Missing Lords
(Day 3 of @thewatchau‘s prompts. Not a retrospective this time!)
Ivy hummed under her breath as she went downstairs. Irnas was in their study, again, with Nimbus curled up next to them. Damn idiot never learned to pace themselves, or listen to their body.
Most people had to go to a certain point to get their post. Irnas had a habit of letting theirs pile up, so if people had a spare moment, they would deliver it. She opened the door to collect a small bundle of papers on the front door step.
Irnas didn’t usually get much post, and it was usually in sealed envelopes, so seeing an open piece of paper on the top of the pile was surprising. She carried it in and went upstairs to the kitchen, since as a general rule in this house it was one, maybe two rooms per floor. She dropped the letters on the table, and read the open sheet of paper.
“…Irnas!? IRNAS!”
Ivy bolted upstairs and flung open the study door. Nimbus startled awake first, yowling and grumbling. Irnas was slower to rouse, even with Ivy shaking their shoulder.
“What? What time is it?” Irnas looked around blearily, even though they didn’t keep any form of timepiece in their study.
“Doesn’t matter, you need to hear this, you know Lord Jameson?”
“What, what?” Irnas still wasn’t awake.
“Lord Jameson Jackson.”
“We don’t have… oh yeah, new Lord. Scandal already?”
“More like he’s missing.”
“What?” Irnas leaned back in their seat. “Like Lord Jackie?”
“We don’t know. According to a note this morning he was present for the celebrations last night and then he disappeared.”
“A note, a note Ivy Paris?” Irnas stood up and stretched “You’re going off a note some random person left on the doorstep? You know better than that!”
Ivy felt a bit stupid then. Irnas was right, this might just be hearsay or rumour mongering.
“Alright, you wake up properly, and I’ll go confirm,” Ivy turned on her heel and left the room and ran upstairs to get her shoes.
Ten minutes later she was out of the house and trying to find a message board. There was usually one near the shops, or where people would gather. It was usually covered in notices for local events.
Today it one big notice pinned on it, that looked like part of a crier sheet.
‘Lord Jameson Declared Missing Hours After Being Declared A Lord of Duilintinn’
Ivy swallowed and took a step back. This was either a well put together practical joke, or real.
Lord Jameson was gone, straight up disappeared, like every other Lord. Well, that wasn’t completely true, they just hadn’t been seen, not, officially, missing.
Was, was House Jameson safe now? It would be House Jameson, despite the missing Lord. If a Lord could just disappear in the middle of celebrations, was it safe?
Icy wandered back in a bit of a daze, checking other noticeboards, they all said the same.
“So, any joy?” Irnas called down the stairs as Ivy shut the door behind her.
“Declarations on multiple notice boards. Either a well put together joke-”
“Or what actually happened.”
Ivy wet upstairs to see Irnas holding a mug of tea, their red hair sticking up at all angles.
They sipped their tea. “What do you think?”
“It, it follows a pattern, nearly all the Lords have disappeared now, or just not in the public eye.”
“Just because a pattern exists, doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”
“Are you a Scholar or a Mage? Because you’re sounding like Marc.”
“A Scholar? Sam forbid! How dare you lump me in with those with sticks up their arses!”
“You make it easy,” Ivy leaned against the table, the two of them grinning at each other.
“I should dock your pay for that!”
“I’m your apprentice, you don’t pay me anything.”
“Stop, using, logic,” they pointed a spoon at her. “It’s too early for logic.”
“Too early for you,” Ivy pushed herself off the table. “I take it you need someone to translate your chicken scratch from this morning’s research session.”
“If you would,” Irnas took a long sip of tea. “Don’t worry too much about the Lord Jameson thing. We’ve gone this far without the Lords showing their faces, we can keep going.”
“Hope so,” Ivy sighed, halfway out the door. “A real blow though. People were really excited about it.”
“That’s probably why it happened,” Irnas paused, thinking, before suddenly downing their tea in one. “Nevermind, I need to go over this!”
Ivy blocked the door before Irnas could leave. “Eat you idiot.”
“Okay, we’re not bantering now, I’ve got work to do.”
“You need to eat, have a wash, change your clothes, then work.”
“All that can wait.”
“No it can’t. If that’s one thing-Irnas!”
Irnas had had a flare of temper, and an errant spark from their fingers set a nearby pile of papers on fire!
Ivy was used to this by now, and quickly grabbing a nearby bucket of water and dropping some water on the flames. The fire hadn’t gone far, and the papers hissed as they were doused.
“Thank you Ivy. I’m usually quicker than that.”
“I bet you are,” Ivy raised her eyebrows, pretty sure her point had been proved.
“Fine,” Irnas sighed. “See if you can salvage this lot.”
“On it.”
(1st November 1602. And if you’ll excuse me, I need to submit a question to the discord about town criers)