Leafiara (prime)/Tales/Another trio of letters

Original story: Lormesta 22, 5121

Councilwoman Alendrial,

I hope you're safe and well in these troubling times. I write to you with a grave request.

If the hired armigers under Guard Captain Dunigan are being paid from the town coffers under your control, then I request your verification of that fact. Furthermore, I request your readiness to possibly defund said armigers.

I'm troubled in the wake of an incident last night, the details of which I won't go into except to say that Dunigan, the militia captains, and I must be able to have a face to face meeting to resolve the situation. I'll reach out to Judge Renpaw and Dunigan himself in an effort to make that happen, but if Dunigan doesn't respond--which has been an ongoing pattern of his--and we can't find a satisfactory resolution or understanding with one another, then a more drastic move like defunding seems warranted.

I've also heard circulating rumors that the armigers are not being paid from the town coffers. If that's correct, then I'd appreciate your verification of that fact as a key piece of investigating corruption.

Thank you.

Mayor Leafiara

~~

Right, one letter down. Or should I sneak in a question asking her to confirm whether it's really Amos?

...no, that wouldn't be helpful. How would she ever know it's Amos? She'd know it if she were in league with him, but that would make her entire response untrustworthy. She'd know it if she saw the deal firsthand, but Amos wouldn't be dumb enough to strike a deal like this anywhere other than behind closed doors. Her best source would be the Rooks, but that would just be the same as the rest of us.

Yeah. Yeah, this is fine--I don't need her to field that question. On to Renpaw...

~~

Judge Renpaw,

I hope you're safe and well with no further attacks on the court.

I write with the unfortunate news that Guard Captain Dunigan or, at very least, his hired armigers have exceeded their authority during an incident last night in which said armigers arrested the militia's Captains Shinann and Stormyrain.

No charges were stated nor was any identifiable law broken on the captains' part. Even if there had been legitimate charges, however, I know of no law that allows Dunigan to deputize non-citizen mercenaries to carry out arrests. Furthermore, even if there were such a law, we would still have a problem of authority because, to the best of my understanding, the town guard is under the mayor--yet these arrests happened in my presence, over my clearly spoken and clearly acknowledged objections.

I'd like to have a conversation with Dunigan and defuse the situation before division in town spirals further out of control. Ideally, a conversation with him on town defense efforts would have come together months ago and none of last night would have happened, but he's never responded to any of my previous requests that he meet with the militia captains and all other town defenders.

So it falls now to this, asking your aid in getting him to come out with a summons so we can resolve these legal questions and re-establish some semblance of coordination in matters of town defense. I'm hoping that the Moot Hall setting itself will be of some help in calming the situation down, with surroundings of neutral observers and ample security to assure civil conversation with peaceful resolution and closure.

Mayor Leafiara

~~

The red-haired half-sylvan looked reflectively over the letter and picked up her quill again briefly, then shook her head.

No. If the Judge even still wants a town council decision, then sure, mentioning that I'm ready to make one might entice him to make sure the Dunigan meeting happens so he could kill two birds with one stone... But it's still not as if Stephos nor Amos would serve the town well. I'll just let it be. Whether Renpaw wants to bring it up himself is fine either way, but no need to force the issue. The legal questions alone should be reason enough.

Last one...

~~

Guard Captain Dunigan,

I presume you've heard about the incident with the armigers, the militia captains, and myself, among others. I want to meet as soon as possible and sort out this situation in a civil way before tensions mount even higher.

If the armigers were acting independently, then you need to be aware so you can crack down and we can put all of this behind us with some course correction. If they were acting on your orders, then I consider that inexplicable and indefensible and I'd imagine you would consider the same of our actions--so, just in case, I've requested that Judge Renpaw allow us a stable, neutral setting in Moot Hall.

Even if that environment ends up being untenable, I still ask that we meet in the setting of your choice. One way or another, we both know things can't continue as they have.

Mayor Leafiara

~~

Leafi sighed as the final letter went out toward Dunigan. The fleeting thought crossed her mind that maybe it wouldn't make it to him--or maybe none of her correspondence had ever made it to him. Maybe, for all she knew, he was stuck in a bane coffin somewhere next to Octaven. Anything was plausible; it wasn't as if she had ever seen him in person or heard his thoughts.

With her mayoral affairs concluded for the moment, she slowly drew her warblade from her scabbard and took a good, long stare. The eonake always gleamed brilliant white, pristine and pure; neither dye nor blood ever tinged the sacred metal.

Blood tinged memory, however. She'd slain countless bandits without a care, but couldn't shake the image of the blood dripping from her blade after the night's skirmish.

She wondered what had driven her to attack the armigers. Love of battle? Power corrupting her? Desperation to avoid watching people fall for yet another obvious scheme? Mere impatience? Surrendering to the worst of her instincts? An overreaction? All of it and still more?

A dozen thoughts spiraled through her mind, but only one weighed on her with a dizzying irony: anger on behalf of the militia captains.

...and now I can never return, can I? A real militia member would never have struck the way I did, at the time I did.

She closed her eyes and let out a long breath as she moved to put away her blade. It had been years since she needed to look at her sword while sheathing it. There was nothing to look at, anyway. Eonake always shone the same brilliant shade, pristine and pure.