Eric Linnaeus | Book 3 | Chapter 26 - Everything Is Working Out Better Than I Hoped (Patreon)

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𝔼𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕀𝕤 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕆𝕦𝕥 𝔹𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕀 ℍ𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕕ᴍᴏʟʟʏ: ᴍᴀʏ - ᴊᴜɴᴇ, 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟶. ʀᴇᴄᴏᴜɴᴛs: 𝟷𝟿𝟺𝟻 ᴀɴᴅ 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟾

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“If what you say is true, then we should meet their demands! Hand the Vanir spawn over!” Yura snapped, slamming her hands on the table as she stood abruptly. The argument had been going on for some time by now.

Those who fought had returned not long after sunrise. Charles carried Calla in his arms, and she was now in the infirmary recovering along with Killian. Nathaniel may very well have needed to be there as well; but he insisted on attending the war meeting. Although I couldn’t see why, for he had not said a word so far.

He sat at the head of the table, twisting the ring on his thumb absently as he listened to the others argue. My master, of course, sat beside him, while Markos sat on the opposite side. At the far end of the table Péronne and Lucinde were also present. Along with Charles, Tougo, Amka, and Hanta. It was an uncomfortable room to be in.

The ghouls had arrived soon after the others returned. It seemed they knew of the Vanir’s presence before we did, only they hadn’t made it in time to warn us.

“Is it likely they would succeed if they attacked the castle?” Tougo asked calmly.

“In a roundabout way perhaps,” Markos responded, “Our Magic’s will hold. But all they need do is wait until we starve or come out to fight them.”

“We have faced one of their kind before; we weren’t able to find a way to kill her,” Baltzar added.

“What did you do instead?” the old ghoul asked without bias.

“She was a fugitive. We handed her back to her own kind. Lazarus happened to know their leadership, and he arranged the handover.”

“But you are reluctant to walk the same path as before?”

No one dared answer Tougo’s question, and a heavy silence settled over the room. The fact of it was that this was Nathaniel’s decision, and so far he had given no indication that handing Eric over was an option.

“Well? Why not then? If you hand him over, this whole problem goes away!” Yura spoke again, frustrated with the lack of response.

“It’s not so simple,” Achaicus interjected on his brother’s behalf.

“Why? Because he thought his ‘Pet’ was a brainwashed human, and now it’s not? Serves you right for the way you treat humans. If you had never kept any, this would never have been an issue-”

“Yura, we are guests; mind your manners,” Amka silenced her.

The girl sat back with her arms folded, “Fine.”

“The true problem is that without any way to kill them, we will tire while they only grow stronger for each time they return,” Achaicus spoke with poise, despite the ghoul’s rude attitude.

“So avoid it altogether; give them what they want,” Yura insisted under her breath.

“The Orphan has lived among us for years, the information he has is dangerous. Handing that over to them would be idiotic,” Markos answered her as if he thought it was something obvious she should have realized. There was another silence as the room contemplated what he had said before he continued, “Information is a two-way street. We have one of their kind among us, and we need to find a permanent method of killing them. It may take some time, but I’m confident I can figure it out.”

“You want to torture him?” Charles spoke up.

“Very gladly. Do you have a problem with that?”

The man looked uncomfortable, “I don’t know; it just seems like a bad idea,” he mumbled, folding his arms.

“Have you forgiven him so easily?”

“I haven’t forgiven anyone yet,” the human replied pointedly, and Markos, to my surprise, fell silent.

I can’t say I was opposed to the idea of killing the Orphan over and over until he at last stayed dead. In fact, I would personally very much like to see Eric tortured, and I wondered if Nathaniel would agree, given the circumstances.

Overall this situation was better than anything I could have hoped for. It would get the orphan out of my way, permanently. For months he had been interfering in my plans, and Nathaniel was untouchable because of it. I couldn’t sneak into his room or spike his drinks without that orphan being aware. Worse still, was that he had also begun to protect the others.

I entered Achaicus’s room to replenish the salt I’d hidden to find Eric waiting for me. My master’s room is just as cluttered as his brothers’, only, his collection is more organized.

Eric stood leaning against the desk with his arms folded as I entered, and I froze in place, “Orphan,” I muttered, annoyed.

“Trollop,” he responded flatly. Around him he had gathered every bottle of alcohol Achaicus kept in the room, and certain elements were missing. He had removed all the items I had hidden salt in; how annoying.

“You should not be in here,” I reprimanded him, “This is not your master’s room.”

“Achaicus hasn’t forbidden me to be here, so I see no reason why I shouldn’t be. Unless, of course, I’m in some way disrupting your plans?”

I smiled superficially, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Enough games, Molly. I know what you’re doing, and it ends now.”

“Oh? And what is it that you’re accusing me of?”

The Orphan’s expression didn’t change, but the tone of his voice held hostility. “You’ve been poisoning Achaicus, hiding salt-laden objects around his room and spiking his drinks with it. And I know full well that you tried the same with Nathaniel. Imagine my surprise when I tore his sheets only to find fine granules of salt in the stuffing of the mattress.”

“That must have taken someone a lot of effort,” I agreed casually.

Poisoning the twins was much more difficult than he knew. To get the salt in the mattress, I had needed to cut it open and then sew it back together along the existing seam lines. It took hours. Additionally, it’s tricky to disguise the taste of salt. There is nothing that makes it less salty, Achaicus was just too drunk to notice any difference, and I’ve been doing it for so long, I suspect he thinks that’s just how alcohol tastes now.

“Whatever you’re trying to achieve, it stops now, or I’ll kill you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “Kill me? You would never dare.”

“Try me.”

“You’re quite the loyal watchdog, but I would remind you that Achaicus is my master. Should anything happen to me, no one would ever believe you had no involvement.”

“And you forget Nathaniel is mine.”

“We both know my twin is the better of the two. Nathaniel’s loyalty always resides with his family, his brother. But Achaicus is loyal to me, and if he insisted, Nathaniel would choose to please his brother over you.”

Eric glared back at me; he knew I was correct. Moreover, he would never be able to lie about killing me, he was trapped.

“We should be working together you realize. We’re not on different sides,” I broached the subject in a roundabout way.

Eric laughed dryly, “You’re delusional.”

“You set Lazarus free, and I’m handling the twins. There’s no reason we should be at odds.”

“You and I are not the same. Make no mistake in that. If I find any salt anywhere that it shouldn’t be, I don’t care what the consequences are, I’ll wipe you from the face of this earth, do you understand?”

“Certainly,” I agreed sedately.

I watched him with malice as he took the bottles of salted alcohol with him and left. It was later that night that he fed Achaicus a hailjan candy. His actions were becoming increasingly irritating. I didn’t have all that much time to weaken the twins, and doing so in such subtle ways took far too long.

Eric was sincere in his threat, but he wasn’t smarter than I am, and that meant it was time for me to remove him from the playing field. During the night, while Achaicus was busy vomiting bile, I made my way to one of the lesser traveled staircases. It wouldn’t be all that difficult to make it look as though Eric had hurt me.

I sliced my skin with a knife and sprinkled the blood over the stone before throwing myself down the stairs. I won’t say it didn’t hurt, but the results were impressive. With the bruises and cuts it looked as though someone had attacked me, and that was exactly what I intended to tell Achaicus.

When morning came my injuries had set and I was rather stiff, that was perfect. I approached Achaicus to wake him. His forehead was still damp with sweat, but his expression was peaceful. He was deeply asleep with his hair fanned out around him. He didn’t always sleep so restfully. When he was at war with his brother it was quite the opposite. He was on edge and would wake at even the slightest disturbance.

It was ironic that not being separated made him more vulnerable. It occurred to me that I could kill him while he was like this. All that stopped me was the fact that should I fail, he would wake, and I would have no excuse to give. Furthermore, if I killed Achaicus by himself, that would leave me to face Nathaniel alone, and I didn’t fancy being obliterated.

“Achaicus, it’s time for you to wake up,” I said softly, brushing his face with the back of my hand.

He gave a small sound of complaint, frowning before his eyes fluttered open. “What time is it?” he mumbled groggily.

“Nearing mid-morning.”

He sat upright with a start. His hair got caught under his elbow as he did, and he winced. “Ow,” he muttered, rubbing his head and moving his hair back around ruefully, “You allowed me to sleep for so long?! I have to go see Markos!” he panicked.

“You needed the rest.”

“I wouldn’t have if that brat didn’t poison me-” he stopped, and his expression darkened. Without another word he reached out to tilt my chin up so that he could see the bruise on my lower jaw. I had attempted to cover it with cosmetics, and he was wiping the make-up away with his thumb. Of course, the concealment was poorly done, and I had known very well it would never go unnoticed.

“You’re hurt?”

“It’s nothing…”

His frown deepened with concern, “It’s quite dark; what happened?”

I said nothing as I averted my eyes, that was all I needed to do. There is an art in showing just enough emotion to be misleading, while simultaneously showing no emotion at all, and Achaicus’s concern for me is boundless.

“Someone hurt you?” he presumed.

“I’m okay…” I insisted meekly.

“Tell me who.”

“I can’t tell you; I’ll get in trouble.”

“Molly.”

Again I used silence strategically, and he understood on his own what I hoped he would. “You can’t tell me because you think you’ll get in trouble with my brother? Because it was Eric, wasn’t it?” he demanded, irritated.

I gave only the slightest nod, “We were sparring… he was rougher than necessary.”

Achaicus made a small sound of annoyance. “What the hell does he think he’s playing at? I’ll talk to my brother about his filthy rabid dog. You 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒; I don’t want you going anywhere near him alright?”

The command was a mild annoyance, but it would wear off. Achaicus left to speak with his brother, and I wondered what would come of it. There wasn’t all that much he could do if he thought Eric would claim it to be a training ‘accident’, but that was fine. I didn’t need Nathaniel to ask Eric about this. I only needed to plant the seeds of doubt.

I waited for him to go before dropping the pretense. It was exhausting pretending to care for him. You see, I don’t care for anything. Rather, I judge the amount of effort I will put into relationships based on their usefulness ranking. Achaicus was once the most useful person in my life.

My master took me from my family when I was two or three. He had often told me while drunk that he chose me out of my many siblings only because I did not cry when I saw his eyes. In exchange for me, he offered my mother enough riches to last a year, and she was only too glad to accept.

When I was ten Achaicus told me that he needed to choose between myself and another Pet as he wasn’t permitted to keep two, although he wanted to keep us both. I knew immediately what needed to be done, and I slit the other girl’s throat during the night. My master was upset when he found out. He had decided to keep us both in secret, but I wouldn’t allow him to choose anyone but me. I don’t like competition.

My life was entirely thought out. As I grew older, I knew more of what I wanted and understood how to get it. I wanted to rule. It was fortunate that Achaicus was my master. I couldn’t have gotten luckier that the heir to Leúchtend was mine, and so easily manipulated.

He craves praise, he wishes to please others and love is what he desires above all else. So it was a simple matter to give him enough affection to keep him concentrated on me. If I played my cards right, I could convince him to re-establish a monarchy, and our children would be placed on the throne after him. I was confident that I could handle children just as well as I managed him.

My plans were interrupted by two problems I could never have foreseen. The first was that Achaicus would not procreate with me. Each time I made any sort of advance, he refused. I can’t say I understand his hesitance. He claims it’s because he doesn’t want to risk having children, but from the way he drinks more heavily after refusing, I can only assume he is, in fact, impotent.

It’s difficult to make heirs if he is unwilling. Regardless, the bigger issue became that Achaicus was not the true heir. He had switched with his brother as a teenager, and that was a problem. Should Nathaniel ever decide he wished to have the title back, he could very well take it, and I couldn’t have that now, could I?

Fortunately, when we traveled to Leúchtend to present Calla’s generation of graduates, I saw the opportunity to remedy the problem. While my master drank with the Orphan, I sought out his father. By chance, I found him in private in his office and knocked politely.

“Enter,” he called, and I moved as instructed.

A dart landed in the doorframe beside my face, and although it startled me, I showed no signs of such. Instead, I knelt gracefully, “Great Lord, your aim is astonishing.”

It didn’t look as though he had been doing any work; rather, there were two young human girls with him. They stood still at the edge of the room, and the younger of the two looked close to tears. Various sharp objects stuck into the wall beside them. Lazarus had been throwing knives at them, and only narrowly missing, I realized with bemusement.

“What is it that my useless son wants now?” he asked with a scowl.

“Forgive me, My Lord, for it was not your son who sent me. I have come of my own desire.”

“Oh? And what could prompt such ‘desire’?”

“I have heard many things about you, and I wished to speak in private; if that would please My Lord.”

He seemed to consider for a moment, before he waved a hand toward the girls, “𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒,” he commanded them. They moved immediately, and Lazarus’s eyes came to rest on me, “Well wench? What is it that you want?”

I hesitated, carefully choosing my next words: “I understand true power when I see it. You have a natural elegance, and strength that surges through you effortlessly. Should you ever need anything, it would be my honor to be of service.”

“Is that so?”

“Undoubtedly.”

“You would betray your master, my son, for me? 𝐴𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ,” he ordered.

“I would never betray my master. But I would give myself over to a new master…” I responded with care. The compulsion held no sway over me, and I was free to answer however I best saw fit. Regardless, the incorrect word would land me in dangerous places, and I needed to suit my answers to what he would like best.

“Oh?”

“That is to say, My Lord… I would give myself over to you. It is plain to see you are far greater than any other.”

“And why would you do such a thing? Does my son not treat you well?”

“Achaicus… is… a soft man, in more ways than one. I fear he will never produce an heir.”

“It would seem he’s useless in all ways then. Regardless, I have no need for a human.”

“Forgive me, My Lord. It was foolish of me to even suggest such a thing… I will leave,” I stood and moved to go. I hadn’t expected this process to be easy; I only wanted to give him the idea.

There was a movement from behind me as Lazarus got up and he grabbed a hold of my hair, yanking me backward. I landed on the floor with mild surprise and began picking myself back up slowly. But stopped as his boot stepped on my hair, leaving me crouched halfway between sitting and lying.

“Forgive you? For this treason?” he mused.

“I mean no treason.”

“Then tell me, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠? 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑦?”

“…I want power. My intention is to have powerful sons and a kingdom. Achaicus will never achieve that, but you could…” I answered without lifting my gaze from the floor.

“How interesting.”

“I have lived with them for many years, and I have learned many things… I would be of use…” Perhaps this was a mistake, I thought; maybe I had misjudged his arrogance and my approach. Still, I’ve always taken calculated risks.

“Very well, if you can tell me something that I don’t already know, I’ll accept your offer, and I will become your new master.”

I told their father the truth of their identities. Achaicus had told me one night long ago while he was drunk, and I had held onto that secret until just the right moment. Of course, I had never imagined that Lazarus would make use of that information quite so quickly. In fact he seemed rather pleased to learn of it. Apparently he understood, as I do, how much easier my master is to manipulate than Nathaniel.

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