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Post by Maxim Horvath on Mar 1, 2011 20:48:46 GMT -5
"Of course." Now that he thought about it, he could do with some real food himself, now that he was on the ground again.
Paris had changed a great deal since he'd been there last. Admittedly, the last time he'd been in the French capital was just before the first World War. But between what he recalled and his experience in modern New York City, he was able to get them to a small street cafe across from the train station with minimal difficulty and order breakfast for them both. The girl working the counter raised an eyebrow at Horvath's flawless, though rather archaic, French, but did not make a comment as she got coffee and pastries for the two sorcerers.
Horvath handed Anna her coffee and pastry. "I always liked France," he admitted, taking a seat at one of the little tables outside. "Granted, this was never something you mentioned if you were English anytime before the nineteenth century..."
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Post by Anna Stutler on Mar 1, 2011 23:43:47 GMT -5
Anna sipped her coffee and shrugged. "I can definitely see you here. All posh and cultured. Seems like your kind of place."
It didn't take long to finish her pastry, and the espresso woke her up better than anything else. For a moment, she marveled at the fact that here she was, sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Paris, with Horvath. She fought the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it as they continued on to the train station.
Fortunately, Horvath's language skills helped them navigate the signs to the proper train stop. As they settled on to the train, Anna decided that enjoying the French countryside instead of pulling her laptop back out. After all, it wasn't every day she was in France.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Mar 1, 2011 23:55:40 GMT -5
It amused him to see Anna enjoying herself so much. Perhaps he should have brought her to France before this.
"We are here primarily to investigate," Horvath told his apprentice. "If I think we can get our hands on the grimoire, we can make an attempt to retrieve it. But investigate first. I don't want this Beast character linking us directly to the theft- he may be more vindictive than Burnett indicated."
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Post by Anna Stutler on Mar 2, 2011 1:11:23 GMT -5
The only other person in their car had their back to them and was well out of earshot. So Anna went ahead and pulled out her Incantus, thumbing through it. "We get to use the Invisibility spell today, boss?" she asked. That would be a new one...or maybe shapeshifting. She wouldn't mind using that one either.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Mar 2, 2011 13:02:12 GMT -5
"This would be a good opportunity for you to try the Invisibility spell in a real-life setting," the older sorcerer mused. "Though I think we would be safer if you used a shapeshifting spell. The Beast in all likelihood would smell you if you were invisible. That is something we don't want."
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Post by Anna Stutler on Mar 2, 2011 13:56:25 GMT -5
Anna nodded, closing the book. "Little black cat it is then. What about you? Going invisible, or do you have something else up your sleeve?"
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Mar 12, 2011 23:33:43 GMT -5
The old sorcerer smiled. "I always have something up my sleeve, apprentice," he said. "Now, you have a isolated castle, an occupied one, that is more or less unknown to the nearby village, and with no tenant farms or workers to support it. If you are living there, what will you require?"
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Post by Anna Stutler on Mar 12, 2011 23:51:52 GMT -5
Anna smiled. "Supplies," she answered. "At the very least food. So...businessman?" That made sense. Her boss had that sort of air to him. If anyone could pull off a suave business owner, it would be him.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Mar 12, 2011 23:58:34 GMT -5
"Very good." Horvath nodded. So pleasant to have someone working for him who actually had a few active brain cells in their head. He didn't need to spell everything out for Anna. "I'll be going in as a businessman who recently took charge of the group providing supplies to the castle. While I distract our friend, you will be free to take a look around. Do not attempt to recover the book at this point, however."
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Post by Anna Stutler on Mar 13, 2011 0:20:19 GMT -5
Anna nodded. "Gotcha. Reconnaissance only. I'll find it and see if there's any magical protections on it. Then we can figure out the best way to get it."
It wasn't long before the train pulled up at its stop. They headed for the village on the outskirts of the woods. Anna waited while Horvath negotiated some farmer for the use of his horse. He came back with just the one horse. Which wasn't so bad, as Anna couldn't steer a horse outside of a pony track.
She stashed her backpack in a saddle bag, and climbed up behind her master. They rode into the woods a little ways when they stopped. Anna climbed off, rolling her neck a little bit. She closed her eyes, and quickly shifted into a small black kitten. She looked up at Horvath and the horse and meowed.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Mar 13, 2011 0:32:48 GMT -5
The simple fact that he was on horseback again was almost enough to make up for the plane. Horvath had spent most of the last thirteen centuries using horses to get around overland. While he was comfortable with things like cars and trains, he really, truly preferred horses, even such a rough-hewn specimen as this. He was able to guide the animal down the narrow track that led into the woods, too content to care that it was ugly as hell and had a rather jostling gait.
It was a horse, and he was happy.
He paused to let Anna down and shapeshift into her cat shape. When she finished and meowed expectantly at him, he leaned down and scooped her up, boosting her onto the saddle in front of him.
"Don't fall off," he told her. "Even if you would probably land on your feet."
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Post by Anna Stutler on Mar 13, 2011 0:53:58 GMT -5
Anna snuggled into the spot in the saddle, digging her claws in slightly. <No worries, boss. I don't want to get trampled.> She was very grateful for the mind-speak spell that enabled her to communicate as a cat. It made things like this so much easier.
They rode on, and soon a large castle loomed in front of them. There was a palpable sense of foreboding as they got closer. Anna curled up a little, meowing softly. There was some kind of heavy magic in the air around them, and it mostly pushed against her senses in a feeling of 'go another way'.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Mar 13, 2011 1:07:37 GMT -5
Anna's uneasiness was matched by their horse, which grew more edgy the closer they drew to the castle. Horvath didn't blame either of them. There were enough avoidance-spells wrapped around the place to choke the proverbial, well, horse. But they did not prevent the sorcerers from approaching, which was good. The fact that they knew where the castle was located, thanks to Owen Burnett, meant that they weren't being turned aside.
He managed to cajole the horse into coming up alongside the gate, then through it once Horvath had pushed it open. Once inside the courtyard, the sorcerer dismounted and scooped Anna onto her shoulder, giving her a reassuring scratch behind the ears. He then tied the horse's reins to a nearby post and went to knock on the enormous oak doors.
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Post by The Beast on Mar 13, 2011 1:14:44 GMT -5
The Beast hated visitors as a rule. They disrupted everything, even when they were part of a set schedule. This visitor, however, were nothing of the sort. The mirror showed him this stranger as he entered the gate--how had he known where it was in the first place?--and now the Beast was annoyed.
Rising up off the ground onto all fours, the Beast made his way down the stairs from the West Wing towards the great doors. The first thing he wanted to know was why this man was here. Then he wanted to be rid of him. Moving through the doors to stand before them, the Beast narrowed his eyes warningly.
"What do you want here?" he said, his voice rumbling low in his throat.
If he were here just by chance, he would send him on their way. If he were sent with supplies, then all the more reason to have done with him quickly. He didn't want to deal with more people than absolutely necessary when it came to receiving supplies.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Mar 13, 2011 12:20:49 GMT -5
Horvath smiled politely up at the creature, not allowing his expression to falter in the slightest despite the fact that the Beast really, really needed to brush his teeth.
"Good afternoon," he said, as if he wasn't talking to an eight-foot furry behemoth. It was never a good idea to act scared around a creature like this. Odds were it could smell fear. "My name is Martin Horatio. I've recently obtained purchased a controlling interest in your suppliers and have become aware of a slight aberration in your accounts. I'd like to go over them with you, if I may."
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