Intruder Alert

[Lucius Sinister]

It was the balcony of the dark Fortress of Ruberagon where Lucius stood quietly and patiently waiting for the others to arrive. To say he was a patient man would be accurate; to say he was patient with others whom should by now be in his presence would be a falsehood. He stood and waited knowing he could only allow this tardiness until his Grandfather arrived. For this moment was important enough to draw the Lord Ruberagon from his chambers deep in the castle. He stood with his hair rippling about his face, fingered by the tendrils of air from void about the fortress. The Ruberagon fortress was always a point of curiosity for anyone in the Ruberagon house. They were already in a castle after all, and the cavern in which the Ruberagon Fortress stood seemed almost as vast, so where then, inside the Manor of Koalingo, could a space such as this possibly be. Magic was the answer of course, and the reason why the question required little more than a moments thought.

The import of the meeting surrounded his recent visitor; he had hoped his Grandfather would arrive first so that he could ask how it was possible for such a thing to occur. He also knew that it was his duty to make certain other members of his house aware of the occurance which is also why he had summouned Kalika and Lakasha. Hoping all the while that word would never reach the ears of Romulus, who Lucius was only now starting to mistrust. He looked out into the black void surrounding the fortress and contemplated the boy. He seemed to have a lot of the traits required for the Ruberagon house, and the fact that he detested Lucius so was no more of a surprise to him than it should be to anyone else. Few people liked Lucius, perhaps no body, you either hated him, or feared him. Unless you were Godric Emerindyl.

Something in thinking about Godric stirred his memories of the previous night. The boy looked strikingly familiar, and yet Lucius knew he had never seen the boy before in his life. Still. With dead Ameraid’s popping up and missing Saphricorn’s and whispers of traiters within the walls of the manor, nothing surprised Lucius anymore. He wondered how much his news would surprise those he was waiting for.

He turned with his back now to the balcony’s edge when he heard footsteps. His dark eyes fell upon the first arrival.

[Romulus Silvia]

“Are you waiting for somebody Lucius,” the voice came as if floating on the non-existant breeze. Romulus had been standing nearby out of sight for a little while, and while noticing that something had Lucius perplexed, he didn’t feel the need to approach the boy for the moment. He detested Lucius Sinister and the boy knew it. He never felt the need to mar the lines by speaking with him in anything that could be misconstrued as social banter.

“A private meeting, dear me, what are we all to think,” he said with his arms folded, leaning on the blackened stone of the fortress wall. It was cold and made his skin prickle, though this was a feeling he had become accustomed to in the Ruberagon common. It made his stomach to turn at the mere thought of it. The founders had messed up when they decided those who would normally have been placed in the house Oniada would be able to function in any other house group. Lady Oniada had it right, there were a certain kind of people for the house Oniada, and they weren’t compatible anywhere else.

“Murder and intrigue, the castle rumbles to the sound of the talk, and here you are waiting for a private meeting we mere mortals know nothing about,” he didn’t smile though you could see the mirth present in his eyes, “Planning a second go at it then, who will your next victim be? Everyone knows you don’t like the Ameraid house, and you can cry all you like that your protestations against them have to do with the history of their founder… I know you were in your first year when that little bomb exploded.”

He chuckled, though there was nothing about it that remotely resembled warmth or humour, “You know what I don’t understand is that Finnias was a pureblood, just like you,” he exhaled slowly, a little overdone perhaps but the effect was necessary, “I thought you and your kind stuck together,”

[Barnak Pengryffin]

The hair on the back of Barnak's neck began to prickle, and his skin tingled in that way skin does when one overhears something one knows instantly that one shouldn't have heard.

The tension between the two older boys was blatant and visible daily in a number of ways, but he had never been privy to a meeting between the two of them under such circumstances. He didn't relish the moment when they realised he was there, if indeed they were not so bound up in mutual distaste that they would utterly fail to notice him. His passing familiarity with Romulus left him curious but uncertain what to think of him, and he had no idea at all what Lucius might do. Not that he was hiding: for once, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or perhaps he was in the right place at the right time... but from the disdainful tone of those words, he doubted that this was a conversation he would profit from being present to hear.

He had been in the commons all evening, and had become so absorbed in his own chosen studies that he had not noticed the rooms around him slowly emptying as the last stragglers made their way to their private quarters. From his position in the dark far corner, behind two of the biggest armchairs the room had to offer, he had barely registered the presence of the others at all, and it was only when he heard Romulus' voice that he realised that there was anyone else there.

Barnak's breathing slowed and his mind grew still and clear as he focused his attention on the two older boys. A moment ago he had been practising the precise wrist movements for a few select charms he had discovered in the restricted section of the library, but now he lowered his wand, the pile of books before him momentarily transformed from fascinating literature to mere obstacles between himself and the nearest exit.

[Lucius Sinister]

"Whether or not I am waiting for someone, something, or nothing is neither here nor there from any perspective of yours Romulus," Lucius said not very kindly. He was as agitated with himself for not having sensed the boy's approach as he was with the figure now standing before him as if he had a right to be there. He knew also at this point that Lord Ruberagon would not have made the same mistake and that his Grandfather may in fact be near, but would not have approached while there was a spy amongst them. How long had Romulus been standing there, and how much did he know about the meeting that might have explained his appearance.

"I would imagine that the act of you thinking of anything private or otherwise might overwhelm the simplicity of any self proclaimed mind you may feel you have," Lucius was on guard at once. His insults of aggressive banter were no longer for the benefit of himself, or even for Romulus. His Grandfather needed to understand that Lucius did not trust this boy at all. And he knew the tone he employed would express that to his Grandfather, wherever he viewed this altercation from.

"I must however congratulate you on your understanding of just how meagre you are, Romulus" the corners of his mouth turned up just slightly as he twisted Romulus' use of 'we mere mortals' "I admit it intrigues me that you feel there is any meeting to take place here." he turned to look directly at the fool, leaning almost carelessly against one of the obsidian columns dotted along the edge of the balcony. "I am - or was until you arrived - alone. I'd hazard a guess that you've perhaps been listening to the tales of the wind about secret meetings and covert operations that have brought you from your entertainments to seek satisfaction for your curiosity,"

"You'll forgive me that I do not pity your disappointment," he chose not to comment on Romulus' remarks about second victims. Lucius knew the boy was just goading him and he refused to be drawn into such childishness.

"Do we now?" he smiled, "Purebloods stick together? You say this as if it is distasteful to you," Lucius maintained his level expression while he contemplated the intricacies of this boy's subversions, which were mostly known to him, "Last time I looked, you were enjoying the benefits afforded to you by your noble blood, Silvia?"