The Bell Tolls for Me

Felix sighed. "It was incredibly difficult to find a coherent history of things. From all that I can tell, Bernadetta has been maintaining a network of patrons, each of whom value her for a particular indispensable service, since her arrival. She entered the city with the guarantee of Count Faust."

"Truly?" she asked in disbelief. "The same diplomat that Edgar II executed?"

"Yes. It's unclear precisely what she did for him, but her admission into the city was granted by written guarantee of Count Faust." Felix handed over an official looking document bearing the count's signature. "With such a well-connected man as her guarantor, I imagine it was trivial to branch to other nobility within the capital. Mentions of her are erratic and likely deliberately suppressed, yet nevertheless very significant. Dukes and counts number frequently among her associates."

Felix produced property records, splaying them across the table. "She began to purchase various properties around the city. The majority of them, she's listed as a secondary owner with just under 50% equity. I suspect that she did this so that her name appeared on no official documents besides these. Her wealth nevertheless grew steadily."

Isabella looked at various papers. She noticed several successful businesses listed among them that Isabella herself had either passed by or visited personally. The tailor that Valerio had paid to commission matching outfits for them long ago was among those businesses owned by Bernadetta.

"What's more difficult to map out is her ties to illicit businesses." Felix crossed his arms, staring down at all the evidence he'd produced. "I suspect she has major ties to organized crime."

"She knew immediately when Valerio had reached out to assassins," Isabella contributed.

"As she would," Felix nodded. "Her agents are among those that killed Edgar II."

Isabella was beyond surprised to hear that. "How do you know that?"

"By word alone. In the underworld, proof is virtually an impossibility. Skipping over the fact that the majority of participants are illiterate, it simply wouldn't do to leave a written record of crimes." Felix leaned over the table. "All I have is the word of my men, whose testimonies suggests the most concerning news of all."

"From my understanding, this city isn't particularly crime ridden," Isabella said, wondering if she was merely naïve for thinking so.

"In the capital, that's true. There's little criminal presence. Edgar I ran a personal campaign, wherein he butchered all gangs in the city." Felix gestured toward the door. "Beyond this place, however, it has its place. Smuggling. Banditry. But every plot in the royal court has need of agents… and I believe Bernadetta has ties to a very foul spellcaster's syndicate known as Eagaliteh. They're quite old, and quite enduring."

Isabella listened closely. "Is Bernadetta… a spellcaster? I've noticed no mana lock on her."

"No. I suspect she's principally engaged in funding their operations," Felix said. "But that alone would lend her tremendous influence over their actions. Resources are the cornerstone of a spellcaster's potency."

Isabella connected potentially unrelated dots. "Do you know if the Archwizard has any connections to Eagaliteh? Edgar I, even?"

"That's simply beyond my capability to know. The north isn't known for a particularly robust network of spellcasters. Dovhain and Ambrose are the two centers of magic research in the known world." Felix sighed. "But it would align very well with their history. Their services were often sought by monarchs seeking to achieve unusual ends. As a matter of fact, it's where the Archwizard in the kingdom's employ today came from. And that's the tie."

This was all word and speculation alone. Isabella had been hoping to see the essence of the fire Bernadetta had caused, but instead she saw only the smoke.

"What's your personal assessment?" Isabella asked.

Felix crossed his arms and paced around the room. "The entire time that I've been carrying out this operation, I've had the distinct feeling that I was the one being observed as much as I was learning. Instinct screams at me that I'm being watched. And… I've heard the disgusting rumors being spread about you already. Doubtless you can presume their source."

Isabella took a deep breath and leaned up against the table, thinking as she ready various documents. "I've had people watching her for some time. What do you think would happen… if I ordered her arrest?"

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"I'm uncertain," the archduke admitted easily. "It's difficult to know how deeply her roots penetrate."

Isabella looked to him. "Yet… is that not precisely the way they're exposed?"

***

Gaspar banged on a stately door. A few moments later, it was opened by a servant of the estate.

The knight-commander held up a writ. "By order of the Princess Regent, you're to surrender Lady Bernadetta for questioning regarding her involvement in the activities of the recently-revealed treachery of Duke Albert."

The paladins entered the estate, fanning out immediately. Before long, Prince Anselm had been brought down to the main hall.

"What's the meaning of this?" the prince asked, though not with great offense.

Gaspar held out the writ. "A royal decree demanding the arrest of Lady Bernadetta of Caldwell, last known to reside in your estate."

Anselm took the writ, reading it solemnly. "I'll… cooperate," he said quietly.

***

Isabella sat with Valerio, leaning up against him on the edge of the bed. They had been talking a long while already. In stark contrast to her preferred method of ruling, she had ordered the arrest of her cousin to see what would be stirred up by doing so. The reaction was far beyond what she expected.

Complete silence.

Perhaps the silence came in part because Bernadetta was unable to be found, but it seemed that none within the royal court actually knew her name, or valued it enough to protest. The greater uproar came from the fact that she had ordered the holy paladins to search the prince's estate. That overreach had slightly damaged her reputation in the eyes of the court, though the paladins had comported themselves with dignity enough it wasn't a dramatic problem.

"I was too late," she said to Valerio. "She probably left the city the moment that I went inside Duke Albert's estate. I should have been more aggressive. I assumed… I don't know. Perhaps I didn't assume, and that was my issue."

"The blame's mine. My men were supposed to be watching her," Valerio said darkly.

"No. Anselm helped her escape," Isabella said. "Your men can't exactly infiltrate the estate of a prince. I should have ordered her arrested the moment we left Anselm's estate, armed with that new information."

"There's no guarantee you would have even caught her," Valerio said, flexing his hand as he stared at the spot Arthur had drawn blood. "If Felix missed her flight and none of my men registered her departure, it might've been a hopeless endeavor from the beginning."

"You're probably right. It just feels as though I've missed my opportunity to kill the poisonous spider, and now I must go to sleep knowing it has free rein over my room," she said.

"I'll ask Sosen of this Eagaliteh," Valerio told her. "It may amount to nothing, but he knows things."

Isabella rose to her feet. "Thank you. And… with Arthur. It went well?"

"…of course," Valerio said shiftily.

Isabella decided not to press the issue, knowing he was doing his best. "If I cannot kill the spider… rather than overturn my furniture or burn my room, why not simply sleep elsewhere?"

The both of them smiled, sharing a secret joke.

***

"I have come to a decision," Isabella said, sitting at the head of her regency council. "There is no tradition that dictates the interregnum must be held within the Royal Palace. Such instances of its occurrence in the past have never once before been held in the palace itself."

The council was startled at that declaration, but several opportunists tripped over themselves speaking.

"Your Highness, I would be delighted to host you at—"

"My estate in the valley is a perfectly reasonable—"

Isabella gave a signal, and Gaspar and his holy paladins quieted the chamber.

"I have already determined a preset course that I wish to follow." She looked between the council, each of whom hung on her words. "This court shall conduct a tour of the entirety of the kingdom," Isabella declared.

The council chamber fell into immediate chaos following that declaration. They spoke of safety reasons, of ceremonial grandeur, of political necessity, and countless other problems. To Isabella, that was indicative that the choice that she was making was entirely the right one. The nobles wanted her to stay here, trapped in the palace, utterly unable to exert influence beyond the confines of this city. But a kingdom was not its capital, nor the palace that presided over it.

The kingdom was the land and the people that lived on it.

Isabella didn't care to appeal to those before her. Instead, she would tour the countryside, spreading her name and her charity across the whole of Dovhain. She would reassert authority, personally inspecting the disparate territories of Dovhain. And if Edgar I ever returned… her name would linger as much in the minds of the people as his.

There was no denying that it was a bold gamble. But Isabella was done being the caged bird. It was time to leave this city for the first time in her life—and in so doing, lay the groundwork to save herself and the kingdom from her father. She would draw the spider out of hiding—Bernadetta and Edgar the Great both. Only then would she kill them.