Chapter 114 – The Path Forward

The crowd stood outside the smoldering wreckage of the Magrio Broadsheet’s building, now made up of embassy staff, random people, and at least four guards.

Mirian considered her options. By now, it was a bit late to hide her presence in Palendurio to anyone paying attention. On the other hand, she didn’t think Sulvorath could mobilize in time to do anything to her. If he even waited two days, he couldn’t go south by train. What about his airship? Is he still destroying it as soon as he arrives?

The crowd was still staring. I can still disappear after this. Let’s see what kind of a disruption I can make.

“The dead ones are Pure Blade mercenaries. The group is responsible for attacking the Akanan Embassy, and then trying again to finish them off just now.” Mirian said loudly, gesturing to the Akanans who were even now trying to brush the soot off and get the ash out of their lungs. With this big a crowd, there would be no more silencing. Sulvorath and the agents he could muster gained an advantage when the truth was veiled and they could strike from the shadows, not when she’d already mobilized a backing of supporters.

There were murmurs in the crowd. The guards weren’t sure what to say.

“The Pure Blade impersonated the Palendurio Guard, stealing from their armory in preparation, and killing at least one of the guards at Ducastil,” she announced. “They then assassinated Governor Palamas.”

This time, the crowd’s voice was full of shock and anger.

Mirian walked over to Betella. “This woman was part of the Pure Blade, and has offered to testify to their crimes.”

Betella gave her a shocked look, then took a deep breath. “W-what… what he says is true,” she managed. “All of it.”

Mirian gestured for the guards to come closer, and lowered her voice. “These people need to be taken to a secure location, and protected. The Pure Blade was only one part of this conspiracy. Quash the rumors of Akanan merchants conspiring. Do not trust General Corrmier. They will be safest in King Palamas’s palace. You have traitors in your midst,” she said. “That’s why secretary Philus was also assassinated just a few days ago.” That was speculation, but she was confident of it at this point. The conspirators had already shown in Torrviol they liked securing the guard in order to run rampant. She just wasn’t ready to put all her guesses on the table yet, even if she suspected the Pure Blade mercenary in the canal had given her Captain Rufus’s name because he knew he would quash any investigation. Captain Rufus was also on the list of names Celine had given her who secretary Philus reported to.

“Who are you?” one of the guards asked.

“No one you’ve heard of,” she replied.

***

What followed next made Mirian want to pull out her hair. It took nearly an hour of the guard arguing amongst each other what to do while Mirian retold a summary of the events and they interviewed the embassy staff. Mirian finally gave her name as Micael, and there was much consternation as they tried to figure out who she was, even as she repeatedly explained that she was a nobody who had stumbled into this plot.

When they finally made it to Charlem Palace, the interrogations by guards were replaced by interrogations by increasingly skeptical officials. She had little time to appreciate the white marble and exquisite decorations of the place; her attention kept focusing on some idiot who wouldn’t listen to reason.

Having an entire gaggle of Akanan embassy workers who had been thought dead just a few hours earlier certainly made them hard to ignore, though, and every single one of them had seen the fake corpse lying in the Ambassador’s bed. Eventually, officials of the Crown agreed to host the embassy staff.

“Did you find any suspicious communiques?” Mirian asked Kathera as evening approached.

Kathera lowered her voice and spoke to her in Eskanar. “There were some strange messages going back and forth, but that’s nothing new. The Republic Intelligence Division isn’t supposed to use the embassy, but it does, and your own Department of Public Security knows they do. But regular staff aren’t privy to their coded messages.” She sighed and said, “But now they’re all burnt up anyways. Thank you, though. We owe you our lives.”

Mirian smiled, but in her head, she was thinking, just wait a few days.

The room they’d ended up in was full of velvet cushions and fine wood furniture, and four crystal chandeliers hung from the tall ceiling. The ceiling itself was painted, showing various battles the noble families had taken part of. Slowly, the room was emptying out as the embassy staff were found secure accommodations. By then, Betella had been escorted to a special room to be interrogated by the Crown Bureau (“Not the Deeps,” Mirian had insisted).

As Kathera departed, one of the Arcane Praetorians that had joined them in the room cleared his throat. Grestave, she remembered, from when he’d introduced himself some two hours ago. “There’s still the small matter of you, Micael,” he said. “You did freely admit to using illegal magic.”

“Gods above,” Mirian muttered, just wanting to be done with the talking. “Yes, that was me.” Can the fact that I just saved a dozen people’s lives directly give me a one-time pass? she wanted to say.

“You’ve been sidestepping your identity all evening. You implied you were a Deeps agent, but never actually said it. But then you don’t trust them, and those agents are not allowed levitation wands anyways except in specially approved cases. There’s no Micael of your age on the census records from Madinahr, by the way. I had the secretaries check.”

Again and again and again, Mirian thought. “The truth is less believable than the lies,” she said. She glanced around the room, and saw that there were several other guards hanging around the doors, ostensibly helping guide and protect the embassy workers and Celine, but it just as well barred her way as well. Stupid, Mirian thought. I should have just flown off as soon as the fire was out.

“Try me,” Grestave said.

Mirian embraced her focus, checking the Praetorian and everyone else in the room for any rune magic. Well, might as well try to talk before I fight my way out, she thought. Her auric mana was still low, but it had regenerated over the past few hours. “I’m going to reiterate something important. The Department of Public Security cannot be trusted. I know that because one of their agents is pretending to be Adria Gavell. But Adria Gavell died three years ago.”

Grestave looked more confused than worried. “That can’t be right.”

“All of Torrviol is compromised. It’s overrun by Akanan agents, and they’ve bought off the guard and killed anyone who could sound the alarm. A Deeps turncoat who goes by the name Specter is up there,” she started, while thinking again and again and again. How many times do I have to tell people about this? After explaining she said, “Now, what usually happens is someone like you goes running off because I’ve said enough scary stuff you want to check, but you don’t actually trust me. Then I explain a bunch of things to more people again, and so on and so forth until I’m absolutely sick of talking, and then everyone realizes I’m right, except by then I’ve done all the explaining, and I’ve learned nothing. But it’s me who needs to learn from you.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The other guards were looking over, and Grestave glanced at them for reassurance. His hand went to his wand.

“Don’t,” Mirian snarled. “You think your orichalcum can save you? I can pierce it. Easily. Get your hand away from your wand and listen. You’ve started to get the reports of the strange magical eruptions, right?”