their mercenary lives of crime, and tried to take some solace in the fact that they tried to be professional about it, and just get the job done without additional violence on their own.

It would seem that Sam’s mind was freeing up nicely. She cast her favored spell, creating a bridge between her mind and Sam’s, controlling the link to guide Sam’s mind to open up it’s inner most place. Everyone’s was different, a sort of mind castle created in their own experiences and interests to house themselves in. She created herself there, assuming her default form, which was unabashedly unclothed, “Sam…” she murmured to try and get his attention so they could talk more in his head. “Sam…”

The shadows moved in the corner of what resolved itself as a spacious workshop. A slightly younger (and better) looking Sam turned from the lathe he’d been setting up, and he blinked, giving Mirex a good looking-over with a smile. ‘Well, hello!’

Even as a mere conjuring in his head, she knew how to blush. She didn’t do anything about her nakedness though, “Hello Sam. Do you know me?” she asks. Best to make sure she’d gotten rid of all the cobwebs and reestablished his connection to himself.

‘I…’ He frowned, puzzled for a moment, brushing his hands on the leather apron he wore. ‘Oh! Right. The Exemplar. That’s why you’re here.’ Something seemed to be trying to draw his attention to a corner, but he managed to keep focussed on Mirex.

She smiled warmly, “That’s right, Sam. I’m here to ask you some things. About the Jardins and House Valdis.” She dropped the names very specifically. Names had power in magic. His would let her keep his attention. The others might draw out what hid in the corners of his workshop and her vision.

‘Ah, right.’ He nodded. ‘Shame what happened to the Jardins. There were rumours, even for the common folks like me. But what do you do when a manse is suddenly devoid of human habitation?’ He shrugged. ‘House Valdis… somehow wound up with the estate, adding it to their own. They’d been adjacent anyway, though, and something had to be done. There were whisperings, but… there always are.’

“What sort of whisperings? You mentioned something about Baron Valdis’ wife?” She prompted, taking a few steps into his workshop, and carefully looking around, letting her eye shift past those shadowy places where things might still hide, while ready to face them and free him of the compulsions that might still lay on his mind.

‘Well, apparently, for being neighbours, there’d been on and off again feuding between the two Houses. Very hush-hush, not supposed to be happening, all that. Now the Baron’s wife… that was sad. Seemed some of her family objected to the union, and were trying to get it annulled, or some such, claiming compulsions were used. They had to be convinced to stop their complaints, lest the legitimacy of his coming heir be called into question, if I recall correctly.’ He was struggling not to be distracted by whatever shadow was tugging at his attention, though so far nothing was obvious for Mirex to see. ‘That took a bit of strategic poisoning, I’m sorry to say. And all for naught, too.’ His voice seemed to carry real regret. ‘She died in childbirth, and the boy didn’t live past a day himself.’

“The Baron’s wife was poisoned?” She blinked in surprise, “Was this before the Jardins disappeared? How long before?” She pressed. She couldn’t see anything, and her senses didn’t offer much better beyond a lingering of something. His distraction confirmed that. Best to get what she needed, and either handle it, or get out before it struck.

‘What? No! Well, not that I know of… her uncle and cousin were poisoned. Or maybe it was just some bad wine, eh? No, her death in childbirth was natural, so far as I know. Though this was just a bit before the Jardins disappeared.’

“I see” she pursed her lips, crossing her arms over her bare chest, “So the Jardins objected to their union… and tried to slay their kin. They failed, however, and soon after were just suddenly gone. Leaving the Baron alone. Does he have other surviving relatives, Sam?”

‘Eh? Not sure the Jardins were involved in that. That was the Car…’ he turned, suddenly seeing something in the shadows, and a squirming mass of purple and black that’s vaguely wolf-like, but with improbably horrific jaws, launched at him, going for his throat.

She’d been waiting for that. Her hand shot up and blasted the apparition with a Spatial Surge. Her gift was to facilitate these places, giving feelings and minds a sense of tangible reality. This included the expression of unfriendly curses and hexes, allowing her to use seemingly conventional combat magic against such threats. The perk was it allowed her to handle such things without having to know the precise counter hex, “Stay back Sam,” she ordered him calmly as she kept the wolf from him, intent on destroying it.

He had his hands up, as though to ward it off, and fell back readily at her command, letting her deal with the thing. It seemed more intent on Sam than on self-preservation, but the blasting had already slowed it down.

Mirex unleashed another beam of chaos energy, and her projections would begin to adopt a purple nimbus as she brought her powers to bear, using an illusory wave to throw it back before hitting it with another beam.

The beast growled and snarled, but was obliterated readily enough. It seems it had only been prepared for Sam, or for not being opposed in time. He lowered his hands and steps forward again, visibly shaken. ‘Uh, thanks.’

She glowed for a few moments more with her power, which added some semblance of decency to her form. She turned slowly toward him once the beast was gone, and smiled softly, “You’re welcome Sam. I did promise I’d try and be as gentle as I can. And there is still much to talk about. Such as the name you were about to say that brought the creature upon you.”

‘The name – oh! The Cardiffs. They were the family of his wife. He sent Reg and me to doctor the wine of the ones who… well, whose deaths would shut the others up, I suppose. Nasty bit of business, that, but if we hadn’t done it, someone else would have – and likely we’d have been got rid of, too.’

“Likely so…. I’m not familiar with these Cardiffs, however.” She sighed softly as she let the glow dissipate. So many players. “So you and Reg poison some of the Baron’s wife’s relatives. Because the Jardins objected? Even though they were of a different House? I think we lost a piece somewhere along the way, Sam. Can you perhaps clarify the events for me?”

‘Not sure the Jardins objected, ma’am. Though maybe… I think in the, what, two hundred years since the crossing, all three Houses had intermarried at some point. But the Baroness had been a Cardiff, and it was her uncle Orwen who was the main focus of the objections, claiming there’d been coercions. Maybe the Baron had some idea the Jardins were behind that? I don’t know. “Above my pay grade”, as they say.’

“I see… perhaps you or Reg could point me to someone who might know? The Baron? Or maybe one of his relatives he keeps in confidence?” She needed leads now. Her mission had begun in earnest to end the threat to Adri and discover the fate of her family.

‘Only the Baron is likely still knowing of anyone alive. I don’t think his nieces, who are all that’s left… I don’t think he trusts them enough. That’s why he cared so much about having his own “proper” heir. And I think no family in the Settlement is still willing to allow anyone to marry him, so he’s getting desperate. But that’s … well, it’s probably right, but I’m guessing a little.’

“I see…. then the Baron hired you two for this job in hunting down Lady Adri?”

Sam nodded. ‘He did. Well, more like… renewed our contracts, I suppose. We’ve been kind of… on retainer with him for a while now. Said he’d found out somehow that there was a Jardin left over, and we needed to figure out a way to do her in without getting him implicated. She was wandering bits of wilderness a lot, mining, and we thought sure we’d got her – but her shop kept going. I don’t know what happened. There was a lot of blood in the water, and sharks there where she went in, and skale and such. But then again, she didn’t even flinch much when we spotted her in Lion’s Arch later, and I know we both hit her. And that time she was only in a dress, not leathers! She’s tough.’

Mirex smiled fondly, and in this place could not hide her real feelings of attraction and affection for Adri. “Yes she is. Even pinned to a door…she still held on,” she murmured with a soft sigh, then studied Sam a moment. “Show me the Baron, Sam. And his nieces. I may need them to get close to him. Show me what they look like so I can find them.”

He nodded and focussed his memory on their faces and overall appearance, the Baron first, then the nieces, Valeria and Victoria. He seemed a little surprised when the images showed in front of him for Mirex, but he rolled with it. The Baron is a powerfully-built man with what would be a pleasant face if his arrogance didn’t show through. Valeria, the heir, is a muscular young woman of probably twenty-five or so, and shows up in heavy armour with a mace at her side. Victoria is in her late teens, slight of build, and looks … almost vacant-eyed. All three are redheads, as he’d commented earlier.

MIrex studied the trio, committing them to her well trained memory. “Thank you, Sam. Can you think of anything else I ought to know about them, and the Jardins? Anything at all?”

He pondered, shaking his head a bit, before something occurred to him. ‘The younger girl, Tory, probably isn’t worth bothering with. I think the only reason the older girl is still alive is because Tory’s too feeble-minded to carry on as the Baroness. I don’t think Valeria trusts her uncle at all. And that’s probably mutual, so she might not know anything – but even when under compulsion not to know how we were reporting in, we knew not to talk to her. So maybe you should.’

“Hm… perhaps I will,” she agreed, “I’ve cleansed your mind of the Baron’s influence, Sam. At least, I cannot sense any other presence here but you and I now. Still…. Probably best to take precautions….” She smiled softly, “We’ll speak of that outside, though. I think you enjoy looking at me here just a little too much.”

He chuckled, nodding with a sardonic grin. ‘You are a might distracting, in a very nice way.’

“Too bad for you men don’t appeal to me anymore” she laughed, with a faint blush as she broke the connection, fading from his mind and returning to her own body. After a moment she was fully aware of her own body again, and she opened her eyes, clothed in uniform, and hands on Sam’s head.

He took longer to come around, blinking, his eyes blood-shot. He looked a bit disoriented, and it took him a couple of tries to speak. He rubbed at his throat, which seems sore, before sort of croaking out, ‘Yeah, I guess that is too bad for me. Ow.’

“Hm… you’ll probably feel some effects for a while. You were under many hexes and enchantments Sam. One last question before we discuss what’s to become of you. Reg. Where would he be. I need to fnd him to stop him from attacking Adri again.”

He blew out a deep breath, shaking his head. ‘I wish I knew. He’s got to have reported in by now – and that means I’m known captured or at least suspected for it, and as good as dead once I’m out of here.’ He groaned a bit, rubbing his head. ‘We report in at a place he follows his caravans to, outside the Settlement. Those might bear investigation, too, by the way. I don’t know for sure what goes on, but given that he’s been keeping us on his payroll, how clean can he be? Anyway, if you get a map, I can probably show you where that happens. But if they think I might have been questioned… they’ll have changed things up.’

“Just knowing the location will be enough, even if the layout has changed. It’s a start.” She came around and waved a hand to conjure a detailed map of Kryta and its outlying provinces bordering Lion’s Arch. “As for you…” she sighed, “I cannot take revenge on you. You’re a professional through and through, and a rare breed at that. If I cannot offer you freedom, at least I can offer you protection here until i’ve completed my mission, after which you’ll be added to the Blade’s list of assets. You and Reg both, if I can free him like I did you. You’ll have steady work using your skills… but your targets will be more honorable.”

‘That, ma’am, is more than I’d really hoped for – though I was going to ask if I could enlist or something. My odds of survival here are a lot better than if I meet the Baron again alone.’ He looked over the map and pointed out just where in the Gendarran fields their meet-ups had happened. ‘Here, or right about. Pretty obvious campsite when you’re in the area, anyway, but defensible enough against the centaurs.’

She noted the location and nodded slowly. “Then I’ll go there soon enough. I’m afraid you’ll be something of a prisoner here still until I’m done and Adri is safe but… well, the Blade does not waste talent, and you and Reg have it. And we will need it in the coming…” she frowned in thought “…. Sam. Have you ever heard of the White Mantle?”

He nodded, then almost smiled a little, or at least relaxed more, then blinked in surprise at the question. ‘Heard of them, sure… they’re still around?’

She glanced at the man, “You are quick, Master Ingrams,” she replied with a nod of approval. “Have you heard any mention of them around the Baron or his kin? Aside from the usual ghost stories and tales used to frighten children?”

He shook his head slowly. ‘No… but that sounds like the sort of thing that would stay above my pay grade. I wouldn’t put it past him, though.’

She nodded again. “I’ll have the guards here set you up a bit more comfortably. You’re still a prisoner, at least, but there’s no need for any further rough treatment… provided you don’t try and escape anymore. That would be bad if you did, since we are quite a ways below the palace and you have every Shining Blade in the city between you and freedom. Just sit tight, and you’ll be free in no time. You have my word.”

‘Now that I know where I am… and how much trouble I could be in outside… I’ll be very happy to stay here, ma’am. And thank you.’

She smiled softly. “Thank you, Sam Ingrams. We will meet again when I’ve ended the Baron.” With that, she left the cell. “Move him to the Seraph. Keep our own on him, though. He’s valuable and cooperative. I need recon on their Ascalon settlement region, specifically a camp near the outskirts, a trade post. Have them keep an ear out for the name Valdis, and for the other assassin, Reg. Capture him if possible and bring him here for me. I must return to Lady Adri before I meet the team out there.”

“As you say, Exemplar,” the guard she spoke to replied. Mirex conjured the images of the people Sam had shown her. “And find these folk out there as well. Full profiling and movements. Be careful. The man is a powerful mesmer, possible enemy ties.”

The Shining Blade nodded again, then moved off down the hall to carry out his orders. Mirex sighed, and followed, intent on heading home. “My darling Adri… I can finally make up my failure to you now…” she murmured to herself.