Lhurriel could hardly contain her excitement as she darted back through the door, dragging Rowhik (the first person she could get her hands on) with her.<br/><br/>The magicycle truly was a thing of beauty. The first word that came to mind was<em>sleek</em>- everything about the magicycle was slim and made for speed, the entire frame painted and constructed with the mage in mind, in flowing, neutral blues and grays. The seat was lifted slightly higher in back, and everything cushioned discreetly so that discomfort wouldn't be too much of a problem on long journeys. Everything about the magicycle was compact and didn't mar the sleek look of the rest of the body. Even better, the casing that protected the crystal already glowed (to her mage-Sight) with power, the spells casted to prevent another from driving the vehicle. As she wandered around the 'cycle, Lhurriel pulled Rowhik along, explaining all the different parts that made her custom model different from the standard ones that the guards usually recieved.<br/><br/>"Usually the seat is wider, but since this is a custom we usually have the customer try out several different seats. Also, you see these small alloy fixtures underneath everything? Most models need larger ones because they support people with larger body weight and size... since I'm smaller though, I think they felt they could sacrifice a certain amount of reinforcing. Also, this 'cycle is designed for speed, since my fighting style tends towards agility and evasion, not head-on power. These crystals built into the sides would enhance my magic if we engaged in magicycle combat..." Lhurriel continued to chatter excitedly as she explored, and finally stopped to take a breath. Whirling around, she practically threw herself into Alasdair's arms with a laugh.<br/><br/>"Thank you so much! It's perfect, absolutely perfect! Isn't it, Rowhik? William?" She practically pranced back to the two guards, her face wreathed in a glowing smile.<br/><br/><br/><br/>Corsair's sharp eyes didn't miss the movement of Kae replacing Lhurriel's picture on the table, but he didn't say anything about it, giving himself a mental reminder to bring up the topic of Lhurriel later. As he shuffled through some of the estate and local maps, Corsair turned his mind back to the matters at hand.<br/><br/>"My people never saw much - merely lights in a barn that nobody lived in, or several figures riding magicycles at midnight, when no person has any reason to ride. Some of the hedge wizards and visiting mages nearby said they felt disturbances in the magical balance the night the visitors and bandits were seen, but after that all signs of their existence disappeared, and things returned as they were."<br/><br/>Corsair finally found the map he was searching for and pulled it out, indicating several crystals fused to certain portions of the map. "These are where the sightings were, and if you activate these crystals, it tells us the times they were seen. To all appearances, they are heading out of the country at all speed. However, some of my crystal mage specialists were able to detect and gather some of the crystal energy that came from their magicycle models... cheap, badly-built imitations of my own, with fractured and defective crystals that will break down within the next couple of days at the rate the bandits are using them. I concluded that the bandits and your artifact-snatchers are probably the same people, or are in league with each other. Other than that though, we have none other information to give you."<br/><br/>That concluded, Corsair's eyes found themselves swinging back to the portrait of Lhurriel, propped up on the table in its frame. He thought about mentioning the young woman, and see how this soldier reacted... but changed his mind, instead getting to his feet.<br/><br/>"I expect Lhurriel and the others will have finished with the tour by now. Dinner is very soon, so I should probably get ready. I don't hold on formality here, but I would like to change into clothes that I haven't been working in all day," Corsair explained. He nodded towards the door, where a maid curtsied and informed the men that dinner would be served in twenty minutes.<br/><br/>"Shall we?"