Thank You

“All the kidnapped people have been freed and are in care. Every surviving member of the Oash family has been arrested, and the estate is currently being thoroughly searched.” Bastian reported.

The four had booked two rooms in a inn in Leiden and were convening in one of them late at night after the incident in the Oash estate.

“Good is has there anything of value been found?” Valeria asked.

“The names of several noble families involved in the trafficking have been discovered,” Bastian replied.

“Good. I want them all reported, arrested and the people they illegally bought freed.”

“Understood.”

“Anything on the Inquisition’s involvement?”

“Not yet.”

“So, our only lead is this Sir Liam that supposedly looks like our friend Kieran. Any ideas on who that might be?”

“None.”

“I have no idea as well,” added Sophia.

“Me neither,” Kieran interjected.

“There is no one in the inquisition that looks like you?” Valeria asked.

“Not that I know of…”

Sophia shook her head.

“You won’t happen to have a twin brother, do you?” Bastian asked.

“No… I have no siblings…” Kieran replied.

“Okay, then next is this mysterious assailant that nearly killed me and Sophia… who was that and who is he working for?” Valeria wondered.

Sophia still had not told anyone what she saw under the mask of the attacker. She looked at Kieran and noticed that he looked a bit troubled

“I don’t like the fact that he posed as one of the Crows… we should investigate that further… the Crows might be compromised,” Sophia said to Bastian.

He nodded.

“But what was he after… was he just there to kill us?” Valeria pondered. “He went into action right as this Lord Shitface was about to tell us something about the one that this Sir Liam was working for… someone in the Inquisition… Any ideas?”

“None…” Kieran said.

“I can’t think of anyone that might be involved with human trafficking inside the Inquisition, either…” Sophia added. “If there was one it would have certainly been discovered and dealt with quickly.”

“Maybe your mission is somewhat involved… Do you know why you’re hunting this rogue mage?” Valeria questioned.

“For torturing and killing innocents and practicing illegal magical experiments on humans… do you think he is the one involved and the Inquisition is already aware of him? That’s why they send me to find him?”

“Maybe… or he found out about someone being involved and had to flee… and you’re sent to hunt and silence him before he could tell anyone? Who gave you that mission anyway?”

“It came from the Grand Dame Inquisitor directly…”

Sophia paused for a moment and then her eyes widened in realization.

“You don’t think that…” Sophia gasped.

“I never liked the old hag… I always get creeped out when I see her, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she has a few skeletons in the closet…” Valeria said shruggingly.

“No! No way! Not her! She’s a hero! There is absolutely no possible way that she’s involved in something this heinous! Maybe this is all a lie from this Liam guy… Maybe he just bluffed and there is no connection to the Inquisition.”

“True… that’s a possibility as well.”

They all went silent, only drinking and eating some snacks.

“Well… maybe something becomes clearer after your mission is completed? We should stay here until the investigation at the estate is over, before we move on, though…” Valeria said after a while.

“Good idea,” Sophia agreed.

“No…” Kieran interjected suddenly.

Everybody turned towards him.

“What? Why? Do you want to leave immediately?” Sophia asked.

“No… I… we should continue… alone,” Kieran said looking at her.

“But why? You helped us with this case so of course we’re gonna help you too. That’s what friends do!” Valeria interjected.

“It’s… dangerous…”

“You think that would stop her? Trust me, that is a fool’s errand…” Bastian remarked. “Besides, you should know that you can count on me in a fight.”

“Still… we should continue alone…”

Sophia looked at Kieran. He looked troubled by something. She had never seen this facial expression on him before.

“What’s up with you? Why don’t you want them to come with us?” Sophia asked.

“Because… I don’t want them to…” Kieran said quietly.

“Well like it or not, but I have the final say, and I say that they’re coming with us!”

“Fine…”

“Well, I doubt we will get anything done today anymore… How about we call it a night and tomorrow we can discuss further,” Bastian suggested.

“Good Idea… I’m nearly falling asleep already,” Valeria agreed and yawned.

She and Bastian got up and left the room.

“What’s bothering you?” Sophia asked after they were alone in the room.

“Nothing…” Kieran replied.

“Is it connected to the guy that looked like you?”

“No… why didn't you tell them what you saw?”

“I don’t know…”

Sophia drank the last bit of wine out of her goblet.

“He looked exactly like you… well except the eyes… and he looked a bit younger…” she pondered.

“He did…”

“And he used magic like you do…”

“He did…”

“You said that you have no sibling, right?”

“I did and I have none.”

Sophia watched Kieran for a while and hesitated to ask her next question.

“How about children?” she finally posed the question that had been on her mind the whole time.

“No… I have no child,” Kieran replied slowly.

“None that you know of?”

“No… It’s impossible…”

“Why?”

“The changes to my body… had consequences…”

“But… your… thing… still works, right?”

“It does… but what comes out does not… I should not be able to have a child…”

“Should?”

“I don’t know…”

Sophia watched him for a while, then got up and went to the bed.

“Maybe we find out more about this lookalike of yours after we completed our mission, so we should just get that done…” she wondered.

“Yeah… we should just get that done…” Kieran repeated quietly staring onto the floor in front of him.

Sophia looked at him. Kieran often had a sad in his look in his eyes, but his current expression was that of pure sadness.

“Well for now we should get some sleep… tomorrow is another day,” Sophia suggested and began undressing.

“You’re right…” Kieran agreed.

Sophia slipped under the blanket and watched Kieran make himself comfortable on the floor, like usual. He still had this extremely sad expression on his face.

“I’m cold…” Sophia said suddenly, surprising even herself.

Kieran turned his head and looked at her.

“Okay… why are you telling me this?” he asked confused.

“Come and warm my bed up for me…” she said quietly, “…please.”

“If you want me to, you could just order me to do it…”

“I’d much rather ask…”

Kieran blinked a few times confused and then got up.

“You sure about this?” he asked after stepping up to her bed.

Sophia turned around and lifted the blanket behind her.

“I am…” she said even more quieter than before.

Kieran took the blanket and lifted it a bit further, so he could slip inside. Sophia felt his body heat on her back as he nestled himself in her bed.

“Don’t get the wrong idea… You’re only here to give me heat… nothing else…” she whispered.

“I know… I won’t get any ideas…” Kieran said behind her and she could feel his breath on her neck.

“Because I’m not your type?”

“Perhaps…”

Sophia turned around to face Kieran. Their faces were now only a hair’s breadth away from each other and she stared into the grey-purplish eyes. The sadness in them had gotten less but was still there.

“What if you’re my type?” she asked.

Kieran stared at her for a moment.

“Please don’t do this, Sophia… this is not going to end well,” he said and the sadness in his eyes came back.

Sophia turned back around.

“That was just a joke, Mage Murderer. I was just teasing you,” she said muffled, because she talked into the pillow.

“I see…” Kieran replied.

A few moments of silence passed. Sophia could feel his breath on her neck again.

“If I would order you to get the wrong idea and… do something to me… with me… you would have to do it, right?” she suddenly whispered softly.

“I would… and it would not be the first time someone ordered me to do something like… that… but you knew that already…” Kieran replied.

Sophia remembered the dreams where this had happened to him. She immediately felt very bad about herself.

“Sorry… That was wrong of me to even say…” she apologized.

“It’s okay…” Kieran whispered. “I know you were just teasing me…”

Sophia wondered if that was really true, but she couldn’t find the answer.

“Thank you…” she whispered after a while of silence.

“For what?” Kieran asked.

“For stopping that filthy man from touching me today…”

“I only did what was right…”

“But you didn’t have to do it… I didn’t order you to… and thank you for saving me in that cell a few days ago…”

“But that time you kinda ordered me to.”

“I did… would you have done the same if I hadn’t given any orders?”

“Yes…”

“Thank you… and thank you for saving me that day before in the battle with the bandits and for that time with that Gunther guy…”

“Where is this all coming from?”

“I don’t know… I just realized that I never thanked you… it didn’t feel right.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m just a tool, to be used for this mission.”

“Sorry I said that…”

“Don’t be… you’re right anyway…”

“No, I was wrong… You’re not just a tool.”

“Thank you…”

Sophia could feel the warmth from his body spreading through hers. She felt incredibly comfortable.

“I’m still cold,” she whispered, unsure why she did that.

Kieran began to shift behind her and got even closer. He put an arm over her shoulders and held her.

“Better now?” Kieran asked, whispering directly into her ear.

“Yes, thank you,” she whispered back.

“Sleep well, Inquisitor Sophia Schwerdtfeger von Oed.”

“You forgot Baronet.”

“Did I? I’m terribly sorry…”

Both chuckled slightly.

“Good night, Sophia.” Kieran whispered.

“Good night…” Sophia replied and hesitated, “Mage Murderer…”