After a few days at sea on his return from Taengea, the return to the ports of Midas was... shocking, to say the least. He had left his kingdom of birth after a recovery from a terrible storm that had rocked their economy and city. Exuberant and vibrant, full of hope that everything would return to normal, it was upon ensuring that all was well that the spymasted deigned to leave, with the Lady Iolanthe by his side to visit the Taengean courts, and update him of all that was happening there.

He had not expected to return to scorched houses, roofless homes, and the sight of his people picking the pieces of their lives back together. Magnus had switched to work mode quickly enough, his first order of business to escort the Lady Iolanthe on a closed carriage to return to her home in the Pesistratos barony, returning her to her brother's care. After a quick, gentle promise to the lady that he would write to her, and to see her again soon, he left the carriage and took a horse quickly back to his own residence, eager to check on the wellbeing of his parents and sister. It appeared as if the Upper Levels had been left thankfully untouched, and none of it was as badly damaged as the lower levels, but that did not allay much of Magnus's worry at all.

The attack in Taengea was fresh still, but... surely the fires had naught to do with an attack on the royals? Making a point to send missives out to his informants to check on the status of the kingdom and find out the cause of the fire - a mining accident seemed plausible, but Magnus never left anything to chance - he pulled up and slid off his horse in one swift movement, leaving it to his stablehands to grab the gelding as he ran up the steps to the foyer, where Leto immediately greeted him.

His sister was a bright one, if a little subdued in her personality. But she was perfect in Magnus's eyes. "Is everything fine? Mother and father?" he asked quickly, returning her embrace. The dark-haired sibling of hers quickly explained and assured Magnus that their parents were fine and in their chambers resting. That was as far as Leto got - before a servant approached Magnus, informing him of his visitor residing and waiting for him in his receiving room.

Of course Maeva would be around. He expected nothing less that she would know exactly the day he would get home and that she would be here asking for explanations - he had guided her afterall.

Murmuring at Leto to get dinner ready, and that he would dine with them that night, he pressed a kiss to his young sister's temple, before moving towards the receiving room, shrugging his coat off as he moved. The white tunic fell just below the waistband of his wheat colored pants, hair in disarray from the speed of which he rode back. It was in this state that Maeva would see as she whirled to glare daggers at him.

In return, Magnus raised his brows, striding in with is purposeful step as usual, heading straight to the pile of missives on his table waiting for him. "Pleasant of course, Boreas was kind and allowed me to return home a day earlier - but of course you know that." he replied in a tone far too pleasant when compared to Maeva's accusatory tone. Running a hand to smoothen his hair, he sat on the armchair of the kline he had in the receiving room, before leveling a steady, wry look on his former protege. "The scorch marks in Taengea are getting painted over with new colors, if that's what you're wondering, Maeva. Although the new colors may change after a while, depending on which way the winds blow there." she would understand what he meant, she usually did. "As far as the fires - how bad was it?" He was not around, and had yet to personally speak to his people. He had managed to stop off at one of the merchants he did business with on his trip back from the Pesistratos barony, but all he had gleaned was the way in which the matter was handled, and what had happened.

"I'm sure tis was nothing more then just a mining accident as the prince had said, but I will look further into the matter." he paused, and then continued, "What would I have been able to do should I have been around, anyway? I do not command Poseidon, nor do I have control over the skies as Zeus does, much as I wish I could."

The woman was young, but astute in mind, sharp for business and for the line of work they had both fallen in, albeit she ran on the other side of the tracks as compared to Magnus. With his parents and sister's reputation on the line, the spymaster could hardly turn to the lower levels of the city to conduct his businesses. It was why he had ended up working for the crown as Master of Information. Yet he was lucky in that he still had his contacts, and Maeva was willing to speak with him in most regards - for the right coin, of course. But that was a given, in their line of duty.

"I'll put my money on anger rather then smarts." he murmured in an off-hand reply, picking up one of the many wax-sealed scrolls. Breaking the wax, his eyes scanned the words as Maeva took the seat to his side, not concerned that the redhead would read anything she wasn't supposed to. His servants were trained enough that any sensitive missive was deposited in his private chambers, chambers that he did not allow anyone but himself to enter. The missives laid out in his study that they were in were simply regular correspondences with contacts he sought to keep up to date with, no sensitive information to be had.

Eyes flickered to Maeva when she leaned in to the armrests, brows raising from the way she stared at him. Obviously she was demanding attention, that which Magnus still found a little hard to give considering he just got off a rather enjoyable week-long voyage in the company of the Lady Iolanthe.

But Maeva was right in his expectations - he had been gone from Midas for almost three weeks at this point, and he had plenty to catch up with. More now, it seems, if Maeva had her suspicions right. "I'm away more often then not. It is only because Prince Vangelis is now in Taengea, that I return here." Of course, Magnus would find it odd, but he would've found it even odder still had the fire happened while Vangelis was away. He was but the Master Informer - not the Master of War. If it was someone who had planned to raze Colchis to the ground, he doubted they would've chosen a time where he was away, rather then delay it till the Crown prince himself was gone. "You know the mines - they are rickety, and many of them require a further looking in to ensure their continuous safety."

Perhaps Maeva would think him too flippant, but sometimes Magnus did not want to make a mountain out of a molehill. From what correspondence he's managed to read, the fire had managed to damage most of the lower levels, but did not reach the Upper areas of the nobility and royal houses. That in itself was a blessing. He was not lying when he told Maeva he intended to look into the matter himself, instantly making plans in his head to visit the aforementioned mine which was supposed to have collapsed and cause the fire to begin with, but he did not wish to create a hurrah over what may be not much to begin with.

For a moment, the dark-haired male blinked, and then he turned a pair of wide, almost disbelieving eyes to Maeva. "You... did what?" he murmured, and then uttered something that sounded as if it was somewhere between a laugh and a groan, burying his head in his hands. "No wonder there seemed to have been issues in acquiring water from certain parts of the city." he murmured. Slotting in a visit to the rest of the advisors the next morning before he visited the mines, he tossed the missive he had been reading aside, and turned to her. "If anyone wanted to launch an actual attack that was mirroring those of the Creed in Taengea, the fire would've been focused on the houses of the nobility and royalty in the Upper Levels - not raze the small residences of the Lower Levels." he paused, and then gave her a thoughtful look. "Unless you have heard of other plans?"

Considering Magnus had been gone for that block of time, his return merely half an hour ago meant that he had yet to secure any form of information from his galley and network of people. Any help Maeva offered at this point would likely be more helpful, then Magnus spending the rest of his day, likely losing sleep as he tried to catch himself up to speed of the last three weeks.

Of course the breaking of a main water source would gain the spymaster's attention. While the fixing of it would not be under his jurisdiction, he still felt the responsibility of actually informing if he would know who was responsible for the ruining of a city's water source if asked. A soft groan was muffled by Magnus's own tongue. In a way, Maeva made sense, and honestly Magnus would choose fixing an aqueduct over having to rebuild a whole city. But with his protege's words however, he was getting even antsier to see the true damage done to the city beyond what he could glimpse on the carriage ride to return to his quarters.

"True." he murmured in agreement to Maeva's first statement, and then gave a wry smile, accompanied by a slow dip of his head. "The city will be thankful, at least. I'll inform the royal family." He responded, keeping in mind to drop by and visit the Kotas mansion as soon as he had a chance to get his updates from all of his informants in the weeks he had been gone. He doubted the royal family would reject the help anyway. They were far more logical than that, and would not deny money when it would double the efforts to rebuild Midas and put their people out of suffering.

Listening quietly to his friend's explanation, the dark-haired male leaned back in the armchair he had fallen to sit upon whilst listening to Maeva's words. It had merit to it for sure - she was not entirely wrong. Besides, it would be easier to target the Lower Levels, for the security in the Upper Levels would be way too tight for the fire to spread any further. Yet, Magnus was never someone who drew conclusions purely from the words of one person, intelligent as that person may be.

"That would be great, thank you. I shall take a count and see what can be further done, and check if any deaths or injury would have a specific significance behind it." he followed up. Pulling out a parchment, he scrawled out a quick note that he would send to Master of Law and Master of War, along with the Chief Advisor to the royal family. They would need to have a quick conference, and Magnus needed to know if anyone had their eyes on disrupting the hard-earned peace Colchis was supposed to have.Boreas had done enough damage to Midas, they didn't need more fire's ravaging what they could salvage and rebuild from the wrath of the storms a month ago.

Looking up when Maeva queried him, he signed off his notes with a flourish, a quick rap on the door enough to bring in servants, who took the wax-sealed notes and hurried off. Only as he closed the door, did he reply. "Taengea is in an interesting situation. I was there to scope out the area before Prince Vangelis is due to arrive there in a week's time. I remained there for the coronation and subsequent dinners, just to hear what things are like there. Don't forget, the voyage to the Kingdom takes a week give or take." he murmured, his strides leading him back to the kline Maeva was on. Taking up the other end of the long, plush seat, he settled his weight upon it, crossing his legs as he leaned back. "It was a fruitful trip, at least. Taengea... let's just say it isn't the safest place to be, for now." He paused, and then his gaze flickered to the red-headed foreign lady he's spent many years working with. "And you? Anything else other then the fire's ravaging Colchis?"