As he made his way to the southeast arc of the bailey, Kylian wondered if he should have given Ailn directions.
Essentially, the castle was structured like this: the central keep was surrounded by a circular and enclosing lawn of grass called the bailey. Ancillary structures such as the forge or the barracks were then built into outer walls which surrounded the bailey.
The simplest way to traverse the bailey was simply to go in a circle.
Sir Reynard had been posted as a guard for the abbey, which was built as a complex extending from the southeast wall. Essentially, if the castle were a clock, then the abbey’s corner was a square plaza which jutted out from 5 o’clock.
The courtyard where Ailn had been attacked was in the northeast of the bailey. Reynard would’ve been a reasonably short distance from him.
Sir Tristan had heard the blasting noises from the mess hall located in the northwest of the bailey. Essentially, he was at 10 o’clock.
But Kylian knew the castle well, and took a shortcut. He needed to get from one end of the bailey to the other, so he simply cut through the center of the circle: the keep.
Unfortunately, many of the castle’s corridors were nigh indistinguishable from each other, unless you knew them intimately. Thus, even knights who’d lived in the castle for years often found themselves on the wrong end of the bailey when they’d tried to save time by cutting through the keep.
Ailn would probably get lost.
Kylian decided to take his time then, and slow the pace of his walk. It was always good to take a breather when you could.
He nodded at knights or servants passing by on his way through the keep. Often, they were too engaged in their own whispering to even notice him, and Kylian found himself wondering if he’d been naive not to keep better tabs on court gossip.
He’d always seen it as foolish and unproductive—which it was, most of the time. But he couldn’t help but feel chagrined that apparently every knight and servant in the castle had heard of Ailn and Sophie’s meetings—except for himself.
“It would make a world of difference if I could’ve confirmed it with my own eyes,” Kylian muttered to himself.
The nature of Ailn and Sophie’s relationship was a terrible puzzle to him. It had already been scandalous. Now it seemed it could be the dirty heart of the whole matter.
Logistically, Sophie was the most likely suspect. If that was the only factor to consider, he had a difficult time seeing how it could be anyone but her.
And while he didn’t yet know enough to discern her potential motives, his experience as a peacekeeper had taught him that it was often the secret ties between people that led to crimes like murder.
It left a queasy feeling in Kylian. Was it simply moral repulsion? Or was it his intuition trying to guide him?
He certainly found the mental image unpleasant. He imagined a young girl in a maid’s kirtle striking down her brother, holy aura radiating from her hand while he took the blow helplessly.
Somehow, the notion of fratricide had been easier to stomach when he’d imagined Sigurd was the ultimate culprit. He was always a frighteningly cold person, and if he had a knight kill on his behalf—well, irrational as it was, that made the heinousness seem even more distant.
Kylian shook his head of useless thoughts. He could see Sir Reynard up ahead. With luck, he could help Kylian find a clearer view of the matter.
Sir Reynard was the knight who’d been stationed closest to the courtyard on the day of the attack. In fact, he was almost always stationed here in the eastern bailey.
He was an exceptional knight, and a powerful user of holy aura who’d only been relegated to guard duty after injury at the north wall.
Still strong, but with a leg that made it difficult for him to run, most everyone in the Order agreed that leaving him on the battlefield would be uselessly sending a good man to die.
And at any rate, a castle needed its guards.
“Sir Kylian!” Reynard was already calling out to him by the time he came into view. “Caught word from Aldous you wanted to speak to me!”
“That’s right.” Kylian gave a polite nod once he was in proximity. “I have a few questions about the prior night’s attack.”
“Got something to ask about the shadow beasts?” Reynard asked.
“It’s not the first of my priorities,” Kylian said, shaking his head. “I’m investigating the attack on the young master Ailn, in the courtyard. I need to know what you witnessed.”
“Ah,” Reynard drooped a bit and scratched his ear. “I’m plenty happy to help as much as I can, Sir Kylian. But I’m ‘afraid I won’t be as useful to you as you’re hopin’.”
“Is that so?” Kylian asked, frowning.
“I’m always here by the eastern part of the bailey, but you know—when the attack happened I was actually nearer the south gate,” Reynard said. “If you’ll remember, it was a cold night.”
“I remember that being the case, yes.” Kylian tilted his head. “What’s the relation?”
“I’m often called out of my post to help de-ice the gatehouse. Not too many guards in the castle, unfortunately, and I’ve been helping them on the regular those kinds of nights,” Reynard said. He looked rather sad. “Hence, by the terrible luck of it, His Grace was attacked right under my nose.”
Reynard was a good man. Kylian already knew that, but nonetheless he found himself surprised by Reynard’s earnest regret. None of the other knights had any heaviness of heart regarding the attack on Ailn—neither concern for his well-being, nor remorse over their failed duties.
Still, it was unfortunate. If he’d been more auspiciously positioned, perhaps they could have sealed the case right then and there.
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“Sir Tristan tells me he heard blasting noises, when he was attacked by shadow beasts,” Kylian said. “Did you hear those as well?”
“Blasting noises? I don’t think so,” Reynard’s pupils moved to the corners of his lids, as he thought. “Could be that I just didn’t notice, seein’ as I was held up by beasts.”
It made some sense. The south gate was a great deal further from the courtyard than the kitchen. But he was a bit surprised to hear Reynard had engaged the shadow beasts himself.
“You saw the shadow beasts?” Kylian asked. “While you were at the south gate? I’d heard the gatekeepers all claimed they hadn’t seen the shadow beasts come in through the gates.”
“These ones didn’t,” Reynard said with a shake of his head. “I came runnin’ into the bailey when I caught sight of ‘em, from up on the ramparts. Couple of other guards and I killed about four of ‘em.”
“Weren’t you de-icing?” Kylian asked.
“I was gettin’ all the ice around the cap of the gate,” Reynard said, pantomiming a downward prodding motion. “We poke at it with a long spear.”
“So, they really did seem to come from nowhere…” Kylian mumbled. He tried to make sense of it.
Of course, the sudden appearance of the shadow beasts in the bailey was always the attack’s biggest mystery.
But where they’d actually attacked was also strange. There was the mess hall, near the north end, where Sir Tristan had seen three of them. There were a few Lady Ennieux had seen near the Great Hall, at the west end of the keep.
And now, Kylian learned that Sir Reynard had engaged with four of them around the southwest arc of the bailey.
“Anythin’ else you needed to know, Sir Kylian?” Reynard looked eager to help where he could.
Kylian thought for a moment. Certainly, he might as well learn as much as he could while waiting for Ailn, but…
“I do have another topic of inquiry,” Kylian said, averting his eyes. “For that, I believe we should wait for His Grace.”
----------------------------------------
It would’ve been wise to set an actual meeting spot with Kylian—or at least ask him where to find Reynard.
Making his way out of the keep was more difficult than Ailn expected. He supposed this was the origin of the word labyrinthine: winding nondescript staircases, and endless nondescript corridors. He’d think he was on one floor when he was actually on another. He’d brute force it by going in a single direction, only to realize at some point he’d been turned around.
Maybe the original Ailn left the family castle because it was too damn complicated.
Not to mention half the castle was annoyingly dark. He knew the popular image of torches lighting the keep’s every hallway was unrealistic, for fear of fire. But actually walking through a castle with few windows and no lighting was miserable—it was cold too.
Just as Ailn turned the corner, he caught sight of a young teenaged boy. A squire, most likely, given his clothing. His clothes weren’t much different from Ailn’s, except his azure hood covered his face.
The boy stared rather enigmatically at him, but Ailn would have none of it.
“Are you allowed to come down like this?” Ailn asked.
The boy flinched and let down his hood.
“You could tell it was me?” he asked.
“You know, half of what I do is use common sense,” Ailn frowned. “ What do you imagine you look like when you stand still in the middle of a hallway and stare? For your sake, I hope you don’t think it looks natural.”
“Well, it’s not like anyone down here would ever recognize me anymore,” the boy said with a chagrined smile. “I just wanted to congratulate you on your first job well done.”
He snapped his fingers and a red light appeared, floating out of Ailn’s eyes. Slowly, the light wisped its way to the young god’s open palm and hovered over it.
“I’m surprised it was as easy as it was. Now that I’ve got the ruby for you, how many jewels are left?”
“Er, you think you’ve got the ruby?” The boy averted his eyes.
“What other red jewels are there? You’re not about to tell me I’m hunting for every obscure precious stone out there are you?” Ailn asked.
“Well, there’s six jewels holding the world soul in total, but this isn’t…”
He trailed off. Seeing the irritated look starting in Ailn’s eyes, the young god looked around anxiously.
“It’s just a small shard of the larger jewel,” the boy continued, closing his palm and opened it again, revealing a small red shard. “You’ve got a long way to go before finishing the jewel.”
Looking at the miniscule size of the shard, Ailn grunted in frustration and held his face in frustration. “So this job is about a hundred times bigger than you pretended it was.”
“I-I told you from the start.”
“Maybe,” Ailn said. “I don’t remember how you said it, but I’m sure whatever you said was misleading.”
“It’s a great start, though!” the boy said, trying to sound chipper. “I knew you were right for the job. You move fast, which is exactly what I needed.”
“Why?” Ailn asked.
“Er, well, you know… efficiency’s good,” the young god poked his index fingers together. “Isn’t the best kind of hire the kind you don’t need to babysit?”
“And isn’t the worst kind of employer the kind who lies and doesn’t tell you what you need to know?” Ailn fiddled with his wrist. “You couldn’t have told me that everyone here hates reincarnators?”
The young god laughed nervously in response.
“What were you gonna do if I went and told someone, then got hung right away?” Ailn went on.
“C’mon, who does that?” the young god asked. “The whole reason I hired you is because no one acts that obvious.”
“I need to know more about what I’m actually doing. Why’s the taboo exist? Do the jewels do anything? What’s it mean that I’ve got emerald eyes and that guy’s got ruby?” Ailn gestured irritatedly with his hands while pelting the young god with questions.
“All in due time,” the young god held his hands up, then motioned to the castle corridor they were in. “Now’s not the time or place.”
“You’re right. That would have been while we were floating in the void with all the time in the world.”
“Alright, alright. Ailn—can I call you Ailn now?—I hear your concerns. Just know that my hands are tied. I’ll let you in on this much.” The ruby shard floating above the young god’s palm spun around with a twinkle. “The jewels… all hold different parts of the world soul. And someone who holds a fragment can call upon that facet of the world’s existence.”
“Okay. What facet is the emerald?”
“It’s ‘Union.’ It’s what binds disparate things together and makes them greater than the sum of their parts. But for our purposes, it’s what lets you take jewel shards from others without harming them.”
“Then what about the ruby?”
“The ruby is ‘Psyche.’ It’s the aspect of the world that allows consciousness, and it underlies all thinking, feeling, and experiencing—and calling upon it lets you coax others’ thoughts and feelings to your will.“
“So, Cairn was…” Ailn stopped, confused.
Had Cairn been mind controlling people? He didn’t seem like a quack hoisted to his position by popularity.
“The shard you got from Cairn is about as small as it gets,” the young god said, pinching it between his thumb and index. “Even if he was ever unconsciously manifesting it, at most it would have made him slightly more charismatic—things like people finding him more interesting, or finding his jokes funnier than they really are.”
“A typical halo effect, then.”
“Right. It wouldn’t be any different than if he were a little more handsome.”
“Alright, I think I’ve got it.” Ailn crossed his arms and tapped his finger thoughtfully. “Then are you gonna tell me about the rest of the jewels?”
“Not yet,” the young god avoided Ailn’s eyes. “Your chief concern right now is the ruby. In fact, I’d like you to focus your efforts on unifying the ruby.”
“Why? Is there something particularly urgent about finding the ruby?” Ailn asked, his eyes narrowing.
“The entire situation demands urgency. Because… you’re not the only one looking for the jewels,” the boy admitted. “And someone is trying to bring together all the ruby shards in the empire.”