Answers that beget more questions...

[Hawkesbury]

[i]To the Venerable Cinnabar Calomel, Governor of Myrken Wood; from Aldwin Meriwether Gilby, 3rd Baron Hawkesbury, 1st Baron Amesbury, Minister of Myrken Wood - Greetings.

I have news from Razasan in regards to Graf Reinstadler. I dispatched four messages to trusted members of the Admiralty and of the Court in order to learn more of the fellow in question. I must say that the replies were quite enlightening. It appears that our friend, Graf Reinstadler, is a man of questionable history. To be fair to the man, he was described by one as “charismatic;â€

[Cinnabar]

To Aldwin Meriwether Gilby, 3rd Baron Hawkesbury, 1st Baron Amesbury, Minister of Myrken Wood:
[INDENT]Lord Hawkesbury

I am indebted to you for your diligent efforts in learning more of our mysterious visitor from the Capital; please accept my thanks for pursuing this matter with your correspondents, and my hope that it was not too great an inconvenience for you to do so. I hope also that this letter finds you in fine health, and enjoying the myriad outdoor diversions that summer permits.

The information you provide to some extent confirms my own suspicions - namely, that while the Graf brings missives bearing the Royal seal, these do not hail from the King directly. While I am in little position to know His Majesty's mind, that he should choose to first use some obsolete custom to bring me to Razasan on the pretense of some redundant gesture of allegiance - the Crown has my loyalty now just as it did when I first became Governor - and then to grant a full pardon to an unrepentant murderer such as the blackguard Aeryn Karolinger struck me as quite peculiar, and I am glad that I sought your advice in this matter.

From what your sources have passed on of this gentleman's reputation, I trust that I am not amiss in surmising that in the grand scheme of courtly affairs he is rather a small fry. This in mind, it seems that he is either here at the behest of some more influential figure, or has made his way here under his own initiative.

If the former case is true and he is simply the catspaw of some higher-ranking member of courtly society, I imagine further observation of his antics may reveal more about his master's agenda. Certainly he was keen to see me gone from Myrken Wood for at least as long as it takes to visit the Capital and be granted an audience with the Crown, and grew quite strident when I queried the necessity of such a jaunt. I would thus suspect that whatever scheme is intended requires either my presence in Razasan, or at least my absence from Myrken, neither of which opportunity for mischief I am vastly keen to permit.

If the latter case is more correct and he is as ambitious as your esteemed contacts maintain, it may be that he has come to the relatively small pond of Myrken Wood in order that he might seem to be a larger fish than is in fact the case. Certainly he has taken some pains to demonstrate his courtly sophistication, and displayed a correspondingly clear disdain for the rustic and provincial ways of Myrken Wood. If he hopes for his shows of ostentatious finery and fashion to intimidate or cow the locals, I fear that he will have to try harder. Either way I will be sure to keep an eye on him, but still treat him with all the courtesy that a visitor from abroad deserves.

On a more pleasant note, in your previous letter you offered a very gracious invitation to join you on the hunt at your Amesbury estate. I will ruefully confess that I have not previously engaged in such sport, so if the invitation still stands - and if this novice might prevail upon the patience of more experienced souls - I would be honoured to join your party for a chase.

Good health and good fortune to you and yours in the meanwhile, sir.

Sincerely

Cinnabar Calomel[/INDENT]