“Very well,” the Judge said. “The fight is a draw. No victory will be assigned, no rank or resources will change.” And with that, he vanished instantly in a puff of smoke, his tower as well. With the light from the tower now gone, darkness settled across us even more.
“Is that it then?” Avaline asked. “It was a draw?”
“Indeed,” I said. “Come on, let’s go home. It’s far too late for my taste.”
“Perhaps erm…perhaps the Lady would like to accompany me on the ride back?” Nelson coughed out. He certainly wasn’t the pinnacle of confidence.
“Oh that sounds nice,” she said, looking at me with a wry grin. She raised her eyebrows up and down, clearly picking up on the hint. I nodded at her, to confirm her suspicions. She turned bright red almost instantly at my confirmation.
“Let’s get out of here,” Eustace grumbled. “The wind’s going to give me a cold.”
Something in the distance caught the corner of my eye. The driver of the Frankinson carriage had lit some gas lamps around the horses to give visibility, and I saw a shadowy figure moving about. “What’s going on over there?” I asked, pointing towards one of the golem crates. There was a crack in one of the boxes.
The three were already out of earshot for my question, however, walking to the carriage. I spoke up a little louder, feeling a strange nervousness take over. Was it intuition or just paranoia? “Why does that crate have a crack in it? It looks big enough for—”
My words were cut off as Avaline let out a scream. From the darkness, a red Ignition Golem came darting out towards the group. It was moving fast, with purpose, straight towards the old man.
“Dash it all!” Eustace screamed as he went to draw his Karrack pistol from his waistband. But he wasn’t nearly as fast as his nephew. Nelson grabbed the old man and Avaline at the exact same time, and quickly threw them out of the way of the charging golem. The ignition beast changed its target, rushing towards Nelson, his color intensifying by the second.
“Come on!” the young man shouted as he backed up as quickly as possible, keeping the golem focused on him. My heart went into my throat as I watched. The golem was growing bright red, brighter and brighter…it would detonate at any minute.
Eustace was struggling to get to his feet, pistol still in hand. “Eustace!” I shouted. “The upper back, shoot it in the upper back!”
He nodded and dropped to one knee, steadying his aim. A beat passed and he fired the pistol, striking the golem square in the upper back, where the ignition crystal was stored. The loud ka-krack of the pistol echoed through the air and we all stared in silent horror, waiting to see if the golem would explode.
The red little imp stopped running and merely stood still. Then, in an instant, it fell apart into a pile of rubble. The damned thing was dead. Nelson was safe.
“By the stars!” Avaline said as she climbed to her feet. “That was incredible! Nelson, you saved us!”
“Oh, it was, er, you know, it was nothing. I mean, not nothing, but it was my duty and all,” the man stammered. How he could courageously square off against a golem designed to blast him to smithereens without a second thought, yet lose all nerve when talking to a woman was beyond me.
Eustace looked at me. “How’d you know where to shoot it?”
“Golems have two sections for their mana crystals. The upper crystal is the core power structure,” I explained. “Destroying it will destroy the golem without triggering its abilities.”
“Why not use that knowledge in combat then?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Try explaining that concept to a golem. They just understand ‘shoot’.”
Eustace nodded at that and looked over at Avaline and Nelson, who were eagerly chatting to each other, standing just a little closer than normal folks would. “Well, looks like my grandson’s caught your niece’s eye. Hopefully they get along.” He turned to face me, eyes narrow and cold. “That wayward golem was no accident. Never in my life have I seen a golem attack its owner. Someone planned this.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I replied, gesturing towards my horseless carriage. “Please, won’t you ride with me? Perhaps we can discuss a mutual problem. One that doesn’t seem to respect the rules of the game…”
Chapter 25
“So someone out there is picking off nobles, one by one,” Eustace said as our carriage rolled across the landscape in near total darkness. The carriage would have no problem navigating, for magic did not require light, but I wished that the Frankinson patriarch would have allowed me to turn on the gaslight as we rode.
“That seems to be the situation. And I fear that little accident with the golem was the same perpetrator,” I said.
“Rigging a golem to attack its owner. Hmmm,” the old man mumbled some things under his breath. “No. I don’t believe this was the work of your assassin.”
“What leads you to that conclusion?”
“You have been insulated ever since you joined the Great Game, yes? Not a single attempt on your life, nor a shadow in your house?”
“Yes, I’ve been safe so far,” I agreed.
“So it’s clear that the assassin wants to avoid the Queen’s Men from looking into his activities. Golems are never faulty. If your assassin character rigged my golem to attack me, he’d have to know that I would bring in an investigation immediately. And with the Queen’s Men searching for him, well, he’d last a day at most. No. It wasn’t your man.”
“So who was it then? Who would dare rig a golem to try and kill you?” I asked, crossing my arms. Had I somehow stumbled on an entirely unconnected assassination plot?
“If I had to guess, I would say my granddaughter,” Eustace replied, his voice calm and cool. “I know she has grown impatient, waiting for the keys to the kingdom, so to speak. I promised that whoever would marry first would gain the estate and she made the mistake of falling for some jackass who’s often lost at sea for months at a time. Killing me and her brother at the same time would ensure she’d inherit the gentry anyway.”
“How can you be so calm!” I gasped. “Speaking of your granddaughter attempting to murder you both as if it were nothing of consequence!”
“They say that blood is thicker than water,” Eustace mused. “But what they neglect to mention is that gold is thicker than both. Greed can overtake anyone, if they aren’t careful. Ambition and hunger can drive a man or woman to do the most depraved of things. This won’t be the first time a family member tries to kill me.”
My mouth hung in abject horror at such a sentiment. The way he was so cool and collected about this terrible fact. I shuddered, thinking of my own family. We’d never turn on each other so cruelly! What caused the Frankinsons to be so greedy, so corrupt?
“You seem shocked. I’m guessing you don’t know your history. Brother has always hated brother, it is in our nature as humans,” Eustace continued. “The Crown tries to limit in-fighting, but there is one problem they just can’t get past. If only the conspirators are the last ones standing, they wouldn’t call for an investigation into the deaths of their family. So, know this, young Richard. Blood cannot fight blood on the battlefield, but that doesn’t mean they won’t put a dagger in your back.”
Those words certainly caused a chill to run down my spine. Our carriage arrived to the manor, far past midnight at this point, and we all sleepily staggered into our bedrooms and respective guest rooms. Though I was quite tired, I found sleep to be a dreadful thing; I could not stop thinking about the ease with which Eustace had accepted his own kin attempting to murder him. No doubt he would retaliate, right? He did not seem to mention bringing in the Queen’s Men to investigate. Would he kill her? Have her throat cut in the middle of the night by a loyal servant or maid?
This was what Lily had warned me about. Ambition, deceit, murder and intrigue. Fighting battles on a clearly marked territory with judges and rules was one thing, but kinslaying? All for the head seat at the table? My stomach churned
as I tossed and turned, trying to convince myself that such a thing would never happen to my people. But then again, I had just brought two complete strangers into the Blake family. What if they were seized by such blind ambition?
This paranoia was not good for my mind. I tried to keep my imagination in check, but when sleep finally came, the dreams were overwhelmingly frightening. I woke up in a cold sweat more than once.
Come morning, I found myself exhausted and unwilling to get out of bed. Sigmund however had no bones about coming in, drawing my curtains and dragging me out of bed.
“Come now, young Richard,” he said in that grating tone of his. “What has you so bedridden?”
“Couldn’t sleep last night,” I said. “Lots running through my head.”
“Well nothing a good snoot of brandy can’t sort out,” he said as he dug my clothes out of the closet and tossed them onto me as I tried to sit up. “But it’s almost noon and you’ve guests to attend to. Brunch is just about ready and if I hear one more war story from Eustace, I’m going to snap.”
“You don’t like his stories? I figured a veteran would love to talk shop,” I said.
“The man’s main accomplishment was walking through the natural gas fields without any kind of protective equipment, staging a brilliant ambush on the enemy position,” Sigmund replied. “And he tells the same story over and over again with barely any memory that he’s told it to me before. I mean, Stars bless him for his service, but I can’t take hearing that story one more time.”
I wearily began to dress for the morning as Sigmund explained the situation. “Miss Avaline and Nelson seem to be getting along quite well,” he said as I put on my pants. “She hasn’t left his side since they sat down for coffee this morning. He seems unable to speak in full sentences to her, but she doesn’t mind.”
“That’s good to hear,” I said. Was Avaline truly taken with the man? Or was she merely laying on charms? He did save her life yesterday.
“Eustace doesn’t seem to care for them together though. In between his repeated tellings of his favorite story to me, I noticed he’d dart his eyes over towards them and scowl. Never said a word, but I am inclined to believe he doesn’t approve.”
“I think I can handle the old man,” I said as my butler helped me get my jacket on. “Just need to break out the famous Blake charm.”
“I shall fetch the good brandy then,” Sigmund said. “For that tends to work better than your people’s supposed ‘charms.’”
I waved a hand and finished dressing, quickly making my way down to the dining hall. We had three halls within the manor, each one for a different function. There was the executive dining hall, where only high level meetings were held, the commons, where the servants would eat as well as anyone who just wanted a quick bite—since the common was connected to the kitchen—and then the parlor dining room, a luxurious room with black and white tiles, a long sturdy table made of the finest of oaks and a chandelier worth a veritable fortune.
It was in the parlor dining room where I found our guests, eating and drinking without me.
“You’re late!” Eustace grumbled. “Brunch starts at 11. If you get here at 12, it is no longer brunch but lunch.”
“Sorry, Uncle Richard, but we were quite hungry,” Avaline said.
“Yes, Uncle Richard, do you forgive us?” Nelson asked, causing Avaline to erupt into raucous laughter.
“No please, forgive me for being late, I had some business to attend to,” I lied, taking my seat at the head of the table. As soon as I was sitting, a bevy of maids surrounded me, placing food on my plate and pouring copious amounts of coffee.
“Now there’s a way to live! Surrounded by lovely women, serving your every beck and call!” Eustace said, laughing so hard he started wheezing. “Unlike our estate. Nary a servant to be found!”
“Well, we Blakes pride ourselves on employing as many as possible,” I said. “It provides stability and comfort to the working class.”
“See, Nelson? Stability and comfort,” Eustace echoed. “We should hire some real servants instead of those wretched golems you insist upon.”
“Please,” Nelson said as he gingerly ate his eggs. “While flesh and blood servants might seem like a good choice, they have too many limitations. First off, you have to pay them, in perpetuity. And then there’s medical care costs, feeding them, etc. At the end of a year, the cost of twelve servants outruns the cost of a single Servitor! Buy four golems and you’re set for life. They never tire, always obey orders and you don’t pay a red cent beyond their purchase point.”
I glanced up at one of the maids who was stationed behind Nelson. She was scowling greatly at her own existence being summed up as a matter of mere numbers.
“But you’re missing one important thing,” I said in between bites of freshly-cooked bacon. It was crisped to perfection. “You’re not helping anyone but yourself when you hire a golem. I’d rather pay the premium, knowing that the people I’m employing are able to care for their families with what they earn. Aren’t you familiar with the term noblesse oblige?”
“What does that mean?” Avaline asked.
“It’s a made-up word meant to guilt the successful into giving away their hard-earned privilege to others,” Nelson replied.
Now I was the one scowling. “How are you successful? You just happened to be born to nobility. Same as I. We shouldn’t assume our positions make us better. They give us a greater obligation. Noblesse oblige means obligation of nobility, Avaline. We are given much with our wealth, rank and status. And we must use such things to help those in need.”
“Such a hypocritical view,” Nelson shot back. “If you truly believed it, why then haven’t you given away all your wealth? Send it straight to the poor and then live among them?”
“It is not hypocrisy to enjoy the fruits of one’s heritage. I am not speaking in terms of totality here. You aren’t obliged to give all, just some. But your attitude, Nelson, seems to be one of absolute spoiled privilege.”
“Hah, well said!” Eustace croaked. “You’re a good kid, Nelson, but I’ll be damned if you weren’t spoiled growing up. Richard’s right. Those who have much are obligated to give to those who have few.”
Nelson turned bright red at this rebuke. “Erm, I… philosophically, of course, we must realize that giving to the poor only encourages them to not work their way out of their poverty.”
“Says a man who’s never worked a day in his life,” Eustace shot back. “If you were out in the fields for even an hour, you’d be begging to go back home.”
“Easy,” Avaline said. “It’s not fair to bring personal matters into a philosophical discussion. Let an argument stand on the merits, not on the shoulders of the one arguing for it.”
“Exactly!” Nelson said. “Well put, Avaline!”
An interesting play here. Avaline, being from a fishing town and of low descent, would clearly disagree with Nelson’s words. The fact that she was taking his side meant almost certainly that she was playing him here. Was she a cunning manipulator? Or maybe she knew to agree with her potential mate rather than argue with him. Hard to tell.
One of the servants broke our conversation by serving a second course and soon our conversations turned from philosophy to that of far more banal matters. The brunch flew by and by the late afternoon, we had bid farewell to the Frankinsons, our relationship far more friendly than it was before. I hoped that this was indeed the end of invasions from the patriarch. Besides, he had more pressing issues to attend to, such as his granddaughter’s attempt on his life.
“He’s very weak,” Avaline said as we stood, side by side, waving to the carriage as it rolled away from the manor.
“Come again?”
“Nelson. He’s a very weak man. Where I come from, you get into an argument about something like politics, you normally end it with a fist fight. But he let two separate people team up on him,” she said with a frown. “And he fell head
over heels the moment I started flirting with him. Weak and desperate.”
“You don’t like him then?”
“Quite the opposite,” Avaline replied. “You said you wanted me to be a representative. To handle whatever household I marry into. Well, Nelson seems to be an ideal candidate. He has a good enough sense to preserve the lives of those around him but isn’t particularly sharp or assertive. I think House Frankinson would do well to have me join it.”
Her words were so calculated that it was a bit surprising. I must admit, I made the terrible mistake of assuming that because she was a peasant girl that she was simplistic. But her observations were anything but a product of a simple mind.
“So what do you want to do?” I asked. “He’s not the only suitor out there. We still have our neighbors to the west. They may have some eligible bachelors for you.”
“I want power,” she said. “A voice. I don’t want to be some trophy wife, to be set aside while the adults talk. Nelson will treat me as an equal. He isn’t brave enough to try and push me down.”
“He might just be considerate,” I said. “Not every man wants to suppress his wife.”
Avaline looked at me harshly. “I saw what my father did to my mother, Uncle Richard. How he drove her to madness and grief. Yet, whenever he’d return, she’d open her arms to him. Desperate for him to finally stay. I’m never going to end up like that. The man I marry is going to be desperate for my approval, not the other way around.”
“Madam, that isn’t the most er…healthy of ways to see relationships,” I said. “Not that I’m an expert, but I can guess you should have mutual respect. It’s not a competition.”
She merely shrugged. “Well, forgive me if I’m not convinced. But the Frankinsons seem like a good match for us. I would be pleased to marry him.”
“Don’t you want some time to think? This is a big decision. Not something you can back out of. Doing so would decimate our alliance and cause a scandal. I don’t know how you do things out in the countryside, but marriage is permanent here amongst the nobility,” I warned.
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