The human wasn’t wearing armor like the rest of the guards, and his clothing was very nice. He was wearing dark robes of good quality, covered in filigree, with some sort of insignia emblazoned across the chest. He had a distinct air of authority about him. The two other guards that had come in, plus Fredric, seemed to regard him nervously. They were all standing up, looking rather stiff.

So, this man is an Inquisitor.

He had taken out a fancy-looking notebook and a quill that seemed to be inscribed with runes. She could see… something flowing in them. It didn’t glow like light mana, or eat the light like dark mana. It almost looked like flowing… rock?

Is that earth mana? Where is his ink?

Shadow really wanted to examine it closer, but figured now wasn’t the time. She was fascinated with the man and his special quill. She knew inquisitors were one of the things dark mages could become, so that meant he was probably a dark mage? Shadow wondered if he’d be willing to teach her some spells.

She supposed she should hold her questions until after he was finished though.

Annie had settled down in a chair right beside where she and Jonas were sitting.

“You are Jonas Smith,” Inquisitor Rubio asserted, looking at her uncle.

Jonas looked surprised, but returned a “Yes, sir.”

The inquisitor lingered looking at Jonas for a second before turning to Annie.

“And you are Annabelle Clarke,” he asserted again, keeping his face neutral.

“I… I am.” Annie responded, also seeming somewhat surprised.

He kept studying her for even longer, but his face remained neutral.

“Alright then.” He said to himself, making a few marks on his notebook, before turning to Shadow.

“You, I don’t know. What’s your name?” He asked, looking at her intently.

Annie and Jonas shared a look.

Shadow suddenly felt nervous. She still didn’t have any wax tablets, and still, no one had taken the initiative to mention her inability to speak, or the fact that she had to use dark magic to talk.

She poked her uncle, (because he was closer, what with her sitting on him) and mimed writing, giving him a slightly exasperated look.

“Oh! Right, sorry. Um, this is Shadow, she can’t talk normally, but can write if you have some wax tablets available? She’s also able to, uh, make words out of darkness, if that’s alright. She’s a dark mage, you see.” Jonas

“Interesting. You can’t speak at all?” he asked.

Shadow… wasn’t really clear on whether that was an invitation to actually use her spell or not, so she played it safe.

She just pointed at her throat and made a huffing sound, before shaking her head.

“Very well then. You may form your text with spells. Please keep the array visible as you do so.” He allowed, making a few more notes.

Shadow was slightly surprised at the request, but did as she was told, holding up her forepaw so the inquisitor could see as the array formed around her wrist.

‘I’m Shadow Clarke. Nice to meet you, Inquisitor Rubio!’ She wrote. He’d introduced himself with the title, so she figured she should keep it.

“Impressive control.” The man remarked. “So, Shadow… Clarke,” he said, giving a questioning look to Annie.

Annie cleared her throat, looking nervous herself.

“She’s my adopted daughter, or will be just as soon as I can get to a registry. I was planning to go later today. They didn’t have one in Lorvale.” Annie supplied.

The inquisitor stared at her for another couple of seconds, before doing some more scribbling.

“Fascinating. Well. Let’s move on to the incident then.” He stated.

What followed was Annie and Jonas explaining what had happened from their perspective, with the Inquisitor asking pointed questions and taking notes. Shadow learned that the ‘Noble’ that Jonas had run into ‘found’ his coin purse and ran off shortly after she had followed the liar. Jonas noticed Shadow was missing, realized what must have happened, told the guards, and went chasing after the man, but he’d already slipped away into the crowd.

Apparently, they had been in cahoots, or at least it seemed very likely.

After realizing he’d lost the trail, Jonas had gone and gotten Annie to make use of her divination, and they’d gathered some guards along the way, by virtue of flashy light magic and yelling about the kidnapping.

They’d located the building Shadow was in, busted down the door, and the rest was history.

Then, it was Shadow’s turn to explain her side of the story, which she did, rather glumly. She told the inquisitor the truth, but left out details and tried to keep it brief. She didn’t mention the stuff she wasn’t supposed to talk about, like her mana slots, or the fact she’d used shadow-port during the battle.

It was odd. The inquisitor seemed to become more and more troubled as her story went on, which… she might have expected… considering she’d just killed a couple of people, but that didn’t seem to be the reason. He seemed unbothered, for example, when she’d mentioned that the rope-man had bled out during the fight, or when she said she’d had to kill the beastkin to prevent him from hurting the little girl.

Instead, it was like… a creeping unease that built on him as the questioning continued.

It seemed to come to a head as she finished her recounting of events.

Inquisitor Rubio reached inside his robes and pulled out a single copper coin.

He held it up so Shadow could see.

“What is this?” he asked, his eyes staring at her intently.

Shadow blinked at the question. That was... not a hard question. Shadow wasn’t sure why he’d be asking it, though. Was she supposed to be answering something other than the obvious?

‘It’s… a copper coin?’ she half asked.

“Please state it confidently.” He ordered.

Okay… she thought, still somewhat perplexed.

‘It’s a copper coin.’ She stated.

“Right.” He said, still staring at her.

“Now, I’ll ask you the same question, but tell me it’s something different. Something that isn’t a copper coin. State it confidently.” He instructed.

“What is this?” he asked, holding up the coin again.

Now Shadow was really confused. The other people in the room looked confused as well, but Shadow noticed that Annie seemed troubled, and was giving the inquisitor a searching look.

Still, Shadow was supposed to do what he said… so…

‘That’s a woodpecker!’ She confidently lied.

He stared at her as his brows furrowed, and started tapping his pen on the table.

Shadow wondered if she’d done something wrong, somehow.

“What are you doing?” he asked seriously.

Shadow felt like she was missing something.

‘Answering questions?’ she tentatively wrote, giving the man a questioning look. Clearly, something strange was going on, but she had no idea what it was.

The inquisitor took a deep breath and leaned back, before clapping his hands together.

“Everyone but Shadow and Annabelle, please leave the room.” He said, motioning at all the people present.

The guards looked uneasy, but started obediently filing out. Annie looked shocked and Shadow felt Jonas stiffen behind her.

Annie recovered quickly, fixing the Inquisitor with a stern glare.

“What exactly is going on, Inquisitor Rubio? I don’t see why—”

“Please. This is a mage matter. I promise nothing untoward will occur,” he stated, cutting Annie off. Once it was clear she wasn’t speaking up again, he locked eyes with Jonas.

Shadow could feel him bristle, but her uncle only nodded, tapping Shadow on the back, indicating she should get down.

Shadow hopped off, transferring herself to Annie’s lap instead, and gave Jonas a worried look. He was clearly not happy, but wasn’t willing to fight the Inquisitor about having to leave. She watched as he stiffly left the room.

Shadow huddled in Annie’s lap nervously, looking over at the inquisitor.

“How are you interfering with my magic?” the inquisitor asked, staring at her with his piercing gaze.

Annie closed her eyes and breathed in sharply, while Shadow just stared back with wide, very confused eyes.

‘I… what? I’m not interfering with anything!’ She wrote. Shadow hadn’t even been aware he was casting a spell.

“And I have no idea if you’re lying, which is rather the issue, seeing as I should be able to tell.” He stated, still tapping on the table.

His gaze shifted to Annie, who was starting to sweat, and had gone a bit pale.

“How about you? Are you somehow blocking me?” he interrogated.

“No! No, I swear I’m not, Inquisitor.” Annie hastily promised.

Inquisitor Rubio shook his head slightly.

“No lies there. I can read you just fine.” He half muttered to himself.

He looked back at Shadow, scrutinizing her for a few seconds.

“I’m inclined to believe you, despite the circumstances. I’ve not felt a sensation quite like what I’m getting from you before. It’s like my spell is working just fine, but I’m getting no feedback at all from it. It’s as if you aren’t thinking a thing as you speak. Do either of you have any idea why this might be the case?” he asked.

Shadow stiffened at that question, but Annie just slumped, like she'd been expecting it. Shadow had a couple of ideas why something might be going wrong with his spell. It was all related to the stuff she wasn’t supposed to talk about. Annie clearly thought so as well.

Shadow gave her mom a nervous glance.

Annie cleared her throat.

“I… perhaps I might have some theories.” She mumbled, looking even paler than she had before.

“Do tell.” The inquisitor instructed, with razor-sharp interest.

Annie took a few moments to gather herself, and when she started speaking, she picked her words very carefully.

“When we first met Shadow, she was living in the woods. She can’t recall her parents, and had been living in the forest for as long as she could remember. She was already capable of using dark magic when we found her. She has some… unusual abilities. For one, she has some form of eidetic memory. She can recall anything she’s witnessed and been paying attention to, as far as I can tell. She finds this completely normal.”

The inquisitor’s eyes widened.

“Really? That’s… certainly unusual.” He stated, as his eyes became searching once again.

“Yes… so I had thought… that perhaps it’s a magical effect. She has access to dark mana, and I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors...” Annie said, shooting a slightly guilty glance down at Shadow.

“A spell to trap thoughts and hold them forever. Yes, I’ve heard. Many suppose it must be common amongst Archmages.” The inquisitor stated, now openly staring at Shadow.

Shadow blinked up at her mom. That was not what she'd had in mind! Annie had never said anything about that before!

“I wasn’t sure, so I didn’t want to bring it up before I had my equipment available to verify. Sorry.” She quietly explained.

Shadow gave her a small nod for now, but she still thought Annie could have at least mentioned it.

The inquisitor seemed to connect the dots.

“So, she has this magic construct in her head, which she appears to be unaware of. Perhaps she has more, like one that could affect my reading, without realizing it.” He put forward, looking at Annie for confirmation.

Annie gave a small nod.

"That was my thought," she said.

“You’re aware that magic such as this is almost surely restricted?” he asked, but it almost sounded curious rather than accusatory.

Annie thought about that for a second, before taking a deep breath and starting to talk.

“Yes, it might be, but… Shadow doesn’t actually know the spells. Nor is she intentionally casting them. They’re just happening. For reasons I have not yet discovered. If, indeed, that is what is happening. A restriction bars a person from knowing or performing a spell, but Shadow is doing neither,” Annie argued.

The Inquisitor chuckled.

“I suspect you’re splitting hairs, but I'll let the matter slide. I’m more concerned about the fact that you apparently... just happened to find her. This child with built-in mind-enhancing dark magic abilities. In the woods. Completely by chance. Is this really true?” He deadpanned.

“Um. Yes. Inquisitor,” Annie stated nervously.

He stared at her for a good 5 seconds, before finally shaking his head.

“Fine. I can’t tell you how much I would like to dig into this further, but it’s out of my purview. You’ve convinced me that Shadow here is not intentionally deceiving me, and I have no reason to suspect this day’s events have not unfolded as you’ve stated,” he accepted.

He locked eyes with Annie again.

“Just… one last thing. Annabelle Clarke. Are you intending, or have you intended in the past, crime or treason against crown or country?” he asked with complete seriousness.

Annie made a small noise, and somehow became even paler.

Shadow was a little worried she might faint, and gave her a hug while looking between her and the inquisitor nervously. This whole questioning had started going in some very strange and confusing directions as far as she was concerned. She didn’t feel confident that she wouldn’t somehow mess something up by saying the wrong thing, so she kept quiet. Not that she liked seeing Annie like this.

“No! Absolutely not! Why... why would you ask that?!” Annie squeaked out, squeezing Shadow back.

The inquisitor sighed, shaking his head again.

“Politics. You’d best get back to Glossa, Ms. Annabelle. There have been suspicions about the nature of your absence. Rumors abound in the upper circles that you’ve run away to another country to share state secrets. I suspect there would have been a warrant out for your seizure before long. I’m glad to see the rumors were unfounded.”

Annie looked gobsmacked. Her mouth moved, but no words came out.

“Well, my work here is done. Please don’t leave until tomorrow, I may have follow up questions after I attend to the others. I’ll send a missive to Glossa indicating your presence in the city, and apparent innocence. That should hopefully prevent anything unfortunate from happening. Where are you staying?” he asked.

Annie stayed silent for a few seconds, perhaps having missed the question, so Shadow took the initiative to answer.

‘The Plum Pie Inn.’ she wrote.

The inquisitor glanced between Shadow and Annie again, before giving Shadow a nod.

“Very good. You’re free to go. I do hope things turn out well for you,” he finished, standing up and heading out the door.

Shadow realized she'd missed her chance to ask the man about learning some spells.

She glanced at her mom, as the woman ran her hands through her hair and started muttering to herself. Perhaps now wasn't the best time.