[FweepFwopFwoop]

Morning came, and Astien left for the academy. Delas kept sleeping, warm and comfortable in his bed.

[Eskal]

Marius started working in the nursery after breakfast.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Marius felt a sudden burst of cold air, and looking over at the window, it was open, and in the frame sat I'Karis. "Why hello. Fancy meeting you here."

[Eskal]

"Hello I'Karis," Marius greeted flatly. "What brings you here?"

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"Must you greet me so rudely? If I recall, YOU hurt MY friend. I see the two of you worked it out though. That's good, both for Astien and your kneecaps."

[Eskal]

"What do you want?"

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"For one thing, I thought maybe you'd appreciate knowing your kneecaps are safe. For another, I thought maybe you'd appreciate knowing that we're keeping tabs on the hearing since, you know, you can't be there. But if that's how you're going to be…" I'Karis made a show of dramatically moving to exit the window.

[Eskal]

"Wait," Marius sighed. "Thank you for sparing my kneecaps."

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"Don't thank me, you're the one who decided not to go trough with breaking Astien's heart."

[Eskal]

"What information do you have regarding the hearing?"

[FweepFwopFwoop]

I'Karis closed the window and leaned himself against the wall. "Things get pretty heated in there, let me tell ya. For the moment, things aren't looking so good for our dear friend. I've also gotten a peek at some of their papers. Once the hearing is done and they break to discuss the day's findings, they also plan possible punishment."

[Eskal]

"How bad is it?" Marius nervously asked.

(Bed time~)

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"Depends on how dangerous they decide the kid is. Best punishment, he gets stripped of his title and banished to gods know where. Worst case scenario…" I'Karis looked away.

[Eskal]

"Worst case scenario...?"

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"You sure you wanna know?"

[Eskal]

"I do," Marius said.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

I'Karis slowly paced back and forth as he spoke. "They know that, apparently, this kid can protect itself and Astien. Their plan is to kill Astien in a way that's quick, something he won't see coming. If he doesn't see it coming, he won't register it as a threat, so neither will the kid, and the kid won't be able to do anything about it." He turned to Marius. "After that… since its host would be dead, and that's the word the used, like it' a parasite… since Astien would be dead, the kid would pretty much be screwed. They plan to excise it from the corpse… and place it in a pyre."

[Eskal]

Marius' face flushed. "They can't do that," he finally croaked. "They can't..."

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"Like I said, worst case scenario."

[Eskal]

Marius nodded and took a deep breath. "How is he doing otherwise?"