Editing Around the Dinner Table (section)

===Breakfast===
The door to the dinning room slammed open and Brecca entered, her arms full of stuff. Behind her, one of the waiting staff stood with her arms full as well.

Brecca strolled into the room and yelled, "We're back! And we brought presents!!"

Unfortunately, only Mae was there to witness the pageantry. She slowly put her teacup down and raised an eyebrow. "That was fast. You only left six hours ago."

Brecca dumped her items on the end of the table and stepped back. She had to wave her unfortunate helper forward to drop her bundle on the table, which she quickly did and left, closing the door behind her. 

"Things went quick. We have a rep!" Brecca beamed. She then happily started organizing the stuff on the table. "Where is everyone?"

"Its not yet dawn. Everyone but the night staff are asleep. A rep?" asked Mae.

"I noticed that when we got back," said Brecca. "A rep as badasses! No lines, no waiting, almost an immediate invitation to see the Lady of Pain."

"And time to go shopping, I see," said Mae. She picked up her cup and sipped it, eyeing the collection of packages.

There were several minutes of silence as Brecca went through the collection, separating them into five piles. She finally nodded, then dropped herself into a chair.

Looking around, Brecca asked, "Is there any more tea?"

Mae raised her hand and tugged in midair. Near the door, the bell rope pulled with her motions. Somewhere in the bowels of the inn a bell tolled.

"So, what was the answer from the Lady of Pain?" asked Mae.

"More confusion. And boy is she scary! Wyncit was pissed when we left, but then he got quiet while shopping." Brecca answered with a frown. "I didn't follow it all, specially when they got into the esoteric philosophy of spells and divination."

Mae grinned. "Esoteric philosophy?"

Brecca pouted. "You and Wyncit said it means the nitty-gritty. I listen!"

Mae nodded. "Yes, we did." She frowned. "So, are we going to war with a goddess?"

Brecca shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Wyncit said he had to think some things through."

Just then the door opened and Herman walked into the room. He bowed and asked, "You require something, ma'am?"

Mae raised both eyebrows. "Goodness, Herman. Don't you ever sleep?"

He smiled. "Master Child has asked me to look after all of you while you stayed with us. I'll take a nap later in the day and be right as rain, ma'am. You rang?"

Mae shook her head. "Yes, Herman, though I didn't think they would wake you. If the kitchen is open, could we get a pot of my tea?"

Herman nodded. "Master Sutler needed the library unlocked, and as I and Master Child are the only ones with the key, they called me. And not only is the kitchen starting up, but the baker has been awake for the last hour. I could add warm bread to the order."

Brecca clapped. "Bread and butter! Maybe some of that breakfast sausage if there is any left?"

"But of course," Herman nodded.

"I imagine Wyncit could have opened the library without you, but thank you, Herman," Mae said, smmiling.

Herman nodded again, then left, closing the door behind him.

Brecca leaned back into her chair and closed her eyes. Mae sipped her tea and lost herself in her memories.

Quiet settled in the room. The occasional snort or snore was heard before the quiet returned.

The door opened once again and Tony walked in and held the door open as Herman and the woman who had helped Brecca came in with two trays. Herman placed several tea pots on the table with cups, saucers, milk, and sugar. Then came several loaves of the still-warm bread, dishes of butter and oil dip, a platter of sausages, a selection of cheeses and a bowl of winter fruits.

Tony fussed over the arrangement as Herman and the woman left. He nodded, poured himself a cup of tea and sat down next to Brecca. Sipping, he turned to Brecca and frowned. Mae smiled to herself as Brecca snored at Tony.

"Didn't they just leave?" asked Tony.

"I take it things happened quickly. Then Brecca bought presents," Mae said.

"Oh. Presents," said Tony with a quick smile.

Quiet descended in the room again, the sound of sipping tea and the occasional snore interrupting the silence. Mae watched Tony stare at the grandfather clock. His frown slowly turned into a grimace.

"You could donate it to a church? I'd warn them where it came from, though," Mae finally said.

Tony grunted. 

"You could sell it at auction? I'd warn them where it came from, though," Mae said.

Tony grunted.

"You could decorate it with bunting and wildflowers and post a warning of where it came?" Mae said.

Tony grunted. Then he looked at Mae in confusion. "What?"

"Nothing, dear," Mae replied.

The door opened and Wyncit walked in, carrying three books. Noticing the snoring Brecca, he closed the door quietly and sat down next to Mae. Placing the books off to the side, he leaned forward and poured himself a cup of tea with milk, then sliced off some bread and spread soft butter on it. He took a sausage and some soft white cheese and sat back. He sighed and took a sip of tea. "Well, that was different," Wyncit said.

Mae frowned. "Brecca said you were rather angry when you left your meeting."

Wyncit frowned back. "I got fixated. Or the Lady of Pain is lying. Or everyone is wrong. Or everyone is right and the world is ending, again." 

Tony cocked his head. "Which means?"

Wyncit looked at Brecca and sighed. "Might as well wake her for this briefing."

Tony poked Brecca a few times. "Brecca, wake up!"

Brecca sat straight up. "I wasn't asleep!"

Mae laughed. "You were snoring."

Brecca glared at Mae. "I don't snore."

Mae grinned. "Okay."

Brecca looked around to the others. "I don't."

Tony just nodded, but Brecca didn't notice as she saw the tea and bread. She stood up and proceeded to fill a plate with several cheeses, sausages and slices of bread with butter. Finally, she poured herself a cup of tea with sugar and sat down to eat.

Wyncit waited until Brecca was eating then looked to the others.

"The Gate to Sigil was right where Tony's contact said it would be. We came out of an alleyway into the city. The city is huge and crowded. It's inside a giant wide wheel around a central spoke. If you look up, you see the city curve all the way around to where you are standing. Almost immediately after arriving we were met by the Lady of Pain's agents and taken to see her. I'm... pretty sure the door we used and the room we entered weren't actually in the same place. The room was immense. Plated in gold, mithral and gems. No chairs, everyone stood. Except for the Lady of Pain, who floated above a throne on dais that was twenty feet high. I got a crink in my neck talking to her. Well, at her. She doesn't talk. She used telepathy to talk through a highly dressed interpreter who then talked to us. We were still in our traveling clothes and I felt rather underdressed. I thought going through the interpreter would be difficult and time consuming, but it turned out the individual was very good. I felt like the Lady was talking directly at me with inflection and emotion. And then everything I assumed fell apart."

Wyncit stopped and sipped some tea.

Mae cleared her throat. "What had you assumed?"

Wyncit frowned, then sighed. "I had decided to believe the dream and change my assumptions about the dream when they proved to be false. So, I assumed that the dream was from Leardon. I assumed that Grandmother and the other souls were still in the phylactery. I assumed that the Raven Queen caught the phylactery and saved them. The Lady went the other way: that the dream was false and to change that assumption. Then she used a sledgehammer to prove all of my assumptions false."

"I told you after that she could be lying," said Brecca. "She is the Raven Queen's friend."

"You did. But did you sense any lying?" asked Wyncit. "I couldn't."

"No, I didn't think the interrupter was lying," said Brecca. "She wears a mask and never talks. She might just be a puppet hovering over the room, for all we know,"

Brecca turned to the others. "The interpreter by the way, was an ultroloth. A very powerful demon."

Wyncit nodded. "Not quite a demon, but true. And I kept that in mind. But her argument was powerful and logical. I should point out that there were celestials there, too. She has gathered a truly bizarre mix of evil and good."

Tony broke in. "What was her argument? What did she think?"

Brecca smiled. "My turn! Drink your tea, Wyncit. I actually understood this part. She said that it was impossible for the phylactery to have survived because Acererak was destroyed. If the Raven Queen had the phylactery, then Acererak would still be alive. He's not, so it isn't. So the second part of the dream couldn't have been from Wyncit's grandmother because her soul is gone."

Wyncit shrugged. "Leardon was unforthcoming about phylacteries."

"I thought it was the Shadowfell that killed Acererak?" said Tony.

"I did, too," Wyncit said. "But I was too busy trying to survive to see the phylactery once it went into the Shadowfell. Anyway. Did the phylactery survive? We have two possibilities." Wyncit put one finger. "If yes, then the dream is true. The Lady of Pain lied and the Raven Queen has the phylactery. We need to invade the Shadowfell and retake it." Wyncit put up a second finger. "If no, then the dream is false. Someone is trying to make me believe it's from Leardon and directing a confrontation between us and the Raven Queen."

Mae put her tea cup down and tapped a finger on the table. "What is the actual evidence for either question?"

"Well," said Brecca. "A couple of Shadar-kai did try to kill Wyncit. They work for the Raven Queen."

Mae shook her head. "They also work with other deities and powers."

Wyncit nodded. "There were shadar-kai with the Lady of Pain, too. As for actual, physical evidence, there isn't any. Just the opinion of a near deity."

"Who is a friend to the Raven Queen," added Tony.

Wyncit continued. "No one actually saw the phylactery destroyed. We were all concentrating on Acererak."

With that, more tea was poured and a breakfast of bread and sausage was eaten in silence as each lost themselves in their own thoughts. After a while, Herman and a few others came in to clear the table and, with the departing message that dawn had come, he left them.

"You know," Mae finally broke into the silence. Then she stopped, thought, then started again. "You know, you never finished what happened with the Lady of Pain."

"Oh," Wyncit said. "Um, well her opinion was that someone else, someone who knows me personally, someone who I think is deceased, sent the deam."

Wyncit frowned. "She also threatened me. Well, us." 

Tony raised both his eyebrows in shocked. "Why did she threaten us?"

Wyncit looked at Tony. "She warned us not to become a threat to Sigil. We destroyed Acererak. We stopped the Death Curse. We have power and know people and organizations with power who will listen to us."

"Who?" asked Mae.

"We do," Wyncit answered.

Mae waved the answer away. "No, I mean who is that someone else that sent the dream?"

"Oh." Wyncit made a face. "I did come up with an answer. But honestly, I don't see it."

Both Mae and Tony asked, "Who?"

Wyncit looked down at the table. "Its just conjecture, after a process of elimination, adding in the ability of casting a Dream spell that..."

Mae and Tony interrupted forcefully. "WHO?"

Wyncit looked up. "Azaka, via the vampire wizard Ferranifer who stole her body."

Brecca pouted. "I thought it was Tika..."

[[Category:Stories]]