When Heroes Die

“All it takes to ignite a revolution is a few words in the right ears. Everything else occurs afterwards.”

— Dread Emperor Terribilis II

I resisted the urge to pick at the dress I was wearing while I stared at my reflection. It was the extravagant one I had worn on the first day I had awoken in Rhenia. Cordelia had let me keep it, and this event made it feel appropriate. I was coated in far more powders than I would have liked. Songbird had convinced me of the necessity.

I took a moment to turn the wall of the room from a mirrored surface back into painted brick.

“Are you sure they will show up?” I asked.

“Absolutely!” Songbird chimed in response from beside me. “The real important assholes won’t show up. They’d consider it unseemly. But the lesser nobility? They’d jump for the chance.”

She was right about the influential nobles. Ever since my failed attempt at a quiet entry, they had sent invitations to events they were hosting. Politely worded requests for me to attend balls or soirées. The events apparently went on uninterrupted despite the state of the city.

The missives were phrased in a way that made it sound like it was a privilege and I would be giving offence if I refused entirely. They typically contained a list of dates and times for several events that I had been invited to, with a strong recommendation to “attend at my earliest convenience.”

I hadn’t accepted any of them yet. I hadn’t refused, either.

The deadline for the first was still two days away. I had yet to make up my mind.

“Why’s that?”

“They’re twice as ambitious as the big shits up top. They have to be, else they die out. You’re a chance they can’t miss.”

“You’re sure the people I need will be there?”

“Course. They’re the most desperate.”

I grimaced. “Hope I don’t mess this up.”

“Relax, you’ll manage.”

“Don’t know how you arranged this in just three days.” I turned and looked her way.

Songbird was also dressed up for once. She wore an opulent blue dress with dark silk gloves. If someone had told me she could look anything other than a mess, I would have expressed doubt. It was a pleasant surprise.

She shrugged. “Gabbed with the right people. Some prob’ly won’t show up. Don’t be too disappointed if this doesn’t work.”

“Better for me to try first. I know I’m not good at politicking, but… nobody will like the alternative.”

Especially me.

“S’pose that’s true.”

“I still don’t know how you managed to invite every noble in the city.”

“S’not like It's that complicated. Only the ones you care for will accept.”

Sure it isn’t.

Leaving the room, I made my way down from the third floor. Songbird trailed behind me. Maude was filled with energy. Ever since we had informed her of our intentions, she had come to life. The bottom floor had been cleared out. Tables and chairs had been removed so that there was space for people to dance. It had cost me a little, but staff had been hired on at the place once more.

Now it was time to wait.

Standing stiffly on the second floor balcony, I watched as the sun set.

Yvette sat at the table beside me. She was busy annotating notes of experiments the two of us had performed earlier. The surface of the table itself was a mess. Parchment littered it. The mess was not entirely her fault, either. The notes she had made me were pushed in one corner. I took the chance to read them whenever I had the opportunity.

One by one, carriages started to arrive. I stared out at the clear sky as the sun started to set.

Songbird greeted the guests below. I wasn’t sure how she knew all of their names. I was just glad that somebody did.

The gentle strumming of a harp could be heard from downstairs.

Finally, Songbird came up to the balcony.

“Prob’ly best you appear now. It’s time for you to mingle.”

The crescent moon had risen. Stars shone down brightly from above. Despite this, it was still too dark to see properly. I took a moment to suspend a pale blue orb of light above the table so that Yvette could continue with her work.

“Fine.”

Exiting the balcony, I started to make my way towards the staircase.

“… of the civil war is preposterous.” a woman’s voice said from near the top of the staircase.

I pushed my hair to the side — a couple of black strands had found their way before my eyes — and looked in her direction. It was a woman in her mid-twenties who was talking to a girl in her late teens.

“It most certainly is,” the girl she was talking to tittered in response.

“Did you receive word of Amélie’s engagement?” The first sipped idly from a wineglass as she spoke. The last of the red trickled into her mouth. She signalled for one of the waiters soon after.

“I did. Such a scandalous affair,” her conversation partner tossed her head back theatrically, her auburn hair swaying as she did so.

“I know. You would think someone of her breeding would set her sights higher. To think: had she played the game better, she could have caught the attention of Lord Verril. He’s still unattached.” The first replied. She wore a red dress and stood on the opposite side of a transparent wall of force I had erected to block off the balcony.

A man in a formal white and black suit approached them with a tray held up under his left hand. It was one of the establishment’s staff. After taking the empty glass, he disappeared from view.

“She was always one who lacked the sharpness required for the ebb and flow.”

A chill breeze picked up and blew my hair back into my face. I shivered.

Both women turned my way. They looked at me like sharks appraising a fish.

“My, such a marvellous outfit,” the older woman said in an exaggerated tone. “When I was first informed about this little gathering, I was uncertain whether I should attend. It is most fortuitous that I did. To think that one of the chosen is so well-bred. You would do well to educate your peers.”

“… Thanks.”

“Elodie and I were busy contemplating the subject of Amélie’s betrothal. Have you any thoughts on the matter?” The younger one asked.

“I haven’t been following the situation. I only recently arrived in Aisne,” pausing, I gathered my thoughts.“Do you have any insights regarding the ongoing rebellion?”

Try to shift the conversation subtly, Taylor.

Elodie sniffed, “Then your ignorance is understandable. Allow us to alleviate it. You see, Amélie was well positioned to…”

I engaged the two of them in conversation for a few moments more before eventually excusing myself. The two of them proved far too adept in redirecting the conversation for me to say what I wanted.

I descended onto the floor below. People mingled on the sides. Those who wished to dance did so in the middle of the room. A part of me wished to do so as well. On Earth, I had been so focused on worrying about the end of the world that I hadn’t really had the time to enjoy things like formal dancing.

The idea was tempting. Unfortunately, reputation actually mattered to these people. Making a fool of myself would actually have repercussions, else I might have considered it.

I spotted an elderly man in a flamboyant yellow suit who was leaning against the wall with a cane resting beside him. He shook every now and again. The ravages of time hadn’t been kind to him. He was one of the few people who was alone.

I approached.

“Good evening, chosen,” he greeted me smoothly. “I am Lord Mallory, and it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Good evening,” I replied. I noticed he had a fresh injury on his neck. “Would you like me to heal that?”

“It is a minor injury, there is no need to attend to it.” I couldn’t help but notice a slight tremor in his voice.

Weird.

“Do you have any insights regarding the ongoing rebellion?”

“Such a tragedy, isn’t it?” he tutted. “I am an ardent supporter of Lord Verrill’s faction. He is largely responsible for overseeing the administration of the farmlands. The conflict is unsustainable.”

I didn’t know how much I trusted the man. Right now, that didn’t matter. If he was involved with overseeing the fieldworkers, he was definitely someone I needed to talk to. They accounted for the majority of Aisne’s peasantry.

“Right. Are you able to help manage the situation?”

“So long as Quintin retains his grasp on power, I consider it unlikely that the rebellion will do anything but escalate,” the man mused.

“You don’t think talking to the peasants would help? Explaining why their approach won’t work. Maybe suggest better methods to raise their concerns.”

“I find that…”

The two of us talked for a while before I finally moved on. He hadn’t committed to anything, but he was willing to discuss the matter further at a later date. It was a start. I started to approach other people. There were a few who were oddly attentive. They all appeared terrified of me, although I wasn’t sure exactly why. I’d need to talk to Songbird about it.

The nobility who were desperate were almost eager to discuss the situation with me. The officials whose charges had one day simply disappeared, or the ones who properties were being burned to the ground. They didn’t have the power to do anything, but they were willing to listen.

Unfortunately, most discussions were far less productive. It appeared that almost everyone who hadn’t had “misfortune” strike them was categorically incapable of understanding the problem. I was beginning to hate the words ebb and flow.

“… Consider the benefits of wedding yourself into my household…”

There were so many wedding proposals.

“… Should you be willing to rebuild the…”

But even more requests for construction work.

“… The historical significance of the… I strongly suggest you take it upon yourself to restore them.”

The attempts to woo me continued. Gradually my patience wore down. The only person who looked genuinely happy was the owner of the establishment. She was ecstatic. All of her guests had plenty of coins to spare. Everyone else presented a mask.

On and on it went. When it wasn’t political conniving that I didn’t care for, it was requests for me to serve the interests of one lord or the other. Who even wanted a statue of themselves in silver anyhow? It was unreasonably gaudy. Unwilling to tolerate it much longer, I climbed towards the top of the staircase.

I looked down on the clamour of discussion from above.

Do I make a scene?

I decided it was worth the cost of losing whatever reputation I might otherwise accrue. It was obvious that without more practise I was unable to verbally fence with the nobility. It was best that I at least attempt to say my piece.

A coruscating beam of light manifested in the middle of the establishment. All conversation ground to a halt.

“I invited all of you here to discuss the state of Aisne,” I whispered.

My voice reverberated throughout the building. Taking a page out of the Prince of Nightfall’s book, I made it echo in the very air itself. It was tempting to float above them all, but I didn’t want any of them peering under my dress.

“Some of you have more authority than others. Most of you directly engage with the peasantry. You should be aware of what’s happening. The rebellion. The killings of the peasants needs to stop. Every time one of them dies, another family joins the rebellion. If it continues long enough, they will burn everything to the ground. You might think because they are uneducated and lack resources, they can’t fight back. You’re wrong. There are more of them than you. It’s also easier to destroy than to create. If they were to set the city alight, how long would it take to recover?”

I paused, watching the reaction of the crowd. They all looked towards me.

“It goes the other way as well. I expect that some of you are involved with the rebellion. You won’t admit who you are. I don’t know if you are doing it out of ambition or a genuine desire to do good. It doesn’t matter. Think about how long it takes to build up society. How hard it will be to restore what you burn down. Ask yourselves if it’s worth it. If you keep heading in this direction, then everyone suffers. I know that things are unfair. That doesn’t mean this will fix anything at all.”

I took in a deep breath before continuing.

“In the land I came from, mass protests were used to enact change. Everyone that was unhappy would rise up and protest. Many of those protests were mostly peaceful. It might not work here. I might be wrong to suggest it. But consider this: if you fail to try it first and instead send Aisne up in flames, you will have caused the worst outcome instead. Think about all the things that you’re breaking that you can’t easily replace. Stop focusing on the things that don’t matter and actually think about what Aisne will look like if you aren’t properly responsible. I’ve spoken with some of you already. If you want to discuss this with me further, leave a letter before you depart. I want to come up with an answer that doesn’t involve everyone losing. One that all of you are able to accept, even if you aren’t happy with it.”

Finishing my speech, I examined my audience before leaving to the balcony beside Yvette. I erected a barrier that blocked anyone else from approaching. The evening had left me feeling emotionally drained, and it wasn’t even done.

Taking a seat, I turned my attention back towards Yvette’s notes. I glared at the summary of ‘On Rule’ balefully. It made me wish I had copies of earth’s political discourse. The ideas it proposed were vile.

I turned around once more and aimed my gaze below. The festivities had resumed. There was a low level of bustle as people danced to-and-fro. I watched them idly from above as they continued to scheme and connive while the city burned.

I hoped my speech achieved something.

Songbird danced across the floor below. She was flirting with everything that moved. I had come to learn that was just the way she was. She started to make her way up the stairs. I dropped the barrier briefly as she approached.

Swaggering towards our table, she placed a cup of tea before the both of us.

“You sure you don’t wanna have a proper drink?” she nagged me.

This wasn’t the first time she asked. Merely the first time tonight.

“I’ve had bad experiences with drinking in the past,” I replied.

“No I’m fine I’m busy going over the notes from the experiments Taylor and I did earlier it's fascinating I think I can probably start making a working similar to what she does with light,” Yvette replied, not looking up from a stack of pages in front of her.

Yvette was so absorbed in what she was doing, she didn’t realize that the offer hadn’t been made to her.

“C’mon you spoilsport,” Songbird pouted. “You’re so moody that if I didn’t know better, I’d think Keter was invading.”

“I’m just tired,” I admitted. “Dealing with this…”

She waited a while, then sighed when she realized I was done talking. Finally, she sauntered off to fetch her own drink.

The Hands had done good work since our arrival in the city. Unsurprisingly, they already had some information for us to work with. The situation wasn’t pretty. Displays like the one we had witnessed had been happening for weeks now. The guards had been ordered to beat or arrest anyone who attended. The worse guards were creative in their interpretation of that. The nobles didn’t seem to mind if lives were lost.

None of the peasantry was happy with the situation. I didn’t blame them.

They were calling the current autocrat Quentin the Usurper.

He wasn’t the only hated noble. Just the one with the most actual authority. Verrill and Garson were also up on the list. I had received invitations from all three of them. Common sentiment couldn’t agree on which noble they actually wanted to rule. Only that the current one should hang.

It gave me a headache just thinking about it.

Songbird came back and flopped down onto the chair to my left. Her fingers trailed along my arm as she did so. She leaned in close.

“Want to have some fun after the kid goes to sleep?” she whispered.

“It’s really not a good idea. You have other loyalties. I don’t want to tie myself to Princess Mathilda that way.”

I was in a better headspace than I had been on the road before. The idea of being romantically entangled with somebody was no longer something I was against. I wasn’t against casual sex, either. Just… Songbird definitely wasn’t a smart person to become involved with. It was unfair to call her a honeypot. I did think she genuinely wanted to follow me around. I just didn’t want to commit to something with someone I knew had other loyalties.

My relationship with Brian had been enough of an angst filled mess for me to not want a repeat performance. I’d try to be a little smarter about my love life. At least, that’s what I was telling myself. I suspected if I found someone I actually liked that my emotions would be having a much bigger say in the matter.

It was easy to say I was being smart about relationships when I wasn’t looking at people I wanted to be in one with.

“Taylor, you need to relax some time,” she huffed, “A good fuck would do you wonders. I once visited a place in Levant and there was this girl there who showed me this trick with her-”

“It isn’t something I’m going to change my mind on soon,” I cut in.

“Ergh. Fine.” Songbird whined.

“It’s late and I’m going to sleep goodnight you two see you in the morning,” Yvette yawned while chattering. She left the table soon after.

Conversation died there.

We sat in silence, listening to the clamour of the people I invited. Songbird departed once more. Slowly, the place emptied out. Songbird ushered them out. I should have been more involved in the process. Unfortunately, I did not know enough not to mess it all up. By the time it was just the two of us, it must have been nearly midnight.

“Don’t think I achieved anything.”

“Give it some time. Maybe some will listen,” she encouraged.

“Hope so.”

“So, we’ve frisked the city properly. Gabbed with everyone willing to listen aside from the three up top. This is what we’ve found so far.” She pulled a crumpled piece of paper out from inside a bag beside her and flattened it on the table.

It was a map of the city with territories marked out.

I looked over it.

“You didn’t mention this until now?”

She shrugged, “Took a while to verify. ‘Sides, you were busy.”

“So, the area around the palace sees no Rebel activity at all.-”

“No surprises there,” Songbird interrupted. “It’s patrolled in force.”

“-There is some Rebel activity near the Hall of Records.”

“M’not sure what they want with a bunch of stuffy old books.”

“Speaking of books. Did you find any for me?”

“M’working on it.

She grinned mockingly. It felt like she was making an active effort to try to elicit a smile.

“There are active rebel markings in the poorer parts of the city, and fighting often breaks out on the streets.”

“Pfft, get to the good stuff!” she snorted.

“Lastly, another major granary was burned down.” I tapped the location of the granary in the southwest part of the city.

“See, toldya it was good,” she smirked.

“I’m not seeing anything new from this,” I replied.

“Check the times,” she pressed.

Frowning, I looked at the times noted next to each attack against the granaries. They were always timed at night and always at a similar time to attacks launched against the Hall of Records.

“Why do they always launch an attack against the Hall of Records at the same time as they launch an attack against another major target?” I asked.

“That’s what I want to know too!” she quietly exclaimed. “See, one of the Hands went up to the place and snooped around a bit. The place is guarded tighter than a bank in Mercantis.”

I wasn’t entirely certain how she knew how tightly a bank in Mercantis was guarded.

Breaking into the Hall of Records ourselves to find out what was in there was an option. It wasn’t my first choice, though.

“Do we have any leads on the location of a Rebel base? They probably don’t have one. I’m sure they’re decentralized. It’s best to be certain.”

The markings for shows like the one we had seen were in almost every other back alley on the map. The only exceptions were places with strong military presences.

“Nah. But if one exists, it’ll be somewhere in the slums. I’d bet on it. That way, if the guards do find them, they’ll need to piss people off in the fight.”

I examined the map closer. Four granaries burned down was a big deal.

“How’s Quentin handling the food situation?”

“S’pose you wouldn’t know since you’ve spent the past few days failing to gab with nobles. He’s cutting back food among the poor. Hiking up prices as well.”

“What happens to people that can’t afford to eat?”

“They starve,” Songbird shrugged nonchalantly. “People that get caught stealing food have their hand broken.”

If people were already starving now, I hated to think what winter would be like.

“Isn’t Aisne one of the breadbaskets of Procer?”

“S’right. They export most of their produce.”

“Shouldn’t they have enough to feed people if they cut down on exports?”

“Prob’ly, but then they’d have fewer coins. Quentin wants to hike the exports up. He’s making up for lost revenue.”

I had no idea how the man would justify doing that. There was no way he didn’t end up gutted by a crowd.

“There’s no way I’m letting him stay in charge,” I muttered darkly.

Songbird’s eyebrows went all the way up. “Going to go all regicide on him?”

“If I have to.”

“I’d hold off on it a bit first. People’ll be less likely to listen to you if you start offing royal heads.”

“Nobles, not people.” I corrected her.

“You’re saying nobles aren’t people?”

“They are. But they’re the only ones that would complain.”

She did have a point, but not for the reason she thought. I doubted Cordelia would be happy if I started killing her “peers” even if they did earn it. Not because they were dead, but because of the precedent it would set. If I wanted to get rid of Quentin, it would need to be in a way that was “acceptable” by the Princes.

And I was definitely removing the man from power.

“S’pose so, but you’re forgetting something.”

“What?”

“Who takes charge after.”

Right… Consequences. I hadn’t been thinking of them, but I had paid attention.

“The nobles who attended were mostly in favour of Verrill. It makes sense. If I want their assistance, I’d probably need to support him. I’m… not so sure what I think about him. The stalemate will probably drag out between him and Garson after Quentin is gone. I need to form an opinion on the both of them. I also need to consider nobles outside those three.”

Despite how draining the event had been, I had mostly paid attention. Not as much as Songbird probably had, but enough to start establishing an idea of what people were willing to say. I doubted it was what they thought inside. At least I knew who they overtly supported.

It was important that I established both who could rule and who would be an acceptable ruler. While I didn’t want to be the one choosing who ruled, I wasn’t above putting my foot down on who wouldn’t. It was a small distinction. That didn’t mean it wasn’t an important one. I had seen enough of Principate’s ruling class now to have a very clear picture of just how awful so many of them were.

“Prob’ly means you’re gonna have to accept those invitations.”

It did.

“Peasants are still joining the revolution?”

“They are,” she confirmed. “Doesn’t matter if the revolution is responsible for the food shortage. The nobles are the ones pressing down.”

It scared me how well the Revolutionary’s plan was working. The tactics being used were monstrous, but effective.

“When and where was Princess Clotilde last seen?” I inquired. I expected she was dead. There was no harm making sure.

“In the Palace, about a month ago,” Songbird replied.

On the top right side of the map, I took note of a set of numbers annotated.

“What are these?”

“Guards that have been moved to defend the remaining granaries.”

I didn’t know how many troops there were in Aisne. That didn’t mean I wasn’t able to render judgements with numbers this large. This was a substantial move in the deployment of guardsmen. Guards that would have to come from somewhere else.

“What locations are normally heavily guarded?”

“Wanna know where the guards were moved from?” She smiled conspiratorially at me across the table.

“Please.”

It couldn’t be from the streets, considering how heavily patrolled they were. It couldn’t be from the affluent parts of the city, because after the deaths there, they were on high alert. I wasn’t sure what that left.

“The Royal Armoury,” smug satisfaction in her voice.

My heart sank. If there was a reduction in the guard on the armoury, that meant that was where it was likely they were next to attack.

“Can we expect them to attack the Royal Armoury then?” I asked.

“Prob’ly!” Songbird chimed.

“For now, investigate the Hall of Records and the Palace further. I want to know what’s going on in both places.”

“Got it. Anything else?”

“I’m out of ideas involving the nobility. Let’s see if we can catch some rebels.”

“S’pose you have a plan?”

“Yeah. The three of us will covertly watch the Royal Armoury. Maybe we can find out more about the revolution there.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Is there any more news?” I asked.

She shrugged.

“They crucified two rich fucks who were caught inside a brothel. S’pose you would want to know. Quentin had the place burned to the ground in retaliation.”

“Anyone important?” I raised an eyebrow.

“The man who used to be in charge of Aisne’s treasury before Garson took over. The other person didn’t matter.” she replied.

Well, that was one way to add more fuel to the flames.

“See if you can learn anything more about that.” I finished.

The two of us went to sleep not long after. At least, I tried to. Songbird had evidently decided that if I wouldn’t sleep with her, she would find someone else who would. The noises coming from the room next door were loud, to the point that it was difficult to sleep.

Eventually, I dozed off.

I woke up bleary-eyed the next day. I hadn’t slept well. It took only a few moments to wash and then change into more appropriate clothing. Left-hand on the railing, I made my way downstairs. They creaked underfoot. Songbird was sitting on a table on the ground floor. Maude was glaring at her frostily from across the room. I couldn’t blame the lady.

The two of them were arguing over something – I couldn’t hear what – and every now and again, Maude would punctuate her statements by shoving a filthy cloth towards Songbird.

“Good morning,” I greeted them.

“G’morning,” Songbird bobbed her head enthusiastically my way. “S’pose you want to read all your correspondence?”

How is she so full of energy?

She pointed towards a stack of letters to her right.

“I’ll check it in a bit,” I agreed.

“Finally, you’re awake,” the surly woman said. “Take this mess off my table and put it somewhere else.”

“I’ll do my best,” I smiled at Maude.

“Slept well?” Songbird asked.

“No,” I glared at her. “Now I know why they call you Songbird. Couldn’t you make less noise with whoever it was that you took to your bed?”

She had been in the room next door. It had been difficult to sleep.

“Not in the slightest,” she replied unashamedly. “Y’should have joined. It would have been fun. The more people, the more fun we could’ve had.”

I ordered a dish that looked vaguely like croissants for breakfast. Whatever it was, I couldn’t pronounce the local word for it. Yvette padded down the staircase moments later.

“Good morning Songbird and Taylor what are the plans for today I went to sleep before you two discussed them.”

Briefly, I outlined the situation. I decided Yvette would stay close to me. It was a less efficient use of our time, but I suspected that the people in Aisne wouldn’t be above using her against me.

“I wanted to talk about something important,” I began.

“What’s this about?” Songbird asked.

“It’s about expectations. You both must have heard my speech about the rebellion last night. It’s probably obvious I have different thoughts about peasants to you. I’m not expecting you to share them. It would be unreasonable of me to ask the two of you to change your minds. What I am going to ask is for you to at least think about what I said. You should also be careful about what you say as well, Yvie… If you aren’t careful, someone might take offence and decide to do something.”

Songbird said nothing, but gave a mocking salute.

Even if she did listen to me, I would never know. I knew she could put on a convincing enough act that I’d eventually buy it if she wanted to.

“I don’t understand why its so important for you but I’ll at least listen I know you’re a good person.”

“It matters because any of us could have been peasants. You could say we were born lucky. Imagine if you weren’t born lucky. Would you like to have to live like them?”

“It’s a pointless question since I wasn’t and I never will be but I know that you won’t let the subject go so I’ll at least try to listen to what you say.”

It wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but it was good enough for now.

Dismissing the subject, I considered the day ahead. We had a lead on the villain to follow up on. With progress in one direction stalled, it was time to see if we could make any headway elsewhere.

The three of us were camped under an illusion on one of the rooftops near the Royal Armoury. Near being subjective. There was a wide open space between the building and the rest of the city. Enough space so that a crossbowman could not fire into the place without walking out into the open. It was a walled compound with a large, three storey warehouse in the centre. Guards patrolled outside.

I wasn’t expecting anything to happen soon.

The others were both armoured. In Yvette’s case, there was a chain shirt beneath a leather jacket, over a cotton shirt. She looked like a nesting doll with all the additional layers.

Yvette and Songbird had been teaching me a local game of cards.

I squinted at my hand in the moonlight. The Magician, the High Priestess, the Fool, Knight of Cups, Knight of Wands. A thoroughly awful hand. The cards were difficult to make out. I would have liked to have a light to see by. Unfortunately, those were anything but subtle.

“Band,” Yvette mumbled, her voice barely audible. She proceeded to lay down her hand.

She had managed to collect five of the Major Arcana from the tarot deck during the course of the game. So long as it was not the first round of the game, that was an automatic win.

“Y’sure she’s not cheating?” Songbird looked at me dubiously.

“Of course she’s not.” I kept my face straight.

Yvette wasn’t, but I was. She enjoyed winning and I enjoyed seeing her win. It wasn’t like anyone aside from the two of us could see the illusions on the cards.

So long as I could remember which cards I gave to people, everything should be fine.

“S’pose it’s normal for a deck to have two Wheels of Fortune?” She held up a card to illustrate, a hint of mirth gracing her voice.

Crap.

“Definitely normal,” I lied.

“I don’t think Taylor should shuffle any more,” Songbird said, amused.

I had convinced them to let me shuffle the deck with my abilities, telling them it was more convenient.

“But when Taylor shuffles I win more so I think she should be the one who shuffles,” Yvette pouted.

I felt something odd enter my range. Slowly it encroached. We played a few more rounds before it drew close. I turned towards what I sensed. A small group of maybe two dozen figures running towards the Armoury under the cover of an illusion. I held up my hand in warning. Both of them stiffened, going on alert.

“I’ve spotted our targets,” I whispered.

Taking a moment, I reinforced my perception field. It was important that we weren’t caught. The wizard might detect it regardless but… He was so bad at magic that I had doubts.

“They’re spelled?” Songbird asked.

“Yeah.”

The illusion was poor.

The only question was how I wanted to handle this.

I studied the illusion our enemies were under. It was a subtle effect. A ward that was anchored to each of them and was designed to divert the attention of anyone looking their way. If you were aware the ward existed, then it had no effect. It amused me. If they hadn’t used a ward, then I wouldn’t have known to look.

“We're going in?” Songbird seemed almost giddy at the idea. She had already drawn her sword.

“There’s two dozen of them.”

“Awww, weeping heavens, that’s no fun,” she pouted. “S’pose that means you’re doing everything?”

“We weren’t going to attack them anyhow,” I said.

“Wait, we weren’t?” she sheathed her sword and placed her hands on her hips in mock outrage.

“No, we can use this,” I denied.

“Why’s that?”

“It’s probably only a small part of the revolution. Catching them won’t stop the movement. We need to learn more.”

“What will we do then?”

“Give me a moment.”

I focused, then created an effect that focused the attention of the patrols on the incoming thieves.

Heartbeats later, and I could hear a bell being rung from inside the Armoury. Guards were mobilized and chasing after the figures. They started running. As expected, they were attempting to make their escape.

“And now, we follow them home,” I smiled.

Moving from rooftop to rooftop, we trailed them. Buildings in this part of the city weren’t stacked right next to each other. I was forced to create bridges of force between them, giving us room to cross.

There was no guarantee that their wizard hadn’t detected us. I was being careful though and paying extra attention to making my efforts discreet.

The clanking of metal boots from the guards slowly started to fade behind us as the figures made their escape. They had been right on the villain’s tails at first, but seemed to be unable to keep up in the narrower side alleys. Our foes started to slow down then.

Their route took us into the poorer district of the city. Our enemies were slippery. Unfortunately for them, they did not think to look up. Following remained trivial as a result.

Markings appeared on the walls below us more and more frequently. The signs of the Revolutionary were everywhere that I looked.

All becomes dust.

A wave of confusion hit me.

Why was I here?

I frowned. Something was messing with my senses, but very badly. I could feel the attempt actively trying to turn away my thoughts and convince me to go somewhere else.

“Yvie, can you do something about this confusion spell?”

I made her some clear glass. She would likely need it for the spell.

Yvette didn’t respond verbally to me. Her cheeks were drawn in while she concentrated. After a few words and muttered gestures, the surrounding environment changed.

The streets we were in appeared to be almost completely deserted. Our quarry was running ahead, moving towards a building that looked to be important. It was guarded by multiple people. I couldn’t make out the details from afar, but it was likely they were all part of the Revolutionary’s movement.

We slowed, then came to a stop. I was fairly sure they couldn’t see us with the perception effect I had up, but I didn’t want to risk it.

“Now what?” Songbird whispered.

Do we attack now?

… No. I had a better idea.

“Can either of you find a way to track everyone who enters this building?” I asked.

“S’pose I can put some Hands on it.”

Yvette looked at me sleepily. “Why do you want to track them isn’t it easier to just stop them all now rather than waiting.”

“This probably isn’t all of them. It likely isn’t even most of them. The place still looks significant. I expect the revolution is mostly spread out, but they still need to talk to each other. My idea is we track their movements and build up a profile of where everyone is. When we’re confident we have most of them, we rip it out by its roots. I’m not allowing people who are as brutal as they are to escape unpunished.”

A substantial amount of effort had gone into hiding the place. Enough that I almost considered it worth attacking right away. That wasn’t the kind of work anyone did if they weren’t hiding anything of value. These revolutionaries had done enough damage that I didn’t want to allow this chance to go to waste.

I could have tried using compulsions to do it. I judged it too risky. There was a good chance someone would work out that something was wrong if I did so. There were more people capable of applying, detecting and removing such effects here than on Earth Bet.

Trailing people and preventing carnage without giving away that we had found a part of their organization was a safer move. Songbird could likely arrange for the right people to find out. We could set up a system to deal with this. I didn’t need to handle this alone. Handling the situation this way gave me a better chance of a successful clean purge. I had no intention of remaining in Aisne in ten years time, still managing the same problem.

“Setting up a proper ritual for this will take time and components if you want it to be properly sneaky I’m too tired for it now and I need to think over this carefully maybe tomorrow?” Yvette eventually replied.

“That sounds good,” I agreed.

We left soon after, but took note of where we were. It wasn’t a win. Not yet, at least. I certainly hadn’t made any real progress on the front of the nobility. That didn’t mean this wasn’t a start.