[40th Year of Foresai, Lower Wind Month, Day 6]

Ahh this matches his eyes.

Renner burrowed her nose in the hydrangeas, and breathed in. The sickly sweet smell reminded her that it was the eve of summer. She was happy. Using the shears in her left hand, she snipped the flowers at the base and righted herself. Turning to the right, she nestled the hydrangeas in a growing bouquet. Her puppy was holding it for her, trailing her around the flower garden. One of the greatest luxuries of the palace, the garden on the southern side of the palace was in full bloom. Filled with species and cuts of flowers from across the kingdom, it was a field of color.

Scanning her surroundings, her vision fell on some white petunias. An idea came to mind. Looking back to Climb, mischief brewed in her eyes, and a sly smile grew on her face. Pirouetting in place, she swept her sight, making sure no one was close enough to see. Surrounding the garden was a wide and vast lawn, whose acreage was itself exorbitant to maintain. It was of such size that Renner and Climb were fifty meters from any permanent roofed structure, and also fifty meters from anyone else. Quickly crouching, she snipped a single flower, leaving its stem deliberately short. As she stood up, Climb, confused by her strange actions, held the bouquet out for her. Before he could react, she closed the distance between them and nestled its stem on the top of his left ear.

Wonderful.

Renner giggled, and Climb turned so red as to match with the roses behind him. He was smiling too, teenage love overbrimming. They both started to laugh, but Climb suddenly stiffened. Renner turned, and saw Gazef Stronoff exiting one of the smaller south-side doors. He caught the two of them in his sight, and started to walk towards them.

Ah, Lakyus must have told him. I’ll need to handle this conversation carefully.

Gazef, in a stripped down version of his dress uniform, turned the corners on the meandering stone path towards the garden, growing closer.

This is slightly unexpected. Gazef must have needed a few days to decide to talk to me. I wonder what I can do with this opportunity? If I can get Father’s bodyguard, the Warrior-Captain in my camp, the benefits that could bring… it's impossible to scry and remain levelheaded.

As little political power Renner possessed, her friendship with the Blue Roses gave her not insignificant access to force. The thought of getting Gazef on her side was intriguing for that very reason. Gazef was now four meters away, he bowed.

“Warrior-Captain, is my father sending for me?”

“No your highness, and forgive me for interrupting you. I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Really?”

Renner feigned surprise, setting her finger on her chin and cocking her head slightly.

“Y-yes. When, when you met with Lady Aindra of the Blue Roses, did y-”

Gazef paused, clearly trying to recuperate his thoughts. A look on his face belied his internal turmoil.

“Did you tell her that the Slane Theocracy was in Tob?”

“Ah, that matter. Yes I did tell her that.”

Gazef was stunned. He had not expected such a candid answer, and his confusion grew.

“Forgive me, Your Highness, how did you acquire that information?”

“Through you.”

For a second time, he was speechless. Forgetting his decorum, he stuttered out a response.

“How?”

“Well, when my brother handed you that sword, you had a very strange look on your face. There was obviously something wrong with the sword, and I just needed to figure out why you would be afraid to state it to my father.”

Gazef’s face quickly turned dour, and he lowered his face slightly.

“It’s ok Captain, I don’t think anyone else knows. I had no intention of telling my father.”

That’s an important seed to plant. You need to understand how much leverage I hold over you. If it was common knowledge that you had intentionally withheld a suspicion from the King, a suspicion that the Theocracy was operating within our borders, nobles through several rounds of exaggeration could make the argument that you are a traitor. Gazef, you’ve played right into me.

Gazef gave an appreciative bow. On the upswing, his eyes snagged on Climb.

He sees the flower. No matter. I ought to present to him an understandable version of myself. Showing Climb as my sweetheart only aids in that narrative, no? Sans such utilitarian construction, it is after all, the truth.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Warrior-Captain, may I ask a few questions?”

“Yes, of course, Your Highness.”

“How could you tell it was a blade of Theocratic origin?”

“The weaving on the sheath’s exterior is one of the ways that they inscribe divine magic, your highness. The thatching pattern imbues words of power.”

Eh? That was completely afield my perception.

“Ahh. Say, Gazef. Why do you think they’re in Tob.”

“Well, it could be a lot of things. It’s possible the knight Barbro said they killed was actually an Imperial Knight. If it was an elite unit that was doing operations deep in our territory, it's possible they'd have done the same in the Theocracy, and merely took it as a war trophy.”

“But you don’t think that’s likely?”

“Well, to be honest. The Theocracy is fairly ascetic, and anyone who actually bears a blade like that would probably be fairly high in their rankings. Potentially a member of the Six Scriptures. I can’t imagine Imperial Knights being able to take that blade.”

I would never have divined that either, at least not easily. Gazef would be very useful as a voice on martial matters, equal to Lakyus. Further, I could have easier access to him than any of the Blue Roses. No one would question me meeting with my father’s bodyguard.

Renner looked down his body, eyes settling on his sword. She dismissed her earlier strategy as ill-conceived.

He’s an honorable man. Passive intimidation won’t be viable long term to extract information from him, especially once the Theocracy’s involvement within our borders is revealed. He won’t let me into his confidence unless I show him deep empathy, until I show him the face I show to the Blue Roses.

Renner spoke up, but quieter, and with a somber timbre in her voice.

“Gazef, what would it take for you to stop them?”

He looked silently at her, contemplating his next words.

“I would need to be deployed there, and I would need to find them. Still, even the weakest of the Scriptures field true warriors.”

“Oh.”

He went silent again.

“You’re like your father.”

What?

Renner was confused. More bafflingly, she saw Climb smile and nod in her peripheral vision. She gave a frank and confused smile.

“You truly care for the people of the Kingdom, your highness.”

Ah. That makes sense. This is a good sign.

“Gazef, if you end up being called to the east, please be careful.”

“I will, Your Highness.”

“Please tell me what you find out there.”

“I will, Your Highness.”

He bowed one final time, and began to walk away. Renner began to reflect.

I think my approach up until now has been wrong. I will never be able to gain political leverage that I can use to gain a future for me and Climb because I can never be a political free agent. But that doesn’t stop me from courting hard power. If I can come to Zanac with the backing of an adamantite adventurer team and the Warrior-Captain, that would be a swift path to a quiet life.

—

[40th Year of Foresai, Lower Wind Month, Day 8]

It was a week after their last meeting when Lakyus returned to Renner. Renner had been struck by a bout of boredom, and so had left the palace for the day. Surrounding the palace were a number of smaller demesnes, living spaces for nobility, as well as a limited number of businesses catering to their tastes. Over the course of the last few decades, cultural cross-pollination had slunk its way from Baharuth into the Kingdom. Unlike Re-Estize, the Empire had a burgeoning tradition of street food, and what emissaries had traveled to the Empire often came back hungering for the tastes of the east. Through a combination of happenstance (the collapse of a minor house to bankruptcy, and its disposed head Chef encountering an imperial cookbook) and a sudden demand for the cuisine, the first restaurant opened in Re-Estize. The model was successful, and several additional gastronoms began to open. It was at one such business, “The Colonnade”, that Renner and Lakyus met.

They were alone with the exception of Climb. Catering to their clients, all tables were sectioned off in individual rooms, and this outing served a double-purpose, providing them with privacy. Lakyus entered with a stack of parchment.

“You always do such expedient work.”

“We’ve been sent on harder jobs.”

“You’re always too humble, too. Is that your report?”

“I wouldn’t call it a report, do you know how hard it is to get Gagaran or Evileye to write anything about their perspectives? I had to remind both of them that we were working for you.”

Renner giggled, and Lakyus took a seat opposite from her. A waiter arrived and handed the pair menus, and was promptly dismissed.

“So, Lakyus, what did you accomplish?”

“We were able to investigate all seven of the convoys you mentioned, and we determined six in the service of Eight Fingers. We conducted strikes on those convoys, as well as what we believe to have been a safehouse. We found and destroyed a few hundred standard weights of Black Dust, and around a few thousand standard weights of Laira. We also found and burned a small field.”

“That’s very impressive.”

They were able to do more than I expected. Burned a safehouse? I wonder how large Eight Fingers really is.

“To be honest Your Highness, I don’t think we did that much.”

“In comparison to the size of the syndicate? Probably not. What about prisoners?”

“We took a total of seven prisoners. However, we were only able to conduct five interrogations.”

Oh? How did this happen?

Lakyus lowered her voice, heading off Renner’s next question.

“They killed themselves in captivity.”

“How horrifying!”

How interesting.

Lakyus looked at Renner and gave a faint smile. Climb was clearly disturbed by what had been said, and his hands instinctively drifted towards his sword, even without a present danger. Renner looked down, contemplating what to say next.

“They feared their superiors that much?”

“They must have. These were the two we believed to be the highest ranking of the people we captured, too.”

“To think the people higher up in the organization were willing to die before they incurred the wrath of Eight Fingers for being captured.”

“Your Highness. I think you understand what this means.”

“Oh?”

“I think the rumors of Six Arms’ brutality are true.”

Eight Fingers was split into eight divisions, and although seven were focused on external criminal activity, the final division focused on keeping its own members in line. The Security division was Eight Fingers’ source of hard power, and among its ranks of mercenaries, enforcers, and soldiers was a rogue adventuring team, Six Arms. Although they had never been evaluated in the eyes of the Adventuring Guild, the belief was that they possessed equal fighting power to any other Adamantite-ranked team. This made them a match for the Blue Roses.

Those two possessed more information about the organization than anyone else we found. If those with more information fear it more, then that means that the rumors of Eight Fingers brutality to its own is true. I suppose Six Arms is seen as a genuine threat to those in its power structure.

“Bad enough to inspire suicide among their own men?”

“They must be. Your Highness, Six Arms is a tough opponent. There’s a good chance they'd be a match for us, at least without Evileye on our side.”

Renner paused, and lowered her voice, putting on a show of doubt.

“Lakyus, are we making a mistake by going after them?”

“Absolutely not. Your Highness-, Renner, this is going to be a long and hard fight. We’ve wanted to take down these bastards for a long time, and we need you to help us sift through what information we did get.”

Ahh she’s getting more forceful. I must have struck a nerve.

“Gagaran is rubbing off on you, Lakyus.”

“Sorry, forgive my inetiquette. Please understand that things like their men killing themselves to avoid interrogation will continue to occur. There's a good chance that as things escalate, we’ll have to go up against Six Arms more.”

“Mm. Yes. I understand.”

“Renner, what do you know about Six Arms?”

“Nothing really. Just that they have six members.”

I really don’t know much about them. It's almost impossible for me to obtain any information about such internal matters.

“They do count six. Four of them are swordsmen, one some sort of mage, and the last a brawler, likely a monk who broke his vow of pacifism. There are rumors that they count an undead in their number, probably the caster.”

“An undead? A former member of Zurrernorn perhaps?”

“Perhaps, but it's difficult to tell. Not every lich in this world crawled out of the same hole Zurrernorn did. Besides, that’s not what I’m concerned about.”

“What then?”

“The Monk. We know his name, Zero. As far as we can tell, he is the strongest among them. He may be a warrior like Gagaran, maybe even exceed her.”

“How scary…”

“Still, we won’t let that stop us from taking them down.”

You’re ravenous aren’t you? That’s good.

Renner smiled, slid the reports over to her side, and began to read them.

So the inspector at the East Gate is corrupt? That’s unsurprising. It’s probably not much of a leap to assume the rest of them receive at least some payoff. This mentions that Lakyus found Eight Fingers men resting at what seemed to be an abandoned farmstead. This may not be an uncommon practice. I’ll cross reference the convoy routes with existing maps and travel times, and attempt to identify other rest points. These theoretical travel routes intersect about 50 miles west of E-Rantel. There could be a distribution hub in the vicinity.

“Your Highness.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you think we’ve hit too many Eight Fingers convoys at once? Won’t they start to get suspicious?”

Hm? Why would she ask that? Isn’t it obvious

“We want them to be suspicious.”

Lakyus and Climb both looked at her cockeyed. Renner blanched as she realized her explanation wasn't sufficient.

“Why?”

“They’ll suspect that they have an informant among them. An imposter for their enemies. The leadership won’t think that their activity was discoverable through a parchment trail. They’ll purge people they’re suspicious of, and this will weaken them further. For as many of their men as you took off the streets, they’re going to take off more. We should follow up immediately with a few more strikes, then release the members we captured into the court system.”

“They’ll be able to identify us as the Blue Roses, but that's a good thing isn’t it?”

“Yes, that will deepen their suspicions further. They’ll be paranoid that a noble has become too afraid of them, and hired you as a way out. After all, who else would be able to threaten Eight Fingers besides a group of Adamantite Adventurers? They’ll, in turn, levy accusations and threats against the nobles they are working with, and whom will those nobles turn to for assistance?”

Lakyus smiled, a fire burning in her eyes.

“To the Adventuring Guild.”

“To you. In this way, we’ll be able to figure out exactly who is in bed with Eight Fingers, weaken organizational integrity, and gain new allies as a result.”

Lakyus leaned back, visibly astonished at the Princess’s words. Climb was shaking slightly, overbrimming with emotion at Renner’s display.

“...and you call me humble.”

This was obvious though! How didn’t you see it? You haven’t prepared any additional strikes, have you?

“Still, we didn’t prepare for any followup action.”

Disappointing.

“That’s ok. We’ll be able to make due. I’ll compile a list of new targets from this for you.”

Renner felt slightly deflated. This was common for her, exceeding her friends and acquaintances so much that she unintentionally left them behind. She dismissed her thoughts, the waiter walking back in a moment of serendipity, carrying a warm basket of bread. Lakyus ordered a spicy breaded chicken dish that Renner was unfamiliar with. Renner was completely lost in the menu, the topic having slipped her mind almost entirely.

“You know, Your Highness, you should really try eastern foods.”

“It’s embarrassing to admit but I really don’t have much culinary experience. So many of these dishes seem heavily spiced…”

“That’s the joy in them.”

The waiter, who himself was probably a spare son from a minor house, was standing patiently.

“I’ll have your lentil soup. That sounds interesting. Actually, get me two bowls please.”

He bowed, and left.

“Two, Princess?”

“Climb hasn’t eaten.”

Climb spoke up for the first time in this conversation in shock.

“Your Highness, I’m on duty. You don’t need to get me food. I can eat when I’m back at the palace!”

Lakyus smiled.

“Climb, there are no nobles or maids around to see this happen. Renner isn’t able to do stuff like this for you often. Let her have a little joy.”

The pair of them blushed.

—

Renner was again exhausted. For the last ten hours since she returned from the meeting with Lakyus, she had scoured the interrogation reports and notes of the Blue Roses. Renner had begun to piece together a fuller picture of Eight Fingers, and it was daunting. Eight Fingers likely employed as many individual members as some of the great houses could field soldiers in the annual war - although Eight Fingers could never deploy them at once. She was now certain that the Slavery division had been supplanted entirely by Narcotics, the devistation of both her above-board abolishinist advocacy and now her shadow campaign having robbed them of their power. She had set about determining likely locations of safehouses, gambling and drug dens, and smuggling routes, then, theorizing the optimal targets to strike and destroy.

Still, so much uncertainty remains. It's nigh impossible to pin down any details on Six Arms, and the identities of divisional heads are still unknown. It’s heavily compartmentalized, so even if we could get our hands on a higher up, they would likely only know about their own business partners, and not the broader organization. How does one even begin to fight an eight-headed snake?

Renner sighed silently to herself. She was in bed, the sun having set hours ago, yet she couldn’t quiet her mind enough to sleep.

I can’t believe Lakyus didn’t see that.

Renner’s confusion and sadness over her friend’s ignorance kept her awake. She felt herself drift into darker thoughts. As a child, she had repeatedly fallen afoul of her parents and siblings for that reason. So many things that were obvious to her were for others, completely inscrutable. Often when she spoke, no one would listen, a child presenting ideas that to them had made no sense. Worse, she was a princess, and so had been doubly rebuked for expressing such foriegn and strange concepts. With time, she twisted herself slightly, and learned to be quiet.

Climb was part of that. Having a toy like him - for the most part - managed to keep her satisfied. He was cute and endearing to her as a child, a perfect doll for her to play with. Her father even allowed her to sleep in the same bed as him, hugging him all through the night. As she grew, her desires towards him grew ever more intense even as she was forced further apart. Self discovery through puberty had been a new agony for her. He became enthralling to her, and as she came of age, it was no longer permissible for her to touch him or spend the sort of time with him she desired. She twisted further.

Renner tried to push these things out of her mind, and thus had avoided diving deep into her psyche. She tried to content herself with fantasies just under the surface of keeping Climb, but these too twisted. She wanted to bind him, both figuratively and literally to herself. To keep him with her. To know she couldn’t was a second agony. This lack of self reflection let things fester deep inside of her.

Renner was truly lonely.