Jackal Among Snakes

“You should know… we killed the Shadowlander,” Argrave began before Orion could interrogate. “It killed a great many, sadly, but it’s gone now.”

“The dead… it is a sad thing,” the bearded prince said, “But I’ve waited many months for this day, and there is gold in the mud,” he declared. “My head is clear of interfering voices. All of Vasquer’s bindings have been broken.”

Argrave rubbed his hands together, eyes moving in cautious assessment. Orion didn’t seem to despise him. He grabbed a chair in the corner of the room and pulled it up, then asked slowly, “Elenore already saw Vasquer… but the voices being gone—is that true?”

Orion nodded steadily. “Traugott’s actions summoned that foul giant of shadow, but simultaneously dispelled the whispering voices from my mind like a lantern might ward away darkness. Now… their silence buoys my calm.”

Argrave brightened almost inadvertently. Before he could speak, Anneliese asked, “It was Traugott that caused this, directly? You’re certain?”

“I am certain. I tried to chase after his flesh when he fled inside that shadow of his, and as consequence… that thing bubbled free,” Orion bitterly spat, clenching his hands against the bedframe. “But it did benefit me. Vasquer’s false gods… they trouble me no longer, yet I retain their false divinity. It astounds.”

Anneliese placed one hand against her chin, mulling his words.

Feeling he should continue to divert away from himself, Argrave said, “I think you should know something. Georgina and Duke Rovostar snuck into the palace during the chaos. They were trying to free Felipe.”

Orion stood. “What?”

“Levin stopped them. He… tackled Felipe off the mountainside,” Argrave said quietly, looking up at Orion. “They both died from the fall. Elenore saw this happen.”

Orion raised his hands up to his head as his gray eyes widened in shock. He turned away, running his fingers through his hair, damaged after the fight with the Shadowlander. He turned fast enough to stir the air stomped on the floor, shaking the room. “How could you let this happen?!”

The prince loomed dangerously over Argrave, but Galamon grabbed his arm fiercely and fearlessly. “You’re shaking the room. The Palace is already crumbling. Don’t cause more problems for His Majesty,” the knight-commander said, guttural voice low and threatening.

Argrave stared. He was good at acting calm. The key word there, though, was acting. His Brumesingers clambered out of his coat and growled at the towering prince in a tense moment.

“How can you sit there like that?” Orion continued. “They were still… your blood…”

Argrave briefly panicked when Orion mentioned they were his blood, but words came to his mouth and he quickly said, “You have to carry on. Do you think your mother would like it if you succumbed to grief while the kingdom burns?”

“Mother…” Orion closed his eyes.

To his relief, this contented the prince and Orion nodded at Galamon before backing away. “But… Levin?” the prince sat back on the bed, clearly distressed. His fingers ran through his hair in abject despair as tears fell. “Why would he do this? No matter what father had done, his own life…?”

The prince sniffled while everyone else stayed quiet for a long while. Anneliese looked in deep thought even now, amber eyes moving between the two of them in consideration.

Orion froze suddenly, then whipped his head up and narrowed his red eyes. “Did you say that Elenore saw this?”

“Well…” Argrave paused at the unexpected question, petting his Brumesinger’s floppy ears. “It was through Vasquer, but yes.”

“Ah…” Orion lowered his head once again. “I thought for a moment that Elenore had regained her sight.”

“Ehh…” Argrave scratched his neck, and the Brumesingers disappeared back into his coat. “She did.”

Orion leaned in, totally alert. “Meaning… her eyes?”

“Yeah,” Argrave nodded. “She’s got it all back. The feet, the eyes, all of it.”

Orion reached forth and planted both of his hands on Argrave’s knees, exclaiming, “That’s wonderful! I…!” his enthusiasm dampened. “She… cannot want to see me, being as she is absent at present. I do not blame her. I listened for father for too long, and left her isolated, alone…even Induen visited her, yet not me…”

When Orion pulled his hands off his knees Argrave rubbed the spots they’d been, feeling that a bruise was inevitable from that tight grip of his. “I can’t speak for Elenore,” he said decisively.

Orion grew reticent, digesting both the negative and positive news in the latest edition of Keeping Up With the Vasquers. The reports would be considerably smaller henceforth, Argrave supposed.

“Traugott intended to use you as an experiment in testing the boundaries between realms,” Anneliese said suddenly.

Argrave looked to her. “What’s this now?”

Orion, too, looked at Anneliese. “How do you mean?”

Anneliese crossed her arms and came to stand behind Argrave, gathering her thoughts. After getting things in order, she took a deep breath in preparation for a long talk. “Traugott was the original emissary designated to sway the Magisters in far northern Vasquer to support Argrave,” she began, her confidence lending her speech speed. “It stands to reason that he knew of Gerechtigkeit. But what is more interesting is that he stopped in Relize to speak to Argrave, specifically.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “He knew you were the source of that knowledge. And expanding upon that… he may have even read that booklet you and I designed for Master Castro. Given the utter lack of constraints his ascension grants him, he could steal that booklet, or even copy it, without issue.”

Argrave followed her words, eyes distant as he contemplated. Slowly, he nodded. “That’s… reasonable.”

“There was a lot of information on that booklet, if you recall,” she squeezed his shoulder to emphasize her point. “There was certainly enough to extrapolate that spirits are one of the few things that can presently bridge the realms between worlds if he had done independent research on the matter. You’ve told me in private that Traugott is a scholarly sort—fascinated by the unknown. A scientist.” She pointed at Orion. “Traugott had an idea. Orion was the key to testing that idea—namely, if spirits could be something that opened the boundary between the Shadowlands and this realm.”

Argrave turned his head around and looked at her. “…and it worked. The spirits of Vasquer froze the man’s portal of shadow in place long enough for a Shadowlander to escape.”

“And the fact he sent that ridiculous apology is evidence enough that he knows how knowledgeable you are,” Anneliese continued. “When I observed him back then, he had intense curiosity about you. I suspect he genuinely bears no malice towards you.”

“But what he did…!” Orion began loudly.

“People can cause great harm without acting in malice,” Anneliese interrupted Orion. “Did he say anything to you, Orion?”

“Ah…” Orion held his head. “I have… a poor memory, generally. Hmm…” he thought back long and hard. “I remember only the last thing he said to me before vanishing. ‘I’ll watch and learn.’”

“My current best idea is that this was some sort of test for him,” Anneliese nodded, affirmed.

“That…” Orion pointed at her. “He said something like that. I can’t remember exactly what. If only my accursed brain did not keep such delible memories, I could offer better recollection. Forgive me, future sister-in-law.”

“Fret not. I have a complete enough picture,” she waved her hand, then stepped to the window and looked out across Dirracha. “Regardless, something more remains. Traugott must have a larger goal. That is the pertinent issue.”

“Is it?” Galamon asked her seriously. “From Argrave’s account, greater evils come. That is our focus, lest we succumb to them.”

“My intuition tells me that Traugott will not settle down and calmly read books as he did in Heroes of Berendar. He has changed,” Anneliese looked to Argrave. “And as we saw, he has the potential to be extremely dangerous. One rock in the road can halt an entire caravan, no matter how long the train trailing behind.”

Orion rose to his feet. “I will crush his skull in my bare hands,” he declared, moving to the window as though to jump. Anneliese stepped aside in caution.

“Hold on a moment!” Argrave stood, too. “One—use the door. And two, don’t leave at all. Galamon is right in that we have a different focus right now.”

Orion, hand on the windowsill already, stopped and looked back. “Lady Anneliese speaks sensibly. Traugott causes problems. I can kill him.”

Argrave spread his arms out. “You couldn’t kill him earlier in home territory—now you hope to hunt him down?”

Orion turned and sat on the windowsill, looking depressed.

“As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, there are more important matters. Namely, this entire kingdom,” Argrave gestured broadly. “Hostilities have died down, but the war is not over. Terms have not been drafted. Consequences and rewards have not been meted out. For the sake of people—for the sake of rebuilding, and preparing for what’s to come, this needs to happen.”

The prince looked sobered. He crossed his arms and stared at Argrave evenly. “You’re right. I… have been adrift, somewhat, since learning the truth of my pantheon. But Boarmask taught me a simple principle: how would I like to be treated were the positions reversed? Thus far, it has made me feel good in choosing.”

“Boarmask?” Argrave repeated incredulously.

“Ah,” Orion looked at Argrave. “I forget. You two have met. Well… you would know him better than that, too, I suppose.” His face hardened somewhat. “We still… have not discussed you.”

Argrave felt a jolt as what he’d been avoiding came up so suddenly.

“How did you get in that position?” Orion asked.

“I don’t know,” Argrave answered honestly.

“What happened to Argrave’s true soul?” Orion pressed, undeterred.

Argrave caught onto the trend of answers and dictated, “I’ll save us both some trouble and answer any questions you might have; I don’t know anything about why I’m here, why this happened, or anything. I woke up, I was here, and that’s all I know.”

Orion’s gray eyes stared for a long, long while, boring into Argrave’s eyes of the same color. Eventually, the dark-haired prince lowered his head. “I have more to say. But things are as you say: the people wither as we do nothing. Blood, kin, and family… three words with myriad meanings. My world has turned upside down in ways I pictured impossible months ago. We must speak again later, privately, when things do not threaten to fall apart around us. But I do believe you act for the good of the kingdom. All that Vasquer showed me confirms that opinion—no, that fact.”

Argrave was taken aback at the praise. Strangely, it made him feel good—it was a validation of so much of his efforts. Orion was the last person he thought might inspire that feeling.

If Orion knew he hit home, he didn’t show it as he continued, “Now, how do you intend to put these hostilities to bed once and for all?”

“Sumner mentioned a summit with all the nobles of the realm,” Argrave continued, glad to be past that. “I like that idea. I’d need Elenore with me to really set things in stone, but I have a general plan—namely, confirmation of my status as king, distribution of rewards and punishments, and dictation of where this kingdom will head. But first… a certain old man needs to send out some good news to all the lords and ladies of the realm,” Argrave smiled.