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Julia
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I rise out of a sea of rubble, my entire right side covered in blood, and it feels good. Possibly this feeling is because I have just killed every enemy soldier in the room. Heavy black coats lay in shreds over the marble shrapnel of the floor like peasant rugs. Every now and then I glimpse a shiny black boot. I take one careful step forward, Gwen's length shimmering in protective circles around my body.
Nobody home.
Given that this used to be the audience chamber, that's impressive. It was a very big room. Now it is very pretty rubble. I toe a broken bit of marble, oddly shaped like a nose. Some departed statue. Pity. Even the Aurocan crest in the overhead stained glass window is shattered.
Let's see. I'm pretty sure the Kommissar's special foot troops are dead. I've had a few reports of Avian troops and other cannon fodder, but they've withdrawn. The Shrouds are still about of course, but we've our own shadows to deal with theirs. We've our own substantial amount of dead as well. No missing remains as far as I know. By my count, we have five to twenty soldiers left on our side, not including Lute.
Plenty.
Now, just where have the dryads and nymphs and other fairies gone? Most were gathered in here. Possibly they're all hiding in the gardens, but that strikes me as somehow unlikely. Something's fishy. The Avians could have taken something with them when they withdrew...
And then Gwen chirps with news from one of Camden's still-living men, an event so astounding that I double-check that I even heard her report of it. He's keeping himself hush and withdrawing to Radia for reconnaissance and purposes. That would be more than enough in most cases - he isn't even under my command. But he also tells Gwen his name, and gives just a bit more information that is quite interesting.
It would go to figure that the Avian boy would wind up spying on the enemy's troops and finding our lost fairies. The extra tidbit that they pulled away Armed bodies for transport is possibly the most important part of his report.
Why is Xen Xaillyndesse destroying or taking Armed bodies? Does he know something about the Armed that we thought was kept secret? I'll have to ask Lute what he's found out, once he reports back. I'll have to ask the whole division and report back to Jhe h'Akribastes, at that. Once we regroup, that is...
Speaking of which, it's high time that was done. There's still enemy forces left to kill, and I'd like to get right on top of that. Iaen's holed up with two shadows in Ebrellin-i's study, right? That should still be safe. I mentally verify that one, though.
Yeah, well, safe. Funny word, that. Iaen seems to be grumbling, he's so discontent. There's so much action in the labs that this room's shaking. And I still can't get out and have fun! Aww. He's pouting.
Ah. Well, allow me to rescue you from danger, fair princess. I melt into the shadows as Gwen feels out the boundaries of Ebrellin-i's laboratory space. Whoa...this place is weird.
Gwen scowls. I've never encountered wards like this before.
These aren't wards, I reply. They're pure madness.
Space-time itself is knit and mangled in strange layers around the underground expanse of the labs. Oddly, I don't encounter any part of the wards that tries to harm me. Crossing into it is difficult just due to navigational issues. It's almost as if I didn't need to sneak in.
Once I'm inside, though... then the real fun begins.
* * *
Lute
* * *
The Kommissar clasps his fingers around the ball of Nul and closes his eyes. After a moment of quiet contemplation, his eyes flick open.
He's looking right at me.
Then he turns away, and my blood starts to pump through my body again. Still can't see me. Thank the light and the shadows that hide from it. He fades from existence, then, and I nick along behind him, quiet like always, ready for him to turn on me at any moment. After all, he's got that strange drop of Nul on him. I don't know what advantage it could be lending him.
Nothing happens, though. We make the hop together, this time ending up in the outdoors. I recognize the terrain outside the Palace - which is conveniently abundant with bushes, tall grass, and trees for cover. The carriage is about a hundred feet away. Xen is talking with Thelea Xaillyndesse. The skinny, pale woman is smoking a kretek with intense annoyance. Her fingers are thin and thick-jointed, perched around the clove cigarette like insect legs. Her hair is long, straight, and black, falling in a perfect line down her back. Her white skin and noble features echo both Jhe h'Logos and Jhe o'Sul sharply, or rather theirs echo hers. Her expression is more sour than I've seen either of their faces be, though.
The Kommissar smirks at her show of nerves. "I have everything handled with him. He'll be no problem to you, or either of us. I told you I had him well-trained. Did he lash out at you? Was your life ever in any danger?"
Thelea's hand shakes, ash spraying from the cigarette. Her face is pinched and angry. "And what if I was, Kommissar? What then would you do? I suppose you would get on very well without me and the leash of my son, yes?"
Xen snickers. "Your eldest son doesn't need a leash. He hangs himself. Did you know there's still evidence of him in the Palace?"
She raises an eyebrow. "I find that highly unlikely."
"Unlikely that he's taken revenge for Radia killing his poor ickle birdie-pet? I think you doted on the thing too much, myself. What if we're raiding his Palace for nothing?" He's not serious. He's all smirk and taunt, enjoying the opportunity to ride Thelea's worn nerve.
She takes the bait. "I keyed it to myself after he named it after me. It constantly attends his throne. His throne-guardian's death is obvious evidence of an attack. I know the location of my sons, Kommissar. They both dwell in Radia."
"Even so." He nods to her in slight deference. "My men are investigating. Until then, perhaps you should examine our catches? It's fine convenience, your defiant son's pantry being emptied right into our coffers." He gestures out to the opposite direction from the carriage. Past what he's gesturing at, a number of our enemies are congregated in a camp. I see very few of his human soldiers - the camp is packed full of Breeds. Avians, rare Canies, even damn blistering Arachne-kin.
Speaking of Arachne-kin, many of those are closer to us. I almost hiss, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. A cat-like reaction, I know. Can you blame me? They're fucking creepy. Their bodies are vaguely humanoid, but they're much less human in appearance than the Avians. Their mouths are bundles of fangs perched under huge, beautiful amber eyes. Tinier eyes are arranged in clusters on their foreheads. Their hair is straight and fine, striped in ginger and black. Their bodies are elongated, with thin striped arms that reach down to their knees and end in long thin skeletal fingers. What disturbs me the most, though, is that they're attractive in some eerie way. They're gathered around a sort of corral made of webbing and cocoons. Given what the Kommissar just said, I imagine that perhaps some of Ebrellin-i's servants have been detained in there. My stomach turns over.
They're still knitting the containments with fine floss woven between their fingers. It looks delicate, but it's stronger than chains and sticky as hell. Makes a damn effective garrote, too. I'm not having too much fun looking at these spider-guys. They're fierce, fast warriors, and much stronger than they look. I've tangled with a few in the past and gotten a few chunks carved out of my flesh in the process.
"It's not a pantry. It's more of a garden." Thelea is aloof as she walks to the enclosure, her movements as graceful as those of the arachne-kin. Xen follows, and thus, so do I.
"What appreciable difference is there? Both of them you eat from." Xen surveys the scene with a look of boredom as the Queen Mother inspects a cocoon closely, running a finger down the smooth side. I don't know why it doesn't stick to her.
She doesn't rise to Xen's bait this time. She looks oddly content, in fact, a slow smile creeping over her face as she runs her palm over the cocoon, feeling it out. "Such a beautiful dryad in here," she purrs.
My eyes widen. I still can't see inside the enclosure or the cocoons, but I can guess now that these aren't servants after all. They're Jhe o'Audiva Rocale's damn nature spirit collection. Fuck, a dryad? I thought you couldn't--
"I thought you couldn't remove a dryad from its tree," the Kommissar says in a bored voice.
Thelea licks her lips. "Just because fruit grows on the tree doesn't mean you can't pick it. Our nimble-fingered friends just so happen to be deft harvesters." She runs her finger down the side of the cocoon one more time before stepping away from it. Something inside shudders. "The arachne-kin have a special way about them, to trap and preserve. It's more difficult without them - it becomes more likely that the dryads will be harmed. The waterways are a bit of a different story, but..." She waves a hand in the hair, passing the effort off as child's play. "Just collar a nymph and they're biddable enough to follow you anywhere, and away from their waters it's simple enough to hydrate them. The perfect pets, really."
"Ah. And the arachne-kin catch them for you as well?" They're both so clinical. One psychopath comparing notes with the other, I suppose.
"Have you ever seen a spider catch a minnow in its web? Of course they catch nymphs." She saunters up to the enclosure, peering through the great swaths of webbed fencing. After a few moments, she sighs with disappointment. "No animism. I was so happy when Ebrellin-i caught one." She scowls. "Especially that little snot of an animal. I was looking forward to caging it with my collection, finally." By the murderous look on her face, I wonder if she slides pins through her menagerie as if they were a butterfly collection. "Well, it can't have run far. And in my territory, it's only a matter of time."
Xen chuckles. "Finally taking the throne for yourself, then? Your son still lives."
"Not for much longer, I wager. He's shown himself to be too incompetent to be useful for much longer. That which isn't useful to Nul... simply dies, when training no longer works." Her smile is proper and composed, as if she's already at the funeral. "I can always make another."
Xen snorts.
"Hush, you. It doesn't matter how warped the vessel is now." She looks down at her hands. Yes, certainly I would describe Thelea Xaillyndesse as a warped vessel by this point. Her bloodline self-experimentation is legendary. Who knows what the hell swims through her veins by now? "A child can come through many processes, and be obtained, if not made." She's grinning, the fox contemplating the henhouse. "I may already have the stock to make another with. There is nothing to fear. I will continue our line of Kings if I have to steal Theos's blood to do it with."
The Kommissar is silent for a long time while he composes himself. "You're not serious, Thelea."
"Even Emperors bleed, Xen. Even Theos passes his blood down. I've been so close. Another opportunity awaits me. I must simply wait until the proper hour, when no one is capable of paying the proper attention to my doings. Elete wasn't a complete failure. I consider him practice, really."
Xen's eyes narrow. "Your son Elete works for the Jhe o'Radia now. Alongside and for the Judge. You consider that wretch anything approaching a success for us?"
She shrugs, turning away and inspecting the Palace on the horizon. "We must fail sometimes if we are to find the errors of our ways, Xen."
The Kommissar takes a step forward, clenching his fist by his side as if he's taking hold of the hilt of a weapon. "...And afterwards, it should follow logically to eliminate those failures, before they taint further experiments."
Thelea crosses her arms, hunching her shoulders. "Hmph. You don't see the usefulness in failed experiments. Sometimes they prove to be further material for success. If I didn't think he had a use, wouldn't he be dead? Just as it seemed for awhile that Ebrellin-i had no use for me. Look at how well he served our purposes over the years." She gestures to the Palace, then turns back to face Xen Xaillyndesse.
"It was my observation that Elete survived because his older brother protected him."
"Ebrellin-i loved to think that, and then fought so hard when his brother left us all for Radia. Now look at the situation he's in. Perhaps if my eldest hadn't fought us so hard..." She sighs. "Ah, well. There's always more blood to be spilled."
"And what of your little garden, here?" The Kommissar gestures to the captive dryads and nymphs.
"The same will probably be said for it. Nul hungers, and I will ask much of him soon." She sighs, stroking the side of another cocoon. It's translucent enough that I can see a faint tint of green from the dryad inside. "They're so pretty when he takes them. Like our estate in Lyiannethe. I miss my gardens, Xen. Ebrellin-i's are too crowded and warm. Choked up with buzzing insects, soil crawling with worms, the smell of dirt and pollen everywhere. Disgusting. It's high time I cleaned up the mess he made of them."
A grin spreads across Xen's face. It's like seeing a skull smile. "I should like very much to watch that, Jhe o'Audiva Rocale."
"Please. I've not been recognized for the title yet." She looks over to the Palace. "I'll keep them in Lyiannethe untouched, for now. I need the throne, first. But I daresay it is unsafe to enter and claim it for myself. Too many Radian forces. And with my poor son being held in Radia as well..." She sighs. "Perhaps we should give them a diplomatic visit."
The Kommissar raises an eyebrow. "I fail to see what logic there would be in such an endeavor. Things could be seen to here, and there it would be dangerous as well. Would you let the Palace descend into chaos, my Lady?"
"I fail to see how its situation could deteriorate any further. Let them squabble in it. Nothing of value is there for me anymore besides the throne. I have business to attend to in Radia." She raises an eyebrow at him, imparting a great deal of meaning to her words. I get a surge of frustration from her subtlety. The thing that annoys me most about spying missions is waiting for my targets to say something without being able to just strangle the information out of them.
He raises both eyebrows, but refuses to elaborate on that. "Well, if it's a matter of business, I must defer to you, my Lady. Please, allow me to escort you personally." He executes a very neat bow. He seems damn smug about something, and I'm beginning to think there's a level to this that I have yet to see. What the hell do they want in Radia, though? I'm torn. Do I follow, do I warn someone? What about Aaren? How can I leave him with them? Whether or not he's a spy, they can't be allowed to keep him for their purposes.
Of course, there's the question of whether I can even leave this territory safely at all. I know that if I leave it, there's extremely little chance I'll be able to return. Sticking with the Kommissar means that he won't detect me while I follow him - my presence is nothing out of the ordinary for him or Thelea ever since I followed Aaren's abduction. I'm missing a valuable opportunity to collect information if I pull out now. But I can't report that information unless I leave.
Thelea heads off to the carriage. The Kommissar leaves instructions with his men, then goes to join Thelea. For all that it might be the wrong decision, I follow him in for the ride.
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