The halls of Elsem castle felt like a barracks now.
Guards stationed at every corner.
Patrols roving.
Threat hung heavy in the air since the recent assassination of Councilman Rudeus Whyteleafe.
Along their stride towards a crossroads of 4 adjoining corridors, Queen Abigail and her Knyyt chanced upon Councilman Valdar shadowed by a mercenary who wore no sigil on his body but bore tattooed teardrops under his hardened eyes.
Valda approached Abigail to greet.
"Lord Valda." She took a faint glance at his mercenary bodyguard. "Seems you too have joined the trend of precaution."
"Precaution is just fear with better tailoring." Valda answered." He paused for a look around. "A Whyteleafe murdered in these very walls. Nobles are afraid."
"The danger is contained, Lord Valda."
Valda smiled thinly. He remarked in a probing tone. "You echo Fredder Kaine's own words." He watched her attentively for response, hoping to catch the faintest tell as to how she felt about Fredderich Kaine — and by extension, whether or not she intended to accept the hanging marriage proposal.
Abigail disappointed him when she turned away her impassive face and sauntered away while inviting him to walk with her.
Knyyt Dravane alongside Valda's bodyguard followed behind.
"Did you mourn Harry Whyteleafe?" Abigail asked.
Valda took a moment assessing the intent behind her question — before he answered. "Before I earned our late King's favour, Harry was one of the only 2 Whyteleafes who ever spoke to me. A bastard. A stain to the Royal Sect. He did what he did — knowing what it meant and faced his death penalty with head held high like a proper Elsemer. Mourning him is a disrespect to both our customs and his pride. But I did mourn his son."
"A tragic end." She remarked. "Harry Whyteleafe was quite the resourceful and informed man. I am most surprised he didn't have a dangerous secret to trade for his life. You were the last person he conversed with, correct?"
Valda silently recalled his final conversation with Harry. Harry's warning before entrusting an unspoken secret to him.
"Surprises me too. Perhaps he had nothing to trade, nothing more to live for… or perhaps he might have entrusted his will to another? Now that you mentioned it, your Majesty, he had always been like a mentor to Lady Kaine since she joined the High Council."
Valda glanced out the corner of his eyes for another failed attempt to read Abigail's expression.
Following behind their masters, Knyyt Dravane and the mercenary walked side-by-side.
The mercenary remarked at Dravane's mutilated right hand. "Reckon you're a Runecaster, ain't ya? Whatever Runes you got — it's over once an opponent gets in close, isnt it?"
Dravane kept his head straight, watching the Queen. A while of silence passed before he grunted a reply. "I'm the one who gets in close."
Between Queen Abigail and Councilman Valda, the conversation had now shifted on Fredder Kaine's bold allegation that someone on the High council was a Black Batch affiliate. Valda condemned that — even if true — Fredder Kaine's decision to reveal that information was the reason his expedition failed and possibly the cause of Rudeus Whyteleafe's assassination — while he remained in the safety of Kaine Keep.
"His boldness stems from patriotism." Said Abigail.
"Boldness without restraint is like fire. Useful until it spreads — and ultimately consumes what it intends to protect." A chuckle paused Valda as he realised something. "Makes it hard to condemn his action without sounding like the alleged traitor, doesn't it? Reminds me of Leonhart Whyteleafe himself."
He glanced at her face once again. Still no trace of emotion to read. She replied. "Is that so? I fail to see their similarity."
"Pardon me, Your Majesty. You have become Elsemer through and through that I often forget you have only been here for barely a decade."
He glanced her face once again. Nothing. He continued. "When he was a prince, Leonhart was a bit more reckless. Both of them were."
"Both of them?"
"Leonhart and his twin, Eielhart."
Abigail turned for the first time. "Why is it that the first ever mention of this Eielhart I heard was from your mouth, Lord Valda? Not even my late husband himself ever mentioned he once had a brother."
"Memory is a curious thing. What the court remembers… and what it quietly agrees to forget."
"Yet Leonhart named his heir after him." The Queen retorted, finally a hint on curiosity in her pearly black eyes.
They stepped into another crossroad where 6 corridors converged. At the center stood a statue of King Leonhart on a marble plinth. Crown atop his head and a commanding arm outstretched.
Abigail slowed.
Valda glanced at the statue, then back at her. "You know some around the countryside regard him as a god because of the Riven path?"
"This Eielhart," she began, "Did he live long enough to master runes like Leonhart?"
Valda's eyes remained on the statue a moment longer.
"Long enough to leave an impression." He said. "Is Your Majesty perhaps curious what remains of the man?"
"What remains of him is what Leonhart chose to pass on. A name. Nothing more. From what I gather, that's his only legacy."
"If Your Majesty will pardon a benign curiosity… what is Leonhart's greatest legacy today?"
Abigail thought about it for a moment. A part of her considered her son. A part considered the largest ever army of Runecasters trained during Leonhart's reign. Or the peace he fostered. Finally she answered, "The Riven path. Every other great deed was possible because Elsem was protected from Elmerian invasion when she was at her weakest. Even now after he's gone, the Rune still endures."
Valda's expression shifted to a faint smirk. "Oh… but does it?" He said.
For an instant, Abigail's composure faltered as she tried to grasp what he meant.
Valda inclined his head right then. "Your Majesty."
He turned and took his leave, his mercenary falling in behind him.
Abigail was left with a puzzling thought.