Blade of Erogrund

Chapter Twelve- Iris-Ithil

Aeis was waiting for them outside the war room. He leaned on one of the walls and tossed a ball of twine into the air before catching it absentmindedly with a soft thud.

As the Lords and Ladies trickled out the narrow passage he stood to greet them.
"How was the Council?" He asked curiously. Mira stared at the ground nervously while Godric shrugged. "That bad, huh?"

Shrugging again, Godric asked, "Who is this Caeros character?"

Aeis's face darkened. "Caeros is an Elder Lord, one of the highest ranking members of the army. He despises Ennor, though, and is a snake when it comes to politics. He is the Ruler of Biren-Larath even though Ennor technically rules over him." The young watchman started to walk back toward the city-proper, gesturing that they should follow. "You see, there's no honor among thieves even when those thieves are called Lords and Ladies. Caeros is the worst of the bunch." The young man flinched as he caught a dark look from one of the nobles. "Perhaps we should wait for fairer conditions to discuss this further, however."

Godric and Mira nodded their understanding. Following Aeis through the city, they wearily walked down the staircase and across Rae-Oiron. Stopping in the center of the vast chamber, Aeis looked to them.

"Are you hungry? The cooks might still be awake or there may be leftovers from dinner."

The events of the day, combined in a harsh cauldron of guilt over his father, and the immense weariness that suddenly overtook him caused Godric to shake his head. Mira evidently felt the same.

"No, I've had enough excitement for one day," she said with a thoroughly unladylike yawn that made Godric smile ever so slightly.

Aeis nodded as if he had expected as much. "Good, I'll show you to your quarters then."

He led them across the fifth bridge that he had not named earlier, their footsteps echoing hollowly in the vast, damp cavern which left Godric feeling even emptier than before. The thick scent of moisture and a combination of many other less pleasant scents filled his nose as they walked over the bridge and  into the branch of the city.

Unlike in Naevir, the tunnel to this branch was short and wide, ending abruptly in a rectangular room. The chamber was at least a hundred yards wide and roughly forty yards deep. On the right and left were archways that led into the stone walls, presumably into other chambers, while another narrower hall continued for some distance, forming an upside-down T shape.  A single guard stood at each arch, the one on the right a short, gruff looking man in simple leather armor and the one on the right a tall woman with dark hair that was tied in a knot above her equally standard attire. An immense rune was carved over each side arch, but was absent over the back one. Both runes were distinguishably different, but similar in shape and size. Bright torches illuminated the room's dull gray rock walls that were stained with moisture, as they had in the previous corridors, but it appeared that extra caution had been taken to alight the area in front of each passageway. Simple wooden furniture adorned the space between the two archways. Coarse couches and several sets of tables and chairs sat arranged in the empty space.

"This is Librias, the Living Quarters. Men are housed in the right half, women in the left," Aeis explained.

"They are guarded?" Mira asked, surprised.

Aeis nodded emphatically. "Oh yes, guarded tightly. Too many problems with thievery and other...um....less savory issues. Only last month a woman was caught stealing from the men's chambers, though it's usually the men that are problems. The last sir to have snuck into the women's quarters was given fifty lashes." He smiled awkwardly. "Combined, of course, with the beating the women gave him after they found him in there.