Re: Butterfly (Reincarnated as a Butterfly)

We're not alone.

Adon's telepathic voice cut through the darkness and reached all those around him, not just Rosslyn, the spiders, and the young lords.

"What do you mean?" asked a Dessian knight in a tone of alarm. He turned to the young lords. "What does the butterfly mean?"

"Adon?" Frederick asked, raising an eyebrow.

In the darkness, there are other creatures lurking, Adon replied, loud enough so that the whole group could hear him. We should not go further in. Not unless we're looking for another fight.

"More ants?" William said.

No, it's something else, Adon sent. Something with a more complex mind.

"Maybe you can communicate with it," Rosslyn suggested.

The same way you did with the griffins? she added hopefully in her mind.

I could definitely go further into the cave and explore, Adon offered. See if there is some contact to be made. The ants' minds were sort of blocked from me, but I don't think I sense a similar problem with these creatures.

"I did not mean that you should go alone," Rosslyn quickly cut in. "I think I should go with you."

"I object to this idea," William said slowly. "The entire purpose of this expedition is to safeguard your Kingdom, Princess. It would lose its direction and purpose if something were to happen to you—tragically all too possible in this dark tunnel, even with Adon's protection."

"What do you propose?" Rosslyn asked. "That we all go?"

That might work, Adon agreed.

"Too noisy, too many people at risk if the creatures are hostile, without being enough that we could defend ourselves effectively," William said.

"I could—" Frederick began.

"I will go with you," William interrupted, looking past the others, directly at Adon. "If you will have me."

"What?!" Frederick exclaimed. "You cannot go! You are the only one who cannot go. Or, at least, if it is too risky for Rosslyn, it is too risky for you. You are the heir, brother. Did you forget?"

"We have a spare," William replied, giving his brother a crooked grin. "Or did you forget?"

"I am not father's preferred option," Frederick replied darkly, looking at the ground as he spoke. "And you know it."

"Then we are in luck," William said. "I do not see him here. I doubt he will disinherit his only son if you return to Dessia alone."

I will not pretend I had never thought of it, Adon heard Frederick think. There were overtones of mingled sadness, guilt, and anger.

You're acceptable to me, Lord William, Adon transmitted, trying to head off further arguments. The trio of humans was already making plenty of noise in the confined, echo-prone cave, and Adon really did not like the idea of attracting whatever monsters dwelled deeper in the tunnel. He was much less worried about William than about the creatures that lived on this level.

And the young lord might genuinely keep Adon safer.

Although William had essentially rooted for Adon to fail and die in his scouting mission on the previous level, that was just a passing thought. William had yet to actually do anything even mildly hostile. He probably never would. That would wreck his reputation in Claustria if any whiff of it ever got out.

Adon, I hope that you and William can get along, Rosslyn thought in a slightly strained tone. Apparently she was worried about it too.

I think it will be fine, Adon sent to her only.

This may be your opportunity to win each other's respect and develop a bond of sorts, Rosslyn thought with what sounded like genuine optimism. Situations like these are rare. When important individuals such as yourselves, from different countries, are isolated together without bodyguards or others who might interfere.

You're talking me out of it, Adon joked. Seriously, though, maybe you should be, um, telling William that you hope he gets along with me? I don't think he cares much for me. I haven't told you in explicit detail or anything. I don't really like to violate privacy. And he has his reasons for feeling the way he does.

You are right that I need to tell him the same thing, Rosslyn thought.

"I hope that you and our country's mystic beast can get along famously and develop your productive relationship on a firmer foundation," she said aloud in a delicate tone, making careful eye contact with William and smiling gently as she did so.

Wow, Adon thought. That's just… That's impressive. She didn't hesitate or take time to think or compose herself at all. It was completely natural, off the cuff. How?

William bowed his head slightly and agreed with what Rosslyn said, speaking in the same soft, diplomatic tones and vocabulary, though to Adon's mind not quite as well as Rosslyn.

Now it is up to you, Rosslyn thought. Good luck in arriving at a mutually respectful relationship.

Thank you for the thoughtful words, Adon sent, but you know, I think trying to win his respect will be useless. Can I just be direct? I don't know how to be as artful with words as you.

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I would never ask you to lie to me, Adon, Rosslyn thought. And I think you know that you and I are rather close. You can be as direct as you feel is necessary to tell the truth.

William wants you, Adon replied instantly. I'm just an obstacle to that, from his perspective. At best, I'm a distraction. Why would I even have a chance of winning any regard from him at all?

He wants what I represent, Rosslyn thought in response. The following words came slowly, almost begrudgingly. I think… I think he would be almost equally happy, and perhaps more so, with any other princess. Assuming that she was a Crown Princess.

Adon was dumbstruck for several seconds. A part of him was amazed that what he had only recognized through Telepathy, Rosslyn had apparently figured out on her own. Another part of him simply couldn't understand how she had realized that and not undergone some drastic shift in behavior, never grown particularly cold to William, never even bothered to complain about it.

Maybe she was hoping to win him over anyway, he thought. A person can fall in love after getting married. Maybe she was into William and wanted to get him to fall in love with her?

He didn't think that was still the case, if it had been. The Princess had been giving Adon some fairly clear signals since they left Wayn, and even if he was fairly socially maladroit, Adon was not so clumsy that he completely missed the signs of interest—signs that she had not shown nearly as much when she was more obviously entertaining the young lord's suit.

I know what you must be thinking, Rosslyn thought. You are probably wondering how I know this.

Yes, I was, Adon agreed.

It was always a possibility I was aware of, she thought. A likelihood, even. I am not a little girl. And there were signs. He came on too strongly, when I had not shown appropriate levels of interest. Despite those interactions, he did not seem to become discouraged at all. That was the big clue that he was less interested in me as a person, and my reactions as a human, than in me as an idea—and as a bundle of legal claims and rights.

So, if he was as insecure as me, he would have done better, Adon thought very quietly, making sure not to transmit that thought.

How are you going to deal with that? Adon finally sent. How does it change things?

Honestly, it makes very little difference, Rosslyn thought. I must marry for the good of my people in any case, not necessarily for love. If I were to end up marrying William, at least neither of us is lying to the other.

I thought—maybe I misunderstood, but I thought your motivations and planning were a bit different, Adon transmitted. If you just wanted an appropriate match…

I did want something different, Rosslyn thought. There was a hint of bitterness in her inner voice. The longer we remain here, though, the more I think about it. The more I recognize that the motivations of any prospective husband are of secondary importance. What matters is whether they will help me preserve my country and my people. I want and have wanted many things. My father wants me to have the opportunity to marry for love, and I have wanted that too. But my father also wished to hand me a secure, intact, peaceful kingdom. Instead, we are in the midst of probably the greatest threat to our security in a millennium. The knights of the South are starving and bleeding and dying for me, and I have seen men die in this dungeon, over and over, for me and the Dessians. Just now, we were in a situation that could theoretically have ended with all of our deaths. If we survive and get out, I will see more men die for me. For my family. For our country and its freedoms. If they are willing to die for this, what should I not be willing to sacrifice? That is not to say that I have suddenly decided to marry William. Just that I realized I have to be more realistic in making my decisions. I have been selfish.

Now that she says all that, it makes me feel I've been incredibly selfish, too, Adon thought. The ideas seeping into his mind were painful, but he tried to confront them as directly as possible, without obfuscation. Trying to undermine the relationship that should have been developing between William and Rosslyn—trying to press myself into that gap, as if I could offer anything like what he and his country could—that was a mistake, wasn't it? Even if it turns out that Rosslyn and I maybe do actually kind of like each other, which I think she basically said earlier… is that even a set of feelings that we can responsibly entertain?

I think I understand, he sent finally.

You do? Rosslyn thought. I still do not feel I understand my situation properly. Part of it is this place. Everything in this dungeon feels as if it has turned the world on its head. Part of it is the situation outside. The Demon Army on its way. My father in very poor condition. The country unprepared to fight, without many allies we can count on. There is an immense pressure. I am having a hard time just pretending that the world is normal—that everything is not falling apart around me.

You always give the impression that you have a master plan, and everything is under control, Adon replied.

Rosslyn tried not to show it on her face, but she had to turn away from the group for a moment as she smiled slightly and snorted as she tried to contain a chuckle. Then she turned back and faked a cough.

"Stale cave air," she said. "Probably bad for the sinuses."

Even as she spoke, the corner of her lip quivered slightly with the smile she was suppressing, but fortunately, the spiders spoke up then and pulled all attention to themselves.

Samson and I have been discussing this amongst ourselves, and we would like to join the expedition further into the cave, Goldie transmitted to the group. More Telepathy users can only be beneficial.

Assuming you don't mind having us, Lord William, Samson added deferentially.

"Not at all," William replied. He sounded almost relieved. "Although I will, of course, miss the opportunity to have solo interactions with Adon."

Rosslyn looked over at Adon.

Never mind half of what I said, I guess, she thought, shrugging.

That was not the part of what you said I was going to spend most of the next hour or two thinking about anyway, Adon thought but did not transmit.

I'm sure William and I will get plenty of quality time in the dungeon regardless, he replied instead.

"The rest of us will make camp here while the four of you explore further into the tunnel, then," Rosslyn said.

William simply nodded.

"I will follow your lead, then, Your Highness," Frederick said.

The arthropods all loaded onto William's shoulders, Adon on the left while the spiders stood on the right.

William stood up straight, stiffening his spine, and Adon sensed the tiniest amount of fear as they faced the absolute, impenetrably black space ahead of them. It was almost enough to infect the butterfly himself. Even this brave young lord, who could shoot lightning from his fingertips and probably cleave solid rock in two with a swing of his sword, was nervous at entering the unknown.

It would have been enough to affect Adon, too, if he did not already know more than William about what was going on in the darkness.

Adon could sense the monsters in the distance. With Telepathy, he knew generally how many there were and how far away. From the size of the tunnels, he thought he had an idea of how large these creatures must be.

Despite all of that, he was not afraid. The group would eventually have to choose between exploring deeper into these tunnels or trying their luck out in the open again, with some of their number still lightly sprayed in formic acid and the smell of dead ants heavy in the air generally. He suspected the ants would be extremely active over the next few days, until that smell faded. And they did not have any days to spare, waiting around for those problems to go away on their own.

It was wonderfully clarifying, knowing that you had only bad options.

The four pressed forward into the darkness.