Jackal Among Snakes

The halls of the Tower of the Gray Owl were filled to the brim with people. They were talking amongst themselves feverishly, most with some degree of relief and nervousness on their faces. Nikoletta of Monticci stood with arms crossed on an empty wall of the tower. Mina of Veden sat at her feet, leaning against the wall in exhaustion.

Nikoletta had spent the month revising the research Argrave had returned to her. Though she wished to find out if Argrave had genuinely been telling the truth—that the crown prince, Induen, had ordered her research stolen—she had no opportunity. Talking with Argrave might illuminate the situation, but she had assumed that might have been exactly what he wanted. She disliked playing into other’s hands.

But the month had passed with utter silence from Argrave’s end. Her friend, Mina, had been caught snooping around his room, but nothing came of it. It was all baffling. At this point, she was just curious what Argrave would submit to the Order to advance from an Acolyte to a full-fledged Wizard.

The door that Nikoletta had been keeping her eyes on swung open slowly. Argrave, wearing the same gray robes as every other Acolyte, ducked beneath the doorframe into the hall. He had been quite pale the last time she saw him, but he was deathly pale now—he looked more like a walking corpse than a man walking. His eyes were sunken with deep black marks beneath them. Despite that, he still bore himself with the same neat dignity he had a month ago.

“Gods. He looks terrible,” Nikoletta said out of surprise.

Mina was roused from her exhausted state and followed Nikoletta’s gaze. “Probably waited till tonight to finish his stuff like I did.” Mina stood, grabbing Nikoletta’s robes to help herself to her feet. “Why don’t I get your sympathy?”

“You also look terrible,” Nikoletta said dismissively. “Happy?”

Mina scoffed. “I wonder if he’ll pass.”

“Worry about yourself.” Nikoletta looked down at the shorter girl.

Mina fixed her messy blonde hair. “I’m always lucky. I’m not worried.”

Nikoletta frowned. “It’s a written submission. You cannot get lucky.”

At the far end of the hall, Argrave walked to the desk where an old man was receiving parcels. Argrave handed the man a fairly thick stack of papers, neatly wrapped in a black ribbon. After a brief exchange of words, Argrave turned away, pulling at the collar of his gray robes. His eyes scanned the room, stopping on Nikoletta. She tensed up at his gaze. His hollow gray eyes only furthered his corpse-like appearance.

Now comes the time for the favor, she said in her head. Argrave walked towards her with long, even strides. Mina grew alert, stepping in front of Nikoletta.

Argrave looked down on the two of them. Even skinny as he was, his height was still somewhat intimidating. Nikoletta kept her dark pink eyes fixed to his gray gaze.

“Your father is sending a carriage to take you back to Mateth,” Argrave said, sparing even greetings.

It was spoken as a fact, but Nikoletta decided it was a question. “Yes, that’s right. Why?”

“I need to go there. May I ride with you?”

“Not going to stay to find out the results early?” Mina asked, stepping between Nikoletta and Argrave.

“It will take a week regardless.” Argrave shook his head. “There is a branch of the Order of the Gray Owl in Mateth. And above all, I am not worried overmuch about the result.”

Nikoletta scrunched up her eyebrows. “Why ride with me?”

carriage will be comfortable, well-protected, and

forced to listen

throat with his gloved hands. “Is my voice so unpleasant to hear, Mina? How harsh.” He lowered his hand and continued seriously. “At worst,

trip itself is a week,” Nikoletta said. “I suspect you won’t

with a shady pitch.” Argrave shook his head. “I just want a free ride

thought the request over. Certainly, there was

Argrave held his right hand in the air, swearing on

you have friends? Money?” Mina

over-protective. She kneaded her forehead.

Argrave said drolly. “I’m not sure. Probably sleep a night here, eat, and then walk to Mateth. Woe is me, et cetera. It is a long journey, to be true, but I know a good route.” Argrave rubbed his eyes and yawned,

why do you need to go to Mateth? As a royal bastard,

wish to be right now. I have a great deal of things to do in and around Mateth. To sum them all up, I would

But I would be remiss to mention this; if I find you are lying about lacking ulterior motives, you will

Argrave bowed slightly. “I will pack my things. Can’t forget my hand mirror. It will be good

walked away,

Nikoletta, shaking her head in dismay. “I’m suddenly having second thoughts about riding

rumors are often exaggerated.

hit me with a book!” Mina pointed to her face, but there was no obvious mark—it had been nearly a month, after all. Nikoletta doubted there ever had been a

insistent, I can tell him he

faltered now that the burden of decision had been passed to her. She crossed her arms and stepped away for a moment, thinking. “If you’re really fine with it, I suppose I’m

#####

cushion, one leg crossed over the other. They had been riding for near four days now in relative quiet. Argrave was out of the gray robes of the academy and back into ‘normal’ clothes. Argrave only owned black and gold clothing. The two colors were the traditional colors of House Vasquer, and the former Argrave thought himself a true member of

be occurring there. It was hopeless to prevent, but Argrave was certain that he could stop it before it spiraled out of control. He could perhaps stop it even faster than the player could in-game. Moreover, it was one of the few places in the continent of Berendar that would not have

knee, one thumb stuck in the page to keep it open as he gazed out through the carriage window. A fantasy game world was designed to be pretty,

woods beyond the plains. It had big, yellow eyes. Indeed, much of the time, Argrave could only see its eyes, as its fur was all the same

smiling like

at him. It was a roomy carriage, but they were still quite close together. A duty of knights patrolled the windows outside, slightly behind and in front

He pursed his lips, somewhat annoyed to be drawn from his daydreams. “I have come to

opened her mouth to

Argrave pointed. “Your hairs start bristling like you’ve just been caught sneaking around in the dark of night, like a cat. You are slow to trust, and even

I behave?” Mina asked incredulously. She tapped Nikoletta’s shoulder. “Nicky, tell

Nikoletta said half-heartedly. At

Argrave pursed his lips briefly, then turned his head back to the book. It was a book on

its effects so that Berendar was not further weakened. For that, he needed personal strength and influence in society. Personal

he had some things to do in Mateth and the places near it, Argrave had to devote much of his time to study. The game was vastly different from reality. In reality, one could not kill

going on a killing