Quoted By:
“So what's this all about, anyway?” Ariel asks, heaving the carriage door closed behind her, “Yulia Phalaris' papers? I mean, really?”
“Really,” you confirm, “But don't let anyone else know that. We've decided not to mention that part – far fewer awkward questions that way. But yes, we met with Yulia Phalaris beneath the mire, and she gave us these notes. From what she says, we're going to need them.”
Ariel lets out a low whistle of amazement as she takes this in. “I feel like nothing surprises me these days,” she admits after a while, “I can see why you don't want to go telling just anyone that. You'll sound completely mad.”
“Some days, I FEEL completely mad.”
-
You're kept waiting outside for what seems like an eternity when you arrive at Siegfried House, the soldiers on guard awkwardly resisting any attempt to make conversation while the time passes. Eventually, Master Teilhard emerges from the front door with a deep frown etched onto his face. “Master Pale,” he begins, a faint note of bitter amusement in his voice, “My advisors suggested that I shouldn't meet with you like this.”
“While I'm glad to hear that you're not listening to your advisors' advice, I do wonder what you're paying them for,” you reply smoothly, “Can I ask why they said this?”
“Inside. We'll talk more there,” the old soldier tells you, leading you inside with a curt gesture. The soldiers hastily back off as you enter the grand house, shutting the doors behind you. Master Teilhard doesn't say a word until you're in his office, when he finally allows a flicker of unease to pass across his face. “You've developed something of a reputation, Master Pale,” he announces, “People are talking.”
“...I assume they're not saying good things,” you decide, “What, exactly, are they saying?”
Master Teilhard doesn't reply straight away, slowly stroking the long scar on his cheek as he thinks. It's strange, seeing him so pensive. “People talked about your father too, towards the end. Myself included,” he says slowly, “We talked about how he was out of control, borrowing money wherever he could only to lose it soon after. Some of what we said was true, some of it was baseless slander, but there was always something... definite. Accusations that could be refuted, implications that could be argued. With you, not so much.”
“There is,” he continues, “The suggestion of impropriety, without anything definite being said. Any accusations are so vague that they vanish upon closer inspection, yet linger in the back of the mind.”
A sickening frustration seeps through you as Master Teilhard's words sink in. “Rumours and insinuation!” you sneer, “How am I supposed to defend myself against such things?”
Perhaps you're not. Perhaps that's the point.
[1/2]
