An Invitation that One Ought Not Refuse

[Reinstadler]

"Well, Giuseppe?" Josef was currently lounging upon the cushion of one of the expensive pieces of furniture that they brought from Razasan. They had traveled relatively lightly, but each caravan from the capital seemed to bring another one of his personal effects. Things had been proceeding apace. Karolinger had somehow managed to make Guillaime's transparent attempts to delay things completely futile. Calomel would be back soon.

The man in black nodded to the younger noble. "He's out for his own ends, of course, and has no regard for you and where you come from, m'Lord. In fact, he resents it quite heartily."

There was a slight roll of Reinstadler's eyes. Hardly unexpected, especially with this one. All reports had it that Aeryn Karolinger was the most contrary man in all of Myrken. It was little wonder that Janeiro had disbanded under his time in charge. It did not mean that he could not be useful. "I do not have to like him. He does not have to like me. Can we do business? I would get as much value out of that pardon as possible."

"If his words were to be believed, then yes, at least in the short term, your goals match up." Giuseppe paused slightly. His hands were hardly idle, even as he stood in front of his employer. He seemed to be working upon some small piece of metal, perhaps sharpening it. "But with care."

A slight flash of amusement at that. "Oh, we always act with care, Giuseppe. Especially out here in the wilderness. Fine, then. Have the message sent."

So it would be that a note would be left for Aeryn Karolinger with a time and place for the ex-Marshall to meet the newly arrived nobleman.

[Vanidor]

He had received the invitation some time previous, and had mulled it over in his mind before finally deciding to go through with the meeting. Truthfully, he was interested in finding out what this man had to say. What he wanted. How he could use this Trae Kelsan nobles ambition to his own end. That, and he should thank the man for getting him released from his prison. And so Aeryn went about collecting bits and pieces of his hidden finery.

Bits and pieces of clothing that he had placed in places around town for any event. In case he had to run, had to hide, had to impress. That is what he had been after. Why it had taken him a little time to get prepared. Forget the fact that he was missing a hand. He'd gotten mostly used to dressing himself without it. Buckling on his belt, that wasn't easy, but he managed. Hanging the sword at the hip. It worked. But he'd be presentable when he finally showed up.

He had stopped at a barber's shop, a place tucked into a corner on Bridge Street. His hair had been clipped into a neater mop, then bound behind his head in a braid that hung between the shoulder blades. The facial hair that had been allowed to grow in during his incarceration was clipped as well. What had been growing into a veritable bush of hair was now a cleanly manicured mustache and goatee. It was this sort of cleaned and pressed man that would present himself to the house used by the young Graf.

Here then, was the man that presented himself. In a hip length coat of Thessilane-Military cut, which surely meant that chain-links had been sewn into the heavy pleats of silk and luxurious cloth. The garment was a dark blue, however and not the bloody hue of a Meadowlander, with subdued embroidery of silver at the wrists. On the breast was a dolphin, sewn with a lighter shade of blue and circled with more of the silver thread. A wide belt of beaten copper discs, riveted upon a backing of thick leather. The hose was a soft grey, tucked into knee-high boots of recently polished black. His handless arm rested upon the hilt of his sword, the stump bumping lightly against the leather-wrapped hilt. The thing was of a finely wrought weapon, a katzbalger as it happened to be, in an scabbard wrapped in mutlicoloured ribbon. The colours of Myken.

He looked fit, almost stately, as he raised a hand to knock at the door and start upon a very precarious path.

[Reinstadler]

The door was opened by a mostly non-descript servant in a quite expensive black and silver uniform. Depending on the day of the week one came to Reinstadler's door, the man might be different, though they all looked more-or-less alike. The ex-Marshall was expected and therefore allowed in without any difficulty or hesitation.

Upon entering the building, he would find himself in the Entrance Hall. Obviously meant to impress, the hall was the largest room in the building. It was decorated in royal colors and with ancient tapestries, generally displaying important events from the kingdom's past, all imported directly from Razasan. There had not been many suitable possibilities in Myrkentown, but of those dwellings available, the house had been considered the best choice almost solely due to this broad room and its high ceilings.

The man would leave Karolinger there for a moment before returning. A door would be opened for him, allowing him access into the adjacent sitting room. This was the room where Josef met Giuseppe, where the nobleman stood now, waiting. For this first meeting, he positively loathed the idea of Aeryn's first impression of him being an image of him looking up. It was hardly suitable at all. No, upon Aeryn's entrance, he was looking eye to eye with the ex-Marshall. A hand was held out. This WAS business, after all. He could grant such magnanimity, at least. "Aeryn Karolinger, I presume? I am Graf Josef Reinstadler. I am sure you have questions. You may ask them, before we begin upon more pressing matters." Such magnanimity indeed!

[Vanidor]

Aeryn would have extended his hand in response, giving a firm and self confident grip to show that he wasn't cowed by the scenery in the other room. He did, indeed, look the other man directly in the eye, a slight smile filtering it's way across his features. It cause old, pale scars from knife-fights and falling buildings, to twitch in amusement. "Graf Reinstadler. It do be a pleasure, of course. I certainly do be having questions. More than you and I would perhaps be comfortable with dealing, at this time, yes?"

There was no mistaking the way he carried himself, was there? Every inch a military man. Self assured. Confident. Clean. Perhaps in more control of his faculties than rumour and suggestion may have left to believe. He tilted his head slightly, focusing his eyes upon the Graf. Right upon the eyes of the other man for a moment, that much was certainly. That was how they did it out here in the north, right? If you could match eyes with someone, it was easier to trust them. "The only one that be important is why. And that question can be answered easier if you do tell me what you need me for. I know it is... ambition that drives you here. The Crown. No matter what you may believe, or tell others, it is content to let Amasynia take care of itself. But you. You wish to do... something else, yes? Make a mark. A legacy perhaps, yes? Amasynia... and moreso, Myrken, a good place to do that, yes?"

He rested his arms behind him like an officer would, a manouver made a little awkward seeing as he didn't have another hand to cup into the first. He made due by grasping his wrist lightly. He looked like a soldier waiting for orders, one way or another.

[Reinstadler]

Reinstadler would allow only the slightest of glances for his withdrawn hand. There were two gem-studded rings that he often wore and he was gladdened to see they were both there even after shaking the hand of one such as this. That was a start, certainly. "Comfortable, you say? If I wished for comfort, Karolinger, I would be back home, in the heart of civilization, not here, at the toenail." He would meet the ex-Marshall's gaze. There was nothing to fear except for failure and no greater way to achieve failure than to show real fear. "Say what you will."

There would never be trust between these two, however. Was it a shame? Hardly. It was to be expected. Josef was a man of thought and action. Karolinger, apparently, was a man of action and thought. It was enough of a distinction to foster a reasonable wariness, even if all else was natural and positive. As it was, all else was anything but. "You speak out of ignorance when it comes to the crown and its desires. You speak out of experience. That is hardly enough. Burel's actions have changed things. We live in a changed world, Karolinger. Either you change with it or you are left behind."

With these initial words traded between the two, Reinstadler glanced once again towards the door to the room, towards the man who had let Aeryn in and had never fully retreated. All it took was a glance and the silent man was moving towards a smaller antique table and the bottle of wine upon it. Two flutes were poured and one was presented first to the nobleman and then to Karolinger. It would give his hand something to do at least.

"A mark.." Josef sloshed around the wine idly as he thought those words over. "I wonder about what mark you have left, Aeryn Karolinger. The last Marshall of Janeiro. Is that how you want to be remembered? The man who put a fop and a fool in charge of Myrken, who did nothing as Calomel took power. Yes, I have only been here for a short time, Karolinger, but I think that we can there ARE marks to be made here. It is not too late for you to make yours, even if it is to be made alongside my own." That was the crux of it then. Certainly, they wanted different things, but if those things were in the same direction, down the same road, at least for the beginning of the journey, that was something, was it not? "I need the counsel of a man who knows Myrken as well as you do, someone who knows it both inside and out. That is what I need. Everything else is merely details."

[Vanidor]

"First and Only. And Last." A glance for this poffered wine. His hand shifted out to acquire it and hold it at his hip. Enough trust to take it, but not enough to drink it. Not yet, anyway. Perhaps not ever. "The only reason Calomel got what he wished was because I did no wish to tear the province entire apart to take him down. While I would gladly hang the man on the end of a pike, slaughtering all of his constables to get at it was no my intention. Then, at least. Now..."

Now there was a point. Calomel could not have just let the man go, let him vanish into the wilderness where he would most likely have stayed. Where he would not have been able to cause any issues or problems. But instead? He had ordered the hunt, demanded a search. Cinnabar was lucky that Aeryn decided to let the two men who came after him live. He certainly had quite a few chances to kill them. But that was neither here nor there.

"Whatever point you wish to make, then you have someone who will assist for a while, yes." Aeryn smiled sardonically here, still holding his untouched glass of wine between calloused fingers. "You are right that I know Myrken, in many ways of course. Taking Helstone down... Well, even with the matter with that Constable, there are more than enough folk here who do know me, and who will do what is requested. The only remaining question then... is how much do this be worth to you, yes? To be the one who brings Order to Myrken?"

Or Chaos, for that matter. Either end promised many things to Karolinger. And the thought of both made him smile even wider.

[Reinstadler]

There was some mild offense in Reinstadler's eyes as Karolinger refused to drink at first. The man was known to be a drunkard, albeit a very competant one. This wine was better than anything he would have allowed down his lips in a very long time. He should appreciate such a notion and take such a risk. One did not have so perfect a vintage everyday. Fine. Reinstadler sipped first. A sign of good faith.

He then nodded slowly, pensively to Karolinger's words. "Civil War can be a messy, wasteful thing. I would avoid it if possible." It was a sign of sloppiness, of not having proper control of the situation, unless, of course, what one wanted to do was cause as much damage as possible to both sides.

Assent, and so quickly. Interesting. He wasn't expecting that. Conditional of course. "I have already spent quite a bit on this endevour, Karolinger." Another careful sip at that wine followed. Reinstadler was savoring it. "Royal pardons are not inexpensive. I am not here to fail." Whether he was here to bring order to chaos was another question altogether. Did it matter to Karolinger? Probably not. Each would use the other for as long as possible. That was the way of such things. "No matter the cost."

[Vanidor]

"No matter the cost, Graf?" Aeryn eyed the man another moment, iris' of dark colour focusing upon the other man for several long moments. He smiled, and finally raised the glass to his lips. No. He paused the glass there, able to smell the aroma that lifted up from the crimson surface. He breathed it in as he continued to gaze at the southern noble.

"The cost. It can be high, Graf Reinstadler. Sanity. Vitality. Body." There was no need to point out the injuries he himself had sustained here. Again he breathed in the smell of the wine. It was something he had never been fond of, wine such as this. Even if the aroma was enticing, tantalizing. "I am sure your man has made you aware of the dangers that come with aims to pull strings here. A good one, that, yes? As interesting as this wine, as telling."

Aeryn put the glass down respectfully, he never let a drop spill or allowed the surface to break dramatically. Simply setting it down upon the nearest table. Again, his eyes rose and settled upon the Graf. They seemed to swirl, as if a change of mood shifted the hue of eyes from a watery-muddy brown, to something a vague shade of foresty-green. He smiled, that slow and twisted smile of his. The one that he often favoured Glenn Burnie with, to tell the truth. "You are, of course, aware of all this. You have thought it all through. From pardon to meeting, from wine to words."

"No matter the cost, Graf Reinstadler? Then I do hope you are as excellent a vintage as the wine you serve. You and I. We will use one another to bring change here, yes? It will be fun. What would you have me do, then? Hmm?" Again, Aeryn punctuated his words with a smile. Anyone else would have shivered to see it.

[Reinstadler]

The dangers of Myrken? Oh, the young Graf Josef Reinstadler did not seem particularly worried at such dangers. He was here to conquer them, to tame them, to neuter them, to make Myrken a proper and orderly part of the realm. He would refuse to lose anything of true import here, not his mind, not his body, not his soul. His will and his desire would see him through. Failure was simply not an option. He could think that, without doubt, even while glancing to Aeryn Karolinger's arm.

He nodded with some apparent satisfaction. Change would come to Myrken. There was no stopping it. "Sit with me, Karolinger. I have questions now, and you are the man to answer them. Tell me of the Myrken I do not yet know."

[Vanidor]

Aeryn Karolinger peered at the young Graf for a number of moments once the matter of questions was brought up. Eyed the man and considered for a moment the sort of person it took to look at the chaos that was Myrken and consider it inconsequential. That playful smile of his returned as Josef settled down upon the plush seating and motioned to one across. A place for Aeryn to rest his backside and tell him of the dangers of Myrken. The troubles. The trials.

The Madness.

So, the former Marshal finally sent his hand for the cup of excellent wine and lifted it from it's restful state. A shift of his feet found him putting his rear end down upon the poffered seat, the sound of metal shifting against metal as the chain-links sewn in between fine layers of silk and cloth rubbed against one another. He would be silent for a time, listening to the questions jabbed at him from Reinstadler.

It would be a conversation that would, surely, go late into the evening.