“We need to move him. They cannot know.” Accustomed to directing business in the fortress and numb to the reality of the moment out of necessity, understanding that, at this moment, without a laedan to take direction of what came next, the responsibility fell to Aman to make the next several hours as painless and seamless as possible. “What is…?” Korma murmured, shocked by the abrupt chain of events that had changed the future of the boroughs before her eyes. “After…we’ll talk after. Take Oasis…” It did not feel right to call her Mrs. Channon given what he knew. “…there.” He pointed at a bench long enough for her to lay on, “Get her a blanket, get her settled. Ninon…help her. Uzzi…there’s water through there,” he pointed to one door at the other end of the expansive room. “Towels too. Lucé, help me move him…” Uzzi did not debate the logical distribution of labor, nor did anyone else. He delayed obeying long enough to close the door behind Korma after she and Ninon positioned the fainted younger woman on the bench. He latched it so that no one could accidently come upon the crime scene. Aman and Lucé took Hallister’s sagging corpse through another door at the end of the room, the man’s hanging, dragging, nearly dragging knuckles upon the stone floor, while Uzzi found a small pail, towels, and scrub brooms likely used to clean the room, and set to cleaning the blood away from the floor. Eventually, Lucé joined him and began wiping furiously at the blood on the pillar, seeming to see the stain without seeing it, while Aman, opening the door again for Korma, left the room muttering, “No one goes into the office without me,” on his way out. At this late hour, there would be little chance of that happening. Most of the serving staff was already turning in. They did not know where he had gone, but by the time he returned with a bottle of caustic smelling liquid, Oasis had been made comfortable. Korma, unsure what to do as Ninon fussed over the sleeping girl and unwilling, it seemed, to dirty her hands with the removal of blood from the floor and pillar stood limp and dazed, watching when Aman splashed the bottle’s contents over the floor and onto the pillar. The contents bubbled and hissed and stung Uzzi’s hands as he continued to work. Eventually the only blood remaining was in the water and clothes in the pale. They needed to dispose of it, but doing so tonight would not be easy. “I’ll take it…” While Uzzi and Lucé wiped their red, blistering hands on their clothes, injuries Ninon came to tend to as soon as she realized the need, Aman stashed the bucket in the Laedan’s office and again closed and locked the door behind him, using Geary’s own key. “Recovery will be slow,” murmured Ninon, “but this will help.” Lucé, sitting with his legs crossed, nodded at his mother, muttering grunts and sounds that no one else understood. “Gonna need something else to wear,” Uzzi grunted, flexing his fingers as if to ease the sharp stinging pain that remained despite Ninon’s care, stretching his legs out where he sat, seemingly unflustered by these unexpected events. “Not gonna convince anyone we didn’t do this like this.” Geary’s blood stained each one of them. “Enough evidence here to convict us if anyone asks questions.”
no subject
Date: 2024-12-29 06:23 pm (UTC)Accustomed to directing business in the fortress and numb to the reality of the moment out of necessity, understanding that, at this moment, without a laedan to take direction of what came next, the responsibility fell to Aman to make the next several hours as painless and seamless as possible.
“What is…?” Korma murmured, shocked by the abrupt chain of events that had changed the future of the boroughs before her eyes.
“After…we’ll talk after. Take Oasis…” It did not feel right to call her Mrs. Channon given what he knew. “…there.” He pointed at a bench long enough for her to lay on, “Get her a blanket, get her settled. Ninon…help her. Uzzi…there’s water through there,” he pointed to one door at the other end of the expansive room. “Towels too. Lucé, help me move him…”
Uzzi did not debate the logical distribution of labor, nor did anyone else. He delayed obeying long enough to close the door behind Korma after she and Ninon positioned the fainted younger woman on the bench. He latched it so that no one could accidently come upon the crime scene. Aman and Lucé took Hallister’s sagging corpse through another door at the end of the room, the man’s hanging, dragging, nearly dragging knuckles upon the stone floor, while Uzzi found a small pail, towels, and scrub brooms likely used to clean the room, and set to cleaning the blood away from the floor. Eventually, Lucé joined him and began wiping furiously at the blood on the pillar, seeming to see the stain without seeing it, while Aman, opening the door again for Korma, left the room muttering, “No one goes into the office without me,” on his way out.
At this late hour, there would be little chance of that happening. Most of the serving staff was already turning in.
They did not know where he had gone, but by the time he returned with a bottle of caustic smelling liquid, Oasis had been made comfortable. Korma, unsure what to do as Ninon fussed over the sleeping girl and unwilling, it seemed, to dirty her hands with the removal of blood from the floor and pillar stood limp and dazed, watching when Aman splashed the bottle’s contents over the floor and onto the pillar. The contents bubbled and hissed and stung Uzzi’s hands as he continued to work. Eventually the only blood remaining was in the water and clothes in the pale. They needed to dispose of it, but doing so tonight would not be easy.
“I’ll take it…”
While Uzzi and Lucé wiped their red, blistering hands on their clothes, injuries Ninon came to tend to as soon as she realized the need, Aman stashed the bucket in the Laedan’s office and again closed and locked the door behind him, using Geary’s own key.
“Recovery will be slow,” murmured Ninon, “but this will help.” Lucé, sitting with his legs crossed, nodded at his mother, muttering grunts and sounds that no one else understood.
“Gonna need something else to wear,” Uzzi grunted, flexing his fingers as if to ease the sharp stinging pain that remained despite Ninon’s care, stretching his legs out where he sat, seemingly unflustered by these unexpected events. “Not gonna convince anyone we didn’t do this like this.” Geary’s blood stained each one of them. “Enough evidence here to convict us if anyone asks questions.”