Baegla to the Rescue

Diplomatic action

Baegla saves Fenneck and Erikur from the prison.

Fenneck opened his eyes hearing a commotion down the halls. He sat up and saw Baegla floating angrily down the halls toward him following a very scared looking guard. All around her Fenneck could see a storm of magic brewing and he knew she had gotten wind of what happened. Another guard a few yards down the hall, past Fenneck's cell leapt in fear as his lantern nearly exploded in flames, clearly brought on by Baegla's anger. Fenneck jumped up and ran to the bars. “Baegla! Thank Corellon you’re here!” he exclaimed as he went to grab the bars. He jumped back in fear though as they shocked him. Baegla reached a hand out to the guard. “Key,” she spat at him. The guard hurriedly fumbled with his key ring and handed it to her. She snatched it from him and floated down to the door and unlocked it, swinging the door open as she did. She smiled at Fenneck guiltily. “Sorry for shocking you there, dearie," she explained. "I’m exhausted from all this logistical nonsense and it makes magic harder to control when I get frazzled,” she told him. Fenneck saw her glancing behind him until she realized Erikur wasn’t in the cell with him and she floated back up to the other guard. “You separated them?? Where is the other elf?! Fetch him at once!” she demanded before thrusting the key ring back into his hands. He ran down the hall and returned after a few moments with Erikur. He looked scared to death and had clearly been crying. Fenneck instinctively moved toward him but stopped, realizing it might make things worse. Baegla motioned to Erikur to step closer. “Come, come!" she told him. "Tell me your side of the story, you two.” Erikur came over and shifted till he was safely behind Fenneck. Fenneck swallowed briefly and looked her firmly in the eyes, avoiding the guards’ eyes. “We had decided to go home after the party and when we got on the lift, two high-elves started taunting us, calling us names and threatening us,” he said evenly. “After a moment, one of them ripped Erikur’s clothes and then…” he glanced down nervously. “I punched him.” Erikur moved next to Fenneck and gestured to his robes to show her the tear and missing feather. Fenneck saw the candles and lanterns in the room flare up as Baegla seethed in rage. “After that,” Erikur chimed in. “the lift guard said he ‘couldn’t get us for sexual misconduct anymore’ but that Fen had punched an innocent civilian and I had attacked one of them with magic. I accidently shocked him when he grabbed me," he explained. "So he took us straight down here, saying that it wasn’t worth bothering you about.” Baegla nodded her head slowly before turning back to the guard with the keys and said “Go fetch the guard from lift number…” She turned to Fenneck questioningly. “Five,” he told her. She turned back to the guard. “Five, then. Bring him down here, and tell him that this does, in fact, warrant my attention,” she said scathingly. The guard nodded briskly and jogged away. Baegla floated down until she was standing and rubbed her forehead with her finger and thumb. Fenneck tried to catch Erikur's eyes but he was looking down fearfully. After a while they heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Fenneck saw the key guard run in panting and sweating from having run up and down the stairs in his armor, and the guard who had arrested them. He stood at attention and Baegla levitated once more so that she was at the same height as everyone else in the room. “Now, tell me your side of the story,” she told him. He collected himself and began. “Your majesty! The two elves in question boarded the lift together and were followed by two other citizens. I witnessed them arguing until eventually this one here,” he pointed to Fenneck, “punched one of the civilians in the face and kicked the other in the chest. His friend here went as so far to use magic to shoot lightning at one of them. I apprehended the assaulters and brought them here, as per the law.” He was staring past them, avoiding their eyes. Baegla squinted at him and folded her arms. “Is that all you witnessed, sir?” she asked pointedly. When he said nothing, Baegla beckoned for Erikur to come closer to her. He hesitated for a moment seeing the angry swirls of magic around her but he stepped forward next to her. She put a hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. She gestured to where the feathers and fabric had been torn and asked the guard. “You didn’t happen to see how these feathers went missing, did you dear?” she said softly, her cold eyes never leaving the guard’s face. He swallowed nervously. “N-no, ma’am. It must have happened before they entered the lift.” Fenneck glared daggers at the guard for lying, luckily Baegla saw right through him. “Don’t you DARE lie to me!!” she shouted, sending sparks flying between her and the guards’ weapons and causing Erikur to jump back toward Fenneck and cling to his arm. The guard closed his eyes in fear and shock. “One of the other elves tore the feathers off!” he admitted frantically with his fists clenched and his eyes squeezed shut. Baegla brought her voice to a dangerous tone. “And so, as per the law, this elf here was acting in defense of his friend after the other elf assaulted him, isn’t that right?” she said menacingly. The guard nodded, pale and sweating. “Yes, your majesty,” he said in almost a whisper. “So why did you bring the victims down here and not the assaulter?” she asked him. He simply stood there in silence, not in defiance, but in fear. Baegla slowly floated back to the earth. “I hope I’ve made myself absolutely clear,” Baegla said. “If I ever catch wind of something like this again from ANY of you, I will do more than get angry,” she said threateningly. The guards all nodded their understanding. She waited a beat for her words to sink in before she continued. “Glitterfjell is a free and independent state, and we are changing many of the laws with which you may be familiar. Not just assault, but harassment will no longer be tolerated in this country. I hope you all know what harassment means,” she said pointedly, daring any of them to challenge her. None of them did. “This is a place of inclusion and respect," she declared. "I know you all know the new laws surrounding relationships, and I know you all know the laws about how they are to be treated, and not treated. I expect that all of you will take your duties a little more seriously from now on, and not let any notions of the previous government linger on for very much longer.” She turned to Fenneck and Erikur. “Come now, boys. I’ll walk you home,” she told them. They nodded to her gratefully and followed her upstairs. Erikur avoided touching or looking at Fenneck the entire time and Fenneck was doing everything he could not to burst in anger. When they reached their door, Baegla sighed and reached up to hold each of their hands. “I’m awfully sorry you had to see me like that,” she said to them. “I try to temper myself, and I hope I wasn’t overstepping my power as the premier.” Fenneck shook his head. “No, Baegla," he assured her. "Thank you for coming down. I thought we were going to be stuck in there for days.” Erikur squeezed her hand and gave her a sad smile. “Besides, I’m used to assholes like this anyway,” he told her. She smiled back to him. “Well,” she said, “I hope you won’t have to be used to it for much longer. We have some clauses to add and laws to make surrounding this sort of thing, and hopefully we’ll close loopholes so the culture can follow the laws.” Fenneck nodded. “Eventually,” he said. “Eventually,” Baegla agreed. Erikur knelt down to her. “Baegla, you should get some sleep,” he told her with a concerned look. “You look absolutely exhausted, and you probably discharged a lot of energy with your magic by mistake.” She nodded, rubbing her head again. “Perhaps you’re right, dearie. I’ll leave you to it, and I’ll no doubt be using all these documents as a pillow at my desk,” she joked with a smile. Fenneck chuckled at her. "Goodnight Baegla," he told her. "Goodnight dearies," she told them. "Goodnight," Erikur told her before opening the door and letting Fenneck in. Fenneck followed him and made sure Erikur locked the door behind them. Erikur slowly looked up into Fenneck eyes before bursting into tears and collapsing into Fenneck's arms. Fenneck held him close and caressed his hair. "It's okay, Erik," he cooed to him. "It's okay. I'm right here," he promised him. Erikur just sobbed harder and Fenneck scooped him up into his arms and carried him into the bedroom. Erikur continued to sob into Fenneck's chest as Fenneck laid him down in the bed and sat up, holding Erikur in his arms as he cried. Fenneck comforted him for a long while as Erikur cried and painfully convulsed from his sobs. Fenneck just held him close, trying not to burst with anger as the reality of their new world started to settle in around him. As much as he wanted to believe Baegla, these problems wouldn't disappear over night. It would be a long time until Fenneck and Erikur could safely and casually walk through the streets together holding hands, free from judgmental, hateful eyes or even physical attacks. After a while Erikur had mostly taken to sniffling as Fenneck caressed his face. "Maybe... maybe we shouldn't do that again," he said sadly. Fenneck shook his head. "Absolutely not," he told Erikur. "That's what they want, Erik." Erikur shrugged sadly. "It's not safe, Fenneck," he argued. "Baegla won't always be there and... and... and I hate feeling like this," he said sounding heartbroken. Fenneck caressed him lovingly. "Erik... you shouldn't have to hide. Besides, we can easily take those guys," Fenneck pointed out. Erikur shook his head nervously. "I don't know if I can," he said sadly. "I'm a lot smaller than you, Fen," he pointed out, gesturing to Fenneck's large arms. Fenneck scoffed at him. "You're so much stronger than you think you are," Fenneck told him. "I mean, you easily could have killed that guy when you shot lightning out of your hands," he pointed out. Erikur started crying again. "I know, Fen!" he exclaimed in fear. "I don't want to accidently hurt someone!" Fenneck sighed and pulled Erikur into his arms. "It's going to be okay, Erik," Fenneck tried to assure him. "One day," he said sadly. "Let's get some rest, okay?" Fenneck suggested. Erikur shrugged sadly and pushed himself out of his bed. He took off his pretty lavender robes and looked down at the rip in the front before waving his hand over it and fixing the tear with magic. It was still missing the feathers though. "You looked beautiful tonight," Fenneck assured him. Erikur shrugged weakly and hung the robes up in his wardrobe as Fenneck also stripped down to his undergarments. "I'll stick to blues for a while," he said sadly, looking into his closet. Fenneck walked up behind him and wrapped his arms around him and kissed Erikur's cheek. "Don't let them get to you, Erik," he told him. "They'll never respect us, or people like us if we don't stand up to them," Fenneck told him, before pulling Erikur so that he could face him and look into his eyes. "There are other young boys out there looking for men like you. Looking for role models who tell them its okay to wear pretty robes and love the color purple. Looking for someone who will make them feel the way you did when we met Estel all those years ago. You have to be that person for them. You have to be that person for you," Fenneck told him. Erikur smiled up at Fenneck. "You're right," he agreed with a deep breath. "I'm just so fucking scared. I wasn't nearly this scared when we stormed the palace, Fen. Why am I so scared to walk down the street holding your hand?!" he asked sadly. Fenneck took a heavy sigh and kissed his forehead. "Come to bed with me," he told Erikur sadly. Erikur nodded and let Fenneck pull him into their bed. Erikur curled up into Fenneck's arms and Fenneck held him close as they started meditating.