Jackal Among Snakes

Chapter 559

Argrave once again stared upon a figure he’d hoped to forget. It was Sophia’s creation, Castro—the dim echo of the man that he’d taken the name from. Even today, he repeated things.

“I have a robust succession plan, Argrave,” her creation said.

Argrave looked upon his form with some unease. Anneliese was here as well, standing off to the side. But today, this thing’s creator joined them—Sophia. She stood just beneath him, hiding behind his legs in utter fear of what she’d made alive. Argrave kneeled down to look at Sophia in the eyes.

“Does he frighten you?” he asked her.

Sophia nodded.

“I’ll admit… he scares me, too, a little. Do you know why that is?” Argrave looked at Sophia, but she only tilted her head without an answer. “Let me put it this way. Do you know why he makes you uneasy? Say what you will, but he looks like a walking, talking person.”

“But he’s… he’s not,” Sophia said quietly. “He’s just… what I remembered of him. He can’t… he doesn’t have a voice inside his head. And he can’t hear us, understand us.”

As Argrave nodded, ‘Castro’ continued to repeat some of his final words he’d given before his death. Sophia managed to look at him. “I don’t know… I don’t know how to fix him, Argrave.”

Argrave nodded. “Honestly? I don’t, either.” He picked her up. “But that’s why we came here, today. To think about what needs to be done. To think about how we can do it. And then, to make everything right again. One day, each of us can look upon the life you made and think it belongs. We have to change this so it can be a point of pride, rather than something to forget.”

Sophia gazed at ‘Castro’ thoughtfully, then buried her head in Argrave’s shoulder. “What if I can’t think of anything? What if he stays like that? What if I can’t fix him?”

Argrave comforted her. “Anneliese and I are here. You don’t need to do all the thinking. But I can guarantee you this—you can fix him.”

Castro again. She looked at Anneliese, too, who gave her

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the corner of the room that was watching him. Suddenly, he heard a noise, and when he looked the machine that’d been empty was now full. He pulled back the lid, and a

he walked, and his smile only widened. Arriving at his destination, he looked around the courtyard where

in his study,

pry the message from Stain’s hands. He opened the letter and read it. As he did, Stain shut the door, and Zen looked up as he started to recognize incongruities. Stain undid his disguise, staring

him as a mouthpiece. He had become practiced at reciting exactly what

my staff?” the

“We knew this message would

held up the letter.

Now, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to make several commanders protest against the imperial court’s extended regency. The army answers only to the emperor, after all, not his court. Meaning they either need to pick a new emperor, which we both know is untenable, or relinquish control of the army. And the

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down. “I see. I thought we’d speak

isn’t it?” Stain’s conveyance was less gloating, but still somewhat

this some attempt at intimidating me, cajoling me into taking your offer?” Zen sat back down in his desk. “Telling me that you could get at me

as you present yourself. We’re inclined to agree with

at Stain. “Seeing as you know everything, why don’t

like you—you’ve strings laid out across the whole of this empire. But you can’t even get so much as a rumor about who commands the

to exercise some authority—moving in the open, which

for an emperor,” Elenore kept pressing, and Stain kept

Zen pulled open a drawer, grabbed some papers and set them down. “This was an independent investigation of mine, but it bore fruit. Grand Eunuch Hao, the de facto regent in control of the court, is working with an

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