Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 238

Argrave took a long drink of the mildly warmed tea, having let it cool for some time. Elenore watched him—well, perhaps ‘watched’ was the wrong word, Argrave supposed. Anneliese was present, too. She held the teapot she had been rather obviously fascinated by. Her fascination probably stemmed from the fact that it needed no external heating. It was a self-contained enchanted item that could heat whatever water poured in it, and probably cost an exorbitant sum.

“You’re quite incautious,” Elenore said. “Or am I mistaking you?”

“Incautious?” Argrave put the cup down, enjoying its warmth. “I’m lost.”

“The tea,” she gestured. “Snakes are venomous, you know.”

“Oh,” Argrave nodded, enlightened. He was content to stay silent, let her think him incautious. As something came to mind, he asked curiously, “Do you actually have any poison on hand? Potent poison.”

Her brows furrowed. “Why?”

“Just wanted to try something,” Argrave shrugged. Anneliese glared at him, and he laughed. “Well, never mind. She won’t let me.”

“Do not act as though this is some overbearing interference,” Anneliese chided him, setting the teapot down. “You speak of poison.”

Argrave sighed. “I’m sorry.” He stayed silent for a bit, then poked her in the ribs. “You can’t deny you’re curious, though. What would happen?”

Anneliese swatted his hand away playfully, and then Elenore cleared her throat to break them up. “You wanted to discuss something with me?”

“Right,” Argrave spun the cup about with his hands, unembarrassed. “Want to make money?”

“Usually,” Elenore nodded. “I think everyone can say that, though.”

“I got some other stuff from the place I got your little gift from,” Argrave said. “I need some discrete appraisers to take a look at them. Order of the Rose items, enchanted? Some items from the Archduke’s Palace, too, in the wetlands. Some of them will be incredibly valuable, both personally and financially speaking. I’d like to entrust them with you. Ideally, they’d be turned around in a week. What I don’t keep, I give to you to sell.”

her hands on the table, bronze tapping against the

“You make the bulk of your money from unlicensed spellcasters who can’t get into the Order of the Gray Owl. You’ve got… I don’t know. Probably hundreds here,” Argrave waved his hands. “The majority of what I need is combat-oriented. There’ll be

“Commanding troops into battle,

Argrave smiled. “Later, certainly.”

a look at

was wondering if you had any seeds that grow more mystical plants on reserve for this place.

don’t have details—you’ll need to speak to someone else. I trust them, worry not.” Elenore nodded,

“Is this code? Are you talking about House Quadreign? That’s their heraldry, after all.” Argrave shrugged. “One of their daughters is an exceptional

doesn’t remind you of anything else,” Elenore continued, leaning in a bit

gave no obvious signals of what Elenore might be

coat, moving to stand up on the table. “Look at these guys, though. Food’s easy to get, no mess, quiet, ridiculously adorable…” Argrave ran his hands across their face, scratching between their giant ears.

hand on the table, observing in silence. “They are cute,”

Brumesingers towards Elenore, causing her to lean back cautiously. After a second, her hand stretched out. One of

pulled her hand back. “It would be best if you head off before others arrive. I have some things to attend to, and this was promised to be a short meeting,” she said neutrally. “I will send some trustworthy people to handle what we spoke of. If you’d like to minimize contact with

and tapped the table. Perhaps he should

exchange of stiff business propositions, then,” he rose while quipping, and the Brumesingers scurried back to hide away in his heavy gray duster. Her question of dogs lingered on his mind. He did not feel he could dismiss it so easily… and

greenhouse. As they walked, Argrave asked, “What was

Anneliese looked to

“I can’t, either. That’s what

#####

watching the man with the spear wander throughout the gray stone city of Dirracha. This settlement was giant—it was a great ring that encircled a mountain, the Dragon Palace of the royal family overlooking the buildings like some guardian… or prison warden. This man, whoever he was, had clearly not been around here before. He wandered, following some

skin was darker than those of Vasquer and bore golden tattoos, some marred by scars. Ruleo travelled frequently and had seen his kind before—he was from the Burnt Desert. Not many of them made

doing. The places that he entered all had the markings of the Gray Owl, and he bought materials from them. Considering that he was a foreigner, Ruleo found it quite unlikely that this man was a Wizard of the Order. Perhaps he was a mage of

had something new. Ruleo knew of this process. The Wizard of the Order would imprint their magical signature on a

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