Chương 123: B3 Chapter 2: Loyalty Crisis

Amber gave Carlos a light squeeze with the arm she had wrapped around him and snorted a laugh. Sometimes, he asked questions that seemed astoundingly incongruous with the sophisticated knowledge he so often displayed, and she never knew when it might happen. She didn't mind, though; it was endearing, and getting to explain something to him instead of the other way around always gave her a bit of a thrill.

"Surely you understand that we have to assume that he can still follow us, right? If we don't and we're wrong, it will be a catastrophe when he catches us unprepared." Carlos spluttered for a moment. Amber wished she could see his face just then, but that would require moving her head off of his shoulder, and she didn't want to do that. It was a short-lived opportunity, anyway, as Carlos recovered quickly.

"Well, yeah. I was just– Never mind. What matters is what to do next." Amber nodded. She had been combing through the branching tree of foreseeable possibilities with several of her minds ever since they had escaped the throne room.

"Caution demands that we assume failure, but that is not sustainable. We can't live the rest of our lives endlessly fleeing an enemy that we constantly speculate might be one step behind. We must at some point conclusively determine that we have escaped immediate pursuit. Unfortunately, trying to scry on any pursuit efforts would provide a connection they could use to find us.

The only way to actually find out if that broke our trail, without giving them a new trail in the process, is to wait and see if he shows up. So, we should prepare as best we can for that. Let's start with getting a bit of distance so that we'll have more time to react." She looked around at their new surroundings. They should be roughly 100 miles from the wellspring, in a random direction outward, away from Kalor Kingdom, but that meant nothing to her.

Maps of the Wilds were always spotty, focused on specific points of interest, or sparse on details, especially for the deep Wilds, far from civilization. They were somewhere in the foothills of a tall mountain range, with numerous snowy peaks in the distance. The thick tangle of vegetation she'd grown accustomed to in the Wilds was much thinner here, with trees only grouped in isolated clusters, rather than covering everything with a vast canopy. Even the grass had gaps, spots where bare dirt showed with no cover.

She chose a hill a bit over a mile away and teleported the group there, then quickly spotted the place where they had just been. Even at over a mile distant, she could easily sense the lingering aura of her presence there. Carlos cast a spell that made some kind of connective bridge for his mana to perceive that area more closely, and it took Amber a moment to recognize it.

It was a variant of the spell — actually two spells, now combined into one — that he had used when they were kidnapped to look outside of the box they'd been held in. She quickly copied the spell, then cursed as she felt just how clearly the seconds-old traces of her Teleport spell stood out at close range.

"Dammit, we should have studied how tracing a teleport works and how to interfere with it."

"Yeah. Hindsight sees clearly." For some reason, the number 20 was involved in the meaning of what Carlos had just said, but all Amber's comprehension aid could tell her for why was that it referenced context that she didn't know. Before she could try to puzzle that out any further, Carlos sighed and continued, "We'll just have to figure it out on the fly. And in the meantime, the trick with Purple altering the spell should at least be better than a straight-up normal Teleport."

He suited his actions to his words and built another variant Teleport, holding the spell in place for Purple to modify and for him to trigger at a moment's notice. Amber felt Carlos turn his attention both to the spell traces and inward concurrently, as well as his at-the-ready new Teleport. He muttered under his breath, " Of course there's no system effect specifically for erasing all traces of a spell, because why would things ever be that easy?"

She mentally knocked at him, wordlessly requesting access to share in his investigation, and set another of her minds to watch and give suggestions as Carlos repeatedly queried the system's catalog for various categories of spell effect keywords. With that being handled, she set to applying one of her own main tools for solving problems: If she didn't know how to find the answer, then ask someone who might.

"Trinlen, do you know anything about teleport tracing? Colonel Lorvan, what about you? Or, hell, any of you?" Trinlen shook his head and held up his hands to either side in a gesture of helplessness.

"Teleportation and anything related to it was an advanced and sensitive topic at the academy. I tried, but you would not believe how thoroughly they secure the secrets they really care about." Lorvan maintained his rigid posture as he answered, "Such things are beyond the capabilities of our equipment. I only know that the royal mages are proficient in it, not any details of how they do it." Amber glanced at each of the adventurers and Ressara, but they all just shook their heads or averted their eyes.

She looked at the only person who had not yet answered. Lornera was still crouched on the ground, staring blankly. Amber called out to her, but the princess did not respond. She hesitated. The whole idea of a soul structure to enforce loyalty seemed strange to her, and she felt uncomfortable with the idea of manipulating it for anything, but the stakes right now were too high to let mere discomfort block a powerfully useful option. Amber detached herself from Carlos's side and took a moment to consider her wording.

"Princess Lornera, I'm sorry, but we aren't yet safe. If our escape is to mean anything, for both us and the Crown, we need your help to ensure it." The moment she mentioned the Crown, Lornera froze and snapped her head up to look at Amber. A moment passed, then the orichalcum-clothed royal slowly stood up. The turbulence in her mana calmed, and her full attention focused on Amber. It felt like a mountain was looming over her, and a nearly-unbearable pressure touched her, but then the sensations withdrew.

All that power was still there, still immensely strong, but now Lornera was restraining it with long-practiced discipline. Lornera cocked her head quizzically, and Amber repeated her statement. Lornera let out a long breath, then nodded sharply.

"Right, the Crown can't afford a breakdown right now. But… I don't know how much I really can help right now, though. This situation is… so confusing. I've never seen Father act like that. Never disagreed with him so strongly. Certainly never defied him like that. I had no idea it was even possible, and then suddenly I was doing it. I still can't see any other choice I could have made. I had to stop him. You two have so, so much potential, and you both demonstrated your loyalty beyond doubt.

If you wanted to seize power, you had the perfect opportunity to finish what Nyralis started and wipe us all out, but you helped as much as you could instead. You even could have just stood aside; Nyralis was winning until you intervened. Your skills and abilities turned the tide to save us, and the Crown needs that kind of capability to safeguard against any similar threats. I had to protect you, you two are vital to the Crown's security, and Father was blind to not see that.

If it happened once, it can happen again, and maybe even soon — who knows if Nyralis might have left a successor somewhere? All of us together couldn't beat him, and you did, and you're loyal, and we need you, and I had to, and–" The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Princess!" Amber cut off Lornera's rambling before it could degenerate any further. Silence reigned for a few seconds. Lornera shook her head apologetically and tried again.

"Sorry. It's just that… I can't stop thinking about it. I fought, actually fought, my father, the king, because I believed that it was necessary for the good of the Crown. And I still believe that, but I fought the king, and how can that ever not be against the Crown, and–""Lornera." Amber spoke sternly and desperately hoped that her assessment of the princess's character was correct — that she would understand the need for such disrespect and wouldn't punish them for it.

"What do you know about teleport tracing and how to prevent it?" Lornera blinked, then blinked again. She floated up a few inches into the air and opened her mouth, then stopped, swallowed, and descended back onto the ground.

"Right. Just– Just focus on the answer. Got it. The more advanced and sophisticated spells for tracing teleportation are, by necessity, designed to trace teleports done by mystics through the use of specialized soul structures, as well as those done through a mage's spell. It takes time and finesse to identify the correct piece of mana to examine, but regardless of the teleportation method, there is always some bit of mana that holds a memory of the destination. That is what you must obscure to prevent tracking."

"Hmm." Carlos brought a hand to his chin. He looked kind of cute, focusing on deciphering a problem like that. He stood tall and straight, his shoulders square and confident. He was clearly in his element, all traces of diffidence and doubt gone like they'd never existed.

"So, distorting the spell's structure in strange ways probably makes it take more time to find the right mana piece, but won't actually stop them from eventually succeeding. Okay. What if I add a delayed spell to shred and mix up all the mana in that area right after we're gone?" Lornera didn't respond to him. She was muttering to herself. Amber leaned a little closer and picked up a few quiet "had to" utterances. She sighed and shook her head.

"For the Crown's sake…" It was an awkward beginning to what she had to say, but it got Lornera's attention, and it seemed like nothing else would.

"You're going to have to work through this in order to be functional again, aren't you?" Lornera hesitated for a moment, then quietly said, "Yes."

"Okay." Amber schooled her face into the best mask of confident competence she could muster. She might have to sprinkle in references to the Crown liberally for now just to keep Lornera engaged with the conversation.

"To aid the Crown, I might be able to help with that, but I'll need to know more details. Starting with the precise nature of this soul structure: What is its concept, exactly? What does 'loyalty' mean for it? What does it do, and how? And why is it part of House Kalor's own soul plan, not just for the guards and such?" Lornera glared intensely for a moment.

"You are asking for secrets of Kalor." She softened slightly and sighed.

"But I cannot deny the need. Very well." She straightened her posture, displaying confident certainty so great it almost seemed exaggerated, and her eyes gained a fanatic gleam.

"Loyalty to the Crown is the greatest virtue. It is the most core foundation of my life's purpose. I always serve the Crown to the best of my ability. So do all members and servants of House Kalor. I wrote that truth into my soul when I came of age, to ensure I would never forget or stray from it. That is its concept." Amber waited a moment for her to continue, then prompted Lornera when it seemed no more was coming.

"And the meaning of 'loyalty?' Also, what is encompassed by the concept of 'serving' the Crown? Many may think of it as simply obedience, but for you, there is clearly more to it than that." Lornera stood silently for several seconds, her mouth moving sporadically as though struggling to speak.

"It is… I… Obedience… is part of it, but yes, not the whole. Loyalty is… belief. It is faith. It is valuing the good of the Crown above myself. Serving the Crown to the best of my ability means doing what is best for the Crown. The Crown needs you, so I had to–""Yes, I know." The core element of Lornera's inner conflict was all too obvious, but the obvious potential resolution to that conflict was exactly the things she was already saying to herself.

Amber reflected on a principle Carlos had told her once: Many problems could be addressed by either resolving the root cause, or by mitigating the symptoms of it. Resolving the root cause was nearly always better, and ignoring it tended to lead to greater problems in the future, but mitigating symptoms was often much faster to accomplish in the short term. Right now, they were exceedingly short on time.

Amber accessed her todo list, which was stored in Purple's knowledge repository, and added an item to revisit the root cause of Lornera's conflict as soon as they had enough time. If this worked, that is. She really hoped it would.

"Princess Lornera, for the Crown's sake: Getting caught up in repeating the same arguments to yourself over and over again is handicapping your ability to serve the Crown. Repeating those arguments to yourself, whether for or against the actions you chose, is therefore bad for the Crown, so you should stop doing that. You can best serve the Crown right now by putting that argument aside, not thinking about it, and committing to following through on the decision you made to help us. Do you agree?"

Lornera considered for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"That does make sense. But, I don't know if I can just… stop thinking about it." Amber shrugged.

"Your loyalty soul structure clearly can and does affect your thoughts. So, if you just accept the conclusion, the soul structure should handle that part for you." Lornera cocked her head.

"Huh. I suppose…" She looked toward the place they had first arrived at.

"Hmm, how to prevent tracing in order to stop pursuit…" Amber watched and waited, hoping Lornera would come up with something useful. For a while, Lornera stayed silent. Then, suddenly, she shouted, "Incoming!" and flew over to the other hill, more than a mile away. Her flight was a blur to Amber's eyes, but Amber's mana sense tracked her movement with only minor difficulty.

Another of her minds had already noticed and recognized the formation of an inbound Teleport spell arriving, and the knowledge of it, shared through all of herself, negated most of the surprise she might have felt. Five bodies appeared, four of them in full plate armor and the other wearing a black robe, and immediately collapsed. Lornera had cut off all of their heads with one swing of her right arm, which was momentarily transformed into a sword, before they could even react. She flew back just as quickly.

Her arm was already back to normal and was completely clean, with not even a drop of blood on it. Mana moved in the five corpses, and Amber felt Carlos's attention focusing alongside her own as they both instinctively analyzed the spell. Carlos cursed.

"Shit, they had a deadman signal spell! Gotta go!" Carlos triggered the Teleport he'd been holding ready. In the same instant, another inbound Teleport arrived, and a mountain of pure, unrestrained wrath suddenly dominated Amber's mana senses. Then their surroundings flickered, and they were somewhere else, once again away from King Elston. For the moment.