The Bell Tolls for Me

There were many elements needed in order to make King Edgar, the supposedly fearless leader of the Kingdom of Dovhain, risk his life. The first was to have something worth risking it for. Isabella thought that the rumor that Bernadetta had managed to spread sufficed for that. The notion that Isabella was not entirely cured, but dependent on some outside force that required sailing overseas to reach, seemed credible.

But Edgar was naturally suspicious. Isabella and Bernadetta agreed that he wouldn’t act without proof of some kind. He needed to confirm the veracity of the rumors before he had ever even considered stepping on board a boat. Considering that he understood the perils of the sea just as well as they did, that was a reasonable thing to get.

They had moved to a city quite distant from Randen. Isabella, Valerio, and Bernadetta reviewed the plan.

“I suspect that Edgar will have great difficulty gathering his army,” Bernadetta said. “In general, It’s very difficult to mobilize the peasantry to revolt. If things are bad for a few, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll be bad for the many. When something bad happens to the nobles? That can stick a spoke in the gears of any kingdom, no matter how justified the executions were.”

Isabella nodded. “And that sort of poor decision making is precisely why I was so intent on moving against him as soon as possible. His mental state is faltering. On top of that, his attention will naturally divert away once he thinks that he has some way to fight against us.”

“I would agree.” Bernadetta crossed her arms. “If you want to entrap someone arrogant, you need to give them the impression that they’re figuring something out. You need to make them think they’ve found your secret, or they’re exploiting your weakness.” She smiled. “Ignorance won’t always hurt you. It’s thinking you know something for certain that just isn’t true that can kill you.”

Bernadetta leaned over the map. “I’m going to continue creating ripples in the pond. Secrets for Edgar to discover, buried in the hearts and minds of the people. It’ll lead him to believe that he’s slowly dismantling some hard-kept secret. What do you need to do is create the proof.” Her fingers tapped several different ports.

“Over the next month, you’re going to sail from various different locations with Valerio’s vessel, each heading toward the same point: the site of your ambush,” she disclosed. “It’ll lead Edgar to believe that he’s discovering a secret rather than taking bait if you act as though you’re being cautious about where and when you visit this place. I’ll provide supplemental details to provide credence to this.”

Valerio walked over to the map. “Going off what Arthur said, if he’s ever going to take to sea, he’s going to spend as much time as possible reading, practicing, and learning before he goes. We won’t be able to fool him into sailing out into dangerous conditions into uncharted sea.”

Isabella looked at Bernadetta. “And once more, that’s where your notion of allowing Edgar to discover a secret can come in. As a matter of fact… I remember something that we employed in our escape.”

***

The king stood at the docks of Dovhain. He was watching the way in which the sails caught the wind, studying the clouds in the distance as if to divine details from them, and observing carefully the way in which the sailors worked to prepare. He had several books on hand, all of which provided insight into the nautical world. As he stood there, a bird—a vulture—swooped down and landed before him.

“Your Majesty, I have news,” the Archwizard’s familiar said eagerly. “Scouting efforts have finally born fruit.”

Edgar looked down at his servant’s familiar. “Speak.”

“Do you recall when we were chasing after Isabella’s ship using our familiars?” the Archwizard asked. “No longer how long we prowled the sea, we were never able to find even the hint of a boat despite the fact that fleeing so hastily was nigh impossible.”

“I couldn’t possibly forget that. The greatest mistake of my recent years,” Edgar said.

“We found an area in the sea that is utterly impenetrable to all familiars,” the Archwizard said. “Those that attempt to bypass its limits find their connection with their magical construct faltering.”

Edgar smiled. “And you think that this might be a shield of some kind? A way in which to prevent scrying?”

“Indeed, Your Majesty,” the Archwizard said. “Although… our people may have triggered detection of some kind, if Isabella is prudent. You may wish to reverse time. Nevertheless, I can provide details about the location that was discovered. It’s rather far from the shore, and it’s consistent with the direction that Isabella’s vessel has been spotted prior. It’s rather far from the main continent, however.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Excellent work. Perhaps you’re not so incapable after all.”

***

“We can easily create a barrier of that scale,” one of the Khans promised Isabella. “I must say… the figure that you were collaborating with must have been of some skill to be able to perform such a barrier on a moving boat.”

Isabella didn’t dare meet these two sages in person. As she had last time, she was in her familiar form, using it to talk to these two to coordinate the plan.

“I can’t say how long this will need to be maintained for,” Isabella said honestly. “It could be a period of months. It could be tested almost endlessly. Will you be able to continue with day and night?”

Both of the Khans nodded, but one of them said, “We can switch off intermittently without a problem. No one would be capable of noticing the shift save ourselves alone. We’re also skilled enough to avoid detection from any spellcaster that King Edgar might be employing. That petty Archwizard is no match for our prowess.”

“Excellent,” Isabella spread her wings, prepared to fly home. “So long as you manage this without issue, I’ll keep on my end of the deal.”

***

“For this to be real to Edgar, you need to act like it’s real,” Bernadetta informed them. “You have to take measures as if this were a genuine weakness of yours.”

Valerio raised a brow at her. “What would you suggest?”

Bernadetta looked at the spot marked in the map. “For one… a fleet to guard this location. You would need to find suitable ships, and suitable people to man them. You need to treat them as if they were genuinely guarding a secret location, and act with the expectation that Edgar will find them and interrogate them for all information they possess.”

Isabella studied Bernadetta. “You want us to find men for Edgar to torture?”

“No. I want you to find sailors to guard a secret location,” Bernadetta said. “As I said, you need to treat this as if it’s real. Supposing that this does manage to attract Edgar’s attention, he’s not going to immediately risk himself personally. He’s going to send men to probe beyond the boundaries of the barrier. When they don’t return, he’ll reset, trying more things. Thus, it needs to be real.”

Valerio pointed at her. “You’re saying that we need to make it well-guarded enough that he feels the need to go personally.”

“Or at least enough to convince him that what we’re guarding is a genuine weakness,” Bernadetta said. “The location of the ambush is an island deep at sea?”

“Yes, that’s what I said,” Isabella confirmed.

“Even under optimal conditions, with the best spellcasters imaginable helping out, it takes ten days to reach,” Valerio explained. “The return trip is difficult. It uses arctic currents to reach the island, meaning the waves and the wind can be incredibly treacherous. It always flows in the same direction. Even I would find it difficult to sail back—I’ve been using the current to reach the isle, and then taking a different route with less fierce currents back to land.”

“Ten days. So… Edgar will need to sleep at least once, maybe even twice,” Bernadetta remarked.

Isabella nodded. “And he can’t send preliminary scouts. He wouldn’t dare risk exposing the fact that he had knowledge of our cure.”

“I know Edgar well enough. I’m almost positive that he’ll choose to go when you’re not there, because he has no knowledge of your mastery over time,” Bernadetta said. “All is in place. The only thing that matters is your trap. Is it sufficient? Is there any way he could overcome it?”

Isabella looked to Valerio to answer.

“The water in that ocean is ice-cold, and the voyage to reach it takes days by ship,” Valerio said. “Even I couldn’t swim back to shore. He may be a spellcaster, but that doesn’t change the situation greatly. Arthur assured me that flight consumes tremendous magical stamina. It’s highly inefficient. The currents in there are incredibly dangerous. There’s no land for a long, long while… excepting that island.”

Bernadetta nodded. “Excellent. Then, here’s what I expect he’ll do…”

***

“We’ve confirmed the presence of several ships, guarding something under the protection of magic,” Edgar said. “Judging by the length of the voyage, the place that they’re sailing to is very far from sea. This won’t be an easy journey. It employs the arctic current, one of the most treacherous currents in the world. The waters are ice-cold, and the winds are incredibly harsh. I’ll bring three vessels.” Edgar looked around. “Three carracks, top-of-the-line. They’ll be amply provisioned, and tested in currents of similar strength.”

One of them will be mine. The others will be guinea pigs to test the voyage with.

Edgar needed to be careful. Beyond careful, even. Every eventuality needed to be tested for this to work, and it needed to be tested every day. He intended to examine every single rock on the sea floor before he proceeded even an inch. Before this was done, he’d be able to draw a perfect sketch of this entire stretch of ocean.

“Do you need to go on this trip, Your Majesty?” the Archwizard asked. “The sea… the seas have far too many variables. Too many things that could go wrong.”

Edgar looked at him. “There’s too much evidence pointing toward this location for me to simply ignore it. I have made a lifetime of challenging the impossible. The sea is simply another subject to be tamed, another discipline to prove I can master. Valerio has taken the voyage countless times, in poor weather and in fair weather.” He walked to the window of his royal palace and looked out across the ocean. “I will do the same. I will seize whatever advantage Isabella still possesses. And then… I will crush her, utterly.”