The Library Cabinet is an extravagant room—much like the rest of the Herst's Private Library. The two interior walls are made of tall floor to ceiling oak bookshelves, the shelves are filled with leather and clothbound books of all colors and the occasional marble bust of a previous monarch or historical figure; the north facing exterior wall has a large stone hearth that is flanked by two old potted ferns, that now look more like trees, with leaves that nearly reach halfway to the ceiling; the west facing exterior wall has four large windows, but the burgundy curtains are all drawn shut to where no light slips past the heavy velvet. The flooring is a polished brown hardwood, covered in the center by a red thick woolen rug bearing the Herst family crest in the center and the oak leaf and acorn motif around the hems in a deep yellow wool. Six brown leather-upholstered armchairs sit in a circle on the rug.
The room is silent; Eue-Lysae and Kolaus do not speak to each other; instead, both read, enjoying the calm crackling of the sigil wall sconces and the soft, leather-upholstered armchairs.
The false bookshelf opens and ?nnywella Gekaryna Herst and Floryana Franheska Blumawar step inside the Library Cabinet. Both Eue-Lysae Gyrshke Seliani and Kolaus Ulme—who had both been silently reading, enjoying the soft cracking of the hearth-fire—look up from their books and shut them in near unison; Kolaus sets his on the table next to him and Eue-Lysae places hers in her lap.
Dyder pulls the bookshelf shut and waits outside, taking a seat in the chairs by the window.
"Thank you both for coming," ?nnywella says as she walks over to the hearth. She puts the butt of her cigarette in the ashtray on the mantel and briefly looking in the piercing hazel eyes of the large portrait of Gekaryna Herst II [1]—her namesake—which hangs above it. She returns to the circle of chairs and sinks into the one closest to the mantel.
Floryana sits down in the chair next to Gekaryna but only on the edge, allowing the wooden frame to prevent her from sinking in—the deep button tufting annoys her immensely.
?nnywella lights a new cigarette and takes a drag. Exhaling the smoke through her nose, she rests her arms on the rolled arms. “Shall we begin?”
Eue-Lysae stands, returning hers to its spot on the shelf, and sits back down. “Promptly.”
Kolaus only gives a nod.
"All right, listen well." ?nnywella recollected her dream, occasionally stopping to take a brief puff on her cigarette or ask Fran double-check something with her notes.
Kolaus listens, not quite knowing what to gather from it just yet; Eue-Lysae—one skilled in oneiromancy—quickly writes down transcriptions and her interpretations.
“Did I get everything?” ?nnywella looks to Fran.
She gives her notes a quick look-over. “Yes.”
“So Gyrshke, what do you make of this?”
Eue-Lysae taps her chin. "For the first part: Kaladrae is a reoccurring theme in nearly all the records we have of these visions, but what you described is far more 'intimate' than most others—Kaladrae is usually just present as 'decoration'—an out-of-reach observer; as for K?spyra, it can be one of two things: she was either leading you to Kaladrae to show you what your duty or purpose is, or—as you are the first to have touched Kaladrae—she could be showing you that the path you are on will lead to a reunion with Kaladrae... I would hope it is the former."
?nnywella sits silently for a moment as she internalizes Gyrshke's words; she swallows and takes a deep breath, feeling her cheeks and fingertips grow cold—she two hopes it is the former; she knows that a life is defined not by the joys one experiences, instead by the struggles they endure, the trials they complete, the tribulations they persevere, but she does not want to be reunited with Kaladrae, how could she want that, it will be the end of Ianya and it's people, the uprooting of the era's history, she could not weather that storm—no one could—she will be killed... either way she will be killed, by her own people if she keeps the discovery silent or by foreign powers if she makes it public; what path can prevent this? she had little desire to look for Kaladrae, her dreams of adventure and discovery died with Tyes—and wanting to find Kaladrae were the dreams of her younger self, as she ran through the halls with ?vlan, looking for hidden passages within the castle, as she laid snuggly tucked into bed as her Father read her bowdlerized versions of the 'Tales of Edika Aspar and the Count of Nywyld [2]'—she will not give a single fifth-copper to any adventure or errant knight seeking the sword; she should have ?vlan and his team killed as well... no, no, that would be too far—he will never find it, he is far too foolish; she feels a touch on her hand and is pulled back out of her head. She looks up to see Gyrshke look down on her with a concerned expression.
"You're shaking—everything is all right." Eue-Lysae feels the twitching of Gekaryna's hand slowly stop. Eue-Lysae backs away and returns to the chair. "I am aware of how alarming that is, but the vision in the hall is more pressing."
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
?nnywella runs a hand down her face and tries her best to focus. "Then please continue."
“I believe that your biggest threat at the moment is young King Drewer; the others seemed to be most indifferent to your presence on the table—literally and figuratively—but Drewer made the first move and attempt to sever an appendage of the Kingdom.”
Kolaus nods. “Drewer is only about eight, I believe. He is the last of House Koeh-Styer; I would imagine his advisors would be more willing to try something drastic when they can hide behind the mask of a child. So this seems realistic.”
“Which of your nobles shares borders with the Koeh-Styers?” Eue-Lysae asks, "The Herens? Correct?"
"Yes, House Heren."
“I believe the advisors will convince Drewer to try to seize the land of House Heren.”
Kolaus leans in. “Why?”
“I see the severing of Gekaryna’s hand by the puppeteered Drewer to mean that they will not target you directly but go for ‘extremities’ as they cannot 'eat' all the Kingdom; in this case, the land of your Counts.”
“They don’t have the military power to do so, nor a strong enough influence on their populace to put together a civilian army. So they must hire mercenaries. Do you have any ideas for how soon this will happen?” Kolaus asks.
“No, I can only infer that they will move first.” Eue-Lysae shakes her head.
?nnywella sits quietly, listening, thinking, as she lights another third cigarette.
Kolaus turns to ?nnywella. “I think we should move troops Sk?dstan.”
“I disagree; this would put unwanted pressure on the Kingdom Nyrhylykk. I think it would be best to solve this with as little actual military action as possible; only using optics” ?nnywella responds.
“This won’t be military action, simply a deterrent, a show of force—this would be 'optics'.” Kolaus argues.
“No, if we sent my troops it will be far to obvious. We will write them, requesting a simple dinner to discuss future plans—trade and whatnot. The letter will be very clear, stating that military action will be taken if we do not receive a response.”
“The Kingdom of Styd?n is looking to be having a bad harvest this season; we could offer food or iron from Sk?dstan, but if they are intent on taking the land, they most likely will not consider our offer—and if they do accept we will gain nothing tangible in return other than peace. We only have one realistic option if you want to solve this with no military involvement.” Kolaus paused, his voice heavy, leaving the room in silence.
?nnywella exhales smoke from her nose. Breathing in deeply, she fills the void. “We must kill Drewer.”
Eue-Lysae grimaces, and Floryana’s eyes go wide, and she slips on her Philosopher’s Ring [3].
“Yes, but how?” Kolaus says.
“I would prefer to weigh the effects of murdering a child before discussing the act.”
“You cannot seriously be considering this?” Eue-Lysae asks. “Why not kill the advisors? anything but a child.”
“The advisors have allies, whether they are nobles or military; we will earn their ire. If Drewer had one advisor, we could kill him and use the opportunity to possibly install myself as regent, but Sylwert would most likely step in as regent or arrange a marriage between his daughter Zoufae and Drewer—but there are five. Five dead advisors means five times the allies breathing down our necks.” ?nnywella responds.
“Offer a marriage. There must be a girl Drewer’s age in House Heren.”
“There is; Myna has a cousin named Mer, who is nine; but once again, Sylwert can simply arrange a marriage between Zoufae. The advisors will pick Zoufae over Mer, and we return to the onset, even worse off. It is most feasible for Drewer to die.”
“Then I must dismiss myself; I’m sorry—this is sickening.” Eue-Lysae stands, heading for the hidden door. She turns briefly. “I will be just outside with Dyder, in case you need my guidance on more human matters.” The shelf clicks shut.
“Now,” ?nnywella says, “Let’s say Drewer’s dead; there is now a power vacuum. What can we assume follows?”
“Realistically, the advisors will fight amongst themselves; if one doesn’t take charge—whether this is by election within themselves or violence does not matter. While it is possible that they—or Sylwert—appoint someone new, this wouldn’t be in the best interests of the advisors, so it is unlikely. I would say that within two weeks, there will be public unrest. Even greater food shortages, unpaid staff, and whatnot.”
“Then we take the city, under the guise of settling the violence, bringing free food for the people, and repairing damaged establishments once the unrest is under control.”
“Yes. This will gain us the favor of the people over Nyrhylykk; I can’t see him attempting to use military force to take the land back, and the favor of the people being with us makes that more unlikely.”
“Verily, I cannot see Sylwert try to take the land back by force either; there is also infrastructure that he needs for trade, and he will be too concerned with its destruction—it’s best to sell it to him at the same price he was buying it for under the Koeh-Styers.”
“I agree. Now what about the advisors?”
“This is best left for after we take the city, I—.”
Floryana slams her hands against the arm of her chair, her ring making a loud thunk against the wooden accents of the rolled arm. “Myl honigisc m?dyl t?mb [4]!”
Footnotes
[1] M?selana Gekaryna Herst II was born on 15/04/0103EotG to parents, Tyes Herst III (b. 20/09/0080 EotG, d. 06/11/0125EotG) and Gysel Von? Herst (b. 03/27/0083 EotG, d. 15/04/0103EotG). She ascended the throne in 0125EotG upon the death of her father. Her reign was long with minimal problems so most of her time was spent developing the Crown and the surrounding area. Her reign ended on 06/13/0192EotG with her death at the age of 89.
[2] The longest running book series in Gedhagnyr. First serialized in 3772 EotTS, each entery in 'Tales of Edika Aspar and the Count of Nywyld' is based on true events and follows vampire and artificer of house Nywyld, Edika Aspar, as he and a selection of members of house Nywyld search for historical item and solve mysteries throughout the continent.
?nnywella—along with the rest of her family—appears in one of the more recent stories, titled 'The Band of Fifty-Four Broken Hearts.' As ?thalrykk VI had found out that Edica, the Count, and the Count's son, were in Ianya and offered to pay them handsomely to look for the enchanted ring, hoping to prove to ?nnywella and ?vlan that it was simply a fae-tale. Much to the glee of ?nnywella and ?vlan, and the dismay of ?thalrykk VI, Edika found the ring.
[3] A type of enchanted ring. When worn, it deafens the wearer.
[4] Paste of Honeyed Almond Tree
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