Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 177

“I’ve come to see my brother. It’s clear to me he needs help, despite his abundant capability. I’m told Prince Orion is ahead, tending to the plagued,” Argrave spoke to the Waxknight before him, staring at the man’s dead eyes barely visible behind his bandages.

“Do you mean to say our Holiness is your brother?” the leading knight demanded, taking a step forward.

“Half-brother,” Argrave removed his hands from his horse’s reins, holding his palms out. “But a brother nonetheless.”

The loose bandages wrapped around the leading Waxknight’s face slacked, blocking his vision, and he corrected it while pulling it tight.

“Prince Induen?” one at the side questioned.

Argrave shook his head. “No prince at all, elsewise I might have an escort gleaming as you knights do.”

“Argrave, then, the bastard,” the leading knight said.

“All are equal before the gods’ eyes. That’s what Orion says, at least,” he smiled warmly, defusing the situation.

The Waxknights sized Argrave up, then glanced back towards his companions, examining them in turn.

“For your own sake—the waxpox abounds here,” their helmetless leader informed him. “We will take you to Orion if you wish it to be so, but even our Holiness struggles to combat the disease, and more refugees show up daily.”

“I have an idea of how bad things really are,” Argrave turned his head, looking through the trees from whence they’d come. “Things get worse beyond these wetlands every day. Not all refugees had the good fortune to be tended to by my brother. And that’s precisely why I came here—to help him, and to help those that suffer,” he said seriously.

“Orion accepts all comers. Whether you are truly

nodded. “My companions and I will

juice, you two. I know you drank it this morning, but this is the

the white, solemn Humorless Mask covering her face, and

his grimace. Anneliese nodded, then put the mask back over her

more so resuming the path they had already been taking. With three of these knights acting as ostensible escorts, Argrave was not worried about anything coming to kill them, so he kept his

curiously, eyeing the exposed parts of their flesh where one might glimpse the warped, waxy skin. Argrave had long ago described these knight’s capabilities to his party. Their entire body was affected by the waxpox. This made them immune to pain, and their skin

to avoid asking shameless questions. Durran looked discomforted with the knights, transfixed

took no more than thirty minutes for the abandoned fortress, occupied by Orion and his gigantic camp of refugees, to come into sight. The wetlands of the northwest were tenacious and aggressive, and much of the fortress had been torn asunder by growth—trees, roots, fungi,

a makeshift stable that they’d been using, and Argrave left his horse there without complaint. Durran seemed hesitant to leave his mount there, and his eyes glanced from side to side as though paranoid, watching each and all of the disease-ridden inhabitants like

more of their colleagues abounded, guarding the man that lay within.

black, but it was covered by a loose-fitting white toga. His black hair was all bound into a thick braid that descended to his knees. His eyes were gray, with thick and

to him, and then pointed. Orion

all at once. A great deal of them ended poorly. Even still, Argrave held his arms out and said, “I

Galamon—and he hurtled towards Argrave like a

the air. His chest screamed out in protest as he squeezed Argrave tight, embracing him. Argrave felt that he’d grown a lot the past month, but now he was being treated like a small child. After a moment of rib-crunching embrace that very

hardy!” he gripped Argrave’s shoulders as though feeling his muscles, and then laughed again. “And your eyes…” he paused, all of his mirth disappearing at once. Argrave tried

he shouted. “This is my brother,

before the crowd. Even despite their sickness, they mustered cheers. Orion’s Waxknights changed

You were mired in misery last I saw you. Now your back is straight, your gait is steady, and your will…” he whispered into Argrave’s ear, barely audible above the cheer of the crowd. “I see light in you, now. Gold amidst the dark, like Vasquer’s heraldry… and your eyes. Your strange

They stood above the crowd, too, another dark-haired figure. It took Argrave not

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