Chapter 18: Wings of the Dragonlord (2)

Casval wasn’t human.

Simon already knew that since the night he saw him rise into the air with wings and a tail, but now that he spent his days befriending the traitor, he had begun to pick on startling details about him.

First of all, Casval only ate meat. Vegetables, milk, cereal… he always left them on his plate in the academy feasting hall while devouring rabbit and chicken without issue. Most wouldn’t care all that much, yet his diet’s implications disturbed Simon to his core; doubly so when he noticed the predatory glances Casval often sent to people who injured themselves during melee practice. He reminded Simon of a tiger considering whether or not to strike at its wounded prey.

Casval always managed to regain his self-control and quickly hid his true feelings; but fact remained that the first thought that crossed his mind when seeing a human bleed was to eat them.

Sometimes, Casval would outright forget to blink. He would keep his eyes open for hours on end, only to abruptly close them when talking to someone, as if remembering that was something humans did now and then. He never used the privy either, likely because his body processed waste differently.

Casval was something shaped like a man, a parrot repeating words to trick prey, a mimic trying to blend into the treasury. He succeeded enough to pass a cursory investigation, but it only made the brief peeks behind the mask all the more unsettling. No one would have noticed his true nature unless they already knew to pay attention.

What did Mr. Adrissant say about scalefolk? That they were akin to talking alligators? Simon thought as he and Casval browsed books on Telluria in the academy’s library. That must have been why he killed Anna.

Simon had wondered why Casval had slain Anna in her bedroom, considering it would almost certainly blow his cover, but he had begun to work out a theory. Casval was a wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing, a man-eating predator who had to make a conscious effort not to take a bite out of people. Being alone in a room with an unarmed Anna with no witnesses must have been too great a temptation to resist.

“This library is lacking in knowledge,” Casval complained after closing a book with no new piece of insight to show for it. “You said a demon was entombed there?”

“That’s what my kish servant told me when I asked her about the ‘divine relic,’” Simon replied. While Casval was clearly interested in whatever lurked beneath the kish capital, he didn’t seem to know more than Simon himself. “Do you think they could be related?”

“Possibly. One man’s demon is another’s god.” Casval smiled, his teeth so white and pristine. “May the Church of the Light forgive me for saying so.”

“I am no priest, so you will receive no absolution for your confession.” Simon closed his own book. Imperial scholars couldn’t care less about beastmen beyond how to subjugate them. “Assuming this treasure exists and isn’t all hogwash, what do you want to do with it, Casval?”

“I figured we could present it to Prince Dassein or the emperor himself for a promotion.”

That was most likely a lie meant to obfuscate his group’s intentions, but Simon wondered if that wasn’t Casval’s actual plan: use a foreign treasure to buy his way into House Magnos’ good graces so he could infiltrate them.

“I would rather that we sell it,” Simon said, before throwing a hook and lure at the Casval fish. “My siblings would misuse it.”

“Oh?” Casval looked at him with interest. “Are they so terrible?”

“You’ve seen Thalas, and Louis is crazier still.” Simon scoffed. “You don’t know them like I do.”

Casval’s head tilted to the side in a way that reminded Simon of an owl on the prowl. “Do you hate them?”

Instead of answering, Simon scowled and feigned uneasiness. He subtly glanced at the students near their tables as if to check that no one eavesdropped.

“Doesn’t matter,” Simon finally said. “It won’t change anything.”

Simon knew he had won the moment he caught that small glint of satisfaction in Casval’s eyes. Saying that he hated his siblings would have been too good to be true, but feigning evasiveness and giving a non-committed answer? Now he looked like someone full of resentment who had given in to resignation out of fear and powerlessness; a perfect prospect for radicalization if given the tools to act.

“I see…” Casval replied evasively.

“Why are you asking me this?” Simon inquired while faking suspicion. “If you think you can rat me out to Thalas for a favor–”

“Is it Thalas, or Thal-Ass?” Casval replied with a chuckle. “Worry not. He would not give a non-noble like me the time of day.”

Which implied he had considered such an approach before deeming it impractical, the bastard.

“Oh, look, Tiella,” a certain voice called out to Simon. “It’s Simon and his boyfriend.”

Simon smiled as Anna and her handmaiden joined them, though his happiness vanished the moment he saw the fiendish smirk she sent Casval’s way. He had to avoid a repeat of that disaster.

“You would be the first person informed if I were dating someone, Anna,” Simon teased her. “I wouldn’t keep any secret from my favorite honorary cousin.”

“Your only honorary cousin, thank you very much,” Anna replied before putting a newspaper in front of Simon. “Then how do you explain this?”

Simon already knew the title even before he checked. “Why would I know anything about the Lord Treasurer’s death?”

“I don’t know, because Father and Louis’ fiancée were recalled to the capital around the same time you left it, and he hasn’t sent me a letter since.” Anna leaned closer to him. “As you said, you wouldn’t keep secrets from your beloved honorary cousin, right?”

“The only secret we’re working to uncover is that of the kish treasure, Your Highness,” Casval said.

It’s happening again, Simon cursed when he noticed a spark of excitement in Anna’s gaze. Damn it.

He had hoped skipping Tribal Studies to check the library today would have prevented it, yet it seemed the river of time was set on flowing the same way. The fact that Casval indeed used the exact same sentence he pulled on Anna in a previous reign meant he had probably rehearsed it in his head for a while, just to create an opportunity he could seize to close in on his prey.

If Simon didn’t do anything, then Anna would invite Casval to a private party that would lead to her death. He had to throw a stone into the water before the river continued on with its course.

“Treasure?” Anna asked. “Simon, what have you been keeping from us?”

“I…” Simon cleared his throat. “No, I shouldn’t.”

“Shouldn’t what?” As he suspected, his reluctance only emboldened Anna. “My, something is going on in the capital?”

This narrative has been purloined without the author’s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“I’m not allowed to tell anyone.” Simon pretended to glance around, then leaned on to whisper into Anna’s ear. “It’s family stuff.”

“Oh, I see…” Anna scowled, but understood the not-so-secret message: that it wasn’t something they could discuss in front of Casval and Tiella. “How about you come to my room tonight? I was about to invite you to a private studying session anyway.”

“Sure.” Simon sighed and turned to Casval. “Sorry.”

“No offense taken,” the traitor replied, his interest only growing further. If he wasn’t considering recruiting Simon already, he would likely act on it soon.

“And is that Antonine I spy behind a bookshelf?” Anna laughed and then raised her voice. “Antonine, come join us!”

Simon heard a startled cry, followed by the noise of books falling and someone hastily retreating through the exit.

“I thought she was allergic to studying?” Tiella mused.

“I wonder which of us Thalas sent her to spy on,” Anna said, smirking at Simon. “You or I?”

“Maybe both.” That bothered Simon. He could always count on Thalas to ruin his plans. “So, tonight Anna?”

“Don’t be late, or you’ll be sorry.”

Since there was time until the evening, Simon took his retainers on a short hunt outside the city walls.

Dassein had unfortunately refused to give him a bounty hunter licence this time around, likely because of Firewand’s absence and his lack of Gladiator Class, so he was technically skipping school. A pity, but he needed to check something.