Chương 324: Chaperone

Nathan has been keeping track of Kralcit's movements, which has been made simpler by the fact that she rarely moves around, and when she does it's a big deal. She travels with a large crew, and always moves as if she is going to establish her network and business anew wherever she goes. When she is settled into a location, she fades deep, deep underground. Only someone like Nathan can successfully root out her location when she's established. But apparently when she's relocating, she's very easy for him to trace.

So we have established clearly that she started traveling from Byeview to Hearstcliff back in Autumngone, a six-week voyage that she made in eight weeks, with all her extra baggage and entourage. He had documents on her travel arrangements.

"Shit," I muttered.

"She started packing to leave immediately after I showed myself there. I killed her flunky, and I had not even made my presence officially known to the city yet. I let her know that I was around and she lit out immediately."

"You seem unsurprised," Nathan said, collapsed back in his armchair. Now that he was not propped up by his obsession with finding my murderer, or the relief of finding out I'm not murdered, his exhaustion is hitting him hard. His clothes are so rumpled they look hollow, like there's not even a Nathan inside them.

"You had very specific questions and you seem to already know the answer."

"Grade Kralcit does not like to experiment with new methods," I said.

"If she thinks her existing system won't work, she modifies her approach as little as possible to get the outcome, and she will put a lot of thought and preparation in first. It's really hard to trap her in a mistake, she would rather let an opportunity go by than risk exposing herself." I was pacing around the room, and it was a little eerie how easy it is to talk to him about this stuff. I have to keep aware of what I'm saying and not let him have too much.

"Most of the time she's tried to kill me she would work indirectly, usually through her lich friend, Meadwhite, but when she was acting more directly, she would send her hench-sorcerers after me." He did not look surprised to find out that Kralcit and Meadwhite were in league. If nothing else, I suppose, Kurumi told him, but he probably had a dozen other sources.

"Hench-sorcerers?"

"Do you like that? I just made it up. Three of them, they worked as a team to try to kill me in Port Nuit four years ago," I said.

"Right after our twelfth birthday." I winced, he winced. I continued, "The three of them almost killed me then. I've grown since then. I killed one of them over the winter break, in Byeview, she's got two left. They can't take me on face-to-face, and I've proved that, so it made sense they'd be looking for ways to put the odds in their favor." He nodded dully.

"Your powers are versatile, and lethal. You're good at utility, and killing, but you don't have the oomph that a lot of other sorcerers have, you don't lift as much or conjure as much or move as fast. So you're very dangerous to non-sorcerers, but other sorcerers are a bit of a hard counter to your abilities. You can kill, but you're not great in a fight."

"Brutal. Callous. Accurate. Continue," I said, as I reached a wall and turned on my heel, pacing the other direction.

"There are other hard counters to you," he added, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Magisters. Liches, apparently. Ambush tactics, hostage-taking, emotional manipulation, and exhaustion. You're easily distracted and while you're very perceptive in your own way, it's easy to make you see what someone wants you to see."

"Hey," I said, wounded now. It was not necessary to make that list so comprehensive. He did not apologize.

"Also, mana warriors in a straight face-to-face fight, and highly skilled opponents in a less fair fight. And, you can be kept from using your dangerous abilities if there are civilians or collateral damage to be had." I remembered a park full of undead and civilians.

"Not always."

"No, but you would hesitate long enough to provide an opening," he amended.

"It is surprisingly easy to make you hesitate during danger. You do not really have a killer instinct."

"I think I just have a strong flinch response," I countered.

"When a ceiling caved in on you and a dozen innocents, you did not hesitate an instant," he corrected me.

"But I am off the subject. Sorry, I am quite tired. But, if we take a list of your hard counters and weaknesses, we can see how a plan is formed. And since Grade Kralcit- sorry, is that the name? I only ever had a surname for her."

"Grade, yeah," I said.

"Since she only has access to some of those routes, she picked something she was capable of. Sorcerers, sneak attacks, and the ability to get her people into any event with the right invitation from her sponsors."

"And I'm certain that there was support, scouting or flanking from the Duskare assassins," I added.

"No way she tried this without taking advantage of available expertise." I try not to see too much of myself in Kralcit. Careful planner, ruthless, unscrupulous, works extensively behind the scenes, most of her power comes from the people she keeps as contacts, associates, and lieutenants. Representing both the worst and best of me. Then again, she represents the best and worst of my brother, too. Maybe she just represents the parts of me that were shaped by my conflict with him.

"Nathan," I said, "I'm sorry that you got scared, and I am also sorry that I didn't think to come find you sooner. I should have found you in person to let you know I'm all right." He looked at me with a tired smile.

"You do apologize for the strangest things, Natalie," he said, amused by me.

"But I'm not even a little sorry about wrecking your fashion show. Or smearing your reputation. That part is just business, and I won't apologize for the business I need to do." Since I can't count on you to play your part.

"Yes, that really is us," he said, catching a yawn.

"Siblings. Rivals." So easily he summed it all up. He's my brother. I won't let anyone hurt him. But my god I want to throttle his neck most days. So much of my life seems like it would be easier if he was just sitting back home at Meadwhite Castle and helping Father with storehouse logs. But I can't trust him out of my sight, any more than I can trust him right under my nose.

"Just so long as business stays business," I said firmly.

"You crossed the line when you sent Casser Swamman after me."

"We have both crossed the line a few times," he pointed out, with no reproach against me and not shame for his own.

"So where did you send him, anyway?"

"I didn't send-" I started, and paused. If Nathan's asking that, it means Casser's missing. I chewed my lip.

"Nathan? Roughly how long has he been missing?" Things really had been going my way for a while. I've been on a long winning streak. My trial to supplant Nathan as successor, and slipping my neck out of the magister's noose. Pinning the position as coalition leader. Getting my love interests to hang out and collaborate. I've gained several levels recently. The wedding reception with Thumper. The fire temple. Capturing Belisa. Freeing Belisa. Killing Meadwhite. Killing Yheta.

Killing that other guy who was setting a trap for the Debt Collector. Getting away with all of that. I've been on a roll. In retrospect, I'm overdue for a big setback. And I've been tense for a while, waiting for it. This isn't just the pessimism of the paranoid. This is not me manifesting a terrible fate because I don't think I deserve nice things. And it's not just the healthy suspicion of anyone who has irrevocable proof that there are higher powers that manipulate the world and that have a sense of humor.

Maybe all of those things do factor in, who's to say. But for one thing, I do have enemies, and they are powerful and focused. I am doing everything I can to stay ahead of them, and everything I can do is a lot. I am working to keep myself protected, to preempt whatever methods they would use to attack me. More importantly is the knowledge that my world operates by narrative rules. My life's events are dictated by story beats.

I have ups and downs, and when things look too good for too long, I'm probably being set up for a catastrophe that I couldn't see coming. I hope that assassins blowing a hole through my body that put me an inch from death's door is the catastrophe. I hope that nearly dying really was the drop-off that balances my wins. But since I did not die, and since this has not severely hampered my plans to win the Rapier Revolt, or to save the world, I'm not sure it counts.

I think that this is the opening volley to let me know what's coming. Getting my egg-race party crushed by the king was not my setback, Nathan's contract was. Getting arrested on my birthday was not my setback, the hanging debt to the High Council is. I can't help feeling like something more is brewing. There's a chance that the only real problem is that Kralcit is in town and she's going to be messing with me however she can. But that's a problem I already know about, a problem I have my eye on.

I can't assume it's the only problem. I should consider that my successes and my enemies are conspiring to throw some huge challenges at me, some very serious danger that I haven't calculated for. Maybe it's the magisters plotting against me. Maybe it's whatever is killing magisters around the city. Could be both. Not all of them are dead though. One of them is "missing". Inquisitor Pina. And for some reason, Casser Swamman is missing. Both of them at just about the same time, within a couple days of each other.

Two of my least favorite people in the world, both of them purely vile in their own particular ways. The top two items on my "want them dead" list who have never made my "need them dead" list. And they were likely to stay there a while, because I don't kill people just because I really want to, and people that I need to kill don't stay on that list any longer than I need them to. In principle this could be a coincidence. But that's not how things work, is it?

For sixteen years now, I've lived in a world where "coincidence" is a contrived and unlikely event that causes conflict and progresses a hackneyed storyline. And it is definitely not two important and related events with a clear connection between them having no deeper meaning.

"So I suppose you're wondering why I've called you all here," I said, with my palms together in front of me.

"There's only two of us," Belisa pointed out.

"I'm on duty right now as a chaperone, you didn't call me anywhere," Licard pointed out.

"I know, -and also I know-, but I just really love starting a meeting out by saying that," I said.

"I know," Licard said sourly.

"You've-"" Anyway," I spoke over him.

"I've got a teensy-weensy huge favor to ask from you two." As Licard pointed out when he was stealing my thunder, he's on duty as chaperone right now, watching over game night at the girls' dorm to make sure that none of us sneak out to find some boys, or sneak any boys in, or sneak away with other girls, or really just any combination of people sneaking together. It's after class, it's after dinner, and I've had a good several hours to think about my next move here.

Kralcit is a big problem, a dangerous problem, but a known problem, so that's at least step one taken care of. But this other mystery needs me to at least put a name on it. So I've started working on that.

"How teensy-weensy?" Belisa asked, amused.

"How huge a favor?" Licard asked, unamused. Oh, they're gonna get along great.

"So, I'm putting together a team," I said.

"We've got a job to do."

"That's not an answer."

"I'm getting a bad feeling." I heaved high an aggrieved sigh, looked to the heavens for patience and forbearance. And then I remembered what I had found there, and that all the patience and forbearance is here on the ground with the people, so I lowered my gaze again. All around, people playing games, chatting, having a good time. And we're in a silence field, while all my dormmates try to pretend like this is normal.

"Okay, it's an adventure," I admitted.

"Monsters. Underground. If I have anything to say about it, it's all exploration, no combat at all. But, I don't always get my way, the universe often has its own ideas and sometimes I lose those arguments." Licard looked more amused than I've seen him in a long time.

"That's the most arrogant thing I've ever heard out loud. You're a real piece of work." Belisa scoffed.

"She was kidding. She knows better than that." Licard looked unconvinced. I try not to let it hurt my feelings. And he scratched at the side of his jaw for a second before he said, "I told you I was done, that I wouldn't be going on any more extracurricular jaunts with you."

"You did say that," I said.

"Despite the fact that we saved a lot of people's lives, and made a lot of money. And, that you seemed pretty content with conditions for most of the trip."

"We saved a lot of lives, we killed a lot of people," he pointed out.

"That doesn't balance. There's other healers, other adventurers. I gave you a list. Some of them are better than I am."

"Right. But I don't need a healer for this trip."

"What do you need?"

"Someone who can keep an eye on someone, and won't be suspected. I need your help in a chaperone capacity." His face darkened.

"You're getting suspicious of your own team? That's more than a bad sign. Trust me, as the veteran present, walk away now. This is already past saving if you even have to ask."

"I wish with utter sincerity that I could explain to you why I can't do that," I said. Belisa spoke up.

"So why do you want me along then?"

"Because I want you to see what the others have seen," I said. Licard got even grimmer, thinking about The Blind. I offered the best smile I could scrape together for Belisa.

"There's trouble coming, and I want you to be able to see it coming."