Ties that Blind

[Qabian]

Redgrave's ice snapped tight against any part of Laeynna it reached, ankles and legs, locking her to the ground, any bare or lightly protected skin assaulted by cold far deeper than ordinary ice would have any right to be.

"I don't know how I came to be your target, or how you came into possession of Noraline's things." Redgrave stood from the bench, staggering even as she did, bringing the heel of her hand to her temple. "But I -- But I --" She dropped to one knee, the ice she controlled weakening, losing the bite of its cold and cracking in places. "I believed you. I believed you!" Her voice was a desperate wail for a moment, then snapped back to anger. "And I won't die just because you want it!" she shrieked.

Her wrist snapped outward, a sharp spear of ice slicing down the length of the mage's arm and launching towards Laeynna, but even as Redgrave directed the spell, there seemed to be three versions of the blood elf wavering in front of her and Redgrave dropped to one knee on the cobblestones.

[Laeynna]

Summoning a demon is suicide, Laeynna, the Sin'dorei reminded herself, as if a part of her sat on the very edge of temptation.

It wouldn't take much. A few chanted words bubbling up from the back of her throat. Energy, though with the way adrenaline and panic threatened to overtake her, Laeynna knew this was no time to fear inevitable fatigue. But no. A demon just wouldn't do. Something else would need to take its place for the time being. And truth be told, Laeynna hated feeling indebted to anything. Or anyone, for that matter.

She would be the better person. She was, after all, no longer a foolish child.

"No, you won't die because I want it. You'll die because that's the fate that's been bestowed upon you."

Once upon a time, perhaps Laeynna might have sympathised with her. Once upon a time, she might have felt a degree of empathy. A part of her, admittedly small and nigh nonexistent, did. But it was quickly washed out by the necessity of the situation.

I am merely your fate's deliverer, she thought, unable to possess the arrogance to utter such words aloud.

Laeynna steeled herself, posture stiffening. It was no longer a game of feigned diplomacy. She could not always rely on her words to save her. It was survival and though she did not fear death, Laeynna could not let herself end in such an undignified fashion. She had to be victorious, even if it merely meant outlasting Redgrave.

Planting her hands together, it took only a moment's concentration to birth shadow. As she pulled her hands apart, she formed a bolt of purple and black, something not quite solid, but enough of a mass that it was unmistakable. Her eyes fastened on the approaching spear of ice. Instinct kicked in and whatever charge she might have been holding on her bolt of shadow was released.

It would have been easy to simply aim it at Redgrave as she stumbled. Laeynna didn't want it easy. She'd make it last. Redgrave was meant to die by her poison, not by void spells and fel magic. And if a bolt didn't break the spear, then Laeynna could only pray her reflexes would allow her ample time to evade.

[Qabian]

The ice lance sliced through the shadow but deflected enough to fly harmlessly past Laeynna's ear.

"Fate is... Fate is..." But trying to form words was a foolish waste of energy and far too little too late. Redgrave fell forward onto both knees, her hands at her throat as she gasped for breath. And then the sensible-looking grey-haired woman collapsed onto the ground at Antonidas feet, completely still.

At least until the shaking started.

[Laeynna]

That was it then. An anticlimactic ending and Laeynna still remained standing. She too, had drank the same wine with the same contents. Experimentation had paid off and years of subjecting herself intentionally to poisons had proved fruitful. Thus far. But it beckoned the question of how much Laeynna remained woman and how much of her turned monster.

The contemplation could come later.

It is time to go.

Casting her eyes up to the sky, Laeynna searched it frantically. He was somewhere out there, waiting for her. She created one more bolt of shadow and shot it up into the sky. All she had to do was wait for him to swoop down and retrieve her. Standing back a few paces from where she left Redgrave, she watched the skies intently until the proto-drake of deep blue showed himself.

Anytime now. Stop dillydallying. We must away and report.

[Qabian]

In the moments of the drake's arrival, Redgrave's shaking became full-blown seizures. Her glasses clacked against the cobblestones as they rocked off her face. Her eyes were open wide, but rolled so far back in her head they showed only whites. Blood trickled the corner of her mouth, bright red against the pallor of her cheek, whether it was from biting her tongue or some other effect of the poison.

If she had been conscious, it no doubt would have seemed to go on for an eternity, but as it was, it lasted only a few minutes, and Redgrave laid still and grey once more.

[Laeynna]

Damn it, Laeynna thought as she eyed the sky. Of course he was going to take his time.

Well, as long as he meant to occupy himself, she intended to do the same. Watching Redgrave's convulsing body was almost enough for Laeynna to consider simply leaving her. But no. Doing so meant one of her own could have happened upon her and attempted to revitalise her. If that succeeded, it would have implied a certain kind of failure on Laeynna's part. If she ever intended to travel the paths of Dalaran safely again, she would have to completely sever the part of herself defined as Rani Goldheart. That meant eliminating any witness who might have had the ability to recognise her by face.

Fortunately, pretty Sin'dorei faces were a sea of insignificant ones. Only Redgrave had to be tended to.

Calmly she approached her quarry, reaching into the satchel that seemed to hold her entire life. Withdrawing from it a rather simple knife—a dagger, she supposed—she ran her left hand's fingertips against it. Dull. She should have sharpened it. She didn't have the foresight to realise that she would need it, however. A dull knife could still cut. It simply wouldn't be clean.

And neither would she.

With care, she positioned herself behind Redgrave and with long, bony fingers, Laeynna caressed the throat of her unfortunate companion. "A shame, really," she cooed quietly, taking just a moment to appreciate the closeness. Ironic that the only time she wanted someone close to her was when they were dying. Or already dead. "I have a fondness for pretty necks." A tooth snagged into her lower lip as she issued a coy, half-twisted smile. "Mostly when they are slit."

It would have been easier if the blade had been sharper. A certain amount of pressure and force was required otherwise. But rather than jamming it in, Laeynna remained firm and resolute. And eventually, iron cut into malleable flesh and she drew its path from one side, across the front, and over the other, ignoring the blood that seeped over ashen skin and stained her own hands. For a moment, she remembered the first conversation she'd ever held with Qabian when she voiced support for the Grim's ideals.

Redgrave was not a child, but hers was a life all the same. As a Grim, it would be required for her to take life. And perhaps it was a blessing, but as the human woman's body eventually gave way to the embrace of the Pale Horse, Laeynna realised she hadn't felt a single thing. No remorse. No joy. No sadistic pleasure. She hadn't felt... anything.

Unceremoniously, she left her project at the feet of Antonidas's statue, and her proto-drake finally had the good sense to drop down for her. As she tucked her dagger back into her satchel, she used a hand and the wing her drake offered her to help herself onto his back.

It was as he began to make lift-off that she eyed Redgrave once more and the way the dull blade butchered her. "Peace through annihilation, vermin," she managed to utter beneath her breath, as hushed as it was. Turning the heels of her cloth slippers in against her drake, she drummed touch across one of his scales to encourage him to depart.

"We must away."

[Qabian]

A pair of patrolling Kirin Tor guards walked the streets of Dalaran as they always did. The confrontation in the garden hadn't really gotten any louder than some angry words, and people bicker in city streets all the time. They had no reason to expect anything out of the ordinary. As the guards approached, a frantic goblin ran in front of them. "Hey, there's a pickpocket around here somewhere!" he shouted. "My wallet's gone. I didn't see their face, but they ran that way! I think it was a dwarf," he explained, pointing down an alley and tugging on the nearest guard's tabard.

The guard snatched his tabard back from the goblin's grabby fingers. "Search for this fellow's pickpocket, would you, constable?" he said to his companion. "I'm going to see what's going on at the memorial." The drake's tail swung lazily back and forth, visible from the street.

The second guard did as ordered, following the fidgety goblin who kept looking back and forth between the two guards, even as they separated, wringing his hands together as he meandered, vaguely pointing in an accused direction.

Meanwhile, the first guard moved toward Antonidas' statue. "Excuse me, ma'am," he called toward Laeynna. "Please don't let your mount loiter in front of the memorial. It's meant for everyone to--" And then he saw what lay at the beast's feet.

He stared in shock for a moment before turning and bellowing through cupped hands, "Sound the alarm!"

[Laeynna]

Laeynna had only just barely turned her attention onto the guard that addressed her before the fated words struck her ears.

Sound the alarm. ...Sound the alarm?

Of course. Because her handiwork had been discovered. At least she was stirring up a commotion enough that no one could accuse her of being incomplete. At least, that was the thought when it came down to Qabian's ears and eyes. She was certain he had some in Dalaran, even if she didn't know where they were.

"Why, I haven't the faintest idea whatever may have happened to her," she began, though the tone of her voice rang a bit hollow.

Her heels turned in tighter, "I shall leave the investigation in your more than capable hands."

Her drake shifted restlessly and displeased with the way she ordered him about, he growled just enough to make the pathways beneath him tremble and quake. But begrudgingly, he flapped his wings once in testing, and then once more before he began to gain altitude. There was no more time for lingering about. He would need to make haste quickly for both the sake of his own wings and for that of the mistress who commanded him.

[Qabian]

"Wait! We need to take you in for questioning!" the guard shouted after her uselessly. He honestly hadn't been brave enough to throw himself at someone who could take down a mage so many times his senior, and had lost his chance. He tossed a series of frostbolts at the drake as it flapped away, to set up for a deep freeze, but somehow despite its size, the creature managed to deftly avoid each spell until it was well out of sight.

There would be an investigation. The name Rani Goldheart would come up, as well as a vague description of her and mention of Redgrave's paranoia in the months and even years leading up to her brutal murder. But no solution would be found, at least not in a timely manner.