"Show too much compassion, and your enemies will become as dear as your family..."
There was no more conversation as the pair made their way through Jameson's estate. For as much time as she had spent there in recent days, there were still rooms she had never ventured to. Dark hallways that seemed to be forgotten by even the owner. More unexpected were the false walls that led to narrow stone passageways descending ever further under the Goblet. Jameson led her onward with torch held out before them.
Perhaps half-way (it was hard to pin-point where she was when traveling fulms below the surface and surrounded by stone) they met his guard once more. "Is she conscious?" The question was met with a nod but no more. Coatleque began to wonder if there was indeed someone within the armor at all. "Follow." Jameson commanded to his man before the three of them continued.
Eventually the tunnels opened up into a larger stonework room of holding cells (few occupied, mostly empty) and smaller passages to private oubliettes. The occasional Blade stationed here and there would cast them bored and weary looks as they passed by. An angry leer or two gave Coatleque cause to stay as close to Jameson as she could. It was evident she was here with him to any that would object.
It was to one of the side passages that Jameson led her. Through another narrow corridor and past a thick wooden door with massive iron hinges. Beyond was a small holding area just before a private cell. Four of his personal guard stood along the walls on either side, one of them looking directly at her as they passed. An off-duty Brass Blade she had the displeasure of dealing with before. Nervously she kept her gaze forward.
In the small alcove outside the cell was a chair up against the wall. Jameson deftly plucked it and set it out from the wall for the prisoner to sit. He then took up a position beside the cell door facing the corner of the wall. "Roen. I have brought an... old friend."
Coatleque stood motionless at the end of the narrow hall as a figure appeared in the opened cell door. Even concealed in shadows, she could see the figure sway back and forth out of balance. She leaned against the wall and rubbed at her eyes in an attempt to dismiss the bleariness of her own sight. At Jameson's voice her hands dropped and she turned to the opening, willing herself to finally stand in defiance. Coatleque cast a glance at the man in the corner before stepping a step forward. "Roen?"
"Help the girl." Immediately the heavily armored guard, Feres, clanked forward and grabbed the woman by the arm. Coatleque jumped back a step in shock at the sudden movement and treatment as Roen was half pulled out of the cell and roughly delivered to the chair. Her heavy, bloodshot eyes almost refused to stay open and refused to even take in the surroundings. Dark circles had formed after days of sleep deprivation. Her hair disheveled and knotted. She swayed side to side in a circular motion, barely able to keep balanced. "Coatleque would like to speak to you." Jameson added at length.
All at once her restraint fled and Coatleque rushed to the woman's side! She knelt beside Roen, pawing and prodding at her, testing for pain or bruises. Jameson's eyes were narrowly trained on the wall as if inspecting the mortar was suddenly paramount. "Roen? Roen! By the Twelve, James, what have you done!?" She cried out in desperation at the state of her friend, still half pawing at her yet trying her best to keep the girl steadied and upright in the chair.
The woman was unresponsive at first till her mind slowly began to register that this was no dream. She almost recognized the woman at her side before Jameson glanced over and interjected. "It's not as bad as it seems. check her for bruises. You will find few." He murmured. "We have, however, deprived her of sleep. Every hour on the bell."
Coatleque did not need nor care for his approval by then. Content the woman was not in immediate pain she did her best to steady her swaying again, softly patting her cheek to try and focus the girl's concentration. "Roen?"
Roen blinked slowly, finally able to focus. She swallowed, or at least tried to. Damp dungeon air was a poor substitute for water, and even that moisture did nothing to alleviate the sand in her throat. "Ser Crofte..." she rasped through chapped and cracked lips. "What do I owe... this pleasure..." Despite her condition she wore an oddly defiant grin though her eyes lacked her clarity of mind.
Coatleque turned back to Jameson. "For how long? James? HOW LONG!?" She no longer cared for words. The woman's health was failing rapidly now and she feared how much more she could take at this point.
"As long as it takes." he replied sharply. He needed say nothing further for her to know the seriousness of the threat. Coatleque turned her attention back to Roen for the moment. She had little time and did not want to tax Roen beyond what she could bear.
"Roen? Roen, listen to me... Nero is planning a bloodbath in the streets. He is not coming, and intends to let it play out. You cannot sit by and allow this!"
"I know nothing..." she replied. Her expression was almost that of delirium, twisting between focused clarity and an absent dream-like state. "But they do not believe--" She blinked slowly, her eyes resisting the movement as they re-opened.
"... Roen, the Blades are going to slaughter them all. You know this!" She spoke slowly, deliberately. She needed the woman to know the gravity of the situation in the city. Jameson also peered at her now from the corner, searchingly.
"Ah. Right. Nero." Her words came slowly. "He thought he could do it... non-lethal..." A bitter chuckle escaped her lips as she thought back to whatever words had been traded. "Non-lethal. Moons ago!" The woman swayed as Coatleque once again gripped her shoulder to hold her against the chair. She blinked and her grin suddenly vanished, a sobriety overtaking her expression. "Then he changed his mind!"
"Why?" Jameson snapped suddenly. "That makes no sense." His teeth barring now. "He was winning!" Coatleque nodded in agreement but did not look away from Roen. She met the girls gaze, her own emerald eyes flashing in the torchlight, in an effort to draw her back.
"I spoke to him. Do you understand? I used the linkpearl, Roen."
The girl's head swiveled to Jameson in an almost nodding fashion. She chuckled bitterly again, almost deliriously. "Because you had Daegs--" Her words were cut off at Crofte's admission. Her head rolling back to the front. Her own eyes flashed a temporary sanity "He answered did he..." She stared at the Sworn across from her in a long silence that ended when her shoulders began to shake and her head dipped. Her disheveled locks fell before her eyes. She may have even cried were her body not holding back every ounce of water available.
"I did not have him killed!" Jameson snapped once more in a way that belied his weariness of the same accusation being levied. "That dumb bitch Natalie went off script."
Coatleque shook her head and focused on keeping Roen's attention a little more yet. "He is not coming. He will let this city tear itself apart... please, Roen... if you know anything...?"
"I tried to find them. Him. Scythe." Roen muttered under her breath. "Guns. Guns sold to them so they can make a statement... You remember, do you not? That Elezen...? He died."
The Sworn nodded once. "Scythe? He is the one in charge now?" She threw a glance to Jameson as if questioning if he was getting all of this. The man returned his own glance between Deneith and Crofte but remained silent. Roen's voice cracked as she began to speak again, prompting the Sworn to survey the room for any source of water to supply even temporary relief for her friend.
"I tried to find him. His gang. To stop them." She slowly shook her head again, almost losing balance. "He said he would stop them but..." Her shoulders began to shake again from what could be a laugh or a sob. "That was another life, I suppose..."
Coatleque stared at her friend with horror behind her own eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek before the shell of her friend and she leaned forward to embrace her against the chair. "Roen... I'm sorry. I am so sorry." Jameson looked away with a scowl just then, and Roen did not react either. Her frame was slimmer than Coatleque remembered, obviously from lack of food as well. The woman seemed in a daze at first, but then frowned as focus began to return.
The Sworn pulled back again, wiping the side of her face and focused on Roen once more. "Roen, listen to me. I am going to stop him. I have a name of someone who will lead me there. But we need to know who his assassin is. If not him, then his targets. He is out of control now..."
Roen maintained her frown as she stared off at the distant granite. "His assassin... He would... He would not hire one. It was not... it was not on his list." she murmured. "He had a list." The woman swayed in her seat once more as Crofte's hand moved to steady her. "Assassins. It was not on his list. Non-lethal." The odd curl to her lips returned. "He wrote that down. Non-lethal." Her shoulders heaved and began to shake once more. "Can you believe...?" Her voice trailed off as her focus was lost. The smile quickly fading to delirium once more.
"Why? Why would he? After so much?" Jameson had turned and moved closer to them, no longer content to wander the cell. His anger was apparent. He stared Roen down, or as much as he could to someone in her state. "That makes no sense."
Roen looked up at the man through a squint and even Coatleque's attention snapped back to him. "James... she cannot go on like this." The Sworn stood then went to him, grabbing at his hand with an almost frantic voice. "She needs food, sleep, water... please... you asked what I wanted most... I cannot abide by this!"
He ignored her. His amber gaze locked on Roen.
"The list." Roen continued slowly as if explaining to a child. "It was made many moons ago. Mayhap a year?" She attempted to grin, but the pain in her parched lips stopped her. "So many changes since. So many lies."
It was then that Coatleque understood her ramblings. She slowly looked back from Jameson to Roen. "It... is not a list of names."
"What is on the list?" Jameson put forth the question to Roen as if it had not yet been asked directly. "Do you not see?" Coatleque broke in suddenly. "It was his plan... the fool wrote down his entire plan...!?"
Roen's voice trailed off once more, he expression saddening, but no tears would come forth. She licked her cracked lips in vain. "He was going to take the wealth... without gil then... what is your power...? He even had Blades and Sworns on that list. Circled. I guess... I guess that was me."
Jameson's hands began to clench. His brow furrowed and he may have lashed out to strike the woman had Coatleque not held his arm with both hands just then. She squeezed lightly to try and calm the man with a reassuring voice. "James."
"Then who--" he stopped himself. Whether her touch or her voice she could feel him relax just slightly. Roen continued to murmur, still in her delirious state. Her eyes drifted to Coatleque before her brows furrowed. "I was in the plan... I guess..."
Jameson cut her off just then, either having what he desired or no longer content to wait. "Feed her. Clothe her. No more restrictions, save for no guests. And make sure North knows!" The armored sentinel bowed in acknowledgement before heading off down the hallway once more. The Sworn's relief was obvious. He looked directly at Coatleque and their eyes met. "I said I would give you what you wished. And here it is." With that, the man turned on his heel and strode out of the cell with purpose in each step. The remaining four guards made no motion or acknowledgement.
Roen swayed once more in her seat and Coatleque rushed back to her side to help steady the woman. Roen blinked, her eyes even heavier than before as her body fought against what her mind knew would happen should she close them for long. The Sworn leaned towards Roen then and whispered to her. "I will stop him... for both our sakes, I swear it. I never wanted this."
The woman's head rolled forward, her grey eyes glassy. She may have even nodded if her head would have lifted on command. "I never wanted..." her voice cracked. She closed her eyes as consciousness began to drift again.
"Let me help you, to the bed. Roen, you need to rest." Coatleque offered.
Roen's head only rolled forward once more. "Sleep..." she murmured before letting out a slight gasp as if she did not believe it herself.
No effort came forth from the smaller woman to stand, so Coatleque took the initiative to lift her to her feet. Holding her with one arm about the shoulders she led Roen back into her cell right to the bed and helped her to lie down. Once situated she pulled the blankets around the woman whom drifted almost immediately to sleep. A welcome feeling after days of laying on the stone floor.
Coatleque examined her wrist and ankles, noting the marks from the manacles. She stayed a while longer to ensure the woman was asleep before whispering. "Sleep, Roen... it will be over soon." Her concern was real, even if Roen could not know it in her state. Coatleque wiped the tears from her own eyes before taking a breath for composure and standing. "... for both our sakes."
It was nearly half a bell later when she returned to Jameson's chamber. She closed the door quietly behind her and turned to find him standing at his desk staring down at a locket in his hand. At the sound of her entering he quickly closed it and glanced back up.
Coatleque slowly walked up behind him. "... who is she?" she asked in slow and curious tone. There was no hint of jealousy in the question. She had seen this locket before resting upon his desk. She even ventured to look within one night while he was away, to examine the coppery-haired woman with the mournful blue eyes within.
Jameson did not answer her immediately, nor turn to face her. He did almost smile at her presence though. "But I thought you did not care for the traitor."
"Just because I know she must meet justice does not mean she has stopped being my friend."
He nodded. "That is why I brought you to her." A sigh followed. "More things are making sense now. And less."
"James... why so long? In that state... you need not become a monster to hunt one." She ventured the question with mixed anger and fear at what his reaction may be. He took a deep breath of his own.
"Her... stubbornness irked me. But I did not harm her. She will bear no scars from this."
"Not physically."
He gave her a certain look. "We all bear those."
Coatleque shook her head once before lowering her gaze. "Thank you for heeding my demand."
"You should have asked for money." he smirked.
She blurted out a bitter chuckle. "I have you, though." she offered.
"Yes", he said softly while staring forward at the wall.
He glanced downward once more and opened the locket. Her eyes followed as well, standing next to him now as she was. "The first woman I ever loved, in truth." he murmured. "A good woman. She... was kind. I was a fool, of course."
Her head inclined to the side to rest upon his shoulder. "What happened to her?"
A shake of his head. "It does not matter. She is long gone. Dead."
"Then I am sorry."
There was a shared silence of mournful regret. The same conversation recalling to her mind as she recounted a similar story to him not too long ago. "I promised to guard her memory," he continued, "And all else that remained. And I have... mostly failed in that."
Coatleque drew back and looked at him, not expecting such an admission. There was a strained laugh, an odd bit of emotion behind it. "But how many promises do we keep? The ones we made as boys?" His voice lowered to a whisper. "So few."
She leaned back towards him, looking down to the locket once more before he closed it. Pressed against him she felt a heaved sigh. "A different list than I expected. You got out of her what I could not. I thank you."
"She knows nothing else", she whispered.
"It does not explain who is killing all the..." his lips pressed together just then.
"No, but I will find out."
"If I free her..." he continued, "Will she go flying back to him?"
Coatleque looked up at him with a hard stare, taking in the question itself before considering her answer. "Doubtful. Nero has abandoned her." she confessed with no small regret. The notion stung her almost as much as it would Roen. "Whatever madness has taken him, he would sooner see her dead with the rest of the city, I believe. This 'Qujon Zamajon' will either talk, or meet a worse fate than that boy Grimsong maimed."
"I will consider it." He heaved another heavy breath at the absurdity of it all. "His love knows no bounds, clearly." There was a disbelieving shake of his head. "If you will excuse me... I have some sleep to try and catch."
He pulled away from her, heading towards the back of the room. "Shall I stay with you?" she asked. Her voice more concerned than suggestive. There was a brief temptation before something hardened within him. "No," he whispered. "Go resolve what you need to. And I will do... what I must."
"As you wish, my love. Take what rest you can, and dream of me."
"I will consider freeing her."
"... thank you.", she whispered.
He glanced once more at her with what could only be regret before disappearing behind the room division.
She lingered for a moment to be sure his mind was indeed made up before turning for the door. She stopped just there, taking notice of the heavily armored guard standing silently to the side. Stepping up to him, she peered with narrowed eyes and a determined glare right at the man's eye-slit.
"Nobody sees him tonight. Understood? Not even me." Her command carried an odd weight to it that she had never used before with his servants. The figure regarded her in puzzled silence before nodding. She hummed to herself before taking her leave.
