Along Came a Spider (Open)

[The Spider]

"Doesn't look like a retirement home." She said it sarcastically even though there wasn't anyone to hear it. Hands were on her hips as she stared up at the this quaint little place. It was the place. Following blood was foolproof so long as the spell was cast right and she made sure it was.

But why here? He had a reason for everything he did, and half the time reasons on top of reasons. Spider sized the place up with narrow eyes. It had to be something and she was annoyed she couldn't tell what just from this once-over. She'd have to go inside.

She walked her 5'8'' frame with a swagger up the stairs. She walked with hips and she also always stood rigidly straight, shoulders back with a 'just dare me' flavor. Today she wore a long sleeved black dress which was buttoned down the front with a starched high collar, sides of the dress pinned back to show the bright red petticoat underneath. She had a long black coat on over that. Coats were important to her, a habit that made her take after someone. Her onyx silver-set amulet was than just a pretty heirloom. Her dyed black hair had two-inch red roots, the type of red that was as shocking as a holly berry and not natural for most people. Her bright honey gold eyes weren't normal for most people either, the way the light caught them sometimes it sort of looked like the pupils were hollow like small bright tunnels. Her skin was pretty normal tone, just a bit silvery pink, which was more than she could say for some others like her.

Spider stopped at the front desk. She cast her eyes around long enough to see that there wasn't anyone else in this lobby area. Making a fist she stepped up to the counter and wrapped her knuckles on it three times. She had a thing with the number three, believing that things worked better when there was a three.

Now she'd pretend to be patient and wait. She hoped not for long.

[Epiphany]

"Why . . . won't . . . you . . . zip!" Each word was followed by a hard pull on a stubborn metal zipper that belonged to a grey hoodie jacket. The current owner of said object was giving that zipper a mighty old tug as they tried - to no avail - to get it to move.

She never understood zippers. Who wanted to pull serrated metal pieces together against their bodies? It was simpler to use a button or a tie, although it could be argued that zippers were faster. One thing was for sure - buttons and laces never got stuck! The only reason she had this particular fashion faux pas was because the kids at the orphanage bet that she didn't have anything with zipper. Show them.

Just so happened that this time Epiphany had planned on leaving through the front door, so as she car down the steps she saw the person at the desk. "Oh, hi there! Do you know a thing or two about zippers?" She wasn't ashamed to ask and she was wearing a blue tank underneath and jeans (they buttoned) so there wasn't anything exposed.

Epiphany didn't go behind the desk but rather leaned on the side of it instead. "Looking for someone? Looking to bunker down for a night or few?" she was looking around as though she needed something so she thought she'd ask.

[The Spider]

"They helped put ladies in waiting out of a job?" That was one of the things she'd heard the help say when she was little. Just another invention of the industrial revolution putting hardworking people out of a job by taking away complicated laces. Spider had to remember where she was though. Not England, not even Earth. "But that wasn't here." She shrugged her shoulders. The shrug was more a whatever and less apology. If this woman was hinting that she wanted Spider's help zipping up her jacket, that wasn't going to happen.

She had a firm speaking voice. Husky and confident and her accent was obviously British. She wouldn't meet Epiphany's eyes because she had no interest in soul gazing. When it came to soul gazing she didn't know which was worse - looking into someone else's soul or the fact that they also saw into hers. She didn't bother thinking about it much, she just made sure it didn't happen. Right now she only looked at Epiphany's eyes when her eyes weren't looking straight back.

"I'm here for Jamison LeFey. Which room is he in?" She didn't do the tracking spell and come all this way to waste her time beating around the bush.

[Epiphany]

Hearing her request for finding Jamison made Epiphany slink around the edge of the desk and pull out the book. The one with all the drawings on top and comics drawn throughout the pages. Someone had to keep the books while De'Ryanna had been away and that person was none other than Epiphany. One hand on the zipper and one hand on the book as she flipped the book to find the proper page.

"Jaminson.... let me see here. Jamison . . Jammie. . . " she started mumbling to herself in the normal fashion people did when looking down a list for a specific item. Only she didn't just have names to scroll past with her finger, but had to make sure not to get distracted and look off at the pictures there.

Tugging on that zipper she thought of asking the woman who she was in relation to the man, what she wanted and all that jive, but Jamison was a wizard, and she wasn't asking if Jamison was here, she knew he was here. Therefore he probably knew she was coming. If not, well . . .

"You'd think that something with difficulties would keep people employed instead of the other way around." Made sense to her! "Here it is." Pointing her finger at the right spot on the page. "Room 113. First floor and at the end of the hall." Looking back up at the lady with a smile and handing over a pen. "Now if you will just sign your name next to his on the book, then you can go on up."

[The Spider]

Jammie? She smirked to herself. What a cute pet name. It made her wonder if this woman and Jamison LeFey had consort. Spider's honey eyes were watching the book. Had been ever since Epiphany opened it. She'd been raised to always learn whatever she could whenever she could however she could and it had stuck with her. Be prepared for anything.

Zippers again, really? This poised gothic Spider wasn't so great with chit-chat. "Most people don't have problems with them." She didn't think saying that was rude. To her the truth wasn't rude, it just was.

She half expected to be asked what business she had with Jamison LeFey. She knew him to be the kind of man who would ask the help to inquire such if anyone came asking after him. Scouts had nothing on the old wizard's level of precautions. Spider was glad she wasn't asked to state her business and that Epiphany wasn't sending notice ahead of her. It meant the old man wouldn't know she was coming. What she wasn't happy about was being asked to sign her name. She never liked doing so not even to endorse a check and she always used the same solution.

It started with this. "I have my own pen." Fingers slipped inside her coat just under the stiff lapel and she pulled out an old-fashioned fountain pen. When she marked where Epiphany indicated the only letter that was discernible was the first letter. An S. The rest of her name was no more than a line with a low dip and a high dip. A lot of people had indecipherable signatures. She'd never been questioned about it.

"Thank you." What her tone lacked in gratitude her accent made up for. The British. They could make even an insult sound polite.

Spider was already heading towards the stairs by the time she pocketed her pen back in her coat. She didn't tiptoe or skulk. This call wasn't about anything like that. Straight to Jamison LeFey's room she rapped three times on the door.

Three. Always three. She crossed her arms, eyes fixed on the number '3' in 113 as she waited to see if the wizard was in.

[TheWarden]

"Three, Three little ducks all went out one day... over a hill and far away..." A recognizable voice sounded from behind her when her knuckles rapped upon his door and then three taps of his cane to the wood floor board. “Momma duck called them… but only two little ducks came waddling back.” Jamison stepped out from behind a veil he put up around her, seeing the woman enter the inn when he had stepped out for a moment.

“Hexus” words rang with power, and his trap had been sprung. Jamison’s guest would soon discover that she had walked unknowingly into a Magic circle Jamison had formed in front of his door. A snap of power, sealing her off from the ambient magic in the inn. He was dressed as one would usually find the old man dressed in his long, heavy coat over a well tailored suit, Magical enchantment upon every part of the garment. It was bullet resistant, fireproof and even ground him incase of electrical shock. His tie, caught blaze burned with a brightness that would blind an assailant. The Boy scout analogy was a good one to make with him, as he was always prepaired.

“That was your favorite right? Pardon my memory, It has been a long time… I trust you found me well.” His tone was polite, maybe even a bit happy. Limping along with his cane to stand beside her, of course from the opposite side of the circle so that he could see her face, and perhaps the look of immense frustration it probably held at the moment.

The circle was not meant to keep her in, after all the Boy Scout mentality was a rather common one upon his people. She could very easily break it, It was really only meant to be exactly what it was, a minor annoyance. “I didn’t know you’d yet learned how to cross the trans-world portals. I’m really rather proud of you…”

[The Spider]

His memory couldn't have been that bad. Not when he mentioned three ducks and did three raps. The repetition of the number released a kind of peace in her but peace wasn't what she wanted to feel. Lucky for her the peace got taken care of right quick when he commanded his damn circle to sic her. The look on her face wasn't attractive it was furious. Honey-bright eyes glared straight into his because there was no risk. The first time Jamison LeFey had looked into her eyes was the day she was born. Spider did always suspect he'd purposefully gotten the soul gaze out of the way when she would be too young to make sense out of anything she saw of his.

"You wouldn't know, would you?" Emphasis on the wouldn't. She stamped her foot on the ground three times. It wasn't a tantrum, she was a grown woman. It was a release of power to break the circle and its hold on her. Once she could, she took two steps backwards. She didn't expect him to spring the circle on her again. The steps back were more to make the point than to take any kind of precaution.

Spider wanted to retaliate. That was her weakness. Not just with Jamison, she always wanted to retaliate no matter who it was until she was the one who got the checkmate. That urge was probably her Mother's blood talking through her. She took after both her parents in more ways than she'd ever care to acknowledge and that was one of the many reasons for her attitude towards the both of them.

But there was no point retaliating against him. Not right now. It would just be a waste of energy and she'd have to rebuild all her tricks later. Too much effort when with him words did better anyway. "Most people in your position would try something like a hug. Not you, you spring a trap. And you wonder why."

Why what? There were a thousand potential finishes to that sentence and he'd know all of them by now. He could pick which one to fill the blank with. As for Spider, her favorite answer on any exam had always been 'All of the Above' followed closely by 'None of the Above'.

[TheWarden]

Jamison looked at the woman before him, not saying anything for a moment, simply taking in the sight of her, leaning back against the door jam to his room. ”I would see myself as a terrible teacher if I did not offer a test… That is not to say I wouldn’t mind a hug, if you’re willing to offer one.” Arms opening a bit, a small smile forming upon his lips when he did the cane released as well, maybe a sign of good faith on his part. HE didn’t comment as to her last statement. Jamison didn’t at all wonder why, he knew exactly why… and so did she.

Little did she know, that the reason he initiated a soul gaze while she was so very young, was that so his most present memory of his daughter could be of that day. Seared into his mind, always visible as if it had graced his eyes yesterday. Of course it may have been a selfish thing to do, and it may have saved them both a lot of trouble so many years ago. Alas, such was the source of their bad blood and if he had taken care to save that soul gaze. Then they would be deprived of these little visits they find themselves having once a decade or so.

Jamison, was really rather glad to see her, as with any father, you wanted to know your child was alive and well. It got complicated with wizards as they all tended to live for five hundred years give or take. Lots of things can happen in that time, and lots of things had already happened between these two… they’re stories for another time though.

[The Spider]

Spider bristled. To people sensitive to magical energy like of course her father they'd feel hers crackling like an irritated porcupine. She passed through his circle to stand in front of him and took three steps to do so. Here was a distance where he could embrace her if he wanted to. She uncrossed her arms so he might which was more than she felt he deserved.

She also reminded him why she wasn't about to give him any kind of hug or other affection. "Teachers are relieved of their testing duties once they've condemned their student. Fathers are not embraced by children once they've turned their backs on them. Go embrace your White Counsel fellows, Warden, you showed me long ago that's where your love lies."

Warden. When she said that it dripped with distain. She'd been so young when the White Counsel had accused her of breaking one of the laws and her father had stood with them instead of her. Nearly a hundred years ago. But the ruling had shaped her entire life. A wizard didn't just bounce back from that. A Father and Daughter didn't either, not when the Father was a Warden himself. A hundred years was a long time to bear a grudge. But when the White Counsel constantly reminded a wizard of their missteps how could she forget the role her father had to play?

Even though she glared at him with anger just as fresh as it was a near century ago she didn't expect him to flinch. What she'd just said to him she'd said many times before. But just because it wasn't new didn't mean she wasn't going to be any less snotty.

"Go ahead, Warden. Embrace your little black mark." Complicated wasn't even the half of it when it came to this Father and Daughter.

[TheWarden]

Jamison stepped into her and wrapped his arms around the woman. And when he did she would feel his magical energy wash over her. Though his was subdued, it was his coat. It absorbed his energy so that he didn’t blow out too many lights or ruin televisions by walking near them.

Arms tightened around her and he leaned his head down to whisper into her ears. “My love does not lie with the council Carolyn... And you where never my black mark… Such is your great great grandmother’s doing.” Spoken softly before he took a step back, looking into her eyes. The divide between them was vast, and it had been his fault for that. But it was also in part her own fault, she broke one of the laws of magic. Well, she may not have, but with magic you where guilty until proven innocent. Yes, Jamison was a warden when she committed her supposed crime, And yes he stood with the council during their Judgement. But, she was alive; which was something that most people who broke a law of magic got, but she never thanked him for that. No, she hated him for standing with the council and preserving his own life along with hers. Was he going to mention that fact? No, it had been too long and maybe they could smooth out their choppy waters.

He pushed up from his lean and opened the door to his room motioning her in. “please, come in. would you like something to drink, Tea? Water?” he was trying to be civil and proper. Perhaps to keep face since they where still in the hall one could never tell with Jamison.

[The Spider]

Spider hated him right now for a few reasons. For hugging her. For calling her by the proper name he'd given her when she was born. For his energy being so close to her. The familiar blend of it and his embrace reminded her of times when she was very young. When she was just a child, when he was her hero and before things became complicated. But there was no going back. And she wasn't a little girl anymore.

She hated him for this moment but it still had its effects. Her prickling energy smoothed and steadied. Her eyes closed and she got trapped in a nice memory. But it shattered as soon as he pulled away and her eyes snapped open. "Could have fooled me." She spoke caustically but what he had done - how he'd embraced and spoken to her with such paternal doting - had a lingering effect. He'd see it in the uncertain mixture of emotions in her eyes. She quickly looked away before he saw too much.

No matter how old she got being in his presence made her feel like such a bloody child.

Her eyes busied themselves with considering his doorway now that he had opened the door. If he wasn't her Father she would be far more cautious entering the home of a man of his power. Without another word Spider accepted his invitation to enter. Moving silently past him her honey-bright eyes dropped to the floor, each of her senses on edge. She didn't care to step in any more of his concealed circles just in case he didn't care for why she was here.

Speaking of. "Are you not going to ask why I've traveled here alone, Father?" The reason for her today's coldness went deeper than old grudges. There was a fresh suspicion towards him that was the reason for her visit.

[TheWarden]

Jamison's room was his sanctuary, getting in when you where not welcome would have been rather impossible. but when you where in fact welcomed into his sanctuary. You where protected from the end of the world, and that was only the beginning of what Jamison's skill could keep at bey. When he entered he closed the door behind him. Diverting his attention for a moment to re-establish the wards upon his door.

His room was not at all to an extreme, he hadnt done much to its decorating, aside from placing candles around the room, and moving his apothocary's chest into the room, Carolyn would recognize it, as the chest itself was older then he was, and was home to his emergency potion making inventory. Of course that was still a substantial amount of product. She would also find he had neatly stacked anything electronic in the corner of the room.

When the wards where replaced Jamison offered a nod, "I'm going to ask,but I thought i would take your privacy into consideration and ask where the entirety of the inn is not privy to your personal business." Spoken as he leaned his cane against the wall next to his door and his key tray. and he began to shrug off his coat which he then hung up on a coatrack."Please, make yourself comfortable..." motioning to the couch he had, walking over towards it himself, there was no limp in his step, his daughter knew he did so as an act, as it had been something he'd done for a long long long while. "To what do I owe the honor of your visit?"

[The Spider]

Watching him work the wards stirred up other memories. Equally as old. She breathed in slowly through her nostrils. When she exhaled the power of the breath blew all the nostalgia out of her. Like emptying a bellows. Spider had to remember why she was here despite the complicated ball of emotions which always rose when she was in her Father's presence.

"Privy to your personal business." Emphasis on the your. She gave him a triumphantly contrary look. The kind of look a cat made when it was being disobedient. Spider disobeyed further by not taking a seat on the couch as he'd motioned her to do. Nor did she follow his lead by taking off her own coat. She would remain where she was as she was until she saw his reaction to her news. Which she would tell him in good time.

But first. "This inn is nothing to me. Beyond the efforts expelled to track you to here." She turned her head in a pointed upwards tilt. Trying to shame her Father for the effort he'd forced her to expel. She pursed her lips in a superior fashion. Then she questioned him. "So what, Father, is this place to you? The infamous Warden LeFey is a long way from home." She called him infamous only because she knew he wouldn't like it. It implied black spots. Like the one he himself had mentioned: her great great grandmother.

She would speak one more thing before she allowed him time to give answers. The reason for why she was here. "Zalina is missing, Warden. She is gone without a trace." From the look Jamison was getting from his daughter her opinion was clear.

She felt this disappearance was his doing.

[TheWarden]

"I'm a warden of the white council of wizards Carolyn... I've no personal business to speak of... especially given my stigma..." he said carefully, his tone carried nothing but polite normality, since she was going out of her way to be nasty in order to get back at him, he figured that this may have been the way to do it.

When she asked him what this place was to him eyes wandered about for a moment." This inn is a haven, for all who walk through its doors, may it be a young lady eager to learn all she can, or a tired old man looking for a break from a pair of eyes over his shoulder... that it is far from home, is only a small bonus at the start of its benefits... They have a rather amazing fitness center."

A moment when she said her lover was missing, a hand raising to cover his mouth in thought. and a long slow, steady sigh; That was a large reaction from the wizard to news like that. "She is? and you're here, because you believe that I have done something to her." his hand falling, almost going for the pocket but he did not. he didn't want to provoke her, and for all she knew he had a weapon in his pocket. "Where did you last see her?"

[The Spider]

If the circumstances were different she would have made a sarcastic comment about his age and his interest in the fitness center. Even on their best days Spider always liked to point out how old he was. Not this time. Because what he said right before it flared her temper like kindling soaked in gasoline.

"Eyes over your shoulder?" Emphasis on the your. She was angry and it showed in how she spat out her words. "Don't insult me. I've had eyes over my shoulder ever since the judgement that are far more condemning than any watch they keep on you Jamison LeFey." And it's your fault. That's what she didn't say outright but the furious bite to her every word did just as well. Maybe it was irrational to assume he could have saved her from the blemishes the Council had dealt her that day. But he was her Father. To her it was his familial duty. And he'd failed her.

The energy around her sizzled. Worse than the prickles from before. Something in the room would shatter soon if she angered any more than she already was. That is if there were any items here which did not have his wizened protection keeping them safe. Honied eyes were as bright as candle flames now as she glared at him. Watching his every move and reaction to her news like a hawk.

When he lowered his hand she pointed at it. The long black painted fingernail of her index finger extended that way was more than an accusing finger. It was equivalent to drawing a gun.

The nature of her sizzle was more than just anger. It was piercing grief barely contained. She would not cry. She would not give him the satisfaction. "I'm here because of your long-standing disapproval." She grit her teeth. Control, she had to keep control. "It would not be the first time the White Counsel has removed something that garnered their displeasure."

She would not answer his question. She asked it back. "Where did YOU last see her, Father?"

[TheWarden]

When the magical energy within her rose, and endangered breaking his things, Jamison's own rose in answer. his tone changing to a stern one, a tone a father would take with their child. " Carolyn Margrette LeFey; I have had eyes of the council watching over my shoulder since before the gift manifested within me.... And you, you where being watched since before you could walk... You simply did not notice them until after you started looking." It pained him, that she harbored so much towards him, she was alive after all, which was alot more then anyone else who broke a law of magic had.

She would not be happy. But she had not come here happy, she had come for blood, and being stern was the only way he was going to show her that he was sincere. "You've lost a great deal in my name... And while I may not approve of your choice, I've no desire to relieve you of one of the few bits of happiness you find yourself." His hands where still in plain view, fingers not moving, no spellweaving going. Jamison wasn't going to attack her, dont know why she expected him to.

[The Spider]

Spider harbored a lot from that period. Including what she'd refused to speak even in defense of her own life. No one knew truly what happened besides her. To be the last one left standing, many times that's much worse than being one of the dead. At least the dead could not be accused. If she had spoken she could have been helped instead of condemned. But Jamison knew what happened instead. Each time she was questioned Spider clammed up. Would not answer. Or maybe could not. Maybe could not was the overlooked key.

She clammed up now after he spoke her name. Lips pressed into a thin line. She relaxed her pointing finger and crossed her arms over her chest. Then she turned her back on him. No, she hadn't expected her Father to attack her. Holding him at her magical gunpoint was away to assert her control over the situation. Since Zalina's disappearance it was something she didn't feel she had. Spider was a dominating force in all aspects of her life. To have her love missing and be powerless in all attempts to find her was her slow unraveling.

Spider didn't know what to say. Any words fizzled before passing her lips. The slump of her shoulders was telling when normally she was so rigidly postured. Behind closed lips she was digging her front teeth into the flesh below her bottom lip. The pain was a distraction. Helping to keep her emotions locked in. She would not cry, she could not cry. She was a hundred and twenty-one years old and she would not let her Father see weakness.

What she said was barely a whisper. "Then where is she."

[TheWarden]

She took after Jamison that way, part of being a boy scout, when you where prepared for anything, you had total control of everything. Of course, it was only a saying; because after all, free will was one hell of a thing.

When she turned her back upon him Jamison went to his apothecary's chest, which he opened always a man of action, he was going to find a way to help find Zalina. That was after all A Warden's first duty was to help fellow practitioners, in theory. Practice, Wardens tended to execute breakers of the Laws.

"I don't know ..." spoken softly while he started to pull ingredients, Little vials, Tupperware containers, ziplock bags, even what looked like an empty jar. "...Have you tried tracking her? looking through a gift you've given her?" setting his ingredients down on his dresser, which he had cleaned off. clearing a space for a tracking spell.

[The Spider]

"Of course not, Father." The words were scathing. It was best that he could not see her face. To feel the swell of ire from her was bad enough. Whatever was not fixed to the floor rattled. Her emotions were barely contained and too connected to her power. At least nothing broke. "My wife has been missing for a week and I have been most busy keeping her dinner warm in the oven without burning it."

It was sarcasm. She felt it justified. As he said himself she had tracked him here and found a way to cross the trans-world portals. Did he really think she had managed this and had not thought or done a tracking spell? Next Spider gave him a proper answer but did so with her back to him still.

"It told me nothing. Lead me nowhere. For it had nowhere to lead. Like a fire extinguished before the coals are fully hot, all of my efforts have all been circumvented. Refracted back at me. Me." Emphasis on the second me. There was ego in the way she said it. "It would take a great effort to block the magic of a LeFey. A level not taught to just anyone. Given only to a certain title of wizard. Warden." Like that title, yes.

That was the second reason that she had believed that her Father had something to do with this. He possessed both the motive and the power. If it wasn't him…….

"I've made a mistake. I need to go see Mother." To get to the Nevernever from here would be impossible. She would have to travel back to Earth first. Then to one of the few gateways. It would take days but there if she could convince her mother the Fae, Spider would have access to powers, tools and sight that she currently lacked.

She hadn't come to her Father for help. She'd come for vengeance. As he was not her target what reason was there to stay?

[TheWarden]

The Wizard kept his calm, while she yelled at him, continuing his prep work ."I'm sorry Carolyn, I had to ask, you know I did..." He looked up and took a slow breath. Keeping his calm rather amazingly. "The spells here refracted? Tell me exactly what happened when they where cast. was it a violent refraction or did they simply fizzle into nothingness?" these where significant facts to know.

His attention went over to a shelf in his apothecary's chest. It was a shelf jam packed with journals, extremely old and dated on the left, significantly more recent on the right. Spider would also recognize these, hell she'd probably actually read several them at some point, Jamison leaned upon them often. When she mentioned her mother Jamison stood strait.

"No. You can't go ask her for help... You know exactly what it means to ask a favor of the Fae... and because you're her daughter only means that she'll be more insideus in order to get you for herself." A hint of worry in his voice, he really didn't want her trapped int he Nevernever at the beckon call of her mother. Thats really all the stronger fae wanted, was servants in one fashion or another, Jamison himself victim to that at one point in his life.

"I can assist you, if you'll allow me... Going to your mother would maybe bring her back, but think about the strings that could be attached to her help..."

[The Spider]

When her Father apologized she rolled her eyes. She knew he had to ask. He should know how she hated answering questions that were painfully obvious. This new question, that she felt had worth. "The faint glimpse of a barrier. Then nothingness. No fizzle, no dissolve, no pop. Just nothingness."

Spider's scathing tone was gone. Her quiet speech had returned. She was tired. Zalina had been missing for a week and each day Spider had used some of her stored magical energy to fuel her body as sleep would. This way she had remained awake so that every moment of every day was spent trying to find her lost beloved. Her body was fine. Her mind was starting to struggle. The mind was not fueled in the same way as the body and it needed a different rest - lack of stimulation.

She was not watching what her Father did. She did not have to in order to know what he was up to. The sounds were familiar. She knew his routines well. Over a century and he had changed very little. "I can." Emphasis on the can. "I am absolutely able to journey to the Nevernever and make such a request of Mother. Should I is what you are contending. Does your disapproval of my choice in love prevent you from understanding how much Zalina means to me, Father?"

When he offered his assistance she scoffed. "Strings. You think you don't come with strings? You're mad, the pair of you. The mud you sling at one another using my ears as the spoon…" She shook her head. If she were properly rested she would have finished that sentence and with far more vigor than she'd spoken it just now. She didn't want to talk about their broken family. Not today.

Honey-bright eyes drifted to the couch. Concentrating on the curves and wrinkles of the cushions. To a weary spirit it looked so comfortable. But sitting or laying down was another thing she'd been depraving herself of. If she did either of those she was afraid hours would pass before she got back up. Hours were something Zalina might not have to lose.

"What strings does your help have, Father?" It was not an accusation. It was a true honest question murmured by a wilting spirit. To go to her Mother would take days and days for a journey was too pricey an amount of time to spend.

[TheWarden]

Jamison had seen she looked absolutely exhausted. and while they where able to do it, she should know better then to use her magic to keep herself awake. That was one check that cashing had some serious drawbacks to, sleeping off the borrowed energy was a serious one.

"Carolyn, I understand that you love Zalina, It is evident in the smiles she puts on your face, and the experiences you two share... by the fact that you've been using your magic to sustain you in order for you to search, regardless of the consequences they pose to yourself..." Jamison walked over to her, placing a hand at her back. and he continued to speak.

"Harbor your hatred towards me let it fuel you if you must... but I'm telling you that I want to help you" He motioned forth to the couch in his room. "You should rest now...I swear to you upon the power passed to me by my mother Margrette LeFey that I will find your lover Carolyn... If you'll allow me to."

his words where sincere, spoken softly, words of a father concerned with his child's well being. And she should know that a Wizard's oath to his power carried a hefty price tag, Wizards had been crippled, or even lost their gift entirely from breaking an oath sworn to their power. It was as close as you could get to the word of a fae without the price tags their gifts tended to come with.

[The Spider]

Spider knew the weight of the oath he just took. For Warden Jamison LeFey to lay his magic on the line was no small show of loyalty. He had found the one way (one she hadn't even though of herself) to convince her that he had nothing to do with Zalina's disappearance.

The sheer magnitude of the oath was exactly why his word choice sparked her ire despite her exhaustion. Or because of her exhaustion. "She's, my, WIFE." When she spoke the final word she jammed the short chunky heel of her shoe into his toes. Because he would expect it less than a magical tantrum. Then she spun around to face him. Hand raised as if she had half a mind to slap him but something was holding her back. "Of twenty-two years. Either call her that in respect to me or take your help and shove it up your ass. What good would your help be soaked in disappointment and shame."

She practically growled at him as she glared him down. Hand still raised. She really wanted to slap him. But she couldn't follow through.

Spider closed her eyes. Shut the sight of his face out. Anger took so much. It made adrenalin flow. It strengthened magical energy. But so many days without sleep her anger was like a fire blast. Exploding red hot then little more than embers. Even just closing her eyes she could feel the sway of sleep trying to pull her down to the floor. The fight could be seen in her posture as she tried to keep its rigid poise.

Warring with sleep didn't stop her lips from moving though her eyes were still shut. "I wish you wouldn't call me Carolyn. Even behind your closed door." Wished he wouldn't? She must be tired. Normally it was don't.

[TheWarden]

Jamison stumbled back when she stomped on his foot, falling to sit on his bed., standing immidiately afterwards eyes watching her own with her hand raised to smack him. "You where Wed?" surprise evident in his voice, his daughter had gotten married, albeit it was to a woman. But she was married, and that realization was a big deal. But it was unfortunate that she had married a vanilla human... in a few years Carolyn would bury her. Hopefully Jamison might be able to be there to help her with it.

"I hadn't know you two had wed... I will help you find your wife... but first, you need to rest." He hadn't changed his tone when she stomped on his foot. no anger or anything. HE ushered over to the bed then, motioning her to sit down and get comfortable.

"You've asked me not to use your name in public settings, Allow me this single indulgence at the very least where no other will know."

[The Spider]

He didn't know? Her perception of her Father was shaken. Spider believed there were very few things that Jamison LeFey didn't know. About her life especially. The fact that he didn't know Zalina was her wife made her realize that her Father had not had his eyes over her shoulder all these years after all. Emotions twisted and the epiphany made her feel uncomfortably ill. One mistake, so how many others had her assumptions made?

She couldn't deal with it. Not now. Her hand fell limp at her side. About her marriage she could only manage one word. "Yes." She had gotten married. Yes. If circumstances were different she might have rubbed it in. Unless her Father had gotten married without her knowing, too.

Instead when her Father ushered her to his bed she allowed it. Weight sank into the mattress so deeply she wasn't seated long. Laying down on the soft blankets without shedding coat or shoes. Lacking a week's worth of sleep what she was wearing mattered little.

Allow him an indulgence. The given name she did not want others to know. Again if circumstances were different. But they weren't. Her answer was a murmur already heavy with dreams. "Yes Father." She agreed. Must have been music to his ears. There hadn't many times over the past decades where Spider had agreed to anything he said, wanted, or did.

He better not make her regret it. Any of it.

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