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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ladybird" data-source="post: 3299744" data-attributes="member: 10689">The Mouth’s official scribe was much happier to talk to Kit about Lord Terence than about the Endless Stream Tavern. “He is the power behind the throne in Augurt, my lady, in every real way. But your other sources are correct in that he has never made a move to take over. The brothers adore each other. First, they were left on their own at a relatively young age, when their parents were killed in a voller accident. That is how the current Baron came to the throne. Also, Terence was a sickly little boy, and the current Baron always took care of him and felt protective towards him. Terence returned the devotion in kind: when one of the other nobles suggested that perhaps Terence should take the throne, Terence ran him through on the spot!”Kit stared, morbid interest lighting her eyes. “Yeah, that’s devotion, I’d say. And it also fits what I’ve heard of Terence before – straightforward, direct, very clear about his feelings and intentions. Makes our job easier, doesn’t it?” she added, with a grin at the scribe.“Quite so, my lady,” he replied, his smile well-mannered and subdued in return.“Wait, Lord Terence can’t really be that sickly, can he, if he’s running around stabbing rebellious nobles?”“He has exercised considerable discipline to hone what physical talents he has, but his principle training was as a mage. And in truth, he is still somewhat fragile – even more so after the assassination attempt.”“Assassination attempt?” Kit repeated, her ears pricking up again.“Ah, yes.” The scribe gave Kit a thin smile. “When Lord Terence was just sixteen, he went to the eastern Trade Federation as an ambassador for his brother. There, he was poisoned by a would-be assassin. The culprit was caught, but Terence’s life was in serious danger, considering his frailty. He was only healed through the great skill and talent of a priest of Gunnora.” The scribe leaned forwards, his smile growing wider. “And our sources say that Terence himself adopted that faith, in gratitude to the priest who healed him.”“So he is an apostate!” Kit gasped. “Not just a follower of the Weeping Woman, but of a different deity entirely!”“Indeed. And although this is not exactly hidden knowledge in Augurt, Terence has never been formally charged. There would be a terrible outcry if he were – he is quite the favorite of the common people.”“No wonder he keeps to himself,” Kit breathed.“Indeed. He keeps a very small staff, in contrast to the horde of attendants who wait on his brother the Baron. Lord Terence’s advisor rarely gets the chance to advise, and while there is a secretary, Lord Terence insists that he can do his own writing. And he has never been known to have had a lover, either male or female.”“He can’t risk anyone getting close enough to find out what religion he really follows…” Kit mused. An unpleasant thought struck her, and she shifted in her seat. “The penalty for apostasy, according to the Paranswarmians. It’s death, isn’t it?”“Occasionally by ritual sacrifice,” the scribe confirmed, with a prim nod. Kit shuddered, then pushed the thought away. “What about the brother, the Baron. What do we know about him?”“Besides the fact that he is a weak ruler, controlled by his court? Well, his marriage is strictly political. His wife is the daughter of the Lord of Debenai. They have three children, but they keep separate rooms, and only visit each other’s chambers when it is time to produce another heir. The Baron keeps a number of mistresses, and the Baroness keeps a number of guard captains. The frontiers of Augurt are patrolled by extremely handsome men, sent off after the Baroness tired of them.”“All right. So Lord Terence is definitely the one in charge here. Any clue about what he might want with me and Brionna?”“No, my lady. He keeps his counsel to himself. I doubt that even his brother knows what his goals are in Canberry.”</blockquote>

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