Jackal Among Snakes

Thus far, he had been treating Elenore much like his cousins. Though he was never rude or unkind, they had always been strangers who happened to be closely related. As far as he was concerned, that was where it ended. Books—and later in life, games—had always been infinitely more interesting and convenient to him than people. Much less likely to disappoint, too. That isn’t to say he didn’t want a reliable friend. The key word there, though, was ‘reliable.’ People are fickle.

Argrave’s hand hovered just above Elenore’s back as she hugged him. He was happy that things had gone as he wanted them to—Elenore didn’t sever things irreparably and seemed more than amenable to close association in the future. He merely hadn’t expecting things to go quite this well. He was expecting some significant buildup before things came to this point.

“You… seem to like it there,” Argrave noted, a little unsure of what to do.

“I tried to kill you,” Elenore said, her voice muffled in his duster.

Argrave raised a brow. “You said that already, I hope you know.”

“Why don’t you care?” Elenore pushed him away and lifted her head until her eyeless sockets seemed to gaze upon him.

“Anneliese and I put things together on that front from the beginning,” Argrave scratched his arm, and then put a hand on her shoulder. She was quite bony, he found. “And Induen… well, he wasn’t exactly subtle when we talked. He’d suspected the same, tried to use that fact to win me to his side.”

“Induen… hah, of course,” she lowered her head, biting her lip. After an uncomfortable silence she lifted her head again, fire in her features. “Then why in the world do you trust me so much?” she questioned, voice quiet and tremulous. “Why do you hinge everything on me? Do you expect a different result? Why don’t you care?” she repeated.

I’m the last person to deride others for fratricide, Argrave wanted to say, but he knew most didn’t like those kinds of jokes and felt it was inappropriate given the situation.

Hiding a smile, Argrave said, “Because I know you can still be good. To me, to the world, to whoever the hell,” Argrave shook his head.

“Good,” she scoffed, turning her head.

Argrave shook her shoulder a little to draw her attention back, then said, “You might think it’s a joke, but yeah, you can do good. If there was ever a line in the sand between good and evil, I think ‘fell calamity that endeavors to destroy everything’ is quite obviously on the evil side. Thwarting that is good. Not a particularly complicated equation. I can’t afford to hold grudges. I know you’ve done some pretty cruel things, but now you can do something to outweigh that completely.”

Elenore looked like she found it difficult to wrap her head around that. She stepped away, and Argrave spared a glance to Anneliese—she confirmed things were going as well as he thought they were with a thumbs up.

“What is the future you want?” she asked Argrave, back facing him.

“Pretty simple. In my hypothetical future, I’m alive. Everyone I care about is, too.”

Elenore turned. “I mean, what is it you hope to achieve by allying with me?”

Argrave nodded, understanding her question now. He deliberated on his answer, running through what he and Anneliese had discussed.

“There is much you don’t know, much that Vasquer can tell you,” Argrave pointed to the snake, though hesitated to touch her once again. “Much of my aims are in preparation for these coming events. I’ll give you the brief version of things: my priority presently is putting an end to this civil war—a decisive victory that minimizes loss of life. Vasquer is a part of that plan. If I can secure her help, she is an undisputed signal of legitimacy that will wipe away almost any stain on my name—bastardry, kinslaying, you name it,” Argrave said, keeping his eye on the snake. “She can fight no longer, but then I don’t need her to fight.”

Elenore crossed her arms. “Then you’ll assume the role of king. You’ve agreed to it already.”

Argrave nodded. “Yes. I’ll need your help to get the title, obviously, but I’ll need it much more after. I don’t know what you’ve seen of Gerechtigkeit, what Vasquer has actually shown you… but thousands of problems of his making brew in all of Berendar, like blisters pushing against the skin. There are things that I have to confront in-person for any hope of success. Consequently, my intent was to have you serve as my regent in those absences.”

Elenore took a deep breath of surprise, and her fingers danced as she toyed with the notion. “You would have me as regent?”

Argrave stepped forward. “You’re hyper-competent. You have the status for the role. No one else fits better.”

“A regency is a dangerous thing for a newly crowned king,” she warned subtly.

“Yes, a disloyal regent could ostensibly take control of the kingdom,” Argrave nodded. “But the stakes are too high to risk disunity. I trust you.”

Elenore gestured towards him. “You trust the sister who tried to kill you.”

“Tried to have me killed,” Argrave waved his hands to dismiss it like it was no big deal. “And you didn’t do the best job at it. If we’re talking about kinslaying, I’ve got the better record, here,” he said with a smile, then added awkwardly, “That’s not a threat, I hope you know, just a joke…”

“Why not the Margrave? Why not Duke Enrico? Nikoletta, or… or even your companions?” she said, searching for more names. “Why in the name of the gods would you choose me?”

Argrave didn’t skip a beat in answering, “You’re better at the job than they are.”

“Do you even want to be king?” Elenore questioned, catching on to something. “I don’t think you’d actually care if I took the kingdom. That’s my impression of you based off what I… what we experienced with Vasquer.”

“Sharp,” Argrave noted, giving an impressed nod. “I’m a selfish man. I want to live wealthily and do so with those lovely people behind me every step of the way. Out of most jobs, ‘king’ doesn’t sound bad… but it’s still a job. Do it poorly, relax a little bit too much…” Argrave ran his finger across his neck. “I’ll end up fired.” Argrave shook his head. “I don’t know what happens after Gerechtigkeit is gone. But all I need is a temporary position of supreme power, and nothing more.”

Elenore swallowed. “You’re completely serious.”

“Completely? Hardly,” Argrave shook his head. “Levity is my favorite spice of life. But I am resolved to fight until I die. If I don’t fight, I die anyway. Bum deal,” Argrave shrugged.

“But what…” Elenore turned away, running her fingers through her hair. “Why is this happening? Gerechtigkeit—what… why?”

Argrave turned his head back to the gargantuan golden snake that seemed to be patiently listening to their conversation. “Those are questions for her. She’s the reason I asked you to clear your schedule today—she can explain things far more succinctly and in much more believable terms than I can ever hope to. We have all of the time in the world.”

Elenore crossed her arms, and looked to grow quite uncomfortable. “…time in the world,” she said quietly.

“What?” Argrave asked, stepping closer to hear her better.

“We don’t have all the time in the world,” she said a bit louder. “I… what you told me, about a traitor near me. I managed to isolate one leak, managed to draw some information out. Coming here, personally, was intended to spur them into action so that I might get more information. Induen’s death led some to believe that my position was greatly weakened, but whoever this leak is connected to… the force they’re working with isn’t small.”

Argrave frowned and clasped his hands together. “That sounds suspiciously like you’re saying some people are coming to hunt you down.”

“That’s precisely what I’m saying,” Elenore turned her head to him. “I had intended to… well, never mind. No, I have to say. It’s important I be honest,” she said, debating with herself. “I wanted to test how strong your party really was and get information of my foes in one fell swoop. It was also a probe of your loyalty… seems pointless now,” Elenore crossed her arms and shook her head. “The forces I have are abundant. You can stay back, let me subdue them. I’m eager to get to the bottom of things, even if this is most likely to be a dead end.” Elenore sighed. “Still, we’ll have to wait and see if I’m right about this at all.”

“We’ll help,” Argrave held his hand out. “Perhaps I ought to show you something, bolster your confidence in me. I can show you why I’ve got a fair bit of resolve fighting against Gerechtigkeit.” Argrave turned his head to the distant entryway.

Elenore tapped her foot against the ground. “Overconfidence got Ruleo bound before me, fearing for his life. Always assume you’re worse than who you fight.”

“Such a sweet thing to say,” Argrave said, distant gaze still on the steep stairway that led to this room.

“I… I’m sorry,” Elenore grew flustered. “Be careful. I’ll help if you need it.”

Argrave put his glove back on. “Rather the opposite of what you used to feel with me, isn’t it?”

“I’m no longer sorry,” Elenore decided, realizing now he was being sarcastic.

Argrave smiled and laughed, and after a second Elenore did, too. “You stay here with Vasquer,” he told her good-naturedly. “She can answer your questions. Then, we can reconvene.”

“Certainly. My men know what could be coming, and when—I’ll tell them to cooperate with you,” Elenore nodded, and both directed their attention towards the big snake. “I think… I would like to help her. Help her as you helped me.”

“See?” Argrave lightly patted her shoulder. “Who says you can’t be good?”

Elenore scoffed and walked towards Vasquer once again. “Let me inform Vasquer, then we can go and deal with things.”

Argrave nodded, then turned back to his waiting companions. Durran had sat down and lounged, while Anneliese and Galamon both waited diligently. “I take it you heard?” he asked them.

“Indeed. Touching little thing you two had,” Durran called out. “More hardships for us, too. Been a while since I’ve fought normal people.”

“It may be respite, even,” Galamon noted, eyes closed.

Argrave was surprised his usually stoic companion would express such confidence. Both Durran and Galamon walked past him, moving to Elenore. Anneliese stepped up to Argrave.

“When you touched Vasquer…” Anneliese began, leaving words unsaid.

Argrave nodded. “Elenore wasn’t the only one who found unexpected truths.”

Anneliese inched closer. “What does that mean?”

“Not sure. I got out of there quickly. It… was overwhelming,” he excused weakly. “Something to do with ‘Argrave.’ And maybe, something to do with the Brumesingers—why I had the reaction I did, all those months ago. My affinity with death.”

Anneliese touched his shoulder. “You want to deal with the matter at hand first, I understand. But this might be key to some of the questions you have.”

Argrave raised his hand to her own and took a deep breath. “Let’s go,” he said stoically, trying to push past the apprehension of this new discovery.