Jackal Among Snakes

Anneliese sat in Rowe the Righteous’ tent. In classical Veidimen style, they were surrounded by woolen walls, and a small fire burned in the center that piped through the small hole in the top that functioned as a chimney. A kettle boiled slowly atop this flame. Indeed—this mighty man was brewing her tea. She herself could scarcely believe it. His whole behavior had been rather unlike his gruff and cynical persona.

The S-rank spellcaster had been asking her many questions before the teaching process began, likely to get a grasp on how much she knew. But the topic of conversation drifted away from magic to the more personal aspects of life. Anneliese knew that Rowe had come here at the behest of both Veid and Dras, and as time went on, she felt she was coming closer to the secret that they’d been hiding in their cooperation.

When the kettle started to boil, Rowe rose from his seat and walked over to it as it whistled. “I had this imported from this land… along with the tea leaves, you see. Castro recommended them to me. Our culture is becoming… well, it’s becoming rather like you.” Rowe took the kettle away, and the whistling died down before fading altogether.

Anneliese stared, puzzled. “Like me how?”

“It hasn’t eluded me that you’ve forsaken the vast majority of our traditions,” Rowe pointed out. Rather than retrieve cups, he melded them out of the earth with versatile magic. “You are not Anneliese of Veiden any longer. You are Anneliese, Queen of Vasquer. And that’s no slight on you. It might be said that this land has treated you altogether better than ours. I met your mother. She’s a twat, if you’ll forgive me for saying so.”

“Your respect makes me uneasy.” Anneliese watched as he poured tea, then conjured a small ice cube for his own cup. She took hers.

“You will grow used to it, I should think.” Rowe sat down opposite the fire so that it rested between them. “You have adapted to this culture easily, and its people have come to welcome you. My point in saying all this being, Argrave has created an apparatus that threatens to subsume our people. Dras and Veid view it as an inevitability. As we experience the fruitfulness of these green lands and the relative fairness we receive in all our dealings here, our people will have far fewer reasons to be as brutal as they currently are. They may come as settlers rather than as raiders or conquerors. Why risk life and limb when we will be welcomed? And as we are welcomed, we will change. We will not be Veidimen. We will be snow elves, living in Vasquer. Names are a very powerful thing. And if things should go on, we will lose ours.”

Anneliese considered that carefully. “Argrave told me…” she trailed off, hesitating to relay his words—they related to Earth, and Veiden’s parallel to a human culture in his world. “…that harsh lands give rise to people like ours. Those who leave, and who settle elsewhere by force. We might leave an impact as we are, but I cannot believe it will be an enduring legacy. I believe our way is better. And I cannot think of any way in which cooperation between our people will be negative.”

eyes glimmering with the dancing fire. “But you cannot deny that no great empire was ever born without tragedies to help it ascend. Even Argrave enjoys

heart of the matter, not wishing to engage in this topic. “That I should twist

already melted into the tea. He sipped it slightly, then set it against his leg to give her a firm stare. “Patriarch

the words, but their sincerity that made Anneliese’s breath catch. It was such an overwhelming thing to say, and given the tenor of this conversation, made little sense to

and Argrave together has only made them worse. There are women that he knows, that he would love to welcome to his bed… but his odd personality, his insistence on perfection… he sabotages himself. He wants the perfect queen. It’s… it’s a very complicated relationship, and he constantly frets about succession, to the point where he’s stagnated into inaction

this… I can see it as only two things. You intend to force my hand to return to Veiden, or you

both of our nations. Given that you two are spellcasters, that may be some many hundred years from now, but your child of mixed heritages would be as much a symbolic as a legal heir. A union of

She and Argrave had discussed children, of course—both agreed they did want to start a large family. Their hope was that, during their reign, the royal family would become a symbolic, if wealthy, family as they ceded more and more power to the parliament. But

see no reason to decline. And if Dras and Veid are of one mind about this, I cannot see how there would be much dissent. But I cannot grasp the reasoning behind the decision.” Anneliese finally remembered to drink her tea. Some enlightenment came to her.

was vast, their people and soldiers more numerous, and the landmass was much further away than Berendar. The voyage would be treacherous—nigh impossible for a large army. Yet the naval base that Argrave has allowed us to build will become the staging grounds for the invasion of their empire. And

mentioned it that this was the outcome they were leading to, and managed

And when the time has come, our people will submit to it, joining the two nations for the best for all in the world. A tragedy will be penned

the thing. She rose to her feet and stared

than it was years ago,” Rowe also rose to his feet, smoke from the fire concealing part of his figure. “The Qircassian Coalition, Erlebnis—Vasquer’s enemies have aligned themselves with

from Veiden to invade a land