Chapter 10: The Seviner’s White Mask

Highguard’s Garrison consisted of two buildings separated by a large wall that served two very different purposes. The first building provided barracks for the unmarried soldiers of Highguard’s standing army and City Guard. It had two mess halls that provided meals twice daily and a large training arena for the soldiers and city guards to get in their daily exercise and training. The second building contained the offices of Highguard’s military officers along the front. While Highguard’s unsavory and even dangerous Erros, who were all kept behind bars and subdued by ether restraints, were housed in the back.

There were two checkpoints that Consultus Julian and Praeditus Fallon had to take to reach the prison. The first checkpoint was a gate made of Mountain Hemlock wood and Adamantine. Through the first entrance, they gained access to the main grounds of the Garrison, where the barracks and training grounds could be seen. The second checkpoint was a gate made of Black Locust wood and Titanium where Julian used his position to bypass standard security check-in, which required visitors to write their names into a book and state the purpose of their visit.

However, the Paragon’s errand boy could not convince the officer on duty to ignore their required escort. So a Sergeant escorted them through the second gate towards the Garrison Prison.

The perfectly rectangular walkways, bushes, trees, and buildings were an unwelcome familiar sight for the Warlock. The Prison’s Commanding Officer, Major Kellen, had a strange obsession with symmetry and simplicity. For the most part, he was straightforward in his methods of overseeing the Erros and running his prison. Rules and punishments were enforced to the letter without empathy or leniency for the convicted Erros’s background or family position.

While Consultus Kellen technically reported to Commander John Larkin, as an officer of the City Guard, lately, the Major had begun sending his reports and requests for updated rules and regulations covering the management of the Prison directly to Paragon Delancy. Fallon had heard all this from Corbin, who mentioned that his father, the Commander, had complained about Major Kellen’s blatant disregard for the chain of command.

Despite Kellen’s abundant respect for the Paragon, the Major did not hide his rather severe dislike for Xander Gaumond. The Preaefecti had come down hard on the prison budget more than once in the last year after learning that food was being withheld from prisoners, while Kellen maintained and even requested an increased spending limit for the prison.

Naturally, Kellen’s dislike for the Merchant Banker’s Guild Leader also transferred to Fallon, who had uncovered this irregularity in the budgeting after the family member of one of the incarcerated prisoners reported that the Erros were being intentionally and inhumanly starved.

‘Well, he probably won’t make things difficult for me now since the Paragon sent me here,’ Fallon reasoned as their escort turned sharply down a plain gray hall and led them to the Major’s office.

“Visitors for you, Major,” the Sergeant announced loudly after rapping on the door twice. “Sent by the Paragon.”

“Send them in!” a harsh, gravelly voice barked back through the barrier.

Julian gave the Sergeant a dismissive nod as he stepped forward and turned the door handle himself, leading the way inside.

“Major Kellen!” Julian greeted with forced enthusiasm.

“Julian Moore,” Kellen returned as he removed a pair of spectacles from his narrow, pointy nose and tossed them onto some documents upon the Major’s desk. The Consultus's gaze quickly shifted from the Assassin to Fallon as the Warlock entered and stepped forward. “My, my. If it isn’t the austere Fallon Gaumond.”

Fallon responded with a curt nod as Julian cleared his throat.

“I trust the Major has already read the Paragon’s proposal?” the Assassin prompted.

“I have,” Kellen replied as he sat back and gestured to a rolled letter on his desk. “Naturally, I will do all within my authority to assist the Paragon in averting such a crisis. In fact, I wish it didn’t take the potential of a Dementher Gate to clear the prison of these detestable Erros more frequently.”

“Excellent—”

“However,” Kellen cut in sharply. “I would very much like to know why you have brought this little girl to my office?”

Fallon's neutral expression tightened. ‘Really? Are you trying to provoke a fight with a Praeditus?’ The Warlock drew in a slow breath and turned her attention to the right wall and its glass front Black Ash bookshelf. Behind the fragile barrier, various metal collars were stacked neatly by rank. Most of the collars reflected the green tint of Jabal metal, though a few looked closer to Titanium.

Item—Suppression Collar A metal bind infused with Seidr Crystal that suppresses all class skills and unique abilities.

Fallon suppressed a shiver as she turned away from the glass.

“Major Kellen,” Julian stepped forward and narrowed his hazel-gray eyes on the Major. “You do recall the Paragon mentioning the use of a Seviner to expedite these proceedings?”

“Yes, of course, I—” Kellen blinked and dropped his folded hands onto the desk with a snort of disbelief. “You mean—her?”

Fallon rewarded the dumbstruck Destroyer with a smirk.

“Do you imagine I would waste my time bringing her here for any other reason?”

The clear annoyance and impatience in the Assassin’s voice appeared to shake Kellen from his disgruntled mood. The Major straightened in his chair and then opened a drawer from which he pulled out a white mask. “Well then, the Paragon suggested that you wear a mask during these—interviews—to avoid suspicion, Praeditus.”

“A mask?” Fallon asked as she stepped forward to examine the thin piece of cloth.

“It's what we offer to those who wish to maintain their anonymity while witnessing the execution of their attackers,” Kellen replied as he left his chair.

‘Ah, you mean rape victims.’ Fallon turned the mask over and tested it against her face hesitantly. It would do nothing to hide her blonde hair or Praeditus robes, but she was hardly the only blonde woman working for the High Council. “Alright, anything else I should know?”

“Yes,” Kellen replied curtly as he moved towards the door. “Don’t interrupt the interviewer. The Paragon expects us to get through 200 convicted Erros on the ledger today so keep any unnecessary questions to yourself.” He opened the door sharply, cutting off Fallon’s reply as he exchanged a quick word with the Sergeant waiting outside.

“Do try not to cause any trouble while you’re here,” Julian whispered as he leaned towards the Warlock. “Quick and Quiet. The sooner you’re done, the sooner you can go back to your normal job of reading letters.”

Fallon shot him an annoyed look before placing the mask over her face once more and tying it into place. She flinched when the Assassin’s fingers moved over her own as Julian tightened the laces on the back.

“That’s better,” Julian commented with a leer that made Fallon step back quickly. “All ready, Major?”

“Yes, I can take it from here, Consultus,” the Major replied as he motioned for Fallon to follow him. The Warlock did so, eager to be away from the irksome Assassin. “Now,” Kellen continued in a matter-of-fact tone, “Each prisoner will be asked no more than three questions. The main one being, are they guilty of—whatever crime they were sentenced here for.”

“I see. Will I be in the same room then?” Fallon asked as she nervously touched her mask.

“No, the room in which we will conduct these interviews has a balcony box connected to it. Something we often use when a witness needs to identify a criminal from a lineup. The window glass is tinted but not enough to obscure your presence, so keep the blinds drawn. The prisoner’s back should be facing you at all times, but I would prefer the prisoners didn’t know anyone outside of the interviewer was monitoring them.”

“Then—how do I communicate to the interviewer if they are lying or not?”

“The Paragon has already prepared two special crystals to assist with that. I will demonstrate their use when we get there.”

“Alright,” Fallon replied as she fell in step behind the focused Officer.

They took a right and then a left. Each dull gray hallway looked the same aside from the black labels painted on every wall corner that served as directions. At one point, a prison guard opened one of the hallway doors, and the sound of metal clanging against metal filtered through, accompanied by muffled angry voices. The Door itself was marked, ‘Prison Level 1. West Wing.’

“Here we are,” Kellen called out as he nodded towards two doors placed side by side along another gray wall with a guard on either end. “The right one is the interview room, and this one—” he opened the left door and motioned for Fallon to enter first, “—leads to the witness box where you will remain until the interviewer calls for a break or the interviews are finished.”

“What if I need to use the latrine,” Fallon asked as she climbed the short flight of stairs.

“I can bring you a prison bucket, should you require it.”

Fallon rolled her eyes. When she reached the top of the stairs, the Warlock found a tiny, cramped room with three chairs and a single wooden table. On the table was a small open box with two crystals of varying sizes.

“Here we are,” Kellen said as he brushed past Fallon and tapped the smaller crystal, which immediately turned green. “These are simple light crystals. Tap once to light up. As you can see, they will turn off a few seconds later. If you tap twice, they will stay lit.” He tapped the second crystal twice, and a bright red light filled the room. “Tap three times to turn it off.”

Fallon nodded as she moved towards the blinds that shielded the medium glass window from the interview room below. “Red if they’re lying. Green if they’re telling the truth.”

“Simple and efficient,” Kellen replied with an affirming nod.

“What happens if my verdict proves the Erros is guilty?” When Kellen did not respond, Fallon turned towards him with an inquisitive stare. “Major?”

The Consultus huffed as he stepped towards the window and opened the blinds. “The Erros will come in through the right door. If this process finds them guilty, then they will be escorted through the left door. Outside are the execution grounds where two of our finest will remove the prisoner’s head from their body as swiftly as possible.”

“And—if they are innocent?”

“Then they will go back through the right door and be returned to their cell. Based on your determination and the discrepancies we find, it is likely that a new investigation will be opened at a later date to determine if they were unjustly imprisoned and whether or not they should be released or convicted of a lesser crime.” The Major crossed his hands behind his back as he assessed her with a raised brow. “I might ask the Paragon for your assistance with that after we’ve completed our first assignment. A Seviner rather cuts through the needless legal proceedings of a judge, jury, and all those annoying lawyers.”

Fallon scowled behind her mask but said nothing. ‘It might not be a bad change of pace from sorting through letters.’

“And here is today's interviewer,” Kellen said with a nod to the window. Fallon glanced down at the Lieutenant, who entered the room awkwardly behind three stacked boxes of files that he carried over to a single long table with two chairs on either side.

The Major knocked on the window, and the Lieutenant glanced up. The interviewer quickly set down the files he carried and saluted. Kellen nodded and motioned towards Fallon beside him and the crystals on the table to which the interviewer gave two curt nods, signifying he understood their purpose.

“Well then, you should be getting started shortly,” Kellen said as he tapped the red crystal three times to turn it off. “If there are any serious problems, you may knock on the window to signal Lieutenant Clark. Do wait until the prisoner has left the room before doing so. There will be four breaks throughout the day—two for meals and two to use the latrine or stretch your legs. The guards outside your door will escort you wherever you need to go and make sure you are brought back on time. Your meals will be served in my office for the sake of protecting your identity.”

‘Prison gruel, no doubt.’ Fallon grimaced as she sank into her chair and tapped the green crystal.

“I ask that you take the mask with you when you leave here today, Seviner,” Kellen added in an authoritative tone. “Wear it when you next return and throughout the day until we’ve finished our task. The Paragon made it very clear that your identity was not to be leaked to anyone—or there will be dire consequences.”

‘Right. Because Emperor Maverick won’t allow his Paragons to have something he does not himself possess.’ Fallon folded her arms and nodded affirmatively in response. She had no interest in being dragged into the political turmoil that was the Imperial family, who ruled over all of Orinthian.

“May Iris guide you then, Seviner.”

Fallon listened quietly as the Major’s footsteps descended the stairs, followed by the sound of a door closing shut firmly. She tapped her fingers impatiently on the table as Lieutenant Clark organized his documents in neat stacks beside a blue feathered quill, one black ink well, and a medium-size silver bell. With a sigh, Fallon dropped her chin to her chest tiredly as she let out a yawn beneath her mask.

“Ahem!”

Fallon raised her gaze to the Lieutenant, who now waved towards her window.

“Are you ready to proceed, honored guest?”

Fallon smirked as she activated [Dementher’s Perception] and then tapped the green crystal again.

Lieutenant Clark nodded with a smile, then picked up his bell and gave it a sharp ring.

“Here we go,” Fallon whispered as she leaned forward, elbows pressed against the table, to watch the first Erros enter the room.