Advent of Eternity - Chapter 133 (Patreon)

Several terse seconds of silence passed. Knell kept his eyes trained on Emma, his finger around the trigger of the gun and ready to pull it at an instant’s notice.

“How?” Emma asked.

“You can’t honestly think you can attack me and I wouldn’t take steps to make sure it wouldn’t happen again,” Knell said. “Who do you work for, and why are you here?”

Coal’s opened one eye and squinted at Emma. He clacked his beak in displeasure at the interruption of his nap and closed it once more.

“I work for the Lord Veil. He bid me to seek you out and request that you meet with him.”

Knell cocked an eyebrow. “I’ve got more than a few enemies, but I don’t recall ever making his acquaintance. A friend of my late father?”

“No. His interest is in you alone.” Emma’s fingers twitched.

Knell considered her words for a few moments. He nodded in Eliza’s direction. “Why’s she here? That’s the girl from Brickvale, and I was under the impression she was off hunting her brother’s slavers.”

“I should be,” Eliza said darkly.

“Speak no more,” Emma warned, surprisingly calm for the situation she was in. “You have not been given permission to share anything of our sanctum. To do so would be to betray the Lord Veil’s trust.”

Eliza pursed her lips, but she didn’t try to say anything else.

“Who is this Veil?” Knell asked. “Not a god. I don’t recognize his name.”

“He is Veil,” Emma replied. “He stands above even the gods.”

“A bold claim. And what interest does he have in me? And has he ever heard of sending a letter? Typically, people don’t take kindly to being greeted by assassins.”

“It is not my place to say, nor shall I question his orders. You have been invited to meet with him. That is all.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then I will relay your refusal.”

“Will that be done through another attempt on my life?”

“I never attempted to take your life. If I had, you would not have lived.”

Knell tilted his head to the side. “Perhaps. Did this Veil tell you exactly why he wished to meet me? I take it that he would not be coming out to my ship.”

“No. You are invited to his dwellings,” Emma replied.

“Do you have literally any reason why I would possibly take him up on that offer?” Knell asked with a chuckle. “A man that has sent an assassin after me sends one for a second time, but now that I have the upper hand on her, she tells me that her master simply wants to meet.”

“Your shot will not kill me. Should it become necessary, you will die,” Emma replied in a matter-of-fact manner. “I have survived far worse than a bullet. You only still live because Veil has not ordered your removal. It is an honor to be invited to treat with him.”

Eliza’s eyes narrowed slightly and she glanced from Emma to Knell. “I don’t know if it’s my place to say this, but Veil is fair. He’s fighting against the gods, just like you are. He’s been training me without asking for anything in return.”

Emma shot Eliza a sharp look, but Knell inclined his head slightly in appreciation. “Thank you for the information. I must admit that I am indeed curious about who this person is, even if I doubt the assassin’s claims of durability.”

“You will come with me, then?” Emma asked, completely unbothered by Knell’s slight.

“How will I know that my safety will be assured? And how long will this take? Leaving my crew and ship behind is a damned fool thing to do for little in return. Does he have something to offer me?”

“If Veil wished you dead, then we would not be speaking,” Emma replied, stubbornly refusing to provide him with any actually useful information. “He has no need to fall on tricks to defeat his opponents. The meeting will take no more than a day. I can deliver us to him and return you to this ship when your meeting is complete.”

“I refuse. I have nothing to gain from this meeting,” Knell said. “If your Lord wants to meet with me, then tell him he’s welcome to tell me his motives and I’ll reconsider. Otherwise, I have no plans of waltzing into the worlds least inviting trap.”

“Is that your final answer?” Emma asked.

Knell’s eyes narrowed. “If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have said it. Best of luck, Eliza. Perhaps we’ll meet again soon. I truly hope you are able to find your brother.”

“Thank you,” Eliza said.

Knell gestured with his flintlock and Emma took a step back, putting her hand on the younger woman’s shoulder.

“One more thing,” Knell said. “If he sends you back, make your presence known as soon as you arrive. If I find you skulking around my ship again, we’ll find out just how well you live through a bullet.”

He let the amulet drop against his chest. Emma and Eliza vanished an instant later. Knell kept his gun readied for a few moments, waiting to see they would try anything else, but as far as he could tell, they were gone.

Knell returned the flintlock to his belt. “They’re gone.”

The door swung open. Cyll and Maya stepped inside, their weapons drawn. On the other side of the ship, Stix lowered her bow and removed the bolt she’d had aimed at where Emma had been standing.

“Was that the girl we saved in Brickvale?” Cyll asked.

Knell nodded. “Looks like she’s joined up with the assassin that went after us in the dungeon. Curious.”

“What did they want?” Maya asked. “And how did they get into your cabin? We were all on the deck when Stix spotted you speaking to them through the window.”

“Some form of cloaking or invisibility paired with a teleportation ability,” Knell said, fingering the chain of his amulet before tucking it back beneath his jacket. “You now have your answer for what it does, Maya.”

“It reveals invisible people?”

“Reveals and prevents them from utilizing transport spells while I am concentrating on it,” Knell confirmed. “It has already proven to be a useful investment. Where is Lillicent?”

“We sent her belowdecks in case something went wrong,” Cyll said, sheathing Lassie and yawning. “It would have been a real bummer if she got killed before she made us anything cool.”

“You never said what the assassin wanted,” Maya said. “Do they have something to do with the gods?”

“Apparently not,” Knell replied. “Another third party. Possibly related to Joseph, but I’m not sure. Neither of them struck me as normal pirates or bandits, and I can’t imagine who else would have any business with us. They wanted me to meet with their leader.”

“You refused, I take it?” Cyll asked as Stix joined them.

“Only a fool wouldn’t have. I have no way to know that they’re meeting with me in good faith. At least Joseph had a very clear angle to what he stood to gain. I suspect they’ll return in the future.”

“So what should we do if they pop up again?” Stix asked.

“If you see them, then bring them to me,” Knell replied. “I informed them that any future arrivals on the Withered Rose would have to be done visibly. If I catch them with my Artifact, then they’re our enemies and we will act accordingly to deal with the problem.”

Cyll yawned. “Boring. I hope we get to do something interesting soon. I swear it’s been weeks since I’ve had the chance to fight anything.”

“We’ve been at sea for three days,” Stix said flatly. “Don’t exaggerate so much.”

“Exaggeration is the spice of life,” Cyll said. “Say, anyone want to spar? That could be fun.”

“I’ll take you up on that,” Maya said, resting her hand on the hilt of her blade. “I’ve been training on my own for long enough. It’ll be nice to see if I can actually hold my own against you with a sword now.”

Cyll bared his teeth in a wide grin. “Fantastic. Don’t get your hopes up, though.”

They headed back out onto the deck. Stix went down the stairs, likely to let Lillicent know that the threat had passed. Knell watched them for a few moments, then closed his door and headed back to his bed.

He rubbed his forehead, trying to put the pieces together. If the assassin was really just carrying out some powerful man’s orders, then it wasn’t Joseph. It probably wasn’t any of the other Advents either, or they would have gone through Joseph.

That said, I suppose it’s possible that not all the Advents are working together. He could be a rival Advent, but then I’d have thought that they’d open with that. It would have made me far more likely to speak with them.

Knell pressed his lips together. For the time being, he once again found himself without information. Luckily, he had a way to keep the assassin from sneaking up on him again. That would suffice for the time being – answers would come in time.

After all, if this Veil was truly interested in meeting, Knell doubted that a mere dismissal of a single meeting would be enough to dissuade him.

***

“He refused, Lord Veil.” Emma knelt before Veil’s throne, lowering her gaze to avoid looking up at him.

“Refused? Curious. Why?”

“On grounds of not trusting you, Lord Veil.” Emma paused for a few moments.

“Speak freely, Emma. How many times must I tell you that formalities do not matter when we are alone?”

Emma raised her gaze slightly. “He said that, if you would like to speak with him, then you should send word as to why you are interested in meeting and convince him that it isn’t a trap.”

Veil laughed. “A fair request. I suppose it has been so long since I last walked amongst other men that they have forgotten who I am. I cannot blame a hatchling for its lack of knowledge of the past.”

“Lord Veil – he knew I was coming.”

“I know,” Veil said. “The difference between paranoia and wisdom is being right. It appears that he possesses both. You will return to meet with him in time. With every passing day, I find myself more interested. I would like to ensure I get a chance to influence the boy before Joseph clips his wings.”

Emma nodded mutely.

“I am more interested in Eliza’s brother,” Veil said, his tone sharpening. “He was in that camp no more than a day ago, but when I checked again, his location has been obscured to me.”

“The gods are involved?”

“Or the Advents,” Veil said, drumming his fingers on the armrest of his throne. “And each are equally as concerning. I do not understand why Joseph would attempt to do such a thing, and most of the Advents heel to his will. The gods I would understand, but they should have no knowledge of Eliza or her brother’s existence.”

“If they dare obscure something from your vision, then they challenge us directly.”

“Which means they are either a fool or have the strength to believe that they can do such a thing,” Veil said. His hands tightened into fists and he rose to his feet. Shadows rippled across the room like water in a pond. “I will investigate this matter. What have you done with Eliza?”

“She has returned to her rooms and is training. I fear she may turn against us if we do not provide a suitable answer to the location of her brother soon. She is… driven.”

“As any good woman would be,” Veil said. “You would do well to share some of her passion for yourself, Emma. You continue to live only for my orders, but there is more to life than death.”

“As you order, Lord Veil.”

Veil sighed. “Aid in Eliza’s training. I will be out for several days. When I return, I will bring information of her missing brother’s whereabouts. In the meantime, ask her if she knows how to convince Knell to meet with us. She has history with him, so she may have more luck easing his fears than you will.”

Emma inclined her head. Shadows swept through the room and the faint lights sputtered. When they came back, both Veil and Emma were gone.