Arillia by Illuminati Architect

Chapter Twelve, Sisters

Just before dawn on Thursday, 5th Jinua, 23rd year of Peter III, as we cuddled in the afterglow of our usual wake up sex I asked Polly, “Did the Reltucs say which countries those costumes were from?”

“Sage Reltuc said that the design you called ‘French’ resembled some aspects found in the western countries of the Great Continent across the Eastern ocean, while the ‘Chinese’ design evoked some aspects from their eastern countries across the western ocean. But he said that these costumes were heavily ‘fetishized’ versions. Is the world really round like an apple, where east wraps around to west?”

“Yes it is. I have seen the curve of this world below with my spells. But even reaching as high as my strength allowed I could not touch the planets or stars. Did Alice and Rebecka laugh at my designs?”

“No, they both said they loved them and couldn’t wait to try them on.”

“Sure, that’s no problem.” Given that Rebecka was exactly my size, and that Alice was a close fit to Polly’s, I supposed that after the party we could hand them the costumes we had worn and Polly’s ‘Chinese’ outfit would only need a bit of adjustment, perhaps opening diamond cutouts on the sides between hips and ribs, to fit Alice.

Carnel seemed lost in thought at breakfast until she finally looked at me. “Arillia, what costume will you be wearing at my party?”

“Polly and I will wear costumes from opposite ends of the Old Continent.”

“Has Polly been to the Old Continent?”

“None of us have. It’s stuff from books.”

“I want to see the pyramids of the great desert someday.”

“Carnel, there are old pyramids in the jungles at the southern tip of our New Continent, but they’re not quite as big.”

“There are?”

“It’s the kinds of things I learned at The Academy. Those southern lands are where the coca in your cakes comes from.”

“Why don’t we make it here?”

“We grow apples, but coca trees require a warmer climate than is found in Ioa. Hence the importance of our trade on the Ioa river to the south and across the Spectral Sea to the north.”

After breakfast I had intended to drop Polly off with the tailor, but she wouldn’t even raise her eyes to look at him.

Finally the royal tailor suggested, “Your Highness has worked with my daughter Edith before. Shall I have her look into this?”

“If you would please.”

As the two women talked about fabrics and colors I slipped away and took a shortcut along the walkway over the castle wall.

Where are you going?

“To use my special influence to get Treasurer Farland to spill the beans about the Port Linton issue.”

Wait, Farland? Yeah, you can’t sweet talk him.

“Why not, Greg?”

Like Amelia, Carnel, Hoofblack, and Sparot, Farland has the implacable tag. You can’t just order him around.

“But I’ve been able to persuade all of those you just listed.”

With ordinary human reason and appeal to their existing sense of duty and not these Jedi mind tricks. I only heard your side of the conversation, but you seemed to give in to Sparot on everything he asked for.

“Why should the Royal Treasurer be marked as a special foe?”

He’s in a mini-game that you can’t cheat through by talking him out of it.

“What is a mini-game?”

It’s like a side quest. He challenges you to a game of Poker and if you win you get access to the castle vault, but if you catch him cheating then you can fight him in his ghost form.

“I think I understand how to handle this.”

I looked down in the courtyard and saw Rebecka standing barefoot on the bare back of a brown mare as this galloped past the archery targets. Rebecka loosed three arrows, hitting each of the targets dead center.

The guardsmen who had gathered for this demonstration all applauded.

I ran for the nearest ladder, scrambled down, rushed into the courtyard and shouted. “Lady Rebecka!”

Rebecka made a tiny movement with her left foot and the horse turned and stopped in front of me.

Rebecka jumped off the horse’s back, and put her bow away in mid jump. “Your Highness, may I introduce Sharon.”

The horse nodded at me.

“Rebecka, I do not care what sort of cartoon princess, mystical animal shaman powers you may have. Any horse ridden by a lady of my kingdom shall be shod, saddled, and bridled. Just be thankful I don’t require you to ride sidesaddle.”

“I asked Sharon and she said she didn’t want any of that.”

The horse nodded at this.

“This is not optional. Ioa has been subject to enough ridicule already. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been called the princess of North Suskan by people who thought they were just out of my hearing.”

The horse leaned over and seemed to whisper something in Rebecka’s ear.

“Sorry, Sharon, but she’s the leader of our herd.”

“Has at least Elizabeth been taking this seriously?”

“Yes, Amelia bought a huge gelding from a farmer and has been training Elizabeth to ride that.”

“I was going to go riding tomorrow, but let’s delay the day trip until the end of the month. Now go get your horse ready.”

“As Your Highness demands. Come along, Sharon.” Rebecka set out towards the stables.

Sharon gave a reproachful glance at me then followed her mistress.

I walked back to the castle then up the stairs to the library where I found Alice looking over the maps by herself.

“Where are your father and my sister?”

“I haven’t seen either today, Your Highness.”

“Stay here, and I’ll go fetch them.”

I walked up the next flight of stairs and knocked on my sister’s door. “Carnel, are you there?”

“One moment.” I heard people moving around and the shuffling of papers then, “You may enter, Sister.”

I opened the door and saw for the first time I could recall that Carnel’s table had nothing on it and that she was sitting in front of it between Elizabeth and Sage Reltuc. “What brings you to my room, Sister?”

“Princess Carnel, may I bother you and Sage Reltuc for some more research assistance? Or are you busy with something?”

“Oh, we’d be happy to help.”

“You’ve got a spot of ink on the tip of your nose. Why don’t you wash up and I’ll see the two of you in the library. And Elizabeth, please go practice your riding as we have a day trip at the end of this month.”

“Where are you going, Sister?”

“That is what you and Sage Reltuc will help me discover.”

“You already know that it’s a trip that can be made there and back in one day, but you don’t know where it is?”

“I have my sources.”

We found Polly with my marked up copy of the holy book in hand on the way to the library, and Alice looked up from the maps spread across her table as we four entered. “Your Highnesses?”

“Our next quest is to get the first clue as to the location of Martinia Fireblood, the Marquise of Magic.”

“Who’s she?”

“Carnel, she’s either our nine generations back grandmother or grandaunt. Have either of you Reltucs read a source that resolves which of the two stories about Alfred the First being her son or nephew or both is the truth?”

They shook their heads no, and Sage Reltuc responded, “I’m ashamed to admit that the founding of Ioa hasn’t been the focus of my studies.”

“Carnel’s truancy has less excuse. She really ought to be more curious about the land she was born in and may someday rule over.”

“So what did our grandmother/aunt Martinia do?”

“The first generation of settlers from the Great Continent drove away the elves as they founded their colonies on the east coast of our Hahnunah continent: Excelsior, Stonekey, Algonquia, and so on. The next generation after settled our Ioa, Suskan to our south, etc. At that point the war of genocide gave way to assimilation. Alfred the First took an elfin bride and we’re still short, thin, and with slightly pointy ears to this day. Polly’s Bluetress nature is partially due to the fraction of elfin blood in her veins, followed by breeding like horses to select for that power. Martinia was in her carriage on her way to being proclaimed queen when she was ambushed by the Legindal tribe. Alfred Angleland took his revenge by wiping that tribe out and then took their last survivor, Kateri, in chains to be his queen. We know the general spot where Martinia’s carriage was ambushed, but her body was never found. So our first step is to locate where the elf shaman Koching is buried as he led the ambush of Martinia’s carriage.”

“So you’ll capture his spirit and force him to tell you where she’s buried?”

“No, Carnel, we just need the jewel that’s embedded in his dead skull, because the Jewel of Koching remembers everything it has seen, in addition to other abilities.”

For the next several hours we tried to match the crude map I had drawn at Greg’s prompting to the more detailed surveys in the library.

“Let’s assume that my note about Lockjaw Cavern is Notyad Cavern.” I pointed at the map.

Sage Reltuc waved this off. “Then it’s not worth the trip. Notyad Cavern has been thoroughly investigated several times. There is nothing there.”

“But nobody has brought a Blessed Girl there.”

Carnel looked up from the map at the two of us and asked, “Arillia, how would you know that would make any difference? If somebody tried that before then they would have found what you’re looking for and if nobody has ever tried that then how do you know to do it?”

“I have my methods, and these have worked for everything so far.”

“Oh.” Carnel folded her hands over her mouth then leaned back staring at me. “That’s what you meant by ‘visions’ on Tuesday. This is it, right? I’m going to be queen, aren’t I? Don’t worry, Arillia, I’ll make sure you are well cared for, even after you go as mad as great-grandmother Mildred was.”

How does everybody know about her, when she’s never mentioned in the game?

“I do not have Lady Mildred’s condition. I have Lord Sparot, and he went all through this area long ago.”

“But how did you find Sparot?”

“I studied the history of Suskan at the academy. If you demonstrate the desire and the education needed to be queen then I’ll gladly step aside and let you deal with that hassle. I’ll go back to the academy and have my own little magical research lab. If only we had a little brother to toss the crown to then you could join me there.”

Carnel frowned at me. “It’s not my fault that Mom had a complication!”

“I’m not blaming you for that. Everybody is glad that we have you. I am so damn proud of my genius sister. Anytime anybody says how amazing it was that I learned something, I turn around and point at you and note that you also did these things but you were much younger than when I did it.”

“That’s only because you showed me how.”

“I had a lot more than one person showing me, and lots of books, and weeks of study. And when I finally was able to cast each spell I’d bring it back to the castle and show it to you and you’d say ‘Let me try!’”

“And I’d fail.”

“But you didn’t give up. You’d work you way through every syllable, intonation, and gesture, and you’d only stop each day when I told you to go rest.”

“Why’d you put up with me when nobody would?”

“First because magic is fun, and I like sharing fun things. Second the only reason I’d have silent casting down by the time you finished learning the spell is because I was watching you go through every step. It’s a lot easier to consider the core elements of the spell when I’m not busy doing the hocus pocus dance myself. I dream of the world centuries from now when Queen Arillia is completely forgotten and every mage learns of the great advancements that Princess Carnel made, but that’s all up to you. One day you’ll tell us all what it is that you dream of doing. And we’ll see the determination in your eyes and respond simply ‘How can we help?’ There isn’t anyone who’d be happier to hand the crown to you than I will be, once you show me that you will be a happy and effective queen. But if the job is going to make one of us miserable then let it be me, and then I’ll get scolded for sneaking away from my royal duties to see what great things Princess Carnel has discovered in her lab.”

“What if I want to be the adventuring princess with the undead sword?”

“Then Carnel, you’ll have to wait for your eighteenth birthday, because Lord Sparot makes me do adult things for him.”

“Adult things? But he’s dead!”

“He didn’t stop being a man when he died, and all men are much the same. No offense intended, Sage Reltuc.”

“No, I’m guilty as charged, and I admit to more than academic curiosity at the matters hinted at, but I will of course respect the privacy of Your Highness. But only as long as I live.”

“Do not wish to mettle in the affairs of wizards after your death, for we have ways of inflicting interesting afterlives.”

“But what about Polly, is she part of these Adult things?”

I pointed at Polly who was sitting in the far corner of the library, engrossed in my annotated copy of the holy book. “Does she seem unhappy to you?”

“When she’s with you she seems so blissful, but when you wear that sword she looks so afraid. It’s like she has something so precious and now she sees it taken away from her.”

“I will not toss her away, but I will keep her to the side once I am married. And she knows that she’ll just have to live in the shadows under me. Carnel, if you can’t handle that level of hypocrisy then live quietly, live privately, and don’t be queen. And right here, right now is what I’ve been told is a red pill moment. I’ll take my team to Notyad on the 30th and go check out the cave there. If we find nothing then we’ll recheck for our next steps and only one day will have been lost. Carnel, if you want to be the perfect noblewoman then accept my thanks for your efforts today, stand up, and go back to your room. Or you can stay sitting right there while I take you down the Arillia path of crawling through the worst, most disgusting parts of the world. Alice has already been tainted by my world and her father won’t abandon her there, so the only remaining question is if you will remain innocent or instead take up some of my guilt in the dirty work of keeping this kingdom running. What is your choice?”

“I won’t abandon my sister. What is it that you have to show me?”

“I’d say good girl, but a good girl would leave now and remain untainted.”

“What is Your Highness talking about?”

“Sage Reltuc, I am about to ask Princess Carnel a question she obviously hasn’t considered and the depths of that question is something only you can help her with. Alice is needed so that she can learn from you and carry on this dark path after you are gone. So Carnel, last chance. Will you be a good girl and leave now?”

“No, I’m staying right here. What is your question?”

“As Your Highness demands. My question is where do the numbers that trouble you arise from and where have they been?”

“The numbers are written on the papers.”

“Who wrote them and who reviewed them before you saw them?”

“Are you saying that Mom was trying to hide something?”

“No, she was already troubled before you spotted her mistake. But these figures have passed through many hands and been seen by many eyes before they were delivered to the Queen. Your mission is to work with Alice and her dad to find out who was expected to see these things and ignore them, while I go happily riding around the countryside.”

“I thank Your Highness for leaving my daughter in the safety of the castle this time.”

“Sage Reltuc, I’m taking the safer route where all I have to worry about is a ghost stabbing me in the eye. Carnel has just volunteered for the much more dangerous mission. Silence is the only defense these two young women will have and I trust in your judgment to keep them silent and safe. Find the snake in the grass of our kingdom and point it out to me.”

“What? You’re going to get stabbed in the eye?”

“No Carnel, I’m not. I have seen and considered the danger ahead of time, and I intend to stomp to the curb this ghost and then bring back Koching’s Jewel for you to use.”

“Why didn’t Your Highness just ask me to look into these things? Why bring these two innocent young women into this?”

“Sage Reltuc, you have studied how the systems of the world work, but your daughter is very good at organizing things and Princess Carnel is a genius at numbers. Only the three of you together can find the real truth.”

After breakfast on Friday, 6th Jinua, Carnel went with Mother to meet with the Reltucs about the accounting issue and Polly went back to check with Edith about the costumes.

I led Elizabeth and Rebecka down to the stables, where the Amadevs were waiting.

“Your Highness!”

“Yes, Sir Amadev?”

“What is this about Your Highness taking my Amelia and Goldeye on a week long trip next month?”

“Do you have a better horse for her to ride into battle?”

“My daughter isn’t fit for battle!”

“That’s why I’m having her train.”

“She’s not a knight. Now Your Highness has filled poor Amelia’s head with this nonsense and she’s put off her engagement for your fantasy!”

“Amelia, is this an engagement you chose?”

“No, Your Highness.”

“Consider your future, girl. Young mister Olmec’s father is a very successful merchant in Port Linton. You couldn’t hope for a better match.”

“So mister Olmec will become Sir Olmec some day? I didn’t realize how much value the moneyed class put in the titles of my poor kingdom. Perhaps I should auction off my own hand, and the kingdom itself of course, to the highest bidder.”

“It’s not like that, Your Highness. Mister Olmec puts great value in Amelia herself.”

“Then leave this situation in my hands. Should Amelia prove suitable for my company then I will ride to Port Linton next month and meet with this Olmec family.”

“Yes, I am suitable! Let me show how I have taken Your Highness’ suggestion of the lance to heart!”

Amelia had Elizabeth lift a hundred pound bag of sand and attach this to a hook, then Amelia mounted Goldeye (a stallion named after the yellow patch of fur around his right eye) and charged the bag at a gallop, threw her lance completely through the bag, caught the lance on the far side, jumped down beside me, planted the lance in the ground and hugged me. “See, Arillia? I have mastered the lance!”

I grabbed her shoulders and whispered into her ear, “Do not show this affection around others”, then I pushed her to arms length and continued much more loudly. “Know you place, miss Amadev! That is Princess Arillia, or Your Highness, and do not touch my person without permission! As for this display, I am very disappointed. You need to lean in with your full weight to strike a blow worthy of my company,” I turned her around and whispered to her again, “Permission to be granted later, after you have proven yourself worthy,” Then I pushed her towards her father. “Sir Amadev, train your daughter how to fight well this month or I fear that all I will deliver to the Olmec family next month will be sad tidings about a girl whose training wasn’t sufficient to see her through to them.”

“I shall, Your Highness.”

As I walked away Greg asked, How did you get Sir Amadev to agree to what you wanted?

“A basic trick my master taught me. Corner someone then act as their friend as you escort them down the path you wanted in the first place.” I whispered back.

Wait, you have a master?

“My father made me an adventurer, my mother made me a witch, and my master made me wicked. We just need to find a suitable ‘Face’ as you call it, to be the king, hero, and husband for Carnel or myself to replicate that trinity in this generation.”

The rest of the morning was spent working on formation riding around the castle with myself on Emberstep, Rebecka on Sharon (who now had horseshoes, saddle, and bridle, but I decided to overlook the absence of a bit), and Elizabeth on her gelding Tuton, which lived up to his name by outweighing our other two horses combined.

The next two weeks saw training and research in many areas. Trying to pin down the other locations on Greg’s crude map, horsemanship with my companions, and my saber verses Amelia’s spear and shield on foot.

Whenever Amelia would try to embrace me I’d rebuff her with “Do you really think you are worthy yet?” or such.

This was also the time I had Greg tutor Carnel on things that were commonplace on his world while the Reltucs took notes. He taught her Algebra, decimal and scientific notation, the Metric system, surveying, physics and engineering, and by the end of the month Carnel had made herself a sliderule and was thinking about how to produce a Curta mechanical calculator.

I encouraged Carnel’s nature to question all the things that Greg had me say and she discovered that our magnetic declination was as close to zero as she could determine and not the negative sixteen degrees Greg had claimed, but he admitted that this varied over time. She also tried to devise means to determine if Greg was correct that the distance from Kristophoro to Spearland was just over two hundred kilometers, as the dragon flies.

After one of these sessions Greg spoke to me alone. If anybody from my world saw her using these or saying anything about these things they’d spot that her knowledge was from my world, not yours.

“That’s the point. As you said an isekai is irreplaceable in this world. This confusion vastly increases her value as a captive and shifts the equation towards keeping her alive in any plot. Even once they figure out that I am the source they’ll never be sure they’ve learned everything I’ve told her. This slightly increases the difficulty of any plot against us.”

Alice found me a few other books with cryptic clues about love between women and we two couples “compared notes” on a few occasions. Something that Rebecka was matter of fact about, but had Alice and Polly blushing and stammering.

I had Polly train to cancel out Carnel’s spells. This was pushing things a bit, but instead of retreating to her room again Carnel rose to the challenge and devised ways to cast quickly, silently, and deceptively. But Polly’s skill with her innate talent increased at about the same pace, something Greg called an Arms Race, which was somehow not the same as a foot race.

Then on Friday 20th Jinua, I had Rebecka attend dinner with my family, where I handed the letter I had received that day to my mother. “My master has returned, and bids me report to her tomorrow.”

“Yes Dear, I’ve already spoken to my sister, but she has some matters for your personal attention. Carnel, do you want to go see your aunt Aleyda?”

“No, Mother. If she has sent for Arillia personally then I can wait and see her later.”

Father then spoke up. “We met briefly about her recent trip to the Great Continent. We have some friends there, but they are far too busy with their own affairs to be of much help to us here.”

“So, Rebecka, you shall be my plus one when we enter the den of the lioness tomorrow.”

“I fear no beast.”

“No, this is the much more fearsome and ferocious game of politics, which you have set aside for all your life to go dance merrily in the woods. These concerns did not and will not go away just because you choose to ignore them until they take interest in you. And then it is far too late.”