Penultimate Planning

The prince stood at the front of the table as I sat back down in my chair, keeping my eyes on him. It felt dangerous to look away, like turning your back on a venomous spider.

“First off, it seems I should remind you all of why we are doing this.” He looked at everyone individually before stopping with me, his eyes fixed on mine. “Staying to aid this village is a kind gesture but, in the grand scheme of things, this village means very little.”

He paused as we exchanged glances. Andra’s face hardened, and Pira folded her hands firmly before her. The prince noticed the energy shifting in the room, and it was shifting away from him.

“I assure you, not that I should have to assure you of anything, that I do care about all of my people.” His emphasis on “my” as if he were already the king was disconcerting. “By changing plans, you have opened an avenue for the first prince to have a chance of winning this competition. What do you think will happen to these places then? What happens to the small villages with few resources when the first prince and his selfish servants take charge?”

He shook his head in disapproval. I mentally rolled my eyes; so far, every royal we’d met or heard about was selfish and self-absorbed. The villages would be in trouble no matter who took over.

“You aren’t fighting for me, you’re fighting for what is best for this country.” His voice took on a stately tone that I imagined he must have practiced to sound more regal. “There are no perfect solutions, but I will find the best one, the one where as many people are happy as possible.”

A light scoff came from the other side of the table, but I couldn’t be sure which party member made the sound. The prince swung his gaze in that direction, but he opted not to address the noise. Instead, he shrugged and made his face into a mask of exaggerated concern.

“If the pursuit of peace and happiness for the many requires a few unfortunate souls to be lost, they won’t be lost in vain. I trust you see the big picture here.”

No one spoke, but there wasn’t much to say. He had made his point without punishing anyone, which was a good thing. I had no faith in his professed desire to make people happy; I knew he was as corrupt as the others. But as we were still under his control and the competition was still going on, we had very little choice but to listen to what he had to say. And of course, there was always the chance that he did care, even just a little, about his people. Stranger things had happened.

The prince gave a quick nod and tapped the table, getting down to business. “Thanks to the sudden and shocking riots near the capital, we were given the opportunity to acquire valuable information about the first party and their draconic remnant from the mages’ college and their associates.” He spoke steadily, but there was a slight smirk on his lips. I suspected he was hinting that he may have had something to do with the uprising. Not that it mattered, really.

“From our findings, it seems evident that the first prince never planned to play fair in this competition,” he continued. “The mages’ college had begun conspiring with the technological division of our kingdom quite some time ago in preparation to support him, even though they are supposed to stay neutral.” His eyes found mine, and his were awash with a fair impression of compassion. “Their plotting may have even been behind the attack on our dear proxy here many nights ago.”

A part of me wanted to appreciate how his claims added to the validity of the maid’s lie about my whereabouts on the night of my second kill. The web these people could weave was complicated and insidious - evil, yes, but impressive. But the entire experience was still too fresh and traumatic for me to have any positive emotions about, so I buried the thought.

“Great. So how did they get control of a draconic remnant?” Andra asked, cutting through the elaborate speech in her usual blunt way. Fortunately, she had learned not to be as reckless as before, leaving the table unscratched.

“Ahem.” The prince cast a reproving look at her, but she ignored it. “Normally, the draconic remnant would be functionally immune to all forms of attack we could attempt due to its mastery of the wind and anti-magical defenses. However, by using a variety of nefarious tactics, it appears that the mages in the first prince’s company managed to attach an enchanted collar around the neck of the draconic remnant, forcing it into submission.”

Andra looked horrified at the new information. Her face crumpled as she seemed to be reliving the emotional onslaught she’d experienced when the draconic remnant had been close by. The prince paid no attention to her reaction, instead continuing with the details.

“The mages’ college and the technological division worked in tandem to produce this collar, or so we are told. The collar has many flaws, the first of which is that it requires a trained professional to be in immediate proximity to the draconic remnant at all times. This person is referred to as a ‘tamer.’” He leaned in conspiratorially. “But most importantly, we learned that as a byproduct of the magical apparatus controlling the remnant, the creature and everyone on it becomes vulnerable to magic.”

I jumped in before the prince could say what I expected him to say. “We won’t be harming the draconic remnant,” I said bluntly, watching Andra in my peripheral vision. She trembled a bit but took a deep breath to steady herself.

“Yes, I’m well aware of your stance on the matter,” the prince sighed. “You don’t have to harm your divine remnant.”

With barely concealed excitement, Prince Elias began to pace back and forth in front of the table, his pants emphasizing his strides.

“Soon, the final, bloody clash between my siblings, specifically the second princess and first prince, will begin on the outskirts of the capital,” the prince said. “All I need you to do is get there, get into the position my maid instructs, and do not move until my maid gives the signal. Unfortunately, the rest will be up to you all.”

What did any of that mean? How had any of this come to a bloody clash? It sounded completely out of control. And as for us: Go somewhere, get into an undefined position, and then… do what? Were we supposed to do something about the tamer? The vagueness of his explanation left me extremely worried.

The prince had no intention of elaborating, unfortunately. He had decided he was done speaking. “Pack your things and begin heading back to the capital as fast as you can safely do so.” He strode to the door, and his demeanor made it very clear he wasn’t going to entertain questions or concerns.

He glanced back, his hand on the doorknob, and smiled one of his serpent-like smiles. “I have full trust in your abilities, my team. After all, you were hand picked by me.” He swept from the room and was gone.

Silence hung as the prince closed the door behind him. I half expected to hear a villainous laugh from somewhere out of sight, but the house was quiet.

I got up and opened the door to take a look. Both the prince and the maid were nowhere to be seen.

I closed the door and turned back to the party.

“So what now?” Pira asked. She looked uncertain of what to make of our instructions. Estelar and Andra looked similarly confused.

“You heard the prince. I suppose we walk toward the capital, and we see what awaits us,” I replied solemnly.

Estelar sighed. “I don’t like not knowing what’s going on,” he murmured.

“You don’t like it?” Andra cried, rubbing her face with her hand. “This is ridiculous. We have no idea what we’re supposed to do.”

“We’ve managed so far,” I said, trying to find a positive angle. “The important thing is that this is a great team. All of you have been exceptional, and I think we work well together. I trust you.” I paused to look at each of them earnestly, trying to convey my regard. “I can’t imagine there’s much we can’t handle.”

That seemed to placate my team a bit, at least enough for them to agree to return to the capital and figure out next steps.

The following morning, without any fanfare, we walked out of the village and back into the forest we had emerged from over a week earlier. A few villagers came to see us off, including the boy we’d first met. He’d gotten very close to us, and I could see him fighting back tears as he waved goodbye. Leaving was harder than I’d expected; despite everything, this village had been full of decent people just trying to make a go of it, and they had been very welcoming to us. I felt a lump in my throat as we left it all behind.

We planned a direct route back to the capital. Our path up to this point had been curving and meandering, with stops in various places, but a straight return path would take a lot less time. The faster we could get there, the better, and there would be no stopping unless it was necessary.

Even still, the journey took days.

Days of walking and camping and having nothing to distract us but our thoughts. Days of uncertainty, anxiety, and discontent. We talked amongst ourselves occasionally, but we could only muster the energy for superficial conversations. Mostly, we were all lost in our own minds.

On the last night of camping before our arrival to the capital, we huddled around the fire, eating our dinners and saying very little. We were all preoccupied with what might be waiting for us the next day. Suddenly, Andra spoke up.

“No matter what, I have no regrets.” She smiled, but her eyes were sad. “Thank you all for being with me all this time.”

I felt my eyes well up slightly at the unexpected words. The only thing that had made this journey bearable was my party, and for that I knew I would honor them for as long as I lived.

“Agreed,” Pira said empathetically. “I regret nothing also. This has been quite an adventure.” She reached over and chucked Andra on the arm, making the hybrid girl laugh.

It was like the walls that we had unknowingly put up around ourselves over the past few days came crumbling down all at once. I felt a sudden lightness in my chest. The tension broken at last, we all began to speak, sharing what we’d most enjoyed about the journey and what memories would stay with us.

We laughed and chatted long into the night around what was most likely, win or lose, our last campfire together.