And So The Game of Blades Has Begun

[KhreRiovtRex 0]

A Joint Log by Arrain Issasha N'Dak, Daise'Khre'Riov Var'lon tr'Vatrix and Khre'Riov L'haiy ira-Rexan t'Vatrix

 

 

 

Last time on the Talon.......

 

 

tr'Shalor came back down the corridor, “Rekkhai's, we've been cleared to head down to the end of the corridor. It seems the Enarrain is hrrau surgery at the siuren.

 

t’Vatrix looked at him, “Is there anyone that can update us?”

 

“ I've been told that the Enarrain's brother waits there as well,” tr’Shalor replied.

 

“Vriha menkha, fhaen lead the way,” she responded, while Var’lon listened to the exchange closely. Noting the dheno turning to lead the way, he took his bondmates’ hand, and followed tr’Shalor. She looked up at him with a grim look upon her face as they continued down the corridor to where they spotted the younger N’Dak standing by a window, looking into a surgical suite below.

 

Issaha stood before the window, his back to the newcomers who had thought him looking into the surgical suite, but in reality, he stood there holding the kaleh used to perhaps kill his brother. He knew he needed to hide this, but where?

 

L’haiy let go of Var’lon’s hand and approached the officer, still hrrau his dress uniform as well from the festivities, “Any news?” as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

 

Issaha was startled as he held the knife, nearly dropped it again as he turned, “Rehhkai!”

 

“Au brother, what is his status?” she asked.

 

Issaha fumbled to hide the kaleh behind his back, “ Ah, ... ah... he is rhae in surgery. The doctors said he is in critical condition. He has several lacerations to internal organs and arteries.”

 

“What happened? Do au know who might have done this?” she pressed.

 

Issaha’s mind raced, “I ... I, ” he produced the kaleh. “This was rhae his things, wrapped up in the cloak.”

 

She looked down and saw him holding a blade before her and instinctively took a step back, as tr’Shalor pushed her aside and moved forward in a rush.

 

 

….and now the continuation....

 

 

tr’Shalor rushed past the others, and reached for Issaha’s wrist to attempt to remove the blade from his grasp. “Drop the weapon!”

 

Issaha was filled with a mixture of horror and shock, as the imposing dheno quickly filled his view, and he surrendered the blade easily to tr’Shalor.

 

The large guard wrested the blade from the other officer’s grasp, as he quickly took the man’s wrist, pinched it as he twisted it up behind his back, and spun him up against the wall to ensure there would be na further chance of attack. “Au will hold hrrau this position until I give au clearance.”

 

Issaha had considered reacting more violently, but instead did na resist. “I had na intention of violence,” he said as he tried to ignore the pain. “Or did au na hear a word I said?”

 

Momentarily brushed aside, L’haiy regained her balance, steadied by a hand from tr’Vatrix behind her, and turned to tr’Shalor. “I think that is a bit much Daise Erei’Riov; stand down and let him turn and speak.”

 

tr’Shalor turned to look back at the officers behind him, nodded and released the younger N’Dak. “Very well, I meant only to secure a potentially dangerous situation, he was holding a blade rhae au Rekkhai," he let go of Issaha’s wrist and let him turn himself around.

 

Var’lon stepped over to ensure that L'haiy was na injured either by the knife, nor by the action of the dheno. “E'lev, Au are unhurt?”

 

“I am fine, hann’yyo E’lev,” she replied as she touched his sleeve, then turned back to Issaha.

 

Rubbing the wrist and working his fingers for a moment, Issaha glowered lightly at the bulky d’heno who he thought could use a lesson in temperance before turning to face the Khre’Riov with a far more neutral and respectful countenance. “As I was saying,” he said, “I had just found that going through his belongings, which the nurses left with me after they took him to surgery.”

 

tr’Shalor realized that he had just pushed past his charges and turned to bow to them, “My apologies Rekkhai’s, I only meant to prevent injury. I hope I did na cause any harm?”

 

“I am fine tr’Shalor, do na worry about it.” She turned to Var’lon, “Do au think that could be the weapon used hrrau the attack?”

 

Her bondmate looked at the bloody blade, “ I think we can assume that there is a menkha chance that it is.”

 

“There is little doubt, rhae my mind.” Issaha said, pointing to the kaleh. “It is io of a set commissioned for my house many years ago. Only a keen eye, however, might be able to distinguish this io from the io Sheuji was given at his ascension.”

 

Issaha had barely noticed he’d used his elder brother’s fourth name so casually and bit back on his lip for a moment.

 

“I have seen a blade like this before, just the other day at our compound.” She reached over to take the blade from tr’Shalor, then stopped so as na to cause more fingerprints on the blade before it could be tested. “How so, is it different?”

 

“The inscription, rhae the blade, is slightly different. Just below our house motto,” he said, trying to suppress the ingrained feelings of pride that welled inside. “Destorie’s contains a small epitaph for his namesake, that io has a different io. Io for her name sake.

 

“Her namesake? The sister? And what about au own?” She looked up from the blade to Issaha’s face, “What is rhae au own blade?”

 

“My blade,” he said, removing it slowly, carefully, almost reverently from its holster, and held it by the blade. “Belonged to my mother’s father. It is unlike those of Destorie and Savu.”

 

L’haiy saw tr’Shalor tense beside her and was about to say something to him, when Var’lon placed a hand rhae his shoulder causing him to hold.

 

“I see the difference, but why is this blade different from the other two?” L’haiy asked him.

 

Issaha considered his response for a moment. It was a question he had asked himself many times, but had never had asked to him. “My mother wanted me to have her father’s blade. To remind me of her proud lineage as well. Though less ostentatious than anyio from House N’Dak, her father too was a hero. She wanted, I think, to remind me I did na need to lean on my name to be successful.”

 

Var’lon decided it was time for him to step into this conversation, “Then, let us talk about ‘ostentatious’ then, and a get to the matter at hand. Why, would this ‘special blade” of au rinam, be used to stab her own brother?”

 

The younger N’Dak holstered his blade. He took a deep breath before responding to the Daise’Khre’Riov, he did na want to come off as emotional as he felt, especially in front of such a senior officer. “There was much strife between them. Though she was his junior in age, they were … rivals. Only she would have possession of that blade, I would assume she used it so that we would know who it was that had killed him -- or she did na mean to leave it.”

 

“Wait, why would she want him to yy’a? Especially hrrau such a large, public functionary space? At a bonding of all places, where it would be difficult to hide her actions?” L’haiy looked perplexed at this new conundrum.

 

Issaha tipped his head. “Now that I do na know. To my knowledge, they had na spoken in some time. Nor had any of us, to be honest. It would be awfully sloppy of her to leave such a calling card.”

 

“And possibly implicate many others hrrau her command structure. Something we’ve been trying to investigate for many years, but with little success,” tr’Vatrix crossed his arms in front of him while he thought what his next words would be.

 

“Do au mean na to let it be known yet, that we have found the blade?” L’haiy thought a siuren before posing the question. “Do au mean to lure her to some sort of a ruse?”

 

Var’lon looked at them both, “Ie, it is possible that au could do so, but we must na make it too obvious.” He turned to look at Issaha. “Would au be willing to do this? It would mean working against au own family. Would au be able to do so?”

 

“Var’lon, I do na know about this. It could also put him into danger as well. Is it right to ask him to take this chance with his life as well when he stands here worring ?” L’haiy looked up at her bondmate, an imposing man, as he and tr’Shalor almost filled the corridor.

 

“He’s also a Galae officer, he knows his duty, and the dangers it entails, is that na so?” as tr’Vatrix turned to look at Issasha.

 

“I, nor my family, consider her to belong to us anymore. I will do whatever is needed to bring her to justice.”

 

“I still do na understand what this has to do with everything else that has been going on, or even if it does at all. The fact that it happened at Morgana’s bonding almost still brings me to believe that there is some common thread that we are overlooking,” shaking her head in confusion. “I just want to know what the tie in is with the attacks on medical on the Talon, on myself at the hospital, and now this. And to make it all the worse, now au are telling me the Tal Shiar are definitely involved.” She turned to Var’lon, placing her hand on his forearm, “This may take some resources that only au are going to be able to free up e’lev.”

 

“Ie, this is of heavy concern. I will need to speak with my staff, and most likely the Fvillah as well. I just do na want to say too much, or it will give away any element of surprise we may have,” the Daise’Khre’Riov responded. “We had thought perhaps it was originally due to the ‘nanogene issue’, but this attack on N’Dak, it is different.”

 

“Ie,” Issasha said. “Though I have an idea. Perhaps I could go to her and let her know I have the weapon. I will tell her I found it before anyone else could get to it. I can use that to leverage her to forge orders for me to be reassigned to the Talon.”

 

“Reassigned? But au are already rhae the Talon, are au na?” t’Vatrix looked confused. “Or did au have some sort of falling out with au brother that he had au ‘reassigned’?”

 

Issaha tried to hide his bitterness in light of everything that had happened. “After I was injured, rhae the last mission -- my brother called in a favor to have me assigned elsewhere, to lead some small science project hrrau the outmarches. He wanted to protect me.”

 

L’haiy looked up at Var’lon, “Are au able to assist hrrau any way?”

 

Var’lon reached over and squeezed her hand a moment, then took it off his forearm and stepped closer to Issaha, “If au can get her to agree to help au to be ‘reassigned’, I will make sure my office will see it expedited.” He stepped closer yet and in a hushed tone, “Do na betray us, or au will find au life to be forfeit.”

 

Issaha blinked for a moment, his loyalty having never been questioned. “Rehhkai,” he said, “my loyalty is to the Galae, my house, and my brother. Savu has betrayed all three. I will see that justice is brought to her.”

 

“Au house, has betrayed us before. Do na make me regret giving au a second chance after what au and aur brother had done to her hand,” tr'Vatrix paused a siuren, to let that sink hrrau as he briefly motioned to the woman behind him. “Vriha menkha. tr’Shalor, return the blade to him,” he nodded to the dheno as he turned back to his bondmate to take her restored hand in his, and looked her in the eye and brushing her cheek with the back of his one hand, before turning back to the young officer. “Arrain, send word to us about au brother as soon as he is out of surgery. tr’Shalor will give au a code that will allow au to reach us by secure transmission with na fear of anyone tracing aur contact.”

 

L’haiy looked over at Issaha as well, “Do na worry, he will survive. He is too stubborn to yy’a.” With that, she turned and nodded to tr'Vatrix that she was ready to depart with him h'nah, as it would be hours still before they got more news.