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This story is licensed under the Creative Commons

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© 2008 by Noisy Bob All Rights Reserved

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: The world this story is set in is the one of Onyx Tao's excellent story series Cold Blood (don't throw a fit, it's all open license and Tao's a great guy!) and is set into the timeline at around about chapter 3 - Green Fields - but is to be considered non-canonical, being purely a fanwork. If you enjoyed this then go check out Cold Blood which as of the writing of this is up to it's 13th chapter, I guarantee you won't be dissapointed.

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Claudius's announcement that Lord Chant was due to arrive caused a hurricane of activity from the kitchens. Chatelaine, a matronly woman with her hair tied back in a tight knot with a pencil through it, upon hearing the news quickly enlisted every servant in view, Claudius included, to prepare the Hekaton suite. Dust sheets were removed from furniature, the bed bedecked in silks and quilts, fittings dusted down, flower cuttings from the gardens taken to fill vases, windows polished and decanters filled with strange and exotic liquors from the cellars. Within the space of an hour the suite had gone from a dusty backroom to rivaling the main bedroom in terms of luxury. When they were complete Chatelaine sent Claudius back to inform Cassius that all was in order and that the kitchens would be kept on standby in preperation for Lord Chant.

"Good, Arafal is most demanding." said Cassius setting his glass aside "But it is best to do everything one can to accomodate mages, they see imaginary slights everywhere. It is remarkable how the facility to dictate ones will to the otherwise immutable laws of the universe brings about such a powerful elevation of ones own self-importance."

Claudius just nodded, he'd never met a mage before, in fact he'd never even seen one, but he knew of some of their ways. Most mages in the Empire were either lone wandering mystics or else bondsmen of the noble classes, serving as bodyguards and advisors, shadowy figures of intrigue who worked their mysterious business behind the scenes such as the fearsome mage-praetorians who shielded the Emperor and the senate from eldritch attack.

"Lord Chant will be arriving tommorow, I do wish he'd send his farspeech messages at more convenient times, I swear he does it on purpose, it's unlikely i'll be able to get any sleep tonight." said Cassius, rubbing his brow.

"Why's that, Master?" said Claudius, curious to know anything about this 'Lord Chant'.

"It's his signature, a constant droning chant that follows him around, when he sends farspeech it accompanies his thoughts. It's much like hearing an annoying rhyme that one can't get out of ones head for hours afterward."

"Oh, is there any way to get rid of it?"

Cassius looked up suddenly "Scribe, am I right in remembering that you are capable in the field of music?" he said.

"Yes, Master. It was only a short course but i've practiced since." said Claudius.

Cassius looked triumphant "Ah, fortune smiles upon me." he said "Arafal has one of the few signatures that can be supressed without magic, music can wash away the effects of his signature, I may be able to sleep tonight yet, it'll give me an excuse to use the music room as well."

The music room in Adamant Manor was extremely extensive, filled with instruments of all varieties and of exotic makes, some Claudius recognised, some he didn't, and a case of music books along one wall. Wide windows made up one wall, revealing a vista of Kurga's skyline by moonlight, jagged parapets of black volcanic stone and steeply sloping rooves of purple-grey slate quarried from the surrounding mountains.

"It's my understanding that the previous master of the house was somewhat eccentric with regards to music, something of an obsessive." said Cassius "However this does mean that a number of the instruments here are human-sized, some of them are even imported indirectly from the human nations, I believe. You should be able to find something here you can play."

Claudius nodded and scanned the dizzying array of instruments on offer, he pushed aside a set of bizzarely-curved horns from a creature he couldn't even guess at and tested a Celti harp, finding it irrecoverably mis-tuned, before finding an instrument he had trained with; a set of V-shaped ivory tibia pipes, called the aulos in Greek.

"I've found something, Master." he announced, presenting the pipes to Cassius.

"Hmmm, the aulos, how fitting." he said.

"Master?" said Claudius, failing to see what was so meaningful.

"Some instruments have certain significances attached to them, the aulos has traditionally been associated with servility." said Cassius.

"Oh, it's sort of the opposite in the Empire, there it's usually played by nobles."

"How strange," said Cassius before shrugging to himself "Just an odd happenstance, I suppose."

Claudius played the aulos while sitting next to Cassius who lay, eyes closed, on his bed. The rich, reedy tones of the twin pipes overlayed eachother in the melodic tune of The Gardens of Aetrus, an old favourite throughout the Empire. There was a story associated with the song, something about a man who challenged the gods, lost and was punished for his hubris, it was a common fable of which there probably were thousands of derivations, each giving the protagonist a different name, different challenge or different punishment.

"Ahhh, I think that's it..." said Cassius after a while "That cursed droning is finally gone." With that Cassius rose and unpinned the brooch at his shoulder, allowing the swathes of billowing turquoise silk that made up his toga fall from his body and pool around his hooves as though it were made of cohesive liquid.

Claudius stopped playing and lowered the pipes "Would you like me to go on, Master?" he said as Cassius threw aside the covers of the bed.

"No, my mind is clear now. Besides, there are far more interesting uses I can put your mouth to." said Cassius, Claudius didn't know what was meant by that until Cassius lay down again, revealing his half-hard shaft.

"M-Master?" he stammered, heart beginning to race.

"Shh, quiet now." said Cassius softly, putting an arm around Claudius and pulling him closer so that he fell forward onto his wide chest. Cassius held Claudius fast, the fingers of one massive hand entwined in his hair directing him, for he didn't resist, into a kiss. The word barely did the act justice, the long, prehensile minotaur tongue came as a pleasant suprise, as did the experience of momentarily sharing the breath of the powerful male, inhaling and exhaling involentarily as stronger lungs than his did their work, hot brandy-flavoured breath forcing itself into his body only to be dragged out. claudius's head swam, the minotaurs amorous attentions came so suddenly and intensely that he could barely form a thought, It was Cassius who eventually terminated the embrace, Claudius would have been content to stay there forever.

"Mmmm, if there is one thing I cannot abide it's sleeping in an empty bed, and one as highly placed as I shouldn't have to endure such a ghastly scenario," said Cassius with a hint of wry humour "and of course there are certain protocols to be observed with one's partner by night, the expression of desire, for example. I've shown mine, and now..."

That was all the leave Claudius needed, he burned for the minotaur, his love, his master. The last vestiges of reason that still clung to the rocky outcroppings of his psyche knew that this couldn't be natural lust, that it was too intense, as primal as hunger, as vital as blood; it had to be the power of the influence that some trick of biology had singled him out to be affected to such a strong degree.

Even if he was thinking straight it was doubtful he'd even have cared.

Claudius slid down until he found the tangle of fur between Cassius's legs, the earthy scent so achingly, intoxicatingly strong there, and took the minotaurs slowly swelling shaft in one hand. He ran his tongue along it's full length, feeling the pulsing of his masters heart in the veins beneath the satin-smooth skin and hearing the groans his tender ministrations engendered. With his other hand he gently kneaded Cassius's furry sack and the twin orbs within, coaxing louder expressions of enjoyment from the minotaur as well as a thin stream of crystal-clear fluid from the tip of his shaft. Claudius took the minotaur into his mouth, tasting the salty fluid that flowed from there, suckling contentedly on his masters manhood.

"By Lycail, Claudius, that's good...ah, ye-esss.." said Cassius, his words coming forth in a growling hiss that sent shivers down Claudius's spine, goading him into ever more aggressive acts of lust. The scent of minotaur seemed to pervade even their bodily fluids and he could taste the animal aroma on his tongue and smell it filling his sinuses, making him feel simultaneously giddy from euphorea and clearer-headed than he had ever been, drawing every ounce of his concentration into the singular purpose of pleasing the male that had become elevated to godly status in his mind.

Cassius had begun pushing Claudius's head down onto his shaft while grinding rhythmically with his hips, not forcing but applying just enough pressure to let his enjoyment be known. To Claudius the experience became hypnotic, as much an act of worship as an act of sex, his pleasure had become Cassius's and every groan or sudden gasp the minotaur made almost brought him to peak. A low, contented gasp and the flexing of Cassius's fingers was the only warning to herald his climax, filling the prostrate human's mouth with a stream of thick seed that he accepted gratefully, exulting in it's resinous tang.

Cassius lifted Claudius's face up from his groin and looked into his eyes with a hungry smile. "Beautiful boy..." he whispered, almost too quietly to be heard before hooking his hands under Claudius's arms and drawing him up so that he straddled the golden minotaur. With careful, patient movements Cassius untied the strip of blue cloth that served Claudius as a belt and pulled the brief tunic up over his head and tossed it aside, he did the same for the loincloth beneath before pushing gently in the Center of Claudius's chest, so that he fell onto his back, and unbuckling his sandals.

Claudius could feel his heart beating like a war drum, he was paralysed by anticipation, little more than an opposable doll with which Cassius toyed. Cassius had begun massaging his feet with gentle circular motions of his powerful fingers, Claudius sighed with pleasure from the act.

"what are you-?" started Claudius

Cassius grinned "Just giving you a demonstration of what you have read about the Influence, Maelar of Ouroboros may have been a harsh master but in many ways he was a visionary," he said in a husky voice "especially with regards to his documentation of several small, innocuous acts that can magnify the Influence, this for example is an especially strong trigger in humans."

Claudius could believe it, even though it was Cassius this time who was pleasuring him and not the other way around it still felt like he was the submissive, utterly enthralled to the minotaur, and he moaned softly as Cassius's fingers worked a soft warmth into him, slowly tracing the indentations of each footpad, the fur tickling the soles of his feet slightly with each motion, it was wonderful. Just as he was begining to lose wakefulness Cassius lifted him back up.

"Relaxed, now?" he said with an amused undertone, Claudius just nodded, no words were forthcoming.

Cassius's member slid into his opening with suprising ease and none of the pain of last time, soft gyrations of Cassius's hips were joined by his own bucking motions, relishing being so close to the mighty creature that was his master, having him inside. Claudius's own arousal was so high that it took little time before he was brought to orgasm by Cassius's attentions, matting the minotaurs golden pelt with his seed. Cassius bucked beneath him, filling his hindquarters with a pleasurable throb that washed over him in streams, like soft lightning running up his spine. Cassius's climax, when it came, was accompanied by a deep, rumbling bay from the depths of his throat, so low that Claudius could feel it in his own diaphragm.

For a while the golden minotaur lay wordless, savouring the moment, eventually rolling onto his side and depositing Claudius, panting deeply, onto the bed beside him.

"Ahhh, Well, that was enjoyable." said Cassius in what Claudius thought was an astounding display of dramatic understatement. From a cuboard beside the bed he took a cloth and cleaned the seed from his fur, tossing it aside when done and folding the bedcovers over Claudius and himself.

"Stay close to me, I enjoy the warmth, humans are just a touch warmer than minotaurs and this old place get's dreadfully cold at night." said Cassius, as if Claudius needed to be told; right now he wanted to do nothing else but melt into the minotaurs arms.

The arrival of morning was announced by the cawing of ravens and a thin stream of harsh white light from between the curtains that fell across Claudius's face. From what (admittedly little) he had seen of this land it seemed as though Kurga was indeed a cold and dark place, the more southernly marts of the Minotaurs land had been sunny and pastoral, if a little rugged in places, but the city of Kurga was perpetually overcast with thick grey clouds that threatened storms at any minute and bled much of the colour from the sunlight, leaving it lifeless and chill. Why clan Manticore had wanted this godforsaken place he couldn't fathom - mineral wealth in the mountains perhaps, or just adding extra land to their holdings for the sheer sake of it. Cassius could provide all the warmth he needed though, even in the dead light of Kurga he retained his golden glow, a piece of the sun given flesh, but Cassius was nowhere to be found - Claudius was alone in an empty bed.

Rubbing the rheum from his eyes he rose and stretched the tension out of his muscles. Cassius's daily stack of mail was still beside the bed, only one or two having been opened, so he supposed that he was to do his job of sorting the dross from the pile, it would be something to do at least. Cassius's unexpected absence was strangely unpleasant, a strange feeling that somehow not all was right with the world, that some unplaceable thing somewhere was out of place, and any distraction away from that feeling would be welcome at this point. He found his discarded clothes beside the bed and tugged them on before taking the letters through to the library-office, however nonchalant' Cassius was about casual nudity he wasn't so sure he was quite ready to do clerical work in the buff just yet.

That sense of uneasiness was probably the result of being seperated from Cassius's influence after such a long time exposed to it, he supposed. He was still trying to work through that revelation, the more he learned about the minotaurs the more things made sense but at the same time the stranger the answers became. First the discovery about minotaur reproduction and now this...

He tried to find an analogue creature in the natural world that fit the same pattern but the only examples he could think of were certain types of insect; maybe it was the same as with ants - if you were to look at a soldier ant in comparison to a worker ant you'd be hard pressed to believe they were related, the soldiers were bigger, stronger, tougher, had natural weaponry, some even had ingenious toxins and other such biological tricks. Perhaps that's the way it was with humans and minotaurs; small, weak, numerous human workers and large, powerful, few minotaur warriors, a caste-dimorphic species. The analogy wasn't completely right and would probably break down if probed too deeply but it was as close as he could get.

The mail was much the same as yesterday in terms of makeup; a handfull of important items among a sea of trivialities, primarily from the moneyed interests of clan Manticore. He set the letters of note to one side and began writing the appologies and comiserations, Cassius had instructed him that the finest cream cured vellum and cobalt-blue sealing wax should be used for the purpose in order to create the illusion that the letter was genuinely considered to be of importance. The cynicism of the statement had shocked him slightly, seeming as it did so detatched from Cassius's outward personality, but after an hour or so processing the letters he began to sympathise.

He had just started on the third response letter when the sound of approaching hoofsteps caught his attention, followed by muffled voices;

"-But surely you see what this means?" came a voice he didn't recognise but that was clearly minotaur, being too deep and rich of timbre to have been made by human vocal chords.

"All this means is that a notoriously paranoid witch-finder has collected together a number of disparate facts and formed a sketchy hypothesis from them." came the other, recognised immediately as Cassius.

"I conduct my investigations by means of sorcery-" at this moment the library doors were swung wide by Cassius who strode in, his mystery companion in tow "-much of what can be ascertained by such means is subjective but I am very good at interpreting it." said the unknown minotaur, Lord Chant, Claudius guessed. He was clearly of the same stock as Diomedes - short (for a minotaur), stocky, his black pelt shot through with speccles of white. What was most astounding, however, was his horns; while superficially of the same thick and forward-jutting shape as Diomedes and the other Manticore every inch of them was embellished in some way - shallow but intricate carvings in abstract swirling patterns, painted in parts with lacquers and resins of many colours, some of the colours having been mixed with fine shavings of metal to give them a sparkling sheen, there were even small medalions and inserts pinned into the surface of the horns, some with brass bells attatched hanging in a row beneath each horn. The whole effect was as dazzling as it was ostentatious, Claudius supposed that it must be some kind of Minotaur body-art akin to tatooing.

"And how precisely am I supposed to justify doing what you ask on your word alone? Are you aware that Lycaili has it's own wolves at the door, or were you not informed of the thousands of armed ferals pouring over our borders?" said Cassius, restrained but not quite raising his voice.

"Of trifling importance compared to this! A rogue mage within our land, have you even the slightest idea what even a single mage of any significant power is capable of!?" roared the other Minotaur, the bells that dangled from his horns tinkling furiously "And it's Lycaili's duty to help catch them, they are Lycaili themselves, afterall."

"Pure conjecture, just because this rogue witchling entered Manticore lands through Lycaili territory proves nothing, travelers pass through our lands all the time. Besides, Lord Chimes would have detected any emergent mages, you are aware of his talents?" said Cassius, tersely.

"Percipience, yes, I have a bit of it myself. But you can't rely on it every time, presentiments are fickle things and arrive when they choose. Also, the rogue i've been tracking seems to have a unique talent for spells of stealth and secresy."

Cassius huffed with frustration and sat in a window chair, the new guest taking the seat opposite. So far the two had ignored Claudius so he continued with his work, silently fascinated by the conversation. For a few minutes the two were silent, having apparently argued eachother to breathless exasperation. During this time Claudius could just hear on the edge of his perceptions a subtle but insistent noise - no, it wasn't a sound, it wasn't heard with the ears but with the mind - he could almost make out voices intoning something repeatedly;

Za Va Ka Ha Na-Ra Na-Ra, Za Va Ka Ha Na-Ra Na-Ra, Za Va Ka Ha Na-Ra Na-Ra...

It was strangely mesmerising, his mind seemed to focus on the weird un-sound to the exclusion of all else, so much so that he found himself absently scribbling the phrase onto the letter he was writing before he caught himself, cursed under his breath and set the sheet aside. At least he now had no doubt that this was the eponymous Lord Chant, and understood Cassius's glee at his musical abilities - having that running through your head for hours on end would be maddening.

Lord Chant abruptly shook his horns, the ringing of their bells cutting through the endless invocation and silencing it for a while.

"Trust me on this, you said yourself last night that you have no real knowledge of magic. Well I Do and i'm telling you that this rogue is Lycaili, that's a presentiment of my own but it's a solid one. When they are caught it could lead to clan-war if Lycaili doesn't offer to aid in their capture." said Lord Chant.

Cassius made a pained grimace "You ask alot of me Arafal, the deployment of Lycaili forces is not strictly within my remit as ambassador, especially given present circumstances. What if our warlords decide that it would stretch our forces too thin? I would have no ability to overrule them on such matters."

"Then...Arrange for an honourguard." replied Lord Chant after a moments hesitation.

"What do you mean?" said Cassius warily.

"You have the right to a personal guard, do you not? Well then, excercise it. If you use them to help apprehend the malefactor then we can plausibly say that Lycaili was involved in his capture, think of it as a matter of honour." said Lord Chant, crossing his arms and nodding to himself in a self-satisfied manner.

"That...would suffice?" Cassius said in a skeptical tone.

Lord Chant sighed "To be honest I don't really want a full force of Lycaili warriors trapsing about and causing a nuisance, I do want to avoid a clan war, however. Providing I can present some evidence to the masters of the clan that Lycaili was taking a degree of responsibility then it will satisfy their honour, regardless of how paltry your actual involvement is. As Lycaili's liason here, you will personally have to be inolved in the investigation, of course."

"Of course." injected Cassius.

"This may actually prove a better state of affairs, were Lycaili's involvement to become too large it might alert my quarry too soon." said Lord Chant, stroking the long fur on his jowels distractedly.

"Very well, I can concede that much, do you know where this mystery mage learned his skills, and what their limits are?" said Cassius.

"Hard to say, he has some means of masking his signature from my spells. I suspect he is water-aspected, with secondary affinities for air and earth, but that's a guess at most. I can tell you he's powerful, among the strongest, but as for who trained him I have no clue." said Lord Chant, holding his hands out and shrugging.

"Surely it cannot be easy to procure magical training? Mages are so few afterall." said Cassius, pressing Lord Chant.

"No, indeed not. I have long suspected that cabals of rogue mages may be operating throughout our lands but that's probably just my paranoia, for which I am justly known. It is possible that he could have been trained by a mage of another race but that's highly unlikely, the Centaur and Jaguen are not well known for sharing their secrets and the wolven are...unsuitable, to say the least. If it were that scenario then he'd have to had secretly entered the human lands and pressured one of their mystics into teaching him. Perhaps he's just a prodigy, a natural. Though..."

"'Though' what? What are you hiding, Arafal?" growled Cassius, leaning forward in his chair.

"The wolven...they have been acting strangely lately, Arcos clave started becoming active again around about the time I detected him entering our lands and now these rumours of raids along the border...it's too much of a coincidence." said Lord Chant, a slight undertone of dread creeping into his voice.

"Yes, Diomedes left for the border just yesterday, you think these two events are connected?"

"So it has already begun..." said Lord Chant, almost too quietly to be heard.

"What's already begun?"

"Whatever he's planning with the wolven, they must be linked some way."

"You think he's in league with Arcos clave? But that's-"

"Absurd, yes, I know. The wolven would sooner eat a minotaur than form a deal with them, nevertheless it is a possibility, never forget that your own Clan holds a pact with Redding clave..." said Lord Chant airily.

Cassius looked troubled, his brow furroughed like a stormcloud. At last he took a deep breath and clapped his hands together.

"Very well, Lord Chant. You shall have my full cooperation..." he said

"Thank yo-" started Lord Chant

"-On the provision that once captured this rogue mage is to be handed over to Lycaili." finished Cassius.

"That is..." began Lord Chant but he thought the better of it and sighed "Very well, he's your citizen afterall, even if he's our problem."

Cassius smiled wryly "Presentiment or not, that has yet to be confirmed," he said "but i'm sure Lord Chimes would be delighted to acquire the fealty of a mage wily enough to slip through the fingers of the legendary 'Arafal Magehound'."

Lord Chimes chuckled loudly at this "You flatter this old relic, Cassius. Pretty soon 'Legendary' is precisely what i'll be." he said melodramatically.

Cassius snorted and turned to Claudius, still writing away though slightly distracted by listening in on the conversation "Scribe, go fetch some tea and sweetmeats from the kitchens, i'm sure Lord Chant must be famished."

"Yes, Master." replied Claudius, clambering down from the tall stool.

"Ah, very kind of you, Cassius. I'm afraid I don't keep a residence in Kurga, all my holdings are east in Maragor, so..." said Lord Chant with a wheedling tone.

Cassius smiled beatifically and waved silence "Not a problem, Arafal, i've had a suite opened for you. I couldn't possibly have an old friend forced into a hotel, now could I?"

Claudius left the two talking, now that their business was relatively settled the conversation had turned to more banal matters. The kitchens were still active when he arrived, most of the staff red-faced from exertion as Chatelaine directed them about vigourously; fetching water to boil, chopping mounds of vegetables, basting the meat - a whole sheep by the look of it - roasting before the main fire, the sounds of axe splitting wood came from outside intermittently. A few humans he didn't recognise in midnight-blue uniforms were eating at the kitchen table, the musical instrument cases beside them connected in his mind that they must be Lord Chant's attendants.

He announced Cassius's request to Chatelaine, who scribbled something onto a notepad with the pencil pulled from her hair, nodded to him and shouted a few orders at the cooking staff. A few minutes later and a tray was shoved into his hands containing a tall silver teapot, milk jug, sugar pot, two china cups and a large plate of almond and honey pastries. Claudius carried it back carefully, the teapot was beautiful but unbalanced and he was at constant risk of the whole thing toppling over. He got the door handle open with his elbow and shouldered the door open, laying the tray down on the table between Cassius and Lord Chant.

"Milk and half a spoon of sugar." instructed Cassius "I believe you take yours black, don't you Arafal?"

"Aye, this one new?" said Lord Chant, sizeing up Claudius.

"Mog Ford, a few days earlier, quite receptive though." said Cassius casually "Pour from the right, Scribe."

"Yes, Master." said Claudius, slightly embarrased by Lord Chant's appraising gaze.

When the tea was poured Cassius snapped his fingers and gesured to the floor beside him for Claudius to kneel.

"You'd probably best keep a count on your slaves," said Lord Chant before taking a sip of tea "wherever this rogue goes they tend to go missing and if i'm right he'll be operating somewhere in Kurga, or nearby at least."

"How strange, why would he abduct humans?" said Cassius, reaching for the tray of pastries.

Lord Chant just shrugged "Damned if I know, there's a good chance his magic has driven him mad so I try not to second-guess my quarries motivations, food for his wolven allies, maybe." he said, Claudius jumped at the last statement but kept silent.

"You think he could have become that corrupt?" said Cassius incredulously.

"Hah, if you had seen even half of the things i've seen you'd never sleep again. Little suprises me anymore, it's why I still hunt rogue mages; I know just what they are capable of." said Lord Chant with a dismissive sigh and a shake of his horns to silence his signature, which had picked up again "I intend to place a few wards around the premises, anyway. If that's allright by you."

"By all means, i'm not sure how I could object." replied Cassius.

Lord Chant smiled, placed the teacup down and a rushing sensation eminated from him, accompanied by the strange chanting, not on the edge of hearing anymore but cacophonously loud, the voices insistent, as if they were building to crecendo;

Za Va Ka Ha Na-Ra Na-Ra! Za Va Ka Ha Na-Ra Na-Ra! Za Va Ka Ha Na-Ra Na-Ra!

Cassius and Claudius winced simultaneously at the un-sound, bizarely both utterly silent and deafening.

"Ah, that's how." said Cassius, rubbing his temples as the chanting faded into the background.

"A sound known and feared by every witchling from here to Vargelt." said Lord Chant, taking another swig of tea "A bloody nuiscance too, I haven't been able to sleep without music to quieten it since my talents manifested, drove me half-mad from insomnia until I figured out how to suppress it, but some things can't be helped and it could have been worse, much worse."

Cassius nodded sagely "Yes, Ruus has a similar problem. I just count my blessings for having been born so very, very, bland and uninteresting."

"Not to mention a genius-level intellect and a talent for modesty." replied Lord Chant.

"Neither of which are quite as impressive as your own abilities, i'm afraid."

"But potentially more useful to your clan, in my line of work one comes to realise very quickly that mage-talent without the sense to use it right isn't worth a flying fuck but sense on its own is always of use." said Lord Chant, spreading his hands wide.

"Now who's the flatterer?" said Claudius and the two minotaurs laughed warmly.

About this time the doors again swung open and a house-slave Claudius didn't recognise entered and kneeled, followed by another human who was naked besides for a loincloth and a leather message-tube hanging about his neck on a thong, sweat visibly dripping from his lithely-muscled form.

"Master, this runner just arrived with news of grave importance." said the servant.

Cassius rose from his seat and approaced them "What news do you have?"

The messenger twisted the message tube open and produced from it a parchment which he handed to Cassius "My lord, a patrol by the ravenspire pass Justicars discovered the remains of a coach bearing the Lycaili device, currently the bandits who attacked them are unapprehended and my Master, Archon Callidon, requests your assistance in identifying the victim." he said, clear and loud, as Cassius scanned the parchment.

"Refresh yourself in the kitchens and then return to your master, inform him I shall attend to this matter directly."

"Thank you, sir." replied the messenger, bowing low.

"I'm coming with you, something about this doesn't sit right with me." said Lord Chant, rising to his hooves and brushing a few pastry crumbs from his robe.

"A presentiment?" inquired Cassius.

"No, a gut feeling, something infinitely more reliable."