Bad to the Throne, page 14
part #15 of The Good Guys Series
“Albrecht will not be staying here. He will have other things to do. Continue.”
“Philippe. Amber. The goblins can probably share a room–”
“Goblins?”
“There’s four of them: Toothmouth, Appleworm, Snek, and… shit, I didn’t get the fourth one’s name.”
“Why are there goblins here?”
“It’s really a long and stupid story, so just, um, if we can put them somewhere near me, or near Philippe, that’d probably be best. They’ve taken a shine to him, and I think they listen to him, even though I don’t think he knows how to speak goblin. Maybe put them in the same room–”
“Are they housebroken?”
“So far, so good. Although, to be fair, I’m not sure how much time they’ve spent in houses. We’ve mostly been camping and being on campaign. You know.”
Valamir took in a long breath, and then let it out slowly.
The elf, Clyde, just shook his head slightly, smiling.
I saw Valamir writing something on a small sheet of paper, and then he rang a bell. The door opened and the young valet stepped inside.
Valamir held out the note.
“Please see that Gaston gets this,” Valamir said. “Immediately.”
“Of course, your highness,” the valet said with a bow, and scurried away.
Through the momentary open door, I saw my group standing around, looking bored. Except the goblins — they were looking around the place with wide-open mouths. The new one was very carefully inspecting the carpet. I saw him pull up a strand and eat it.
The door closed before I could tell him not to eat the carpet.
Hopefully he wouldn’t leave too big a hole.
“I appreciate the long day and your immense travel,” Valamir said, “but there is something I need to discuss with you.”
I sighed, not really wanting to get into things. And yet this guy was the prince, and there was always the chance he could make the whole Senate process go faster and smoother, something I’d definitely need to have happen if I was going to get back to Coggeshall in any reasonable time frame.
About to drop into the chair, I remembered the trail of broken furniture I left in my wake, and instead, I let myself down gently into the comfy chair that barely fit my bulk.
“Before we get into whatever it is you want me to do,” I said, “I need to get back to Coggeshall as soon as I can. So bear that in mind.”
“Do you plan to attempt leaving prior to the voting for Emperor?” Valamir asked.
“No,” I said. “I know that’s important. Just, I need to get back. Things are brewing there.”
“Are these things you need my help with?”
“I don’t know. How bad is a gremlin infestation?”
“It would depend greatly on how bad the gremlin infestation is.”
“Thanks a pantload, prince.”
“I have heard of a few infestations which rose to being a genuine problem, but those are rare indeed. Mostly, they are an annoyance. Potentially a chronic annoyance, but I would imagine a man of your means is more than capable of overcoming a gremlin infestation.”
“Great. Well, one problem off the list.”
“And the rest?”
“There’s a lot. Nothing that I can do remotely, and I probably need to see what’s going wrong before I can do anything about it. I need to get back home, okay? So, how can I help you, besides giving you my votes so you can deal with that nonsense?”
“I would advise against that.”
“I know. You seem to think I need to be here for some reason.”
“The situation has grown in complexity somewhat since you left.”
“Great.”
“The princess has returned, and she has declared her intent to take over for her father.”
“She did what? That’s ridiculous. Why?”
“You would need to ask her if you would like her version of the truth, although—”
“She’ll lie to your face and then try to kill you,” Clyde the elf said.
“That doesn’t seem like the girl I met,” I replied.
“Oh, yes — I forgot that you met her, yes?”
I nodded. “Yeah, she came and visited Coggeshall for a hot minute before disappearing. Wian, um, head thingman for the old Emperor, I think, went after her. But he couldn’t find her.”
“It would appear she found a means of traveling to Kronth, where she made some sort of impression on the ruler of Kronth, who has decided that she should be his bride.”
“She did what now? If she’s going to be Queen of Kronth, why bother—”
“They would join the two countries together. Or, rather, the Kingdom of Kronth would become part of the Empire.”
“Which would end the war.”
“Yes. That is what has been floated.”
“Although–” Clyde started, but Valamir shook his head slightly, and I clenched my teeth. I didn’t like secrets.
“Okay,” I said, “so the princess is part of the equation. She’s a bit young, a bit naïve, but she could be an able ruler.”
“I highly doubt that,” Valamir said. “Whatever her reasons are for taking the throne, they are likely guided by whom she surrounds herself with.”
“Undesirables?”
“That would be one way of describing them, yes.”
“It’s a cult,” Clyde said. “A strange one.”
“A cult. The princess is part of a cult?”
“Yes.” Valamir said.
“What’s their thing?”
“What do you mean, thing?”
“They’ve got to have a reason to exist, right? They’re not like a social club.”
“We aren’t quite sure of their ‘thing,’ to be honest. That’s been a bit of a mystery.”
“Hey, um, not to throw this whole talk off base, but do I need to be worried about the whole I-might-not-be-a-duke-thing?”
“It has largely been handled,” Valamir said. “With no shortage of help from our friend Clyde here.”
I looked over at the elf and tried to get a read on the man. He gave me a bit of a wave.
“Thank you,” I said. “I probably don’t really know what you did, or how much you actually helped, but thank you.”
“It was, um, I was going to say nothing, but it was kind of a giant pain in the ass. But whatever — I’m happy to have done it.”
“Thank you. Again.”
“If you are quite done thanking the elf,” Valamir said, “then perhaps we can return to the more pressing issue.”
“I’m sorry if my continued life as a noble is not important enough for you.”
“It is not at all what I mean, and you know it. That issue has been resolved to the extent we can at the moment. However, the cult issue is growing, and we must make a plan to stop it.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Did you not hear when I just said that we need to make a plan?”
“I’m not the best at planning. I’m really the guy you call in once you have a plan, and then I fuck it up and try to fix it and somehow it occasionally works out in our favor.”
“You do nothing but fill me with confidence.”
“I live but to serve, your highness.”
Valamir just shook his head.
“If only my brother could see what his decision to elevate Coggeshall has done. Equal chance you save or doom the Empire, Coggeshall.”
“Goodie. Let’s talk cult.”
44
“I appreciate your willingness to discuss this, and, hopefully, join in our hunt,” Valamir said.
“Hunt?” I asked.
“There is no other term to describe what we are doing.”
“So, what do you mean by that?”
“I think that’s pretty obvious,” Clyde the elf said, leaning back in his chair again until he was balancing on two legs. “The cult is trying to destroy the Empire. We need to take them down before they can.”
“Destroy them utterly,” Valamir said. “They are more than willing to kill for their cause — whatever their true cause may be — and, thus, shall be shown no mercy from us.”
“I mean, I’m not really a killer,” I said.
Valamir scoffed. “May I ask what it is you just finished doing, your grace?”
“Winning a little war for you, your highness.”
“And was that an act free from violence?”
“No, but that’s different.”
“Why?”
“It’s war.”
“So is this.”
“Nuh-uh, this is hunting civilians. Not going up against soldiers.”
“Though they wear no uniforms–”
“In public,” Clyde interrupted. “I bet they’ve got robes and hoods and all that jazz somewhere. Cults love that.”
I shook my head.
“It still feels very different,” I said. “I don’t like it.”
“It is different,” Valamir said, “and I would imagine that is an element this cult, and others like it, bank upon. I admit, they are not trained soldiers, but their aim is similar. They seek to undermine our lives here, and, I believe, they would be more than happy if we all perished so that they might achieve their goals without undue stress.”
“They lied about me striking the princess, which they knew would put me in jail with a death sentence,” Clyde said. “These guys aren’t innocent in the slightest.”
“Man, I’m a simple type. This is a lot of mental gymnastics, and I don’t–”
“Would you kill someone who was trying to kill you?” Valamir interrupted.
I started to answer before thinking, but then caught myself. I was going to say yes, obviously. And yet, in the very recent past, I had not killed someone just for stabbing me or poisoning me. Instead, I let them do it again, and only interceded when it was clear they were intent on killing others.
“Oddly, no,” I replied. “But I think the answer would be yes to your next question. If the cult is going to kill a bunch of people, then, yeah. We’d need to put a stop to them. So, is now when I ask why the state doesn’t handle this and you tell me they’ve infiltrated the state so we’re the last thing standing between them and ultimate destruction?”
“Something along those lines,” Valamir said. “The princess is most certainly a member of this group, and that has led to some… issues.”
“We can’t kill her?”
“Debatable,” Clyde said.
“We cannot kill her,” Valamir said, glaring at the elf. “One, she is my niece. Two, she is a member of the royal family. Neither of those are that important, but the implications that pinning her death upon me or the two of you are wide ranging. There is little that would prevent our deaths should that happen.”
“So we can’t kill her,” I started, “because we could get punished for her murder.”
“That is only part of it. The larger ramifications are because of our involvement in the senate and the election. Should it come out that we actively removed a candidate, then our standing in the senate would become compromised. Any candidate we were attached to would be punished in our stead, which could lead to some very dire outcomes as to who would be in charge of the Empire moving forward.”
“Just seems like she’s getting a little extra protection because—”
“She is. These things are never fair, Montana.”
“Also, we can use her to find more of the cult members,” Clyde said. “At least, that’s my plan.”
“You have a plan?” Valamir asked.
“Something of a plan, yeah.”
“Care to share it with the class?” I asked.
“I’m still working on it.”
“So?”
“I just, I mean, I don’t know how to put it all. It’s formulating. But I think we need to, I mean–”
Valamir held up his hand.
“There are two facets to this,” Valamir said when Clyde quieted. “On the one hand, we must stop the cult and destroy it. We must root out all the members and either they are killed or—”
“Deprogrammed,” Clyde said.
“Yes, that. But the second facet is of equal importance, gentlemen. We must find out what the cult’s purpose is. Why they are doing what it is they are doing, and how their goals line up with whatever they are doing here in the Capital. For even if we accomplish the first of those goals, which at the outset seems the more important of the two, it is foolish to assume no one else will attempt a similar maneuver if that option remains open. There are, likely, other groups who have related aims and will find this path. Thus, I suggest the two of you work together on this, as each of you has strengths the other does not. Montana, you are more suited to solving problem one, and Clyde, I believe you are suited to solving problem two.”
“Which one is problem one?” I asked.
“Cult elimination,” Clyde replied.
“Why am I always assigned killing?”
“You are good at it.”
I sighed.
“And if you will excuse me,” Valamir said, getting to his feet and tapping a notebook in front of him, “it would seem I need to continue doing the work my brother never did, and go meet with this ambassador.”
“You want me to come with you?” I asked. “I know the guy.”
“It would be better for me to meet him formally, despite the hour. And I would imagine it is only a short time until you realize how short a time you have to settle this cult issue.”
He gave us each a smile and then started to the door.
“What about what’s underground?” Clyde asked.
Valamir stopped, his hand on the knob of the door.
“Yes. There is that question.”
“What about an answer?”
“That is not something I am permitted to answer, even now.”
“But–”
“Do not press me on this. I cannot answer, and your guesses might be enough to force me to call for your punishment, even if I did not want to do so. I will think on this when I have a moment to myself and attempt to discover a means to resolve this.”
Before I could even ask any clarification questions, Valamir was out of the room, leaving me with the elf.
I looked over at him. He was looking at me.
“Kind of weird to be sitting like this,” he said, getting up.
I didn’t move, but followed him with my eyes.
“I don’t know much about you,” he started.
“I don’t know anything about you.”
“Touché. What I do know, or what I’ve been told, is that you’re a bit of a loose cannon. A bull in a world of china shops. Accurate?”
“I mean, it’s not the nicest characterization, but I guess it’s somewhere in the range of truth.”
“Do I need to worry about what you’re going to do?”
“I don’t know — are we on the same team?”
“For now.”
“Then no.”
He didn’t seem particularly enthused about my answer. But then again, I didn’t feel particularly enthused about him as a person. He was stiff, judgmental. And with the way he looked and a name like Clyde Hatchett, he had to be from the old world. I just wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Or if I should bring it up at all here.
I got up from the chair and walked over to him. I thought I would absolutely tower over him, but he was surprisingly tall. He definitely lacked my bulk — he was a lanky dude — but I wasn’t looking down at the top of his head.
“How safe are we to talk here?” I asked.
“You want it on a scale?”
“If it’ll make sense.”
“Far as I can tell, there’s not a lot of places that are safe — like, 100% safe, I mean. Between porous walls, secret passages, homes filled with servants, and magic, it’s really hard to make sure no one else is listening.”
“I get that. I’ve been around Glaton, I know all that. I meant here. In this room, with Valamir.”
“Ahh, right. I’m sure he has the means to listen to us talk in here right now. Whether or not he uses them, I don’t know.”
“So we might want to find a different place to have real talks.”
“I’d prefer that on multiple levels.”
“I take it you aren’t living here.”
“I’m not.”
“Where do you live?”
He paused.
“I’m not looking for specifics,” I said. “I’m just making conversation. But if we’re going to be working on this cult thing together, we probably need to come up with a place to meet that’s not out of the way for either of us.”
He nodded. “I live in Old Town, in the southeast corner. I’m guessing you mostly stay around the senate?”
“Besides here, yeah. I mean, officially, that is.”
“And unofficially?”
“Wherever I need to be, I guess.”
“I’ve been doing some work with the senate for Valamir. Not sure he needs me to keep doing that, but if I can find a spot near there, would you be willing to use it?”
“Is this cult thing actually serious? Or are you just looking for revenge?”
“I think it’s pretty serious. And I’m usually the type to just walk away, but they’re clearly willing to kill and die for whatever their cause is.”
“But you don’t know what that is?”
“No.”
“What if it’s, like, beneficial structural change? Getting rid of poverty?”
“Then I doubt they’d be so secretive.”
“Given that the current power structure is dominated by those who’d lose in a wealth distribution scenario, I could see–” I paused, not used to such serious thoughts coming together and then me speaking them.
“Uh, you okay?” Clyde asked.
“Yeah, just, um, surprised myself, is all.”
“I get your point though — I just don’t think they’d keep that a secret. Better to spark a mass uprising, right? And why would they partner with a literal princess if they were trying to make life more equitable? And then what are they looking for underground?”
“Treasure?”
“Treasure?”
“Yeah. To give away to people. Equalize things. Maybe there’s some hoard of magical weapons that will help elevate the little people to hero level.”
“Philippe. Amber. The goblins can probably share a room–”
“Goblins?”
“There’s four of them: Toothmouth, Appleworm, Snek, and… shit, I didn’t get the fourth one’s name.”
“Why are there goblins here?”
“It’s really a long and stupid story, so just, um, if we can put them somewhere near me, or near Philippe, that’d probably be best. They’ve taken a shine to him, and I think they listen to him, even though I don’t think he knows how to speak goblin. Maybe put them in the same room–”
“Are they housebroken?”
“So far, so good. Although, to be fair, I’m not sure how much time they’ve spent in houses. We’ve mostly been camping and being on campaign. You know.”
Valamir took in a long breath, and then let it out slowly.
The elf, Clyde, just shook his head slightly, smiling.
I saw Valamir writing something on a small sheet of paper, and then he rang a bell. The door opened and the young valet stepped inside.
Valamir held out the note.
“Please see that Gaston gets this,” Valamir said. “Immediately.”
“Of course, your highness,” the valet said with a bow, and scurried away.
Through the momentary open door, I saw my group standing around, looking bored. Except the goblins — they were looking around the place with wide-open mouths. The new one was very carefully inspecting the carpet. I saw him pull up a strand and eat it.
The door closed before I could tell him not to eat the carpet.
Hopefully he wouldn’t leave too big a hole.
“I appreciate the long day and your immense travel,” Valamir said, “but there is something I need to discuss with you.”
I sighed, not really wanting to get into things. And yet this guy was the prince, and there was always the chance he could make the whole Senate process go faster and smoother, something I’d definitely need to have happen if I was going to get back to Coggeshall in any reasonable time frame.
About to drop into the chair, I remembered the trail of broken furniture I left in my wake, and instead, I let myself down gently into the comfy chair that barely fit my bulk.
“Before we get into whatever it is you want me to do,” I said, “I need to get back to Coggeshall as soon as I can. So bear that in mind.”
“Do you plan to attempt leaving prior to the voting for Emperor?” Valamir asked.
“No,” I said. “I know that’s important. Just, I need to get back. Things are brewing there.”
“Are these things you need my help with?”
“I don’t know. How bad is a gremlin infestation?”
“It would depend greatly on how bad the gremlin infestation is.”
“Thanks a pantload, prince.”
“I have heard of a few infestations which rose to being a genuine problem, but those are rare indeed. Mostly, they are an annoyance. Potentially a chronic annoyance, but I would imagine a man of your means is more than capable of overcoming a gremlin infestation.”
“Great. Well, one problem off the list.”
“And the rest?”
“There’s a lot. Nothing that I can do remotely, and I probably need to see what’s going wrong before I can do anything about it. I need to get back home, okay? So, how can I help you, besides giving you my votes so you can deal with that nonsense?”
“I would advise against that.”
“I know. You seem to think I need to be here for some reason.”
“The situation has grown in complexity somewhat since you left.”
“Great.”
“The princess has returned, and she has declared her intent to take over for her father.”
“She did what? That’s ridiculous. Why?”
“You would need to ask her if you would like her version of the truth, although—”
“She’ll lie to your face and then try to kill you,” Clyde the elf said.
“That doesn’t seem like the girl I met,” I replied.
“Oh, yes — I forgot that you met her, yes?”
I nodded. “Yeah, she came and visited Coggeshall for a hot minute before disappearing. Wian, um, head thingman for the old Emperor, I think, went after her. But he couldn’t find her.”
“It would appear she found a means of traveling to Kronth, where she made some sort of impression on the ruler of Kronth, who has decided that she should be his bride.”
“She did what now? If she’s going to be Queen of Kronth, why bother—”
“They would join the two countries together. Or, rather, the Kingdom of Kronth would become part of the Empire.”
“Which would end the war.”
“Yes. That is what has been floated.”
“Although–” Clyde started, but Valamir shook his head slightly, and I clenched my teeth. I didn’t like secrets.
“Okay,” I said, “so the princess is part of the equation. She’s a bit young, a bit naïve, but she could be an able ruler.”
“I highly doubt that,” Valamir said. “Whatever her reasons are for taking the throne, they are likely guided by whom she surrounds herself with.”
“Undesirables?”
“That would be one way of describing them, yes.”
“It’s a cult,” Clyde said. “A strange one.”
“A cult. The princess is part of a cult?”
“Yes.” Valamir said.
“What’s their thing?”
“What do you mean, thing?”
“They’ve got to have a reason to exist, right? They’re not like a social club.”
“We aren’t quite sure of their ‘thing,’ to be honest. That’s been a bit of a mystery.”
“Hey, um, not to throw this whole talk off base, but do I need to be worried about the whole I-might-not-be-a-duke-thing?”
“It has largely been handled,” Valamir said. “With no shortage of help from our friend Clyde here.”
I looked over at the elf and tried to get a read on the man. He gave me a bit of a wave.
“Thank you,” I said. “I probably don’t really know what you did, or how much you actually helped, but thank you.”
“It was, um, I was going to say nothing, but it was kind of a giant pain in the ass. But whatever — I’m happy to have done it.”
“Thank you. Again.”
“If you are quite done thanking the elf,” Valamir said, “then perhaps we can return to the more pressing issue.”
“I’m sorry if my continued life as a noble is not important enough for you.”
“It is not at all what I mean, and you know it. That issue has been resolved to the extent we can at the moment. However, the cult issue is growing, and we must make a plan to stop it.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“Did you not hear when I just said that we need to make a plan?”
“I’m not the best at planning. I’m really the guy you call in once you have a plan, and then I fuck it up and try to fix it and somehow it occasionally works out in our favor.”
“You do nothing but fill me with confidence.”
“I live but to serve, your highness.”
Valamir just shook his head.
“If only my brother could see what his decision to elevate Coggeshall has done. Equal chance you save or doom the Empire, Coggeshall.”
“Goodie. Let’s talk cult.”
44
“I appreciate your willingness to discuss this, and, hopefully, join in our hunt,” Valamir said.
“Hunt?” I asked.
“There is no other term to describe what we are doing.”
“So, what do you mean by that?”
“I think that’s pretty obvious,” Clyde the elf said, leaning back in his chair again until he was balancing on two legs. “The cult is trying to destroy the Empire. We need to take them down before they can.”
“Destroy them utterly,” Valamir said. “They are more than willing to kill for their cause — whatever their true cause may be — and, thus, shall be shown no mercy from us.”
“I mean, I’m not really a killer,” I said.
Valamir scoffed. “May I ask what it is you just finished doing, your grace?”
“Winning a little war for you, your highness.”
“And was that an act free from violence?”
“No, but that’s different.”
“Why?”
“It’s war.”
“So is this.”
“Nuh-uh, this is hunting civilians. Not going up against soldiers.”
“Though they wear no uniforms–”
“In public,” Clyde interrupted. “I bet they’ve got robes and hoods and all that jazz somewhere. Cults love that.”
I shook my head.
“It still feels very different,” I said. “I don’t like it.”
“It is different,” Valamir said, “and I would imagine that is an element this cult, and others like it, bank upon. I admit, they are not trained soldiers, but their aim is similar. They seek to undermine our lives here, and, I believe, they would be more than happy if we all perished so that they might achieve their goals without undue stress.”
“They lied about me striking the princess, which they knew would put me in jail with a death sentence,” Clyde said. “These guys aren’t innocent in the slightest.”
“Man, I’m a simple type. This is a lot of mental gymnastics, and I don’t–”
“Would you kill someone who was trying to kill you?” Valamir interrupted.
I started to answer before thinking, but then caught myself. I was going to say yes, obviously. And yet, in the very recent past, I had not killed someone just for stabbing me or poisoning me. Instead, I let them do it again, and only interceded when it was clear they were intent on killing others.
“Oddly, no,” I replied. “But I think the answer would be yes to your next question. If the cult is going to kill a bunch of people, then, yeah. We’d need to put a stop to them. So, is now when I ask why the state doesn’t handle this and you tell me they’ve infiltrated the state so we’re the last thing standing between them and ultimate destruction?”
“Something along those lines,” Valamir said. “The princess is most certainly a member of this group, and that has led to some… issues.”
“We can’t kill her?”
“Debatable,” Clyde said.
“We cannot kill her,” Valamir said, glaring at the elf. “One, she is my niece. Two, she is a member of the royal family. Neither of those are that important, but the implications that pinning her death upon me or the two of you are wide ranging. There is little that would prevent our deaths should that happen.”
“So we can’t kill her,” I started, “because we could get punished for her murder.”
“That is only part of it. The larger ramifications are because of our involvement in the senate and the election. Should it come out that we actively removed a candidate, then our standing in the senate would become compromised. Any candidate we were attached to would be punished in our stead, which could lead to some very dire outcomes as to who would be in charge of the Empire moving forward.”
“Just seems like she’s getting a little extra protection because—”
“She is. These things are never fair, Montana.”
“Also, we can use her to find more of the cult members,” Clyde said. “At least, that’s my plan.”
“You have a plan?” Valamir asked.
“Something of a plan, yeah.”
“Care to share it with the class?” I asked.
“I’m still working on it.”
“So?”
“I just, I mean, I don’t know how to put it all. It’s formulating. But I think we need to, I mean–”
Valamir held up his hand.
“There are two facets to this,” Valamir said when Clyde quieted. “On the one hand, we must stop the cult and destroy it. We must root out all the members and either they are killed or—”
“Deprogrammed,” Clyde said.
“Yes, that. But the second facet is of equal importance, gentlemen. We must find out what the cult’s purpose is. Why they are doing what it is they are doing, and how their goals line up with whatever they are doing here in the Capital. For even if we accomplish the first of those goals, which at the outset seems the more important of the two, it is foolish to assume no one else will attempt a similar maneuver if that option remains open. There are, likely, other groups who have related aims and will find this path. Thus, I suggest the two of you work together on this, as each of you has strengths the other does not. Montana, you are more suited to solving problem one, and Clyde, I believe you are suited to solving problem two.”
“Which one is problem one?” I asked.
“Cult elimination,” Clyde replied.
“Why am I always assigned killing?”
“You are good at it.”
I sighed.
“And if you will excuse me,” Valamir said, getting to his feet and tapping a notebook in front of him, “it would seem I need to continue doing the work my brother never did, and go meet with this ambassador.”
“You want me to come with you?” I asked. “I know the guy.”
“It would be better for me to meet him formally, despite the hour. And I would imagine it is only a short time until you realize how short a time you have to settle this cult issue.”
He gave us each a smile and then started to the door.
“What about what’s underground?” Clyde asked.
Valamir stopped, his hand on the knob of the door.
“Yes. There is that question.”
“What about an answer?”
“That is not something I am permitted to answer, even now.”
“But–”
“Do not press me on this. I cannot answer, and your guesses might be enough to force me to call for your punishment, even if I did not want to do so. I will think on this when I have a moment to myself and attempt to discover a means to resolve this.”
Before I could even ask any clarification questions, Valamir was out of the room, leaving me with the elf.
I looked over at him. He was looking at me.
“Kind of weird to be sitting like this,” he said, getting up.
I didn’t move, but followed him with my eyes.
“I don’t know much about you,” he started.
“I don’t know anything about you.”
“Touché. What I do know, or what I’ve been told, is that you’re a bit of a loose cannon. A bull in a world of china shops. Accurate?”
“I mean, it’s not the nicest characterization, but I guess it’s somewhere in the range of truth.”
“Do I need to worry about what you’re going to do?”
“I don’t know — are we on the same team?”
“For now.”
“Then no.”
He didn’t seem particularly enthused about my answer. But then again, I didn’t feel particularly enthused about him as a person. He was stiff, judgmental. And with the way he looked and a name like Clyde Hatchett, he had to be from the old world. I just wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Or if I should bring it up at all here.
I got up from the chair and walked over to him. I thought I would absolutely tower over him, but he was surprisingly tall. He definitely lacked my bulk — he was a lanky dude — but I wasn’t looking down at the top of his head.
“How safe are we to talk here?” I asked.
“You want it on a scale?”
“If it’ll make sense.”
“Far as I can tell, there’s not a lot of places that are safe — like, 100% safe, I mean. Between porous walls, secret passages, homes filled with servants, and magic, it’s really hard to make sure no one else is listening.”
“I get that. I’ve been around Glaton, I know all that. I meant here. In this room, with Valamir.”
“Ahh, right. I’m sure he has the means to listen to us talk in here right now. Whether or not he uses them, I don’t know.”
“So we might want to find a different place to have real talks.”
“I’d prefer that on multiple levels.”
“I take it you aren’t living here.”
“I’m not.”
“Where do you live?”
He paused.
“I’m not looking for specifics,” I said. “I’m just making conversation. But if we’re going to be working on this cult thing together, we probably need to come up with a place to meet that’s not out of the way for either of us.”
He nodded. “I live in Old Town, in the southeast corner. I’m guessing you mostly stay around the senate?”
“Besides here, yeah. I mean, officially, that is.”
“And unofficially?”
“Wherever I need to be, I guess.”
“I’ve been doing some work with the senate for Valamir. Not sure he needs me to keep doing that, but if I can find a spot near there, would you be willing to use it?”
“Is this cult thing actually serious? Or are you just looking for revenge?”
“I think it’s pretty serious. And I’m usually the type to just walk away, but they’re clearly willing to kill and die for whatever their cause is.”
“But you don’t know what that is?”
“No.”
“What if it’s, like, beneficial structural change? Getting rid of poverty?”
“Then I doubt they’d be so secretive.”
“Given that the current power structure is dominated by those who’d lose in a wealth distribution scenario, I could see–” I paused, not used to such serious thoughts coming together and then me speaking them.
“Uh, you okay?” Clyde asked.
“Yeah, just, um, surprised myself, is all.”
“I get your point though — I just don’t think they’d keep that a secret. Better to spark a mass uprising, right? And why would they partner with a literal princess if they were trying to make life more equitable? And then what are they looking for underground?”
“Treasure?”
“Treasure?”
“Yeah. To give away to people. Equalize things. Maybe there’s some hoard of magical weapons that will help elevate the little people to hero level.”
