Kitin Studies - Search of documents about Kitins - EVENTS

That tid-bit of information, the notion that an amber cube with probably exactly the knowledge he was looking for had vanished baffled Salazar, for obviously it was lend during a time Filirae Aylia and he were already such regular visitors in the Academy's library that the Duchess must have known about their efforts.

He cursed between clenched teeth, for he had taken away his attention from his studies over and over again in his efforts for the Almati solution he had promoted almost feverishly from moment on it was implicated to Fey-Lin and him. When it was put on hold during the quarrels with the Rangers and his step-down from the Chamber of Nobles, he had plenty of time to study the papers and amber cubes in the Academy, but then came the hearing at the Royal Palace, and again the intense work to prepare and execute the idea to close the Kitin passageways with rooting Rotoas took him away from the study desk out into the greens of Verdant Heights, which had to be cleaned of Kitin forces, then into the caverns of the Upper Roots to find the necessary Rotoa seeds from plants once prepared by the great Almati himself, and finally back to the Kingdom to plant and grow the Rotoa on the Kitin mounds. It worked like a spell, (and spells were indeed involved) and the efforts of Cuiccio Perinia and the Matis Nobles - with the help of volunteers from all nations - produced beautiful, blooming Rotoas of a size never seen before on Atys. Those Rotoas were indeed expressing the wonders of Verdant Heights and the determination of the Matis people, and they charmed the senses of not just the Matis, but every homin. Most of all, they praised Our Lady Jena with their refined scent and beauty and became - for the short time of their bloom - a symbol for the Matis triumph over the Kitins.

In between, the Karan had asked him to return to the Chamber of Nobles, and to take over the Assembly at Davae by then deserted for quite some time. Salazar could hardly refuse without duping His Majesty, although he didn't even live in Davae and always had little interest in village bureaucracy, which seemed to him the pettiness of planting flowers or arranging fairs, and also the populousness of Davae was so small that he could not delegate work. He was excited, though, to be back in the game of Matis politics, and it seemed to be fitting that he returned with the Rotoas in Verdant Heights, and then in the Witherings - where the Matis kept their promise and helped the Zorai closing the Kitin mounds - in full bloom.

But too little time he had spent during this exciting time in the Academy, it seemed, and somewhere in between the Duchess Mona di Fareni had taken with her an amber cube which might - or might not - hold a solution, or at least a clue to the understanding of those damned armoured invaders. Salazar could not remember meeting the Duchess before - a High Noble from an old family, as the name implied - but then he was a scientist and rarely attended the social functions of the Court. Probably Filirae Aylia knew her? However, for the moment it was crucial to ask back the amber cube. Therefore he sent out some of the boys who sometimes ran errands for the Argonauts, to gather rumours as well as proper information about the the Duchess. Afterwards he sat down and started to write a couple of letters - to Filira Erminantius, his fellow academian, to inform him about the current situation, to Karan Stevano as a report on the development - or non-development - of his studies, to Filirae Aylia giving her an abstract and asking about the Duchess, and finally to the Duchess herself, proposing for a meeting. The first three he sent by Izam, the fourth he gave to his page Menthys to deliver it personally. In fact, he wanted Menthys to keep an eye on her - Salazar was far too long in politics to be confinding.

Then he leaned back, did put the tips of his fingers together, and waited.