Jackal Among Snakes

Argrave and Anneliese sat atop some temporary bedding—specifically, a large tarp splayed out across the flat grass with some fur blankets atop it. Anneliese was already delving into A-rank magic. She had two books on her knee—one projected the strange, incomprehensible full-body matrix exclusive to A-rank spells, and the other was a more mundane book. Argrave, however, was poring through letters. He rubbed his forehead to ease his headache.

Elenore was there, too, lying down just before them with a blindfold over her face to keep the sockets clean. She squirmed, continually raising her hands near her eye sockets and then pulling them away. They were in a private tent, Galamon just outside on guard with the others. Durran was sleeping with his bear.

“It itches so bad,” Elenore said with clenched teeth, then grasped the blanket over her body to relieve some of her frustration. “I can’t stand this. I feel like my blood has been laced with pepper. It’s like my hands need to sneeze—my whole body.”

Argrave narrowed his eyes. “There’s worse,” he promised her, glancing at Anneliese. They’d promised to keep her company until this was over.

“Tell me, please. Give me anything to distract from this,” his sister pleaded earnestly, much more emotion on her tone than usual.

“But you know the story behind my heart,” Argrave pointed out, adjusting his posture until he was comfortable. “Anneliese told you.”

Anneliese closed both of the books on her lap as she said, “She heard it from my perspective. I empathized with your pain, but I never felt it.”

“You were probably more conscious of things than I was, then,” Argrave pointed out, searching for another topic. What Elenore needed most, he felt, was something that made her think hard, something that consumed the mind.

“How about we talk about Atrus, the plans for the future?” Argrave suggested.

“You know them. Place those who surrender in resistance debt, sell these debt contracts backed by land to patricians to repay their stake in the war. Beyond that, we distribute the lands along the North Sea that we promised to Relize,” Elenore recited mechanically. “Refining that plan further would be frivolous until we have all information on-hand.”

Argrave sighed and fell to the ground, looking up at the tent above them. “Well… okay. How about Traugott? Any news?”

“None,” Elenore said simply. “Even if there were, I would not trust work from one whose blood is boiling. Usually I’d mean that metaphorically… but let’s stray from long-term planning. I can’t make good decisions right now.”

“You are picky,” Argrave reflected. “Anne, do you have any ideas?” he asked, looking towards her.

“Let us talk about He Who Would Judge the Gods, and the coming change to the world,” Anneliese said. “You have informed me amply. Elenore knows much… but she could always know more.”

Argrave rubbed his face. “Old Gerechtigkeit, huh? Part of me hoped we could talk about something happy.”

when you mentioned both Atrus and Traugott first?” Elenore pointed out, her

not too long ago that the boundaries

repeated. “Like

broke, I’d say it depends… but they’re little fragments of a god, broken into symbols they bear atop their head. You might consider them fragments of power. They exist here, there, and just about everywhere. Some of them are small, powerless, and dumb. Others are intelligent and ambitious. The ones here on this realm are usually the

cross-legged as he stared at the tent’s top. “What makes them

spirit… when Orion killed her, I’m sure she left some spirits behind. What they’d do, I can’t really say. Maybe they’d linger here.

Anneliese pressed, her own curiosity leading her to forget that they

content. Beyond learning the spells, you have to manage your supply of spirits. You could only find them in certain areas, and they didn’t respawn… so, it was

have broader implications?” Elenore chimed

“For us mere mortals? Hardly. The gods like spirits. Some spirits like to become gods—see the Vasquer pantheon. Although… some might argue they’re not gods quite yet. Who knows? I certainly don’t. Spirits were almost a sort of currency at times, to trade with higher powers. Though from my perspective as someone

closed her mouth when she noticed something. “Elenore… what

looked over at his sister. He couldn’t really see what Anneliese was pointing out, but he

think?” the princess

touched her elbow

silent waiting must’ve gotten to her, because she started squirming faster before she eventually said, “I hate

“Why is that?” he

she said quietly,

you give up trying so quickly, yeah,”

her hand up to her face, tugging at the blindfold she wore as she resisted the urge to itch near her eyes. “I don’t know, gods…!” she said in frustration, clearly infuriated by the feeling pervading her body. “It’s just… I don’t know. Whenever I share something personal, I always regret it. Could be my favorite book, could be something that

then wondered if that joke was a

deeply. “Forget it. Go back to talking about spirits instead of my ridiculous idiosyncrasies. I’ll get over it. I

when he looked to Anneliese,

You trade in information. Maybe

she admitted. “It’s a bad mindset. I’m your lackey now, not some bird trapped in

slightly. He stared at her quietly. The way she’d phrased it… it wasn’t merely

much of anything with other people. Anneliese has gotten fragments, I suppose,” Argrave admitted, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I

tilted her head sideways. “Don’t you look to her every time you

the lone exception to

once, then turned