Chapter 308: Scapegoat

“Eleven days ago one of the military cargo ships docked in port set sail without authorization. The crew was largely left behind, including the captain. General Egilhard immediately ordered two patrol ships to give chase. They managed to catch up to the fleeing vessel within a few hours thanks to favorable weather conditions and several wind and water mages on board. The pursuers managed to board the vessel and the soldiers on board violently resisted capture. The majority of the deserters were killed in the ensuing battle.

“Once all deserters aboard the ship had either been killed or subdued, a search was conducted and more than four thousand pounds of eleria crystals were found in unmarked crates, along with several dozen more crates filled with the parts of various unreported magical beasts. Those few who had been captured alive were quickly questioned and their testimony coupled with the physical evidence confirms that a company of soldiers led by captain Hakon had been illegally mining eleria in the Kalters Wall Mountain Range via the use of an underground tunnel that they had found access to in the village of Alawar.”

Jay blinked, a frown slowly working its way across her features. Eleven days ago would have been around the time she and her companions were fighting the demonic horde and possessed dragon attacking the Dryad’s grove. Considering she and captain Willa had witnessed the soldier activity in the mines under the mountain maybe six to eight days before that point, that meant that captain Hakon and his soldiers had likely immediately returned to Alawar and had reported to General Egilhard. And what had Egilhard done?

“Are you telling me Egilhard just pinned all of this smuggling shit on Hakon?”

Vraekae’s scowl was thunderous as she shifted away from the wall they had both been leaning against. She paced a few feet away, her hands clasped behind the small of her back.

“I am explaining that General Egilhard, through his own investigation, managed to flush smugglers and deserters out of the military forces here under his command. At least, that is what the official report is going to say since I have no evidence to say otherwise.”

“Nothing?” Jay asked, pushing away from the wall herself. “No evidence against that slimy shitstain at all?”

“Nothing that I could use against him in court,” Vraekae shook her head. “Yes, this illegal activity happened under his command, but he is hardly the first military commander to have eggs go bad under his watch, nor will he be the last. None of the evidence or testimony that I had before the expedition could prove a connection to Egilhard and nothing that Willa has brought back can do so either. The highest-ranking officer I can make a connection to is Major Kreszentia and she’s already been arrested by Egilhard.”

“No honor among thieves, huh?” Jay commented sourly as she took in what Vraekae was telling her.

Jadis had known that the testimony of the soldier they had captured, Jonas, wasn’t going to be enough to sink Egilhard on its own. The man had never seen the general directly involved in anything related to the eleria smuggling. However, she had hoped that with the evidence provided, it would be enough for Vraekae to launch some kind of criminal investigation that would catch Egilhard off guard with his hands in the cookie jar.

Though, realistically, Jadis couldn’t have been too surprised that they had missed that opportunity. If Willa had gone back to Far Felsen with Jonas right away, then maybe Vraekae really could have done something. But since Willa and her soldiers had stuck with Jadis and her company while they continued their expedition, they had given Egilhard too much time to get ahead of their investigation. Jadis couldn’t say that she regretted her choice to not escort Willa back to the city; she’d accomplished too much and saved too many lives to be upset over her actions. But she did wish there had been some way to get Willa and Jonas back to the city faster.

“No honor at all,” Vraekae replied coolly as she turned to face Jay. “At least not between the upper and lower ranks.”

“You’ve got Kres—whatever in custody, though, right?” Jay asked. “She had to be getting her orders straight from Egilhard. You can’t get anything out of her?”

“No, I cannot,” Vraekae shook her head. “The investigation that Egilhard has officially reported shows that Kreszentia is guilty of taking bribes to ignore some minor smuggling activity. She denies having any knowledge of the mining operation or even the nature of the cargo being smuggled. Egilhard’s evidence shows nothing to the contrary and I have nothing beyond the hearsay of a dead man to say otherwise. Everyone who might know the depth of her involvement is either dead like Hakon or beyond my reach like Egilhard himself.”

“That… That really sucks,” Jay said after a moment, completely at a loss as to what to do about the turn of events. “So, no one’s going to be punished after all the crap I went through? You know, I literally got burned alive to get that information.”

“I know,” Vraekae answered in a subdued voice. She eyed Jay appraisingly, though what she was thinking Jadis couldn’t guess. “Your efforts are certainly noted. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as though anyone worth the effort is going to see their just dues. A charge of bribery will hurt Kreszentia’s career, but I doubt she will even be removed from the military. And the poor fools who were left alive aboard that ship are just pawns. Their punishments will fit the crimes they are most certainly guilty of, but their arrest is hardly the justice I was looking for.”

So that was that. Egilhard was getting away free and clear and there wasn’t anything Jadis could do about it. Not practically speaking, anyway. She could always charge over to the aggravating man and toss him out of a high window, but just as she didn’t want to get involved in politics, she really didn’t want to get further involved in the imperial justice system, either. Maybe if she got the chance later down the line she would see if there was something she could do to get back at the general, but in a way, she hoped that opportunity would never come. Jadis didn’t want to be like Vraekae or Egilhard. Political intrigues weren’t her realm. If she never had to deal with Egilhard or his ilk ever again, that would be just fine by her.

“Alright, well, setting that bearded asshole aside for now,” Jay said with a sigh, “there’s one other thing I think we need to talk about right away.”

“Yes?” Vraekae asked, her usual stoic composure having returned. “Something to do with priests, I take it?”

“No, not that,” Jay shook her head. “I’m done talking about priests for the next couple of years at least. I have a different situation that’s developed in a direction I wasn’t expecting.”

“Go on,” Vraekae tilted her head to one side, her attention fully on Jay.

Here it was. Jadis was going to have to put a little faith in Vraekae now. She felt like she could probably trust the Magistrate, though she also knew her loyalties were to the empire above all else. If she decided that what Jadis was about to tell her constituted a threat to the empire or the people within it, she had no doubt that Vraekae would do what she thought was best for their protection, regardless of what Jadis wanted.

Jadis wasn’t in the habit of praying often, but she let out a silent prayer to D and Lyssandria both that this would go well.

“So, you know in that story I told this morning, I mentioned how I lost that little demon hatchling I’d been carrying around as a sort of pet?”

“Yes,” Vraekae acknowledged with one slender eyebrow raised. “The one you have taken to calling ‘Alex’ as I recall from Willa’s reports. I have a few questions about the encounter, actually. Willa’s description of events came across as somewhat farfetched.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Jay let out a nervous chuckle. “But, uh, yeah. I’m sure she mentioned how I never found Alex?”

“She did,” Vraekae agreed, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“Well that isn’t entirely true,” Jay continued. Taking a breath, she squared her shoulders and dove headfirst into the pool. “I found Alex the night after we left the grove. I have her in a crate in the basement of Fortune’s Favored, actually. And she’s changed. A lot.”

“Changed?” Vraekae’s voice crackled like ice. “She?”

“Yeah. She. Alex is a she now. When she attacked Eike to protect Sabina and Sorcha and Gunnar, she did something with her. They… melded together. It’s not possession, not like the examples I’ve seen. She became something more like a greater demon, I guess, though a lot less monstrous. Look, body aside, the important part is she can talk now. I had been trying to teach Alex words and letters even before she transformed and I was having some pretty good success with it. But now she’s got a human body—sort of. And she can talk and is clearly both intelligent and friendly. She’s not some mindless demon trying to kill and destroy.”

There was a pained look on Vraekae’s face as Jadis spoke. One that only got worse as she went on. When the blue-skinned elf didn’t respond right away, Jadis kept going. She explained everything she knew about Alex so far, going over how she had found the demon and what she’d been doing to try and better communication between them. By the end of her long explanation, Vraekae’s expression had recovered and she was once again standing ramrod straight with an unreadably blank expression on her face.

“Jadis,” Vraekae spoke when Jay trailed off. “How is it that you manage to cause so much trouble in so short amount of time?”

“I mean, I don’t think I cause that much trouble,” Jay said defensively. “Besides, I clear up a lot of trouble, too.”

“A sentient demon, Jadis. You claim to have brought a sentient greater demon into my city. One that is currently sitting unguarded in your basement. One with unknown powers and abilities. Unguarded?”

Jay shifted uncomfortably.

“Not completely unguarded, no. You made me leave most of my companions behind, so they’re all back at the company building. Well, maybe not all of them. Some could have left to go do other things, I guess…”

At Vraekae’s flat stare, Jay threw up her hands in frustration.

“Look! She’s not hostile! If Alex wanted to hurt us in any way, she’s had countless opportunities! She’s not going to run around the city maiming people! She’s probably just sitting in her crate waiting for me right now!”

“And if she’s not?” Vraekae said sharply, “if she has slipped out and caused harm to others? What if this demon was just waiting for a moment of your inattention? Waiting for the opportunity to be brought straight into the heart of the city where hundreds of defenseless civilians reside? Jadis, you are not stupid. How have you not considered the potential consequences of your actions!”

“I did consider them!” Jay couldn’t help but raise her voice, though she quickly got herself under control by taking a deep breath. “Look, think about what you’re saying. If Alex was just a dumb demon like everyone says all the others are, then she wouldn’t be capable of the level of planning that you are attributing to her.”

“Yes, she could,” Vraekae snapped. “We see it in possessions all the time. Demons that stay just quiet enough in their stolen bodies to avoid scrutiny for long enough to get somewhere vulnerable. Then they kill everyone they can as soon as the strongest defenders are away. By the gods, Jadis, that is not a sign of intelligence! No more than a fox creeping into a hen house.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you spoke to her,” Jay shot back. “She’s not an enemy. Fucking D himself said she wasn’t hostile when I asked him a question during an oracle session! She’s not some evil snake trying to sneak her way into to hurt anyone, she’s just trying to have sex with me!”

Vraekae blanched at the last, her expression a mixture of shock and strangled amusement. Her mouth fell open, a question hanging there that wasn’t quite making its way out into the open.

“No, I haven’t had sex with her,” Jay rushed out, her face heating as she spoke. “I’ve been turning her down every time she tries to initiate anything, which she hasn’t been happy about. But no, we haven’t done anything. Though from all I can tell, that really seems to be her only motivation. I’m kind of hoping that she’ll figure out some other hobbies or life goals or something, but yeah, she’s pretty fixated on having sex with me…”

Vraekae closed her mouth, a choked laugh cut off before it could grow out of control. She cleared her throat and looked away from Jay, shaking her head in amazement.

“No wonder you are dedicated to Destarious. This has to be some kind of divine comedy.”

Jay motioned with one hand towards the door, her expression pleading.

“Come speak with her. Take a minute to talk and you’ll see what I mean. I want to get her examined and I want to do right by everyone, but that everyone includes her. Come back to the headquarters with me and let’s just talk, okay? Once you do, I’m positive you’ll agree that at the very least, she deserves some special considerations.”

“I make no promises,” Vraekae said. “But yes, we should go there, immediately. And we will not be going alone.”

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