Being Reasonable

"You say this writ is from the palace?" Chancellor Fannur examined the document. The sleeves of his long, black scholar's robe fluttered gently as he studied the page. It certainly had the royal seal, through it did not look like the Empress's.

"Yes," Eira said through the slit of her helmeted visor.

The shiny piece of armor had been a gift for Eira for her faithful service, but she had not had an opportunity to use it before this trip. It made her look quite imposing and unrecognizable. Since she never usually spoke in front of the Chancellor, her voice was also unfamiliar.

"This is a Guardian along with two special inspectors from the palace. They would like to ask some questions." Eira continued confidently.

"Forgive me, but I've never seen special inspectors quite like the two of you." Fannur raised his eyebrow ever so slightly. He adjusted the felt hat on his head unconsciously.

The investigators were clad completely in black with a long strip of ebony fabric wrapped around them from their necks to the top of their heads. Only their eyes peered out judgmentally, making it hard to tell if these suspicious visitors were male or female.

"Of course you haven't seen these elite agents. Most people who have end up dead. In fact, they won't even be speaking to protect you, lest you accidentally find out their identity and need to be taken care of…" Alaron said darkly, dragging his finger across his neck.

One of the investigators scribbled a note on a pad that materialized from somewhere in the folds of their tunic. 'Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you?' Mairwen wrote.

Ignoring her warning, Alaron responded in a hushed tone just loud enough for the Chancellor to hear. "I don't think we should mention what happened in that instance. I mean, they eventually found the rest of him."

Fannur gulped. He was a man of science, which was a very different kind of intrigue. He studied the writ once more to hide his nervousness.

Satisfied with the paper, Fannur laid it on his large wooden desk. "Please, take a seat." He offered any of the many chairs lining the walls of his office.

Eira sat with the Guardian in two chairs that were closest to the desk. The special investigators took two seats directly behind them, with one offering the other to sit first. The Chancellor ignored the obvious hierarchy.

Clearing his throat, Fannur tried to move things along. "I must admit I am confused. I thought the case of what happened to Dania was closed. She ran off with Sir Taran. I assume they will be back as soon as they are wed and settled."

"Have you heard anything that suggests when that would be?" Alaron asked.

With a frown, Fannur shook his head. "Other than the original note, which I saw, I have received no communication from them. I wish I had, for I do not know how much longer I can hold their laboratories for them. I know they said we could release the space, but I am hesitant to do so. Yet, others are requesting that space. Such a shame too. Their work was quite promising," the chancellor lamented. He seemed genuinely grieved by their absence.

"So I have been told. Did you notice anything within Dania's or Taran's work that might have been a reason them for them to disappear like they did?" Alaron queried.

"Does this have to do with the attack on the palace?" Chancellor Fannur asked, startling the princess. She began to shake her head, but the Guardian interrupted.

"The less you know, the better," he answered gravely.

This instilled enough healthy fear in the University's leader that he clamped his mouth shut.

One of the investigators leaned forward--Fannur thought she was likely a woman by the way she touched the Guardian's arm--and whispered something to the cloaked figure.

"Do you have a copy of their research that we can look over?" Alaron asked after a short nod.

"Of course," Fannur popped up from his seat and went to a cabinet with many drawers and a key hole at the top. "Normally these would be in the communal library of research, but I removed them and placed them here when the investigation was opened. Luckily I have not returned them or we would have quite the walk ahead of us."

The chancellor opened the drawers with the key and filed through a bunch of papers. At last he called his secretary. An eager young lady entered, helped him find the notes and shuffled out of the office without a word. Fannur watched her leave for slightly too long.

"Farah has been indispensable to me lately," the gentleman said when he realized he had been staring. "She is a treasure."

Passing over the notes, Fannur watched the two inspectors and Guardian pour over the information contained within the stacks of pages. The soldier stared faithfully forward with Fannur's image reflected in her visor.

The studies of the young nobleman were relatively straightforward. Taran's work was on the inner workings of people which coincided in a large way with the healing water. While Dania was focusing on the water properties, Taran was concentrating on its affect. His notes were full of promises but vague, which bothered the princess in a way she could not pinpoint.

Getting the next batch of papers, Mairwen was confused by what she saw in Dania's notes. They were not like what she had copied. They were crisp, easy to read and highly detailed goings on of her daily experiments. None were coded like the writing the princess was used to copying.

In fact, by looking at the dates, she discovered that a few weeks before the royal arrived, the notes took a drastic turn. Even Dania's handwriting seemed to have become more strained and her thoughts more scattered or incomplete. Accompanying the woman's notes were some of her former assistant's, Gela's, handwritten scribblings. The drastic turn in the woman's notes seemed to coincide with the assistant's abrupt exit.

'Maybe they were closer than Dania mentioned. Or perhaps he just kept her organized.' Mairwen tried to make sense of what she saw. Most strangely, almost nothing was relayed from when the princess was assisting Dania. The little that was there was simple and vague. What had happened to the mountains of handwritten triplicates? She whispered the question to her brother.

"Is this all of them? They seem incomplete." Alaron tilted his head, a slight accusation in his voice.

"This is what I have. I admit that both of their notes have become more sporadic lately. They were both nearly a week behind turning in their newest findings. I just assumed they were on the verge of a breakthrough, but perhaps it was more romantic pursuits that clouded their heads."

The Guardian asked a few more questions that seemed relevant before excusing the group. "You have been most helpful Chancellor. Thank you. We would like to take a look around and ask the other scholars a few questions."

"Anything for the Empire. You have my full cooperation." Fannur responded as he stood and shook forearms with the Guardian. "Glory to the Empress!"

Placing all the notes back on the table, the four left the office of the Chancellor with more questions than answers.

"Did you see how Dania's notes suddenly shifted? That was very strange," Alaron commented as they entered an empty corridor.

"You noticed that too?" Mairwen was glad to have someone affirm her suspicions.

Alaron nodded thoughtfully. "I did. I think my dear sister is onto something. There is something rotten, and it was covered up by Taran and Dania's elopement."

"But Fannur's suggestion makes sense. Could it not just be that Dania felt guilty for falling for the man and then she was so distracted by the upcoming elopement that her notes suffered." Renat was unwilling to give up his point of view just yet.

"But none of those are the notes I copied. What happened to them?" Mairwen countered. "How do you explain that away with 'love'?"

"She must have had her own private set," the scientist answered, scratching at the fabric wrapped around his head. It was beginning to itch as he sweated. "It doesn't mean anything objectionable happened."

Frustrated, Mairwen turned away from her husband to her brother. "We need to find the real notes, or at least one set of them."

"Agreed. Can you take me to her lab?" Alaron's voice was filled with the excitement of intrigue. The two hurried down the hall leaving behind Renat and Eira.

"Did my wife just stop listening to me?" the man asked the soldier.

"Funny thing about women," Eria said philosophically, "most of the time when we know we are right, no amount of reason will talk us out of it."

"And what about the rest of the time? Can a woman be reasoned out of her unwavering opinion?" the scientist begged to know.

"Well, as a scientist, you must appreciate that it is an ongoing experiment, but the general consensus is...no." The woman turned her visored helmet back toward the twins as if she hadn't spoken and strode confidently down the hall.

"Just great..." Renat sped up to join the others, scratching his head in response to both the itch and his growing confusion.