RAY VAN CAMARO

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Code was a system of words, letters, numbers, and symbols substituted for other words for the purposes of secrecy. It was a way to communicate using a language only two parties knew and it was a lesson every soldier was taught the moment they enlisted in the military.

It was something I was always fond of.

My parents were protective of their research and I knew they used some sort of code to hide it in plain sight. I never found out what it was, but I had a feeling it had something to do with my father’s music sheets.

King Arthureus had been piling work for me as a way to keep me busy. He was smart too and picked work he knew I wouldn’t skimp on like the budget for refugees and lowering the crime in the city. Most of my time was spent in the dungeons keeping track of prisoners and interviewing them.

The guards down there had even gotten into the habit of going out for a smoke break when I show up.

I spend the little free time I had locked in my room jotting down notes in code of the plot I had uncovered. A knock came upon my door which made me hide the notes in a thick fiction book I always carried around with me.

Wrath’s half-melted face greeted me. “The king wants to see you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Who says you did? He just wants to see you. Says it’s important.”

Wrath led me to the throne room, where I found King Arthureus sitting comfortably on the quartz throne. By his side were Queen Catelyn and Prince Bradley. Standing behind them was Doria. There were also other nobles gathered in the room, their eyes fixated on the jester that held the floor. He was juggling swords at the moment.

I stayed by Wrath’s side until the show finished, leaving the throne room empty except for the Royal Family and a handful of guards.

“Chariot!” King Arthureus smiled. “How’s the day been?”

“I’ve been busy with work. That show was a great stress reliever.”

Catelyn and Bradley simply watched our conversation.

Do they know about the king’s motives? If Arthureus summoned me here for questioning while they were present, then they might know.

“If I ask you for a favour, would you grant it?” the king asked.

“Can I even refuse?”

“It would be bad manners.” Arthureus bent down to his son’s seat. “Go on. Ask him. He won’t bite.”

Prince Bradley twiddled with his fingers and mumbled the words. “Father mentioned that you have an armoured lizard.”

Huh?

I shook off my confused look. “I do, little prince. Why do you ask?”

“C-can I see him?”

Now I’m really confused.

“See him?”

The queen massaged her son’s shoulder. “You see, Colonel, Bradley has developed an interest in animals lately. Do you know one of your fellow State Jynxists named Ivan?”

“Yes, Karma Chameleon. We’ve met a few times.”

“Yes, he’s a zoologist and a professor at the city’s university. Bradley loved spending time with him and his animals. But lately, Arthureus has been overworking him. First Headrig’s Pass, then the Maze Labyrinth, then back to Headrig’s Pass. You’re no zoologist, but your armoured lizard is a rare animal. I’m sure Bradley would be satisfied with him until Ivan comes back.”

Ivan’s been to the Maze Labrinth? Ilias knows him more than me, but the kid said he enjoyed him as a proctor. Is he in on this or is he just being used as a pawn?

Who else of the State Jynxists I know showed up for the State of Emergency? How many of them are being used and how many are actually on the king’s side?

“I do hope you don’t mind, Chariot,” Arthureus said. “A parent’s job is to nurture their kid’s interest. As a parent yourself, I’m sure you can sympathize. Please, I promised him.”

I nodded. “Sure, I’ll show him to Tank.”

“I’ll waive your duties for the rest of the day and give them to someone else. A way to show my gratitude.”

Bradley sprinted to my side, hugging me. “Thank you so much!”

“You’re quite welcome,” I said, rubbing his hair.

“Can Ser Woof come?”

The dog that had been sitting patiently beside the prince’s throne titled its head. “Owa owa?”

“Sure, Tank loves other animals and he’s pretty gentle.”

“Come on, dog,” the kid said. “The colonel says you can meet him too.”

Ser Woof ran up to his master’s side and they both followed me to the stables. Of course, I wasn’t left alone with the prince as Greed and Wrath accompanied us.

But even if I was alone with him, I would never touch Bradley with the intent of harming him. I wasn’t going to stoop so low as to involve a child in all of this.

“Ser Woof is trained pretty well,” I said. “Did you train him yourself?”

“I only taught him tricks. The kennel master did everything else.”

“Even if it’s just tricks, it’s good that you’re teaching him something. Things like that create strong bonds.”

“Will Ser Woof be okay meeting your armoured lizard?”

“If Ser Woof is loud, he might frighten Tank. But that’s all. Armoured lizards are herd animals and their main instinct is to protect. He won’t harm Ser Woof.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

We came upon the stables and went to the largest pen. A stableboy was hauling two buckets full of produce to Tank.

“Are you going to feed the armoured lizard?” Wrath asked.

“Yeah, I always feed him first,” the stableboy answered. “He smelt the food I was feeding the other horses one time and he almost broke out.”

Both the Royal Guards took a bucket from the stableboy.

“It’s okay, lad,” I said. “We’ll feed him. Go feed the horses.”

I spent about two hours or so letting Bradley play with Tank. At first, Ser Woof was scared of the gentle giant, but by the end, he was comfortably napping on his back.

“Do you want to ride him?” I asked the prince.

“I can?”

We left the Iron Keep with Bradley on the saddle holding the reigns. We marched around the city while being escorted by about two dozen soldiers.

I dropped Bradley off at the royal family’s quarters. He was so tired that the servants had to carry him to the bath.

King Arthureus and the steward were in the living room sharing stories. Doria was sitting by their sides. We made eye contact, but she found it best not to acknowledge that I was here.

“Colonel,” Steward Caine called me over. “Your Grace, did you know there’s been a drop in thievery ever since Colonel Camaro was put in charge of advising the City Watch?“

“I commend your performance,” the king said. “How did you do that?”

“I had the City Watch round up all the known thieves,” I answered. “Now it’s just the unknown thieves we have to worry about.”

“You’ve thrown them in the dungeons?”

“Yes, and I spend most of my time in there trying to get them to talk. There’s a large web of crime running along the city and I plan to burn it down.”

“I know that we’re trying to keep him busy, Your Grace,” Steward Caine said. “But I feel that he’s more useful if he isn’t overworked. Besides, it’ll be bad if he collapses from exhaustion.”

“Fine,” the king said. “Starting next week, I’ll relieve a quarter of the work I’ve been giving you.”

I bowed. “Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Wrath, Greed, did he do anything suspicious?”

“He snapped a couple of times to get the armoured lizard’s attention,” Greed answered. “But none of his Dolls were summoned.”

“Of course,” I said. “His Grace has made it clear that if I even attempt to wear my incantation glove or draw an incantation circle on my body, something bad will happen.”

I bowed and took my leave, heading down to the dungeons to interview the prisoners. Right on queue, the guards down there greeted me and took it as a sign to go up for a smoke break.

The dungeon itself wasn’t heavily guarded as the cells were upgraded with bars made of cold rolled steel. Even if a prisoner was able to escape, there was only one way out. It was a staircase that led up to the keep—the entrance to which was heavily guarded.

There were charms on the brick walls that made it near impossible to use jynx on. And if one was strong enough to tear it down with their bare hands, the dungeon was fifty feet underground which meant they’d need to dig through dirt to see the sun.

Usually, I used the fifteen minutes when the guards were away to barter for information. But I wasn’t here to find information on an unknown thief. Today, I was bartering for something much more.

At the end of the hallway of cells was a familiar weasel-like face.

I held up a note that read: “Talk in whispers. There might be ears listening.”

“How have you been, John?” I asked the ex-colonel as I threw the note into a torch hanging on a wall. “How long has it been? Three months?”

John was frailer than ever. There was a frizzly and unkempt beard that littered his face, his hair was a scraggly and oily mess, and his eyes had dark rings around them.

“Three months and twenty-eight days. I’ve been keeping count.” He gestured to the wall that had scratches on it. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be back in Gilead?”

“I was relocated to the Capital.”

“What for?”

“That’s what I’m here to talk to you about.”

“I’ve heard you coming down here for the past two weeks interrogating my fellow inmates. You haven’t visited me, but at least you’re here now. No one in my family has even done that.”

“I’m sorry for not visiting you sooner, but if I did, they would’ve known I was up to something. You’re my last chance and I didn’t want to throw it due to impatience.”

He chuckled. “I’m the last chance?”

“Yes, you are. The last time we talked, I said there would come a time when I’d ask for your help. It turns out that that time was way sooner than we both expected.”

“You? Asking me for help? You’re the one that incarcerated me. Is this some kind of joke?”

I shook my head. “I hope it was. Out of everyone in this city right now, I only trust three people. One is my adjutant Lieutenant Doria. Second is someone whose identity I must keep a secret for now. Surprisingly, the third is you, Armstrong”

“Don’t call me that. You were there in court when my grandfather told me I wasn’t worthy of that name. I don’t want to tarnish it even more.”

“Three months ago, you would’ve insisted I called you Colonel Armstrong. You’ve changed.”

“Being in a dark cell every day for the last three months with nothing but your thoughts and regrets tends to have an effect on people.”

He’s working on himself. He might be a better choice than I thought.

“I’m going to be frank with you, John, because there’s no way of saying this lightly. But our whole government and military, including the king, are corrupt. And when I say corrupt I don’t mean cheating the people like you did. It’s even worse than you.”

“Worse than me? I doubt that.”

“They plan on tearing this country down and rebuilding it.”

“What does that even mean?”

“That I don’t know. But I know it’s not good.”

John sighed. “What makes you think I’m not in on it?”

“Because I doubt they’d take someone like you seriously. I didn’t. Did you see how King Arthureus looked at you during your trial? He sees you as an ant.”

John went up to the bars, showing me his face. “And what do you see me as?”

I let a beat of silence fall to the ground. “An ant. But in the laws of nature, the tiny ant is just as important as any proud lion.”

“So you ask me for my help?”

“I once told you that I believe anyone can come back. What I see is a man on that path and a man on that path is someone I can trust. So, yes, John. I’m willing to bow my head and ask for your help.”

“Help with what?”

“I need you to deliver a message for me. Lieutenant Doria and I are under heavy surveillance and the only one that can do something about this plot is the second person I trust that I mentioned. I need you to deliver a message to them.”

“A message? Why don’t you get someone in your unit to do that for you? If I can recall, Corporal Rudolf was good at going unnoticed.”

“King Arthureus had taken them away and sent them to different places. He’s trying to corner me. I need you, to do this.”

“Forgive me, Colonel, but how?” He shook the bars. “I don’t know if you can see, but I’m currently stuck in a cell. I don’t know how I can deliver a message.”

“I’ll break you out, of course.”

John paced back and forth. “Plotting against the government and the military is treason. Escaping from the dungeons is also a crime.”

“Good thing you’re already a criminal.”

“If what you say is true, then the system my family has been looking up to was a fake.” John sighed. “What kind of message is this?”

“The details of the plot I’ve unearthed and instructions on what to do.”

“How many pages is the letter?”

“There are fifteen pages, but I don’t want you delivering a letter. I want you to memorize all fifteen pages by heart and deliver it to Heloise yourself.”

“Fifteen pages? Are you insane?”

“As you’ve said, there’s nothing to do here. It’ll keep you busy.”

“And what if I tell the king?”

“You can and Lieutenant Doria will be executed for my treason. I know you don’t want her blood on your hands. If you don’t want to go through with this, that is fine with me. All I ask is for you to stay quiet.” I reached into my pocket and handed him my flask. “It’s whisky. I’ll give you the night to think it over. I’ll be back tomorrow expecting an answer.”