Mattis was the first to reach the library. The clattering of his armor and the stomping of his booted feet against the polished stone floors alerted Garrick of his brother's approach, and the king opened his eyes and sat up as his half-brother neared.
The captain of the palace guard wasn't alone. His son, Diego, trailed behind him. Both wore their trademark matching scowls.
"When were you planning to tell the rest of us about the silver-haired rat?" Mattis growled.
Garrick swallowed hard and opened his mouth to answer before he realized that his brother shouldn't know about Dante yet.
"Who told you about him?" Garrick questioned.
"I did," Diego cut in. "I ran into him with your daughter wandering the halls, so of course I told my father immediately."
Garrick glanced over at Shandrin. She was still focused on her card game, but her lips were pressed into a hard, thin line.
"Silver hair might as well be the universal sign of a traitor in the Nascent," Mattis continued from where his son left off. "Let me guess: you called us here because the silver-haired brat inevitably turned on Shandrin and ran off with his own Chimera and precious knowledge of the layout of the castle."
"I'll talk about it when the others get here," Garrick replied stiffly, annoyed at how close Mattis' assessment had come to the current situation.
Mattis grunted and sat down across the table from Garrick and Shandrin. Diego sat beside his father, arms crossed over his chest. Thankfully, they both seemed content to wait until Garrick was ready to share the rest of the information and demanded nothing further, but the king was sure they'd be the first to interrupt while Garrick spoke and would protest anything he said.
It was eerie how similar the pair was both in mannerisms and appearance. Other than the clear difference in age, they seemed more like identical twins than father and son at times.
Garrick's younger full brother Dominic was the next to arrive. He was dressed in soft leathers that hugged his body and were lined with fur. He glanced at Mattis and Diego before looking at Garrick, the two exchanging expressions that held an entire silent conversation within them. The two full brothers then nodded greetings at each other, and Dominic sat near Shandrin, engaging her in some quiet conversation that soon eased the hardness of her expression.
Dominic had Shandrin smiling by the time her brother Liander entered the room, but she perked even further at his approach even though his hesitant footsteps were nearly silent. He was dressed in muted colors that reflected his dull personality, and as he approached, he wrung his hands almost as though he were washing them in dry air.
Shandrin waved him over, and Liander blinked at her from behind owlish glasses before hurrying her way. Instead of sitting, he stood awkwardly behind her, even though Dominic made room for Liander to sit between him and Shandrin.
No one passed through the doors for some time, but Garrick eventually realized there was a new person in the room. Tristan stood leaning against the wall by the window, absently cleaning a long, curved dagger. He was lean and angular and dressed all in black, matching his dark hair. In all, he looked like some sort of weasel, with how long and thin his body was. He had the temperament of a weasel too: unsociable unless necessary and vicious in spite of his meek appearance. A ruthless leader, an untrackable spy, and a tactical genius: this was the man whom Garrick had always thought should have been the captain of the guard, but Tristan had turned down the position multiple times in favor of Mattis.
Garrick nodded to Tristan in welcome, but the slender man didn't look up from the attention he was giving his blade.
Thistle was the last to arrive, her son Bernard trailing behind her. She was dressed in the loose and comfortable clothing she wore when she sparred. Although her build was slight, the aura she gave off was formidable. She was the most dangerous person in the room, and from her confident pose, she knew it. She looked around the room as though daring anyone and anything she looked at to attack her.
Her son, on the other hand, was formidable physically, but not in presence. His clothing strained to contain the thick cords of his muscles, and he towered over his mother. However, he held himself as though he were small and weak. His eyes darted about, trying to spot possible threats, but in an erratic and defensive way. His behavior was far from the meekness of Liander, but when compared to the raw confidence of his mother, he seemed as harmless and skittish as a mouse.
"Looks like it's time for you to tell us what the hell is going on, Garrick," Mattis snapped the second Thistle settled into a chair beside Garrick.
Bernard froze, halfway seated in a chair between Thistle and Mattis, glancing between Mattis and Garrick in a mixture of expectancy and confusion before finally settling into his chair.
Garrick cleared his throat. "I have distressing news," he opened. "Earlier today, I was attacked while I was tunneling."
Tristan's head snapped up at that, his beady little eyes narrowing as he took in Garrick's unkempt appearance.
The others did too, suddenly connecting Garrick's somewhat disheveled clothes to his words.
"By whom?" Thistle asked.
"Unknown," Garrick replied. "My attacker appeared mostly like a naked Nascentian, although they had the head of a hairless dog and too many joints. My spear couldn't cut its flesh. In the end, it was trampled to death by a herd of wild horses."
"How does the silver-haired boy tie in with this?" Mattis cut in when Garrick paused long enough to take a breath.
"What silver-haired boy?" Thistle asked slowly. Her gaze turned from Mattis to Garrick like it were a sword, waiting to see whose throat needed slicing first.
Garrick swallowed hard. "The reason I left was to find Conrad," he said, his words coming a little more quickly than he otherwise would've liked. "I was led to a boy instead, one with silver hair. Dante. He claimed his father was Blaine, and I now have evidence that he is also a descendant of Conrad's, which was why I was led to him."
Garrick tried to ignore the muffled laughter coming from Mattis as it came to light that Blaine had committed incest. He gave his brother a moment to control his giggling fit and then continued. "I left the boy in Shandrin's care and returned to his world to investigate further. I learned of more of Conrad's descendants living in a nearby town. However, they were long dead by the time I reached them. It seems that the attack on the town was carried out by more of those hound-headed monsters that attacked me in my tunnel."
"What, did you see another one in the town?" Tristan asked.
"No, but one of them broke into Dante's living quarters sometime after I'd taken him," Garrick answered. "If one attacked a descendant of Conrad and another attacked someone in a tunnel seeking Conrad, then it makes sense that these beings would also strike other connections to Conrad."
"Which means that someone must be after Conrad," Dominic piped up. "It seems to imply that he's still alive."
"That, or he was the first one murdered and someone is looking for his descendants to finish off his bloodline," Tristan added.
"Both seem likely," Thistle said. "My only question is why. Why Conrad?"
Garrick shook his head. "I wish I knew."
"Where is this silver-haired supposed son of Blaine?" Tristan asked. "I can prove his genetic claims if he has his Chimera."
"He ran off before I could introduce him to you," Shandrin said. "We don't know where he is, but now I understand why Father was so worried when I told him Dante ran off."
Thistle raised one brow. "He ran off?"
Shandrin nodded. "I gave him a Chimera and he told me he wanted to show it to someone. He created a tunnel while on the stairs, and I couldn't pursue him until I reached the bottom myself as there was a jump I wasn't sure I could make without being able to see where I'd need to land. Soon after I opened a tunnel to seek him, the tunnel shattered and he became impossible to follow."
"Considering this new information, I'd assume he's dead," Thistle said with a grunt.
"That, or he was in a tunnel himself," Tristan cut in. "He might have reached his destination by the time Shandrin tried to follow him, and then he decided to tunnel elsewhere, maybe even back here. That would be enough to disrupt her tunnel."
Garrick pursed his lips. "True. But even if he was in a tunnel, he's still in extreme danger. Whoever is controlling the Hounds wants him dead and has proven they can enter other people's tunnels to attack. If we don't find him first, he might just walk right into his death."
"Do you have a plan?" Thistle asked.
"Shandrin was in the middle of calculating Dante's numbers. I'll have her continue," Garrick said. "In the meantime, all we can hope for is that Dante is neither intends to betray us nor is in danger. Either option would be devastating."