Beckyann sighed as she walked across the Cathedral Square, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do. Dressed in her normal combat armor and wearing her rank pin, she projected the authority and might of the Ebon Blade, and she wanted to ensure that she made every effort to continue to look the part, even when she was uncomfortable.
It was never easy entering the Cathedral. When a sermon or service was going on it was next to impossible for her to avoid having damage done to her form. The holy ground itself made her ill and after a while she would begin to exhibit signs of contact with the Light if she lingered too long. Even so, the Ebon Blade had a long history of working with the Argent Crusade, and the organization had many members who frequented the Cathedral in Stormwind as well as their other holy sites in the Plaguelands and up north; she had little choice but to tread upon such ground when she was conducting business with them and this would be no exception.
As she steeled herself for the painful sensation of treading on holy ground, Beckyann mustered up her willpower and straightened her back, marching up the stairs and ignoring the unpleasant stares that those who lingered in the area often shot her way. She pushed past them, entering the main portion of the structure and turning right to head towards the library where she would need to obtain the reports she sought. It was vital that she secure information relating to Scourge activity that the Argents may have encountered during their own patrols prior to sending out any Knights on assignments, and Beckyann liked to be thorough when planning. Better to over-plan ahead of time than to deal with emergencies in the field from unexpected enemies after all.
As she entered the library, Beckyann felt her heart sink. The entire room was filled with people, all of them chattering away at one another as they stood in line to approach a group of Argents. Apparently there was some sort of event being planned or perhaps they were merely there for a lecture of some sort; Beckyann neither knew nor cared. It simply meant she'd be delayed while standing on holy ground, which was far from pleasant and could potentially be dangerous if the delay was too long. With a sign of exasperation she took her place at the end of the line, ignoring the way people shuffled away to put as much distance between themselves and her as possible.
The line moved forward a bit, the people ahead of Beckyann still talking to one another about some prayer book they had been studying. To Beckyann, the jostle of moving forward one space at a time for what seemed like hours but was probably ten minutes was maddening. She felt like she'd never get out of the room! In desperation, she looked about for some way to distract her mind from the current circumstances, her gaze coming to rest on an elaborate gold candelabrum standing beside her. It was an exquisite piece of artistry; the metal having been carefully formed to look like golden branches that held the candles in place, golden leaves unfurling around each to allow the wicks to stick out of the top and provide illumination. So enthralled was Beckyann with the piece that she reached out to touch it, her hands caressing the elegant metal.
That's about when one of the branching golden tree limbs snapped off in her hands.
It had made a distinctive metallic sound as it broke off, and Beckyann's eyes widened in horror as the golden piece came off in her hand. She quickly looked around, alarmed as she saw the two priests in front of her starting to turn back to see what the noise had been. If she had been alive her face would have been flushed with embarrassment as she quickly took the golden tree limb and slipped it behind her back, under her cloak. She flexed her body, making her plate armor make a similar metallic 'ping' sound that the broken decoration had made.
The two people in front of her on line, a man and a woman, looked her over with some degree of distaste. She offered them a smile, which only made them shudder a little and turn quickly around, apparently satisfied that the sound had come from her armor. Still horrified, Beckyann quickly turned away from them, taking the broken piece of gold out from beneath her cloak and studying it. Her eyes widened as she noticed the person behind her, a dwarf, grinning at her like a fool.
"Not. A. Word." she said to the dwarf in a low voice. His grin widened and he mimed putting a zipper over his lips, offering her a wink. Clearly he was not one of the priests and was simply waiting his turn with the Argents as she was.
Darting furtive glances around the room, Beckyann quickly reached over to the main body of the candelabrum, reaching out to place the piece of metal against the spot it had previously been attached to. She ever so slowly released some of her magic into the metal, cold flowing from her hand and into the gold and freezing it against the broken end that it had been attached to. After only a moment the two pieces were joined, the damage repaired temporarily.
Satisfied that no one had noticed, Beckyann spent the rest of her time in line shooting glances back at the piece, praying it would hold long enough for her to get out of the room. All the while she felt the dwarf's eyes on her back, his mirth almost an accusation behind her.
It was the longest fifteen minutes she'd ever had to wait in her undeath. When she finally managed to escape with the reports she'd been seeking, Beckyann was acutely grateful that she no longer had the capacity to sweat.
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