Chapter 519: Third Try's the Charm
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âMr. Knight isâŚâ Sophia looked at the doll. He saw some tears welling up in those red eyes of hersâand for the first time, Argrave thought it might not be out of simple fear of punishment. âHeâs not mine.â
Argrave nodded understandingly. âThen⌠your brotherâs?â
Sophia looked at him in utter fear. âI donât have aâŚâ she trailed off, her words failing her. Afterward, she became despondent.
âIâve heard some things that go against that. Itâs okayâIâm not like those other people.â
Sophia shook her head quickly. âI donât⌠you canât find out. Mr. Butler, he talked about, andâŚâ she shuddered. âYou canât get hurt. Getting hurt⌠hurts.â
Looks like King Normanâs rules didnât exclude the princess. Sheâs been drilled to forget her brother, no doubt. I shouldnât be surprised.
Argrave looked around. The things missingâthe lighter spot on the wall where a painting mightâve been, the empty side of the open wardrobe, the unused section of the dresser, and Mr. Knight⌠that little doll mustâve been the only thing that she had managed to keep of her brotherâs. It was a small wonder she guarded it so fiercely. If they were sharing a room, they may have been twins. From Argraveâs knowledge, twins were especially attached to one another.
âI have to go, princess,â Argrave said, rising to his feet. âBut thereâs going to be a maid coming soon. Sheâll tell you that youâre to have lunch with your father. Remember to keep your head up no matter how scary she gets, because sheâs a really nasty lady. Can you do that for me?â
âOkay,â she nodded.
Argrave cast [Chameleon] and vanished. Sophiaâs eyes widened in surprise and she looked around as though her mind was blown. âSir Ghost? Come back,â she whispered out loud.
When the knock came, Sophia hid Mr. Knight once again, and Argrave slipped out when the maid opened the door.
Iâll be back, Sophia, rest assured. I need to see what happens to you during the loop. But first, I need to figure some things out about your brother.
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Argrave returned to the underground cellar where the Flayer Knight barracks were. While there, he better explored the place to locate entrances and exits. One led directly into the castle, while a few others appeared throughout the city in various abandoned buildings. The barracks themselves had about five hundred knights. They were quite an impressive force by Argraveâs eyes, but they were nothing compared to the king himself.
Argrave entered the cell containing the whimpering prisoner, then cut off sound with a ward and sight with an illusion spell. He conjured light, frightening the man greatly. Then, he healed what wounds could be healed with magic and revealed himself.
The man, frightened, tried to crawl away from Argrave. âWho are you? What is this? What did you do to me?â
âI healed your wounds,â Argrave explained. He was going to sit in the chair, but feared that might evoke some of the manâs trauma. He sat on the floor instead, ignoring the unpleasant sensation. âIâm a spy from a neighboring region, you see. And my efforts led me to you.â
âA spy?â The man studied his body in total confusion. âDid you drug me? I canât feel⌠no. I can feel. Iâm not bleeding, anymore,â he said, disbelievingly.
âWould you like to leave this place?â Argrave asked point-blank. âI can help with that. I just need three answers from you.â
âYou canât get me out of here,â the man shook his head. âNo one escapes Good King Norman.â
âI did. Once,â Argrave smiled. âCalled me his darling, the creepy bastard. Yet here I stand.â
âItâs set in stone. He sang it again and again. The fruits of my labor will offer no savior.â
Argrave frowned. âSo you can wait to be tortured, or we can get caught, whereupon youâll still be tortured. Does that compel anything from you?â
The man managed a huff of laughter. âIâll be damned⌠you make a fair point. Alright. Ask.â
âWho are you?â
âThe former butler of Normanâs Castle. My sister runs a market stall in the city,â the man answered, but his chains jingled. âMy throat⌠have you any water?â
Argrave held his hand out and conjured water, suspending the ball in the air. The man drank it without delay. âSo, you were the butler Sophia mentioned. Why were you imprisoned?â He asked as the man drank.
When finished with the drink, the man exhaled. âYou spoke to the princess? By the heavensâŚâ he sighed deeply, hanging his head. âI was trying to explain to my lady why she couldnât⌠why she couldnât speak to the prince, anymore. Why he was gone. One of the servants informed on me.â The man laughed. âThatâs the true danger. The doubt the king plants, the mistrust, in all of us.â
Argrave nodded. âAnd what did happen to the prince?â
âThe young lord⌠he is the spawn of the king. If youâve met the king, and escaped from him as you claim⌠you must know the unnatural power within him. He was always powerful, yet never as powerful as heâs become now. And itâs because he sacrificed the prince, put a hex over this whole land. He removed his son from existence. To try and speak his name, to describe him, to get into any specifics beyond naming him âthe prince,â is to fall prey to the foul forces that King Norman invited into this land. He's given his son. Now, theyâll come again to claim his daughter. Thatâs all I know.â
Argrave cradled his hand as he thought. âAlright. I liedâfour questions, and then youâre out. If I free you⌠can you help me investigate whatâs ensnaring this land? Can you help me break its hold?â
The butler went silent, staring at the dank dungeon floor. âIt seems to me Iâm dead no matter what choice I take. So⌠why not?â
Argrave held his hand to the chain and cut them free with simple wind magic. The butler looked so bewildered, like heâd never seen anything like this.
âStay close to me, and weâll get out fine. And⌠whatâs your name?â
âBogart,â he answered.
Thatâs a very butler-esque name, Argrave thought.
And so, with no one the wiser, Argrave and Bogart escaped the cellar. The manâs trembling was so severe that Argrave thought the people might hear his teeth chatter. When the man once again saw the suns above and felt the grass beneath his feet, he fell to his knees and seemed liable to praise the sky. A stern reminder that they werenât exactly safe in the heart of the city was enough to snap him out of it, however, and they headed to the countryside.
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âTell me more about this sacrifice,â Argrave asked Bogart.
They found a secluded place in a small grove far from town. Argrave didnât like being in the open, but Bogart didnât trust that there was anyone or anywhere they might find within the city that could be of genuine help.
Bogart, however, was busy staring at the city in paranoia. Argrave kicked him lightly, making the man flinch. âOh, the⌠thatâs right.â He turned around. âI⌠why donât we talk more once we return to wherever youâre from? I can⌠we can procure horses. We can try and get away.â
Argrave crossed his arms. âMy time is short. You should know by now that spies, kingsman⌠weâre really quite similar. I saved you because you can help me. I can return you much the same way if you canât.â
Bogart lowered his head. âDamn it. Damn it allâŚâ He clutched his head. âBut youâll help me after, right? You will?âfreewebnov el.com
Argrave conjured a bolt of fire near Bogartâs feet, and the man jumped back in fear. âJust talk,â Argrave demanded callously.
âAlright, alright!â the man held out his hands cautiously. âI⌠the Good King Norman, he was approached by a group of strange people about a year ago. They had gathered up four prominent members of the communityâthe silver-tongued priestess, Sandelabaraâs mayor, the elder, and the queen. He⌠he butchered his wife for keeping secrets from him, but he listened to the other three. That was all that was public.â
âAnd what happened?â Argrave pressed.
âI donât know what they offered the king. But he, and the three still alive, became obsessed with what these foreigners offered. The king was always⌠somewhat insane, yet unstoppable. Few had the power to disobey him and his knights, yet he jealously acquired more power, more wealth, more soldiers to join his ranks. When he learned of the sacrifice, his sole focus became that, most unusually.â
âWhat did he think he would get?â
âImmortality. Limitless power. He was never specific.â Bogart shook his head. âBut I do remember one thing he kept saying. âAll they asked for was a bit of time, and the lives of my children.â He repeated that constantly, like a mantra. I think⌠I think he still says it. But the death of his son has sated him, somewhat.â
âA bit of time, eh?â Argrave honed in on that, but Bogart couldnât be aware of the implications of that. âAnd these foreigners⌠what did they look like, act like, sound like? Tell me about them.â
âThe Heralds, they called themselves. They wore white. Robes, masks, gloves, hair⌠all white. Despite what they were doing, they were strangely pure people. Charity, acts of kindness, humility⌠it was a far cry from those that normally associated with the king. He disdained them somewhat, yet never openly disrespected them.â
Argrave crossed his arms. âAnd theyâre gone, I presume?â
âYes,â Bogart nodded. âUntil they return to claim Sophia, Iâm sure.â
Argrave had certainly never seen anyone in the city or the castle matching that description. Suddenly, a long horn echoed throughout the empty air. Bogart turned his head in fear.
âBy the godsâŚâ he clutched his head tightly. âThe horn. They called out the horn. Every citizen in Sandelabara will be called upon to search.â
âYeah. For you, no doubt.â Argrave scratched his chin. âThese other three⌠the silver-tongued priestess, the mayor, the elder⌠are they still here?â
âWhat?â Bogart looked back. âYes, but⌠does that matter? We have to go! We have to go very far away!â
âHelp me find them,â Argrave commanded.
âAre you out of yourââ
Argrave cast a showy, yet harmless spellâ[Lightningcatcher]. A gigantic ball of lightning sparked in his hand, casting energy in every direction. It was as big as Argraveâs body himself. To raise his intimidation factor, he sent out a few blood echoes to encircle the former butler.
âIâm not like the king,â Argrave declared, ceasing the spell. âI donât take things personally. But they did teach me a few tricks in spy school. I can create pain that you canât imagine, targeting specific nerves with lightning. Or I could use fire. Burn your skin off. Then, heal you, as I did before. Again. Again. And again. Do you want that?â
âYouâre crazyâŚâ Bogart whispered.
âNot yet. But I can be, unless you get ready to help me. I still have some other things to do after this, and youâre wasting my very valuable time.â Argrave clapped. âHut-hut. Letâs find these three.â
Even Argrave surprised himself with that one. It felt like the good old days in Heroes of Berendar, where he could do deranged, utterly psychopathic things and then load a save and act like a good boy just after.
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Despite some trouble convincing Bogart to be a good sport and play along, he did eventually concede to Argraveâs threats and lead him throughout the city cloaked in magic. They headed first for the most obvious placeâthe cathedral, where the âsilver-tongued priestessâ might be waiting. As the owner of the cathedral her position of prominence made her quite easy to find. And the moment Argrave didâŚ
âI believe weâre on to something, Bogart,â he whispered to his unwilling partner-in-crime. âI believe Iâve seen the first light in this dark tunnel.â
âCan we leave now?â Bogart returned.
âIâm gonna go talk to her,â Argrave shook his head. âIf you want to stay invisible, you ought to follow.â