Plans 

Gloved hands tap her jawline as Gallant walked about the walkways of the Ministry, whispering thoughts and schemes to no one with no real solutions and success. She was called in for another look over of her notes from the deeper desert, about Joko and his troops, but she could care less. During her travel back, allies in the Vanguard had asked many questions about her, about the husband and who he was. All that talk got her heart pining once more and twice as frustrated at realizing at how long it had been since she was last there at the Priory.

She needed to see him. There was no doubt about it.

But they didn’t let her in so easily. She needed something to get into their halls.

Something good.

It’s her fellow messenger Haer that notices her first as she enters the inner ring of the Ministry, still whispering and fidgeting. She’s quick to get to her side and watch, a smile stretching ear to ear and untamed hair shifting in colors with each step. She sees the other is deep in thought, and it hits every level of curiosity.

“Thinking of a way out, I see?”

Her daze breaks and Gal looks to Haer from the corner of her eye, but quickly looks on before mumbling, “A way in, more or less.”

“To? What, to those quarters again_”

“Hush! No one. . . No, to something else.” The hand moves, and she rubs her bottom lip with a thumb and continues in a hesitant tone. “The Priory. I have some business there I need to deal with, but I can’t get in. It’s horrendous, treating me like I don’t belong when I do show up.”

 “Well, you do not really belo_“

The harsh gaze from Gal makes Haer stop, and she falls silent as Gal continues with her own speech. “I want to be there. I just can’t get in because I can’t just show up and state personal business unless. . .” She falls silent, obviously nervous about something. The young Mesmer is quick to pick up on that nerve, and she can’t keep her smile from growing.

“Who knows of his darling wife?”

Gal ignores that question deliberately and instead asks another. “Do you change appearance on others? Temporarily I mean. Could I use some of that magic?”

“I’m a Mesmer, not a miracle maker.” Haer is near insulted by such a question, but her smile does not falter. Gal knew she couldn’t, so her asking her just made her even more determined to find out of this ordeal. “You did not answer my question my friend: Who knows of you there?”

Another bout of silence comes from the taller human as she struggles to think of how to even answer this. Each answer she thinks is worse than before, and soon she realizes the reality of the situation.

“Ophelia.”

“And who is that?”

“……… His cat.”

She jumps slightly when the Mesmer lets out a hardy ‘HA’ at the response and she watches as the other almost fall apart there in the middle of this hall, reaching out to catch books as the fall from the arms and holding them tight with a grimace. “Yes, yes very funny. I asked to keep it quiet, to keep us safe in case anyone tries to go after either of us. So, we have it hidden… Now it’s proven an issue. And sad. Can’t speak with pride of him half the time_”

“You’re a mess Vindleton, a large and beautiful mess,” Haer wheezes out between her laughs, taking back the books and tucking wild strands. “I don’t blame you, but you’re too cautious. The Priory would understand the relationship you know.  Maybe go and state who you are, it may work.”

She’s met with a brief nod. “That. . . Or find a window.”

And then there is this madness.

“Explain.”

Gal shrugs. “I get there, and I find his office. He has a bunch of windows, I can simply climb in, then out once I am done. Couple days, no one notices. You can keep me off the hook here, he can keep them busy with his work, so we could do it.”

Haer only stares the more she listens to this plan. She was so determined, wasn’t she? To get inside this place, that even madness is considered smart. As much as she wants to see how that plan would work, she did need her alive for the job and just in general.  the Mesmer speaks, “Or you can fall and die and he’ll have to pick your corpse up. Great returning gift… Vindleton, you think too much of this just go to the place and state you have an urgent matter to speak with him, something about journals. Weren’t you sent to Istan?”

The blue eyes widen, and the fidgeting stops upon hearing her suggestion. Yes, yes that could work. Bunch of notes and information, they’d take it like honey. She could ask for him directly, just walk in and lock that door behind her. They wouldn’t ask if she knew him, just look as important as possible.

The second plan would stay there as a just in case. Or as an escape plan.

She turns to Haer and cracks a smile. “Yes, journal. That can work… Keep the window open as a precaution and a plan B… You can cover for me until I am back right? No issue, they’ll understand.”

“No issue, you say. They expect two messengers, not one.”

“But say Priory, they won’t bat an eye correct?”

Haer stops just as she opens her mouth, then closes it. She’s right on that end. She does it enough on her end.  That silence makes Gal’s smile grow and she begins to adjust her clothes. “You’re a blessing sometimes. A true blessing. In and out, no issue! I owe you for this, I know I do.”

She’s greeted with a small ‘mhm’ and a wave of the hand. The list of ‘I owe you’ was long, and she’d have to do a lot to cover it.

Gal embraces her for a moment then lets her go, turning on the heel and going back out the large doors and down the steps towards the portals to make her way to the mountains. Yes, get there with her journals and state she needs to see Turlough so he can do his job translating. It’s perfect, it can work. 

Plan B will stay. Just in case.