Jackal Among Snakes

Nikoletta stared at the closed door a long time after Argrave had left. Her mind was disturbed by a thousand thoughts. She had not interacted with her cousin much at all. He was the bastard of the royal family, and she the sole daughter of the Duke of Monticci. Even if they were both in the Order of the Gray Owl, there had been little occasion for them to interact. The only situation she recalled was three years ago when she was seventeen.

That said, he was nothing like she remembered.

Previously, he had been a reticent and awkward teenager. Though he had the same tall, skinny body that made one question if he was starving himself, his actions now had a neat dignity. Perhaps some of that awkwardness remains, Nikoletta thought as she recalled him banging his head. It was oddly endearing, though.

She shook her head to get out of her stupor, and then turned to the documents Argrave had delivered. She’d still yet to verify if it was truly what she’d lost. She tore off the neatly wrapped strings and pulled off page after page, checking if everything was as she remembered it. After she had got to the end of it, her knees buckled and she collapsed to the table, chuckling.

“It’s all there. It’s really all there.” She kept laughing like a maniac for a time as she felt the burden of the world lift from her shoulders.

She had been in a desperate panic the past few days trying to recreate this. Now, her cousin, whom she had only dislike of and firmly believed to be someone of ill character, had simply handed it to her.

“I don’t get him,” she said aloud.

Was he trying to win her favor? Certainly, as the daughter of Duke Enrico, Nikoletta was someone worthy of befriending for material gain. She always kept that in mind for all of her interactions, and it had saved her much heartache throughout the years.

I suppose it doesn’t matter now that I have this. I just have to be cautious of him in the future. She looked at her papers with a smile. Though… maybe I could get Mina to do some investigating… Nikoletta stood again. She had a month of free time now that she had her dissertation back. Perhaps she didn’t need to take Argrave’s word. Perhaps she could find out the truth of the matter on her own.

#####

Argrave wiped his slightly red forehead with his black handkerchief. Door frames were probably not especially dirty, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Especially so if I’m sickly… Argrave noted. A medieval world was not a clean place. Many cities lacked sewers, the people seldom washed, and the standards of living were generally lower. At the very least, healing mages abated some of that uncleanliness. Nevertheless, Argrave was unsettled by the prospect of touching people, and pulled his gloves tighter over his hands.

Argrave returned to his dorm without issue. This time, he had the foresight to duck, and avoided hitting his head an embarrassing third time. Once inside, he stared at the room.

What now?

of habit, Argrave walked into the room and began cleaning things up. He had already cleaned, but the

expulsion from the Order of the

confident in success. He had read every in-game book and written thorough articles on the magic lore, yet there was still a gulf between fiction and reality. Argrave

was restricting. Before one received status as a full-fledged Wizard, it was somewhat like a monastic order. One would discard their family name

and stacked them up in his arms to transfer them back onto the shelf. The simple act of moving books winded him, much to his embarrassment.

any worse, it will be difficult to have mobility where I need it. I must stay within the Order. Besides, I might take this month to sort out my strengths, decide my course of action, and identify

both present

future. It was

No, don’t get distracted.

#####

and drafting, Argrave tried to sleep. The height would have been an issue, but the former Argrave had laid two beds side-by-side to accommodate his larger frame, and he could lie soundly. Indeed, despite the medieval nature of his environment, things were quite comfortable for him. He could find no issue

issue was

up. What exactly was happening? Had he died—the former person who he was, at least? He remembered nothing of what he had been doing before this, and the days blended

tried to suppress his meandering mind and will himself to sleep, staying totally still in the cool night air. He tried some mental exercises to have sleep wash over him, but it was fruitless. The questions kept coming unbidden. Perhaps his mother was crying over a

Forget this.

set beside his bed and made for the door. He retrieved a small glass orb attached to a piece of metal from the sconce beside the door. He willed a bit

dorm in the Tower of the Gray Owl was well-lit, but there was neither smoke from torches nor warmth from fire. The mages used magic lamps identical to the one he held to light the place. As skinny as he was, Argrave was quite cold, and he held his gloved hands beneath the long sleeves of

the stone in uneven red moonbeams matching the shape of the windows. There was a

unfamiliar to the one he knew. He felt a chill on his spine. Seeing this moon, his mind accepted a fact that he had been subconsciously denying. He was not who he used to be, nor was he where he used to be. This was a different realm—a different world. Maybe it would be stranger if he were not unnerved. Existential questions like these were natural. The fact that he had avoided them for so long was only because he had kept

do now. Keep busy. Keep

circular room was the

rapidly approaching him from behind. He turned in time to pull his shoulders away from a hand, and they gripped air. A rather well-built man stood there, correcting his

red hair and bright eyes of the same color. His handsome tan face reflected the light from the magic lamp Argrave held. He was a fair bit shorter than Argrave, but