Decardo, Cherry -

Both, I have received a request from a party that I owe a boon to. Some time back I assisted in the transfer of a member of the Collegium to the Shadow Court. Catherine since vanished - I presume into the same tree I was trapped in - but if she is dead, she died a Courtier.

As a result of this transfer, I was asked to owe the Collegium a favour, and they have asked something very odd.

They have asked that both of you approach Lyria, dressed in grey robes of death, and apologise for your insolence.

Since you are not in the habbit of insulting people for now reason, I would like to understand why this has happened, and why this request has been passed to me. The Leader of the Collegeium was apopleptic about such a matter, and I did tell him that the Court is not a group that obeys army-related orders, but I would like to hear the sides of the story from both yourselves - and this 'Lyria'.

Please, tell me what happened, and let me know if you will be able to fill the boon as described above.

Yours,

Cherry held the bulletin from Muldran in her hand and reading it once more she laughed softly. What a preposterous request! Over an encounter that lasted less than ten minutes and was forgotten by herself and her beloved as soon as they passed through her portal that guided them to the events that took place underground where Jordan Jurrel sacrificed his life for Sosaria.....now there was an event worth remembering. Shaking her head slightly in disbelief Cherry picked up a quill from her desk and wrote Muldran a short letter.

My Lord Muldran
I am sorry that you have been troubled by this request for a strange boon - one that I might add here and now myself and Decardo will not fulfill. Our refusal to do so is not through any disrespect for yourself but because of the absurdity of it under the circumstances.

Myself and Decardo encountered this woman you call Lyria - I do not think she gave us her name herself - in Haven when we were practising our fighting skills. Occasionally we hone our skills in this way - we do no harm to anyone, merely ensure that we keep our reflexes keen. As we practised a woman approached us and loudly began berating us for "fighting in front of the youngsters". I have to confess i could see no such young people around that evening....in fact Haven was particularly quiet...but neither myself nor Decardo chose to quibble with her on that issue. In fact we did not really have anything to say to her at all, we did not recognise her nor had any reason to converse with her. However the woman seemed intent on informing us of her importance within some organisation and of how powerful they were and that we would suffer the consequences. At this point I had already grown tired of her diatribe and was eager to progress to our destination, but something she said of torture caught my attention. She professed to use it and thought it was a legitimate means of extracting information. Both myself and Decardo condemned her for that belief and said it was not our way. This seemed to irk her even more, as did the fact we had not dismounted and apparently were showing her no respect...as Decardo mentioned respect has to be earnt. She spoke of a boon that our Court owed her guild and that we would pay for our insolence. We merely dismissed her as ranting at this point and without further ado made our way to the caverns where crystals were revealing the nature of the problem that has been troubling this land of ours for some time now.

I cannot see how our actions that evening can be construed as insolent, we were about our own business and we were brought to lecture by a young woman whom neither of us knew....or at least could not remember. I hope this matter passes by quickly as it is not worthy of further attention and merely distracts us from the important research that we are all involved with throughout our lands.

Yours respectfully
Cherry, Lord Cardinal to the Shadow Court

Muldran read Cherry's note, biting his lip. Callum always warned him that being free and easy with boons would come back to haunt him. Putting down the note, he sat back in his chair. Cherry was Lord Cardinal of the Court - she could overrule him forcing her to carry out this boon, if Gorthyn voted with her...

Of course, he didn't believe the boon was worthy, he thought it was petty and spiteful. A brief grin twisted his face, as he realised that is what the Collegium wanted; dissension and trouble, all the better to secure power and toe-holds for themselves... But how could he come out of this with the Court still being respected and true to their word.

Muldran pulled his cloak around him - he had to find Gorthyn first...

Gorthyn sat before the hearth in his study within the Shadow Keep reading the bulletin. Cherry had sent it over to him having written across the top of it

I think you ought to see this

"Quite right too" he growled to himself. He finished reading it and then sat for a few moments deep in thought. Then he rose, threw another log onto the dwindling flames and made his way across to his desk and began to write.

Muldran,
I have been passed a bulletin you sent to the Lady Cherry regarding some incident in Haven and an alleged boon. It vexes me that yet again the Court is being regarded as some kind of soft touch, fit only to be the butt of any other organisations meglomania, whatever their own worth and standing.

That you should offer up such an open ended boon perplexes me, that you would seek to impose such an unworthy apology upon some of our number due to it does anger me greatly.

Enough is enough, I cannot agree to the course of action you ask of Cherry and Decardo and will formerly vote against it should the need arise.

He signed the letter with an angry flourish, waited for the ink to dry, folded and sealed it and then strode out with it heading towards Muldrans office.

Muldran read Gorthyn's letter and sighed.

He wouldn't write this reply to Lyria - he'd have to see her in person; explain to her that it was a misunderstanding, and that he was sorry that...

...pulled the chair back from where it had fallen on the floor. He looked around his office; the desk overturned and the book that seemed to be hovering in mid air. Turning towards the storage box at the back of the room, he saw that it had turned into a small bowl of begonias.

With a snarl, Muldran snapped his fingers and the room quickly assembled itself into its previous state. Roughly pulling his cloak around him, Muldran strode from the room, the strangely wooden staff clutched in his hand. He strode out into the winter storms of Rhovanion, headed towards Moonglow...

Muldran stood in front of the Vinyamar, hands nervously smoothing down the soft, pink fabric of the dress he was wearing.

What had happened? Oh yes. He'd gone to speak with the Maestro. He'd started off the meeting on the attack; he'd explained about the misunderstanding, and then said it was his fault; afterall, how was Lyria to know (after her absence) that Cherry was an equally important member of the Court, and that she should be shown proper resepct.

He did remember some of the other Collegium goons standing nearby reactign angrily, but Lyria had... had... had accepted his explanation. She was quite happy to let things pass, now that she understood what was going on. After all, she was very reasonable, not at all like Gorthyn and his angry demands and suggestions about Muldran's perceived weaknesses...

Muldran looked back down the steps of the Vinyamar. There was one of the slack-jawed Kaldorians, pointing up at him, saying something about 'nice dress'.

And didn't he remember... Didn't he remember something Graham had said to him about Muldra?

Muldran sighed, and scratched his head. He was obviously overtired. But first - he had to write a letter to the Poste, explaining that the Maestro should be given the benefit of the doubt. After all, she only had his best interests at heart!