"Your opinion is your own. But you will have the guard stand down, I hope?"
"You could be bluffing — in fact, it's very likely you're bluffing — but to risk having you sic your minions on the city?" She sighed.
"I'll send the order to disperse, but I'm not sure how much pull I have with them. The duke didn't have any wife or children, so the succession is going to be all muddled."
"I will leave that in your capable hands, then."
"You're leaving the city?" she asked, and it sounded somewhat hopeful.
"Of course not. After all, I still have a murder to solve."
Leonine had, of course, complained, maintaining that they had the investigation well in hand (which was a boldfaced lie) and that my assistance wasn't needed, but eventually relented when I pointed out that unless the duke had been hallucinating at the moment of his death, someone had tried to frame me.
I ended up returning once more to my apartment, and with the immediate threats out of the way, it was finally time for an overdue talk with Sarjay.
After removing his helmet, he had splattered himself over a plush armchair, and was now staring blankly at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought. I seated myself on the futon opposite of him.
"I should have let you in on my plans for this trip. I was wrong not to do so, and I apologize."
Sarjay quickly straightened from his slouch and blinked incredulously a couple of times.
"Wait, really? That easily?" he mused, shaking his head, "And I had this whole speech prepared about how you're not on your own anymore and you need to open up… Damn, what a waste."
I was very confused.
"You… what?"
"Well, you know, on Earth we have all these stories with Heroes and Villains and stuff, and since I've been here, I've kind of felt like I'm in one of those stories," he stumbled, a bit embarrassed. "So I figured I'm, like, the sidekick to your protagonist now, so it was my job to help you emotionally mature before we go off to defeat the Big Bad.But then you went and did the reasonable adult thing right on your own." He was definitely embarrassed now. "Oh God, that sounded way better in my head. Just forget I said anything, please and thanks."
I couldn't help but smile at his antics. "I don't think you're in any position to help anyone with their emotional maturity, of all things." My smile fell as I returned to a more serious topic. "Are you okay with me using the Dead Legion as a hanging threat, though? I'll be honest, I didn't expect you to still back me after that."
He grimaced at that.
"I can't say I liked it, but at the same time I get it. Rock and a hard place, anything goes. Plus, you've got to be bluffing at least a little bit, right? You wouldn't really kill everyone."
I nodded. "Ideally, they'd serve as a distraction as we escaped. Worst case, they'd attack the garrisons and go for structural damage as much as possible."
He thought it over for a few moments, then nodded.
"Okay. What now, then?"
"I want to figure out who killed the duke, and why. My gut says it's someone related to the conspiracy, probably trying to silence him before I got any useful information out of him." I knit my eyebrows at that. "I probably shouldn't have dismissed his soul so forcefully. That's one avenue of investigation gone."
Sighing, I continued brainstorming for ideas. "I think our best bet right now is investigating the Court Mage. He was clearly deeply involved in the duke's business and his motivation in working for the duke in the first place is suspect."
"'Cause of the money?" he asked, and I nodded in affirmation. "Could be he owed the duke for something else. Or, plot twist, the Mage was actually in charge and the duke was the flunky." His eyes widened as she continued to speculate. "Or maybe it was forbidden love! He didn't have a wife, after all."
"Are all those theories from your stories?" I asked, surprised. Some were a bit… outlandish, but they held enough water that I couldn't dismiss any out of hand.
Sarjay grinned, trying and failing to hide his embarrassment. "Yyyup. Probably not it, then."
"No, it's a good hypothesis. If you get any more ideas, I would like to hear them."
"Got it, Boss!" he scratched the back of his head nervously, seeming to want to say something, but hesitating.
"Is there something troubling you?" I questioned with some concern.
"It's just… what are you gonna do after you figure out the culprit?"
I blinked. "Return to the tower, I suppose. Why?"
Sarjay breathed in, mulling over his words.
"I think you should take it over. Canneria, I mean, or Ardenburg at least."
That actually stunned me. "Why would you think that?"
"It's… I don't know, a feeling. That Leonine lady is giving me bad vibes, and she feels like the kind of woman who holds grudges." Shrugging, he continued. "I just feel like if she's in charge, she's going to muster her forces and attack you as soon as you're not holding the metaphorical knife against her throat."
Grimacing, I acknowledged his words. "I don't think you're wrong about her wanting to retaliate. But I… this might sound hypocritical, but I don't want to kill an innocent woman over what she might do."
"You wouldn't have to kill her, I think. You could probably strut in and say you're taking over, and then have her named as, I don't know, governor or regent, and she'd probably accept that."
"I doubt it's that simple, but I'll think about it. In any case, I believe it's time to prepare to meet Adept Thaos."
"Now? It's still the middle of the night."
"There's nothing more dangerous than a mage in their own seat of power. I will need to cover us in some heavy duty wards just in case things go sour. It will take some time."
"Oh, yikes. I didn't think of that. I would have just run straight in."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Like you did in my tower?"
He flushed. "Okay, okay! Maybe I'm not as mature as I think I am."
It took several hours for me to finish the preparations, during which Sarjay took off a few times to patrol the corridors surrounding our rooms. It was just about breaking dawn when he stormed into the room, panic written clearly on his face. I could hear another commotion coming from somewhere farther into the palace.
"What's wrong," I asked, though I was already beginning to suspect.
"There was another murder. This time it was Leonine."