Vivid Stars Online

A Guard greeted us as we left the facility and instructed us to board the hovercraft. A glance around the area showed that they had already cleaned it, with the bodies having been collected and presumably stored somewhere.

The Duchess was apparently impatient enough to be bringing us back with the first load of her troops, while half of them remained to continue securing and looting the facility.

It was a surprise since I had expected to have to return to Brian’s landing site on foot, however, it was one that I was happy to accept. Linnea and I were still both recovering, so having a ride back that avoided fighting would be only beneficial to us.

It was also nice to have a squad of guards escorting us back to help avoid any more ambushes by our mysterious enemy. While we may have secured the facility, I would be surprised if they let it go that easily after sinking so many resources already.

They might be simply willing to keep waiting and watching for when I went out again, however, I couldn’t shake the fear that they might decide to be more direct. Capturing and interrogating me, for example, made a terrifying amount of sense.

Thankfully, the trip back in the hovercraft went by speedily and safely. My desire for one only grew stronger as we zipped down the mountain, bypassing most of the beasts. Occasionally, one of the faster ones tried to attack the vehicle, only to be driven off by its mounted turrets or electrified armor.

It took just over a day to reach the base, with us camping with the guards overnight. They didn’t even let us take turns at watch, giving us a very comfortable full night’s rest for the first time in days.

Upon reaching the base, we were picked up by a larger military VTOL that clamped the hovercraft under it. While it arrived a lot closer to the base of the mountain than Brian did, I noticed it had still waited until we had reached the ground before picking us up.

I guess he really wasn’t kidding about those birds, I mused as we took off and sped back toward the city. Before long, I found us landing at one of the palace pads before they ushered us out.

We were greeted by a fresh set of guards outfitted in the royal guard outfits, I was more used to. The ranking officer, who I noted was again a Psion, strode forward and address us.

“Jared Hope, the Duchess is expecting you upstairs if you will follow me. We also have an investigator who would like to debrief your companions on the incident.”

I glanced over my shoulder to check that Linnea and Elana were OK with that, before thanking the officer and moving in the indicated direction. Debrief is at least a nicer word than interrogate, I thought as I was led up through the palace, hopefully, that means they’ll be treated well.

Having sensed how powerful the Duchess was, I was no longer surprised they let me keep my weapons. She had been over three times as powerful as the Psion I had fought up in the mountains, which should make her more than capable of taking me out solo.

That wasn’t to mention that any violent moves would have soldiers pouring in within seconds. All she would really have to do was to defend herself until that happened. If anything, I was fairly sure that allowing her guests to keep their weapons was a power play showcasing just how unconcerned she was.

I was surprised to find myself led into the Duchess’ waiting room straight away. Despite having been told she was waiting for me, I’d expected to at least have to wait a few minutes for her to finish other business.

She must really be taking this seriously, I mused as I took in her seated form. She had a slight frown on her face, though I didn’t feel like it was directed at me, and she immediately gestured for me to take a seat.

“Welcome back, Jared,” she started, her frown turning into a small smile of greeting. “I’m sure you have many questions about the situation, however, I would first ask you to tell me what happened in detail.”

That seemed reasonable enough, so I pushed aside my curiosity for the moment and began describing the latest expedition from when Brian first noticed that we were being followed.

From our first discovery of it being Adam to the fight, I explained the entire situation, leaving nothing out. I even did a small aside about my previous experience with Adam at the second facility.

She only nodded as I finished, gesturing for me to wait while she sat there in thought. While I didn’t think that she’d been particularly surprised at what I had described, it was clear that she was not very happy about it.

After a few minutes, she nodded absently, before turning her attention back to me. “That matches with what my investigators could find so far. While a criminal hearing would normally have to take place after such a crime, I have enough proof of your innocence that I will waive it this time.”

I could only nod in thanks in response to this. I hadn’t even really considered that, and I was very thankful that I wouldn’t have to deal with it. Getting time up in that kind of thing could have wasted days or even weeks of my time.

“We are keeping an eye out for the mercenary that fled at the end of your fight. If they enter any of our settlements, they will be captured and questioned about the details of Adam’s employment,” she continued, her face returning to a frown.

“In the absence of that, however, we have enough information to make an educated guess at the sequence of events. The most important of which is our summation about the Psion you fought along with their backer.”

I leaned forward eagerly at that, ready to finally learn why my peaceful expedition had been so violently interrupted.

“The abilities you described belong to other ritual chambers that are registered within our Kingdom. We securely monitor each of them to the extent that an unregistered usage of them is exceedingly unlikely,” she said with a small shrug.

“Given that, I believe their backer must be a high-ranking government official, most likely another member of the royal family. Since we could not find any records of the individual in question through facial recognition or DNA testing, that suggests they are an off-the-record operative.”

I blinked in surprise at how she said that. While I had guessed that it might be something along those lines, the blase way she spoke of another member of her family being behind this was both a surprise and kind of sad.

“Can you check the records of who used the ritual chambers and see if there are any people that stand out?” I asked. While I doubted they would have missed something so obvious, it was best to ask.

“Sadly, no,” she responded with a shake of her head. “The records of chambers in other provinces are hidden even from me. I have sent a request for access, however, I expect that any information we receive will have already been doctored.”

Surely that means…, I thought before speaking up. “So you have an idea who the backer is, then?” It was the only reason I could think of that she was so sure her request would be blocked. She had to know it was someone with a lot of power.

“Yes,” she responded, her frown deepening as she spoke. “There are only two people I can think of with both the power and the motivation required to set this up. There could, of course, be others, however, these two are by far the most likely.”

“The first option,” she continued, “Is Duke Andrzej, my older brother and Duke of the Kerhelm province. Both powers that your assailant used come from ritual chambers within his province and as the second in line to the throne, he has something to gain from stymying the growth of my powers.”

Confused, I asked, “Why would being the second in line to the throne give him a motive for this?”

“Sometimes I forget you're an outsider with how swiftly you have landed on your feet,” Duchess Milena responded with a soft laugh. “I take it that you do not know how the succession process works in our kingdom?”

At the shake of my head, she continued. “We do not select the heir apparent based on the order of their birth or anything so mundane. We instead believe that power is the most important determining factor.”

“The success of our kingdom is built upon Psionic power, and it is such power that allows us to remain self-governing despite our limited fleet. At the current time, the Heir Apparent is Prince Rainer, the second in line is Duke Andrzej, and the third in line,” she finished with a smile. “Is me.”

For a moment, my mind spun at the revelation before I realized what she had been talking about earlier. “So, what, Duke Andrzej set up the ambush because he didn’t want you getting access to another ritual chamber?”

“Perhaps,” she responded with a nod. “You must understand that the Ritual Chambers are a carefully guarded resource for the kingdom. They do not have unlimited uses, so even we royals are restricted in how many we can use. Beyond we are expected to not entirely rely on the success of our predecessors.”

“If a new one is found, however, then the governor of the province would, of course, be one of the first to use it. If your assailant had defeated you then I would hazard a guess that it would have been mysteriously broken by the time we managed to secure it."

“And multiple chambers of the same type are rare, right?” I asked as everything started coming together. The massive jumps in ability I had received from using multiple chambers easily eclipsed my other abilities. And that wasn’t even to mention the upgrade to Greater Psionic ability.

“Exactly,” she responded with a nod. “The provinces of both my elder brothers are well explored, with most ruins already discovered. Neither of them is likely to uncover more than one or two extra chambers before my father gives up the crown. And here is my province, just finding its third in less than six months.”

“I think Andrzej is actually the less likely of the two, however.” She continued, her face lined with worry. “It is unlikely that he will eclipse the prince and going this far just to hold on to second place seems extreme. Beyond that, we have always had a cordial relationship.”

“My highest suspect is Prince Rainer. We have argued often in the past on the governance of the kingdom, and I am sure he knows I am aiming for his position. As the Heir Apparent, he has enough influence to act even in another dukedom, perhaps doing so to frame Andrzej.”

This was rapidly going over my pay grade. I hadn’t even realized that the woman in front of me was that highly ranked in the kingdom, let alone that she was gunning to be the queen. Being caught in a fight between her and the other royal family members felt like a terrible place to be in.

“So,” I asked cautiously. “Why tell me all this? I mean, yes, I was the one attacked, however, this seems to be the kind of information that wouldn’t be shared with most people.” I had a bad feeling that I knew the answer, but I had to ask, anyway.

“Why, I am extending trust, of course.” She responded with a light laugh, though her eyes were hard. “I have told you the truth of the matter, now I ask that you do the same for me. Do you know the location of any further facilities that may contain a ritual chamber?”

Her gaze was intense as she finished speaking, and I got the feeling that saying the wrong thing here could have dire consequences.

I tensed for a moment, my mind whirling before I decided that staying on her good side was the best option. As much as I would have liked to ignore the situation, the attack up in the mountains showed I was already a part of this.

“Yes,” I said with a slight sigh. “I know of one more.”