Finn had stayed up late writing reports about what had happened in the Vault and then writing his sisters to keep them updated so they didn’t suddenly show up to rescue him. Emmy and Patrick were taking a day to rest while Finn t with Henri and discussed how to proceed.
He was a little worried about how to bring up the Yang pendant and the accusation there. Finn might co from a noble family, but Finn was nobody in the Calia, and unless he got his parents to level the accusation, it was just Finn’s word against one of the most respected and established families in the Calia.
He’d hidden the pendant in his nightstand before he’d gone to bed the night before, well, very early this morning, and he’d woken later than planned, though not too late thankfully. He’d rushed through washing and dressing, rehearsing what he was going to say to Henri at their eting. It would have been helpful, except that what he decided to say changed each ti he practiced it.
He checked his appearance in the mirror one last ti, straightening the sword on his hip, before heading to the nightstand to take out the crest.
He’d wrapped it in a cloth and tucked it in the back of the drawer, so it took a mont for the panic to set in as it sank in that it wasn’t there.
It wasn’t there.
His heart slamd against his rib cage as he frantically shifted everything in the drawer, a few small scrolls and quills, a couple of empty sleeping potion vials, because he hadn’t needed those since he started serving Eirian, and a few odds and ends from emptying his pockets at the end of the day.
But no crest. Even the cloth was gone.
His breath ca quicker as his heart rate accelerated, and he recognized the signs of a quickening breath. Fatal if allowed to grow out of control because the quickening breath eventually beca no breath at all, and your heart stopped from the strain.
He pulled the drawer out and dumped it on the bed. Making sure to breathe slowly through his nose, the way a healer had taught him as a child, he went through every item in the drawer.
When the crest still didn’t appear, he tore apart the nightstand, shoved the bed over several feet, and lifted the carpet that rested underneath it. He pulled his dirty clothes out of the basket the maids had yet to collect and turned every pocket inside out. Then he did the sa to everything else in the basket and the floor around it. He made his way through his entire room, careful to breathe through his nose.
The crest was nowhere to be found.
“How…” Finn stopped, turned in a slow circle, and looked at his destroyed room. “I was just asleep.” He muttered.
The door was still locked from the inside and didn’t look like it had been tampered with. The only other entrance was the window, and he practically threw himself out of it in his hurry to get it open. The shutters were intact, but as he peered closer at the small clasp lock, he saw nicks in the tal and wood. They were small, enough so that if he hadn’t been looking for them, he probably wouldn’t have noticed them in…well, he’d never have noticed them.
Soone had broken in through his window while he slept and stolen the crest.
He needed to tell Henri imdiately.
He nearly ran over the maid as he burst into the hallway, and barely managed to instruct her to guard the room and make sure no one went in, before he tore off down the hall. He sprinted all the way to Chenzhou’s office, gaining the attention of several concerned guards along the way.
By the ti he reached the office, Captain Li was already waiting. He took one look at Finn and opened the door for him, following him inside and closing the door as Finn caught his breath.
“Finn, what’s wrong?” Henri ca around the desk, concern etched across his face. “What happened?”
Finn took a final gulp of air before he finally managed to speak. “The crest. Soone stole the crest.”
“What crest?” Captain Li looked confused.
“The crest that fell off the thieves we chased in the Vault.” Finn’s breathing started to calm down. Henri and Li shared an incredulous look as he pushed on. “Yesterday, late last night. We were just finishing the inventories for the day when we heard sothing. There were five of them, I think, they were robbing a room in a different hall. They ran when they realized we were there. We chased them, they got away. But Patrick managed to wound one of them. The crest fell off his uniform.”
“They were in uniform?” Henri’s question was sharp, angry.
“Whose crest?” Li demanded, just as angry.
Finn hesitated, took a deep breath, and squared his shoulders. “It was a Yang family crest.” Henri and Li looked appropriately stunned. “But it was old.”
“Old?” Henri questioned.
Finn nodded. “Very old. Emmy said that they hadn’t worn it in over a decade. It was pure gold, worn down, but definitely a hamr and bow.”
“Why would they change crests?” Henri looked confused, but Li seed to rember sothing.
“She’s right. Ten, maybe fifteen years ago, when Lady Yang took over leadership of her family, they changed their crest. The family symbols remained, but they used gold-coated lead instead of pure gold.”
“Emmy said they took a lot of shit at court because of it,” Finn added, then flushed when he realized he’d cursed in front of them. Neither Henri nor Li seed to notice.
“She rembers correctly.” Li looked thoughtfully at Henri. “You’re father actually called Lady Ye to this office and asked her for her reasoning. I don’t know what she told him, but he was satisfied enough that he considered the matter closed.”
Finn started to relax, and the sudden loss of adrenaline hit, leaving him tired and a bit shaky despite the fact that he’d just woken up.
Henri noticed and pointed him to a chair. “Sit down, Finn. You look terribly pale.”
Finn collapsed into the nearest seat, apologetic. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” Henri shook his head and picked up a cup of steaming tea from the desk. He handed it to Finn. “It sounds like you’ve had a bit of a mont.”
Finn nodded tiredly and accepted the tea.
“What did the guards do when you chased the thieves?” Li asked, hands on his hips.
Finn winced, and Li’s expression turned stormy. “We didn’t see any.”
“Not even at the main door?”
Finn shook his head and took a sip of hot tea as Li’s expression went from stormy to dark.
His tongue started to tingle imdiately, and he looked down at the cup in surprise. The liquid was hot and dark, as good, strong morning tea should be. He tilted the cup as the tingle grew; it felt like his teeth were vibrating in his gums, and he saw a light, shimring sheen appear over the top.
“Finn?”
He looked up and found Henri and Li frowning at him in concern. Henri had another cup of tea in his hand. “Oh. This tea is poisoned.”
Li knocked both cups out of their hands with startlingly impressive speed and accuracy.
~ tbc
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