2 Daeva. 2 Invictus. 3 Kindred.

[Jennifer Hazelton]

The Lady Notary nodded to Mr. Heinrich as he answered the questions. That made it a bit simpler that he was not already in conflict with someone – although she supposed the only Kindred of Quality that may be would be Mr. Jack or herself. One did not have a quarrel with the Prince or the Archon. She filed away that he was not interested in joining another Covenant. She wondered if Covenants would begin to wonder what Mr. Heinrich could know.

"Thank you. Alder Duchess Twist, might you have a vessel suitable for the Oath Swearing?” She inquired.
She opens her case and surveys the tools that she had brought. She checks the Ceremonial Knife was wrapped safely, that the binder of parchment was present. Then she runs a finger over her Notary Books, most of them handwritten by her hand.
First, she brings out a fine leather-bound notebook and referenced a few handwritten pages in the front of the book. Oaths drafted for the Unaligned as opposed to Kindred of Quality did have a certain tone to them. She carefully reads Oaths that she has witnessed or Oaths that she had presided over, seeking any cautionary tales that advises a certain binding language. Satisfied, she returns her Notary references books back to her case.

"Always amuses me, the variations of these Oaths.” She states to the two Kindred in the room as she begins to write a rough draft into a second fine notebook.
“In most cases, the Kindred who are swearing write the text of their oath in their own blood, and give the text to the person to whom they are swearing. In one French city, the oath is written on parchment made from human skin, in the presence of at least four witnesses, in the last hour of the night.”

One may wonder why she brought it up at all. Yet she had her reasons as she glanced to Mr. Heinrich when she paused in her writing. Making no effort to appear stealthy in the glance. Most swore the Blood Tell Oath because they had to. Unlike other Oaths – or Mutual Oaths – where vassals or students might not get the best deal, they normally gained some knowledge or power from it. This was not one of those times.

The Notary transferred the written words in her notebooks onto a separate piece of paper and studied it a moment. Seemingly satisfied, she offered the parchment bearing the Oath to the Duchess to see if she had any remarks.

The parchment bearing the Oath to be copied, offered to the Duchess to read

'I, [name]; of the line Daeva; swear to honor past agreements and remain a Kindred of good standing. I have the honor to swear an Oath, although I am no longer a member of the Invictus.
With my blood as the ink, and my word and honor as the bonding glue for this document of agreement, I do so swear to this document and it’s intended function. So long as I continue to Danse, I shall be bound to the terms of agreement written hereby in this document from henceforth:
I shall not divulge the plans of the First Estate, reveal any details relating to those plans, or repeat conversations of, to anyone who is not a known member of the Invictus. I shall share no secrets such as the mystical knowledge of Blood Oaths.
I maintain that I bear no plans to harm any current member of the First Estate.
I, and all retainers beholden to me, shall endeavor to maintain the laws of the Prince Alessandra Antinori. I shall swear to uphold all future laws that Her Grace, Prince Alessandra Antinori; she who holds praxis over Sacramento, deems fit in her infinite wisdom to declare. Willingly allowing, or willingly ignoring, a breach of the Laws of Her Excellency, the Prince Alessandra Antinori, will constitute a violation of this document, unless given express permission by Prince Alessandra Antinori personally to do so.
All this I do hereby swear to.

Signature
_______________ Date ________

[Edward Heinrich]

Edward made eye contact with Jennifer to indicate he was listening but did not speak. Nor did he try to get a peek at the oath being written, after all, he would get a chance soon enough.

[Twist]

Stepping to the door for a moment, Twist exchanged words with presumably Kalos before returning. "It will be here momentarily."

Accepting the parchment, Twist read over the words with patience. Nodding at the conclusion she handed it back to the Domain's Notary even as a light knock on the door announced the arrival of the requested vessel.

[Jennifer Hazelton]

As the Duchess handed the Oath copy to Jennifer, she gave the Duchess a respectful nod.

"Please move in front of this table where I shall make a surface for you to write upon, Mr. Heinrich." Jennifer states. "The Oath must be written in your own Vitae. Focus upon your desire for the Oath, and keep your intent on the forefront of your mind during the signing. After I inspect the Oath, I will strum the supernatural ability and seal the Oath. The condition of the Vitae conveys to me information about the Oath, and one's intent around it."

Jennifer rose and set up a station on the furniture provided, drawing out the tools that both Daeva had seen before - the ceremonial knife, the cloth, the pen for dipping in the vessel. The Notary indicated where the vessel would be placed in the set up. Finally, she placed a fresh sheet of parchement in the center of the table for Mr. Heinrich to make his copy. Her oath written by her hand is placed beside the sheet, so that it is easy to reference.

"We can begin." Her serpentine voice invites.

The Oath to be copied:
'I, [name]; of the line Daeva; swear to honor past agreements and remain a Kindred of good standing. I have the honor to swear an Oath, although I am no longer a member of the Invictus.
With my blood as the ink, and my word and honor as the bonding glue for this document of agreement, I do so swear to this document and it’s intended function. So long as I continue to Danse, I shall be bound to the terms of agreement written hereby in this document from henceforth:
I shall not divulge the plans of the First Estate, reveal any details relating to those plans, or repeat conversations of, to anyone who is not a known member of the Invictus. I shall share no secrets such as the mystical knowledge of Blood Oaths.
I maintain that I bear no plans to harm any current member of the First Estate.
I, and all retainers beholden to me, shall endeavor to maintain the laws of the Prince Alessandra Antinori. I shall swear to uphold all future laws that Her Grace, Prince Alessandra Antinori; she who holds praxis over Sacramento, deems fit in her infinite wisdom to declare. Willingly allowing, or willingly ignoring, a breach of the Laws of Her Excellency, the Prince Alessandra Antinori, will constitute a violation of this document, unless given express permission by Prince Alessandra Antinori personally to do so.
All this I do hereby swear to.

Signature
_______________ Date ________

[Edward Heinrich]

Edward rose when directed, as Jennifer once more laid out the basics of the oath. Edward didn't mind, it was just her manner. Reflexively making sure everyone understood. When she finished he turned his eyes to the oath.

He places his index finger beside the line beginning with 'I, and all retainers beholden to me, shall...' and his thumb beside the line ending with '...by Prince Alessandra Antinori personally to do so.'

"I note you have included a section that to my uneducated eyes appears outside the scope of the oath we have just finished discussing. As the Lady Notary's powers of recollection are great, I cannot help but conclude you are well aware this is one of the sections I objected to. As a result, its inclusion causes me great confusion." Edward removed his hand, "would you please enlighten me as to why it was included?"

[Jennifer Hazelton]

" Of course. It's included because stability of the Domain relies upon upholding the Laws of the Domain.

I am curious. Can you clarify-- you want to say that you have no desire to share information. You wish to seal it properly with an oath.

You never clearly articulated why you refused the oath." Jennifer's serpentine voice replied.

[Edward Heinrich]

A flicker of anger passed through Edward as she asked for his reasons. If she wanted to know, then why not just ask in the first place? Even now she did not ask. Or was it just an attempt to fast talk Edward into letting her 'explanation' slip by without objection?

Annoyance coloured Edward's attempt at a calm expression: "Lady Notary, why do you play these games? We are both well aware that in the oath I laid out, which you affirmed was possible, neither Domain stability nor its laws were ever mentioned."

"I do not wish to be rude, yet I admit to feeling slighted, and therefore experience some need to respond in kind. I come to this meeting in good faith, to restrict my own actions, and ask for nothing in return. I do not grasp what leads you to antagonize me in this manner."

Like Heron and Snake. If he left it at that, she would attempt to evade again, and he would attempt to pin her down again — back and forth it would go. So very tiresome. It was a blessing in disguise to be removed from the Invictus. Edward wasn't suited to these games, so he would bring it to a close in a single stroke.

He turned to face Twist, "am I out of line, Duchess Judex?" His asking also made it hard for Jennifer to continue, as that would be talking over Twist. Naturally, this was a double-edged tactic; Twist could simply return with 'you are,' which would be his immediate loss. But the risk was preferable to verbal sparring while Twist watched.

[Twist]

Twist watched the interplay, working to keep her face calm even as she fought to maintain an understanding.

Leaning forward she took advantage of the moment to see what portion of the oath it was that Edward balked at. "The Lady Notary is correct, you never did explain why you refused to swear."

She had surmissed that it was involving Ale and swearing to the Prince and the laws based on his modified oath provided. But that was all she had to go on. Until now.

Leaning back she looked to Edward, "I find my curiosity truly growing as to why you have issue with swearing to uphold the Prince's laws."

Or was it something else in the words that he feared. Some danger that drove him to abandon their formerly shared covenant.

Some secret.

A childe? An intent to harm the domain?

She waited for his answer, dark eyes watching closely.

[Jennifer Hazelton]

"I am here as a courtesy. A courtesy you should start to pay some respect to."
Calm. Collected. Two sentences delivered with careful politeness, the armor of an Invictus Lady.

She had spent a decade honing the way to intimidate and frighten those she decided were deserving, and for a moment, her Beast pressed her to do so. Her Beast growled low in its cage, snarling that this was disrespect. Disrespect shown to her role of function and her position as a Lady. This should be answered with claws and rended flesh...
The Lady Notary took a few minutes to turn inwards, soothing the Beast. A half dozen options unfurled in her mind on how to answer this disrespect from a whelp who wasn't even a Kindred of Quality any longer. Here he sat, wasting the time of the Alder Duchess and a Lady of the Invictus.
Ungrateful fool. Later, later... they would be sated.

She completely ignored Edward, more focussed on her own drive to remain calm and composed. Her lips had drawn tight and turned downwards as Edward whined implored the Duchess to answer him. Now, the Lady Notary smoothed out her face to a calm countenance. Calmly, she now gave him attention - a glance. Then a dismissive cut of her eyes as she turned from him purposely, watching the Alder Duchess as she spoke.

Lady Notary remained with her eyes on the Alder, not seeing fit to look at the Unaligned wriggling for purchase. Etiquette, protocol or simply good manners—in the First Estate, there’s very definitely a right and wrong way to behave. He had pushed her twice. Now, she was carefully, and with great thought, working through the next reaction for when he disrepected her or the First Estate again.

[Edward Heinrich]

Twist appeared about as interested in Edward's and Jennifer's bickering as Edward was. His focus on answering her comment filled him, although a combination of anger and disgust was a brief distraction as Jennifer made one last snipe. Are you twelve? She really only had one trick: slip in an unsubstantiated claim and hope nobody noticed. In this case, it was the claim he hadn't paid courtesy. This was especially rankling as, from his perspective, all he had done was pay respect to her presence or answer questions. Pray tell, Lady Notary, what precisely was my discourtesy? Perhaps it was my calling out your bullshit? The trick was boring once you knew it, and yet the animal in him couldn't help but react to the not-so-secret venom in her collected tone.

But navigating a conversation where words would fail him should he attempt the slightest intentional misrepresentation should be more important. He tried to make it the focus of his thoughts.

"Among the smattering of reasons, one stands out, your Grace. " He paused, wordsmithing, his words staccato as he checked every phrase against his gut. All to ensure he believed each word. "I view the section obliging the oath swearer to uphold all future laws as risking breaking an oath of loyalty to my Sire due to the open-ended nature of 'future laws.' However, I have no intent to break any current law of the Domain, and should the laws of the Domain change in a fashion that would come into conflict with my previous Oath, then I shall peacefully depart."

"I did not see how I could swear in good faith, knowing full well the possibility of contradiction."