Post by Antonin Deliambre on Mar 4, 2015 10:13:16 GMT -5
No member of the Deliambre family was likely to return to sleep after the night's attack, that much was for certain. Their respective winds were up, and due to some injuries, tending needed to be done. His family was safe, minus those injuries, and there was at least one assailant left alive under the ducal guard's custody for questioning. Grateful that the attack had not been worse, Antonin was no less angry that such an incident occurred. Slowly returning to sense and logic now that temper and emotion cooled, he learned from the innkeeper that the storm provided cover for more chaos across the small village where the Montefiore family was housed.
Leaving Catalina to rest under the watch of Callie and Luci, and Cesare was in the physician's hands with Rizio making sure their younger brother did nothing stupid, Antonin called for Enzo to join him in crossing the village to check on their Montefiore counterparts. He wanted to test the waters, to see how much damage was wrought both to the family itself and to the tenuous peace agreement between them, but more, he also needed to know if their attackers had been left alive. The more the Duke learned, the more he realized this was an elaborately crafted plot... one he wanted to unravel to discover the master behind it.
Approaching the Montefiore duke was a risk, but it could not be helped. Antonin steeled himself against the very real possibility that Niccolo would levy an accusation at him for orchestrating the entire thing, but hoped that there would be enough cool heads prevailing that Montefiore would see past the instinctual suspicion. In this matter, they would - he firmly believed - accomplish more together than divided. He had little doubt this would be the only such effort, but as it was the first, the calm needed to be seized and used.
Reaching the inn, the Duke of Calandria paused just inside, seeing some of the damage wrought and shook his head. Their own inn had not fared any better, truthfully. The innkeeper, his face gaunt and weary, hailed him and inquired as to his needs. Antonin spoke quietly and politely, "If you would please be so good as to ask His Grace, Lord Montefiore, to spare me a few minutes, there is a very grave matter to discuss concerning our families." The man nodded and set aside his broom to trudge upstairs, the better to inform Niccolo that his hereditary enemy waited below for a word.
Niccolo Montefiore