It was midday by the time Pippy had regained the ability to stand on her feet without help from the others. They were still in the town centre, but the area had been deserted, everyone now caught up in the carnage instigated by Tecal back near the coastal edge of Narkato. With no more distractions, and his entire coterie slain in battle, Commandant Inquisitor Hector Reynoso had no recourse now but to step out of the shadows and take his chances out in the open. I may yet be able to turn this day into a victory, he thought. In any other organisation, such a loss of life in such a lopsided battle would’ve been an unacceptable cost… but nothing was too pyrrhic for the Garnet Inquisition.

“You made an impressive display of body and soul, Pippy Vieira… but I have peered into your mind, and found your comprehension of the red to be… wanting.” He drew his sword and pointed it at Pippy. He seemed to be giving it a silent command… and then, through some kind of invisible magic, Pippy began screaming, and nearly fell but for Gretta catching her in her titanic arms. “No wonder you weren’t able to save your world from the ennui; you lack the understanding required to do anything of actual use. You can’t even resist Doligir’s torture enchantment! I, however…” he looked at Livia now, sheathing Doligir as he switched his attention, freeing Pippy from the sword’s agonising influence. “I am a far more successful student of the arcane. I might be of some use to you, Livia Sol Sasna… for I have studied the attribute of ennui thoroughly. But, in exchange for my help, I must ask you to meet my price. I think you already know what it is.”

“You want me, Hector?” Krey stepped forward. “Well… I did tell you what would happen if I ever saw you again, didn’t I?”

“Please, Krey, don’t tell me you have forgotten our adage.” He cackled first, then shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. His eyes were closed, and were then pointed at the sky. “If only you hadn’t been hiding behind the protection afforded you by your station as a knight Berodyl all this time; you would’ve never eluded the inquisition on your own. You were never strong enough… never fast enough… never smart enough— ACK!” with his attention diverted by a narcissistic lapse in his usual meticulous observation, Hector hadn’t noticed Krey’s approach. Before he could finish monologuing, Krey was able to get within striking distance and deliver a single, horizontal murder stroke. The Commandant Inquisitor’s body slumped to the ground with blood spurting from the gash in his barely-attached neck.

“Yeah, yeah… and you never knew when to shut up.”

“Holy shit!” Livia burst. “Krey, I… okay, look, I know you and this guy had history, but… was just cutting him down like that really necessary?”

“Trust me, he had it coming. I was hoping we could take him alive, just like you probably were… but when he started trying to tempt you like that… well, you can see how I felt about that. Besides… I had a promise to keep. I told him I’d kill him, and I don’t break my word.”

“I’m guessing he wasn’t exactly being truthful about knowing how to counter the Ennui.”

“He was a lying piece of shit, just like all garnet inquisitors. Trust me… this is for the best.” Krey retrieved Hector’s sword. “Doligir… you shall never inflict pain on an innocent soul ever again.” He took the belt the scabbard had been attached to as well, looping it around his own waist. He sheathed Doligir backwards on his right hip, mirroring his own sword on his left hip. He sheathed his broadsword to free his right hand, fiddling with Doligir in its scabbard; he was able to flex it into a more proper angle, making it easier to draw… but he’d still be drawing it with his left hand, which would not be practical. “Your Holiness.”

Emilie stepped forward when he called her. “Yes, Krey?”

“Should the need arise for us to use this foul weapon, I want you to draw it from my hip and use it.”

She grimaced, almost shivering. “Then I pray we never need to use it.”

“Krey…” Livia dared to ask: “what was your… adage? Whatever it was, Hector seemed pretty confident it meant he was going to get what he wanted.”

Krey’s smile was thin and sour. “Naught light is cast by the minds of men without meditations on a garnet shadow,” he recited. “It was a reflection on the Garnet Inquisition itself. Hector and I came up with it on that damned joint assignment… the one that got me marked for righteous punishment. He really had me believing that the inquisition was infallible, inescapable, and that all should fear it… but I guess we just proved that crock of shit wrong, hmm?”

“Krey… what are you talking about?” Emilie’s voice was fraught.

“Ah, that’s right; you don’t know, do you? Don’t worry, My Lady, I shall explain everything. I owe you that much.” He looked to Livia, and she nodded at him. Then he dropped to one knee in front of Pippy, and bowed his head. “And to you, Miss Vieira, I owe an apology. Because of my own grievances and my own past, I cast suspicion upon you. I know now that you have been true to us. I’m sorry I doubted my friends’ judgement; I’m sorry I doubted you. I beg your pardon.”

Pippy, unsure of what else to do, patted Krey on the head. “Hey, come on, get up! It’s okay… you had your reasons, I guess. I don’t know why you thought I was with those guys, but… I’m just glad I could show you otherwise.”

Krey did as Pippy asked, and smiled at her. “You helped us put a particularly detestable garnet inquisitor in the ground, and you helped fight off an entire coterie of the bastards… that’s good enough for me.”