Algernon Black

(Chapter 82) What Shall Ensure

Jared returned to Etilia two weeks after his short stay in Salaris, and no sooner were his bags unloaded did Devane request another late-night meeting.

"So," Devane said, reworking the white pieces of the chessboard to Jared's direction. "Did it go well?"

"I slept with her," Jared stated, making the first move of the game just as bluntly. And the advisor, who was usually never phased by anything, had to pause and clear his throat to cover up his surprise.

"Did that go well?" Devane repeated but emphasizing a different meaning.

"Did you know I knew Yosephine?" Jared asked as seeing her seemed to be too coincidental for it to be so.

"I knew there was a high authority in Solaris who also attended Attwood, and the last time we spoke I realized it was around the same time as you had. I thought you may be old acquaintances, and that it could serve my mission for you," Devane's eyebrows lifted, as he added. "I didn't think you were that well acquainted, however."

Jared sighed. "I didn't think we were either." He still felt guilty about everything, from abandoning her in Attwood to sleeping with her when all it did was let her down once again. But he couldn't fake those feelings for her, just as he couldn't change the past.

"Was she trying to get information out of you?" Devane inquired, trying to refocus on the purpose of the mission but finding it difficult to keep from wondering about the extent of their relationship.

"No, nothing as simple and innocent as that," Jared said as Devane heard the deep undertones of regret thinning his voice.

"If it really went that poorly, should I set up arrangements for someone else to show you a better time?" Devane flatly joked.

"No," Jared shot down immediately, "That would be the last thing that would solve any of my problems." To which Devane found to be a challenge though he didn't allude to it in any way. "It's just the entire time..." Jared struggled to find exactly how to describe what was bothering him, what more than anything after talking to Yospheine ate away at him. "I couldn't stop thinking of my sister."

Devane cocked an eyebrow. "Maybe there are some other deeper underlying issues there you need to address."

Jared was quick enough to pick up on the sarcasm and mature enough not respond to it. "Yosephine was treated horribly at Attwood. It still affects her now, and I can't help but wonder if they treat Lucy the same. If she's under constant abuse every day." Jared ran a hand across his scalp, disheveling his red hair still coarse from the dry desert weather. "And I fear that will permanently damage her too. That she might have to harden against the world and lose all that's good in her in the process too."

Devane's nose flared, hating how the world skewed perception of reality. "In this world, there is no good. There is only evil and less evil."

Jared faced back straight into the advisor's eyes. "You're wrong." The rare blaring hazel of Devane's irises we're enough to unsettle any man, but not Jared, not about this. "There are good people who refuse evil."

"And they never stay alive long," Devane countered, his voice dropping low as he recalled more than a few memories and faces. "Not if they stay good."

Jared refused to believe him, even though doubt gripped his gut. "When are you going to track the coordinates so we can leave?" he asked, changing the topic before his uneasy stomach dashed his optimism too far down.

"A week from now," Devane revealed.

Jared's face lit with excitement, something he didn't mind seeing, and something he was about to ruin. "Is when we'll be heading to our first destination."

Jared crossed his hands while trying to keep the crossness out of his tone. "And where is our first destination?"

"Lorencia."

Jared stood up so fast his chair screeched against the floor. "You promised me we'd go when I came back! I don't have all the time in the world to mess around with your whims."

"My whims," Devane repeated threateningly. "Would do more to ensure your sister's life than anything you could."

Jared bit his tongue, still feeling slighted, but falling for the bait asked, "How?"

Devane gestured for Jared to take back his seat, which he unwillingly did. "Lorencia holds one of the ancient artifacts of known."

"The hairpiece," Jared interrupted to move the conversation along quicker. "I've heard of it before. They've held onto the artifact for hundreds of years, but never used it. They've never even chosen anyone to inherit it."

"And that's how they stayed out of wars for so long," Devane said, taking back control of the conversation. "They vowed never to use it unless absolutely necessary. And if I can get Merra to agree to the same pledge, we may be able to avoid this world war altogether."

Jared waited patiently for the rest of the explanation, as Devane moved around chess pieces to demonstrate his point.

"If I can ally Lorencia, Merra, and Etilia together, we can construct a side with just as many artifacts as Emora, and one more than Estera" Devane explained, as he split the board into three and moved knights, queens, and bishops into groups that mimicked his ideas. "And so long as our side remains neutral, Emora wouldn't start anything knowing they still have majority control and Lear wouldn't move to attack knowing he'd be outnumbered to our allyship." Devane rubbed at some stumble on his chin and made a mental note to shave later when he had the chance.

"But if even one chooses to side with Estera, then we will all have to choose." He grouped one of the pieces to Estera's three, completely disputing the peace. "Then we won't be discussing war as a possibility. We'll be discussing it as survival." His brows furrowed together as he glared down at his chess board. Jared gulped down his apprehension but found it too lodged in the back of his throat to be swallowed.

"And if that were to be the case, Emora would start pursuing every avenue to ensure their victory," Devane warned Jared, not having to verbalize how that would connect with his sister fate; Jared was already alarmingly aware of why Lucy would be the first victim of war.

Jared was well aware of the dynamics even before Devane's word but he wondered how powerful a man Devane was to believe he could have an influence on world politics. His success would mean the savior of hundreds of millions of lives, possibly including his sister. It seemed like an impossible feat for any normal man, but the advisor's wisdom and competence were bar-none to anyone Jared had ever met. Still, there was one potential flaw to his plan.

"What about the ninth artifact?" Jared asked, "It wasn't in Salaris, but that doesn't mean it can't' get into Leer's control, and if it does, he has nothing to hold him back from waging war with the entire world."

"I've thought about that as well," Devane replied, crossing his long legs and staring at the blazing fire in the hearth. "But as your trip has shown, it's still missing. And when the king made a visit at our court months ago, Loy had been able to determine only two artifacts on his person."

Jared's head unconsciously shock to the side. "Weapons as powerful as those, don't just disappear. Not forever."

"I have a feeling it will join the fray." Devane sighed. "Probably just in time to kill us all."

Jared registered the fatigue in the man's voice and wondered how his flawless appearance never showed any signs of stress. "Do you ever think positively?" He asked.

"No." And in a spiritless boast as Devane's only show of self-pity, added, "And look how far a bad attitude's gotten me."

Jared huffed out a half hearted breath of sympathy while gesturing to the grandiose and lavish comforts of his office. "Don't mind me when I say I can't find any pity for you."

"And don't mind me, when I say I find much for you," Devane fired back.

Jared laughed, just one quick burst of noise that surprised even himself.

Devane was ,once again, momentarily stunned by such an unexpected and welcomed reply. He faced away before Jared could see the smile that his brought about.