First Time's a Charm (124PW)

[Sisara]

Sisara’s heart sank a little at the notion of not getting used to the wonderful smells that would keep invading her nose at probably the most inopportune moments, which was to say whenever she wasn’t able or allowed to eat. The idea of dried rations was a good one however, and not something she had heard before. “Thank you for that piece of advice. I will absolutely try and make that a habit. I wouldn’t want to faint from hunger, no.” Not only because it disgraced the guard but quite simply because it was most definitely uncomfortable. She had done it a few times in her younger years and she wasn’t keen on repeating that experience any time soon – or ever, if she could avoid it.

Her stomach growled loudly just then to painfully remind her that it was overdue some well deserved food and to remind her not to break the promise she had made herself and literally just thought about as well. She couldn’t agree more, but she still felt a little embarrassed by the loud sounds it made.

At least it was their turn now and the taste of the spicy food instantly made everything better however. “Oh, this is wonderful!” She was talking around the first bite like a kid with no manners but the smell had been so appetising and she had been so hungry that she couldn’t have to wait, and now that the many spices had exploded their taste in her mouth, she couldn’t but swoon over it. She sent the vendor a huge smile before turning away to properly chew her food and eat like a presentable and educated adult was supposed to.

“Sorry,” she muttered with a look at Tasza when they moved away from the stall. “I couldn’t help myself. But this was definitely a good choice in food!” The spices were starting to make her eyes and nose water but she didn’t mind. They tasted so wonderful that the joy in the food was all that mattered. It had been so long since she had eaten spicy, and now she couldn’t remember why.

Returning to their previous topic before her stomach had interrupted them, she inquired: “Have you ever been part of one of the nastier investigations? What was the most horrible shift you ever had to work? If you don’t mind me asking so many questions.” Forgotten was their previous silence.

[Sinuvarakoon Tasza]

Tasza might have smiled if she wasn't a guard and they weren't on duty. Instead, he nodded. "Even guards must be human sometime." He would not chastise her for enjoying her food. Not even he was that controlling. Still, it was uncomfortable to watch a woman eat, so he looked away and focused on his own meal. It occurred to him that if she was not so chatty they would likely have spent the whole shift not talking. He did not mind, but it seemed so typical of a woman to fill the empty spaces with noise.

There were many empty spaces. He chose to answer her with demur, "I am not a loyalist, so I haven't participated in any investigations beyond the most basic guardwork. There will always be awful things happening in this city and its surroundings. You'll see things you wish you hadn't, working as a guard. There's no way to avoid it. Of course, living in this city you might have already seen things you wish you hadn't. I suppose innocence takes effort these days."

[Sisara]

Sisara could hardly disagree with that statement. “The city does indeed have a way of steeling your innocence at a very young age already. It’s a particularly well-honed skill, I think.” It was a good thing that she had food to concentrate on otherwise she wouldn’t quite know where to look now, but at least Tasza had offered her another shrivel of information she could jump on to hopefully divert the topic again. Innocence in Marn was something she wasn’t particularly fond of discussing, especially when it lead to questions about her own past.

No, she could really do without answering questions or being reminded. Even if something good had come of it in the end.

“So loyalists get the big investigations,” she murmured. “I haven’t fully gotten the grasp on all this yet, I admit, and I’m not sure I should really care. A guard should be a guard, shouldn’t they?” For a moment, she hesitated before she finished that statement, but she had now stepped into it, so it was fairly difficult to backpedal. She could only hope that she hadn’t disgraced herself again now and demonstrated just how much of a greenhorn she was to all of this.

Many other things she could have said or asked instead of this but they had all lead down a path she hadn't want to go down since personal questions asked to someone else had a way of coming back to bite the one who asked in the ass and she really didn't want to answer questions that were too personal, even if Tasza had been forward enough with his answers so far. But maybe, just maybe, she shouldn't have gone down the faction path either.

[Sinuvarakoon Tasza]

Tasza snorted. "Everyone has a different idea of what being a guard means. You figure out what you think it means, and what your superior thinks it means, and what their superior thinks it means, and then try to wind your way between them. Honesty and meaning well will only get you so far in life, and being in the Guard is no exception."

[Sisara]

Sisara pondered this for a while, once again disguising the fact that she wasn't sure how to respond by chewing. This was only going to work for so long however as her meal was growing smaller and smaller. She really, really needed to get a grip and learn a few more things about certain aspects of the guard if she wanted to gain a bit of standing or at least enough so that everyone would just leave her in peace - and she could hardly do that when she didn't know what most people valued.

Of course, she had known that the guards weren't infallible. She had met idiotic and cruel guards in her time on the streets, lower or higher ranking ones, but for some reason, she had always figured it would be different once she was one of them. Not that it had been her idea in the first place and if Farius hadn't decided to follow up on a dying wish, then neither of them would be guards now and it would probably never have crossed her mind. But still...
It had been stupid. Idealistic and hopefully as well, but inherently stupid. To think that the guard would look different merely from being viewed from a different angle. Of course the nasty ones would still be there, of course the ones who only took to being a guard in order to have a title and a bit more power over those who could not prevail against their authority. How could she ever have forgotten that? Or believed that it would change?

By the time she managed to snatch herself out of her thoughts, it was already to late to even properly reply to Tasza's little outburst, so she decided not to reply at all. At least with such a view on the guard, Farius should have no trouble integrating himself if he didn't piss off the wrong people. Sisara herself was a different matter. She already rubbed quite a few people the wrong way simply for being a woman.

And I'm still stuck in my own head, and I'm still wondering about things I cannot possibly change, she reminded herself, pushing herself once more to get a grip.
Finally, she did let a comment slip after all. "Must suck to be a guard, sometimes. Having to adhere to so many wishes that you hardly have any time left to fit in your own wishes." And once again, she bit her tongue, and once again, it was too late. The words were already out. She really had to work on that! "I mean, it's just the way life goes in general, but..." She shrugged. There was no good way to talk herself out of this one. Obviously everyone had to conform to some kind of rules, why should it be different for the guards? She sighed.

[Sinuvarakoon Tasza]

"It is why I consider honor such an important part of being in such a position. Were it not for my values, I would have become what my family thinks I am." He tapped the side of his helmet with two fingers. "It is not my place to dictate your path for you, but it is important to think of these things now, before you are put in the hard place. Men are put to the grinder, and if they are not ready. . ." he took a bite, and chewed.

He did not think she understood. He did not think he would have lasting impact. Even so, she had asked, and that was more consideration and thought than he was used to getting. Soon enough barracks talk would educate her on his standing within the Guard's social structure, and she would doubtless find him beneath her notice. Women were always so weak-spined, so he could not hold it against her. At least she had the excuse of her gender; would other men had such a good reason for their own spinelessness.

[Sisara]

And then the food was gone and Sisara didn’t have a distraction anymore, forced to watch Tasza take a bite from his own food to emphasize his meaning. Which she had fully understood. Weird he may be, but the man had a point.
“Honour, a broad back and a fairly rigid spine are the ingredients to making one’s way in the guard then, it seems,” she mused as she idly let her eyes roam over the stalls. It wasn’t like she was still hungry but a little something else for the sake of it and while they could sounded like a good plan to her.

“Dessert?” she asked as soon as Tasza finished his meal, in hopes for another good pointer like this first one. For a brief moment, her eyes lingered a little on the man, once again taking in the image she couldn’t quite decipher. A contradicting man, or at least so he appeared to her. Maybe she was just too used to not trusting most people. She had become more lax over the years but a vague distrust of men still lingered, and it was exactly that little voice in her head that kept asking her over and over, when she was on her own, why she had ever thought it was a good idea to follow Farius into the guard – a place riddled with men. “If your taste in dessert is as good as the main meal, then I want to hear your tips!”

[Sinuvarakoon Tasza]

"That's my method, but it isn't one holding so great a share of popularity," Tasza said, right before she asked for dessert. He nodded, returned the cheap clayware bowl his meal had been within, and repocketed the personal chopsticks he'd used to eat his food. He edged past a cluster of men in pressed trousers and expensive shirts and walked further away from the gate into the Court. "I'm afraid I do not much care for the fancy confections that seem to be prized by others; I have always appreciated seasonal fruit when possible." He stopped before such a stand, barely hanging on to the edge of the allocated space in front of the Court. Its proprieter was an old man nearly lost behind his wrinkles, and they only deepened in a broad smile as he spotted Tasza. He was missing several teeth.

Spread before him was a collected of neatly diced fruit in ornately carved wooden bowls. Stacked to the left were several wooden skewers, and a sign that ten pieces were 1 bishani, 50 for 4. The pieces themselves were neither generous nor miserly, bold of color and giving off a sweet smell that was only just starting to go slightly sickly. The man held a fan, which he used to discourage the many flies drawn by the display.

Tasza exchanged greetings with the man, taking a skewer and eying the offered selection as the old man greeted Sisara with a well-practiced verse about the quality and freshness of his fruits.

[Sisara]

Sisara eagerly followed Tasza to the next stall, wondering which deliciousness would await her this time around. But she was already disappointed before they reached their destination. None of the typical sweets? Nothing fancy? “But.. that’s what dessert is all about?” she said, though maybe not quite loud enough for him to hear, as she followed him, more reluctantly now.

It turned out not to be a misplaced feeling when she began eyeing the merchandise. Sisara looked over the display and ignored the merchant’s words, taking them for what they were, just a wall of flowery text with absolutely no meaning. She did smile at him however, at least wanting to reciprocate his kindness. It wasn’t the man’s fault that the fruit didn’t appeal to her, some even provoking the contrary.

She leaned a little closer to Tasza and whispered in his ear. “I think I’ll pass on your dessert after all.” With another smile to the vendor, she turned around and regarded the other merchants. Now, what to pick. “I’ll be right back.” And off she went. Not too far away, she had spotted a baker and that would be her destination. Cake always made everything seem better and she was determined to pick something nice and apple-y from his selection.

When she stepped away from a pleased vendor and with a satisfied grin on her own face, she contemplated the enormous slice of apple cake and wondered how anyone could not want such a piece, even with a penchant toward the healthy food. It had apple in it, wasn’t that fruit enough?

“You sure you don’t want a piece of this?” she asked, parading the slice of cake in front of Tasza’s nose when they were walking side by side again.

[Sinuvarakoon Tasza]

Sisara's whisper made Tasza stiffen, and he turned slightly to nod at her and watch her go. He swiftly made his selection and met her halfway; he was unwilling to lose her in the crowd. The crowd that was rapidly dispersing. They weren't off their lunch just yet, having come in at the tail end of the court's latest lunch group, but the dwindling numbers left them all but alone in the middle of the walkway, sandwiched between the stalls and subject to the stares and warbling cries of the vendors.

"Yes," he said to her, jerking away from her overly sweet concoction. He looked back towards the court, and then back to Sisara. He didn't fancy standing around beside her for the next fifteen minutes, having her shove her idea of food at him and asking frivolous questions. He should, he decided, preempt the inevitable. He finished his fruit.

"Have you ever been inside the court buildings?"

[Sisara]

Sisara shrugged. “More for me.” At least she knew that she would never have to fight Tasza over the last piece of cake at a vendor’s stall because they definitely did not have the same idea of what made a good dessert. She was too busy enjoying her food however to notice Tasza growing a little uncomfortable and the area around them suddenly emptying of people. Not that she would have cared anyway – she had cake, nothing else mattered.

Until the cake was gone and she realised just how many eyes were actually on them. “Uhm...” Luckily, Tasza’s question broke her growing discomfort at just that moment and she raised a questioning eyebrow. “No... I always assumed that you couldn’t go inside until summoned or having business to do within.” And generally that sort of business was something she didn’t want to be summoned for. She had had a few close calls back in the day but had always managed to shrug past a formal convocation to appear before court.

“Could we go have a look? I mean, is it allowed? I guess as guardsmen there isn’t much holding us back, but...” Sisara drifted off, unsure how to finish the sentence but certain that he would catch her meaning either way.

The open space was quickly bridged and a few steps later they stood before the entrance. For some reason, Sisara suddenly felt both giddy and anxious at the prospect of going inside, and thus hesitated to go in first. This wasn’t a trick, was it?

[Sinuvarakoon Tasza]

"Yes. Yes. Guardsmen are permitted." Tasza's answers to Sisara's questions were terse, but very much in line with his personality. Even so, something about Sisara's bearing made him want to tease her. Was that why he lead her to the Ministry of Civil Obedience first?

The main entrance to the Civic Court was to the northeast of the Court's area. There was a road that lead around the Court, but it was outside the wall that surrounded the Court. The wall itself was not especially a deterrent, alone; it rose only six feet, and the spikes that topped it were avoidable. No, the wall was mostly for show, and to make the court itself easier to guard. It was hard to miss someone clambering over the wall while you were on patrol, and those who entered the court from the main entrance and the side entrance were scrutinized by the attending guards. Rather than professional ability, it was more often boredom and disgruntlement at being assigned Court duty that lead to guards harassing and closely checking those who entered.

The Ministry of Finance and Commerce and the Ministry of Civil Obedience had the two largest buildings in the Court; the Ministry of Commerce's building was square and, from the outside, fairly stark: the two roads that lead in ended just outside its north and south entrances. The Ministry of Finance and Commerce's building was much more elegant in appearance, and sat to the other side of the main entrance. Squeezed in the corner to the east of Civil Obedience and Finance was the City Recorder's building. They petitioned every year for a renovation and a third story to properly store all of their records; thus far they had yet to earn a single bishan to their budget for that purpose.

Tasza pushed open the double doors that was Civil Obedience's main entrance (the northern entrance into the Court and the north entrance into Civil Obedience was typically reserved for guardsmen and Court clerks as a sort of privilege to avoiding the oft-clogged main entrances), and held them for Sisara. Beyond them, the main floor stretched out, polished and grand. Here, then, was all the imposing architecture and decoration one could hope for. The floors and walls were white stone, cleaned regularly for all the good it did during the morning and afternoon when dust and occasionally mud were tracked in.

There was a white marble counter that had been built to form a semi-circle to the immediate left with a small brass bannister that barred immediate access further into the room; behind that in a neat row were four heavy and overbearing desks. Three clerks manned the counter, and each desk was manned by a bored-looking clerk. Tasza immediately went right, unhooking a part of the bannister to swing it outward, he gestured Sisara through. There was a line to the counter, and all but one of the clerks were engaged in conversation with visitors to Civil Obedience. As Tasza and Sisara entered the last one gestured one of those waiting to the side of the counter (where a long line of uncomfortable looking chairs had been placed along the wall) to step forward. There was a wall behind those desks with two doors. One was closed, with a sign that read 'Lower Halls' over it, while the other -- to the far right -- was left open with a small board to the side of it with the word 'Stairs' at the top and a smaller list of what could be found on upper and lower floors.

Tasza started to walk towards the left door, though he gestured at the floor, "Most people who interact with Civil Obedience only ever see this part of the building. Paperwork for the other ministries often requires signatures from Civil Obedience clerks, and most petty crimes are settled by visiting. A lot of business that passes through is only for notarization of permits and the like, as well as any and all requests for changes to laws, or proposals for new laws or guidelines. It remains fairly busy. Have you been here before?"

[Sisara]

Sisara couldn’t help but feel a little intimated when they passed through the front gates – Tasza actually was a gentleman, how nice to hold the door open for her! An action for which he received a brief smile – and she took in the inner workings of the civil court. It was impressive, to say the least. She didn’t know what she had expected but for some reason, it hadn’t been this. The buildings were imposing and Sisara merely followed Tasza like a puppy while letting her eyes roam over her surroundings, trying to take in as many details as possible.

Once they were inside the first building however, the one that was inhabited by the Minsitry of Civil Obedience – the name alone could make anyone shudder – and seemed to be less elegant than others but it had a special air about it nonetheless.

Upon entering, Sisara all but stopped in her tracks. The marble counter was enormous and somewhat forbidding as well but on a whole, the sights, everything was strange to her. Lost in her musings, she almost missed Tasza’s gesture and quickly hurried to do as she was bid.

Sisara was moving her head back and forth to look around, very obviously playing the part of the first-timer and almost missed her companion’s question. “Me? No, I haven’t. I almost had to come here once though but never actually did. What about you? Other than for visits, I mean.” Distracted by the activity of the clerks for a moment, she nearly bumped into Tasza when they reached the door he had been heading towards, her still following on his heels.
“Uh, sorry. I’m a little distracted.” Sisara shrugged while giving him a sheepish smile. She wouldn’t have thought so but she actually quite enjoyed this visit and couldn’t wait what else there was to see.

She pointed at the sign. “‘Lower Halls’? Are we going to go underground?” It may seem like a silly question but she was really intrigued now. Or maybe this just meant backdoor to the rest of the halls on the ground floor? Surely, there weren’t halls beneath the ground level? With no windows? If there was one thing Sisara found rather horrible, it was the thought of having to work day in, day out in a place with no windows and no fresh air.

[Sinuvarakoon Tasza]

"Never, not until I became a guard. Since then the only time I come is, inevitably, for business." Tasza was amused. He compressed his lips to force the expression away, unaware that a dimple had formed on his right cheek. The emotion itself surprised him. There was no way he could have expected to enjoy showing a junior guardsman -- and a woman, at that -- around the Court, but her reactions were gratifying. It was always nice to have someone listening so closely to what you said, even more so when they asked good questions. Well, hers were not the best questions he could have hoped for, but even so it had been a long time since someone other than Qe, Rudrey, or the two monks at the Temple had eagerly listened to anything he had to say.

"There is much to look at, but I fear our break is nearly at an end. We'll only have time for the Lower Halls before we are to resume patrolling." He held open the door to the Lower Halls and continued to explain while he waited for her to walk through. "The Lower Halls are thus named because they are on the ground floor of the building. There is a basement, but it is for the clerks and magistrates here -- the public are not allowed to enter." He guided them in.

The door lead, of course, to a hall. It was wide enough for two men to walk abreast comfortably, with a little room on either side. There were two doors across from each other. The one to the left was closed. "Claims and warrants auditor, by appointment only," Tasza said, and then gestured to the door on the right, which was open. "Warrants. Clerks from Headquarters come here often, as you might have guessed. Most citizens don't have particular need for this office." It was a small office.

The end of the hall had another doorway, also open. The hallway itself turned right. Tasza walked them down it, their footsteps making a muffled clatter against the polished floor. "Claims office. Citizens with grievances against other citizens, government employees, or businesses or merchants that the outer clerks cannot handle are sent here. Once the paperwork has been satisfactorily completed it will be handed off to the assistant civil magistrate, who then either approves it or, if the situation is complicated or dealing with specific issues, will forward it to the senior civil magistrate." The claims office was handsome, and significantly larger than the warrants office had been. "The secondary entrance into Civil Obedience is through there, though Teodinus help you if you use it without actually having business in there and don't work here."

They turned right, and there was two doors to their right and one further along down the hall on the left. Tasza pointed to the first one as they passed. The door was mostly closed, though it had not been fully shut. Raised voices could be heard from within. "City Legislation Office. Proposals and changes to city law are filed there before they go before the Judges, and afterwards they come back. If they are rejected they will be sent to the basement, but if they are approved they will be sent to Records." He pointed to the door slightly down from the first door on the right. This one was open. "City Ordinances. Minor civilian infractions go through there. Once the case is settled it goes to Records." He pointed down to the sole door on the left, which was also open. "Local Ordinance Magistrate's office is through there, though the front room belongs to his secretary and two aides."

He walked them to the end of the hall, where it made another right turn. There were three doors: one at the dead end of the hall, one to the right, and one to the left. "For the most part infractions are dealt with by the District Magistrates individual offices, but they all file their paperwork through the Lower Halls. Too, minor magical infractions that the battlemages feel are beneath their notice are dealt with through here. Any inter-district infractions are handled by the three magistrates down here, as well."

He pointed to the door on the right, which was closed. "Storage and supplies. That one belongs to the Assistant Civil Magistrate -- have to go through him to get to the Senior Civil Magistrate," he pointed to the door on the left.

All that remained was the door at the very end of the hallway. It was open. Visible was a grim-looking young woman behind an imposing desk and lots of papers. "Senior Civil Magistrate's office is through there. Immediately visible is his chief aide, who you never, ever want to anger. Appointment only to see him, or if you have a minor magical infraction." He shrugged, "What those count for is covered in the lawbooks. Most often it's unregistered shifters. We should get back on patrol."

He turned his back on the young woman whose frown had turned positively vicious, and started walking back to the main entrance and exit to the Lower Halls.

[Sisara]

If Tasza hadn’t mentioned it, Sisara would have completely forgotten about the fact that this was just their lunch break and they would have to get back to work at some point – well, fairly soon as well. It might just be a little shameful to be late from lunch on one of the first patrols.

The information came with every step they took and soon the young woman almost found herself a little overwhelmed, struggling to take everything in, but she figured that for the most part, she might be able to remember at least whom the offices belonged to. She did know about the formality of certain paperwork but since she might not have to deal with most of these problems, she hadn’t really paid attention to them; there were clerks for these things, right? However hearing Tasza now, not even reciting things but just stating everything as though it were a common fact made her reconsider. Maybe she should pay a little more attention to the administrative aspect of certain procedures after all.

It was a shame that most of the doors were closed however. Sisara would have quite liked catching a glimpse inside, her curiosity fully awakened. The one look she did get however was at the Senior Civil Magistrate’s chief aide and she could have avoided it. The woman looked so bad-tempered that Sisara was more than glad when they could turn around and walk away again. She thought about jokingly waving at the woman but decided that Tasza’s warning probably hadn’t been an idle one, and she didn’t want to risk being in someone’s bad books before ever having had to deal with that person for real.

The walk out seemed to take so much longer than the walk in, but that was maybe because she wasn’t absorbing information now, which had distracted her earlier. The Lower Halls were enormous now that she paid more attention to the place in a whole. Walking past doors, she tried to remember who was hidden behind which one. For the most part, she remembered and she decided that was a good enough start for a first visit.

The number of people milling around the reception area had by no means diminished while Tasza had walked her through the Lower Halls and Sisara couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of awe for the clerks behind the desk who didn’t appear in the least bit frazzled by the onrush. “They never get a break, do they?” she whispered, observing yet another couple of people coming in while they made their own way out.

Back outside, Sisara took a deep breath before turning back to look at the imposing gates. “Now this was quite something,” she said, not without some awe. “Thanks a lot, Tasza. I appreciate you taking time to show me around.” She flashed her companion a smile before heading out of the court to find Lanton to take up their patrol again.