Asheloux lay perfectly still on his bed. His knees were pulled slightly up as he lay on his side facing the wall closest to him. The pile of books surrounding his bed had gotten increasingly higher. It wasn’t because he had been reading more as of late, rather, it was to keep those around him out. He would rarely be seen out of the house, let alone his room. He had confronted one of the final suspects only a day or so earlier and she had proven to be just as straight forward as he had imagined. On the stand next toy his bed was a stack of papers criss crossed on top of each other. The bottom stack contained the written agreement from Marielle. He hadn’t had time to read it but held on to it in case he could stomach thinking about it. The top one was both new and old orders from Ishgard. He flips on his side to look at the stand before turning back over,
“The one time I follow the rules, it turns out to also be the wrong answer,†he muttered bitterly as he finally decides to sit up, “Maybe I am always meant to fail….†He pondered out loud as he pushed over a handful of books to make way for himself to move.
He grabbed the papers off the nightstand as he hovered over to his desk. He lay them out in front of him to study them. The one on the right was as follows:
Ser Asheloux Haton
By order of the Lord Commander, you are to appear at the Airship Landing in Ishgard on Twelfth Sun of the Sixth Umbral Moon. Your company is to depart for Azys Lla at the fourth cycle of the element of ice.Â
You are to depart with your company alongside Dragoon escort to complete your objectives as outlined in the attached documents.Â
All findings must be reported back to the Lord Commander.
Lord Aymeric’s signature and crest marked the bottom of the page in a large flourish. The remainder of the pages outlined what had been discussed in previous meetings. The second pile’s documents were the same, said for change. Another name was listed ‘Dragoon escort’—Marielle of Ul’Dah. He didn’t know her family name to have it added to the documents, so he thought that would suffice. Â
He stared at the papers blankly.
‘Well, I tried to avoid this…’ He thought to himself, ‘I wonder why she refused…If I were in her position I would’ve taken it…’ He stood up from his desk, pacing anxiously around the books that were scatted over the floor, ‘And why…why did she try to trick Soren? It doesn’t make sense…If she got his hands on him, the deal would’ve been off. So why…’
He stopped in his tracks as a knock came at the door. He slowly paced over to it, opening it slightly to see who was there. He relaxed when it was just a young Hyuran scout. Most likely an Ala Mihgan refugee from the look of him.
“You called for a messenger?†the boy asked and Asheloux hurried over to his desk,
“Wait a moment,†he called back, picking up the new orders and rolling them tightly. He tied it off and secured the paper with his seal in wax before rushing back to the messenger and shoving the scroll at the boy.
“It’s to go to the Miner’s guild. Ask for Marielle…if you see a wretched Duskwight woman with gaudy clothes and hair down to here,†he motioned a random length with his hands, “That’s most likely her,†He shooed the boy with his hand, “Now go.â€
He placed a handful of gil in the boy’s hand and slammed the door in his face before heading back to his bed to stare at the wall.
“And now, to wait…†he mumbled closing his eyes, “I need to stop worrying about this…â€
“The one time I follow the rules, it turns out to also be the wrong answer,†he muttered bitterly as he finally decides to sit up, “Maybe I am always meant to fail….†He pondered out loud as he pushed over a handful of books to make way for himself to move.
He grabbed the papers off the nightstand as he hovered over to his desk. He lay them out in front of him to study them. The one on the right was as follows:
Ser Asheloux Haton
By order of the Lord Commander, you are to appear at the Airship Landing in Ishgard on Twelfth Sun of the Sixth Umbral Moon. Your company is to depart for Azys Lla at the fourth cycle of the element of ice.Â
You are to depart with your company alongside Dragoon escort to complete your objectives as outlined in the attached documents.Â
All findings must be reported back to the Lord Commander.
Lord Aymeric’s signature and crest marked the bottom of the page in a large flourish. The remainder of the pages outlined what had been discussed in previous meetings. The second pile’s documents were the same, said for change. Another name was listed ‘Dragoon escort’—Marielle of Ul’Dah. He didn’t know her family name to have it added to the documents, so he thought that would suffice. Â
He stared at the papers blankly.
‘Well, I tried to avoid this…’ He thought to himself, ‘I wonder why she refused…If I were in her position I would’ve taken it…’ He stood up from his desk, pacing anxiously around the books that were scatted over the floor, ‘And why…why did she try to trick Soren? It doesn’t make sense…If she got his hands on him, the deal would’ve been off. So why…’
He stopped in his tracks as a knock came at the door. He slowly paced over to it, opening it slightly to see who was there. He relaxed when it was just a young Hyuran scout. Most likely an Ala Mihgan refugee from the look of him.
“You called for a messenger?†the boy asked and Asheloux hurried over to his desk,
“Wait a moment,†he called back, picking up the new orders and rolling them tightly. He tied it off and secured the paper with his seal in wax before rushing back to the messenger and shoving the scroll at the boy.
“It’s to go to the Miner’s guild. Ask for Marielle…if you see a wretched Duskwight woman with gaudy clothes and hair down to here,†he motioned a random length with his hands, “That’s most likely her,†He shooed the boy with his hand, “Now go.â€
He placed a handful of gil in the boy’s hand and slammed the door in his face before heading back to his bed to stare at the wall.
“And now, to wait…†he mumbled closing his eyes, “I need to stop worrying about this…â€
