Veldt froze for a moment she had expected him to know that she was not the original owner of this body, she hadn’t expected him to know how far out of time she was. Her mind raced as she tried to find a way to deflect him from that line of thought, no matter how long it had been she was sure her race were still known and that would not help her revenge.

Not at all.

Voice flat the Noble said, “I suspect I know what you are. What I do not know is how you are free after merely fifteen thousand turnings. Your race was sealed away most strongly by the rebellious and the witch gave her life for it, nothing should have been able to disturb that seal. The Royals told me our growth would be increased by association with you, whether they meant the original inhabitant of that body or you as the current inhabitant I know not. Such a novel situation will undoubtedly lead to new knowledge and that is good enough for me. So do not bother crafting the lies and deception your race is so famous for, they do not matter to me and will reflect very poorly upon you. Fair warning, that body has tells you have not yet brought to heel. That you are planning to dissemble is clear.”

Internally Veldt dammed the Iaernide, Nobles were much too observant and much too well trained in all of the social arts.

Externally she snorted and grimaced when she did, “You are correct. This form is … bestial… undisciplined and given to simply reacting. The previous owner would have fallen swiftly in the grand game and that alone should tell you enough to know what I was, as for who… well lets us just say my original form is turnings gone. Butchered like an animal and fed to slaves. Who exactly I was matters little but as I know you will dig incessantly until you discover it and the Iaernide archives are ages long. I will make it easy for you. I was Veldt of the Fae Chanar and had dealings with the Dreamless Sea warren. That is who I was, who I am? Now that is still a question to be answered... but my aim is revenge. Your aims I do not know.”

The Noble’s head tilted and his green glowing eyes regarded her silently for a moment, then he said, “The Fae Chanar are known to the Iaernide of course. But the race is also known as being obsessively underhanded, duplicitous, arrogant and continuing to lie even when they were known to be doing so. The Iaernide have long believed nothing that was said by the Fae Chanar unless corroborated by other sources. Even now your race is used as an example in teaching servants about to enter the world for the first time. But... in that form you cannot lie to me and everything you said, you believed to be truth. So I will do you the courtesy of the same. My immediate aim is their deaths.” He indicated the nearby deeply asleep forms of Albrecht and Rayosh. “I rather liked the previous inhabitant of that body and I was offended that this pair had accepted payment to slaughter him. Also the Royals told me he would be instrumental in great changes to come, great changes that would lead to growth. Both for me personally and even more-so for my protected.”

“Our aims coincide then, I want them dead as well. But I want them dead because they are working for the local agent of Folscach and anything which impedes his schemes is an aim to be desired. My ultimate aim is to disassemble his life around him and when he is at his lowest, kill him so he knows everything he has done has been for nothing.”

“Chancellor Folscach? What possible reason could one such as you have to desire revenge on him? You should have had no contact with the world in fifteen thousand turnings… you said your body was lost, fed to slaves… Chancellor Folscach accrued power at an extremely swift rate due to his rivals falling to attacks, backed by a level of magic unseen from him before… a level of magic his training and his known resources could not allow for.” The Noble nodded, “Chancellor Folscach captured you... and not just you but a small group of Fae Chanar and has used your race’s potent blood to power his ambitions. That explains some things that had bothered us about his rise. But how did you become free and was it all of you?”

Veldt was reminded once again just how dangerous Nobles were, given so little information he’d mostly worked out the truth of the situation. She said, “You have divined the basic truth of it and I will have my retribution for his trespass against me in a moment of weakness. Yes it was all of us who had been put aside who escaped but as for how I don't know and what happened to most of my brethren I also don't know as we all went our separate ways.”

He said, “That is information of worth, I thank you. Well, you find yourself in a body that Chancellor Folscach has trespassed against as well. I have spoken with Obbst's shade, he has not moved on to wherever spirits of men go after death as his death was extremely unjust and his close ties with Order tug at him even after death. He’s also not that happy about his body being walked around especially by someone with such close ties to the realm of Chaos.”

“Wait, what makes you think I have ties to Chaos?”

“You mean other than the fact that body was permeated by Chaos energy when you first walked into the camp for those with eyes to see? Chaos energy that has since been slowly subsiding, it is obvious that however that body was repaired and reanimated owed much to the realm.”

She snorted and grimaced again at the uncontrollable tell, “Hmmph. Nobles, too damn smart for your own good.”

“Oddly enough Obbst shared that opinion… which is strange, I certainly can’t see it.”

She rolled her eyes, “Save me from an Iaernide with a sense of humour, certainly a new development in your race. You were the touchstone for humourless competency when I last walked the realms.”

“Races that do not develop, do not grow and change, they fall. Your race’s fall was long, hard and devastating. You were incapable of change, incapable of growth, incapable of accepting your way was not the only way. That arrogance and inflexibility was your downfall not the rebellion. Wouldn’t you agree Fae Chanar?”

She shook her head and shrugged, “Whether I agree or not does not matter, history has answered for me. My race no longer rules as we should and is likely entirely gone from the Realms but I believe it was circumstance not stagnation that caused our downfall. We were ruling for a hundred and fifty thousand turnings before your first Royal crawled from the very first warren near the Straights of Zurmis but that doesn't matter to me, not really. I seek only to destroy Folscach and as long as he goes first I will come to my end happily.”

“That sounds very unlike the Fae Chanar of our records, your race's tenacity in holding onto any type of existence is legendary. What has changed with you?”

“The Realm itself is now actively hostile to my kind, the land, the air, the astral, every single part of the Realm now seeks to drive me away. Something the Witch bought with her life still lingers, only my preparations in building a soul construct and my somehow still existing anchor allowed me to resist it's insistent drive to remove me from existence. The effect is muted now that I'm in this body but it's still... very unpleasant.” The Minotaur's form shivered slightly as if chilled.

“Interesting, for an effect to linger for so long and so powerfully after the caster's death it must have been made with godlike levels of magic. We have long known witches have secrets we have not plumbed and we also know they have a source of power yet undiscovered. Your information is new and good so our interaction here has already been of value to us. The Royals chose well in sending me to you... or more correctly to him. Very well I see that an association will definitely be of value to me, mine and my race. Provisionally, you count on my aid in destroying Chancellor Folscach and maintaining your masquerade as Obbst. But, I must communicate with the Royals first. What you plan will destabilise the confederacy and I need to know if that is acceptable to their plans. Surely as who and what you were and knowing what you do, you can understand.”

She snorted again and said, “Yes. I also understand that you will destroy me and anyone I've spoken to if instructed to do so by the Royals, I'll await your return.”

“Oh, I won't be seeking the Royals until we are back in civilisation. We'll kill this pair and continue to travel with the caravan, while we do I will coach you in how to be portray yourself better as the form you inhabit.”

“Why would you do that? The Royals are just as likely to tell you to end me as not.”

He said, “Much less likely in truth, Folscach has been... inconveniencing the Royals with some of his restrictions and some of his demands. I would assign good odds of his demise being an acceptable or even welcome outcome.”

“Why tell me this?”

“Because our relationship is, I feel, going to be very important. I have no concrete reason for why but I have learned to trust my 'gut' even though technically I don't have one.”

She snorted again and said, “So based on something that doesn't even exist you feel I am important? That makes little sense.”

“True it does, but that distinction is a large part of why Nobles are Nobles and have protected in their care. That ability to choose based on a feeling rather than having all data.”

Nodding she said, “Now it does make sense and explains things the Fae Chanar had wondered about the Iaernide, far too late of course but that is normal in dealing with your kind. Things of import are discovered after they would have been useful to know... and I expect that is entirely deliberate. Let people learn things about you so they ask fewer questions but far too late for it to actually matter.”

“Thank you for the reminder that it is not a Minotaur I'm speaking with, rather an extremely old, extremely learned and extremely manipulative creature wearing a Minotaur's face. Not that I'd forgotten... but the reminder is worthy of attention. Anyway, the watch will be changing soon, we must have them dead and gone before then. To cover their disappearance I was planning to create an illusion of the same thing the Fae did, some large nightflying creature. If it could carry off a bull Minotaur, a Fae and a Boarn would be no problem at all.”

Smiling Veldt said, “Nice of her to set up the cover for her own disappearance.”

“My skills in illusion are not as developed as the Fae's I suspect, I have heard the descriptions of Obbst's valiant fight against the scaled and feathered abomination and I know I cannot create that level of detail. But a suggestion of wings in the dark? That I can certainly do. Do you wish to kill them or should I have my protected do so?”

“Have the protected do it. I have no interest in them past removing them as tools for Folscach's agent.”

“Very well.”

The hulking melee protected walked over and picking up the pair walked off into the dark with them closely followed by one of the other soldiers, the servant and the other soldier busied themselves quietly creating the signs of something large smashing through the light tree cover.

“Hd will show you back to your sleeping spot.” He chuckled, a very disquieting sight from an Iaernide as it was all sound with no emotion, “I'll stay and give the incoming watch a show. Hmm I need to work on that, don't I?”

“Yes, that was frankly horrifying.”

“Good to know.”

The servant walked off a short way and looked back clearly waiting for her to follow.

As she settled herself down onto the blanket... she realised the Noble had deliberately shown her something he knew he was bad at, why?