Jackal Among Snakes

In the days that passed, Argrave’s strong suspicion that the Margrave intended for him to stay became a certainty. The head of House Parbon lacked subtlety and had all but said ‘you will stay here.’ It definitely did not have the same atmosphere as the first time Argrave had been restrained by Reinhardt—he was not yanked about by a rope and tied to posts, and though their party of four was guarded strictly, there was never a hostile atmosphere.

The Margrave continued to insist that the men he sent to the Low Way of the Rose had not yet returned. Argrave had asked some pointed questions to figure out if the Margrave was hiding anything, as though he had something planned for a few days later… but Anneliese insisted that the Margrave bore them no ill will, which was surprise enough.

They were watched quite closely. The only place they had a chance to talk without knights shadowing them was in their assigned quarters, and even there, they waited just outside. A ward was sufficient to stop most of their talk from leaking outside.

“Never would have pictured the fearsome patriarch of House Parbon is just a family man,” Durran shook his head, his glaive laid out across his lap. “That gray-haired woman was quite the pretty one.”

“Don’t even try,” Argrave shook his head. “She has a fiancé. And if you mess that up, I’ll flay you.”

“Too shy for my tastes, don’t worry,” Durran held his hand out. “The Margrave seems an interesting man… but never a chance to talk to him. Such a shame.”

Argrave shrugged, sitting across from Durran in a circle alongside his other two companions. A ward blocked their conversation from any listeners. “To be fair, he spends most of his times in meeting with his vassals devising measures for the war.”

“Yeah. He goes to work so his family stays safe, and then once he’s home, he spoils them. A family man, like I said.” Durran tapped the tip of his wyvern bone glaive. “Though… I guess that’d give him reason to fight harder against our invasions… More to fight for.” Durran looked up at Argrave. “Why are we milling about here?”

Argrave uncrossed his legs, then recrossed them, anxious. “This guy keeps coming up with contrivances every damn day to keep us here. He said there was a cave-in at the lower levels of the castle, and he wasn’t sure it’d be safe to leave. What the hell is that? A five-year-old can come up with better lies than that.”

Galamon locked eyes with Argrave. “Press the issue,” he suggested.

“I may have to, but…” Argrave lowered his head. “Why is he doing this? The only thing I can guess is that he’s waiting for a response from someone… Duke Enrico, maybe…”

“I suspect he wishes to ask you a favor,” Anneliese suggested, eyes staring off into the distance. “He is merely probing whether or not you are trustworthy. That would explain why he and his daughter are asking you so many questions… indeed, asking all of us questions.”

“Why not just sneak out?” Durran questioned. “Force our way out, even?”

“Difficult,” Galamon shook his head. “It was hard enough for me to… replenish my rations,” he looked to Argrave as he said those words with a bitter sarcasm.

Argrave smiled, then supported Galamon’s claim, saying, “And I don’t want to make the Margrave toss aside what little goodwill I’ve built up in that icy heart of his. Doing something like that… sneaking out isn’t the problem. Someone’s going to get hurt, I’m sure of it,” he said, pausing as he recalled the unfortunate circumstance with the Stonepetal Sentinels. Argrave held his hand out to amend, “Not us, but them. And the Margrave would care about something like that. His heart might be icy, but that just makes it bigger. He cares for his men.”

“Then what do we do?” Durran held his hands out in a shrug.

“Tonight, we’re having dinner with them. Again. And I’ll press the issue, as Galamon suggested.” Argrave rubbed his thumb against his knuckles. “Failing that… I definitely don’t plan on staying another night. If no answers come, we’ll devise a plan the next morning.”

#####

me. The unanimous consensus is that this plague is a serious matter… and so I heeded your advice. I contacted Jast… and the Order of the Gray Owl, requesting

smiled. “My words finally got into that thick head of yours, eh?” he paused, thinking he might be acting overly familiar. “Erm, forget I said

beef he ate every meal. Argrave wasn’t sure the man got the

should be the priority

briefly considered changing the subject… but in the end, he might be able to change

plague, obviously. That has the potential to do the most damage to the people, be they the high and mighty or the weak and decrepit. Until it’s abated entirely… or until better methods are found to combat it… it’s the most harmful to the world,” Argrave finished by

hear,” Durran raised his glass of

shifted, perhaps stirred by Argrave’s words. He set his elbows

he replied at once. “This plague—the longer it goes unaddressed, the worse things will get for everyone, no matter who they are. That’s why I intend to head northwest, where people have had it longer. Examining them may help me glean some insight into curing people,” he suggested—only a slight distortion of the truth. “And speaking of my priority,” Argrave

Then, as if trying to appear inconspicuous, he raised the fork up again, and chewed his cut of plain beef all the way through. Argrave waited politely, a bit flabbergasted at how bad this man

finally said. Anneliese tapped his foot to inform of his deception, but it

the lower levels, no one besides you talked about it? None of us felt it? And hell, it happened despite this castle

as Argrave recounted the excuse her father

six-hundred-year-old castle,” Reinhardt

you sent to the Low Way—I didn’t realize your men were so bad at simple scouting tasks. No word from

his fork in his steak, then took a long drink of water. “No word,” he said, setting the cup

Margrave almost lazily. He looked to Rose, and then

to set off tomorrow, Reinhardt,” Argrave said

can’t,” he

Argrave crossed his

comes,”

mockingly by this point.

remained firm. “You can’t,” he

loudly. “I can’t listen to this anymore,” he said. Argrave looked

Durran continued. “Need to use the

left. He practically sprinted out of the room,

and he came to attention. Durran was

out. The dour Margrave looked a bit brighter at that moment, and took her hand. “Give it up. You are worthless at this

warrior looked betrayed for half a second, but he gave a long sigh

Anneliese. She gave him a quiet nod, then looked out the door where Durran had left. “Starsparrow,” he directed her quietly, and she nodded in agreement, casting the druidic spell beneath the table. In not a second, the bird perched atop her shoulder vanished. It moved so quickly no one noticed it at all. Well, nearly no

there is something important you should be let in on,” Margrave