"Okay Order, theories on how to destroy the Østberg House?" Anubis pressed her hands flat against the table, stretching out a freshly printed map that showed the ever-shifting winter paths.
"You're on shaky ground," Ketil whispered from where he leaned against the wall of their inn room, sitting on a cushion. "You forget I am of the Østberg House."
Anubis looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "If I wanted you dead, I would have killed you years ago. You know exactly what I mean."
Lio stood, his head raised. "The easiest way I can think of at the moment is poison."
Ketil chewed on the inside of his cheek, brows raised in thought. Poison was quite a low blow.
Raziel snorted. "Poison the Empress? That's a perfectly original idea. Wow, it's as if no ruler in the history of the world has ever been faced with assassination by poison."
"I didn't realize we were trying to be creative with this assassination." Lio's face darkened a little.
Ketil raised his voice. "Can we not call it assassination?"
They all stared at him with an annoyed look and he shrugged. "It doesn't sound very nice that way."
"I still say poison is the best assassination method," Lio said finally, completely ignoring Ketil.
"And how would we get close enough to her to do that in the first place?" Raziel folded his arms over his chest, nosing the rug on the ground.
"That's where your creativity fails, Raziel." Lio held up his hands, a small smirk pulling at his lips. "We don't poison the Empress directly, we put it in the water supply—"
"Hell no!" Ketil stood. "What do you think you're doing?! Killing innocent people?!" He found himself an inch away from the man. "There are people in there that I love! Family and friends who did nothing to deserve to die! People that I care about and would die for! You leave them out of it and let me deal with my sister in the way I see fit!"
Jameson walked between them, the blossom still tucked behind his ear. "I believe that is enough fighting. I also think it would be best if we keep our volume low and do not speak of poisoning anyone. But that is just what I am thinking."
Ketil stared at the man before slouching and crossing his arms.
"Ketil is right. While poisoning might be the best way for us to accomplish our goals, it puts far too many innocents at risk." Anubis sighed, "our best bet is to sneak into the palace, but how?"
"We could reveal that Ketil is alive?" Vasco said from the corner where he sat half-asleep.
"They'd kill me before I got a word in... or at least I think so. I don't think my sister would be pleased to know I lived." He stood down and Jameson resumed his seat beside Dante. "I don't know how my sister will react to my being alive. Perhaps I can talk to her and make her understand. She is reasonable, she'll listen to m—"
"This is for the greater good," Raziel growled. "You don't seem to understand, so let me make it a little clearer for you, your Highness. Let me tell you something, Ketil Østberg, we have watched people we love die. I watched my mother burn at the stake, and that is not a quick death—that is no knife to the heart." Something changed in the man's eyes and Ketil knew he was reliving that scene in his head.
Raziel stared at him, unblinking. "There's nothing like the screams and the smell—god, you never forget that smell."
"Raziel, I didn't say anything about that." Ketil took an half-step backward. "I just want to think things through. I don't want to kill my sister if it's possible that I can talk her down."
"No more talking! You think you're trying to be moral?!" He snorted a laugh, but the man's face had now turned into a snarl. "Anubis' mother was beaten to death in the streets. Dante's people were hung. You heard about Vasco's sister. So excuse me, but while you were sucking on your silver spoon in your gold high-chair, we were fighting for our lives since the time we took our first breath. I don't give a damn about your morality anymore, your morality spits in the face of my existence."
Anubis made a move and grabbed the man's shoulder. "Raziel, that's enough."
"No," he jerked free, his finger jabbing into Ketil's chest.
"Raziel, get your hand off me now," Ketil whispered.
"No."
"I told you to get your hand off me." Ketil pushed him back and that single action released something wild inside the otherwise tame Raziel.
He pushed back, slamming Ketil into the wall. "Don't push me. I'm not one of the others that will deal with your bul—"
"I never did anything to you! Get your hands off me now, Raziel!"
Raziel didn't follow the order and instead snorted, leaning closer to him. Ketil could smell the bite of ale in his breath. "Now listen to me. This isn't about you, this is about the others like us. The others that live in fear that the Inquisition will kill their family in front of their eyes before moving to them. This is about parents that sell their riesun children or go to the grave defending them. This is about my future and the future of my children—if I even live that far. Because no one wants to die and you should know that yourself, and I'm not dying unless something changes. Your morality can go to hell!"
"I believe that is enough of that," Anubis finished with a bit of bite in her voice.
Ketil sank back a little, his eyes cast to the floor as Raziel released him and walked away.
"Just think of the ones who aren't as lucky as us before you open your mouth in protest. Before you try to justify your lack of action, just think of those who don't fight back," Raziel whispered, balling his hands into tight fists.
Silence echoed in the room.
"Raziel is right," Dante whispered.
There was more silence.
"Now that that's out of the way..." Anubis said, turning the attention back to herself. "Ketil you know your way around the palace, that will be one of our biggest assets in this mission. I believe that it will be in our best interest if you work with Lio."
Ketil just nodded—it was best to agree with her when the tension was thick enough to slice with the dull side of a knife.
"What is your ability anyways?" Jameson said with an eyebrow furrowed. "Dante's blood, Vasco's that smoke stuff, Anubis is death, Raziel can heal... Ketil and you are the only mysteries here."
Lio smirked, looking to Ketil. "He can make statues come to life, not very powerful with though. As for me," he crossed his arms with a haughty smile. "My abilities got me murdered."
"Lio, don't start this again." Anubis whispered, rolling her eyes.
"Prisoner wants to know, who am I to deny him?" Lio shrugged, "during meditation, I can detach my shadow from my physical form and wreak havoc."
Jameson nodded, "that explains the uh, shadow thing."
Lio nodded, "it's neat. I'm invincible... except that I'm not. Except that someone decided that I needed to die and therefore stabbed me in the back while I was in the shadow form."
Anubis looked at him with a frown. "Why are you looking at me? I didn't do it. Besides you didn't die die."
He mirrored her frown.
"This is unimportant," Vasco said, his eyes struggling to stay open. "We need a plan."
"That's where you could be important," Anubis said. "You can take out an army long enough that we can sneak inside."
"You forget that my sister surrounds herself with batræ guards."
"Ketil's right, I'm useless in that aspect."
Anubis let out a low hmmm. "Then we find another way. We sneak in somehow, long enough that Ketil can get in and kill her."
"You're twins, right?" Jameson said.
"Yes?"
Vasco laughed, "I like where the prisoner's going with this."
Jameson shot him a look, still sporting that stupid flower behind his ear. "Then we could dress you up in drag?"
Vasco laughed deeply, "that's our best plan yet."
Dante offered a small smile. "You look to be about Anubis' size."
"We are not!" Anubis and Ketil yelled in unison.
Ketil crossed his arms over his chest bitterly. "Besides, guards would know I'm not her. I'm taller than her and she's..." he struggled for the words. "...she's just different. I'm not her. We're twins but I don't think we look that much alike."
"No, you both look a lot alike," Anubis corrected. "But I don't think it would work anyways because the Empress always has a bodyguard by her side. She's always protected and there are countless passwords we would have to infiltrate."
"So we have no plan whatsoever?" Raziel spun on his heels. "We need some idea of a plan. Some hint of something."
"We still have time." Anubis took Lio's hand. "Everyone think it over. We'll leave first thing in the morning. We still have about two weeks until we near Kampsden. Get some rest or at least don't spend all of your money here. We will make plans in the morning."
She slipped out of the inn room, holding onto Lio's hand.
The rest of the Order looked at each other with various expressions ranging from mild bitterness to extreme confusion.
Raziel snorted, "I don't know about you all, but I am about to get raving drunk."
Vasco nodded, slowly standing. "I'll spot you."
"I think that is a terrible idea," Dante whispered.
"Don't throw your morals into the ring. Besides it's been a solid three years since I've really been fall-down drunk." Raziel shrugged, "not like it's gonna kill me anyways, not when my body's healing itself beyond my control. I'll toast to you all."
Vasco shrugged, heading out behind Raziel.
Dante stood finally, pulling Jameson to his feet. "Ketil? Are you okay? Do you want to go exploring with us?"
Ketil shook his head, silent.
Jameson patted his shoulder as they passed by him, shutting the door on their way out.
Ketil was now alone, the empty silence an anvil on his chest.
~~~
The night around the inn was alive with celebration and colors. Paper lanterns in traditional white and red colored the streets with a warm glow. Women in silver dresses danced with their partners, like moths around a flame. Immensely alive and real, yet Ketil half believed that if he closed his eyes, they would disappear into the painted ceiling of his room in Kantloe.
Ketil leaned his head against the window frame of the Inn room. The others slept—even Raziel who was such a light sleeper was piled on top of a few cushions, his mouth wide open with snores. He reeked of cheap booze and vomit, but at least he was out. Vasco had carried him back up the steps sometime around midnight. Ketil just stared out the window with a sigh, watching the festivities around them.
A part of him wanted to run away and join the people who still danced in the streets, singing in half drunk voices "—sing a song for your lover, young traveler. Play us a song for her! Play with flutes and lutes and your heart, then you can love again!"
Deep inside he knew that this part, the part that could sing and dance with the celebrations of his home, was long gone. Maybe years from now he'd be able to join them in the celebrations, but now...he was an outsider and believed to be dead. And he was dead.
The stagnant air around him moved and he looked back to see Vasco sit up. "Ketil?"
He nodded, silhouetted by the light of lanterns outside. "I'm sorry I woke you."
The man moved closer to him, propped up against the wall. He stretched his head up a little to peer out the window. "I was awake," he said with a small yawn. "Hard to sleep when you know that you might die at any moment—not that it's any different here. And it's not like I had a sleep schedule before I met the Order." He crossed his arms. "What's on your mind?"
Ketil glanced back at the others who were still dead to the world. "Just thinking about what's happened." He traced a finger against the glass, his breath fogging up a pane. "This place was my home. It was my home and I had friends and a family and—" he cut off, hugging his legs tighter to his chest.
Vasco nodded. "It must be hard."
He nodded in response. "Just so many memories. So many good memories and times."
Vasco was silent and if it wasn't for the glimmer of the whites of his eyes, Ketil might have thought that he had fallen asleep.
He let out a sigh. "I miss my parents. The guards never let me mourn my father. I stayed at his side until he breathed his last and then they came to find me." Another sigh that clouded the glass panes further. "Raziel is right, it must sound so petty for me to sit here and complain. We've all lost people we love—mothers, fathers, sisters, entire families or groups—and here I am sitting and complaining that I've had a hard life."
"He was right, partially, but he spoke out of rash anger. We all have our own life stories that we must complete." Vasco uncrossed his arms, "our situations determine who we are and they can't be compared." He paused, "in the simplest terms, we are who we are and that is all."
Ketil was silent before closing his eyes. "Thanks."
"Don't worry about it. Excuse the cliché but we're all fighting our own battles. Some of those battles happen to turn into wars." He hugged his legs against his chest. "It's a lonely crime of existence, watching everyone you love die because of something that you can't stop. I miss hearing my name, my real name. I miss living where people knew me."
"What is your name?"
The corner of his lips turned into a small smile. "Nilo Pavone. My sister's name was Gia and I miss her so much. I should have never let her go. I should've taken her place." He ran his fingers through his hair, his hands turning into tight fists. "When you take your place on the throne, I want to know that you won't let this happen to anyone else. I want every Inquisitor that ever dared to harm one of us punished. That's been the plan from the beginning. The Weepings were just a stop in that mission."
Ketil met his eyes, "you intended to die there, didn't you? If I hadn't found her first, you would have died to kill her."
He nodded slowly. "She killed my sister."
In the semi-darkness, Vasco let out a small whimper, burying his head into his hands. "She killed her and I found out through a fluke. That night I promised myself that I would kill everyone there if I had to, but she would die. And then I heard the call. I saw you fall from the window and knew that you were the ones who could help me."
Ketil shrugged, "fate's plans are mysterious."
"Before I met you all, I had made it my mission to hunt down those that assisted the Inquisition. And in my position, it was a very possible feat." He stared up at the ceiling. "Parties where there are hundreds of people and even more drinks and escorts...people go missing." The corners of his lips turned into a small smile, his palms upturned so that a thin purple mist floated through the room. "I've seen some wealthy people disappear by the night. Just one or two at a time. Either that or their hearts just gave out," he closed his palms into fists. "But now, this is bigger than my mission."
Ketil nodded, exhaling deeply. "Everything will turn out right. Seems it always finds a way to do so. We should rest."
Vasco nodded, staring blankly at the wall. "I hope you're right."
Ketil ignored the feeling in his stomach that something was wrong here and leaned his head against the cold window. He shut his eyes.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
