Pathfinder: Sacred Order - Chapter 82

 

Jacob nodded his head towards Amber signaling her to open the door. She complied to his request as she opened the white door for him.

Once inside the room he walked over to the wooden desk and set down a plate full of food along with a cup of water.

“More water? What does one need to do to get a cup of wine instead? Water has never been my favorite drink.”

The womanly voice came from the left of him.

Appearance wise she looked like Angelia. Could even be considered her twin if not for the small amount of wrinkles on her face.

“It’s good for you.”

Jacob said while pulling out the wooden chair so he could sit down.

The woman who looked like an older version of Angelia reached out her hand as she grabbed a fork from the plate.

“Wine is good for you. It’s what helps keep my youthful appearance up.”

She said to Jacob.

“That’s debatable. And I’m not here to make small talk with you.”

The woman looked a bit disappointed in his response as her lips curled down.

“Sad to say. And here I was thinking you wanted to get to know your mother-in-law better. If not, then what are you here for?”

“Information.”

“Child, I’m not the one to give you that nor do I know much. I’m just a simple housewife.”

Reaching into his inner pocket, Jacob retrieved a scroll.

“I think not. A simple housewife would not carry a letter from Duke Birmingham.”

Seeing the letters seal was broken Angelia’s mother mood changed.

“If you’ve seen the contents then you know what is going on. So tell me, what more do you want to know?”

“There’s a few things in mind. Let’s start with the simple one, why were you without guards? A noble like yourself would never leave the city without an armed escort.”

“That would be the case if… There’s no need for me to tell you that.”

Angelia’s mother was close to telling him why,, but suddenly switched it up mid sentence. There was no real need for him to know that or anything else for that matter..

Jacob would not harm her, he was not that stupid. From what she has managed to scrape together so far she could tell that he was not working alone.

The amount of people who knew she left the city could be counted on one hand, meaning he only knew she was gone because they told him. Why? She was still trying to put that piece together. However, she had a prime suspect in mind.

“Then tell me this, why is your husband working with the rebels? What does he have to gain from them?”

Jacob said as he tossed the letter to Angelia’s mother.

“You should not speak ill of my husband that way. He has no dealings with any sort of rebels, nor has he ever have.”

For the first time since she’s been here locked up did she speak to Jacob with a hint of malice contained within her voice.

“My sources tell me otherwise.”

“And who told you that? Angelia?”

Jacob had no reason to hide anything from her. She was locked up and powerless. Even if he informed her of what he was told he highly doubted she’d be able to do anything about it.

Besides, he himself was still trying to figure out the game Angelia was playing. Dropping her name here might net him a few things.

He simply nodded his head.

“When did the two of you get so close? It seemed more as if you both were drifting apart after all that time.”

He said nothing.

“I should have known something was afloat when she started to show more interest in her fathers work. At first I assumed she fancied one of his associates sons, which is why I let her do her own thing. Now I can see it was just me misinterpreting.”

Her blue eyes looked at Jacob before she crossed her legs.

“Even if I tell you, you wouldn’t be able to do anything. Everything has already been set into motion, I’m afraid there is no stopping it now.”

Jacob leaned forward as he interlocked his fingers together.

“There might not be, but at least I can decide for myself what I want to do. Should I stay, or should I go?”

Angelia’s mother laughed.

“Stay or go, the change is inevitable. Just look around you, around this city. What do you see?”

“Corruption due to power, slaves to our own ambition, and more.”

Jacob replied.

“You can look at it that way, but if you try to change it nothing would come from it. The our leader is nothing but a child who listens to those around him instead of making his own choices. The regent that was in charge of his education was killed. If this continues on, what do you belive will happen?”

“A civil war.”

“Exactly. My husband merely wishes to stop that from occurring. He…”

“Wishes to become king himself.”

Jacob cut her off as he gained an idea of what was going on behind the scenes.

Angelia’s mother couldn’t help but me amused by Jacob. He was rather smart, seeing through her husband’s plans..

“And do you think that is possible? For him to usurp the throne?”

She nodded her head.

“It can be done. As long as you let me out of here and go back home to give him this letter.”

From what Jacob read of the letter it did not seem to be important. Mostly stating that the Duke would take a neutral stance, thus he declined the alliance.

Even if he agreed Jacob did not see how it would matter. The Duke and his forces were hundreds of miles away, it would take days before they could make it here.

So why did Lord Frost contact him anyways?

Jacob thought back on it.

It all came back down to the party that he held. Introducing Jacob to those men, they all held some pull in the government.

Then the Baron’s death that both Sterling wanted and someone else. From what Sterling said the Baron’s sons both wanted to inhert their father’s title. Yet he had not named an heir yet.

Jacob’s mind started thinking until his eyes focused on the letter sitting on Angelia’s mothers lap.

A light bulb seemed to shine brightly in his head as his mouth dropped.

“I can see why he has taken a liking to you.”

Jacob sprung up from his seat.

“He has grand ambitions but has he ever taken into account what if something went wrong?”

“Its been planned out thoroughly, what could possibly go wrong?”

Jacob left the room in a hurry. He didn’t even look back at Amber, instead he rushed upstairs to the study.

If he was right, then he needed to hurry.

The maids, Matthew and even Jack had something to tell him, but Jacob was focused on one thing.

in the study he looked at the map. With a marker in hand he starting circling key points.

Jacob already knew the headquarters of the rebel army,, but now he had marked down where the Duke was situated along with the Baron’s territory.

All he could do was stare down at the map.

If things played out exactly as he thought they would, then Lord Frost could overthrow the current emperor.

Yet, Jacob knew for a fact that Lord Frost never took the throne. Instead, him and his family never existed when the rebellion was over.

So, that left him with a question. What the hell happened to them?

—————

Lord Frost sat in his study room late at night questioning where his wife went. By his calculations she should have returned home by now.

Instead he had to send a search party out for her. Discreetly of course. If not and people found out he ‘lost his wife then he would be humiliated beyond belief.

A gentle breeze swept past his face as one of the lights flickered.

His hands stopped moving as he looked up from his letter and stared at nothing. No one was there, but it felt odd to him.

That’s when he felt another gentle breeze go across his face.

Squinting his eyes, he looked left then right. The pen in his hand dropped.

Slowly he stood up.

He was a mage, anyone would be a fool if they tried to attack him head on.

No… how did they even manage to enter his mansion? The people he sent to search for his wife was only a small fragment of his guards.

There were still plenty of guards left out there.

Feeling a tingling sensation down the back his his neck, Lord Frost swiftly concentrated on his magic barrier.

A metallic ding rang out, but not before he felt his magic barrier crack.

‘Who?’

Turning around he cast a large fireball.

His casting time was fast, but his attack hit nothing but the wall causing it to blacken.

Seeing his counterattack failed, Lord Frost changed it up. Fire erupted from all around him causing his entire study to burn.

If he could not kill his assailant with a single target spell, then he’d burn this entire room.

As the fire spread the lighting in the room became brighter. That’s when Lord Frost noticed who was attacking him.

He felt his heart drop.

“You… you’re supposed to be dead!”

Instead of a reply, the figure seemed to vanish. But Lord Frost knew that wasn’t the case as he felt that gentle breeze of wind brush past his cheek.

‘Why are you not dead? I killed you! I made sure of it!’

He was confused but more so enraged.

That’s when it happened. His magic barrier was shattered, leaving him vulnerable to attacks.

An instance later, Lord Frost body dropped to the ground while he head landed on the burning desk.

Aneglia not the first to notice the commotion but she was the first to arrive on scene. That’s when she saw her father’s corpse starting to burn and something beyond her imagination.

She was not sure what to make of it. It wasn’t human but it also was not a beast she’s ever seen before.