Prefect Ellanor Etatè knew that Gur Khan Jiro could not hide from her with blackmail from the crime syndicate pinning him down. And to hide was to be weak; the Dominion despised weakness.
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She found him reading quietly in his study. Jiro flinched when he caught her eye.
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“Miss Etatè...let it never be said that you are a liar, I suppose.” He laughed mirthlessly and nervously.
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“I need to speak to your...other self.” She told him flatly.
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Jiro looked at her like she had grown another head.
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“You want to speak to him?” He asked tentatively but with fear placed on the last word.
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“Him.” She echoed before ironically adding, “This room is a little small for an echo.”
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“Fine...” Conceded Jiro, who began changing to Jürgen.
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“We knew that you would come back for us after that letter. Tell us what you want from us and get lost easterner!” Snapped Jiro's other personality in irritation.
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“Well...you have a Khagan of the Dominion to kill.” Ellanor whispered slyly.
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“And why should we do that for you besides the blackmail?” He said before adding on, “Jürgen does not like threats.”
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Ellanor thought carefully for a moment before she decided on an approach: this part of Jiro would not roll over for her without something in return.
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“Jürgen must want to be Great Khagan of the Estrin Dominion. And I will become a Guardian if you do this teeny weeny little bit of Patricide / Regicide for me, so do you both not want to be the sovereign and Guardian of the Northwest?” Ellanor knew that this would work.
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“If you waddle all the way back to the East of Empyrea where you came from, or to the North, then we win. I will help Jiro build Prefect Etatè a mountain of corpses if it means she will stay out of our life!”
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Ellanor had Jürgen now, and that meant she had all of Jiro in the palm of her hand.
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“Absolutely, I am a woman of my word. Kill Xantè and Jiro and his wife get a seat at the table each, and I be out of your hair.”
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Jürgen controlled Jiro leapt up menacingly and grabbed a bloodstained dagger to hide in his sleeve.
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The Gur Khan of the Dominion took off running just as the clock struck noon. Brottslight did things at the exact him he gave. This meant he was at the door and would be at her location within minutes.
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As predicted, Felix Ålrune Brottslight walked up to her briskly, his walking stick tapping on the carpeted floor as he went.
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Brottslight was roughly in his early fifties and was starting to stoop. He had the grey-brown hair common in Umbracresti as well as the eyes that lay quite deep in his face, with the very pronounced eyebrow arches that were all too common in western men in Empyrea. He had a thin nose that stood out vertically. But the most noticeable features was the ghostly pale skin with visible veins – possibly caused by albinism as he had blood red eyes and glasses – that was practically unheard of in the scorching heat of Umbracrest. The other thing was his usual accent as well as speech pattern.
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It was not the rough Western rasp or abrasive tenor. Nor was it the aggressive snarl similar to how Jürgen spoke. It was a breathy, calming voice that did not sit well with Ellanor – who despite having know Brottslight since her youth, found him a little creepy – on some days anyway, on others it was very attractive for some weird reason. It seemed like it was the zenith of masculinity despite sounding a little....homosexual....Ellanor did not mind that at all, though.
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“Ah Miz Ellanor, how art you ln thiz fine day and Age?”
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“I am well, felix, but you missed my conversation with Jürgen as he took off to kill Xantè...”
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“Huzzah! Thiz iz excellent, Ellie! Ze Eclipze Verbrechersyndikat seems very pleased with ze extortion data you have kindly given uz.”
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Ellanor hated being called Ellie by anyone apart from Brottslight. She always got a giggle out of his inability to pronounce some words without his heavy accent getting in the way yet being capable of saying Verbrechersyndikat – a word that anyone outside of Umbracrest struggled to say properly – with ease.
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“You are satisfied then, Großfürst?” She asked her slippery friend.
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“Satisifed? Zey vill be delighted vith me! Ze Mr. Jürgen is a most interesting case... But perhaps zou could help me and ze Syndicate with our next plan? To detonate an æther warhead obtained from ze Earl Malum of the ze proud Narcissizians?”
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Ellanor had to stifle her laugh at how the Umbracresti had said “Narcissians”
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“Do you wish to remain on Estrin Island once it is done?”
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“Of ze course! I must extend my congratulations to the ze new khagan vith my own hand, ja? Khagan Jiro will be ze absolutely perfect kandidat...I mean candidate for ze second Etapp... what was ze word? Oh! Stage. He is ze perfect for stage Två.”
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Ellanor wondered if Empyrean Basic was not Brottslight's first language, but what else could it be?
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“Sorry, Ellie. I come from ze Town of Zweit in ze West. We speak a dialect of the old tongue there called Svensk, which is derived from the ancient language of the Colestis Imperii called Koloßer Kejsardömet. They spoke ze Classic Empyrean as well, which is closer to ze High Empyrean Dialect.”
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Oh. That explains a lot. Thought the Prefect.
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“The Kol..kolu.. kejardo...what?” She said while struggling to pronounce the weird language name.
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Brottslight sighed. “KO-lo-ser KAY-sar-met is close enough for a non-native of Zweit.”
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Ellanor managed to say it. “What do you mean close enough?”
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“It is actually said as KOH-lohs-er KAY-zahr-doh-met.” He sounded exasperated with the Eastern born woman butchering his native tongue.
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“Why has...that...survived in Umbracrest?”
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“Der West is vast and always fighting with zemselves, even before the Umbracresti Civil War. The language survived because the influence of the Colestis Imperii was ze only thing that zey refused to give up or engage in der krei- sorry, WAR for it.”
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“Goodbye for now, Felix.” She muttered before taking off.
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