A soldier brings back a platter of roasted pork chops with an accompanying herb sauce. I seize a bone without wasting a moment. I dig in to vent my frustration about being average in size and my lack of endurance. Cecil watches me devour the meat with a small smile but waits for the soldier to bring the plates and silverware.
“Who're the Hakarth?” I ask her.
“One of the biggest small Noble houses.” She replies. “They hold a dozen titles across Caeviel, mostly Baron level but they do have two Counts.”
“That's troublesome.” I note with a grimace.
“A bit more than that considering their connections.” Cecil corrects with a grimace. “They never held a title on Izla Meria but the deceased consort of Count Thrin was one of them so they have ties here.” No wonder that Lady Tuala thought her house name could have helped her.
“There would be many titles up for grabs if Leomi Lance or the Council fell.” I calmly note.
“That should be their angle, yes.” Cecil confirms.
“How dangerous are they?” I ask.
“It depends how you define dangerous.” She replies while raising an eyebrow. “They're about as traditional a house as they could be, they scheme for higher status but rarely through dishonorable means. They respect old notions of honor and duty.”
“Didn't get that feeling from Tuala.” I comment.
“Well, the members of their house have their differences and I haven't met her so I couldn't tell you.” Cecil says with a shrug. “And they may not treat the Izla with respect if they determine working with the Rykz and seizing power absolves them. One interesting fact is that they've asked for the Hospitaliers to establish chapters in three demesnes that lie within Duchess Roskal's purview.”
“So they're hedging their bets by offering an olive branch while indirectly working for the King.” I conclude.
“One chapter would be an olive branch, three is an attempt to smack us with the trunk.” Cecil corrects.
“That's one way to knock the peace into people.” I tell her with an amused chuckle. I nibble my third pork chop down to the bone and then grab a fourth.
“Are you going to tell me what you're planning about Thrin and his faction?” Cecil asks after spending a while watching me eat with a soft expression.
“I'm pressuring them.” I deadpan.
“You're pressuring all of Nobility with what you're doing, smaller factions are merging into his out of fear that the Council and the Hospitaliers stand behind you.” She criticizes.
“That's fine. They'll disintegrate when I make my move.” I confidently reassure her. “What's that ball about by the way?”
“You still don't know?” She asks, blinking in surprise.
“I do my best to avoid hearing about information that will annoy me.” I honestly tell her, ignoring the statement's disastrous lack of logic. “But with Vikiana in Meria, I have to wonder if she didn't show up in advance of Leomi's arrival.”
“It's a celebration of her elevation to an honorary Duchess.” Cecil tells me. “I suspect she'll be making an announcement in front of most of Nobility, there will be special guests from the mainland in attendance.”
“Special how?” I ask.
“Quite a few Lords should be showing up.” She replies with a poker face.
“Lords?” I press.
“Who are single, a few may be coming from other Kingdoms.” Cecil adds.
“They dare?” We utter, instantly realizing Leomi is their target.
“It's not unusual or insulting.” She says, trying to placate us.
“She's ours.” We declare while slamming a half-eaten rib down.
We get up and stomp away, having lost our appetite. Cecil sighs but doesn't comment. I head out of the Keep while fiddling with my broadsword's hilt, dealing with my anger by focusing on my task.
I travel to the north-west quarter without trying to be discreet since the armor I'm wearing is too conspicuous for that to work. I actually look forward to being attacked if this is a trap so I keep to the middle of the streets while raising my guard.
I soon enter a street with many leafless trees, a few statues, and manors with large gardens. Yet, in spite of the wealth on display, the snow covering the pavement and roofs hasn't been cleared out which shows that the buildings have been abandoned.
A few manors bear signs that they were lived in until recently because of the layers of accumulated snow are thinner. I suspect that the soldiers from Odo's army were lodged there when they were kicked out of the houses they seized, not to mention the refugees from all over the Izla.
I inspect my surroundings as I make my way through the streets, running my gaze on the roofs and corners to find tracks or signs of an ambush. As I progress through the third block, I catch a few footprints but they seem to be from a patrol that entered a garden to rest.
Still, I can't be certain and that makes me nervous so I assemble a perception construct in case I need to react in a split second. I come across a squad of Hospitaliers during the second hour of scouring the area who recognize me.
They tell me to go east if I'm looking for people, which is pretty much what Cecil told me as well. I kept it for last because it seems odd that one would choose to hide where others would go looking first but it might be the point if someone is trying to spread a rumor.
As I head for the manors adjacent to Meria's residential blocks, I start spotting people from afar who run away at the sight of my armor. The most I can tell is that they're wearing dark clothes which isn't helpful since they could be either sentries or aspiring looters. Or both.
After a while, I encounter a deserted street again which makes me tense until I run into a patrol of city guards that likely caused everyone else to flee. They briefly inquire about my purpose and resume their patrol once I provide my identification parchment.
A quarter of an hour later, I find a block of smaller manors which is likely inhabited by the bourgeoisie if I go by the servants' clothes and the presence of one or two guards on each porch.
I grow wary under their many gazes because some fail to disguise their interest while others have a suspicious lack of curiosity towards the armored woman who just barged into their street.
While those I suspect are a minority among the people living here, the accumulation is a confirmation that there's something going on by itself. I progress further, following the road which leads towards the city's northern wall.
That fact makes me even tenser because I haven't forgotten about the secret tunnels, not to mention that there are very few manors located near the ramparts throughout the city. I throw a glance at the wall-walk in the distance, finding a few guards on patrol and a tall woman sitting on the edge while gazing at the city.
There are many reasons for this, one of them being that the rich want to live as close to the Keep as possible because it's the center of power, another is that buildings like tanneries, lumber-mills, and smithies usually occupy the outskirts.
I reach the end of the street, finding three abandoned manors arranged in a semi-circle with more expansive gardens than the rest. I stop in my tracks right there because the absence of people irks me. I narrow my eyes and enhance my sight to inspect the area.
While the layer of snow in front of all three properties appears thick, I can't help but keep examining. After a while, I realize that what's ticking me off is that the white blanket is unnaturally even along the paths leading to the entrances.
I immediately turn around to walk away because that is a clear sign that there is either someone with title-level access or a group of organized people who gathered their flow to erase their tracks.
I discreetly activate my gear's defensive runes with two portions, using one construct to link the various pieces. I'm counting on the fact that I'm using too little energy for the golden light to be visible through the cracks or make the entire armor glow because of saturation.
I keep feeding the perception construct until it reaches twelve portions, which adds up to two minutes of activation time. I've never attempted to fight for that long with it but there shouldn't be a problem. Should we come back tonight to check these manors out? I do miss my kitten.
Her non-sequitur almost makes me stumble and that's exactly when three silver cubes appear in my range of detection. They're flying at me from straight behind, the left, and the right, coming from the three abandoned manors.
I activate my perception construct and flip around as I move to the left while drawing my longsword. I slash down at the only one of the three projectiles that changes course in time, injecting unstructured flow into the blade with the intent to obstruct the kinetic construct.
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Crack. The cube bursts, making the blade shake violently in my hand. I tighten my grip despite the numbness affecting my fingers and slash out towards my left, intercepting another construct.
Crack. My blade flies out of my hand and into the snow behind. I lion step back to avoid the third that finished looping around and draw one of my daggers. I inject flow into it and throw it at the cube like I would a snowball.
Clink. The kinetic construct breaks the weapon's blade. I deactivate the perception construct now, estimating that four seconds passed. I pick up my longsword which now has a chipped edge and point.
I run my gaze over the manors, finding tracks on the roofs to my left and right. Those two escaped but there is a woman with messy black hair standing at the window of the central house's first floor, she likely observed me from a crack between the flaps.
She raises her palm as our eyes meet. I smirk and lower my helmet over my head as I prepare to block another construct. After all, I could block these kinetic constructs all day with the regeneration that my mere four portions of access affords me. The exchange is extremely favorable for me.
Yet, five ball-shaped constructs appear in front of the woman's hand. The fact she's doing this arouses my suspicion so I throw glances to my flanks, finding a woman in dark clothes holding a taut bow to my right. I instinctively strengthen my defensive construct with six more portions.
I retreat with a lion's leap just in time for an arrow to flash past my chest coming from the left. I land and immediately feel two dull impacts in my back and a painful hit on my right biceps. Blood rushes out of my cheeks as I realize I could have died just now if they put all they had in these arrows.
I lion's step forward towards the five fireball constructs flying at me. I activate the perception construct again and start zigzagging to avoid a second volley of arrows, finding that the constructs change direction with me.
Two arrows with glowing golden heads fly past me with diverging paths which shows they're trying to pin me down with cross-fire. I hear one more projectile hit the pavement behind me and spin away into a garden. The fourth hits my helmet and flutters off as well.
When the fireballs enter close-range, I shape one portion of energy into a defensive construct, adapting the segments to counter flames and apply it to my longsword. Thirteen portions available.
I bypass the bulk of the constructs with a sidestep to the left. I lion's strike forth and then back, triggering two of them in a flash of light as they burn in the air as the defensive construct prevents the fireballs from attaching to the quick blade.
Unfortunately, these target seeking constructs are much quicker than the kinetic ones so I'm forced to use my wrist-guard to block a third while dodging the last two before obliterating them with two swipes of my longsword.
The flames wrapped around my forearm quickly die down but consume one whole portion of energy in the process. I replenish my armor's runic defenses by dismantling the defensive construct on my sword while sprinting towards the central manor.
I put the perception construct on standby after confirming that the woman at the window isn't launching more attacks. As I jump over the fence and make my way through the garden, I realize that the reason is that they have no need to keep making bad trades by attacking from a distance if I'm going to walk into the tiger's den.
A few more arrows hit me before I make it to the front porch, many others miss, but they don't cost me any significant amount of energy. A single one makes it past my stubbed leather skirt and impacts the hard black leather protecting my lower thigh.
I ignore this hit as well because it'll cause a bruise at the worst. Lucky for me, the archers have an accurate enough idea of their own skill that they didn't gamble their reserves of energy in a few projectiles that could have caused actual damage.
My eyes catch a few faint traces of silver in a few meters radius of me but there is so little energy in these constructs that I'm convinced they pose no threat and are likely alarms. Reassured, I take a moment to breathe behind a pillar's cover to assess my options.
“Jessica Freepath.” The woman at the window speaks up.
I hear a slight inquisitive intonation that tells me she's guessing, which could mean that the ambush wasn't meant for me. It's even possible there never was a trap to begin with but that my presence frightened high born with guilty consciousnesses.
“Who's asking?” I question.
“... You are, don't deny it.” She declares after a moment of hesitation. “I didn't see your face clearly but can't think of anyone else that voice and appearance could belong to, although you seem far more proficient than you led the world to believe.”
“I don't go out very often.” I reply humorously.
“No one here is willing to meet you, go away and we'll let bygones be bygones.” My messy haired opponent offers.
“Who's 'no one' exactly, and who are you?” I ask.
“...” The woman doesn't answer but I can faintly hear her whisper once I enhance my hearing. “You know.” She says after a while.
The obvious bluff and her previous answers tell me a lot more than that woman would likely suspect. She's obfuscating the conversation in a way that could lead me to believe she herself is Elizabeth Vil.
She is hoping I haven't seen the face behind the mask but hasn't directly said so in case I have. She kept her responses vague enough that her words could mean that she is merely working for Elizabeth Vil who she implied is inside the manor.
“I'm not afraid of anyone, much less no one.” I declare with a chuckle.
“E.Vil does not wish to walk out in the light because of the trouble that would cause but that does not mean E.Vil fears doing so if provoked. This is your last chance to leave.” The woman utters in a dark voice.
“What's with the third person? She's trying to sound a bit like you but not too much. She doesn't sound even remotely like me! I mean... it could pass as something you might say. Now's not the time to tease me.
I clamp down on the first answer that comes to mind before it can take shape. What was that? I'm busy sister, keep resting if you're not going to help. I sharply cut the conversation.
Elizabeth almost keeps arguing but the woman starts assembling a construct with so much energy my eyes detect a slight silver hue through the porch's roof. I thank her in my mind and use a lion strike kick to blow the door open.
I rush in and slide behind the wall, I kick the door close just after four arrows fly inside without any golden energy attached to the heads. Yet, I have no time to celebrate because my eyes catch four silhouettes in the dark rooms adjacent to the hallway, meaning there are more.
They're approaching with low slithering gaits, clearly less afraid that I'll blow my way inside the building now that I entered. A mistake, my sister can be scary. Would you please stop enjoying this so much? Nope.
I slow my perception of time and add a timer segment that will deactivate the construct once two real seconds have passed. I pull four portions from my bloodstream and divide them before expelling the unstructured energy in my opponent's directions because I don't have time to make constructs.
I focus on the four links to the fast golden clouds and shape the air they traverse into sharp spikes. Moments before they hit their targets who are trying to evade, I squint to clarify my will to myself, producing an intent that affects my flow and causing a slight headache.
The spikes accelerate and alter their trajectories to follow their targets, impacting all four. I release my link to the unstructured energy, causing a throat and a cheek to burst in black-red bloody explosions.
The other two flinch, one hit in the belly and the other in his left arm. As my perceptions return to normal, a small explosion shakes the ceiling and causes a rain of wood shards to fall all around me.
Almost nine left. I lion's step towards the one whose arm I hurt, counting on the fact that the manor's gray darkness appears quite a bit clearer to me than to them. I'm counting on it to win the fight without burning too much energy.
My opponent appears thin and short as he protectively holds his left arm but, as I get closer, I realize that we're about the same size. He tries to dodge back as he hears or sees me charging him but fails to return to a proper stance before the point of my sword stabs into his eye-socket.
I pull the blade out of the skull, causing a light gray liquid to burst out, and step next to a window on the outer wall where the light coming from the flap's hinges can't reach. I listen closely to assert whether the woman is going to jump down to the ground floor and how many enemies there are.
Yet, only silence answers me. I rush out of this room and into another without caring for the noise I'm making because I didn't catch any warning signs before the ceiling exploded earlier.
I wasn't hurt but all that means is that she'll try harder next time. I run into two swords-women who activate unknown constructs as soon as they hear me walk inside the room, causing two sudden burst of white flames that utterly blind me. Fuck, my, luck.
I take a defensive stance with the longsword to try to bluff them into thinking I can still see them but two air-blade shaped silver constructs appear as if to mock my naive thinking. Liz? You're doing fine... humhymhm. Did you just yawn? N, no?
I lion's leap towards the two constructs before they're completed while launching a wide lion's slash. My blade doesn't hit anything but the silver energy loses coherence so I follow the sounds of their steps and press the attack.
The swords-women hit my armor a few times but fail to do anything more than cause some scratches while I fail to touch even their shadows yet succeed in preventing them from finishing their constructs.
I hear at least a couple pairs of feet enter into the room I was in before this one but don't worry too much because my two lovely opponents just absorbed their flow into their swords, giving me two nice lovely silver beacons to follow.
I activate the perception construct and easily dance around their blows, causing them to pause and buying me just the split-second I need to shape an armor-sundering construct with six portions. Two and a half portions left.
They press the attack but my eyes have begun recovering by now so I lion's leap at the wall and kick it to reach the other side of the room, putting my current opponents between me and the other two enemies who walk in.
The two swords-women cooperate to launch wild crossing lion strikes that I would never have been able to crouch under without the perception construct. Not daring to cross blades with theirs, because they're likely using armor-piercing constructs, I decide to throw a backhanded slash at knee level.
“Aaarrrrh!” They both scream in agony as they drop to the floor.
Their two shins and feet, one right and one left, remain upright for a moment longer than the women they belonged to before falling like logs. I launch out from my crouching position towards the new pair that walked inside in a file.
The first raises his sword to block with a panicked look on his face, likely because he can only see the golden hue of my blade. I simply cut through his sword and chest, slicing through flesh and bone without slowing down.
The man drops backward, his black clothes flutter open and reveal a chain-mail with a receding golden glow from an activated defensive construct that couldn't even hinder my slash, it's likely that it broke before burning all its available energy.
I absently deactivate my perception construct to check my armor-sundering construct. I find it burned three out of the six portions, which is much more than it would have if I had used the more complex runic one on my liangi.
“I, I'm leaving!” My last opponent yells to cover his injured comrades' screams while holding his sword out and retreating.
“Now, now.” I speak up with a reassuring voice. “Don't be in such a hurry, I have some ques...”
Brahmkrack. Everything explodes around me. Flames burst out as several somethings heavily impact on my shoulders, flattening me on the floor. It doesn't stop there as more weight falls on my back. I hear distant clinking sounds that make me realize I'm losing consciousness when I recognize that rocks are hitting my helmet.