Chapter 188: Insider Knowledge

Chapter 188: Insider Knowledge

“We knew we’d make some people unhappy when we went into Deijin’s Descent,” I said. “That Delve wasn’t the most combat-focused, but we were under threat the entire time we were in there. I’m still spending every second of every day looking for the next trap, the next monster, the next piece of furniture that’s going to try and take my head off. I’m sure the whole party is looking over their shoulders as well, and have no illusions that everyone we’ll be meeting is a friend.”

“It’s a tough way to live,” said Celeritia. “But it helps me relax to hear you say that.”

“Relax?” I said. “That’s an interesting word choice.”

The king took a sip of his tea. “How so?”

“It implies our safety is a source of anxiety for you. I didn’t expect a man of your station would have the time to worry about people you don’t know.”

The king’s teacup clinked as he sat it back on its saucer. He searched my face as he chewed over my answer.

“I know the Ravvenblaqs quite well,” he said.

“But you’re not chatting with Varrin right now.”

“He isn’t the party leader of Fortune’s Folly.”

“True,” I admitted. “Still, if you were solely worried about Varrin’s safety, you could have him leave my party with a single command. You could bundle him up with the best and brightest Hiwardians in his level range.”

“You may be overestimating the number of Delvers knocking around with your group’s amount of talent. I could order Varrin to be joined at the hip with a much higher-level group, but I wouldn’t want to stunt his growth like that.” Celeritia grinned. “I’ll stop being a contrarian with you,” he said. “I do have an interest in seeing your party–everyone in your party–stay alive.”

“Would you think of me as a cynic if I asked why?”

“A certain level of cynicism is healthy if you’re trying to survive the path you’re walking.” The king smiled bitterly. “It would be juvenile to assume it’s out of the goodness of my heart, though, so it’s a reasonable question. I’m more likely to think of you as naive for asking me so directly, but only if you’re planning to take my answer at face value. I get the impression you won’t do that.”

There was a pause in the conversation inviting me to respond, but the king hadn’t answered my question. He watched me closely while I waited for him to continue, then nodded to himself.

“Hiward has several interests that intersect with your party,” he said. “First, it sets a bad precedent when Delvers are killed by their peers for being too successful. We already have enough nobles wasting their potential chasing down Copper and Silver. If I didn’t use my authority to ensure everyone’s playing nicely, there would be a lot more infighting. People don’t need another reason to fear accomplishment.

“Both the Xor’Drels and Eschendur are Hiwardian allies,” he continued. “There’s some political favor to be earned from ensuring you’re treated well by the Kingdom. It would also be damaging to the Kingdom’s relationship with those powers if a Hiwardian assassinated you.

“Your party is generating a lot of actionable intelligence for Hiward, as well. Varrin has been passing along many of your discoveries, something I’m told he’s been doing with your full permission.”

“The whole party has supported divulging information on threats and countermeasures,” I said. “To be clear, we’re not planning on limiting ourselves to Hiward. I think we need every nation up to speed when it comes to the avatars and this Brae’ach guy we just found out about. We’ve had a convenient way to interface with Hiward, so we availed ourselves of it.”

“I believe in sharing,” said the king. “I won’t argue for you to cut anyone out, even Litta, so long you aren’t spilling any Hiwardian secrets. I also expect there are things you’re keeping to yourselves, which is tenable. No one knows for sure how your party rose to power so quickly, and–while I’d love an answer to that question–I’m not here to try and extract that from you.”

“I believe that also constitutes another interest Hiward has in our party,” I said.

“I’ll take the compliment.”

“There’s usually more groveling as well. And a lot more please and thank yous. Some prostrating and proclamations of eternal servitude.”

“I’ll politely decline to grovel or commit myself to a lifetime of free labor. If you prefer that I act more formally, I’m happy to do so.”

“Ha! No, please don’t.”

The king stood and wandered to the bar, perusing the selection of cheeses on offer. He settled on a square of asiago and chewed it thoughtfully.

“The Davahns pushed two hundred miles into Timagrin,” he said, poking through the mixed nuts. “They killed everyone on sight, and the only prisoners they took were Delvers. Their progress stopped at Canotha, where they established an operating base. Everyone in Canotha was already dead from the mana eruption caused by Orexis and Anesis. From the accounts I’ve heard, that was a better fate than what the Davahns would have delivered to them.

“We assume that Canotha’s population was culled in anticipation of their arrival, but we don’t have any hard proof. The Davahns didn’t make landfall in Timagrin until months after the eruption, which makes it look more like an invasion of opportunity. However, while the eruption was highly lethal, it wasn’t physically destructive. All of the structures in the city were preserved, and the Timans couldn’t reclaim the land due to the lingering mana levels. It was a major city with no inhabitants, and it made a perfect home for the invading army."

“They aren’t affected by the mana?” I asked.

“The levels are too high for mundane people, but tolerable for Delvers. The army marching with Brae’ach seems unaffected, which is... concerning. They may have an extraordinary mana resistance, or they may each have something equivalent to a few Delver levels under their belt. If it’s the latter, then the Davahns have the global Delver population outnumbered.”

I had trouble digesting that information. The king gave me a few seconds, then gracefully continued without mentioning that I looked like I was about to shit myself.

“After the Davahns were camped out there for a month, we scried another enormous build-up of mana, several times larger than the eruption that wiped out Canotha. It persisted for a week, then disappeared, along with the Davahns.”

“Disappeared?” I said. “The whole army?”

Celeritia nodded. “Any sort of long-range surveillance we have can’t find them. Even our diviners haven’t had any success. We’ve sent a few Delver teams in alongside the Timans but lost contact with all of them. We suspect the Davahns are still there, hiding until they’re ready to move on.” The king turned toward me and leaned back against the counter. “We’re evaluating the merits of a full military deployment in support of Timagrin, but I’m not willing to send thousands of regular soldiers into that area without more information. For the moment, the conflict is stalled.”

“At least they aren’t actively committing genocide,” I said. “For now.”

“Cold comfort,” said the king. “The information you brought back on Brae’ach and his involvement with the avatars gave us some much-needed context and confirmed some of our suspicions. It’s possible one of the godlings is shielding them from view somehow, or that this is some part of the magicks Brae’ach has access to. Something we haven’t seen before. I don’t want to give the Davahns time to build up to another advance, but sending troops in blind could be a disaster.

“We’re quietly moving people in and helping the Timans fortify regions around Canotha. However, I won’t leave Hiward without significant defenses. There’s only so many resources I’m willing to commit.” He pushed away from the counter, walked forward, and placed his hands on the back of the couch. “I don’t think your group belongs in that mess right now. I’m satisfied knowing that you’ll keep progressing as you have. I’ll set Varrin up with an official liaison to exchange information moving forward. No need for one of the Ealdrics to keep breaking into Umi-Doo’s office.”

“I’m sure Director Umi-Doo will appreciate that.”

The king nodded and came around to plop back down on the couch.

“Now,” he said. “Let’s talk about your upcoming meeting with the Littans.”