Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 6

With all that had happened over the past few weeks, Ludmila had pushed many memories of her regular life away to focus on adjusting to all the changes that had occurred. Regular life inevitably returned, however: whether it was getting holes in her manor roof fixed, dealing with villager complaints or finding a new hole in her stockings. This time, it was in the form of the clingy sleeper that was Clara Corelyn.

With her lack of sleep from the previous day, memories of the past did not even cross her mind. She crawled into their carriage, undressed, and passed out on the spacious and comfortable bed its interior had been converted into. Not that the amount of space mattered. With the morning light filtering through the drapes, Ludmila awoke to find herself thoroughly tangled up with Clara.

If it was midsummer, the heat would have had Ludmila throw her friend off in the middle of the night. But, with the chill of spring still settling over them in the night, she had slept right through to the morning in their too-luxurious accommodations. Rather than try to untangle herself, she poked Clara in the forehead. The first try didn’t work so she poked her again. They were both late sleepers and risers, and she knew that they were usually up around the same times of the day.

Then again, her friend was far busier than she was. The size of her demesne had increased tenfold with her promotion, and Ludmila could not imagine how she managed. The village-and-a-half in her own barony kept her continually occupied as it was. Maybe she should let Clara rest a while longer.

The shadows of the household servants passing back and forth in the camp as they worked could be seen over obscured windows, and a pair stopped outside of the door. A silver bell chimed lightly in the corner of the carriage and Ludmila froze as Clara stirred slightly at her shoulder, softly murmuring in her ear.

She needed to get away. Untangling one leg was the most she could accomplish before the bell chimed a second time.

“I’M UP ALREADY!”

Clara’s voice thundered straight into her ear, and Ludmila’s head rang in the aftermath. Did she just use an ability to amplify her voice? She felt her ear with her hand – it did not come away with any blood – then turned her head to glower at her friend, who was clearly still asleep with a satisfied smile on her face and an arm over Ludmila’s midriff. Baroness Zahradnik sat up in their bed, and Countess Corelyn continued to cling to her like a giant forest leech. Perhaps it should be comforting that some things never changed.

Fifteen minutes later, Ludmila finally escaped from her friend’s clutches. Clara’s lady’s maid and Wiluvien awaited outside. Though the carriage was magically soundproofed, Clara’s maid still offered an apologetic smile.

“Good morning, my lady,” Wiluvien greeted her.

“Good morning, Wiluvien,” Ludmila replied. “How are we doing?”

“Little of note has occurred overnight,” the Half-Elf chambermaid fell in behind her. “After setting up a tent for our work, Lluluvien has been able to survey most of the town with the two Shadow Demons not assigned to watch over the camp. She left her reports in the pavilion before retiring for the day.”

Fassett Town was relatively small as far as county capitals went, but it still had a population of nearly two thousand. The Linum sisters had certainly hurled themselves at their task with incredible zeal.

“What happened to the woman that was being tailed?” Ludmila asked.

“She seemed to have run straight home rather than to anywhere important,” Wiluvien said. “We had the free Shadow Demon check up on the other, and it reported that the woman had fallen asleep. Lluluvien thought it would be a better use of our time to have both collecting information from the town after that.”

“I see,” Ludmila said. “How are you and your sister feeling? It can’t be nice returning to this place.”

“It is as you say, my lady,” Wiluvien said after a moment’s pause, “but we’re still thankful that you’ve brought us along. To have the opportunity to be of use to you here against House Fassett is like a salve after being so powerless for so long. The chance to find our mother is a great motivation as well.”

“She wasn’t in Jacqueline’s manor, I take it?”

“No, my lady,” Wiluvien shook her head. “Lluluvien ordered the manor scoured for anything useful first. The Shadow Demons came away with some information on House Fassett, but there was no sign of our mother there.”

Ludmila had not spotted any Elf servants with Campbell Fassett either. Hopefully Mrs. Linum could still be found somewhere in the county.

They came to a set of tables placed inside the semicircle of tents and carriages. Used to transporting goods and people for long distances and offering high class accommodations for their passengers, House Wagner employed various magical items that revolved around its trading and transport businesses. The table was lined with containers, and each was enchanted to preserve the temperature and quality of the meal that it contained. Multiple meals were prepared beforehand and taken at the leisure of their guests, who were able to enjoy fresh, hot meals on demand at any time of the day. Beverages were also kept ready in crystal decanters enchanted with the same magic, so refreshments both hot and cold were available as well.

According to Liane, they even transported perishable cargo using a scaled-up version of the same concept. It was an idea that Ludmila wanted to explore at some point for use in her own demesne. Picking up a box that was labeled with something that wouldn’t leave her hungry for the rest of the morning, she made her way to the pavilion near the overlook. There, she found Liane and Florine, discussing something as they ate breakfast together.

“Early risers both, I see.”

Ludmila found a seat at their table, which was set just outside the pavilion to offer a view of the surroundings. A much larger wooden table had been put together in the middle of the pavilion, where a map had been laid out and several documents rested.

“We both slept in, actually,” Liane replied. “I’m usually up with the sun; Florine’s running around even earlier. Too much excitement for one day, maybe.”

“The two of you are the complete opposite of us,” Ludmila said as she lifted the cover of her meal, “we usually stay up well into the night.”

“We found that out about Clara a few weeks ago,” Florine said. “We showed up for breakfast and ended up having lunch instead. It’s a surprise to find that you’re the same, though – I thought life on the border would mean that you’re even more bound to the daylight hours than we are.”

“Not necessarily,” Ludmila replied. “Many Demihumans are nocturnal, so vigilance is required at all hours. It is true that most of the villagers who are not on watch and patrol duties rely on daylight, however. As for myself, I think I’ve always preferred evenings over mornings.”

As she set into her meal of sausage, scrambled eggs, toast and some sort of mixed salad, she noticed that they had been going over several of the reports that had been put together overnight. Each parchment was filled with numbered paragraphs in neat and angular handwriting.

“You’ve started going over the findings so far?” Ludmila asked.

“Yes,” Liane shifted in her seat slightly. “It’s unsettling…in more ways than we initially expected.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well,” Liane said, “at first I was astonished at how quickly and thoroughly these notes are being put together. Your chambermaid was able to create a new map of the town and each building is marked and detailed on these notes with their appearance, general layout, notable inhabitants and contents that may be of interest.”

Liane picked up a folder containing several dozen sheets of paper. She withdrew the documents and placed them on the centre of their table.

“This is one of the summaries of the information retrieved from the manor overlooking the town,” she said. “It indexes documents and ledgers that have been copied and filed away for us to sift through later. While much of what was discovered runs vaguely along the lines of our expectations, all the information flowing in made me realize something else: House Fassett; this town – they are utterly defenceless against these Shadow Demons…and so are we.”

“We asked your maid how they were able to accomplish all of this,” Florine said, “and what she described beggared belief. These Shadow Demons fly around, and can jump from shadow to shadow. They can seep through walls, doors, floors and ceilings. Even locked cabinets and safes are no obstacle, and they can just as simply appear into the darkness inside enclosed spaces, take what they want, and come back out. It’s enough to make me want to check under my bed for monsters again, like when I was a child.”

“If the Sorcerous Kingdom so desired,” Liane gestured with her soup spoon, “the private information of anyone, even the dealings of an entire demesne, can be laid bare on a whim as long as it can be observed or stolen by a Shadow Demon. There is no fortress or vault that is safe and, even when I’m actively keeping an eye out for them as they go back and forth between the camp and the town, I can’t see them unless they reveal themselves to us on purpose. I’m not suggesting that we have any illicit activities to hide, but confidentiality in business is valued by both ourselves and our clients. It also should not be left unsaid that they can plant information just as easily as they can steal it.”

“It comes down to a matter of trust, does it not?” Ludmila said, “Never mind such convoluted means, the Royal Court can crush all of us with force alone if they so desired. The old politics, where nobles constantly maneuver in games of intrigue and influence, no longer carry the same weight in the dynamics of the realm. His Majesty has no fear of disapproval or rebellion, so there is no motive for these sorts of actions on the part of the Sorcerer King.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Liane did not look pleased with the admission, “but we don’t enjoy the same relationship with our liege as you do with yours. Lady Shalltear at least interacts with you from time to time, and this personal duty she has bestowed on you implies some degree of shared trust. We have not seen His Majesty since…since…hmm…”

Liane looked to Florine with an unspoken question on her face. The younger noblewoman thought for a moment.

“I heard His Majesty was seen on the first of the month, walking around the city,” Florine said, “As far as audiences go, however…I haven’t heard of any. Since his last appearance, he hasn’t been seen at all. I was in my rural manor when he formally came to claim E-Rantel, and he wasn’t present the few times I’ve had an audience with the Royal Court.”

“It’s the same for me,” said Liane, “I don’t even know what His Majesty looks like. You’d think that conquerors would be putting up statues and monuments marking their achievements all over the place, but I guess not.”

It occurred to Ludmila that she did not know what the Sorcerer King looked like either. Neither did Clara, as far as she knew.

“If not for the annual skirmish with the Empire,” Ludmila said, “I don’t think King Rampossa would have visited E-Rantel either. It’s only been two months, and this duchy has always been distant from its ruler. Given how powerful the Sorcerous Kingdom is, E-Rantel must amount to an outpost of some incredible empire beyond this region’s awareness.”

“That’s probably why we don’t feel that anything is out of place,” Liane said, “but it would still mean a lot to us if we had some personal reassurances from our liege.”

“According to Lady Shalltear,” Ludmila said, “His Majesty has not even been in the duchy for the past three weeks. So rather than avoiding his vassals on purpose...perhaps he’s just that busy?”

“Well, he did bring the Empire to heel before anyone even noticed his absence,” Florine said. “Then there’s the Dragons that recently appeared. No one could claim that His Majesty has simply been evading his duties in favour of lazing about or chasing after some self-indulgent whim. Maybe it’s just us – everything’s been so unexpected and sudden and we’re not used to our titles yet. Though…despite all that’s happened, we still often wish there was someone we could look to for guidance.”

Florine had a point. While Ludmila did not harbour those feelings much any more, she would have if she was younger. It was something that she would need to speak to Clara about. With everyone acting as the heads of their respective Houses, it was easy to forget that Liane and Florine were still at a point in their lives where they would still normally depend on their parents and mentors. While she often hounded her own siblings and even her father about administrative matters, Ludmila was still the youngest in her family. Clara was the youngest in her family as well, so neither she nor Ludmila had considered the idea that Florine and Liane were essentially their younger sisters in this little social circle and might depend on them as such.

“Ara,” said a voice from behind them, “you can depend on us a bit, you know.”

Clara appeared with her lady’s maid, who was carrying breakfast along for her mistress. They had clearly taken the time to prepare for the day: Clara’s lustrous blonde hair shimmered in the late morning sun, and she was adorned tastefully with silks dyed and embroidered in House Corelyn’s cobalt-and-silver. The clingy sleeper in her rumpled nightwear had transformed into a beautiful young noblewoman adorned for a garden stroll, her amethyst eyes bright with charismatic allure.

As Clara seated herself beside her, Ludmila could not help but wonder about how they appeared next to one another. She had thrown on a plain outfit and roughly brushed out her hair before escaping their carriage and had meandered over to the pavilion after very little in the way of her own preparations.

“Good morning, Countess Corelyn,” the two girls greeted Clara simultaneously, lowering their heads slightly.

Ludmila looked down and stabbed the last piece of breakfast sausage with her fork.

“Good morning,” Clara replied with a beatific smile. “You’ve rested well, I hope.”

“Oh yes,” Florine replied. “I don’t think I’ve slept this soundly for weeks. Quite strange, considering the circumstances.”

“House Wagner’s carriages are remarkably luxurious,” Clara said, “so it’s no surprise. I certainly plan on hiring her services for any sort of extended trip after experiencing them myself.”

Liane tried to maintain a straight face, but the corners of her mouth kept turning up at the praise.

“Anyways…” Ludmila said, “we have a lot to examine before deciding how to lay out our strategy for House Fassett. Did you have any thoughts based on the discussions with Campbell and Jacqueline yesterday?”

“Well,” Clara said, “I cannot say we didn’t expect this sort of initial reception. Both are adamant in their positions – they are truly siblings in how they carry themselves, which is unfortunate. I was really hoping to find a way to reach out to at least one of them despite knowing what we were going into. The feeling they give off as well…needless to say, it’s a challenge to be cordial in the face of such dispositions, but I’ll do my best to be diplomatic when I interact with them.”

“What we came up with over the course of yesterday still comes down to twisting their arms until they give in, though,” Ludmila said.

“The only apparent options seem to involve doing just that, yes.” Clara replied, “It’s not an elegant solution, but it might be the only thing we can do to convince them to relent. Let’s not give up just yet, though – we’ve only just begun our work.”

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