In one of his trips to the library Roland found a thin book that looked like someone’s journal. It had been laid flat against the back of a shelf and then hidden behind several volumes of ancient almanacs. Likely no one would ever have noticed it, however the book collection in the Serene Castle library was sorted using a different system than that of Sages’ Keep. This irked Roland and he had been removing and reshelving the entire collection so that it followed the “more civilized” - as Master Wiburg called it - classification system of the Keep. This was an incredibly mindless job but at least he felt like he was accomplishing something.

On the inside cover of the hidden book was written `If found please return to Master Bryl at Sages’ Keep.’ What was unusual, though, was that this note was written in Ralsh but the rest of the book was written in what Roland thought to be Maydoinet - a dead language. He did not know how to actually read Maydoinet, perhaps no one in Relmgard did anymore. Equally as strange was that Master Bryl was the head of Sages’ Keep over a hundred years ago. He likely knew Maydoinet, but why would he write a journal in that language? And how did it end up hidden away in the library of Serene Castle?

As he thought about this book over the next several days he came to a realization: there was only one other hand written book in the entire library and that was Christoph’s spell book. Was that simply a coincidence? When he compared the two books it seemed like the handwriting was very similar. Could this actually mean that this book was also written by Christoph?

Roland then became determined to unlock the secrets of this book. He knew that several classic texts were originally written in Maydoinet and translated to Ralsh centuries ago. If he could get his hands on one of these books, he could compare it to the Ralsh version and use that as a crude translation tool. This would be a time consuming process but no more tedious than any of the tasks he performed while at Sages’ Keep. There must be an antique bookstore or book collector that has such ancient texts.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t allowed to the leave the castle and he didn’t trust anyone who did. Clara did occasionally communicate with her family on the outside, so Roland tried to get them to look for a suitable book but it was hopeless. “You want a book about maiden’s nets? I’ve never even heard of those.”

***

As more time passed, Roland’s excitement with his discovery turned into frustration. Was his Christoph hypothesis even correct? Why would Christoph use a language that so few people knew? Also, why would he then write that it belonged to someone who died over a century ago? What secrets did that book hide? He needed more information.

He finally decided that he would ask Eliza about Christoph to see if he could glean something useful. He had learned a lot of details about the Twinned Barrier when he asked her a fairly general question about magic. Although she did seem unhappy after that discussion, it was early in their relationship. In recent months, they had become closer and Eliza was more affectionate towards him. This change began when she suddenly stopped resisting his efforts to push her into different positions during sex. Now sex between them no longer involved her holding him down on the bed and riding him until she was satisfied. He was unsure why she didn’t give him some control earlier, as, judging by the sounds that she made, she seemed to enjoy this arrangement much more.

It was the anniversary of Eliza’s victory over Bodin the Usurper when he found his opportunity. For the celebration day, Eliza made Roland dress in traditional royal clothes - a green military uniform with white highlights. It was fairly comfortable although the tall hat that went with it kept falling off of his head. He spent the entire day as her escort as she made short visits to various ceremonies and banquets around the kingdom. Whenever no one was looking she would press up against him and whisper in his ear all of the thing that she wanted to do to him that night. At one point she told him “I need you inside of me” and the moment that they were alone in the royal carriage she took off her underwear and got on top of him.

When they finally returned to the palace they had sex in the bathes and then again in her bedroom. For reasons that probably had meaning for her but made no sense to him, when they had sex in her bedroom she wore her classic outfit and made him put back on the green uniform. This was the best mood he’d ever seen her in. As they lay together afterwards, he knew that there’d be no better time than now to ask his questions.

“You’re not exhausted after all of tonight’s activities?” she said with a teasing smile.

He was staring at the ceiling seemingly lost in thought. This was an act, as he knew that it wouldn’t escape her attention.

“Queen Eliza, may I ask you a question about Christoph?”

“Hmm? Why would do you want to know about him?”

“I was just curious - in the Heroic Age, he played a vital role in defeating the Archfiend. Yet, there is almost no mention of him anymore. It all seems very odd.”

“I suppose you would find that odd.”

“Did he know many languages?”

“Of course, he was the head instructor of the royal court - and my personal tutor. Only the most qualified scholar in all of Relmgard could hold those positions.”

“Strange that so little is written about him,“ said Roland, fishing for more information. “He seemed like such an important part of the Chosen, but now he is entirely forgotten.”

Eliza let out an exasperated snort as she sat up in the bed, all of her playfulness and affection from earlier in the evening vanished.

“What is strange is a gladiator who is literate. One who spends all of his time in the library and never one moment training. Tell me again how you learned to read? Oh, I remember, your father was a woodcutter who spent his childhood in the Southern Edge where he was tutored by the Seekers from Sages’ Keep. He then taught you. Quite the convoluted and unbelievable story.”

Roland thought that the backstory that he had created for Howling Butz was perhaps unbelievable, but not that convoluted. He realized, though, that he had gone too far with his clumsy inquiry about Christoph. He quickly tried to reframe the reason for his questions in order to calm her down.

“I’m sorry. If I’m being honest with you my Queen, it is intimidating being in your presence and maybe if I knew more about the Chosen then we could have more meaningful conversations as a couple.”

“At what point in your time here did you think I wanted to engage in a meaningful conversation with you? Especially about him. The gall.”

Roland had no idea why asking about Christoph had struck such a nerve. But it clearly had.

“I just thought that if I knew details about your personal life, it would improve our intimacy as lovers. That we could connect beyond a physical level.”

Roland immediately knew that what he had just said sounded incredibly stupid.

Eliza scoffed, “I didn’t realize my concubine was such a hopeless romantic!”

She got out of bed and put on her robe.

“Apologies my Queen.”

“How effective a ruler would I be if I placated the whims of each and every servant? Hmm? I’ve pampered and spoiled you in every way and still you want more? Any other man in Relmgard would gladly swap positions with you in a second, yet you’re not satisfied?”

Roland had never seen Eliza this angry. He knew he was in serious trouble.

“During the day I’m a slave to my kingdom and its council. Then, when I return to my chamber at night, I now have to recite the history of Relmgard to my concubine?”

“Apologies,” said Roland. “I’ll return to my chamber.”

“Don’t you move!” shouted Eliza.

She paced back and forth.

“I thought we understood each other,” said Eliza with dejection in her voice.

“My Queen, you’re a world to me that I never knew before. I just -”

“Do you take me for a fool that you can so easily manipulate? Which member of the Chosen do you think you are dealing with? Talon Tabor?”

She moved close to him and stared directly into his eyes. Her gaze was terrifying. Roland realized that he grossly underestimated Eliza. But she couldn’t possibly know that he was involved in Tabor’s murder?

“My Queen, I would never -“

“Enough!”

Eliza stomped her foot on the ground, cracking several tiles.

She then seemed to momentarily calm down, “It’s my fault isn’t it? There’s an old Serene saying: `Without cruelty you can’t appreciate kindness.’ I’ve only ever lovingly doted on you. That was a mistake.“

She started rubbing her eyes. Was she going to cry? He went over to try and embrace her.

She shook her head and yelled out “Guards!”

Roland froze. Moments later several guards entered the room along with Eliza’s servants.

“Take Howl to the whipping post and administer ten lashes. After that, he can contemplate his actions in the Tower of Sorrow for the next week.”

The guards began to escort Roland out of the room, but the queen stopped them.

“On second thought, leave him here. Lynn, fetch me a branch from the caldent tree in the eastern courtyard. I will take care of the disciplining myself.”

She looked at Roland, “You see how irrational you’ve made me. I’m second guessing my own decisions. This is all so vexing.”

While they were waiting for Lynn to return, Eliza sat in the chair at her desk and scanned the room. A sinister smile crept over her face.

Lynn returned with a tree branch and handed it to Eliza.

Eliza signalled the guards, “Move that desk to the middle of the room.”

“Remove your robe and bend over the desk,” she said looking Roland.

He hesitated for a second as he realized that he was about to be beaten and humiliated in front of an audience of a dozen guards and all of Eliza’s personal servants. Before he could fully process all of this she ripped off his robe and threw him over the desk.

“I didn’t set boundaries,” she muttered as she began the caning.

The initial pain was excruciating but he soon became numb to everything except for the sounds of the branch swing and its impact. Those kept his mind in the here and now. He had no doubt that if Eliza wanted to, she could easily have kill him with the branch. So, even in this fit of rage, she must be holding back.

When she finished, Roland tried to stand up but he fell on the floor. He hadn’t lost consciousness but he couldn’t walk.

“Well that was the physical part of the punishment,” said Eliza. “However, I don’t think that’s really enough to discipline a champion fighter like yourself. Pain is a part of your everyday training, correct?

“Also, didn’t you want to connect with me beyond a physical level? Let’s try that.”

She looked over at Clara who was standing with Eliza’s other servants, “You’re his favourite aren’t you?”

Clara didn’t respond.

“Girl - your queen asked you a question.”

Clara began to shake, “No my Queen. He desires only you.”

Eliza walked over to Clara and started stroking her hair.

“Be calm my child,” said Eliza. “I’m sorry that I startled you. Howl just wants to know what happened to Christoph. You know how he gets, he just never shuts up until his curiosity is satisfied. Constantly pestering me with questions. I can’t get a moment of peace. Even in my own bedroom.

“So let’s show him exactly what happened to Christoph, another man who asked too many questions.”

She then covered both of Clara’s ears with her hands. With a sudden twisting motion she turned Clara’s head sharply to the right and then further. A snapping sound rang through the room. Eliza let go and Clara’s lifeless body fell to the floor.

Eliza looked down at Roland and smirked, “Satisfied?”