Path of the Hive Queen

Interlude: Isolation XI

Lately, Armin had been wondering whether he was ever going to get the stench of death out, or whether he’d just grow used to it.It probably wasn’t as big a deal as it felt like; he had enough changes of clothes and could bath easily enough. The dark elves were rather fond of proper cleanliness, and conjuring water was one of the basic uses for mages in the Eternal Dark (or drawing it out of the air, or diverting it from underground streams, it didn’t really matter). But he still felt like he was attending one funeral after another, and in his more morbid moments, it felt like they would never leave him alone; even if he knew they weren’t many in reality.

He supposed being at war was like this. It wasn’t just the dead soldiers who’d given their lives for their cause, though — it was the civilian deaths that really bothered him.

The farther they advanced into territory previously held by the Loyalists, the worse it got, in his opinion. It wasn’t unusual to find people, or the remains of them, that the Loyalists had executed for trying to aid the ‘rebels’, or maybe just being sympathizers. A few of them were even children, though fortunately, that wasn’t common. They received large funerals, or at least as large as could be done under the circumstances. Armin understood the political calculation behind those gestures, why the army’s leadership acted like this. Not everyone was committed to the cause, so of course they propagandized their enemies’ atrocities. Even if it didn’t help when seeing dead children. It felt like the more they won, the more vicious the Loyalists got.

At least they winning, he supposed. Their initial victory in a decisive battle against the Loyalists had left the Reformists in a good position to press the advantage. Madris managed to keep everyone more or less united and pointed in the same direction. Though maybe winning too much was starting to strain that internal peace …

“Are you alright, Armin?” Sarkol asked him. “You’ve got a dark look there.”

Armin shook his head slightly, smiling at the soldier as he came back to reality. “I don’t think it’s inappropriate to have ‘a dark look’, we are just leaving a funeral,” he pointed out.

He really wanted to change his clothes. Maybe put on something that didn’t have any mourning associations; though he immediately felt guilty for that thought.

“It will be the last one for a while, gods willing,” Sarkol said nonchalantly, but he still looked sober.

“Hm,” Armin agreed.

“What? You look even more unhappy. Sorry?”

“No, it’s just …” Armin sighed and glanced around. They were in one of the smaller tunnels leading from the large cave they’d just left, and there weren’t too many other people around. It was too close to the new border of disputed territory with the Loyalists. “Do you ever wonder if the gods are sponsoring our enemy?”

Sarkol didn’t insult him by pretending not to know what he meant. He visibly contemplated the thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, if they are, the gods can’t be giving them too much help, or they wouldn’t be in this much trouble, would they?” he asked. “Maybe our ‘association’ with the Empire isn’t enough to matter. And I’m not the most pious person. I can’t say this idea is upsetting my worldview. I’m not really the man to talk to when it comes to the political situation, though.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Armin responded. But he was getting distracted, watching the people around them. They’d passed the shortcut and were back in a more populated part of the camp, if it could be called that. He noticed a few people he recognized not too far away.

“Speaking of politicians, where’s Vares Iriesen?” Sarkol asked. “I would’ve thought you would go home with her.”

“She had other things to do. She’s rather busy recently,” Armin replied, then sighed. “I don’t suppose our … association is any kind of secret, is it?”

“Maybe to some grunts who’ve just joined the army recently,” Sarkol suggested with a grin.

“Armin!” someone else called. He turned to see a dark elf woman waving at them in clear invitation.

Armin exchanged a look with Sarkol, who shrugged unconcernedly, and then changed course to meet her. The soldier tagged along behind, and Armin was glad about his support even if he doubted he would need it.

“Did you just come from the funeral?” the other dark elf asked. “I tried to see who else was there, but it was too many people.”

Armin nodded, taking a closer look at Desis. As usual, she wore colorful clothes, with fine embroidery and dye-patterns. They were clearly cut to be practical, but still looked more flamboyant than most people here wore. Though he was hardly an expert on fashion, let alone Eternal Dark fashion. Though she was also rather short and would have probably blended into the crowd without those clothes.

“You’re still having trouble working with large crowds, then?” he asked. “I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it soon, Desis.”

She grimaced slightly, but nodded. “I hope so. Thanks, Armin.”

The Eternal Dark had its own traditions regarding psychic ability, though they were rather sparse and fragmentary, and often not passed on very well. But one characteristic aspect seemed to be the practice of isolating psychics. Maybe it was meant to give them the ability to work without distractions, to focus on one mind (or a few), and learn without being too pressured by the outside. Armin sometimes suspected it was also to make them desperate to learn to connect with other people remotely. Either way, Desis wasn’t the most isolated, but she had still been living alone in a remote cavern with only her brother and the occasional visitor for company.

Armin vividly remembered just how long Madris had been effectively completely isolated, supposedly for training, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d been a bit like Desis at first. Not that he disliked the younger dark elf. She was a bit excitable and clearly happy to make new friends, but that was refreshing compared to some of the people he had to deal with here.

Desis was one of a few psychics who had come out of the woodwork recently; or had been found and dragged to this place with an invitation that was hard to refuse. Madris had taken them on, for now. He suspected her experience mentoring Regina’s students was helping.

“If you can’t even deal with a crowd at a funeral, girl, I’m honestly not sure how much use you will be in war,” Sarkol grunted.

Armin elbowed him.

“What? Just telling the truth,” he grumbled.

“No, it’s fine, you have a point,” Desis said, though she visibly wilted a little. “I’ll make sure to practice a lot. Mistress Madris says I’m getting better. And I managed to interrogate a Loyalist spy yesterday.”

“Really?” Armin asked, a bit surprised. He hadn’t heard of that.

“Yep! I caught him myself, too. Once there aren’t many people around, I’m not bad at sensing people who’re up to no good,” she grinned. “He was sent by some middling house in the Loyalist faction. Apparently, he actually had a Class Skill that let him take on another face for a while, but it didn’t help his mental defenses, so we were able to notice that something was up.”

“Did you get any actionable information from him?” Sarkol asked, suddenly more serious and less grumpy.

She nodded. “I already passed on some info on their positions and the forces that this house brought to the army. They’re not very important, I suppose, but every little bit helps. Or so Epiren said, anyway.”

“Well, good job,” Armin commented, making her smile again. “Speaking of Madris, do you happen to know where she is right now?”

Desis paused and cocked her head for a moment, before she nodded again. “Come on, I’ll take you.”

Without waiting around, she dragged him off. Armin gave Sarkol an amused smile and went along with it. He ignored the soldier’s grumbles as he followed, too.

“I actually do have business to discuss with her, you know, Armin,” Sarkol continued. Armin just shrugged.

Unsurprisingly, Madris was in the middle of the action. She had barely seemed to be alone recently. Though admittedly, that was mostly because a lot of people kept seeking her out. He had even wondered if she was using some psychic trick to not need to sleep, even though she’d told him once that trying that kind of thing was unwise and would do more harm than good (well, in the long term). At least when they sought her out now, she wasn’t in the middle of a crowd, and was still in the building most recently assigned to them; Armin was housed with her, as another, or the only, member of her house.

Unfortunately, there was also clearly some kind of fight going on, or at least an argument. They could hear raised voices before they even entered the house, though nothing understandable. Armin glanced at Sarkol, and then nudged Desis forward, who suddenly seemed to lose motivation to go inside.

“On second thought, I can come back to talk about my stuff later,” Sarkol muttered.

“Alright,” Armin shrugged.

Once they entered and he closed the door, he glanced around to make sure nothing was broken. Then he took the stairs to the upper floor. There was a parlor with its door firmly shut, but Armin entered anyway, ahead of Desis. Even before coming inside, he could identify at least a few of the other people present just by their voices, so he didn’t see why either dark elf was so scared.

The door opening clearly interrupted the ongoing argument. Ray looked up and gave him a smile. It looked like he’d been sitting off to the side, not uninvolved, exactly, but quiet. In contrast, Tedis Oliren stood in the middle of the floor and had probably been pacing. Lermen sat stiffly on a chair, Madris leaned against the wall, and Vares and Ferdis sat together closer by the door and looked at it like they were considering making a break for it. The scene was a little funny, honestly.

“Armin, it’s good you’re back,” Madris said. “Maybe you can tell some people they’re being stupid.”

“Or he can tell you that,” Tedis retorted. “I doubt he will just give in to your issues, Madris.”

“Desis,” Lermen spoke up, forcibly cutting through the atmosphere. “I heard you interrogated a prisoner yesterday. Good work. Come on in.”

He got a dirty look at that from Tedis and Vares, who might have preferred to continue the argument.

“Oh, thank you, my lord,” Desis came in hesitantly. “I was nothing critical, really. Just a spy from a northern enemy house.”

“They’re getting bolder with sending in spies,” Vares commented. “It’s good that you’ve started training other psychics, Madris. Hopefully, they’ll provide us better protection. But there is still more that we could be doing, isn’t there?”

Armin had wondered if this was a family argument, or political. It sounded like it might be a bit of both, but ostensibly mostly the latter.

“I will not violate the minds of my allies more than I must,” Madris said stiffly. “Besides, it would be unproductive, anyway. Too many people are trained for psychic defense. I could break though such training, but it would take more effort to find them, let alone find whatever I needed. And that would take time and mental effort that I couldn’t spend on other tasks, too.”

“I don’t understand it, Ulaven,” Ferdis spoke up. She paused as everyone looked at her, then pressed on. “You’ve spoken about how much your presence has helped us — Well, to be fair, other people have spoken about it more. Some soldiers here are practically composing hymns in your honor. And I know you were decisive in at least one battle. If it takes this much effort to look into people’s minds, how come that’s the case?”

Madris sighed, remaining quiet for a moment. That allowed Tedis to speak up again. “Of course she was, and they are right to look at her this way. Madris is our best hope for winning this war.”

“Thank you for the compliment, but it is more complex than that, stepmother,” Madris said.  Something passed between them. Armin felt like he was catching on to what was going on with them. “A lot of this is psychological, but purely in the mundane sense. Raising people’s morale. Rightly or wrongly, I’ve been credited with victory in the last major war in the Eternal Dark. Having me present to inspire confidence and act as a rallying figure is helping our troops,” she acknowledged, but he could sense she was frowning faintly. “Of course, I can still help in other ways, and it’s not like I’m useless against infiltrators or in offensive psychic operations, let’s say. I can absolutely break someone’s mind in a critical position, at a critical moment. Or delay, confuse or redirect them. But psychics are also great for coordinating forces, especially in tunnel fighting like we have been doing — that was the major part of my contribution in that battle, along with mundane leadership and strategy.”

“So you’re a good general as well as a psychic,” Vares said matter-of-factly. “You are not really making the case for putting you in charge look appealing, dear.”

Madris rolled her eyes, and finally pushed off the wall and sat down on another settee. Armin hesitated for a moment, before he stepped over and sat down beside her. It felt like she could do with a bit of backup.

“On the contrary, I think trying an internal coup of some kind while we are in this position would be foolhardy,” Madris finally answered.

Tedis shook her head. “It wouldn’t have to be like that,” she said, sounding slightly exasperated. “We could put it to a vote. Especially if we do some preparation beforehand, I think the Governance and Reform Council might very well simply appoint you war leader; or high marshal, or what-have-you. Even a temporary one, if that would be easier. And even if you lost that vote, you would get enough votes behind you for a show of strength.”

“Tedis would vote for you, obviously,” Lermen put in. “Vares would too, wouldn’t you?”

“If you ask nicely, yes.”

“And many of the Free Brotherhood leaders would probably support you easily, if you gave them some guarantees to advocate for their issues. Which would only be in line with what you’ve said at meetings before, anyway.”

Madris didn’t say anything for a moment. Armin gave her what he hoped was a supportive smile. , he mused. He wasn’t going to bring it up. Still, he could understand the others’ point, even if he also understood her reluctance.

“How big a deal would it be, if we do this or not?” he asked. “It seems like despite all the debates, the Council is doing well so far. We’re all still here and fighting the Loyalists, united. Does there need to be a single leader with political authority? Because let’s face it, such a position would obviously be political, too.”

Vares gave him a searching look, like she was trying to figure out where he stood.

“At the start of the war, we decided the initial march northwest in an hour or two, despite all the arrangements and concerns,” she said. “We figured out supplies, rank structure, vanguard positions. Yesterday, we debated for three hours in order to pass an update to the provisions and uniforms regulations, and it almost didn’t get passed. A few people were holding everything hostage to try to get better deals for their own houses for more expensive supplies.”

Armin nodded. That was certainly an issue. It sounded like the kind of problem a war leader wouldn’t necessarily help with, though. Unless their primary purpose really was corralling the diverse leaders of this alliance.

“Mark my words, as we keep winning, this will get worse before it gets better,” Ferdis said. “Eventually, you might not have much of a choice, Eminent Mistress.”

Madris inclined her head. “I will bear that in mind, rest assured. I think acting as I have been, contributing to our strategy and acting as a visible symbol, will be enough for now.”

Tedis still looked exasperated, Armin noted, and her husband slightly concerned. Armind caught Vares’ gaze and shrugged. He noticed that Desis was still in a corner of the room, probably glad everyone seemed to have forgotten about her.