Jackal Among Snakes

Anneliese awoke with a sharp intake of breath. She sat up with surprising energy, then looked around the room. Most notable was Argrave, sitting by her bed in a chair. He looked tired, yet locked eyes with her all the same.

“You alright?” Argrave questioned.

“I…” Anneliese grabbed at her chest. “I feel so strange.” She paused, questioning if she was still covered in blood. Looking around past him, it seemed Argrave had cleaned everything.

“Strange how?” Argrave leaned in intently, placing his elbows upon his knees.

“I…” her gaze lingered on him. Dancing wisps of smoke poked around his body, and she watched them perplexedly. “I think… it works. I can see the magic within you. Faint, but…” Anneliese lifted up her hand and looked at it in wonder. As she saw her wrist, clarity returned. She looked at Argrave. “Are you alright? What exactly happened?”

“I’m fine. It’s morning, now. You took less blood than Galamon did that one time, I think,” he joked. Seeing Anneliese was not amused, his smile faded quickly and he continued seriously, “I healed the wounds pretty quickly. I do feel a bit sluggish, but I got accustomed to that on account of using blood magic so frequently. To summarize, don’t worry. As far as I’m concerned, it was just a little lapse back into my usually scheduled programming,” Argrave shook his head.

“I…” Anneliese looked to the ground, feeling guilty, embarrassed, and ashamed in equal measure.

“Let’s not waste time with this routine,” Argrave reached forth and put his hand on her leg. “I wanted to help, so I did. It seemed you needed it. I’d sooner lose a pint of blood than watch you lose all your hard work because of my insistence,” he noted pointedly. “And I wouldn’t have insisted so hard if I didn’t think this was an option.”

Anneliese covered her face with her hands, ill at ease with what had happened. “I… underestimated the difficulty of filtering out the magic of the world in reconstructing my vessel. Llewellen was able to do it quicker than I was because he had no such limitation, I think. Or perhaps… he is simply more talented than I am.”

“Don’t fret on the why,” Argrave shook his head. “It’s over, isn’t it?”

Anneliese slowly uncovered her face and nodded. “…yes. Yes, I suppose it is.”

Argrave leaned in a little further and grabbed her hand. She was puzzled, yet after a few moments felt a strange sensation travelling up her arm. She realized that she was draining him of magic.

The moment she recognized what was happening, Anneliese yanked her hand away. “Argrave…!” she called out, distressed.

"Given that reaction, I can assume you took some magic from me,” Argrave said, sinking back in the chair. “Either that, or we’re not as sound as a couple anymore. Don’t break my heart, now.”

looked at

mused, scratching his nose. “Not a grand list, but a formidable, all-purpose A-rank ascension that puts you far ahead of

the change. I cannot cast any A-rank spells… yet I can say I am soon to be an A-rank

shake of his head. “And speaking of driving… Diana says that the bulk of the spellcasters we’re going to get are assembled. All that remains is marching through northern Atrus and converging with Elenore’s force. And given the situation there, I think it’d

at him concernedly. “One

to grow her position in the north—she wants to be in position to secure the bulk of the profit for the trade concessions I gave the archduchy,” Argrave explained. “Insider trading… it’s

“What did

out an expedition with Melanie to take care of things.” Argrave rose to

were off the bed, then took his hand lightly and rose to her feet. “Like I said, I feel strange… and the most dramatic

suggested, watching her to be sure

ascension was a passive method of change as [Life Cycle] is—I want to speak to her about what to expect for this process.” Anneliese stepped about, retrieving her footwear.

#####

was able to largely gather herself. Argrave was not entirely sure what to expect of the aftermath of this event. When she began to expel the magic from her body, it had been a rather harrowing thing to witness—the magic escaped

idle in bed with only her changes to think about, and so Argrave confirmed that he would be meeting with Diana today. With the core of their forces

Durran had been relegated to the outside after they received some complaints from the people within the

at. Her gaze jumped between Argrave and his companion beside him. “Your Majesty, Anneliese,”

are fully complete,” Anneliese nodded, watching as Galamon closed the door and stood behind him vigilantly. He seemed… brighter,

of A-rank ascension… yet I could never grasp it. I lacked the affinity for magic,”

still young yet,”

“You’re the younger of us, you

recounted. “I just thought I could cast spells without matrixes for no reason at all. As it

it seemed like something so complex it made his task impossible. He was not someone like Llewellen or Vasilisa—he was only someone who relied on foreknowledge and luck to come this far. He didn’t feel he could compare

in. “We have a bunch of lovely men and women with fire in their blood, and I think it best to solidify their course

assuming you needed my help all those months ago,” Vera said. “But Hegazar

Argrave disagreed, stepping up to the table. “But fine, let’s get to

to the right of Argrave, and then