Ask Inquiring the Witch

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Caerllion was seated in the office of his new mansion in Rattatak. It was the same place that he and Trodai invaded some time ago to collect the data that incriminated the prime-minister and removed him from his position. Since that building was bought with state money, it was confiscated by the crown. When opportunity appeared, the Annfyn took the place for himself.

This place brought him some nostalgia. It was here that he worked with Trodai for the last time. The Pureblood had an incredible anticlimactic death. He should have died fighting, not by an overdose of insulin. Life wasn’t very nice for his ex-apprentice.

Alone in the office, he waited patiently for Serene’s arrival. The woman had yet to send him a complete report of her operations, but Caerllion wanted to talk with her regarding other matters. Especially some details that his spies had reported to him regarding her movements. Even after what Azar did to her.

@Darasuum

 

[Serene]

Serene had been busy as of late to the point that she had denied herself proper sleep in favor of meditation. The practice had improved her abilities but she could not help but feel like bags were beginning to form under her eyes. Looking in the mirror had not shown any such signs forming on her otherwise beautiful face but she felt like she was not getting her beauty sleep. Such was the cost of deepening her connection to the Bogan.

The woman was on guard but she was as curious as ever to hear why Caerllion had summoned her in person to Rattatak. A holocall would have sufficed and it would not have taken hours or days out of her schedule. But she suspected it was a power move from the Sith Master. For better or worse Darth Arcanos had ordered the Annfyn to oversee any and all operations she was undertaking.

Through both talent and experience she washed from her mind any distracting thoughts. Her own feelings would not betray her unless she allowed them to. The sorceress was confident that she would produce positive results for Caerllion and in turn Darth Arcanos. That would be what they would know for certain. Eliminating her or doing any thing short of supporting her endeavors would only hamper progress for themselves.

Serene walked up to the outer doors of Caerllion's office and waited to be allowed inside. The Coven of Shadows had their own jobs to do so the only person that followed her was her mechanized familiar, Rupert. The feline protocol droid was silent, observant as always, ready to translate if requested but otherwise acting no different than a pet. Its frequent memory wipes kept them from growing much of a personality beyond that of a standard C4T droid.

@LouJoVi

 

[Caerllion of Cyfnos]

Caerllion received a message from one of the guards, warning the Annfyn that his guest had arrived. “You can enter.” the Sith would say, while waiting for Serene to enter. The first thing that he would notice was how the woman looked terrible. She probably wasn’t sleeping well.

If the woman had been more clear with her actions and reported her experiments, this suffering would have been averted.

He noticed that Serene wasn’t alone, with a droid cat entering the office with her. Teekl, his loth-cat, watched the droid from his lap. She disliked the machine, perhaps thinking that it was an abomination.

“Welcome, Champion Serene! I hope that everything went well on your trip.” He said, a friendly smile appearing on his lips. “I’m impressed with your reports so far, but I’m curious about some details that you omitted. See, it came to my knowledge that you had been interacting with Champion Ayomi recently. If it’s related to your experiments, then you need to tell me what was discussed. No secrets should be maintained about your operations, remember?”

@Darasuum

 

[Serene]

Serene entered the office and ignored the forced pleasantry. Caerllion knew very well what he was doing. But she was not going to indulge him. She doubted he cared about her well being. Her star yacht had many amenities so her trip had been relatively comfortable. But telling him that would also likely just bring more annoyances to her doorstep.

"I omitted nothing." She answered simply at first. The Annfyn's paranoia reared its ugly head. There were dark spots in his intelligence network so he was just grasping at straws, trying to shake her and see what fell loose. It would be in vain.

He sounded like it was a secret Serene had saved Ayomi. It was because she had collected the blue skinned tiefling that Darth Arcanos had set his eyes upon her and was punishing her by making her answer to Caerllion. "It has nothing to do with my experiments. I've told you everything in my reports, Master Cyfnos." She reminded herself to use a professional decorum despite her personal distaste for the man. But chances were high that he felt threatened by one thing or another.

It was not uncommon for a Sith to lash out impotently especially when they did not hear what they wanted. Whether or not she was keeping secrets was beside the point. The issue was whether or not he believed her. Sernee could pour her heart out and the man would still suspect more and more still. "Do you feel like your network of spies isn't doing the trick? Perhaps you can assign a stenographer to me to recount every sentence I utter if you don't believe me." He had the authority to do it if he wished and it was not a joke. She did not need to know exactly who or what was watching her to know she was under surveillance. It was what the sorceress would have done afterall.

@LouJoVi