Agent of the Dragon

After a brief dialogue expressing and accepting condolences, King Dazhdeb got down to business. “You’ve no doubt discovered you were designated Amelia’s heir.” He sorted through the parchments and pushed a sheet to Rhysa. “That is a copy of the document. In it, you are given total control of assets. Unfortunately, one of the major assets, the Kasteryn manor, has been destroyed. Even a cursory inspection makes it obvious the manor will need to be completely rebuilt. Unlike many nobles, Amelia kept no other property. She did, however, maintain a small set of apartments here in the palace. You are, of course, welcome to establish your House there.” He paused to wait for Rhysa’s nod before continuing. “Fortunately, Amelia invested wisely. You will receive a good income from them. Some of the investments expired with Amelia’s death, but between the remaining investments, and your greatly reduced operating costs, your yearly net income will be only slightly less than what Amelia herself had.” He pushed another sheet to Rhysa. “Here is a list of your current assets.”

Rhysa felt relieved she’d have a place of her own to live in, and an income to pay for necessities. She glanced over the list and relaxed a little. With what she saw here, she could live in moderate luxury for the rest of her life. It wouldn’t pay for a new manor, but with apartments in the palace, she’d be comfortable. As for what was left of the manor, she could probably pay to have the site cleared--she still owned the land after all.

Queen Vasilia spoke up. “Now that the financial issues have been detailed, let’s move on to the political issues. As heir to a peer, you are automatically ennobled. You have the House Head sigil to use as you will, likewise the House sigil. You have not yet earned a personal sigil, though. Without a personal sigil, you may not be listed as higher than the Third Circle of Peers. You have land, but until you rebuild the manor, you will be considered part of the Fourth Circle of Peers.” She pushed a sheet of parchment to Rhysa. “That is the certification of ennobling. Given the situation, no one will expect a formal introduction for some time, but you will need to have one. Within the year, by preference.” She paused. “You’ve been taught the basic responsibilities of nobility?”

“Yes.”

The queen nodded. “Good. Given the history between Houses Kasteryn, Hermestus, and Amonteus, you have plenty of friends to help you settle. The connection between Houses Kasteryn and Korolevsko are well known, but we cannot help too visibly or it will appear we are making Kasteryn part of Korolevsko.”

Prince Hallyk took up the thread. “Your status as a noble is separate from your status as a professional. According to Lady Kasteryn’s records, and the testimony of Lords Hermestus and Amonteus, you’ve been awarded journey-rank. If you wish to advance professionally, you will need to find ways to expand your knowledge and experience.

“Two evenings ago, we offered you the opportunity to become a Royal Agent. At that time, my mother offered to send you a formal proposal in two days--today. I spent last night revising it to accommodate your new status.” Queen Vasilia pushed a few sheets across the table to Rhysa. Hallyk continued. “Please look over that today. We can discuss it tomorrow. Do you have any questions about what we’ve gone over this morning?”

Rhysa shook her head and the tension in the room shifted.

“We are doing everything we can to investigate what happened, how it happened, and who did it.” King Dazhdeb looked old with his grief.

“I’m sure Jayse will have all of House Amonteus working on it as well,” put in Queen Vasilia. “After all, it’s likely he or Bryn will be the next target.”

“You think there will be another attack?”

The prince responded. “It’s almost a certainty. Out of self-preservation, if nothing else. Whoever did this was well aware he was kicking over an anthill.” Hallyk thought a moment. “I suspect Amelia was attacked first in order to get rid of the most dangerous, in a physical sense, first.”

Rhysa flipped through the documents in front of her without really seeing them. She thought about the stack of information she’d just started going through. No doubt she would have to either re-request it, or find the information somewhere else. There wasn’t much she could do about it today, though.

“There’s not a lot I can do today.” Rhysa’s voice was flat with exhaustion. “I need to sort through this information.”

King Dazhdeb nodded. “Hallyk can show you to the apartments Amelia kept. He can arrange for you to see the castellan.”

“Thank you.” She followed Hallyk from the room.

When they reached the apartments, Rhysa was astounded. When the list had said “apartments,” Rhysa had assumed it would be little more than a couple of attached rooms. Apartments, in this case, were an entire suite of rooms. Except for the lack of a kitchen, it was nearly entirely self-contained.

Upon entering through a set of double doors, Rhysa stood in a reception room that doubled as a public living area. On the right wall was a fireplace. On the left wall was a door that led, upon inspection, to a small bedroom obviously meant for a servant or guard. Across from the entrance was another set of double doors.

Rhysa crossed the room, went through the second set of double doors, and found herself in a private living area. This room, too, had a fireplace on the right wall. Slightly smaller than the reception area, this room was large enough to comfortably seat six people. In addition to the set of doors she’d just walked through, this room had three more single doors: two in the wall opposite the double doors and one in the left wall.

Rhysa crossed to the door in the left wall and went through. She found herself in the master bedroom. Standing in the doorway, she saw a door to her left. She crossed the room, opened it, and saw the servant’s room she’d entered from the public area. Closing the door, she turned and saw another door across the room. She went to it, skirting the large bed, and opened it to find a small, private bathing chamber. She closed the door and returned to the private living area.

The next door she opened was the door closest to the wall containing the fireplace. Behind it lay an office. It contained a desk and chair, two bookshelves, several filing cabinets, and two visitors’ chairs. She would have to spend a great deal of time acquainting herself with the contents of this room--but later. She left the room and opened the remaining door.

This door led to a small hallway. The left hand wall of the hall contained two doors, and the right contained a door at the end of the hall. She opened the first door on the left and discovered it was a bedroom large enough to house two people comfortably, but furnished for a single occupant. She opened the second door on the left and found it virtually identical to the first. The right hand door, across from the second bedroom, led to a bathing chamber large enough for four people to soak together.

The furnishings in each room were Spartan. Rhysa wouldn’t mind leaving it that way since she tended towards the utilitarian, herself. She knew, however, guests and hirelings would probably prefer something less ascetic. The thought of guests and hirelings made her sigh. It would be a while before she had either.

Elise would need a place to stay. That thought led to Rhysa’s memory of sitting by Elise’s recovery bed. Elise’s battered body had struck a chord in Rhysa, it was so different than the woman in an Aryn Cavass gown.

The thought of Aryn--Hathorina--halted Rhysa’s steps. She spun to face Hallyk. “I need to see Aryn Cavass.”

“The couturiere? Mother said you wouldn’t need a formal announcement for a while.”

Rhysa shook her head impatiently. “I don’t want a new dress. I must speak with her. Can you have someone send a message to her?”

Hallyk nodded in bewilderment. “Yes. If it’s not for a dress--is there a specific message to be delivered?”

“Nothing specific. Just that I need to see her. Oh, and be sure to mention ‘Torzhestvo’ somewhere in the message. She will come.” Rhysa felt focused and tense, like a drawn arrow. She trembled with it. “Hurry,” she pressed Hallyk.

Hallyk seemed impressed by her intensity. He stepped into the hall and caught the attention of a page who seemed at loose ends. Hallyk gave the page the message and impressed upon him the urgency of the situation. The page bowed and bolted.

When Hallyk returned, he gave Rhysa a long look before speaking. “Torzhestvo. That’s a draconic name.” Rhysa nodded and hoped he would drop the subject. He didn’t. “Aryn is not a dragon. What could Torzhestvo mean to her?”

“It is the name of a friend of hers. He died. Not many knew he existed, and even fewer knew his name.” Despite her efforts, she felt her throat thicken.

“So how do you know of it?”

Rhysa had hoped he wouldn’t ask that. She met his eyes and steeled herself to answer. Before she could say anything, though, his eyes widened as the answer came to him.

“You’ve remembered some more?” Hallyk’s whisper sounded shocked.

“Yes. Two days ago in your rooms.” Her own voice was just above a whisper.

“So that’s what happened.”

Rhysa nodded. “It triggered the collapse of huge portions of that wall blocking my memories. I haven’t had time to sort through them, yet. What I know of them, I’ve been getting in bits and pieces through my dreams.”

“Hmm. So you are half dragon. No wonder you are strong in magic. Does anyone else know?”

“Lady Kasteryn did. Elise does. I’d guess Aryn does. Now you. No one else, unless they overheard.”

“Elise has proven her discretion. I know Aryn is discreet. She doesn’t know about House Korolevsko, but she hears interesting things when she’s fitting a client. In the past, I’ve discovered critical, occasionally embarrassing, information she couldn’t help knowing, but never a hint from her.”

“I’m worried about Elise. If Bryn is a target, I want her out of that house.”

“Bryn won’t like it. He doesn’t like letting a patient out of his control.”

“I know.”

“And he won’t like the implication he can’t protect those under his care.”

“I know.” Rhysa sighed. “You suspect Lady Kasteryn was killed first because she was the strongest--and there’s a good deal of sense in that. I suspect she was killed because, of the three of them, she would have mounted the best defense. Remember, she was initially trained as a bodyguard and counter-assassin. And she was very good at it. If the first to die had been one of the other two, it’s doubtful either of the remaining two would have fallen. As it is, I believe Jayse will be the next to be killed.”

“Why?”

Rhysa hesitated, then invited Hallyk to sit. When he did, she began:

“Lady Kasteryn more or less stayed out of politics. Her only direct influence came from her relationship with King Dazhdeb. As far as I can tell, she never used it. Her primary skill was keeping those around her alive. When you take out a shield, you declare your intentions to attack whatever’s behind it. In this case, there were three targets behind the shield provided by House Kasteryn: House Amonteus, House Hermestus, and House Korolevsko. Unfortunately, even the best shield can be removed or destroyed if the initial attack is both a surprise and overwhelming. The overwhelming part is critical, in order to prevent the application of a desperation defense. Hence the assassin’s apparent overkill.

“Between them, House Kasteryn, House Amonteus, and House Hermestus provided a bulwark for House Korolevsko. With the shield of House Kasteryn gone, the next threat to whoever is doing this is House Amonteus. Jayse and his House are frighteningly good at finding secrets. That’s the primary reason I think he’ll be the next target. It probably won’t be as explosive as the one needed to take out the Kasteryn manor.

“As it is, I doubt Bryn himself will actually be killed. His skills are too valuable, and too necessary, to waste. As a healer of mind and body, he has a predilection to help whoever needs his services. It would be easy for someone unscrupulous to manipulate him. It’s more likely he will be discredited. Not his skills in healing, but in keeping patients under his care safe. With House Amonteus gone, it will be easier to slip an agent into House Hermestus to begin killing patients.”

Hallyk gave Rhysa a long, hard look. “You realize what you’re saying? What the underlying assumption has to be if all this is true?”

The tension left Rhysa in a rush as she came face to face with it. She collapsed into a chair and nodded wearily. “There’s going to be another coup.”

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