After some hours, all the survivors of the sorcerers militia were taken care of. They at least wouldn’t die, even if their recovery would take some time. Thankfully, infection was a non-factor with my atomization. I didn’t have to worry about sterility or things getting into their bodies through the wounds that I couldn’t clean out properly. Any contaminants left behind were also atomized.
By the end of it all, my clothes had blood and grime on them. The ground was littered with rags and clothing and medical supplies, making quite the mess.
But they were safe. It was only after that was certain that I finally let out a long breath and relaxed.
“All good now. They’ll live.”
“Thank you, Audius.”
“That’s the 14th time you’ve said that.”
I looked back at Gentle snow standing behind me. She had multiple dried tear streaks on her face, her complexion screaming exhaustion.
I pat her leg.
“You should go rest. All of you need rest. Baron, are there any more clean sheets?”
“I’m sorry, we’ve used them all.”
“That’s fine. Rachel, can you help me clean the fabrics tonight? And Grace, if you could start helping those who are conscious drink some water. Baron, if you could bring some food for those that can eat.”
“Got it.”
“Understood.”
I stood while making a list of plans, the others moving to get things done. I didn’t mind working overtime tonight since preparations for the Months of Darkness were just about complete. When the day came, we’d be ready. I just had to keep doing what I’ve been doing for the past several days and train the soldiers with the rifles. That wasn’t that difficult to keep up with
Gentle Snow tapped me as I started to walk.
“Audius, I can help wash the sheets.”
“No, you need to rest.”
“But…”
Her voice fell as I turned to look at her. She was exhausted, but it seemed like she had something to say.
I looked back at Rachel.
“Actually Rachel, if you could help Grace or the Baron.”
“Hm, alright.”
“Then Snow, if you could.”
I started gathering dirty rags, sheets, and clothes, Gentle Snow doing the same. Once we had our hands full we walked to the backyard of the manor where there were some tubs and a water well.
We set things down and I started gathering water into tubs. Once all that was finished, I dumped the sheets and started scrubbing with Gentle snow.
I remained silent until she spoke of her own volition.
“...I killed our leader.”
“Hm. Was that during the battle?”
“It was just after. I wanted to turn back, and she wanted to continue on. But she was killing the others, marching them to their deaths. I refused to let her lead us any longer. And she tried to kill me for it.”
“It sounds to me like your doing was justified. But is that how you see it?”
“I… never wanted it to end like that. None of this should have happened…”
Gentle Snow dipped her head, pausing her washing for a moment. That’s when I suddenly had a thought, activating the Tool and doing a scan on her.
I figured she got injured too, but she seemed to be doing fine. Turns out she wasn’t.
[Subject: Laceration to left arm. Poisoned by Epibatidine.]
My brows raised. Epibatidine was a powerful chemical that acted as a potent painkiller. It could cause paralysis in high enough doses. It seemed Gentle Snow wasn’t poisoned with a lot, just under the lethal threshold.
When I looked at her though, I noticed her hardly using her left arm, along with a bit of a blood stain on her sleeve.
I asked.
“How long did it take you guys to return here?”
“About 2 days once we left the mountains.”
“How did you all manage to stay alive? Most of those girls should’ve died within hours.”
“We have a healer. She worked herself to exhaustion the entire time, barely keeping us functioning.”
“I see…”
My head bobbed before I gave the command to atomize. The Tool cleared out some of the poison, enough to keep her safe, but not enough to kill the effect entirely. That poison was acting as a painkiller and was probably one of the only reasons she was continuing to function normally despite being so worn out. Plus, I didn’t want her to notice the sudden change.
We were silent for a little while longer. It was only when I ehard a whisper that I finally raised my head, the water in my tub completely colored red.
“Can we really stay here? Will you help us?”
Her motions paused again. We looked at each other, her eyes full of hope. She was painfully vulnerable.
She lost her leader, most of her sisters, and was traumatized and mentally drained. Now she was pleading. She was putty in my hands.
I took my hands out of the water, drying them off on my shirt before reaching over and lifting her arms, pulling her up to stand with me.
I spoke gently, giving her the relief of my soothing voice.
“My goal isn’t to make a refuge for sorcerers. My goal is to give them a home to live in, a city to protect them, walls to defend them. They will live here not as demons or thieves, but as people. They will grow, they will learn, they will have families and food and money. That’s my vision for this place, and I will do what it takes to manifest that vision. If I must wage war, then I will. And all I ask of you is to hand me your burden. Relieve your heart of your worries and allow me to shape that future for you.”
“...But why? Why must you take on so much?”
“I’m an ambitious man, Snow.” I smiled and lifted a hand to her face, “Even before I decided to protect sorcerers, I always knew that my destiny in this life was to lead. I have visions, dreams, that I will make a reality. Visions of countless peoples striving for greatness within a kindom of my design, and dreams of endless prosperity, of triumphant progress and technology! There is so much humanity is capable of, and yet they’ve been stifled and oppressed by twisted and ignorant doctrines, by rulers who reject what they cannot control. And I’ve had enough of the idiocy. I’m prepared to create my own empire, with a people that know no oppression, with a people who are empowered to create, inspire, and prosper! And this includes all people,” I tapped Gentle Snow’s nose with a grin, “like pretty women with special powers.”
She scrunched her face with a smile, “Hm, are you saying you’ll only keep me around for my looks?”
“All I’ll say is that I’m certainly not a man who doesn’t appreciate beauty, even if that beauty occasionally vanishes from my eyes and sneaks through my drawers.”
“Well I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t make your drawings so interesting.”
She snickered a bit, the mood lightening enough for me to finish this conversation.
My smile dropped a bit, “Snow, I’m going to tell you what I told Tiya. I don’t want you to listen to what I say. I want you to watch what I do. It’s never enough to give grand promises. I want you to look around and make sure that I’m the kind of man I say I am. I have full confidence in myself, in my dreams and visions. But I want you to have that confidence as well. I want you to believe in me, completely and utterly. But let me earn it from you. Your trust isn’t something that should be given easily. You’ve saved your militia, and because you now lead them, you should be scrutinizing in who you place your faith in, for their sake. Do you understand.”
“...I do.”
“Good. Then with that in mind, you should go rest. Take my room, wash up, and get to sleep. The Months of Darkness are coming, and we’ll need all the rest we can get.”
I pushed her along. I never intended to make her help me clean. I just wanted her to get what she needed to off her chest.
Gentle Snow acquiesced and retreated to my bedroom. After that I stayed up during the night and continued to wash sheets and clean up all the dirt and blood. With atomization, it was as easy as speaking the words. I also did my best to erase the evidence of the militia’s arrival.
When all was done, Grace and I went to her room. Since her bed was big enough and she insisted, I joined her and slept there. At least I wouldn’t sleep on the floor.
……
…
Morning came. Today was the day that I had to handle a big dilemma.
The sorcerers of the militia were beginning the recovery process. Besides Gentle Snow, there were 8 who were alive when they arrived. Three were dead, and unfortunately Gentle Snow and I could only bury them on the outskirts of the city in the area I had designated to build my mansion.
Otherwise, the girls were all in the clear. Some of them were about to take on an illness of some sort, but with atomization I was able to prevent that. None of them would die, not that they were all on the verge of death.
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5 of the girls had life threatening injuries of some kind, while 3 of them were either battered of just exhausted. The healer was the most worn out. She ended up sleeping for a full 18 hours. The other two just needed some rest and fuel to recover.
At some point though, the recover of the sorcerers dropped on my priority list. I knew that I couldn’t hide them from everyone, especially from those living within the manor.
And so came my dilemma.
“Sir Campbell.”
“Lord Audius.”
I greeted my dilemma, having him take a seat across from me in my study. I adjusted my overcoat within my seat.
I remained silent, forcing him to speak first.
“May I ask why you've called me at this time?”
“Well, I like to make sure that the people who have any significant influence in my life are trustworthy enough to allow their autonomy. Now, both of us could have tactfully ignored the subject before. I was generally careful about what I allowed you to see. But now that’s not possible. Recent events haven’t gone unnoticed by you.”
“...No, they have not. Though I must admit I was surprised. I didn’t think you were in contact with an entire group of sorcerers. Is that where you got information about the Corrupt Rift from?”
“It is. One of them was generous enough to inform me. She saved the lives of all those within this city. Would you agree?”
“...I suppose I would.”
Sir Campbell measured his words, and me. We were both scrutinizing each other, but one thing was clear. I was giving a group of sorcerers refuge in my own home. The side I was taking was clear, and he had to decide what to do with the situation.
It could be said that the ball was in his court. He held the cards. There was nothing stopping him from acting like he supported my position before leaving later and exposing what I’ve done. If that happened, I’d be screwed in more ways than one.
So I had to truly determine his position before trusting him. There were a few tactics to do such a thing.
I stood from my chair, walking over to the front corner of the desk before looking down at him.
“You’re a smart man, Sir Campbell. You’ve served my father as a skilled officer, you supported me when it came time to militarize. I’m sure you even suspected the presence of a sorcerer when I told you about the Corrupt Rift. Now, I’m not sure if you learned about Tiya before now, but her presence here was another variable that you could’ve suspected me for. This is all to say that I’m inclined to believe your words when I ask,” I looked directly into Campbell’s eyes, watching them as my Tool activated from beneath my coat, hiding the transformation, “Do you believe in the innocence of sorcerers, or do you believe they are of the devil?”
I watched Campbell while simultaneously receiving information on his vitals and bodily systems from my Tool. He wasn’t outwardly moved, an excellent poker face. But there were indeed fluctuations within, including increased brain activity and stress levels.
But they were within acceptable levels, dropping when he formulated his thoughts and spoke.
“I don’t believe in the doctrines of the Order. I was never a religious man. But I’ve never been faced with determining the life or death of a sorcerer before either. Even without that experience, however, I don’t believe that sorcerers are inherently innocent.”
“Do you believe they are inherently evil?”
I continued to pressure him a bit. It was fine to believe that they weren’t inherently innocent. That was a realist approach, understanding that all people had a certain capability or inclination to what some may consider evil. It was the primal instinct of every human that Campbell had seen enough of during war.
But if he believed them to be inherently evil, then we’d have a problem.
Thanfully, he shook his head.
“No. How evil a person is most often comes from their environment, or so I believe. Very few people develop inclinations beyond what they’ve been taught or exposed to.”
“So you believe sorcerers, beyond their special powers, are no different from normal people inherently?”
“If we are also ignoring their common environments created by their persecution, then yes. My only concerns would stem from their reactions to being hunted. Like cornered animals, they may harbor emotional tendencies stemming from desperation. They could be dangerous, especially given their esoteric powers. How reliable they are despite that can only be known on an individual basis. I would never explicitly trust one simply because they’re a sorcerer.”
“I see.”
I nodded, feeling a tap on my cheek.
I smiled, smirking to the air in front of me before turning back around.
It didn’t seem like he was lying, but there was always the possibility of him simply being a good talker. There were plenty of people like that, plenty of people who could easily lie without the slightest change in vital signs. No matter what, I wouldn’t trust his words.
So I played another card.
“Sir Campbell, I want you to know this. Sorcerers will continue to come under my banner. They will find refuge here, a home free from the oppression of the Order and anyone and everyone who may seek their demise. And I truly mean everyone. If my father were to march into this manor and demand that I kill these sorcerers, I would reject him. If he sought to kill them himself, then I would kill him myself. I will protect this place, and my people, from all that may come to harm them. And those who are not of like mind are threats to my security that I won’t refrain from putting down if they are unable to be convinced. I’m sure you of all people understand how important it is to have homogeny among a single functioning unit, especially when dissent or disaccord means death.”
“...Yes, I do.”
His eyes narrowed at me. I was telling him that I’d kill him should he do anything that threatened me or mine. He had to understand that I wasn’t spineless like the rumors made me out to be. If he was against me, then my words here would drive him to a corner, and eventually force him to leave. If that happened, I’d know for sure.
Under normal circumstances I’d just plant a parasite on him. Then his life would be in my hands and I wouldn’t have to worry about correctly deducing his thoughts on the matter. But unfortunately my Tool wasn’t there yet.
I’d have to do this the old fashion way. I knew people who were much better than me at deducing someone’s true nature, but I was no slouch myself. I couldn’t be, otherwise I would’ve died a long time ago.
For now, I’d bet on Sir Campbell being on my side. I would prepare for him to betray me. I would hope that he didn’t.
After some silence, I smiled and sat back down in my seat.
“It seems we have no conflicts, Sir Campbell. Your philosophies are sound. It’s no wonder my father trusted you. You know what you believe and why. It’s unfortunate, but people with weak principles readily succumb to challenge or temptation. I don’t believe you’re one of those people. You’ll operate as you believe and won’t allow others to sway you in the wrong direction. I appreciate that, and sincerely hope it stays that way. I too will strive to meet your expectations. I intend to utilize your management skills completely while guiding the mining operation in the right direction. Given all this, I imagine our future endeavors will be quite profitable.”
“Yes… I think so too.”
“Then I have nothing further. Please let me know if you need anything or if there are any issues.”
“I will.”
Sir Campbell stood, as did I. The two of us shook hands before he left.
When he closed the door behind him, Gentle Snow appeared.
“So?”
“I sensed no lies. But I ask that you don’t completely trust my judgement.”
“Why’s that?”
“This ability of mine is relatively new. I’ve… been burned before after mistakenly trusting the wrong people despite me sensing truth.”
She dipped her head, her pearl white strands of hair falling past her ear.
I looked at her, appreciating her exotic beauty while responding.
“Lying is a complex thing. I’m not sure how your ability works, but there is little, perhaps none, that can truly detect a lie. You can only observe the changes to a person’s body, both on the outside and the inside, in order to guess based on the changes whether someone said something true or false. But something as simple as being nervous could come across as stress caused by lying, so we can’t know for sure. That’s why we don’t rely on observation.”
“No? What do you rely on?”
“You must try and dictate their actions, force them to react one way or another. I told Sir Campbell about what I was doing explicitly and that I’d kill those who didn’t align with my principles. That means, if he were lying about what he said and id he believed in the doctrines of the Order, he would do what he could to escape and expose what I’ve done. So now, we will watch him and see if he tries to escape. If he does, then we obviously know whether he’s on our side or not.”
“...That’s risky. What if he stays and decides to lie in wait, only to stab you in the back later?”
“That would be a problem to deal with when that time comes.” I sat back and sighed, “All I can do is ensure that even if someone were to backstab me, it wouldn’t hurt too much. For some time I won’t delegate any particularly vital functions to Sir Campbell. But if he proves himself trustworthy, then I will continue to use him.”
“Still. It’s impossible to know for sure…”
Gentle Snow frowned in uncertainty. I agreed with her too. It was impossible to know for sure, inmpossbile to know if someone was simply waiting for the right moment to strike. The smart ones knew how to bide their time and act. They were incredibly dangerous, increasing unease all the more.
I tilted my head, still staring at her. I particularly liked her eyes.
“Snow, don’t let yourself be overwhelmed with uncertainty. You’ll never be able to know with absolution. It’s possible that everyone around you could be an enemy. Sir Campbell could wait for years in wait, garnering power within my retinue before ultimately sabotaging me when it would hurt me the most, possibly resulting in my demise. Going even further, maybe I’m your enemy. I could be feeding you lies about my goals and ambitions. I could be a member of the Order, creating a city that would collect sorcerers who heard my name and my deeds, who came to me for refuge.” Her eyes trembled as I continued to speak, “I would gather them all, and then years later when the time was right, allow the Order to come in and slaughter every last one of you, this city being nothing more than a death trap. It’s entirely possible.”
“...”
Gentle Snow was quiet, looking at me with wide eyes and slight aversion. She ever so subtly tilted her body back as I smiled at her.
“Snow, do you understand that technically, that is possible, even if the chances may seem abysmally small?”
“...Yes.”
“Good. Then I want you to take this as a lesson in what it means to get a grasp on your enemy.”
I stood, walking until I was face to face with her. My face became dead serious, my eyes inches away from hers.
“If you want to conquer your enemies, then you have to understand exactly what your enemies might do to destroy you. You have to be capable of conceiving the most vile, cunning, and evil tactics they may employ to decieve you. You have to understand that anybody can be broken, and many people can be bought or tempted. You have to think about who your weakest and strongest allies are, and have to judge them, scrutinize them, understand who may give in to bribery or temptation, how likely they may give in, and prepare against that. And most of all, you have to accept the fact that you can never know if someone is an ally or not. How you operate with these understandings is up to you. The most important thing is that you’re aware.”
She muttered after some seconds in critical silence, “...How could I ever trust you if you could be an enemy? If I can’t believe that someone is an ally, how do I trust them?”
“That is something you must rectify yourself. Snow, I’ve been betrayed by people who were so paranoid that they betrayed me because they thought I might betray them first. I’ve also been betrayed by those who I thought were my closest confidants, people who were by my side for years, lying in wait the entire time, only to turncoat when their presence mattered most. But you know what? I was okay with that.”
I gave her a smile, recalling those bitter memories underneath the council.
“I’ve chosen to believe. Many years ago I decided that I would rather trust both allies and potential enemies rather than trust neither. This means that I could have enemies in my midst. But it also means I would have allies in the same place. This isn’t to say that I blindly trust either. It’s a balance that you must find for yourself, a balance of trust, scrutiny, and caution. I’m willing to accept being vulnerable for the sake of those who truly are on my side, and not push everyone away simply because I can’t find it in myself to be open.”
“...I think I understand.”
“Of course, I could be saying this to trick you too. Who knows?”
“Alright, no more teasing!” She shouted and kicked my shin, making me take a step back, “I came to this city because I wanted to believe in what you said. And people like our leader Helva are exactly the kind of people who are incapable of trusting others. That’s what got my girls killed… so I don’t intend to make her mistakes. Still, some people will need to prove themselves. For now, I’ll watch Sir Campbell for you.”
I smiled at her, “I appreciate it. Dont stress yourself out though. He need be only monitored when he’s away from the manor and during times like the night when he could sneak away. And if he’s going to escape, it’ll be within these next couple days.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because the Months of Darkness are coming. I’m sure if he sees us as enemies, then he’d want to get out before monsters show up on his doorstep as well. Either way, watching him will have no purpose once the attacks start.”
“But if he escapes, he could alert the Order. Then this entire city would have to face their wrath. We can’t survive that.”
“Well… That may not be entirely true.”
I thought about the contingencies I had in place for such an event, smiling.
“It would certainly place more pressure on us, but don’t think that we are any less capable of defending ourselves. There’s much more where those weapons came from, and unless the Order makes generational jumps in technology, they won’t be capable of catching up to us.”