"I haven't seen you like this for a long time," Adelbern mused as he walked through the garden's gate. Petty-King John stood there, drenched in a mixture of the early morning fog and his own sweat, a new sword clenched in one shaking hand. To think that the mighty King had been dragged so low as to require such measures – his friends back at Fort Saint Elin would faint from the indignity of it all. John was not happy to see the devil on his shoulder return.
"What do you want?" he demanded. He was in no mood for his games and veiled words.
Adel pointed to the sword, "I thought that a second appeal would convince you to abandon this scheme, but it seems that I'd simply be wasting my breath."
"Words will not shake my conviction."
"This isn't just about words, John. You've seen the way he fights with your own two eyes, have you not? In the erudite circles we call that evidence."
The biting sarcasm was wholly unwelcome. Adelbern had always rubbed John the wrong way. His casual scorn and rebellious attitude were not appropriate for an Inquisitor. How the Absolver saw fit to appoint him as his personal dog was a great mystery. The gossip swirled like an unhappy sky. John could only guess that it was his skill with a sword, and his willingness to carry out his orders. What happened to the meek lad who hid behind the legs of his seniors?
John's face hardened as he remembered the death of Sequester, "Every life lost is my failure. The straight path is the noblest. I will redeem myself in the eyes of my compatriots by slaying this foul demon."
Adelbern would not allow him any space to look away. He hovered on the edge of his spirit like a haunting spectre, "You'll turn one death into five. Do you not see the madness in this approach?"
"Unlike you – I prefer to do things the honourable way."
"Don't tell me that," Adel objected flatly, "You don't become a petty-king without knowing how to play the game, so to speak."
John sheathed the sword and turned on him; "I do not like your tone."
John stepped up to him and tried to intimidate him. It did not work. Adelbern peered upwards with his piercing eyes and released a response dripping in resentment.
"Apologies, sir."
This was why he infuriated John so. He was impossible to read, stubborn to a fault, and cared little for the precedent set by his predecessors. If he had just one tenth of their nobility, he would have been an Inquisitor to be proud of. Intimidation did not faze him. Unbowed by shame or duty – he released the statements that the Absolver himself was too polite to. He was interpreting what he was told to try and maximise his chances of success.
"You won't do this to me again, Adel. I know how you like to do these things."
Adel chuckled and stepped back towards the diving wall, "Ah. So, you are capable of pattern recognition. An interesting development. The last time I said something along those lines, you saw red."
"Saw red?" John repeated, unsure of his meaning.
"Nothing. Just an odd turn of phrase."
He was full of those. John carefully placed the sword down and took a moment to collect himself.
"Perhaps your 'creative' interpretations of the Absolver's words are causing you problems? Few would see fit to follow orders presented in the manner that you speak of them."
Adel laughed again, "Oh please. You and the rest of the militants are always upset that he isn't harsh enough. Beyond that – he gives me the discretion to act as I please. It is an arrangement that has worked to our great collective benefit, surely you're rational enough to recognize that?"
John turned back the clock and reminisced. Adel was right about one thing – the Absolver had an uncanny ability to bring things back from the brink of chaos with very little effort expended. Holding together an organisation at crossed purposes like the Inquisition took incredible diplomacy. John did not envy the difficulty of the task that he had, it was enough to make him abhor the prospect of being promoted to the position should his removal come to pass.
Adelbern was always there by his side. When working with the Absolver he stayed his tongue and acted as he should – but there was no prospect of him not knowing Adelbern's real personality. They spent far too much time together for that. The trust the Absolver placed into him could not be curried through simple deception. The more he thought about those incidents, the more he realised that Adelbern had often been the one twisting arms and making promises. Money, manpower and time would always be found miraculously, almost as if the Absolver was secretly holding them in reserve just in case…
A sound strategy, one that John would have never have come up with.
"I come here and speak, I input words and emotions and memories, and then I get the reaction that I want out of you." Even though John was the only one standing at his full height, the tone of Adel's voice made him feel small. He smirked, "You could discount everything I say from here until I leave, just to be safe. Or perhaps that's what I want you to do."
"Enough games," John grunted, "I already understand that the Absolver desires my return. There is nothing else you can say that will change my mind."
Adelbern remained glib about the situation, "If that's the case – then I'm going to help you. He did tell me to keep you alive after all."
"I don't want you watching my back."
"Good. Because I'm not going to. Kageyama knows that you're here, he knows that you're looking for him, and he knows that you have the sword. Ironic that two people looking for each other will make things harder."
"And?"
"Compromise. In order to battle him again, you will need to accept that there will be give and take. Whatever plan you have better be flexible, because there is no telling where the fight will occur. I will steer him in your direction. The rest will be up to you."
"Steer? How are you going to 'steer' him?"
"I shall not bore you with the details. Just be ready when the time comes."
Adelbern turned and left the way he came. He needed to have the last word if his plan was to work properly. As soon as he was out of earshot of John, he swore to himself in frustration. Bastard! He thought. John was never interested in making things easy for him. Adel's only hope was that Ren would be cooperative; but that was uncertain. John had already muddied the waters, and Ren was not quick to forgive.
"…And that's what he said to me."
I had always intended to pick a fight with him, but it looked like the matter was out of my hands. I wasn't going to get Raiju back if he decided to pick up sticks and leave on Adelbern's suggestion. It had only been half a day before he returned and started regaling me with the details of their meeting.
"So what are you gonna' do?" I asked.
"Since he refuses to do the smart thing and retreat, we will have to take matters into our own hands. I've told him that I can 'lead' you to him – though in reality it will be a location of our choosing."
Our own location? My scepticism wasn't misplaced. Adelbern could easily pick out a spot with the intent of making things easier for John. Though given the lengths he had gone to ensuring that Stigma and I continued growing in power did provide a strong basis to believe that he was telling the truth. Why go to so much effort sneaking out the corrupted artefacts if he was just going to kill me a few months later? He picked up on my reaction instantly.
"I don't mean to suggest that I will discount any ideas you present. I assume you want to fight where you can separate him and the officers from each other?"
"Yeah, that's the plan."
"Then we both want the same thing. Arousing his suspicion is not my aim, because if he connects our actions to the will of the Absolver – then we will both be in trouble. Even the most loyal of Inquisitors would turn on him should they learn of his methodology."
"Why not just out him and cause the whole thing to collapse?"
Adel shook his head, "They'll just replace him with someone else. That is the point of systems like these. The individual can easily be blamed for anything that goes awry – then replaced with another who is much the same. I believe the Absolver's claims of instability are somewhat exaggerated, the death of John would perhaps bring them closer to being a reality."
"But if he dies and the Absolver gets toppled, I don't get any more corrupted items from the armoury."
"I'm afraid so."
"You do realise that he tried to kill Cali?" I expected him to come after me, but to try and murder my companions as well was a whole new low. It was a good thing that she could handle herself in a fight.
"That he did. But that is why it is your decision. Are you willing to take a risk and kill John, knowing that the artefacts may be beyond your reach?"
"No. I'm not." Being willing to break the rules and kill people wasn't new to me – but this was different. We were all involved in something shady. Greasing palms was also a skill that rogues needed to get by, and sometimes that meant forgiving someone for a past slight.
"Then let's try to separate him from the sword and send him home. What happens to the others is of no concern, do as you please to deal with them."
"Right."
Adelbern frowned, "But if they're capable of finding out so much information, I worry that things might not play out the way we want them to."
I crossed my arms and nodded; "I put out a bill."
"A bill?"
"A bill of silence, it's a rogue thing. One of the few pieces of etiquette they care for. You can go into any bar and tell the boys that you're 'posting a bill,' basically means that they're not gonna' tell anyone snooping around any information about you – which is how you usually find work. Keeps the heat down. Spreads through word of mouth while they crawl from tavern to tavern."
Adel nodded, "Ah. I think I've heard of that before."
"Probably. People like to talk about it because it sounds brotherly and noble. In reality everyone plays along because they know they'll be in deep shit if they don't. Breaking a bill knowingly means nobody's going to trust a damn thing you do or say. You know what they say about snitches."
"Hm. The world of roguery is more complex than I first thought."
"When it involves people – it's always going to be complicated. There's a bunch of other ideas and rules you have to follow, and not knowing about them isn't an excuse. That's why most rogues have been doing it since birth, it's a fucked-up family business."
"I assume you're the same?"
"Sure. First thing I ever learned at the orphanage was how to pickpocket someone. Then it was lockpicking, fist fighting, sneaking around and how to memorise the city streets so you can escape easy. You don't get taught reading and writing, that's for sure."
"But you do know those things. Did you ever try to teach your fellow 'orphans' how to do it?"
He was trying to be understanding – but there was one piece of this puzzle that he didn't get, because he had never been in that situation before.
"Listen, Adel. It's not about what you know. Reading, writing, maths, all of that shit is worthless. It doesn't matter how smart you are or how many skills you've accumulated. The only thing that they need to know is that you're an orphan; dirty, stupid and violent. They have lots of ways to accuse you of being one. If you don't have a connection with the town then you're shit out of luck. Orphans don't get opportunities. So, they stay dirty, stupid and violent."
"I… I see."
All of that knowledge I held from a past life. It was worthless. I'd learned that lesson many times before. My accent was too harsh, my appearance unsuitable, and my family history non-existent. I was a stranger to everyone. Reading and writing was helpful but most people worked on farms and in mines. They already had people who were better at those senior jobs than me. Good luck getting a real job under those circumstances.
"Let's cut the chatter, shall we? I only have sad stories to share."
"As do I," Adel muttered.
"Right. Where were you thinking that we could do this?"