Chapter 14: A Saint's Concern
“Your Reverend!” The woman greeted, her moving lips, the only parts of the face not hidden behind the hood, barely visible under the dim light of the candles in the church.
“Spymaster,” Sophia nodded, gesturing for the visitor to sit on one of the benches in the first row of the chapel.
The hooded woman stepped toward and took the seat, casually leaning back, crossing her leg over the other. “Why are you standing there? Are you going to give me a preach?” She chuckled.
Sophia had placed herself behind the pulpit a few steps away from where her guest was sitting, the same place where she delivered sermons every Isastha’s Day. It was awkward to have a conversation like this, but she preferred to have some distance and an obstacle between her and the Baernian spy. She also chose to have the meeting take place in the chapel, since it was easier to maneuver here than in a closed and narrow room, and had Irina, her trusted knight, right beside her, ready to intercept any possible attack. Of course, she did not expect a fight, but she could never be too careful when dealing with people like this.
“Whatever,” the woman snorted without waiting for Sophia’s answer, as if she had figured out the obvious intention. It was hard to know how she felt about being treated like this, since the hood had covered her facial expression. She might be not very happy about it, probably, but she should have known that she would not be trusted. Besides, it was not like she trusted other people anyway, considering that she showed her face to nobody. “Anyway, how is the young lady?” She asked.
“Priscilla is sleeping. The poor child was crying all night last night. After all, today is the day …” Sophia sighed. “She only fell asleep after she had no strength left.”
When Princess Anastasia, who was now the Queen of Maven, returned to the capital with Cornelia’s army, Priscilla, Carmilla’s second daughter, was taken away from her manor and hidden inside Sophia’s empty church. That was a smart move by the hooded woman, since even though Sophia was not at home, no one in Maven would dare to break into her house to search for people. When she came back, she agreed to grant the girl asylum, since she believed that a young girl who had not committed any sin shouldn’t be persecuted by her mother’s crime.
“I have just been at the city square,” said Laeticia, the spymaster of Baern.
“How was it?”
“Badly. That idiot doesn’t deserve it.” The woman replied with a sad tone. “At least she died quickly without having to suffer much.”
“I didn’t expect that from you,” Sophia said, eyeing the spy, a creature of deception whose only functions were to plot and conspire. She couldn’t figure out the woman’s intention. Why did she care about Carmilla? Why did she want to protect Priscilla? Their plan had failed, and both the former Duchess and her daughter now had no value whatsoever to her.
“It might not look like it, but I do have a heart,” Laeticia chuckled. “We all do. Even my mistress, the Ice Queen of Baern. We are different from a certain immortal being who considers everyone her pawns.”
Sophia bristled at the insult against the Goddess, but she was unable to refute what Laeticia had said. The bloodbath at the capital city happened because Lady Isastha allowed it to happen. She sanctioned the coup. Sophia, as her servant, didn’t have a say in the matter. The Goddess had decided, so she stood aside, doing nothing to prevent the tragedy. Therefore, even though she wasn’t involved in the conspiracy, she was as guilty as Carmilla.
No.
She was much worse. She was a coward who ran away from the problem, which led to a greater disaster. If she had stayed, she could have stopped the massacre. However, since she was unable to bear seeing the Queen being dethrone, she went on a trip to Elidor right before the coup was launched. So no, it was neither Carmilla nor Lady Isastha, but her who caused this calamity to happen.
“Don’t blame yourself, saint.” Laeticia said. “It’s Lucia’s fault.”
Sophia was astonished. Was what she was thinking written so clearly upon her face? “Well, yes,” she shrugged. “Lucia was to be blamed too. If she could handle the situation better …”
“Better for whom?” Laeticia giggled. “For all of us, it’s bad, yes, but for Lucia herself, the outcome is perfect.”
“What do you mean?” Sophia stared at the woman.
“I have never told Carmilla, since she had enough shit already, but I have my suspicion.” The hooded woman explained. “Lucia was someone who longed for war, a prideful woman who wanted to prove herself in battle. However, if the transition of power had been peaceful, there would have been no battles, and therefore no glory. On the other hand, if she could trigger a civil war …”
“You are telling me that Lucia massacred the royal family on purpose?” Sophia was aghast by the absurd idea. However, if she considered Lucia’s character, it actually made sense.
“I have no proof.” Laeticia shook her head. “And since Lucia is dead now, there is no point talking about it. Let’s drop this matter and never talk about it again. The young lady will be tormented more if she hears about it.”
“Agreed.” Sophia nodded.
“Anyway, why do you summon me?” Laeticia asked. “Not to have a chat, obviously.”
Yes, Sophia invited the woman here for a reason. She let out a deep sigh. She had never thought there would be a day where she herself would start a conspiracy. “What do you think about Queen Anastasia?”
“I am impressed,” Laeticia replied. “She is much more ruthless than I expected.”
Sophia nodded in agreement. Nobody had ever expected that the young queen would be so merciless. The saint believed that even Cornelia was shocked by the body count. “How many more people is she going to kill?”
“Zero,” Laeticia said. “The series of execution is nothing but a performance and Carmilla’s is the finale. There will be no more death after today.”
“How do you know?” Sophia frowned.
“Because that is exactly what my Ice Queen would have done if she had been in Anastasia’s shoes. What your queen is doing is not mindless violence, but ruthlessness with a purpose. If my prediction is right, in the next few days she will release the imprisoned noblewomen and restore their positions in the court. Seriously, I underestimated her.”
“Anastasia is not capable of doing this,” Sophia shook her head. What Laeticia had just said might be right or wrong, but it didn’t matter. “You don’t know that child well, but I do. I have been watching over her since the day she was born. This cannot be her idea. She is doing this under someone else’s influence.”
“Cornelia, maybe?”
“No, I know that child very well too. It’s not her.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot that you were freaking old. Everyone is a kid to you.” Laeticia laughed. “However, people can change drastically within a short amount of time. Considering what Anastasia has been through, it’s possible.”
“There are other things that I find weird,” Sophia said. “Like how Anastasia survived the coup in the first place. The story of her escape from when she fled from the capital to when she arrived at Cornelia’s camp is very vague; however, if you add the number up, then basically Minerva had singlehandedly killed Lucia and over one hundred soldiers within three days. How is that even possible?”
“She is the freaking Taurus Slayer. That woman is not human, but a gorilla.” Laeticia laughed. “By the way, you have just questioned her about this, haven’t you?”
“Huh? No?” Sophia raised her eyebrows. “Why do you think so?”
“When I was getting here, I saw her going in the opposite direction, as if she had just left your church.”
What did it mean? The only explanation that Sophia could think of was that Minerva had decided to visit her and then changed her mind at the last minute. ‘Poor child!’ But now was not the time to think about it, she was now having more pressing matter. “She didn’t come here. Anyway, let us go back to what we are discussing. What I suspect is, my queen has someone’s support, but she keeps it a secret from everyone. Yes, I know. The evidence is flimsy. But let’s assume that it is true, then who do you think that ‘someone’ is?”
Laeticia was silent. She had gotten what Sophia was implying at. Then she whispered. “Justina.”
That was exactly the person that Sophia was suspecting: Grand Inquisitor Justina, the de factor ruler of Velen. She was the only one who could realistically compete with Queen Valeria for the position of the Leader of the Alliance now, and there was no way she could stand aside, letting Valeria take over Maven and increase her influence. Since the Goddess had sanctioned Carmilla’s coup, Justina couldn’t interfere; however, she could have intervened after it happened to tip the scales in her favor.
“So, what do you want?” Laeticia asked.
“I want you to find out who my queen’s secret supporter is, if such a person exists.” Sophia replied. “If my suspicion is baseless, and it’s Anastasia herself who makes the decisions, then I will support her no matter what she does. However, if she is Justina’s puppet, and I have to choose between that woman and your queen, then I will choose the lesser evil.”
“Interesting,” Laeticia said. “Let me rephrase it so that there is no misunderstanding. If my investigation shows that indeed Justina is the one who is helping Anastasia, you are going to betray your queen?”
“I … I will do everything it takes to remove Justina’s influence,” Sophia said with hesitation. “Even if it means that Baern’s influence will fill in the vacuum it leaves behind.”
“I see,” Laeticia smiled. “That’s good enough for me.”
“I see that we have come to an agreement,” Sophia nodded. “Now let us discuss how you will carry out your investigation.”
“What is there to discuss?” Laeticia laughed. “I will send one of my girls to infiltrate the palace.”
“The palace is very well guarded,” Sophia protested. “Are you sure that she can get in unnoticed.”
“I am,” Laeticia giggled. “After all, she has come in ‘here’ unnoticed.”
“What do you mean?” Sophia furrowed her brows.
Instead of answering the question, Laeticia called. “Come down here, Panthera!”
As the words escaped from her mouth, a figure suddenly appeared beside Laeticia, dropping herself from the ceiling above. At first, Sophia thought it was a human, until she noticed the furry ears on its head and the tail behind its butt. A Half-beast?
“A Felinus!” Irina bellowed, drawing her sword. “What is a Gothorian assassin doing here?”
“A former Gothorian assassin,” Laeticia corrected her. “She defected. Now she works for me.”
“Are you crazy?” Irina barked. “These creatures are evil minions of the Empire. How can you even trust them?”
Sophia stared at the creature. Those cat-like ears are unmistakable. It was indeed a Felinus, a foul creation of the Gothorian mages, mutated to gain the traits of beasts. While there were many types of Half-beast, three sub-types were the most famous and had their own names: Taurii, Felini and Lepii, who were used to great extent in the army of the Empire. Everyone in Maven knew them well, the enemies who had drawn so much Mavenish blood.
“Why did you have her hide up there?” Sophia asked the spy coldly.
“I am cautious,” Laeticia grinned. “Just like you.”
What she did was very disrespectful, but Sophia herself did not treat the woman politely, so she couldn’t complain. Besides, while she held the Felinus with contempt, the skills of such an elusive creature were undeniable. So she told her knight, “Irina, sheathe your sword,” and nodded to her guest. “Fine, let’s do what you suggest.”
“Good,” Laeticia smiled. “That concludes our business. Or is there anything else?”
“Ah yes, one more thing.” Sophia said. “Next week Cornelia will bring her sister here for me to treat her wounds. So if it’s possible, can you take Priscilla to your hideout for a few days?”
“I will take her for good.” Laeticia chuckled. “As I said, Carmilla’s death is the finale. Soon the security at the city gates will be more lax so it’ll be easy to smuggle her out of the city.”
“Where are you going to take her?”
“It depends on what she wants,” Laeticia shrugged. “But anywhere is better than this city.”
“Agreed,” Sophia nodded grimly.
