93. Bargain

93. Bargain

The Liecha was not poisoned.  Just the brandy.

My mother was not dying.  Just her husband.

Was I the target of the poison?  Or was it Valerio?

It was his brandy, but he had served it to me.  Had he poisoned himself, planning to take the antidote after I left, only to be caught red-handed?

No.  As I examined his face, I did not believe that for a moment.  He was shocked, horrified, and outraged to realize what had happened.

“Miles,” He said in a calm voice.  “Find every hand that this Brandy passed through on its way to my lips.  Sooner would be better than later, as I would rather like to know who killed me, if that is at all possible.”

“Mine are on that list.  More than once.  More than anyone else’s,” the canid butler said, his voice a growl.  But his anger was not directed at his master, nor anyone in the room.  It was directed at the poisoner.  “I am responsible for not checking the decanter before you poured the drink, but I swear by Thedum, by Eclipse, and by the moon, that I was not the one to poison you.”

“I believe you, Miles,” Valerio said.  “Now get to your task.  I believe we may be on a short window of opportunity, you understand.”

The Canid bowed deeply, and then rushed from the room.

“We must get you to the temple,” Mother said.  “You should transform.  Your vitality is much higher in your other form.”

Valerio shook his head.  “If I was the target, that might be the worst thing I can do.  There are at least three poisons which are more effective against a transformed beastkin than they are against a human, and there’s every chance that is what I have been drinking all week.  It is possible, my dear, that your dislike of fur on the furniture is all that has saved my life.”

“I do not think so,” I said.  “I cast [Detect Poison] the last time we shared a drink, and the spell found nothing.  I haven’t ranked up the spell since then, so I doubt it was a case of the spell failing to detect a poison, but of the poison not being there.”

The leonid man nodded.  “Then that should make Miles’ task easier.  Now let us go to the Temple, and we will see if I am a dead man walking.”

The procession was surprisingly sedate.  Somber, but nobody was crying or screaming.  No, that’s not true.  I saw tears in my mother’s eyes, but she hurried to wipe them away before anyone noticed, so I did not call attention to them.  I could understand my Traveler companion’s calm, but I was astounded by Valerio’s.

“This is likely you’re brother, Storm,” he informed my mother in a perfectly calm voice once we were outside.  He called for a servant to fetch him a horse, but I swiftly summoned Shadow instead and bid him to ride it.

“You don’t know that,” Mother protested.

“It makes the most sense,” Valerio persisted.  “Our son will be a threat to his claim, and he is but weeks away from being born.  It is easier to disinherit an orphan, and less distasteful to murder a nobleman than a woman eight months pregnant.”

“You don’t know that,” Mother protested again.

“If I ever do know that, then I must beg your forgiveness in advance,” Valerio said.  “For if that is what happened today, then there will be a reckoning between Storm and I, and my love for you will not stay my hand against your brother.”

“Let us speak of knowledge when things are certain,” Analise Teoran-Wildeheart said.  “Ride ahead.  We will catch up to you at the temple.”

“You will find me there, or you will find me along the way, if I collapse before I reach it,” my step father predicted.  He turned to me, nodded, and kicked Shadow into a gallop.

“Go with him,” I told my bodyguards, but only half of them obeyed.  I should have expected as much; it was actually surprisingly professional of them.

Mother and I followed along in a coach shortly after.  It was too far for her to walk, and she was too far along in her pregnancy to ride.  And I was not willing to leave her side.

A flash of blue light coalesced into the form of Thomas, whose expression was grim.

“How are you feeling, Hail?” the administrator asked.

“I’m not certain,” I admitted.  I looked at Mother, but she had the far-off expression that Natives always wore whenever Thomas appeared.  “Will Valerio die?”

Thomas was silent.  “I don’t know, to be honest.  Not necessarily.  I’m sorry.  This one is Eclipse’s handiwork.  That’s all I know for certain at this point.  I literally got woken up ten minutes ago.  I’m still in my underwear, but my coworkers hit the panic button, so I’m here.”

“Can you help?  Can you save him?” I asked.

The administrator looked away.  “I honestly don’t know.  You’re not the only canon entity involved in this matter, Hail.  Valerio doesn’t have [Blood of the Travelers] or any other revival ability.  Divine intervention would work.  But the outcome is in flux.  It will be determined by your decisions, and the decisions of the other canon parties involved in this mess.  I’m not sure what I can do, but I’ll try to tip the scales in your favor if I can.  To be clear, however, I’d like you to state your intentions.  Will you be acting to save Valerio Wildeheart?”

“Yes,” I said.  “He is my step father.  He makes my mother happy.  He has been good to me.  I would do anything I can to save him.”

“Thank you.  Your preferences have been logged,” Thomas said formally.  “I’ll tip the scales as much as I can, but I can’t promise anything.”

He vanished the way that he had come, and we arrived at the temple of Eclipse shortly after.  Mother rushed inside, waddling in a way that was somehow dignified, despite her haste and circumstance.  I tried to follow her, but I … couldn’t.

It was not as though there were a barrier preventing me from walking forward.  But rather, like the distance between me and the temple was fixed.  No matter how I walked or ran, I could not close the distance.  It took me longer than it perhaps should have to figure it out.

“Am I not welcome in your temple, Eclipse?” I said aloud.

“Hmmm … you know, I actually haven’t decided that yet,” A childish voice said.  She sprang up from the shadow of a pebble, a child of eight and the goddess of tricksters.  “I don’t like making my mind up.  Ever.  So I haven’t decided if I should let the avatar of that old foggy into my temple or not.  And until I do, well, I guess you’ll have to wait for that.”

“I see.  Thomas the administrator said that your hand was in on this matter.  Did you arrange my step father to be poisoned?” I asked.

“Not … exactly.  I made that old dog forget to check the drink.  I didn’t put the poison there, and I certainly didn’t make anyone drink it,” she said innocently.

“Why?” I demanded.

“I want a favor,” she said bluntly.  “If you grant it, Valerio will live.  I promise.”

“And he will die if I refuse?”

“Why, I never said that, did I?” she said, teasing.  “If you refuse, I’ll simply turn my face away from the entire matter.  Whether he lives or dies will be entirely in the hands of the healers tending to him, and his own strength.  I cannot tell you the odds of that, because if I did, then everything would change!  You must decide whether or not to grant me my favor knowing that if you do, he will definitely live.  And if you do not, maybe yes or maybe no.  Not a coinflip, not a roll of the dice.  A certainty, but I cannot look to see which outcome is certain.  That would be cheating.”

“What favor do you demand?” I asked.

“Five.” she answered immediately.

I blinked in confusion.  “Five what?”

“Five of the things that you have more than anyone else of.  For the moment.  I want five dungeon cores.”

“Is that all?” I asked, relieved.  “Fine.  Does it matter what type?  Their level?  Where they came from?”

“No, no, and no.  It only matters where they go,” Eclipse answered, giggling.  She waved her hand, and a wave of shadows from everywhereswarmed over me.  They focused on my right hand, and left the mark of Eclipse.  A white circle inside of a black one.  “This will tell you when it is time.  Remember, you promised!  I will be very, very upset if you do not give me my cores when it is time!”

She turned away, giggled, then turned back.

“Hail, once you do this favor for me, I will consent to lifting the curse on your other hand,” she informed me.

“Are you the one who forced it upon me?” I asked, anger rising.

“Noooooo,” she said, drawing it out.  “But I didn’t argue with the others when they decided to make Death do it.  You’ll have to convince the others as well.  Once all eight of us agree, you’ll be free.  Unless someone kills Auroras Teoran first, of course.  Then you’re off the hook anyway.  But it will take more than building a silly temple or two to convince all eight of us!”

“Thank you,” I said.

“A favor for a favor.  Favors make the world go round!” she said, doing a cartwheel as she spoke.  Her body vanished midway through, her voice continuing the sentence despite the lack of a source.

I glanced over my shoulder, towards my bodyguards, who were watching me with fascination.

“Lord Hail,” Luke of London began, “Who was that?”

“That was Eclipse, Trickster god of the shadows,” I answered.  “Some people think that because she’s got a shadow aspect she’s evil, but she’s not the Adversary.  She’s one of the eight.  She’s not evil, she’s just … what she is.”

Tentatively, I stepped forward, and found that whatever force had me running in place moments ago had been lifted, and I could actually approach.  Apparently Eclipse, the goddess famous for her indecision, had made up her mind.  I was allowed in her temple after all.

~~~~~~~~

Despite the bargain I struck with Eclipse, my father in law was not completely spared from suffering.  He’d grown ill on the journey to the temple, and had collapsed on the temple steps.  He’d had only enough strength to explain that he had been poisoned and request healing.

Keeping him at maximum health was easy, but that wouldn’t be enough, depending on the type of poison that had been used.  And Valerio did not know; he was not given a name by his system, simply a [Poison] debuff.  It drained him of his Health, Strength, Dexterity, Vitality, and Endurance.  He reported that he’d gained three levels of poison resistance, and it was now at thirty-four.  But the outcome, according to the healers attending him, was far from certain.

I decided to have faith.

I almost called out to Thedum, but decided that would be disrespectful.  Perhaps blasphemous.  Thedum would not mind me making a bargain with Eclipse.  He would, in fact, insist that I uphold it.  And that she would uphold her end of the bargain as well.  But it would be insulting to appeal to him for intervention while inside Eclipse’s own temple, and triply so for doing so after having made a bargain with her.

The miracle was quite obvious, when it came.  All of the light in the temple vanished, and for a moment we were in perfect darkness.  Then the light returned.  And Valerio was well.  His debuff was removed, and his status returned to normal, and all was well.

“Thank you, Eclipse,” I whispered.

“He would have lived anyway,” A giggling voice answered.  “At least, he would have if he had turned into his kitty-form.”