Chương 106: 173 - Journal

Ember had mentioned earlier that her father was, understandably, in a mood thanks to recent events—the near destruction of his kingdom and the opportunists who had come in its wake. Yet Vivi detected no such disgruntled attitude as she approached him. Cinereus de Caldaros lounged in his high-backed royal seat with an easygoing disposition, a small smile playing at his lips as he conversed with Rafael.

Of course, she wasn't foolish enough to assume that the King of Dragons' outward presentation matched what he felt inside, but that he had the wherewithal to fake a welcoming demeanor implied a ceiling to his discontent. The conversation between the two men tapered off as she drew near.

"Sorceress."

"Cinereus." There was a brief pause as, for the first time, she wondered whether she should be adding an honorific. He had never seemed to mind.

"What kind of treachery is my steward whispering into your ear?" Both men seemed amused at that. Rafael replied, "Merely discussing matters of logistics and philosophy, my lady." Cinereus nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. A stimulating dialogue. It appears that you made good progress in collaboration with my son." The first half of that exchange felt concerning, but she ignored it.

"We did. I'm surprised you never joined us." He might not share the obsession she and Solfirus had for unraveling the arcane, but a man like Cinereus had to have his own intimate relationship with magic.

"I would have, had I not other obligations. I promised the safety of your guild, and I take such vows seriously." Well, I know one instance where you broke your word. But maybe that was unfair. Was it even possible to live ten thousand years without making mistakes? Though, she didn't think he considered his theft from the Mother of Fire a mistake, and that was the point.

Either way, she was glad he'd been keeping a careful eye on the celebration, because although she had taken her own precautions to protect everyone, her vigilance had lapsed while she was occupied with void energy.

"Would you like to see?" Vivi asked.

"Solfirus won't be able to demonstrate. He has the theory but can't implement it yet." A bit late, she realized that she maybe should've skipped the second part, or at least phrased it in a more tactful manner. She wasn't trying to draw attention to how she'd picked the skill up faster than Cinereus's son, only make a note that if he wanted to see void energy in action, it would have to be through her.

"If it does not trouble the guest of honor, yes, I would," came Cinereus's unbothered reply. Fulfilling her offer, she gave a practical display and recap of what she had discovered the past several hours. Rafael asked more questions than Cinereus did; the monarch merely watched.

"It will be a formidable weapon, once tamed," he said after Vivi had finished.

"Though I expect that deeper understanding of the blade will in turn make it easier to blunt or deflect."

"Almost certainly," she agreed. She'd said something to that effect to Solfirus. Silence lingered for a moment, and then Cinereus raised a hand to summon a leather-bound notebook.

"I told you earlier I would consider the extent of my aid. I have. Inside this journal is my knowledge of the Selrath-Kyn, their members, and other details I am willing to share. I debated whether to provide a resource of this sort, not only because I am wary of intermingling our affairs, but because I am not certain how much use you will get from it. Practitioners of the taboo do not live for millennia without learning to hide themselves from even the most scrutinizing eyes.

Thus, what I have is limited, flawed by nature. You will find it difficult if not impossible to track any of them down." A small frown crept onto his lips.

"Not unless they emerge from dormancy to bring long-laid schemes to fruition."

"Which usually takes the form of newborn Cataclysms. Or breaches into the dimensional boundary," Vivi surmised, having flipped open the journal to study the first page.

"Quite. But there is a debt between us, and so no matter my dislike of entangling our fates, I have provided what little I possess as a sign of goodwill."

"Thank you. I appreciate it. Really." Though interested in the journal, she reluctantly tucked the item away to investigate later. He studied her.

"Might I offer a word of advice, Vivisari?"

"Please do."

"Even if you could, somehow, locate one of those horrid creatures, I would weigh carefully whether it is a conflict you wish to start. They have abandoned everything in pursuit of their highest purpose, and they find nothing sacrosanct in either heaven or earth. You understand what I imply?"

"They'll play dirty." At the blunt phrasing, Cinereus snorted humorlessly.

"And they are figures with great means and at least some allegiance between themselves. Of course, the Twilight Celebrant—the Fell Apostate—is fair game. Your grievance with him is personal. By the law of rats, I doubt he will find support for alliance's sake. He overstepped and the consequences of that are his own. Should you begin hunting those rats merely for the game, however, much less succeed in your goal…" Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Then they'll come for me. All of them, maybe. And because of who I am, they'll come through the people I care about, not at me directly. As much faith as she had in her shields, she wasn't so naïve as to believe herself omnipotent. Cinereus's recent display with the Fires of Creation had driven that point home. And that's assuming they don't cause general havoc. Burn down a city to send a message.

It was sheer luck a draconic princess had been there to save Prismarche, and relying on miracles tended to be a really bad idea. She grimaced. Yes, powerful, hidden organizations with no moral compunctions would indeed be a nightmare to deal with. She would need to think very carefully about poking the hornet's nest.

"I'm worried about the Fell Apostate and the void, for now." She would address the Selrath-Kyn as a larger organization when appropriate, and she didn't think it would be any time soon.

"I find that a wise course of action." Rafael had observed the conversation in silence, and when Vivi glanced at him, he replied, "One's attention can only be divided so many ways. If you choose to take the world onto your shoulders, you must understand, intimately, the concept of triage."

"Mm," Vivi said. She obviously wasn't happy about having to let monsters run about, doing what they pleased. The silver lining was that it sounded like she couldn't find them even if she tried. Not that that's actually a good thing.

"As for less troubling topics," Cinereus said.

"I hope my daughter was courteous while extending the invitation?" Vivi's mood soured.

"She was. I'll be doing my best to make her feel welcome until her sentence is over." She delivered the words like the accusation they were.

"For that, I am yet again in your debt." Vivi's eyes twitched. It took a lot of effort not to point out that he was the one to impose the sentence. It hardly needed to be said. But she really wanted to. Why bring this topic up to begin with? He knew her opinions on the matter. Or is that the point? To see how upset I am, test the water? But Vivi had chewed through all of this before. In a certain light, Cinereus was being reasonable.

Had presumably conceded a harsher punishment for the sake of staying on Vivi's good side, even. As the king, he should've used a heavier hand. Cinereus had floated the idea of her taking a governing role amongst humanity. Ironically, his treatment of his daughter demonstrated why she didn't want to touch that mess with a ten-foot pole.

She didn't know how she would handle a situation where morality and law conflicted already, and such an event would get infinitely more complicated if she were the one making said laws. She sighed.

"I'll look after her. She's a good person, you raised her well. Thank you for the help, both through Solfirus and this journal." She patted her robes where she'd stored the leather-bound book.

"It seems the night is coming to a close, though, so if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to borrow my steward."

"Of course." Vivi thought she sensed a note of satisfaction and relief in his tone.

"Our exchanges have benefited us both. Do take care, Sorceress." Once she and Rafael were a safe distance away, she wrapped a sound barrier around them.

"Excellent restraint, my lady."

"There's no point in lambasting him about Ember, I've known that from the start. I have some self-control, thank you." Changing the subject, she said, "I lost track of time when I was with Solfirus. Has anything happened?" She gestured around at the celebration. Rafael would have kept tabs on everything.

"I can't help but notice the lack of fires and screaming."

"Daring, my lady, to tempt fate at the eleventh hour. Perhaps the Dragon King's reception hasn't been exciting enough for you?"

"Oh, shush. Nothing's gone wrong, then?"

"There were a few incidents of note. Nothing serious, however."

"Such as?" The steward hummed.

"Your apprentice has been attracting unwanted attention, and one could predict rather easily how she would respond to that. The Sorceress's pupil is of no small interest to all present. One of the hatchlings in particular was more insistent in his attempts to draw her notice than he should have been." Vivi bristled, though relaxed when she saw that Rafael's expression only turned amused by her reaction.

"As defensive of your charge as you are, please trust I am not irresponsible myself," he said.

"As already stated, it wasn't anything to worry about. A squabble, barely, between youths, with the boy having been dragged off by the ear. Or horns, as it were. Nothing like the incident on the Convoy." That had indeed been where Vivi's mind had gone. The Convoy. The last time Saffra had been around nobles, she had been pestered by the aggravating Count Barnaby Caldimore's son.

"It better not have been," she grumbled. After a moment, she realized something.

"I don't think I ever told you about the Convoy."

"I keep myself informed," Rafael replied vaguely.

"Jasper?"

"A spymaster has a responsibility to his network." A beat of silence.

"Yes, him." It's hardly sensitive information, but leave it to that man to annoy me by proxy.

"What else?" she asked.

"Perhaps the only event that could truly be described as a 'mishap' involved Elise." That caught Vivi by surprise. If she had made and ranked a list of people who might cause trouble, Elise would've been at the bottom. White Gloves valued nothing more than acting with perfect decorum and maintaining their organization's image. Theoretically. They were still people in the end, and Vivi could tell Elise was more spirited than the usual Glove." Involved Elise," Vivi said, realizing she'd made a bad assumption.

"She didn't cause it herself?" Rafael quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh, dear, of course not. Rather, our hosts seem quite taken with her. The concept of battle-ready servants in general. They don't have the same custom in the Sky-Pillar Range, and one of the more intrigued… and inebriated… nobles made a not-very-subtle offer of new employment." Vivi blinked, then wrinkled her nose as she understood.

"Indeed. While not a slap in the face, an attempted poaching could be seen as a breach of hospitality. His fellows politely insisted that he disengage, however, and he too was dragged off much like the hatchling earlier. To most onlookers' shared amusement. The event today has been rather self-policing." The edges of his mouth curled up in mirth.

"Nobody wishes to draw the ire of the Sorceress, much less that of the Dragon King. I suspect the individual in question will regret his choices come morning." Vivi had only been slightly annoyed, but even that cooled into humor. She shouldn't have been aggravated in the first place. If Elise wanted to work in the Sky-Pillar Range, Vivi would honestly encourage it. Not that it would happen. The maid clearly thought she owed Vivi something, and besides that, prioritized looking after her little brother.

"If that's the biggest debacle, then things have essentially gone without a hitch."

"It seems even Vanguard can survive one night among allies, when both parties are walking on glass and heavily supervised. Truly, a shock."

"Now you're the one tempting fate, Rafael."