We rode into the capital of Angraal.

To my complete lack of surprise, it seemed we were expected although no armed force met us or tried to block our way. Instead the streets were absolutely deserted.

Calling it a capital is a bit of an exaggeration, Novigrad this was not, but it was certainly big enough to have multiple inns, I spotted several blacksmiths and some empty market stalls but it was eerily quiet. It felt like a trap. A trap that we were just walking into. Kerrass had found me a knife that was hidden in my boot and the knight that rode next to me had my spear in it's separate components within easy reach. His orders were to hand it to me should fighting break out but I was not naïve enough to believe that if he was under attack he would first take the time to pass me my weapon before, I dunno, raising his shield for instance?

We rode into the capital, hooves clattering against cobbled streets, armour and horse tack jangling in the late morning air. The sun was high and hot but storm clouds were gathering over the mountains to the North and the East, as fitting an omen as anything for the days business.

Not for the first time I reached up to my chest where my holy symbol hangs around my neck and felt the outline against my chest.

The soldiers walked in, war veterans mixed in with younger men, equipment shared out. Men with short hunting bows strode alongside other men with the huge Temerian heavy crossbows. I saw a man wearing some solid looking chain mail lean to one side to vomit by the side of the march while the man he was walking beside, dressed in well worn leathers clapped him on the shoulder. Our eyes darted everywhere, trying to see in through the shuttered windows, onto roof tops and down side alleys.

Somewhere a dog barked because dogs always bark into the silent moments. Somewhere else a cat screamed it's response. I had a sudden image of all the various animals that populate a town like this, the cats, dogs, rats, chickens, birds and whatever else having their own network of communication that ran across town lines where they discussed the doings of the humans that marched through the streets and for a while my imagination ran wild with the current conversation.

“Those stupid humans are at it again,” said the dog,

“Yeah I know, have yours fed you yet?” complained the cat.

“Yeah, and I caught a rat down the cellar. Found a place to hide in a storm drain until it's all over.”

“Lucky sod. Wish I could find a rat.”

“Getting old, that's your trouble.”

“You are not wrong, see you for cards on Thursday?”

The squeal of an axle shook me from my not unpleasant imaginings.

Somewhere they had found a carriage for the Vampire to ride in. Huge and black from a distance but up close you could tell that the paint was recent and still drying and that many of the ornaments that should have been decorating it were missing.

It did the job though. It was heavily curtained and no-one could see in. Kerrass rode on the other side of the carriage out of my own view. He had been allowed his own weapons although he had been searched thoroughly for the sign of any potions. He had enquired as to how he was supposed to kill an elder vampire without potions and oils but the guard had simply shrugged. There was an air of despair on our side that was permeating the men. They felt that they were going to die today and I had little reason to suspect otherwise.

We were attacking a held position when the “enemy” knows that we're coming. Our forces are equipped and under-trained. I didn't know anything about enemy numbers although we had been told repeatedly that there were other supporters of our cause that had brought there own forces up and were settling in around the capital for one of various signals that I was not party to. The worst thing though was our secret weapon.

I had cooled down a lot since seeing the results of the slaughter earlier that day. Many other possibilities had opened themselves up to my mind since I had seen those corpses. Not least of which was that Dorme could have caused the vampire to commit the atrocity so that she could be physically stronger for her role in his coup.

I had reminded myself about the old saying that the first casualty of any war is the truth. I had always thought the saying was a little inaccurate as another casualty that should be right up there is “innocence” but then I'm a scholar, not a philosopher.

But we still didn't know what Ariadne was going to do. Nor did we know Dorme's plans for her. Kerrass knew what she could do and had suggested that I not find out in case I would be paralysed with fear. I did not find this encouraging. The only person who seemed absolutely sure of what was going to happen was Dorme himself who rode at the front of the column riding in his full plate harness which had been polished to a sheen that made it hard to look at. He stared straight ahead, banner flapping gently in the breeze. He was upright, straight as a statue, barely moving at all with his flunkies hanging around him surveying the town with the air of people who had finally come into their own and were already rearranging the furniture.

I hated them then.

Then came us, the carriage, with Kerrass and I on either side as well as our escort that were squeezed in on either side.

I felt ridiculous and massively out of place, unwanted, unneeded and superfluous. I was observing events and it made me feel a little dirty.

Our little column of people walked into the capital. At first there was some attempt to maintain order but it left shortly afterwards. The enormous pressure that was on us all waiting for death to strike out at us at any moment but much to my surprise we made it to what passed for the town centre. It was a green square, a small meadow maybe 46 square feet and in the middle was this tree. I don't know if it's the oldest tree I've ever seen, certainly not the biggest but it was the tree with the most... I want to say character. It was gnarled and massive. The sort of tree where you can imagine children wanting to climb up it and play around the huge branches without any fear of falling off. Huge branches that would have fallen off in nature under their own weight were supported by equally ancient wooden posts that were driven into the ground. All around it the grass grew and in amongst the grass I could see scattered food leavings, sweet wrappers and apple cores. This was a public place, a gathering place where people sat, talked and ate together. A centre of community.

The column stopped at a shout that rippled down the line. People still stood about waiting to see what would happen.

Without being asked or told Ariadne climbed out of the carriage, balancing herself against the door side. She walked using the staff as a badge of office and stood for a moment looking at the tree. She seemed lost in thought. Kerrass had come round the side and was watching her carefully, alternating between looking at her and the group gathering around Dorme.

It seemed that there was an argument going on.

Looking at Kerrass, who shrugged, I approached the vampire. Her illusion seemed more in tune with her own actions now. More and more it was harder to remind yourself that this was an illusion. It was seductive to think of her as a person rather than a creature so utterly different to the rest of us.

She was still wearing her dress from earlier, regal and beautiful but she was also wrapped up and hidden in a voluminous hooded cloak that all but hid her from view.

She looked up at me as I approached. No trace of her earlier anger on her face as I moved to stand next to her and she returned to looking at the tree.

“I was born here Frederick. Sorry I should check. Can I still call you Frederick?”

I nodded. I was so surprised at the declaration that I didn't know what to say.

“Just up against that tree there. I'm glad they've preserved it after all this time. I might have chopped it down if I'm honest but I could still point out the place. Just round the side there.”

I continued to say nothing. What do you say to something like that?

“Everything in our society is so heavily ritualised. When a couple does decide to have a child it is worth remembering that what we're actually doing is producing a rival hunter so it's quite a huge thing. You have to seek permission from the elders and all kinds of things, let alone finding another vampire who cares enough about you to want to bring another vampire into the world.

“But my mother realised that her time had come, she flew up from her own home, high into the air, so high that the sky began to change from blue to black, high enough that the air became thin and difficult to breathe and she scanned the horizon before selecting this spot. I don't know why this spot but this was the one that she decided and she flew down here and chose that tree to give birth.”

She sighed.

“I wish I could properly impart what it was like. It was a profound experience and I remember it clearly. The movement from warmth, comfort and having everything provided for me into an environment where I was cold and so painfully, wonderfully aware of everything around me. It sounds sinister in your language but I was aware of the life-flow all around me, the blood pumping in my own veins, the blood in the veins of my mother and the woodland animals that came to witness my birth and inside the bodies of the lesser vampires that would be my servants until I had grown to full maturity in a few years. I could feel it in the ground beneath me, the water in the grass and the earth. The sap in the tree with it's leaves and all of it's wonderful connections. I could hear the long slow heartbeat of the earth.

“My mother left as soon as she was strong enough to move. I needed to exert my own influence on the area and the longer that she was there, the more her already established character would change the surroundings. It sounds harsh and unpleasant to you I have no doubt but to us it is the single most important sacrifice that a person can make. The sacrifice that a parent will not be able to see their child grow and to be influenced in any way. Indeed to realise that their child might even grow into a great rival in the future.

“At first I just lay there. Cold and hungry but I had no time to feel the loss as animals came and warmed me. Food was produced and given to me and I first started to reach out with my mind and touch my surroundings.

“I loved that tree and for the longest time I stayed here in this area until other needs sent me into the nearby countryside. When humans first came here I directed them to establish themselves here, practically there is water, fertile ground and ample game nearby but also, on another level, I wanted them to experience that sense of wholeness that I had first experienced when I came into the world. That...oneness with the world. I didn't know that humans reacted to the world differently to us at the time and I remember being hurt and angered that.... you seemed to miss that.”

She was startled out of her memory by a shout from Dorme, he seemed annoyed that she had emerged from the carriage before he was ready for her.

“Never the less, I do love that tree.” she turned and walked back towards the gathering of Lordlings.

“What are you going to do?” I found myself asking.

She stopped and rubbed her temples as if trying to alleviate a headache. Such a human gesture.

“I do not know,” she said. “I do not know and I find I'm so very tired of it all.”

She took another breath before shrugging as if to say that it was out of her hands and turned away.

We marshalled together, lining up and I don't know if it was genuine despairing hysteria or what but I got a fit of the giggles as Dorme and his cohorts marched up and down the line, rehearsing with us all as to how we should enter this great hall, where we should go and where we should stand.

“Uniforms” were inspected, I say uniforms but there wasn't really any kind of uniform, armour was buffed and we all stood up straight. Ariadne had raised her hood and was a simple black shape in the middle of us all minus her staff which had disappeared somewhere about herself. I had finally been handed my spear but I wasn't allowed to put it together and in truth it would be useless as we were so tightly packed together.

The entire plan hinged on this. What would Ariadne do?

Dorme seemed confident and the mysterious bag was strapped to his right hip. As I watched he would touch it occasionally for reassurance.

Then we were led round the horses and the carriage to a large building. It was by far the oldest building there and it had the appearance of one of those buildings where it's appearance was a matter of tradition rather than practicality. Where the other buildings around the main square were tile and brick, this was stone and thatch.

We walked in, two guardsmen who I assumed stood at the gate were pushed inside by men with swords and we entered. It was a long hall that reminded me a lot of drawings that I've seen of Skelligan Long-houses. High ceilings, Wooden framework with tapestries lining the walls. There was no fire-pit in the middle though, nor were there any tables laden with food or servants passing out drinks. This was a meeting hall and it was already quite full.

Men and women of all ages stood within the hall. Mostly well off looking men and women stood around the place as well as what I took to be the official guardsmen of Angraal. These men did have uniforms and has Kerrass had instructed me long ago I appraised them. Worn sword handles, signs of scarring, proper equipment rather than decorative equipment and their eyes were flat and uninterested as they appraised us in the same fashion. All of this led me to believe that if it came to a straight up fight between our party and these guardsmen, even though we did outnumber the guardsmen, it would be a massacre.

I touched my holy symbol again.

I guessed that the vast majority of the assembly were locally based merchants and their wives with the odd noble-person also present. There were other armed men here and there who I took for bodyguards who could be discounted as their first duty would be to protect their charge. I saw a priest of the eternal flame, his shaved head stood out, much taller than the other courtiers marking him as an outsider and he was escorted by a pair of men in chain-mail with red sur-coats leaving me wondering if the church had started recruiting knights again after the Witch-hunters had been disbanded.

I also managed to spot what I guessed would be a priestess of Melitele. Simple grey robes with the pendant that would display the three aspects of the Goddess. Her hair was tied back and out of the way. Something that they only do when they're expecting to treat wounded.

Not a good sign.

As we moved forward and came to the end of the hall we found the dais. On it, in a simple looking stone chair that looked as though the stone had simply appeared like that rather than needing to be carved, sat the erstwhile “King” of Angraal. He was obviously not a soldier by any means and had not bothered trying to get armour to fit him. He made me think of a man who had once been very active physically but long hours of feasting, talking and negotiating had resulted in a figure that was starting to relax. He appeared calm enough, he was certainly not sweating, blushing or pale by my estimation. His beard was close trimmed and his hair was tidy although it would need a trim if he was going to any kind of proper court. There were two guardsmen on either side of him. Hands on swords.

“Count Dorme, what a surprise. We haven't seen you at court in some time.”

Dorme's lackeys stirred at the lower title

“I have been busy Lord Duke,” Dorme responded, likewise using the Nilfgaardian titles. “So many things to do in today's ever changing world. Don't you think?”

“Indeed I do,” said the Duke. If the reduction in his title bothered him then he gave no sign of it. There was a long pause. That moment where the two armies face each other before the order to charge is given, or the knights waiting for the handkerchief to hit the floor at the jousting tourney, the criminal waiting for the hangman to pull the lever.

“Tell me, Count,” The Duke sounded conversational, “Why have you brought armed men into our halls. You know that this is against our most ancient traditions and laws.”

“You know why,” it sounded petulant. The Duke was much better at this than Dorme was. I realised that I had just stopped breathing and forced myself to take a breath.

“Yes I do. Just the same way that I also know that there are several other forces of similar numbers of men approaching the capitol from various directions. Tell me, what is the meaning of this?”

“The meaning, Lord Duke, is that soon this hall and the capital will not be “ours” but it will be “mine”.”

“Interesting sentiment. Yet you come here, into the seat of Angraal's power and expect me to just hand it over?”

“Oh yes, but not to me.” He touched the bag at his side and Ariadne started to move forward in the crowd.

“Behold,” Dorme called as she came to the front, “The Spider-Queen of Angraal.”

The cloak came off with a twirl and the golden staff shone as it spun in the air with a flourish. As it was brought down on the paving stones that made up the floor of the hall, there was a peal of thunder.

I thought it was a bit over the top but the onlookers quailed at it.

The Duke remained impassive.

“The Spider Queen of Angraal? If she ever lived she is long dead.”

Dorme stood back and Ariadne took over. Again Dorme was shown up as Ariadne had more strength and purpose in her movements than he could imagine. Her dress was the same, High collar, jewels and all but her face had lost the softness that she had started wearing over the last couple of days and had once again taken on the form of terrifying beauty with her white skin, red lips and she had added sharp looking fangs.

“Dead?” she asked in a way that didn't sound loud but at the same time it filled the hall so that everyone heard it. “No, merely imprisoned. By your traitorous forebears.”

She spun with a gesture that seemed to encompass everyone there. The light from the lanterns and torches seemed to fade, shadows leaping and I again could swear that I heard chittering in the background.

“Very pretty.” said the Duke. His voice was harsh next to the practised, magically enhanced and mellow tones of the vampire. “But a pretty face and a few tricks means nothing It is certainly not enough to dethrone me.” He paused, “Also, why would the fabled Spider Queen of lore bow down to a rodent such as yourself Dorme?”

“Through ancient magic's that I have studied these last few years. Ever since our family was deposed.” Dorme was letting his anger show now. A mistake but he thought he was winning.

“Nevertheless. I think a sword through the gut will answer for this Spider Queen just as easily as it has the other imposters over the years. Guardsmen!”

“Hold,” Ariadne called. It was a voice of such utter command. Dorme was playing with the bag and I could see his lips moving. Kerrass was frowning but at what I couldn't tell.

“I can prove my authority.” she said simply. “Does this hall still recognise that ancient pact?”

This time the Duke did pale and the hall started to mumble to itself. Ariadne strode forwards, Kerrass and I moving with her, Kerrass had his hand on his sword strap. She took her time deliberately placing each step. Dorme was smiling in triumph as he watched and it made his face ugly. Ariadne moved forward, the two Ducal guards took a step forward, one of them almost had his sword drawn but the Duke waved them back. Ariadne leant forwards and whispered something.

Then the Duke staggered, weaving. His hand went to his brow and he leant on the arm of the stone chair.

“Sorcery.” Someone shouted. “Heresy, Witchcraft.” It was the priest. “Such a thing should...” The rest of his words were drowned out in the outrage from the rest of the crowd. Guardsmen drew weapons, Dorme's people were ready for a fight. I drew my spear and slotted the two halves together.

But then Ariadne screamed for Silence. I don't know whether I was shielded, or in the wrong place for the full effect but it seemed to buffet the other people in the hall like a gale-force wind. The room darkened as though a cloak had been thrown over the sun.

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The Duke also didn't react but seemed startled by the silence.

“I...” he choked and had to swallow. “This is no trick. Nor is it magic. This is the oldest magic of our land.” He looked up at Ariadne in awe and terror. “She is the Spider Queen. I abdicate my claim in her favour, formally and utterly. Calling all of my people to serve her willingly and with all our souls while begging for her mercy.” He reeled and staggered as he said that. Kerrass caught him and steadied the man.

“Witness?” Ariadne called, in a voice that echoed off the walls, pointing at the priestess of Melitele who was watching with curiosity rather than fear.

“Witnessed?” Interrupted the priest. “This is heresy. This is treachery. I will not stand for it, no flame-fearing...”

“Be silent,” Ariadne hissed venomously with a strange gesture. The priests words vanished and some part of my brain recorded how long it took him to realise that he couldn't hear what he was saying.

The priestess nodded, somewhat reluctantly.

“Louder please?” Ariadne prompted, still using her magical voice.

“Witnessed,” the Priestess seemed a little sick, although was clearly enjoying the priests discomfort.

“Excellent,” Dorme called, trying to take control of the proceedings. “Now fetch the rest of your family so that no rebellion can be formed around them.”

The former Duke looked up into Ariadne's face but she wasn't looking at him any more. She was looking at the chair. He looked at Kerrass who shrugged and then at me. I don't know what my face said but he left, the picture of utter dejection.

Dorme laughed. It seemed odd to me that I found new depths of my hatred for him.

Ariadne moved slowly towards the, well, throne and very slowly lowered herself to the sitting position. She closed her eyes slowly like a person climbing into a soft warm bed after a long day and sighed.

She sat there, perfectly still for some minutes. I can't speak for anyone else there are the time as I was too busy watching the vampire but a slow silence filled the hall and looking back I feel as though I wasn't alone in watching her. She seemed to leave in a small and undefinable way. The figure that I was looking at was back to just being the illusion A still picture of a woman sat in a chair. She might as well have been a statue.

A noise came to me and as I looked up, the former Duke had returned to the room. With him was a woman and two children. I normally don't like guessing a ladies age but this woman seemed to be in her earl to mid thirties. She stood straight but there was something about her posture that suggested that she was having to fight to stay that upright. She also had the bloom to her skin that suggested that she had recently scrubbed her face clean of whatever cosmetics that she might have been wearing. She wore a wimple and a featureless grey dress that put me in mind of a nun's habit.

The children were young, a boy and a girl. The boy was older, dark haired and wearing a shirt, trousers and tunic. He was about nine years old and looked as though he had been told to be brave but was confused as to why he needed to be. The girl was hiding behind her mother so I didn't really get a good look at her but from her height I would guess that she was about three or four years old.

Ariadne didn't react. People started shifting their feet in discomfort. Someone coughed and it sounded like a thunderclap.

I looked at Dorme who was staring at the former King of Angraal and his family with a look of utter hatred that made me physically nauseous. Kerrass was scanning the hall, eyes flitting everywhere, partially crouched, hand on his sword strap.

I decided that I couldn't stand it anymore and lent into Ariadne and cleared my throat. The illusion sprang into life and she looked at me, startled and a little angry. I gestured towards the former King and his family and she nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly.

She rose, slowly. If she was a human I would have said that she did so reluctantly, staring back at the chair as she did so. She ran her hand along the back of it and along the arm as though she was petting an animal.

“Well?” Dorme's voice was an intrusion. She spun and looked at him, their eyes meeting. Dorme's hand fell to the bag at his side and he muttered something. The vampires eyes followed the gesture.

“I think it's time that your people have a demonstration of your power,” there was relish in his eyes.

“Don't you think so your majesty?”

Ariadne hadn't moved her eyes from the bag and slowly raised her gaze back to meet Dorme's eyes.

“I think that might be wise.” she said quietly.

“Guard-captain?” she called into the hall. “I presume that you have a Captain here somewhere.”

An old soldier stepped forwards. Pushing his way past the assembled courtiers. He was wearing the same armour as the rest of his men and he moved like a professional. Kerrass' lessons called themselves to mind and I saw a couple of signs that he was a little past his best but he was still a man who I thought could give Kerrass a pause. He had a long drooping moustache and his hair was tied back in a long pony-tail. That hair having long turned white. He looked as though he was visibly ageing by the minute.

“Your will Majesty?”

“How long have you served Captain?”

“Forty years Majesty. Man and boy. By your leave though I think it is time I retired. I do not believe I will be able to serve for much longer and you could do with a younger man more suited to your needs.”

“Thank you for the thought Captain,” Her voice was warm and almost kind. But then she changed and she was ice. “But for now I require your obedience,”

Something occurred then. She was using the singular, not the royal “we” as she had when Kerrass and I had first encountered her. “Do I have it?”

The Captain aged another few years before my eyes. He glanced at the old King who was staring at the floor before drawing himself to his full height. “You do Majesty.”

“Excellent. Seal the building for me. No-one out, or in. There will be further commands shortly.”

“Your will majesty.” He whistled piercingly between his teeth and made a gesture with his hand that seemed to encompass the hall. There was the sound of wood being moved and doors slamming shut. The Captain just stood impassively as men started to shout from the depths of the building.

“The building is sealed Majesty.” he bowed again.

“Excellent.” she said.

Well?” Dorme broke in again. “Do it, kill them. Make it slow though. I want to enjoy this.” He had his hand on the bag again I noticed. I promised myself then that I would do my best to kill him before this was over. He might have had his reasons for hating the former King of Angraal, but at the same time... Any man who can order a child's death does not deserve the air that they breathe.

Matters of state or not.

Ariadne glanced at him once but there was surety in that gaze. Certainty, the sort of look that suggested that a decision had been made.

She walked over to the Former Kings family. He looked up at her.

“Majesty if I may?”

Ariadne didn't react and he took that as permission.

“Whatever hold he may have over you. However you may feel? I didn't believe the myths and the legends about you. I thought they were stories or else I might have tried to come to terms. You don't have to believe that but I would beg you. Indeed I do beg you. Spare my children,”

He put his hands on his sons shoulders and scooped his daughter into view. I had gone with her and saw that a tear rolled down his wife's cheek.

“Spare my children majesty. They are innocent of any harm done to you or to any others”

Ariadne said nothing but she just stared at him for a long time.

Then she crouched down.

“What's your name?” she asked the boy.

“What does it matter what his name is?” Dorme shouted.

“Ignore him,” Ariadne said to the boy with remarkable gentleness. “I'm Queen anyway. What's your name.”

“Squire Jonas,” the boy said quietly, clearly in awe of the woman in front of him. His father smiled slightly and murmured something about title.

“Squire Jonas of Angraal Your Majesty.”

Ariadne smiled. “Squire Jonas. A strong name. Are you a strong little boy Squire Jonas?”

My mouth opened in shock, she was teasing the boy. A small light lit in the depths of my soul. I didn't dare call it “hope” yet but it was there.

On cue, the boy stuck out his chin with a young man's stubborness “I'm not a boy, I'm a man.” he shouted.

Ariadne, raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. “But you are little,” she pointed out.

“I'm still growing,” he grumbled.

“I bet you are.” she smiled again before turning to the girl.

“And what's your name?”

“Sophie,” the little girl squeaked out.

“Sophie,” Ariadne breathed. “Do not be afraid Sophie. My name is Ariadne and I am very pleased to meet you.” she held her hand out to be shaken towards the little girl

“What are you waiting for?” Dorme demanded again. “Kill them, tear them, rip them, KILL THEM” he screeched at the end, his voice cracking. I glanced at him, his mouth was almost foaming.

Ariadne didn't blink, flinch or in any way react to Dorme's voice. At first the little girl was still shy before she darted out and shook Ariadne's hand quickly before jumping back to the protection of her parents.

Ariadne nodded and rose to a standing position again before turning to the mother.

“May I present my wife your majesty?” The former King said. “Donnella Meritania of Angraal.”

Ariadne nodded.

“My lady, you do not know me and I do not know you.” she said quietly. “You have no reason to trust, or like me and every reason to fear and hate me. But I would like us to be friends.” I'm not sure that anyone other than myself and the Lady Donnella heard these words but she certainly gasped in surprise. “I have only just come across the concept of friendship and as such it will take some time to get used to it. I will certainly get it wrong but I will depend on your grace to keep me on the right track. To start with I will tell you now that your children have nothing to fear from me and I will fight to protect them,”

The ladies mouth dropped open.

“I will need to borrow your husband however,” Ariadne said “and what happens next is probably not for the eyes of children. The safest place for them, and you, is behind the throne where they can be shielded. I suggest that you take them there now.”

The woman nodded, not bothering to keep her astonishment off her face. She did look at her husband who nodded back at her, before fleeing.

Ariadne gestured that the former King should follow her.

“Take the other side of me Frederick she said.”

“What are you doing?” Dorme shouted. “Stop,”

Ariadne simply simply ignored him and led the former King back to the throne and stood him next

to it. Kerrass was on her left and I was on her right.

“Lord King,” she said in a loud voice. More human than it had been. “I thank you for obeying the ancient compact but I find that the throne is no longer comfortable. It seems to have grown somewhat since I last sat in this place.”

“What are you doing?” Dorme screamed.

“I will shortly return your powers to you,” Ariadne continued over Dorme's protests. “But I will just neutralise this situation first as it could all get out of hand. I refuse to hand your realm over to you in a worse state than which I found it, so I would ask for your patience.”

The man was clearly astonished and I joined him.

“I command you,” Dorme had the bag of his belt now and was shaking it, red with rage. “I own you,”

“Ah yes,” Ariadne said conversationally. “Your little bag. We must address that before we go any further.”

I had never seen a vampire move. I would say here and now that I have still not seen a vampire move it was that fast. To my eyes it seemed as though she leant forward slightly and the bag was suddenly in her hand. It was as though her arm simply stretched forward to take it despite him being some distance away.

The next thing any of us knew she was standing next to Kerrass, opening the bag and peering inside.

“Just as I thought,” she said. “You missed something. I told you that we had destroyed that kind of magic and any access to it.”

Dorme was still staring at his hand in shock. Kerrass had reacted to her sudden movement because of course he had. He slowly re-sheathed his silver sword and instead drew the steel one.

“But...” Dorme began.

“Non-combatants and courtiers,” Ariadne continued ignoring him. “I suggest you retreat to the back of the hall.”

The courtiers ran for it doing what they were told. Dorme's group suddenly looked very small.

“Captain?” Ariadne called,

“Majesty?” the man was regaining his vigour and had begun to look as though he was enjoying himself.

“I will have more instructions for you momentarily regarding the other forces approaching the capital but for now. Lord Dorme is a traitor to the crown. Those with him are also traitors although some, if not all of the common folk have been forced into action. I require Lord Dorme alive to face justice.”

“Yes, your Majesty.” The Captain said with relish.

Dorme's people started shouting then, drawing weapons and shouting

“All others who do not throw down their weapons immediately,” Ariadne's magical voice overwhelmed them, “you may deal with as you see fit. Do not endanger your men's lives as you do so however.”

“Yes your majesty.” He whistled again and drew his own sword.

“Kill that bitch.”Dorme's voice and wits returned with his despair. “Kill the Witcher and the scholar. Kill them all.”

When I first started this whole enterprise, the thing that I wanted to learn was what it was like to be a Witcher. In the case of this particular tale I wanted to talk about the Witcher's renowned distaste for politics and their insistence on staying out of such things, despite the enormous evidence to the contrary.

It was in this moment, as Lord Dorme screamed for my blood and my death that I found out why and it might take me a little while to get to my point so I crave your indulgence in a story that has already taken a lot more telling than I initially thought it would.

First of all was a discovery in myself that made me feel a little uncomfortable.

There is joy in a fight.

I have since spoken to several professional soldiers as well as Kerrass about this particular discovery and as it turns out, I am not alone in this realisation but there are normally some caveats. There is seldom joy in a battle. Apparently the experience is so big, so overwhelming and so, well, organised for it to be joyful. Likewise it doesn't really occur in a one on one formalised duel because it is again too formal and the next few minutes are more of a mental chess game than a sprawling free for all.

But right there and right then as Dorme and his men charged us, howling madness in their eyes along with fear, blood-lust and terrible fury. I felt joy. An elation that I cannot imagine in any other situation. I've spent a long time thinking about it as well. The closest I've been able to come to is when the girl that you've been attracted to for so long actually says yes and the fear of rejection melts away.

So here's my theory, and this covers both things.

Witchers, despite what they might like to think, are relatively simple creatures. They have been designed, mutated and trained with one simple task in mind which is to kill monsters that threaten human life. There is very little moral discussion in this. The monster is dangerous, it has probably already killed many and therefore it needs destroying. There is no moral confusion. There is a problem and a solution.

On those occasions where there is a moralistic problem then the Witcher is protected by his code. (They don't kill dragons, would rather lift the curse than destroy the cursed, will first communicate with the sapient creature before destroying it etc) All of this means that they don't need to think about other factors. There is a simple problem and they can focus on that problem to the exclusion of all others. Everything else can be ignored.

You can't do that in a political arena.

The very act of being neutral is a political one and will be perceived, weighed, measured and countered with relative ease. Much to the consternation of the Witcher.

While you are in a political arena then your problem becomes such that you have to weigh all of your options carefully. Closing off a particular possibility is dangerous to the extent of being foolhardy and as a result, the best option is sometimes to wait and do nothing. There is rarely a right and a wrong, there is no good side and evil side, light or dark. There is simply “us” and “them”. But sometimes it's not even as simple as that. Sometimes it becomes “them, them, them, him, me, her and everyone else”.

This creates a pressure. Not only to perform correctly for your side and survive but also, if you're a moral person, to do the right thing.

This is also why codes of behaviour such as Chivalry, the Skelligan Code of Honour and indeed the Holy Flames scriptures of obedience are so attractive because then someone else has made the decision about what is right and what is wrong.

So when all of that stuff melts away. All of the politics dissolves into the worthless bullshit that it is. It is amazingly, almost terrifyingly liberating.

Up until this point, Kerrass and I had been mired in politics. Trapped by my physical injuries and later by the fact that we were surrounded by guards. We had a supposed ally that was unreliably but obscenely powerful. We were involved in a rebellion that neither of us had any particular stake in other than the fact that we both disliked the leader of the revolt and we were revolting against a person that neither of us had ever met and a regime that neither of us had ever heard of let alone lived under.

But we were involved. Without our conscious decision but politics had caught us up without our consent.

And it all melted away in that instant.

Ariadne had found the way forwards. Found the way that we could all survive. A centuries old vampire had found the solution and all I had to do now was to fight for my life in a small battle where the odds were mostly in my favour.

Oh, the weight off my mind. The enormous pressure, fear, confusion and frustration exploded out of me in a screaming, shining moment of joy and fury as I brought my spear to bear against my enemy. Kerrass was on my left and we were joined by a pair of the royal guardsmen that had not left their posts from beside their throne to the point that most of us had forgotten that they were there, but they were frighteningly efficient.

I was there. I was next to my friend and ally and in that moment my cause was protecting women and children. The Vampire could take care of herself but those two children could not and by the savage grin that plastered itself over Kerrass' face. He felt the same.

Dorme's group was quick to react and at first it looked grim as they rushed forward. A young lordling named Sir Nicholas Angleby rushed at me, presumably wanting to get a quick kill in. His sword was raised and he was screaming in the combination of fear and anger that accompanies a fight. I was yelling myself and he had underestimated me. His sword was well out of the way and I could just lunge with a choice of targets and I chose his throat. As my spear ripped free, his blood sprayed with it and he dropped his sword to clutch at his throat and I dismissed him from my mind. I hope he died quickly and the horror that I made of his throat would certainly suggest that he did. As was my habit, I looked into what had happened. He was very similar to me although a few years younger. He was a younger son of an older lord who was approaching senility and had been just too young for the last war which had claimed his older brothers and was left with an anger that he could not control.

The royal guardsmen leapt into the fray on my right. Not bothering with his sword he put his full weight and strength behind his shield and barged the other men backwards and I was able to step round him and jab into the mess at anyone who tried to reach round the shield.

Kerrass had leapt into the fray with similar gusto, his blade twirling glittering patterns in the air, occasional streams of blood flowing from the point in the way paint leaves a brush. The guard on his left acted to prevent people from flanking him.

We had the higher ground, if only by virtue of a couple of steps up onto a dais but they had the numbers and we were pushed back. But by that time the other royal guard had hit the back of Dorme's group and there had also been many men, particularly peasants and more than a few noble guardsmen who had decided that they didn't like being on the losing side of a rebellion and had thrown down their arms.

As suddenly as it started it was all over.

Eight men lay dead, five were mortally wounded and were dying with another twenty wounded.

The battlefield reaction was particularly violent in me this time and I leant on my spear and trembled.

Dorme was still alive and had been forced flat under the weight of guardsmen spears. Another couple of his minor lords were alive and in similar conditions. The other revolutionaries were quickly disarmed, split into their groups of those who had surrendered and those who had chosen to fight and the Priestess of Melitele was already hard at work saving lives.

Forcing my fingers to move I dropped my spear and got to work myself allowing myself to be guided by her. I wasn't able to do much more than set a broken leg and bind a few wounds though before I ran out of people to treat that I could do with my level of expertise.

Ariadne stepped forward again, guiding the former King with her. The children and their mother had vanished, taken off to privacy by guardsmen.

“Captain?”

The old man stood forward again.

“Majesty,” He was openly smiling.

“A few matters to deal with the aggressive groups approaching the capital. Send men out to them dressed in Dorme's colours and tell them that “The Eagle has fallen” and they should all go home with the leaders accompanying you back to whatever welcome you might have prepared by that point.”

“Yes, majesty.”

“Treacherous bitch.” Dorme spat with venom.

“For me to be a traitor Lord Dorme, I would have had to be a part of your cause from the beginning. I was not. You just assumed my obedience without testing your imperfect tool.”

She shook the bag at him.

“Now my lord,” she turned back to the former Duke. “I hereby formally abdicate my rights and claims to the realm of Angraal and it's throne and crown. I return rule to yourself and your line for as long as it may hold it. I also swear myself to whichever line may come after. I leave these men to your justice although I do have words to share with you to that effect. I offer you my fealty. If you will have it.”

The Duke was clearly stunned, shocked and appalled at these events.

“Witness?” he called. He gave the impression of a man who had given up and was letting himself be led around by the nose.

“Witnessed.” I said. “My name is Frederick Von Coulthard of Redania.”

“Witnessed,” called the priestess of Melitele taking a scalpel out of her mouth as she did so.

Ariadne knelt before the Duke who, his hands trembling took her hand and raised her to her feet.

“May I ask why?”

Ariadne considered. “The chair is no longer comfortable. It has changed, along with the world in which it sits, and It need to change with it. I am unused to this change and I have much to learn. I would also offer my services as court Sorcerer if you require.”

“We will discuss that later.” The man was frantically trying to regain his self control. “But first what of these men?”

He gestured at Kerrass, myself and the remains of Dorme's group.

“Lord Coulthard and Witcher Kerrass were coerced against their will by Lord Dorme. I will testify that they have not raised weapon against you or any of your men and indeed have killed several of Dorme's traitors before today in self-defence. Might I also state that, although there have been many factors that have lead towards my decision today. Not least of which, in fact a major part of that decision was influenced by the two of them. I will embellish later, in private, but your majesty owes them a great debt. Those other men I leave to your justice but Lord Dorme?”

Her illusion slipped for a moment and she seemed almost primal. A nightmare from a barbaric past. Slipped or changed according to her will? I am not here to judge.

“He attempted to poison Lord Frederick, nearly leading to his death. He framed me for mass murder of one of your villages.”

“Lies,” called Dorme,

“And he sought to restrict my will and make use of my body and power. He tried to enslave me which is a crime I cannot forgive. I demand his death.”

The Dukes' eyebrows rose.

“I am still enough of a lord of the land to not execute without trial. The evidence against him is substantial but... Please understand lady...”

“She's lying My lord Duke,” an unpleasant smile crossed Dorme's face. “She is a monster. She controlled me. None of this is my fault. She used her magic to coerce us into acting. I am free now. We all are. Let us serve you.”

His other friends joined his pleas.

Kerrass spat in disgust and my face must have shown similar feelings.

“Those other two are her particular pets.” Dorme went on. “They are lying to you. Don't believe him.”

“Be silent.” The Dukes voice cracked like a whip and I saw the hate in his own gaze as well as the ruler he had been before Ariadne arrived.

He took a deep breath. “Lady, I would dearly love to kill him but his point is not without merit. You are, by your own words a Sorceress and a vampire. How can we trust that you are not controlling us all. Even now?”

“She is a monster Lord Duke, don't believe her,” Dorme shouted.

But Ariadne was smiling.

“Trust, like respect, is slow to come Lord Duke and I am aware of these problems. Just as I am aware that my word will not be enough here and that magic, as well as monstrous power, is an easy excuse for anyone to take.”

She appeared to think but I thought she was just pretending.

“Tell me. Do you still have provision here for “trial by combat”?”

“We do,”

“Fighting her?” Dorme spat. “She is a vampire making her physically stronger. Also a woman. How would that reflect? I will not submit to that.”

The priest of the holy flame raged at Dorme silently. Ariadne noticed and made another gesture.

“...Fucking Coward.” The priest went on, apparently not noticing that his voice had come back. “Your faith in the holy flame would protect you against her evil.”

He went on like that for a while. No-one swears and blasphemes like a priest.

“I have a solution, Lord Duke,” Ariadne put in. “How about a champion?” she suggested to Dorme.

Dorme considered before nodding “But who will fight in a Witch's name?” he declared.

Ariadne smiled, almost sweetly.

“Witcher Kerrass. Would you oblige?”

Kerrass grinned. “Gladly. Your Grace.” I wondered at his use of the title.

The priest was coerced to referee. Swords were inspected for poisons and “Witcher oils”. Kerrass was admonished about Witcher tricks and asked about his potions and his lack of armour.

“Tell me your Majesty.” he asked the Duke. “How would you like him. Alive for execution, or dead?”

The Duke smiled in a combination of emotions that I couldn't quite decipher. “I am not concerned so long as he is defeated,” he turned to Ariadne, “Milady?”

Ariadne thought. “Kill him.” She said. “I want this matter dealt with. Show him mercy at the end but let him know he's been in a fight.”

Kerrass nodded.

It was not a long fight, nor was it pretty. A few short exchanges and I will give Dorme the credit that he was a fine swordsman, but I could also tell from experience that Kerrass was holding back. The realisation that he was outclassed sunk into Dorme's face and he grew paler and paler. His strokes became less disciplined and more desperate until it ended quickly. Kerrass simply leant out the way of a strike before disembowelling Dorme and following up with a decapitation stroke.

It was all over.

It felt oddly anti-climactic. It was a week of my life that had been given over to these politics. A week in which I had nearly died and nurtured a hatred that had frightened me in more than one instance. Now, it was all over. My vengeance taken with Kerrass' sword as it's instrument.

All over.

I fell to my knees and dimly heard Ariadne tell the Duke that we should all go somewhere more private as there were “many things to talk about,”

I didn't hear. My combat reaction was in full flow and I was busy retching.