Verita - The Guardian of Darkness

39

"What? Who?" Aetrian looked at her with badly-hidden amusement. "The court ladies and the assassins?"

"No. The Grace and the Children."

He didn't respond immediately.

"Think about it. How did an assassin of the Grace get his hands on the Deep's poison?"

Elanthin   was aware of the fact that she was grasping for straws. However, the   assassin's words would make a lot of sense if she'd hit the nail on the   head.

"But would that be possible?", she followed up herself. "Aren't the Children and the Grace opposing factions?"

After all, the Grace hated the Children for being Veritan; just like the Children hated the Grace for not being Veritan.

Aetrian   tilted his head in understanding. "If there's been a mistake on our   side, we must've received faulty intel. Otherwise, this would be utterly   impossible, like you say."

Memories  of endless reports  swirled through Elanthin's head but not one of them  stood out – until  she remembered the cloak-clad woman, bleeding out on  the guest room  floor.

"What if the assassin – the one on my first night in the palace – tricked us?"

"The first assassin?"

"She told us that the Children aim for a fight with Gratia  – and we based everything else on her words."

I believed her simply because there was nothing left for her to loose, thought Elanthin a bit regretful. How foolish.

Aetrian   pushed the door to her bedroom open before he waved Elanthin through.   The room was empty. Not even Myrel was waiting for them due to the  hour.  Only the fireplace's energetic crackling was a sign that someone  had  been inside during her absence.

Entering behind her, Aetrian gave a slight nod to show that he was following her train of thoughts.

"So, what do we get if we retract the assumption that these groups must hate each other for what they desire?", he asked calmly.

Deep   in thought, Elanthin made a few steps back to sink onto the chair by   her bedside, which had become Aetrian's regular seat. Could it be that   the Children of the Deep's rage didn't focus on the Gratians at all?

"If the Children don't want to harm Gratia, they could be working with those rebels from the Grace. But why?"

If their main goal wasn't to break the new bonds between the Forlorn Plains and Gratia, then ...

Elanthin   straightened up as soon as she had the thought. "What if I was right   from the start? What if my people want to punish me for surrendering?"

"I'm   not convinced that they would go that far for such a childish reason",   doubted Aetrian. She had to agree with him silently – even though  people  had risked their lives for sillier reasons than punishing a  rogue  royal.

"Then,  what else could be behind their  cooperation?" Elanthin paused before she  questioned their logic. They  couldn't make another mistake or someone  could be in danger again. It  was time to end the schemes of these  groups; the earlier the better.  "Isn't it possible that the Children and  the Grace have made a  temporary pact to break the treaty, regardless of  their conflict with  each other?"

"I  considered that a possibility as well, but  even if they share a common  goal, no one knows better than me that the  members of the Grace reject  all Veritans." Aetrian continued in a  softer voice as if he feared her  reaction. "There's only one scenario  in which I could imagine them  helping Veritans."

With piqued interest, Elanthin raised her gaze to meet his amber eyes. They were squinted.

"You won't like it, Elle."

"Don't beat around the bush, Aetrian. Do I strike you as someone who can't take bad news?"

Aetrian  sighed, but a little smile had started to show on his face.   "Forgive  me. The only reason for Grace of Gratia to help another   faction, even  if its member are of Veritan origin, would be if their   actions were to  ultimately harm Verita."

"Wouldn't breaking   the treaty  count as harm already? The Veritans would have to continue   living  without the protection of the Eternal Barrier", began Elanthin   but  Aetrian quickly shook his head.

"That's still ... You see, they're too ... How do I explain?"

"Just    try. I'll do my very best to follow", said Elanthin with a raised    eyebrow, indicating that she was ready to gather whatever she could from    his confused murmurs.

"I've had my troubles with the Grace   in  the past and they're arrogant. Extremely so." He ruffled his silver    hair with both hands as if he felt restricted by its carefully styled    order. "Which makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to  believe   that they would need the help of a Veritan rebel group."

"So    if they're working together, the Grace mustn't consider the Children a    Veritan group at its core", Elanthin followed quietly. What he said   made  sense to her – so much that it frightened her.

Had the    biggest enemy been right under her nose all this time? It made it seem    like, on whatever side of the Eternal Barrier, there wouldn't ever be    peace waiting for the Veritans.

She perked up as a sudden doubt crossed her mind. "But if the Children want to harm Verita, why haven't they done so before?"

After all, Elanthin thought, it    would have been much easier for them to rebel on the Forlorn Plains,    where the royal guard was busy with killing monsters instead of    gathering intel about inside threats.

"All this theorizing    isn't going to get us anywhere", she decided brusquely. "You said  that   the advisor has located one of their meeting places? I'd rather  try  and  have a look at them myself."

Aetrian's eyes glinted   bright  orange as if he had been waiting for her to ask. "A splendid   idea. But  before we go, I'll have to prepare a few things."

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