Inoadar had enough experience with interrogations to see a desperate attempt at false confidence when he saw it. The next step was to reinforce that confidence, make her all the more dependent on it, then pull it out from under her. The more often you let the target grab hold of hope, the further the fall each time.
He let just a hint of defeat shade his features at the word "status". He wanted her to focus on it as the shield she would repel this assault with. He let her ramble, her voice gaining strength as he looked down and away, a common man having been called out on his insolence towards one above his station. Now she asked them to leave. He scooted his chair back as if to comply, but then used the elbow room instead to pull two small vials from his jacket.
He placed them on the table in front of her, saying nothing. Her eyes tracked them the whole way, uncertainty stripping the confidence from her expression. "Yes, of course, Mr. Nitrozian," he said, emphasizing the surname of his partner. "We certainly have no claim to the lofty status of a 'Ravokian', eh? Especially not one who is traitorously sympathetic to Sahovan interests. Is that possibly why you tried to persuade me away from Valerius' patriarch at the party last Spring? The party where an assassin made an attempt against him IN HIS OWN HOME?"
He saw Valerius' eyes grow wide. He knew the young socialite would not appreciate not hearing about this detail sooner. But he wanted Valerius to become angry now, so he covered his withholding of it with an excuse of prior ignorance. "At the time, I had assumed it was just a poor girl being frightened in the face of violence. Now it takes on a whole different hue." He leaned forward, his eyes and voice cold with malice. "What a coincidence that you'd try to keep the lord of a family with higher "status" than yours from being saved. That knowing you were in the company of a man with extensive knowledge of the very toxin used against him, that you would try to get that man away from the victim. The one victim whose "status" would stand against the scheming your family is currently attempting."
He leaned back, looking "down" on her from across the table. "You call yourself a Ravokian! Why then do you side with Sahova? And don't think you can escape the same fate by claiming ignorance of it. You know there's work going on at the Etravin's. Work that has nothing to do with Lily Pads or Cattails." A new inspiration seized him. "Haven't you noticed the weather conditions out there? Doesn't our Lord Rhysol provide us with lovely weather year-round? Don't you find it odd that he suddenly gives us this punishing cold?" he put slight emphasis on the word.
He leaned close again, "Well I don't. Clearly he is displeased! Displeased with something going on on the lake shore. Put it together, Alice! Your family tried to disrupt the most influential, and LOYAL, family last spring, just in time for a foreign agent to bring a powerful artifact into town. And now your family is shielding him from the Black Sun! And Rhysol shows his displeasure! Vayt's Teeth, Alice! stop this madness! Show the loyalty you claim. Give this foolishness up or be crushed by just retribution!"
He quieted now as Valerius took up the cause. But his hands hovered near the two vials he'd set before Alice, and let her see his gaze lock on the necklace. If he needed it, he would play his last card. The one that show her personal involvement.
He let just a hint of defeat shade his features at the word "status". He wanted her to focus on it as the shield she would repel this assault with. He let her ramble, her voice gaining strength as he looked down and away, a common man having been called out on his insolence towards one above his station. Now she asked them to leave. He scooted his chair back as if to comply, but then used the elbow room instead to pull two small vials from his jacket.
He placed them on the table in front of her, saying nothing. Her eyes tracked them the whole way, uncertainty stripping the confidence from her expression. "Yes, of course, Mr. Nitrozian," he said, emphasizing the surname of his partner. "We certainly have no claim to the lofty status of a 'Ravokian', eh? Especially not one who is traitorously sympathetic to Sahovan interests. Is that possibly why you tried to persuade me away from Valerius' patriarch at the party last Spring? The party where an assassin made an attempt against him IN HIS OWN HOME?"
He saw Valerius' eyes grow wide. He knew the young socialite would not appreciate not hearing about this detail sooner. But he wanted Valerius to become angry now, so he covered his withholding of it with an excuse of prior ignorance. "At the time, I had assumed it was just a poor girl being frightened in the face of violence. Now it takes on a whole different hue." He leaned forward, his eyes and voice cold with malice. "What a coincidence that you'd try to keep the lord of a family with higher "status" than yours from being saved. That knowing you were in the company of a man with extensive knowledge of the very toxin used against him, that you would try to get that man away from the victim. The one victim whose "status" would stand against the scheming your family is currently attempting."
He leaned back, looking "down" on her from across the table. "You call yourself a Ravokian! Why then do you side with Sahova? And don't think you can escape the same fate by claiming ignorance of it. You know there's work going on at the Etravin's. Work that has nothing to do with Lily Pads or Cattails." A new inspiration seized him. "Haven't you noticed the weather conditions out there? Doesn't our Lord Rhysol provide us with lovely weather year-round? Don't you find it odd that he suddenly gives us this punishing cold?" he put slight emphasis on the word.
He leaned close again, "Well I don't. Clearly he is displeased! Displeased with something going on on the lake shore. Put it together, Alice! Your family tried to disrupt the most influential, and LOYAL, family last spring, just in time for a foreign agent to bring a powerful artifact into town. And now your family is shielding him from the Black Sun! And Rhysol shows his displeasure! Vayt's Teeth, Alice! stop this madness! Show the loyalty you claim. Give this foolishness up or be crushed by just retribution!"
He quieted now as Valerius took up the cause. But his hands hovered near the two vials he'd set before Alice, and let her see his gaze lock on the necklace. If he needed it, he would play his last card. The one that show her personal involvement.
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