Chapter Five Hundred and Eighty-Seven

“You know Rainnewt?” I asked in return. 

That was surprising. I was sure that Rainnewt had at least some fingers in the Black Avatar pie, but I wasn’t sure how deeply he’d stuck them in there. I was also pretty sure that I’d be keeping that analogy to myself, because it sounded a bit icky. 

The elf nodded. “We do,” she said. “But I want to know how you know him.”

The man next to her reached over and touched her shoulder lightly. “Viviane, let’s talk about this where the others can add to the conversation? Otherwise, I fear that we may just end up repeating ourselves.”

The elf lady--Viviane--pouted, and her long elf ears flicked in annoyance, but she acquiesced anyway. “Fine. Follow us.”

I glanced at my friends, then picked up the pace, catching up a bit with the two ahead. Not so much that I was even with them, but enough that I was between them and my friends. “So, where are we going? And if we’re talking about Rainnewt, then maybe I have a few other friends that might want to join in.”

“Why, they’re friends of his?” Viviane asked.

“Ah, no? Kind of the opposite. He kidnapped Desiree, so she probably doesn’t like him very much, and also he tried to blow up Caprica’s dad. She probably doesn’t like him very much either.”

“I don’t,” Caprica confirmed. “There is still an active warrant for his capture, with a bounty. The bounty is rather... vague about the condition of his return.”

Viviane and Percy glanced at one another. His expression--what I could see of it in his posture--was pretty neutral, but she was clearly saying ‘I told you so’ with her eyes. “We’ll see about that,” she eventually said. “Let’s get you to Tristain and Guinevere, they’ll know what to do about all of this. Then we’ll take some time to listen to the grievances of your friends.”

They lead us down a corridor, then another, then another. The castle was built on multiple floors, and while the architecture shared a lot of similarities, even I could tell that the different sections we travelled through weren’t all built at the same time. There were areas that felt a lot older, and many sections required taking a few steps up or down. 

I think the castle had been built in consequence of the rocky hill it was stationed atop of, so that some areas were naturally taller than others. It was neat. We crossed plenty of doorways, only a few of which were opened. Mostly there were lots of smaller rooms with storage within, or little private bedrooms and antechambers. 

The space was kind of... I think the word for it was austere? It lacked the warm, cozy feeling of a home that was made for comfort. Instead, this was a place made to confuse enemies and to choke off invaders into narrow passages where a single person might be able to stop an entire army.

I think that they tried to do something about that, but could only afford to do it in select places. 

The elf and the... man ahead opened up a pair of wooden doors with a faint creak, then stepped aside to let us slip into the room. It was a grand space, a library with walls covered from floor to ceiling with shelves, all of them filled to bursting with books and old manuscripts and loose pages. A wheeled ladder was leaning up against one wall, for easier access to the topmost shelves. 

The rest of the space was more like a sitting room, though one that was a bit disorganized. There were several sofas, most of them forming a semi-circle around a low table that faced a large fireplace where a small lump of coals was burning away at a single log, while a few other seats were pushed up into the corners or set out of the way. 

I glanced up, taking in a chandelier, then down, to a well-worn but still plush rug. “This is a nice spot,” I said. I could tell that there had been a lot of effort put into making this space as comfy as possible. Even the way weapons hung off of hooks on the walls, or the display cases filled with odds and ends, it felt like it was all there to make the people in this space feel safer. 

“Hey, Tristain, did you hear that?” Viviane called out.

“I did,” someone replied. They were off in the far end of the room, around a slight bend. It looked like there was a balcony added to the room at some point, with wooden floors and large, almost French-doors splitting the space off from the rest of the room. “For an assassin, you are quite loud, you know?”

“I’m not an assassin,” Viviane grumbled, but the way her ears stood up suggested that she wasn’t actually upset. “I’m a discreet long-term conflict resolution specialist.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

She grinned. “I am certified in bloodline interruptions and permanent nocturnal dispute resolutions.”

The voice, Tristain, chuckled. “A royal succession adjustment agent!”

“A back-alley treaty enforcement specialist,” Percy said.

“Ew, no, I don’t do back-alleys. I have class,” Viviane replied.

“Doubtful,” was Percy’s rebuttal.

Around the corner came a very short figure, one that I instantly placed as a Mousefolk. He was a bit taller than my waist, with big round ears (though one of them was missing a slice) and a friendly sort of face. He was also wearing all-black. Plate armour, made and fitted to his smaller form, though it looked like he had removed the pauldrons and arm armour, leaving him in just a thin gambeson and breastplate on his upper half. “Greetings. It is not oft that the Black Keep has guests.”

“Do none of you agree on the name of this place?” Amaryllis asked.

“What did Viviane call it? This time? Tristain asked. 

“Castle White,” I said. “Also, hi! My name is Captain Broccoli Bunch! It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The mousefolk man bowed slightly. “Tristain the Black, at your service and that of the World.”

Viviane gestured to my friends and I. “They just showed up, broke through the storm wall and all. Said that they know Rainnewt.”

“Do they, now?” Tristain asked. “Come, let’s make this a little less hostile. A seat? Our selection of teas is quite good as well, though I don’t know if we have any crackers left? Cheese, though, we do have!” 

It wasn’t long before my friends and I were all occupying the largest of the couches, something that was only possible thanks to Bastion and Caprica being on the smaller side. Viviane and Tristain took up the seat across from us, and Percy elected to remain standing, though he did crouch down to fiddle with the fire. There were some spells at work in that fireplace, keeping the long and coals burning at a low simmer and producing more warmth than they maybe should have.

“So, where do we begin,” Tristain said, though it wasn’t a question. “I feel that, as the hosts in this matter, we ought to allow you the first question.”

“Are we hosts when we’re being invaded?” Vivianne asked.

“Is this an invasion?” Tristain asked in return.

“It’s not!” I added quickly. “At least, I hope not? We’re here because... well, a couple of reasons, I guess. We followed some clues to come all the way here. Ah, but I think we have the first question, right? In that case... are you really the Black Avatars?”

The little mousefolk man blinked, then chuckled. “We are! The Black Avatars of legend. Though I wonder just how many of those legends still exists? Do the common folk know of us?”

“Only in some rare stories, and mostly as myth,” Amaryllis replied.

“How unfortunate, but understandable.”

“Was that your question?” I asked.

“Was that yours?” he asked in return.

I pouted, and the mousefolk man laughed. “Very well... how about this, then? Are you here to harm us, or the interests of the Black Avatars?”

“No? I don’t think so, at least. I don’t know what your interests are. I’d like to think that we’re usually pretty friendly, but if we find out that you’re all secretly evil, then maybe?”

“What about not-secretly?” Viviane asked.

“Viviane,” Tristain warned. “No, Captain Bunch, we are not evil. Secretly or otherwise. And I understand your caution, though it does fail to answer my base question.”

“Right, sorry,” I replied. “I guess that we’re not here to harm you, but we are very curious? What are the Black Avatars?”

“Weird question to ask for someone that made all the effort to come here,” Viviane said.

I shrugged. “We’ve made effort to do other things in the past. I don’t see why this is that different. It only took a couple of weeks to find this place.”

“Wait... seriously?”

“Yes? I don’t think it was even that hard!”

***