Chapter 358 - The Moonshadow Trading Company Short Stories: 7 - The Desolate Lands (I) (1/2)

*Eldovian Era 1719, 7th day of the 9th month*

Nolan Reinhart frowned as he was woken abruptly from his deep sleep. The smell of paint and the seaside greeted him, as well as the nasty kink in his neck from his awkward sleeping position. He g.r.o.a.n.e.d as he reached his hand up to rub it, sitting up straighter and stretching out his arms as he yawned.

A loud banging sound blasted from the front door of his apartment, ”Nolan! Open the door! I know you're in there!”

Nolan sighed as he recognised the voice.

It'd been just shy of three years since Allyra Cavahall had shown up at his door, her deep and beautiful green eyes carrying a determined sheen that was backed by a strength he had never seen from the quiet heiress. Granted, he'd only met her a few times before then, and only at the insistence of his family. He hadn't seen her for two years when she'd arrived looking almost as plain as a commoner. Her hair had been the biggest shock. Gone were the famous black satin locks that had made her beauty so alluring. In its place, a roughly chopped bob of soft strands that made her neck and jawline seem all the more exquisite.

She'd demanded an answer from him immediately that day, ”You came back from the Cermine District the other day, why?”

Nolan had frowned, shocked to see her at all, let alone with her current appearance, ”I…what happened to your hair?”

She'd seemed to lose some of the fire in her eyes when she realised he was staring, ”C…can I come in?”

”Oh!” Nolan had said, pulling himself out of the shock, ”I…sure, but you'll have to excuse the mess”.

The mess, evidently, had not bothered her in the slightest. She'd spent the next six months sleeping in his apartment to avoid her family, which, seeing as Nolan was doing the exact same thing anyway, he didn't feel all that bothered about. He was bothered by the fact that surely her reputation would be ruined if anyone found out they were living in the same space.

It had turned out though, that it was already ruined. After Nolan heard why she was there, he'd recounted what he'd remembered from that night, which was little, and he was surprised to realise that there were patches in his own memories as well. Such a thing had made them both curious, and their only lead had been Ebony Moonshadow.

But it was harder than one thought to contact her. After several failed attempts, during which she'd either been away on business, or far too busy to answer any of Nolan's requests for a meeting with little more than an apology, Allyra had taken a different approach.

By day, she ran a teahouse that Nolan had helped her open thanks to the sales of his paintings, then, whenever she was available, she scouted the Cermine District for anything remotely Moonshadow related.

What she'd found was quite simple. The Moonshadows themselves were so elusive that they were only ever seen in public when they wanted to be seen. When the Trade Festival had occurred the year before and they had taken the Bronze Token for a second time running, it had been even more difficult to even think about requesting a meeting with them that wasn't business related.

Still, Allyra didn't seem to have any plans on giving up.

Nolan rose and headed for the door. Allyra, even with her annoyingly persistent nature, had somehow become a friend to him over the past few years, and one of the few he could tolerate interrupting him in the middle of his work.

Opening the door, Allyra swept in without so much as a hello. Free from society's restraints and profiting with her own business, Allyra was no longer the meek, dull girl that everyone had believed her to be. At least not around Nolan.

”I saw him!” she said as she took off her scarf and placed it on one of his dining chairs, putting her basket on the table.

Nolan closed the front door as she proceeded to unpack breakfast for him. She was at least courteous enough to provide such a thing when she came around unannounced.

”Saw who?” asked Nolan.

”Him,” she insisted, ”The one who…the one I spent the night with”.

Nolan looked at her, suddenly wide awake as he sunk into the seat opposite her and absentmindedly cleared a few of his paint pallets to the side, ”I thought you didn't remember him?

”I didn't, not until I saw him, but I'm sure it was him,” said Allyra as she too took a seat, pushing one of the plates towards Nolan and unscrewing the flask that no doubt held some exquisite tea of her choosing. She had remarkable taste and was a surprisingly great chef despite her upbringing. It was why Nolan had proposed and agreed to finance the tearooms in the first place.

”How?” asked Nolan, eyes narrowed with scepticism.

”Well, I was down by the docks discussing the new tea shipments with the dock master when these three men in hoods all walked by at quite a quick pace,” said Allyra, launching into her story as she flipped her single braid over her shoulder. She hadn't bothered to cut her hair again in three years, but she always styled it in ways she never would have if she were still among her family, ”The thing was…they drew attention, and not just because of the hoods. There was this…aura about them. Like they were powerful. Everyone just seemed to pause and watch in awe as they passed. It was when they were only a couple of metres from me that I saw the badge on the lapels of their jackets. Moonshadow badges. Badges carved from Evanine”.

Nolan frowned, ”Those are…aren't they reserved for the top members of that company?”

Allyra nodded, ”Bronze for the common workers, silver for the managers, gold for those working at the production houses and Evanine Crystal for those of the highest positions. Rumour has it that the badges are carved with a protection charm, though I could not see the rune”.

”Okay,” said Nolan, ”While it's quite a sight to see three of them in one place, especially outside of the Trader's Festival, how does this relate to you having seen the mystery man? They only started using those badges a year ago when Lord Moonshadow announced the benefits system for the company”.

Allyra shook her head, ”The badges are just one of the clues. What really made me aware of the fact that one of them was that man, was because the one that was closest to me glanced at me as he passed by”.

Nolan paused, ”And?”

Allyra frowned, ”He was younger than I expected, especially to be so high up in Moonshadow. I know Lord Moonshadow himself is quite young, but still. The man often seen beside him, Mathius Silvermoon, seems older by a couple of decades. But like I said, this man I saw was young. He had very pale skin, and from what little I could see of his hair it was a honey blond. And his eyes…they were the palest blue I've ever seen, like ice. But what really jolted my memory were the piercings”.

Nolan's eyebrows raised in surprise, ”Piercings?”

It was quite rare. Pirates and Ruffians sometimes did it, and women pierced the lobes of their ears, but the only other instance that Nolan had heard of piercings were Barbarian Tribes in the West.

”On his eyebrow, nose and lip…” Allyra said, ”When I saw them, I had this immediate reaction. I just knew I'd seen them before. Then this image flashed in my head of this same man, without the hood, standing to the side of a great celebration, and turning to look at me”.

Nolan thought for a moment. Before Allyra urged him, ”Nolan, you have to send another message to them”.

Nolan sighed, ”I've sent many, what makes you think this one is going to get through?”

Allyra raised an eyebrow, ”Because I'm going to write it, and I'm not going to take no for an answer”.

Nolan scoffed, ”I don't see how that will make a difference”.

Allyra took a sip from her tea, ”I do, you're far too reserved and passive in your letters”.

Nolan frowned, thinking back to other letters he'd written in order to contest her claim, only to find that he couldn't find a liable example.

”Fine, write it,” said Nolan, ”I'll deliver it later this afternoon”.

”You know how quickly they disappear,” said Allyra as she fished her hand into the basket and withdrew a letter, already sealed and signed, ”You need to go now”.

Nolan frowned, looking at his name on the front of the envelope, ”How did you…?”

”Your handwriting is very elegant, yet surprisingly easy to copy,” said Allyra.

Nolan rolled his eyes, ”I'd appreciate you asking permission next time”.

Allyra indicated to the plate in front of him, ”I brought you breakfast as an apology”.

***

Iah looked down at the letter with a delicate frown upon her brow. She'd seen quite a few over the past couple of years. Nolan Reinhart was a man she'd only ever come to know through his letters. He seemed soft-hearted, artistic, and elegant. The elegance was still within the script on the page before her, but the soft-heartedness and artistic quirks she'd come to admire were quite obviously absent.

That of course, was a reason for concern, but what had grabbed her immediate attention was the actual contents of the letter.

”…a close acquaintance of mine has expressed concern about missing memories. She is sure that a highly placed Moonshadow employee with pale eyes and piercings adorning his face is, at least in part, responsible…”

Iah sighed as she placed the letter down on her desk and leaned back in her chair. The Allure was not as all powerful as it seemed, at least when wielded by somebody other than Rassa. Erasing memories was easy, especially when they were relatively short and had occurred recently, but constructing replacements was not. To reimagine a memory, it had to have enough detail to convince the individual of what had occurred, but enough empty spaces for it to appear real. After all, human memory was so biased, any regular individual forgot half of the contents of their memories after a few minutes.

That, however, was not the only difficulty. The details also had to cater to the individual. Did that person frequent the setting often? Did they recall scents or sounds more easily? And what of their own personalities? How would they react and interact in the constructed memory to appear natural? The rest of the Coven, apart from Rassa, showed great difficulties in constructing full replacements for memories. Though they grew better at it the more they practiced, they were still far from Rassa's level. Iah was sure they'd never achieve what he could. The others had realised this too, which was why some, such as Layton, had elected to just stick with erasing memories.

The more blank spots they left though, the more likely one or two would slip through the cracks and begin to question. It only took a spark for a fuse to light.

Iah reached over and touched the communication charm on her desk, activating it.

”Something wrong?” Rassa's voice resonated.