DF229 - Moments In Love (Aris) (Patreon)

The wizard was almost invisible against the night sky, but that wasn’t enough against Aris. She was a Deadeye Harbinger, and whatever else that might mean, she could always find her target.

I don’t even have night-vision, Aris marvelled. This is just what a Perception of 45 can do.

Elemental Shot, her latest Trait, caused the bullet to glow with the colour of the element it was charged with. It moved so fast that it seemed like a streak of almost-pure white light stretched out to connect her with the enemy wizard.

It seemed to hit him. He jerked at the impact, but he didn’t fall, or—would the spell keep him in the air if he died? Aris didn’t know, so she shot him again.

Her Perception wasn’t just useful for her eyesight either. Noise from above caught her attention. “I think I hear fighting on the roof?”

“I’ll take care of it,” Anton said. He put his hand on the upper windowsill and lifted himself like an acrobat. One foot latched onto the wall, and then he was gone, climbing with incredible speed.

Aris kept firing at the wizard. He was moving away now. He must have some armour on, because her elemental shots were supposed to be more damaging than regular ones. She switched to Deadly Shot just before he got out of range. Without an elemental aspect, though, it did get caught by whatever spell he had in place. Aris had the briefest glimpse of the bullet, glowing a dull red, as it stopped against his shield.

“He ran away,” Aris reported, turning back inside. Kelsey shrugged. Her hands were empty, so she must have finished putting out the fire.

“As long as he’s gone,” Kelsey said. She glanced at Suliel. “If he were still attacking, that would be one thing, but I’d rather he got away than reveal that to the world.”

Suliel raised an eyebrow and pointed at the guards, still trying to do something useful around the Queen’s bed.

“Don’t you normally have your secret conversations silently?” Aris asked.

Kelsey grinned. “We wouldn’t want to keep you out of the loop, Aris.”

“Oh, yeah,” Aris snorted. “I feel very informed. What do we do now?”

“Hmm,” Kelsey pondered.

“Oi! One of you lot go inform the duke!” she yelled at the guards. She turned back to Aris.

“We should get to the roof and see how that went. Suliel, you should go and find Elara. I’d offer to tell her myself, but…”

“Quite. I’d rather she hear this from anyone other than you.” Suliel sighed, looking over at the bed. “You’re sure she’s…”

“Oh yeah. It wasn’t as bad as it looks. She would have been knocked out almost immediately, and the… charring happened after her heart stopped.”

“I’m not sure if that’s a comfort, but I’ll keep it in mind.” Suliel looked at the other guard. “Fetch Voice Sehra as well, he’s the only one that can do anything for her now.”

The guard hesitated for a moment, then bobbed his head and complied. Suliel sighed again and headed after him.

“Rooftop!” Kelsey declared. Aris nodded in response and started reloading her pistol as she walked.

“Give that here!” Kelsey said, and switched her half-empty gun for a full one. “No fumbling around with bullets on my watch. That’s skeleton work!”

“Are you sure you should be so cheerful?” Aris asked. “The Queen is dead.”

“She’s not my queen,” Kelsey said carelessly. “My sovereign is downstairs, about to have a very important conversation.”

“More secrets?” Aris teased.

“I am going to bring you in on this,” Kelsey promised. “But I have to convince Suliel first, then I’ll have her convince you.”

“Why would you tell me that? Why not just tell me now?”

“Well…” Kelsey trailed off as they made it to the roof. Anton had already taken care of things.

“Assassins,” he said shortly. “Actual assassins, members of the Shadowblades. I don’t know how they got up here; everything is pretty well lit.”

“They might have gotten a lift from the wizard before he went to find his own targets,” Kelsey suggested. “Did you get them all?”

“The guards got some,” Anton said. “It turns out, looking around wildly for the source of the wailing is exactly what sneaky assassins don’t want you to do. Someone got caught off guard, and then the guards were on the lookout.”

He looked around. Not all of the bodies were wearing black.

“They probably would have lost the fight if I hadn’t helped,” he admitted. “But they would have let them right through if you hadn’t terrified them all.”

“Uhh, appreciation? Not sure I know what to do with that.”

“Just accept it? We should probably go downstairs.”

“Just hold off for a bit?” Kelsey suggested. “It’s going to be a while longer before you can make a difference.”

Anton gave her a long look, then nodded and went to help with the wounded.

“What’s going on?” Aris asked. “What are we waiting for?”

“You can hear it, can’t you?” Kelsey asked.

Aris listened. She couldn’t hear the words, but she could hear the voices. Fearful, angry voices. Accusations and recriminations were flowing freely downstairs, in or around the Queen’s final resting place.

“If we went down there now, we’d just get yelled at,” Kelsey said. “We’re waiting for Elara to arrive. Suliel has eyes on her; she’ll let me know when it’s time.”

“If you say so,” Aris said doubtfully. “I should help with the wounded, then.”

“Ooh, good idea!” Kelsey agreed. “Hey!” she called out to the rooftop in general. “Who’s up for the attentions of a sexy skeleton nurse? She’s really good at treating wounds, but I’ve been told I should get permission before bringing her out.”

She pulled up short at the terrified stares. “What? I promise her fingerbones—all her bones, really—are perfectly sterile and not capable of spreading disease. You can’t find better healthcare than this, outside of magic. A human doctor is just going to breathe on you, and we all know how unsanitary that is!”

It turned out that no one wanted to experience the next level of medical care, but Kelsey’s antics were a sufficient distraction to keep Aris busy until Suliel arrived. She announced her presence with a touch on Aris’s shoulder.

“Oh! Suliel!”

She was keeping her presence dialled way down. Lately, Suliel’s Charisma had gotten so high that Aris could feel the pressure of it. Not now, though. Was she trying to avoid notice? Avoid angering the nobles shouting below? Or—

“Aris. Can we speak privately?”

“Sure.” It was easy enough to lead Suliel to an unused corner of the roof. The activity around the wounded was just as good as a wall for diverting attention. Anton noticed them leave, but left them to it.

Once they were alone, Suliel took a deep breath.

“Elara is going to be the next queen.”

“I know that,” Aris replied. “That’s how it works, right? She’s the Crown Princess, so she becomes the queen.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Suliel said. “It doesn’t always work that way—as an example, Queen Syrene was a Crown Princess.”

“Ooh, yeah. Complicated would be one way of putting it.”

Suliel nodded. “Elara has to win the war we’re already fighting, but first, she has to win over the nobles who are on our side. She has to convince them that she’s strong enough to win before she even gets the chance to fight.”

“Aren’t they committed enough already? I mean, we’re trapped in a town by armies, it’s a little late to change your mind.”

“It’s never too late to turn your coat,” Suliel said wryly. “If enough of them decide they can’t win, they could forget their principles, take over the town and open the gates. Handing over Elara would win them enough goodwill for their rebellion to be glossed over.”

“Are they… gonna?” For no reason that she could identify, Aris’s hand found the comforting grip of her pistol butt.

“Elara is bringing them around right now,” Suliel said. “Making her case in front of her Aunt’s corpse.”

Aris listened. The voices from below had changed. Instead of a babble of nobles all talking over each other, Elara’s voice was at the centre of it all. She was speaking, and someone was responding.

Aris couldn’t tell if Elara was winning, but she was still fighting.

“That’s good, right? That’s what she needs to do.”

“It… is. But listen, Aris, I was just down there in her room. I was the one who told her about her Aunt’s death.”

“I… know? I was there when Kelsey told you to do that.”

“I talked to her… she’s…” Suliel trailed off. “She can’t do this. She could be queen—she was raised and educated with that possibility in mind. She could fight the war, but I don’t think she can win it. Not when it means the death of her father after the deaths of the rest of her family. She just can’t deal with all of that at once. Not on her own.”

“Well, we’re here to help her,” Aris said. “Along with the nobles, assuming they come round. She won’t be alone.”

“She needs more than that,” Suliel insisted. “She’s pushing herself to stand up to the nobles, and that will last for a while, but she’s fragile. She needs someone strong to stand beside her, to support her.”

“A husband, you mean? Sure, every queen needs a king. But where is she going to find—wait.”

Aris paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing. “This is the thing that Kelsey didn’t want to talk about.”

“It was Kelsey’s suggestion, yes. But the idea—”

I can’t believe she convinced you! You know her ideas are crazy!”

“Yes, but they work, more often than not. And we’re desperate!”

“Are we? We’ve got the guns and the people to use them, now. Isn’t that enough?”

“No. Not hardly. If the nobles lose faith in the idea, then this whole coalition goes up in smoke. If Anton marries Elara—”

Aris groaned. “I can’t believe you said that!”

“If Anton marries Elara, then the nobles will fall in line instantly. They’ll see him as one of them, and the perfect battle leader, who will be easy to manipulate for their own advantage.”

“Anton’s not dumb…” Aris protested. Suliel waved her objection away.

“I know, but he’s not trained in court intrigue. The thing is, they’ll immediately discount both Elara and me as factors. We can guide him through their machinations, while he protects us from any physical dangers.”

“And where am I in this plan?”

“On the physical danger side, right next to Anton,” Suliel assured her. “And your baby will be royalty, a prince or a princess.”

“That doesn’t… I never thought I needed any kind of title,” Aris said awkwardly. “You know, Anton and me, we had an understanding. And then Kelsey stole him away for her grand plan, and then you came along—”

“Has it been so bad, sharing him with me?” Suliel asked.

“I suppose not,” Aris admitted. “And Elara seems nice…”

“She is,” Suliel assured her. “In fact, you’ve only seen her at her worst. The revelations about her father, her situation… she’s taken quite a beating, emotionally.”

“I suppose…” Aris trailed off, thinking about the proposal instead of reacting to it. “She’s older than us, isn’t she?”

“Not by much. I think you’ve got some levels over her.”

“It’s not like…” Aris said reluctantly. “I’m not worried that Anton will get tired of me—”

“Because that’s impossible,” Suliel said firmly. “He’s come to care about me, and I think he’ll care about Elara as well, but he loves you, Aris, more than anyone.”

“And…” Suliel added. “I don’t think you have to worry about him running out of energy trying to satisfy three or four wives.”

“That’s true,” Aris said, giggling awkwardly. She was never sure whether to count Kelsey either. “So… what does Anton think?”

“We weren’t going to suggest it without your consent,” Suliel said. “There’s no way Anton would even consider it unless he knew you were comfortable with the idea.”

“Comfortable might be a stretch,” Aris said. “But we’d better go talk to him.”