DF235 - Super Freak (Patreon)

“Do not reach through the bars. Do not touch the bars. You pass him nothing but soft paper - no pens or pencils. Use the sliding food carrier, no exceptions. Do not accept anything he attempts to hold out to you. Do you understand me?”

“I don’t,” Suliel said sharply. “You didn’t go to all this trouble when you had a revenant meet with Rathuan.”

“Or when you brought out the Vampire Queen,” Anton added.

Kelsey sighed. “It’s different when you put a revenant in front of someone that loved them, okay? They can say they understand—” she shot a significant glance at Elara.

“I understand that this is not my brother,” she said dutifully.

“But when they see it, talk to it, what they know goes out the window and the next thing you know they’re all, ‘please eat my brains so we can be together, my love’.”

“That’s an exaggeration… isn’t it?” Aris asked. She looked a little doubtful.

It was just the five of them here. The court had been left behind on the surface, and they were touring Kelsey’s secret areas. Just Anton and his immediate family.

It felt odd to use the word now. It referred to an entirely new group of people, but it was the same word, the same meaning. It hurt to think he was leaving his old family behind, but he felt warmth in his chest at the thought that his new one was still growing.

Right now, they were descending to the level where Kelsey had put the revenant of Prince Driecht.

“Even if it isn’t,” he said sceptically, “Aren’t you in control of him?”

“It,” Kelsey corrected. “And yes… but these guys live to eat brains, and they’re really good at interpreting orders in a way that gets them what they want. When it happens to a random adventurer, it’s just a bit of good fun, but I doubt Anton will be laughing if I let his new wife get eaten.”

“I don’t want anyone being eaten,” Anton said firmly, “But thank you for taking my wife’s safety seriously.”

“I’m also happy that you’re concerned about me,” Elara said. She tapped the metal helmet that Kelsey had made her wear. “I really thought you were joking at the time.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Kelsey said. “The best thing about the helmet is that it won’t fit through the bars.”

She led them down a corridor, and then through a door that opened itself for them. Behind it was a jail, a corridor lined with cells, but with only one occupant. He was tall and lean, with tightly coiled black hair that glistened with freshly applied oil. His clothes were brightly coloured silks, and his sharp eyes noted every detail as they approached.

“Sister?” Driecht called out. “Is that you? Did you get captured by the dungeon, too?”

“Captured?” Elara looked at Kelsey in confusion.

“Yeah, that’s enough of that,” Kelsey said. “She knows what happened to him, and we’re not here to play games.”

“Forgive me, Great Mistress,” Driecht said. He got up from the floor and bowed deeply. “I only wanted to give some comfort to my sister. I’m sure she wanted more than anything for me to be alive.”

He looked at Elara and smiled warmly. “Dearest sister. From the moment I came into existence, I’ve wanted nothing more than to hug you, to hold you and tell you that everything was going to be alright. I know I’m not the same person as your brother, but wouldn’t you like that? To feel his arms around you one last time?”

Elara made an inarticulate sound and started to walk forward. Anton grabbed her.

“You see!” Kelsey exploded. “Every damned time!”

Driecht laughed, an incongruously warm sound. “You can’t blame a revenant for trying,” he said. “But now you’ve made her cry. Please, let her come closer so I can comfort her.”

Elara was starting to cry again, the wound of her brother’s death opening up again. Anton stepped between them and pulled her against his chest. She buried her face in his shirt, letting her tears soak into the fabric.

“Nobody’s buying what you’re selling,” Kelsey snapped. “The only reason I brought her down here was because I wasn’t planning on keeping your acquisition a secret. Knowing you were down here would drive her crazy if she didn’t see for herself just what you are.”

“You are as wise as you are kind, Great Mistress,” Driecht said, bowing again. “I’m so glad that my sister has someone like you looking out for her.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kelsey waved dismissively. “Look, my boy has got some questions for you. Answer them truthfully.”

Anton kept a hold of Elara, but turned around so he could face the dead prince. Driecht frowned slightly as he examined the man before him.

“Ah… we never formally met, but I do believe you are Baron Anton Nos, am I right? Don’t you think you’re being a little too familiar with my sister, there?”

“It’s King Anton, now,” Anton said dismissively. “And Elara is my wife.”

Driecht’s eyes narrowed. “King, is it?”

His eyes flicked to Elara. “And wife… so the assassination attempt succeeded… but Aunt Syrelle had a named successor?”

“You knew about the assassination?” Anton asked sharply.

“I authorised it. I’d apologise for the discourtesy, but it seems to have worked out well for everyone standing here, has it not?”

“You didn’t,” Elara said. She pushed herself away from Anton and faced Driecht directly. “My brother did, but you’re not him.”

“As you say,” Driecht agreed, bowing again. “But surely the least I can do is carry the blame that he is no longer around to accept. If you’d like to punish me for his sins, then by all means do so. Hit me, stab me, kill me. Anything to make you feel better, dear sister.”

“No touching,” Kelsey reminded her. Elara nodded and took a step back.

“I feel a little sick,” she said. “Can we get on with the questioning?”

Anton nodded. “Is it true that your father gave up the throne?” he asked.

“That is what I was told,” Driecht said easily. “The message bore his seal, but it was carried by the Tiatians, so I can’t give it full credence.”

He glanced at a shocked Elara.

“I can’t say I was happy about it, but I could hardly protest with Prince Mazir and his forces right there. Once we defeated you, I was planning on finding the right moment to make my displeasure known… but events seemed to have turned out differently.”

“Yes,” Anton said. He glanced at Kelsey, unsure of how much he should reveal.

“You might as well tell him,” she said with a shrug. “He might try to eat your brains, but he wouldn’t share your secrets, even if he had the opportunity.”

“Indeed, Sire! My first loyalty is to the Great Mistress, of course, but as she seems to have thrown in with you, I have to consider myself part of this Rose Circle conspiracy you’re in charge of.”

“Legitimate government of the Kingdom,” Kelsey corrected.

“Of course, it is as you say, Great Mistress. I apologise for my ignorance.”

“Right.” Anton looked dubiously at the undead. He was starting to see what Kelsey had meant when she said that they weren’t quite people. They said the right words, but nothing they said meant anything. Kelsey was always right, and everything else they said was just meant to inspire trust and get closer to the brains.

“Well, after you—after Prince Driecht—died, the assassination attempt happened. We killed most of the assassins and drove off the wizard behind them, but Queen Syrelle died. Elara was Crown Princess and became Queen; I married her and became King.”

“Our forces must have been in significant disarray if you managed to hold any kind of ceremony during a siege,” Driecht mused.

“They lost a lot of commanders at the same time, and I think they reorganised to be under one command. We also managed a one-day truce by inviting Prince Mazir to the ceremony.”

“Bold. No doubt he took the chance to put his own loyalists in key positions. I’d hoped that I might be tasked with taking back my half of the army, but that seems… unlikely.”

Anton nodded. “At the ceremony, Kelsey showed off some of her new weapons and that scared him off enough that the whole army left in the night.”

Driecht laughed, long and hard. “Ah… I would rather have died than face such failure… and it seems I did!”

Anton waited for him to calm down. “We were wondering if you had any insight on where they went. Are they still in the feild, or are they heading back to Bures?”

“Hmm,” Driecht rubbed at his face, considering. “Did they flee north, or east?”

“East, at least for a little way,” Anton said. “We don’t have enough scouts to risk long-range expeditions. Oh, and their fleet cleared out as well.”

Driecht nodded. “Find the fleet, and you find the army, but I think those ships drew too much water to sail upriver. If he needs the supplies from the fleet…”

He paused in thought.

“My army was chasing Queen Syrelle, but I thought the whole march was a diversion. I expected her to take ship at Kirido and escape me. So, to travel faster, I left the majority of my supplies in the north, near the border of Tarazin. If I was going to retreat, I would have headed north.”

“But they went east…” Anton said thoughtfully. “Don’t they need those supplies? The Glimmered Lancers went through there and cleaned out what they could.”

“They have the fleet to supply them,” Driecht reminded. “And… they may not have known. I certainly didn’t tell them.”

“Someone must have,” Anton said sceptically.

“I’m not so sure. I’m not the only one with complicated feelings about the Tiatian takeover. It could be that my men saw fit to keep that detail to themselves, in case they decided to part ways with the Tiatians.”

“So without your supplies, they’ll need the fleet, which means they can’t go far from the coast…”

“They would regroup in Avelford perhaps, at the mouth of the river. It’s well supplied, but they won’t stay there for long—there’s nothing they can do there.”

“So where does he go from there? Back to the capital?”

“Entering Bures with his tail between his legs is hardly a good look for a conquering prince… Why did he lift the siege? Were my Great Lady’s weapons so terrifying that he gave up?”

“They were pretty terrifying,” Kelsey gloated. “But I think he realised that the logistics for them get pretty hairy in the field.”

Anton thought about it. “If they fire hundreds of bullets in a minute… you’d need thousands upon thousands to use them in a battle. But you can just take them out of your storage… oh, he doesn’t know about that.”

Neither did Driecht, from the puzzled look he was giving them, but he managed to keep up with the conversation.

“Then this retreat was to lure you out,” he suggested. “To fight you from the opposite bank of the River Aven, perhaps.”

“But we don’t have to fight him,” Anton realised. “We need to get to the capital, to depose the King.”

“Or Provincial Governor as my father is styling himself these days,” Driecht said sardonically. “I do wish I could be there when you do.”

Anton eyed the dead prince. “If we head there directly, those supplies will come in handy.”

Driecht bowed his head in an elaborate nod. “If my Great Mistress sees fit to provide me with materials, I can mark it on a map.”

“Sure,” Kelsey said. “Once these tasty brain cases are out of the room.”

Driecht smiled, white teeth offsetting his dark face. Somehow, he managed to hide the fangs. “Wise as always, Great Mistress. You shall have your map anon, Your Majesty. I hope it proves of use.”