Chapter Two: The Game is Afoot

"Ted, if you're not going to help, could you at least get out of the way?" Yuri straightened up and wiped sweat from his brow. Installing a water pump turned out to be hard work. Ripping out the old fountain alone had taken weeks.

"I tried to help," Ted said, sitting on the partly complete stone wall of the new fountain. "But I couldn't lift any of the blocks."

"Yeah, because you're a little pipsqueak," Yuri said. He put a lot of effort into hiding how difficult the labour was for himself, too. After wearing a bodhi blastia for a few years, it was taking him awhile to adjust to the sudden lack of power.

Repede barked, and Yuri reached over to scratch between his ears. "I know, Repede. You'd help, too, if you had opposable thumbs." He planted a hand on his back and leaned backward until his spine popped. With a sigh, he sat down on the low stone wall, taking a much-deserved break. "Man, if I knew how much trouble replacing the fountain was going to be, I never would have gotten rid of the blastia." It was kind of ironic, actually. He'd set out on a quest to bring back the lower quarter's aque blastia, but that quest had ultimately ended in getting rid of that very same blastia. It was frustrating to think that after all the effort he'd gone through to get that blastia back, he was stuck replacing the fountain anyway.

"Hey, Yuri," Ted said, looking down at his book, "did you know that a butterfly tastes with its feet?"

Yuri looked over in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"It says so right here," Ted said, turning the book around and pointing out the paragraph. Yuri didn't bother reading it himself. "See, it says that a butterflies taste-sensors are on their feet! That's crazy."

Yuri had a brief mental image of having tongues sticking out of the soles of his feet, and quickly brushed that aside. "That's great, Ted."

"And did you know that a cow has four stomachs?"

"That's fascinating," Yuri said, "but when it comes to cows and stomachs, the only thing I care about is whether that cow is going to end up in mine. Where did you get that book, anyway?"

"Lady Estellise gave it to me!" Ted said, looking up proudly. "When she came to visit you last week she said she thought I'd enjoy it."

"Oh, good," Yuri said. "Now I have someone to blame."

"The princess is really nice," Ted said, absently flipping through the pages. "She's really pretty, too. I think she should be the empress instead of Ioder."

"What's wrong with Ioder?"

Ted shrugged. "I don't know. He's fine. I just like Estellise better."

Yuri shook his head slowly. "Trust me, Ioder is a better man for the job. For one, he actually wants it." Yuri was no expert on politics, but it would probably be best if the empire didn't choose their monarch based on the recommendations of a twelve-year-old boy. Until he'd met Estelle, Ted had been pretty sure that Yuri should be the emperor, because he 'saved the the world a lot and stuff.'

"Wow!" Ted said, staring at his book, all thoughts of royal succession forgotten. "Yuri, did you know that sometimes rats get their ties all stuck together and then they turn into a big mass of rats!"

"Oh, please," Yuri said. "That's a load of…" he had a quick mental image of Estelle's disapproving face if she found out he'd said 'bullshit' in front of a kid. "Malarkey."

"No, look, there are pictures!" Ted turned the book around again and pointed at a picture. Yuri wasn't too fond of rats and had no interest in leaning in to get a closer look. "Ted, that's an illustration. I could draw a giant flying squid but that doesn't mean they really exist."

"What about the Adephagos?"

Yuri frowned. "That wasn't a squid. Well… not exactly. More of an octopus, really."

Repede barked and stood up. Yuri looked down at him. "What's up, Repede?"

Repede sniffed the air and then looked toward the stairs that led up to the public quarter. Yuri shifted around just in time to see a flash of pink sprinting toward them.

"Look, look!" Ted said, jumping up and putting his book away. "It's Princess Estellise!"

"Oh, great," Yuri said. "I hope she hasn't brought a new book for you."

A minute later, Estelle reached the fountain. Throughout the square, all eyes were on her, as they always were when the princess deigned to visit the lower quarter. Estelle always seemed happily oblivious to how much commotion her visits brought. From her point of view, she was just stopping by to visit her best friend, not breaking social barriers and making a political statement of solidarity with the lower classes.

"Yuri!" she said as soon as she was close enough to be heard.

Ted jump down from the fountain before Yuri could talk. "Hello, Princess Estellise!"

Estelle paused to look down at him with a smile. "Oh, hello, Ted! How are you enjoying that book I gave you?"

"It's really great!" Ted said.

Yuri snorted. "He's enjoying it a little too much, if you ask me."

Estelle gave Yuri a warning look, and then turned back to Ted. "I'm glad you like it. I used to love that book when I was your age. Ted, would you mind running home for a little bit? I need to talk to Yuri about something."

Ted bobbed his head. "Whatever you say, your highness! Bye, Yuri." He waved quickly, snatched his book off the ground, and then ran off.

"What's this about?" Yuri asked, looking up at Estelle.

Estelle frowned tightly and then slumped down next to Yuri. "Oh, Yuri, something terrible has happened. Count Borden was murdered."

Yuri thought about this for a few seconds, running through everything Flynn had ever told him about Borden. "Ok… I'm not seeing the terrible part yet."

"They've arrested Flynn as the culprit!"

Yuri laughed out loud at this. The very idea of Flynn murdering someone was so absurd it was hilarious.

"Yuri! Stop laughing, this is serious."

He saw the concern on Estelle's face, and quieted down. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yes! They arrested him this morning. I just came from his interrogation, and Yuri, they have a lot of evidence."

"But… he's Flynn. I stole silverware from a restaurant once and slipped it in his bag, and then he was up all night pacing around the room, wracked with guilt. They seriously think he could have murdered someone?"

"I know, it's so ridiculous," Estelle said. "But they have a lot of evidence against him and it doesn't look good. What should we do?"

"Let's start by talking to him," Yuri said. "This is probably some giant misunderstanding or something." He stood up, and offered Estelle his hand to help her up as well. "Hey, Repede, go back home for now. I need to check something out at the castle."

Repede barked, and then trotted off to Yuri's room. Yuri and Estelle took off in the other direction, heading toward the castle.

As they walked, Yuri asked, "How could Flynn even get arrested? He's the commandant. Can't he just order the knights to let him go?"

"No," Estelle said, shaking her head. "The commandant is not above the law. Actually, one of the first things Flynn did when he took office was to clarify the rules about how the commandant could be questioned and arrested just like any other citizen. After Alexei, he didn't want any commandant in the future to think they were above the law."

"I suppose that makes sense. Still, it's pretty weird that he got arrested by his own subordinates."

They walked right past the guards when they reached the castle, which was a benefit of travelling with the princess. Estelle led the way toward the dungeons, although Yuri knew the route quite well. He'd probably spent more time down there than Estelle had, after all. They were once again waved past the guards and then walked down the steps to the cells. It was kind of nice, and unfamiliar to Yuri, to be coming down here as a visitor and not a convict.

Flynn sat on the bed in the first cell on the left. He raised his head when he heard them approach, but he didn't smile the way he usually did when he saw them.

"Oh, Flynn, this is terrible," Estelle said, stopping in front of the bars. "Are they treating you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Flynn said, getting up and walking to the bars. "I'm certain I'm the best taken care of prisoner in the capital."

"I bet it helps that all your guards work for you," Yuri said.

"Yeah, that probably contributes," Flynn said.

"How do you feel?" Estelle asked.

"Honestly, I'm still in shock," Flynn said. "This whole situation feels unreal."

"Tell me about it," Yuri said. "Never thought I'd see you behind bars again." Yuri laughed a bit and added, "Maybe after a couple of days of jail food you'll stop giving me a hard time about complaining about it. I swear, they must have taken lessons from you."

Neither Estelle nor Flynn found this funny. Yuri dropped his grin and looked between them. "What's with the sour looks?"

"This isn't a joke, Yuri," Estelle said. "Flynn is really in trouble."

"Well… yeah," Yuri said, "but it's going to blow over pretty easily. I mean, he's Flynn. You'd have to be insane to honestly think he could be involved in this." Estelle and Flynn both seemed pretty worried, but they were the sort to worry over everything. As far as Yuri was concerned, Flynn's arrest was at worst a mild inconvenience and at best something Yuri would be able to tease him about for years. Surely no one actually thought Flynn could be the culprit.

"Yuri…" Estelle said, "Flynn is on trial for murder. If he's found guilty, then - then he'll…"

"Be executed," Flynn finished grimly.

Yuri looked between their two dark expressions, his mood quickly dropping. "Wait… you guys are serious about this? But, come on, there's no way they'll find him guilty."

Flynn sighed. "It doesn't look good. There's a lot of evidence against me, and I have nothing in my defence."

"This 'evidence' has got to be planted, right?" Yuri said. It was the only explanation that made sense.

"Probably," Flynn said.

There was something about the way he said it that bothered Yuri, like Flynn wasn't entirely convinced that the evidence was planted. Yuri didn't know how that could even be a question. He didn't know what Flynn was thinking, but Yuri could guess that he was being an idiot again somehow.

"If it is," Flynn continued, "I have no way of proving that. If I can't prove who actually murdered Borden, I don't see any way I won't be found guilty."

"But you're innocent," Yuri said.

"Right," Flynn said. There was that hint of doubt again. "But we have no proof of that. There is, however, 'proof' that I'm guilty."

"This is bullshit!" Suddenly, Flynn getting arrested didn't seem so funny. It was just… this whole thing was ridiculous. Flynn would never murder someone; anyone who had ever met him should know that. He was so obviously being framed that this shouldn't even be an issue.

"Alright," Estelle said. "Your trial is in a month. That means we have a month to catch the real killer. Once we do that, you'll be exonerated and everything will be fine."

"What's the likelihood of the knights catching the real culprit?" Yuri asked Flynn.

Flynn frowned. "Considering they already have their chief suspect, I doubt very many resources will be expended to find someone else."

"But you're the commandant," Yuri said. "Can't you order them to investigate more closely?"

"Flynn doesn't have any power at the moment," Estelle explained. Speaking as if reciting a text book verbatim, she said "If the commandant is implicated in a crime, he's stripped of his authority for the duration of the case and to be treated like any other suspect. While the commandant is a suspect, the Knights come under the direct authority of the Council. If he's found innocent, he'll be re-instated and provided financial compensation for his lost time. If he's found guilty, a new commandant will be chosen and the former commandant will be subject to the punishment decided by a judge."

"That is correct," Flynn said. "And unfortunately for me, the majority of the Council is not overly concerned with my well-being, so I doubt they'll be ordering the Knights to do a thorough investigation. I dare say many of them are enjoying this."

"So… what?" Yuri said. "You're going to sit in jail for month and wait for a trial to inevitably find you guilty?"

"I can't do anything else, Yuri," Flynn said. "You heard Estellise - I've been stripped of all power and authority. I can't very well order a murder investigation from a cell."

"Damn," Yuri said. "Fine. You stay here. I'll take care of this."

Flynn looked at him in confusion. "You'll take care of what?"

"The murder investigation. I'll track down the guy who really did it, and then drag his sorry ass back here to take your place on trial."

"Yuri," Flynn said, "you don't know the first thing about conducting an investigation."

"Hey, I tracked down the aque blastia, didn't I? How much more difficult can this be?"

"I'll help, too," Estelle said. "Don't you worry, Flynn. We'll find the real killer."

"Yeah," Yuri said. "After all the crap we went through last year, tracking down one single murderer should be easy. You'll be out of here in no time."

Flynn smiled, a spark of hope returning to his eyes. "Thanks, you two. I know you won't let me down."

"Right," Yuri said. "Come on, Estelle, we've got a murder to solve."


Yuri appreciated Estelle's willingness to help, but he thought they might be able to do it without the hat. They stood in front of Borden's mansion, and while waiting for someone to answer the door he asked, "So… what's with the hat?"

Estelle reached up and straightened it on her head. "It's a detective hat. I read about it in books."

"It looks like a deerstalker to me," Yuri said. "You know guys wear those while hunting, right?"

"Right, and I'm hunting for clues. I'm pretty sure that's the correlation."

Yuri sighed, but the door opened before he could respond. An elderly butler stood before them. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Yuri said. "We'd like to ask some questions about Count Borden."

"We've already spoken to the knights," the butler said. "If you're journalists, I'll have to ask you to leave."

"Please, wait," Estelle said, catching the door as he started to close it. "This is important."

The butler glared at her, but then his eyes went wide and he said, "Oh! Lady Estellise! Forgive me, I didn't recognize you. Please, come in."

"Thanks," Yuri said. "We'd like to see the crime scene."

The butler looked to Estelle for confirmation, and then led the way after she nodded. The house was so quiet it was deafening. Servants stared at them as they passed, before returning to talking with each other in hushed tones. The butler led them upstairs to Borden's bedroom, but stopped in front of the partially open door. "The knights removed the body this morning," he said. "But the carpet is still… unpleasant. Lady Estellise, perhaps you might not want to-"

"I'm going in," Estelle said.

The butler frowned, but said, "If you insist. Is there anything else you need?"

"Yeah," Yuri said, "could you ask the maid who's the witness to come talk to us?"

"Of course. Take your time." He bowed curtly, and then hurried away.

Yuri wasted no more time in pushing the door open and heading inside. The first thing he saw was a large dark stain on the cream-coloured carpet at the foot of the bed. The window was open, and the curtains flapped in the gentle breeze. Yuri looked around the room, although he wasn't sure what he hoped to find. Knights did police investigations as well as fight monsters, but Yuri's brigade had never done anything like that during his short time in the knights so he didn't actually have any idea how to conduct an investigation.

"Do you see anything… suspicious?" he asked Estelle.

"Um… I'm not really sure what we're looking for. But, I think we should look into the butler."

"The… butler?" Yuri asked, glancing at the door in case he had come back. "Why him?" Yuri hadn't noticed anything suspicious, but maybe Estelle was more observant?

"Well, it's just, in books, it's always the butler!" Estelle said. "The butler should always be a suspect."

"Uh… right," Yuri said. "I'll keep that in mind."

Yuri walked around the room, trying to figure out what the knights might have missed. However, there didn't seem to be anything else in the room related to the murder. But he knew Flynn wasn't the killer, so there had to be something else here. It had to be right under his nose; he just wasn't seeing it.

There was a knock at the door, and then a maid stepped in. "Um, excuse me, you wanted to see me?" She took great care to keep her eyes away from the blood on the floor.

"Yes," Estelle said. "Are you the maid who witnessed the killer escaping?"

She nodded, and then curtsied. "Yes, my lady. My name is Louise Shipton, and I was cleaning the floors outside Count Borden's bedroom when I heard a crash. There was a thud and a shout, and then I stepped inside and saw the killer escaping through the window."

"And did you get a good look at him?" Yuri asked.

Louise shook her head. "No. As I told the knights, it was dark and I couldn't see him clearly. From what I could see, though, he seemed to look an awful lot like the commandant. But, that's impossible."

Damn right it's impossible, Yuri thought.

"Um, Miss Shipton," Estelle said, "did Count Borden have any enemies that you know of?"

Louise stared at her, obviously wondering why she'd ask such an obvious question. "Of course. There were plenty of other nobles who didn't like him, and many commoners who resented things he'd done. The commandant was pretty angry with him yesterday, too, I'm told."

"Can you think of anyone specific?" Yuri asked, and then added, "anyone other than the commandant?"

Louise thought for a moment, and then shook her head. "No. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Estelle said. "Thank you very much for talking to us."

"Of course, my lady," Louise said. She curtsied again, and then hurried out of the room.

Yuri stared down at the bloodstain, deep in thought. There had to be a clue here, but he couldn't see it. Estelle came over and stood next to him. She reached out and lightly squeezed his hand. "We'll figure it out."

"Do you think the murderer's intention was primarily to kill Borden, or primarily to frame Flynn?" Yuri asked.

Estelle looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if they wanted to kill Borden, then we need to focus on looking for someone with a grudge against Borden who wanted him dead, and then framed Flynn to protect themselves. But if this is primarily about Flynn, we're looking for someone with a grudge against Flynn, who chose to kill Borden because everyone knows Flynn had a grudge against him. We need to figure out if we should focus our investigation on Borden's enemies or Flynn's."

"Oh, you're right…" Estelle frowned, thinking hard. "I'm not sure. At least, we know the murderer looks a bit like Flynn. So, we can narrow our suspects down to people have short, sort of spiky blond hair."

"That's pretty vague," Yuri said. "And hair is easy to dye."

"I suppose that's true. Hm… I don't know. In my books, the detectives always went to the crime scene and then walked away with lots of clues to analyze. But, all we have are the same planted clues that the knights have, and all of them point to Flynn."

"Yeah. I don't know what else we're supposed to do. Let's go back and talk to Flynn." Unlike him, Flynn had actually stuck around in the knights long enough to have training in this area.


Estelle had abandoned her hat before they went down to meet Flynn. When they walked in, they found Flynn sitting at a small table that had been set up in his cell, eating a piece of ham. Yuri sniffed the air as he approached the cell, and then said, "What the hell is that?"

Flynn put down his knife and fork and swallowed. "Lunch."

"That is what they're giving you for lunch? Man, why am I even surprised? A murderer gets better treatment in jail than someone in on petty theft, just because he's got a title."

Flynn frowned. "First of all, I'm not convicted of anything yet. Besides, it's not because I'm rich, it's because all of my jailers work for me," Flynn said. "This situation is quite confusing for everyone, but none of the knights are going to give their commandant the standard prison food."

"You lucky bastard," Yuri said.

Flynn stood up and walked to the bars. "Did you find anything?" he asked hopefully.

Seeing Flynn's expression made Yuri feel a bit bad about calling him a lucky bastard. He certainly wasn't the lucky one here if he was in jail. He hated having to crush Flynn's hopes when he shook his head. "I don't know. Nothing the knights didn't already see. We didn't really know what we were looking for."

"Hm…" Flynn rubbed his chin. "Describe the scene to me."

"The murder took place in Borden's bedroom," Estelle said. "His window was left open, and that's where the murderer escaped. There was a big bloodstain on the carpet at the foot of the bed. We spoke to a maid, she said she heard a crash and a shout and a thud, and then came in just in time to see the murderer slip out the window as Borden died of a knife wound to the throat."

Flynn nodded slowly. "I see… I don't suppose you could draw the bloodstain? No, there's no way you'd be able to do it accurately enough from memory…"

"Why do you want to know what the bloodstain looks like?" Yuri asked.

"It can sometimes help," Flynn said. "Based on the size and shape of the blood splatter, it can tell you the height of the attacker relative to the victim. For example, if the murderer appears to be shorter than me, it could work in my defence."

"You can do that?" Yuri asked.

"I can't myself," Flynn said. "But I know people who can. There's a lot of math involved. But, it's a fairly complicated and not entirely reliable method, so I doubt they'd call in the experts if they already have a suspect. What I'm more interested in is that the blood was at the foot of the bed."

"What do you mean?" Estelle asked. "That's where Borden died, so that's where the blood is."

"Right," Flynn said, "but the murderer snuck in through the window and slit his throat. You said the maid overheard sounds of a crash and shout? Well, it seems to me that if you were going to sneak into someone's room to murder them, you'd creep up to them and kill them in bed."

"Maybe he did," Yuri said, "but Borden wasn't killed instantly and went after him?"

"Could be," Flynn said, "but if he'd already been injured, there were be a trail of blood from the bed to the floor where he died, wouldn't there?"

"Oh, that makes sense," Estelle said.

"It looks to me like the killer didn't want to kill him silently in bed," Flynn said. "He gave Borden a chance to wake up and make a commotion before killing him, and then slipped out the window only after the maid poked her head in."

"So… he was an idiot, then?" Yuri said.

Flynn shook his head. "No, it tells me that he wanted to be seen. I don't think his physical resemblance to me is a coincidence. He wanted to make sure a witness would see him so that someone could place me at the crime scene. What this means is that this is most likely the work of a hired assassin. Someone went out of their way to find an assassin who could pass as me and hired him to carry out the murder."

"So you were the target all along," Yuri said. "This isn't about Borden, it's about you."

Flynn nodded. "At least, that's what it looks like to me."

A thought snuck into Yuri's head. Flynn probably wasn't going to like it, but if he ever let Flynn's disapproval keep him from doing stuff, he'd never do anything. "Flynn… this isn't working."

"What isn't working?" Flynn asked.

"This," Yuri said, gesturing at the bars between them. "Estelle and I don't know what we're doing. We don't know what we're looking for or what might be a clue or what questions to ask witnesses. But you know this stuff."

"We're doing our best, Yuri," Estelle said.

"But out best isn't good enough," Yuri said. "If our best isn't enough to get Flynn exonerated, then what good is it?"

Flynn frowned. "I know this isn't ideal, but what other choice do we have?"

"I need you, Flynn," Yuri said. "If anyone can solve this case, it's you. You're not doing yourself any favours by sitting here and hoping we bring you the right evidence."

Flynn could tell what Yuri was implying, and as Yuri suspected, he didn't like it. "Yuri, breaking out of prison won't help me look innocent."

"Sitting here and having no evidence to defend yourself with also won't make you look innocent." Yuri knew it was risky even as he suggested it, but he didn't see any other option. If Flynn stayed in jail patiently awaiting his trail, he would most likely be found guilty and then… Yuri didn't even want to think about that. If he broke out of prison with Yuri and helped him solve the case, the charges of murder would be dropped and all he'd be in trouble for was the jail break, which carried a significantly lower chance of execution.

"I don't know, Yuri…" Estelle bit her lip, looking nervously between the two of them. "That's awfully risky. If Flynn gets caught, he'll be in even more trouble than he was before."

"But if Flynn doesn't help us solve this case," Yuri said, "then it won't matter how well he behaved himself in prison because he'll be dead."

In the long silence, Yuri looked back and forth between them, daring them to contradict what he'd said. Finally, Flynn said, "Yuri is right. I don't want to sit here idly awaiting execution. All we have to do is catch the real killer before the trial and everything will be alright."

"Exactly!" Yuri said. He didn't mention it, but there was also the fact that if they didn't catch the killer, at least Flynn wouldn't be in the knights' custody anymore. They couldn't execute him if he was on the run. It might mean spending the rest of his life a fugitive hiding out with Flynn, but if it kept Flynn alive, he'd do it. "I'll come back tonight," Yuri said.

"Alright." Flynn nodded once. "But Yuri… we have to be back by the end of the month. We need to be back in time for my trial."

"So eager to sit and be judged, huh?"

"It's not that, Yuri," Estelle said nervously. "It's just, if Flynn misses his trial, well…"

"I'll be found guilty by default," Flynn said. "That's how it works. If we show up in Zaphias a day later with all the evidence in the world, it won't matter because I'll already have been declared guilty of murder."

"Oh, damn," Yuri said. That was a bit more pressure than he'd been expecting. "Alright, fine. We have an entire month. I'm sure we'll figure this out. I'll be back later tonight to get you out, ok?"

"Got it. See you later."

Damn. Damn it all to hell. It would probably be best that Flynn was with him, because when he found the bastard that planned this, Flynn was going to have to hold him back to keep him from murdering the asshole before he even had a chance to confess.


It was a lot easier to sneak into the castle when you had someone on the inside to help. Yuri crouched in the shadows by the main gate, waiting for his chance to sneak past the guards. It came right on cue, when the front doors opened and Estelle ran out with a shriek.

"Lady Estellise!" one guard yelled. "What's wrong!?"

"I need your help!" Estelle. "I was passing through the main entrance and I saw an intruder!"

"W-what?" the other knight said. "But, we didn't see anyone get in."

"Please, you must come quickly! I'm sure I saw someone. I won't be able to go to sleep tonight until you catch him!"

"Of course, right away, Lady Estellise," the first knight said. She ran back inside, followed by the knights, leaving the entrance open.

Yuri grinned. She'd learned a lot from their time moonlighting as actors in Nam Cobanda Isle. He waited long enough for Estelle to have moved the knights away from the main entrance ("Look, over there! I'm certain I just saw someone run down that hallway!") and then slipped through the front doors. He heard Estelle and the knights down the left corridor, so he made his way right and hurried in the direction of the jail. Thanks to all his time down there, he had no problems finding it.

There was no guard on duty at the front desk. Yuri attributed this to Estelle, as well. She'd probably come running down here and gotten him dragged into the quest for the mysterious intruder before running off to the front gate to let Yuri in. He'd have to remember to have a princess on the inside every time he wanted to break into somewhere. All he had to do was rifle around in the drawer for a few second to find the keys, and then he hurried down the hall to find Flynn.

Flynn jumped up from the bed when he saw him. "Well?"

"Let's get you out of here." He unlocked the door. "The guards are all distracted. Estelle's got them running around chasing no one, so we can slip out through the front door."

"Alright. Let's not waste any time."

They walked back down the hall, but Flynn paused at the entrance to head for the cupboards.

Yuri grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"

"Getting my things," Flynn said obviously.

"What, you're going to sneak around in your bright clanking armour?"

Flynn hesitated. "Well…"

"We're going to be undercover for a little while now. You can't walk around in your knight uniform and expect no one to recognize you."

Flynn sighed. "You're right. Ok, let's move on."

They strode quickly through the silent halls of the capital. Yuri was on edge, alert for any sign of guards coming. He wasn't usually so tense when sneaking around, but now he had Flynn to worry about. The prospect of Flynn getting caught, and his break-out used as a sign of guilt, worried him far more than his own wellbeing. Being on the lookout for any sign of guards turned out to be a blessing, because Flynn was about to round the corner into the main entrance hall when Yuri heard footsteps and yanked him back.

"As you can see, Lady Estellise," Captain Peel said, "it does not appear that there are any intruders in the castle."

"Oh, hm, but maybe you should keep looking?" Estelle said.

"I fear that would be a waste of resources, Your Highness. Are you certain you didn't wake up from a dream after reading an exciting book?"

"I suppose… maybe…" Estelle said.

The voices were getting closer. Shit, they were going to come around this corner any second now. Yuri risked sneaking a glance around the pillar set into the arched doorway. The knights had returned with Peel to take up their posts at the front door. Peel was looking at Estelle, but she was looking forward and met Yuri's eyes for a millisecond.

"Oh, Captain Peel!" Estelle suddenly said, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a halt. "You're right, I probably was just imaging it, but I still feel slightly on edge. If it isn't too much trouble, could you escort me back to my room? I would feel so much safer with a knight."

"Of course, Your Highness," Peel said.

"Thank you," Estelle said, pulling him away from the corridor Yuri and Flynn were hiding in. "I suppose I'm just on edge today after everything that happened with Count Borden and Flynn."

"Completely understandable," Peel said. "That our trusted commandant could do something like this… it hurts the heart. It really makes one wonder who we can trust if even the great Flynn Scifo could stoop so low. After this and what happened with Alexei, I should hope the Council has learned its lesson about allowing commoners to become the commandant."

Estelle was clearly holding in her anger as she said, "Flynn hasn't been convicted yet. We don't know for sure that it was him."

"Right, of course," Peel said. "It's probably only a matter of time, though. I wonder, your highness, if, with your connections to the Council, you might have an idea of who they're planning on promoting to replace him?"

"No, I haven't asked. I wouldn't get your hopes up, though," she said in irritation. "No one is going to replace him because once the real killer is caught, he'll be completely exonerated."

"Yes, we can only hope that turns out to be true," Peel said.

The footsteps faded away and Yuri couldn't make out what they were saying anymore as they travelled away from the hall. He let out a breath, and turned to Flynn. Flynn wore an angry scowl and it seemed to take all his self-control not to fly into the hall and start a fight with Peel here and now. "That bastard," Flynn hissed. "It's only been one day and he's already trying to edge favour with Lady Estellise in hopes of getting my job. I ought to deploy him to Mantaic and see how he likes manning an outpost in the desert."

Yuri laughed a bit. "Yeah, I'd like to kick his ass too, but we've got a bigger problem. The knights are back at the front door, so we're going to have to take a different way out."

"Where?"

"Don't worry, I know a secret exit." He led Flynn away from the main entrance. It would take a bit of backtracking to reach the statue of the goddess, but once they got there they could sneak out pretty easily. Damn, if only Peel hadn't shown up and returned all the knights to their positions.

"Where are we going?" Flynn asked as Yuri led him down a flight of stairs.

"Just trust me, will you?" He wondered if the designers of the castle had made the hallways so slick and stone on purpose so that intruder's footsteps could be heard. It was impossible to sneak silently when every step echoed down the hall. Every minute their odds of getting caught increased, and then this whole gamble would blow up in their faces. Flynn would get busted for breaking out, and he wouldn't even have a chance to contribute to the case.

Yuri practically sighed in relief when they emerged in the square room with the statue of a winged woman on a plinth. "Made it," he said.

Flynn looked around the otherwise-empty room. "What's in here? How will this help?"

"Didn't you hear me say 'trust me'?" Yuri walked up to the statue, dug his fingers into the edges of the plinth, and pulled.

"Here, let me help you," Flynn said, grabbing the edge.

"What, don't think I can handle this by myself?" He pulled it out of the way enough to reveal the opening with a ladder leading down to the sewers.

Flynn crouched at the top of the ladder, peering down. "I had no idea this was here."

"I don't think many people do. Now let's get out of here."

Flynn went down first, with Yuri close behind. At the bottom, he stopped to look around. The sewer hadn't changed since he and Estelle had been here. It was still dark, it was still dank, and it still smelled like a monkey's ass.

"Ugh," Flynn said, wrinkling his nose. "What is that smell."

"Uh, it's a sewer," Yuri said. "I'll let you piece it together."

"Now I see why nobody uses this exit."

"Sorry if it's too gross for the fancy commandant," Yuri said. "You're welcome to go out the main entrance, but I'm going home."

He started walking, and sure enough, Flynn hurried to keep up. "I didn't mean I wouldn't come with you. How do you know about this place, anyway?"

"Estelle and I used it way back when she first left the castle. We actually have Raven to thank for knowing about this, but don't tell him that." They walked down the stone steps and along the walkways. The sound of running water was everywhere, but thankfully the stone walkways kept them well out of the sludge.

Flynn grabbed his arm and paused. "Did you see something moving ahead of us?"

"Huh?" Yuri stared, trying to make out shadows in the dim light. He heard tiny clicks and saw a flash of movement, but shrugged it off. "Just a rat."

"Oh." Flynn didn't sound pacified.

"Oh, that's right," Yuri said as they started walking again. "You're afraid of rats."

"I am not afraid of rats," Flynn said stubbornly.

"Yeah, I always jump and shriek like a little girl around things I'm not afraid of, either."

"Yuri! I was eight. It was in my bed. You would have freaked out, too."

Yuri was pretty sure he would have. Finding rats in your house was a pretty regular occurrence in the lower quarter, although finding them crawling around under your sheets just as you were about to go to bed was a bit rarer. Yuri could hardly blame Flynn for freaking out, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to hold it over his head for the rest of his life as prime teasing fuel.

"Rats are filthy," Flynn said. Yuri could practically hear his angry scowl even in the darkness. "They spread disease and they steal food. They crawl up from the sewers covered in filth, and their tails wriggle around like worms, and they have those dark soulless eyes…" His speech on the problems with rants was turning more and more into a personal rant. "And did you know there's an old torture technique where a hot cage is placed over a rat on a man's stomach and the rat tries to escape by burrowing into the victim? They're disgusting."

In the darkness, Yuri reached his hand around, stuck it under the hem of Flynn's shirt, and then tickled his fingers up Flynn's back. "Uh-oh, Flynn, I think there's a rat on you!"

Flynn bolted into the air in a flurry of flailing arms and legs. When he landed, he realized what Yuri had done and promptly shoved him. "Dammit, Yuri!"

Yuri laughed, loud enough that it echoed off the high stone arches.

"That wasn't funny," Flynn protested.

Yuri only wished the light was bright enough to see his disgruntled expression. "Yeah, it was."

"You think you're so funny," Flynn said, marching ahead.

Yuri waited a few second to stifle his laughter before following. Flynn was a few feet ahead when Yuri saw another flash of movement as a rat scurried across the path, stepping on Flynn's toes as it went. Flynn yelped and jumped backward, which set Yuri's laughter off again.

"It's not funny, Yuri," Flynn said.

"Geeze, Flynn, it's just a rat."

"I'm not sure that was a rat. It more closely resembled a small dog."

"Don't worry, Flynn," Yuri said, patting his shoulder. "I'll protect you from the scary rodent."

Flynn brushed him off. "Shut up, Yuri."

"Did Ted ever tell you about this massive rat combination thing?"

"What? Wait, don't tell me, I don't think I'm going to like it."

"Apparently, when a lot of rats get together they can get their tails all knotted together with grime and knots and then they move as one massive rat monster." He held out his hands and wiggled his fingers in Flynn's face like a bunch of rat tails. "Conditions down in this sewer are probably perfect for making those things."

"Stop it, Yuri," Flynn said.

"What's wrong? Thought you weren't scared of rats?" Yuri hopped down a few more steps, while Flynn took them one at a time.

"You're impossible," Flynn said.

They turned a corner and then down another short set of stairs. Yuri leapt down them, landed in a puddle, and pinwheeled his arms as he fell forward. Flynn grabbed the back of his shirt, but only managed to get dragged down with him. Yuri hit the ground with a splash, and Flynn landed right on top of him with a grunt. Flynn then rolled over onto his back. He groaned, "Please tell me what I'm lying in is just water."

"I'm about eighty percent sure it is," Yuri said, getting up on his hands and knees.

"And the other twenty percent?"

"You don't want to know." Yuri reached down to help him up, but paused. "Hey, uh, Flynn? Do yourself a favour and don't turn your head to the right."

"What? Why?" He turned his head to the right, and came eye to eye with rat that was about the size of a cat. He shouted, scrambling to get away from it as fast as he could. He splashed in the hopefully-water, and accidentally smacked the rat with his hand in his rush to get away.

"What the hell did I just say!?" Yuri said.

Flynn leapt to his feet, holding his right hand out from his body. "I touched it. Ugh, I need to wash my hand."

Yuri rolled his eyes. "Stop being so over dramatic."

"Do you have any idea how many diseases those things can carry?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure you're about to tell me. Look, we're almost through." He pointed at the ladder ahead. "So just hold yourself together for another minute, you scaredy-cat."

"I am not a-" Flynn cut himself off, apparently deciding that there was no way to say that without sounding like a pouting child. He sighed and said, "Drop it, Yuri. I can't believe you took Lady Estellise through this place."

"She complained less than you," Yuri said. "Seriously, Flynn, I've seen you face monsters three times your size without breaking a sweat, and now you're all bent out of shape over a rat?" He hopped onto a crate blocking the way and swung his legs around the other side.

"I just don't like rats, alright? It's not that big a deal."

"Whatever you say. Here, you can go out first." He stepped aside and gave Flynn access to the ladder. "Wouldn't want you left all alone down here with the scary rats."

"Har-har," Flynn said, and started climbing up.

When his legs were about level with Yuri's face, Yuri reached out, slipped his hand under the hem of Flynn's pant leg, and tickled his ankle. "Rawr, it's a rat!"

Flynn kicked him in the face.

"Ow!" Yuri pulled his hand away to massage his sore cheek. "You didn't have to kick me!"

"Idiot," Flynn grumbled, and continued up the ladder.

Yuri followed, and a couple of minutes later they stood side by side in a dark garden in the royal quarter. Yuri took a deep breath, enjoying the clear air. "Man, that place sure hasn't gotten any better since last time."

"But, at least we're out," Flynn said.

"Yeah," Yuri said. "Prison bars don't suit you."

"I don't think so, either. Where are we going now?"

"Let's go back to my place in the lower quarter and figure out where we're going from there."

"Alright."


They made their way through the city as quickly and quietly as they could. No one was looking for them yet, but Flynn was one of the best known people in Zaphias and everyone had heard of his arrest by now. They didn't talk much as they went, not wanting to attract any attention. They didn't need to talk to coordinate which shadows they were running to or when so make the next dart across the street. They'd been together long enough that these things just came naturally.

Flynn didn't let himself relax until they reached the lower quarter. Even if they were seen here, none of their people would report them. They quickly passed the still-under-construction fountain, hurried down the street and then up the stairs to Yuri's room. As soon as they were inside, Flynn went to Yuri's bed and fell onto it with a sigh of relief. "We made it." The bed was far from soft, but after spending the day in jail, he couldn't imagine being happier anywhere else. "We probably can't stay here very long, though," he added reluctantly. He didn't know how Yuri handled being a fugitive so easily. The very thought that there were knights looking for him made him anxious and paranoid. It had been like this since they were kids - Yuri treated laws like suggestions, while Flynn squirmed with stress at the very thought of trespassing.

"Yeah," Yuri said, crossing the room to look out the window. "Once they notice you're gone, they'll probably suspect me right away."

Flynn rolled over on his side to face Yuri. "Where are we going from here?"

Yuri didn't both looking away from the window as he shrugged. "Up to you. You're the one who knows how to investigate this kind of thing."

"Hm… I don't think we should stay in Zaphias," Flynn said. "I'm too recognizable. Along that line, I doubt the killer remained in Zaphias, either. If he looks a lot like me, he might attract too much attention." Assuming, of course, that he wasn't the killer. He still wasn't entirely sure about that, though he couldn't bring himself to say these fears out loud.

"Alright, what exactly are we looking for?" Yuri walked to the bed, pushed Flynn's legs out of the way, and sat down one the edge. "How are we going to catch this guy?"

"You're looking at it the wrong way," Flynn said, crossing his arms behind his head and staring at the ceiling. "All the clues about the killer point at me. We need to focus on who hired the assassin to figure out who framed me." Please, oh please let them find concrete evidence that it was an assassin and not a sleepwalking Flynn.

"Ok, so let's start with your enemies. Is there anyone who doesn't like you?"

Flynn stifled a laugh. "Unfortunately, that's a rather long list."

"I thought you were Mister Popular?" Yuri said.

"That doesn't extend to the nobility. A good percentage of them think I must have pulled some strings and cheated my way to a promotion to have gotten this rank with my age and, well, background."

"Those assholes. I can't believe people still give you grief about that."

"His Majesty Ioder and I are trying to work toward a future where your worth isn't based on what titles your parents held, but that is still a long way off."

"Ugh," Yuri said. "So what you're saying is, it could be anybody?"

Flynn sighed. "The list of possible suspects is certainly lengthy. It includes a good portion of the Council, a handful of the knight captains, and a variety of other nobles."

"Damn. Where do we even start? Do we interrogate every one, or what?"

"We do have some clues. Get me a pen and some paper, will you?"

"Uh… pen and paper…" Yuri got up and stared around his little room.

"You do have basic writing supplies, don't you?"

"Yeah!" he said angrily, stomping over to the table. "Somewhere."

Flynn watched him open a drawer and rustle around in it. He pulled out a piece of paper, saw that it was covered in writing, and tossed it back. Flynn tried not to get irritated with him as he watched this. They didn't live together any more, this was Yuri's house, and he had every right to live the way he wanted to… but dammit, why was he such a slob? He never put his crap away properly. Flynn stood up and said, "Can I help you?"

"I got it…" Yuri muttered, still digging through the drawer.

Flynn sighed and sat down at the rickety old table by the window. As much as he enjoyed Yuri's company, there were certain things he didn't miss about living together. When Yuri finally turned around triumphantly and handed Flynn a paper and pencil, he said, "I swear, Yuri, you are the most disorganized person I have ever met." He looked down at it and saw that it was already covered in writing said, "What is Murder on the Yurzorea Express?"

"I don't know," Yuri said. "Some book Estelle wants me to read."

He scanned the rest of the paper. It appeared to be a list of book titles. He wondered if Estelle really expected Yuri to read any of these. Flynn didn't think Yuri had picked up a book for leisurely reading since the book had been more pictures than words. "Sounds like a detective book."

"Bit ironic, isn't it?" Yuri said. "Writing out the suspects of our own murder mystery on the same paper?"

"No, that isn't irony," Flynn said. "It's just a coincidence. Irony is when there is a reversal of-"

"I stopped caring about a sentence ago, you know."

"Fine. Let's go over what we know." Flynn tapped the pencil on the table as he talked. "The crime was committed with my knife. I know I had it when I left my room in the early afternoon, but it was missing when I got home. All I did was have a quick meeting with some of the captains that are in Zaphias and then I went to the Council meeting. Somebody must have stolen it during that window. Whoever stole my knife then met up with the assassin they hired and gave it to him to use as the murder weapon." That, or he'd grabbed it off his desk on his way out last night and then mistakenly left it behind in Borden's mansion. Dammit, he didn't want to think about that option. "Additionally, my shirt was found with bloodstains. Possibly stolen out of the laundry after a maid took it. Whoever did this must also have access to my laundry. Several nobles live in the castle and the same maids take care of many people's laundry, so it would be easy to swipe one of my shirts when she was dropping of theirs."

"So… have you narrowed it down to anyone?"

"I'm thinking." Flynn started writing names down on in three columns. Yuri sat on the edge of the bed and waited for him to finish. After several minutes of mad scribbling, he sat and stared at the columns in silent contemplation.

After a minute of this, Yuri said, "Are you going to tell me what you wrote?"

Flynn hesitated, and then turned around with the list. "The first column is a list of all the people I could think of who dislike me. The second is a list of all the people I interacted with yesterday that might have had a chance to swipe my knife. The third is a list of nobles who live on the same floor of the castle as me and who might have been able to steal one of my shirts. I was hoping that I could narrow the search down by finding only a couple of people on all three lists."

"And?"

"Nobody is on all three lists."

"Oh. Damn. Lemme see that." He snatched it out of Flynn's hand and scanned over the list of names. "Lots of people are on the first two, though."

"I know," Flynn said. "The third is the shortest, and I was really hoping I'd find someone who fit all three criteria. We're left with a rather lengthy list of people I know hate me and who might have had a chance to steal my knife. I suppose it's a start."

"So, who are all these people? I'm not really up-to-date on exactly who every member of the nobility is."

"Well, there's Hallward," Flynn said, taking the paper back. "He tried to get me impeached a couple of months ago, and he lives on the same floor of the castle, so he'd have access to my laundry. But, I didn't seem him at all yesterday. He wasn't at the Council meeting so I don't know how he would have gotten his hands on my knife."

"What did he accuse you of to get you impeached?" Yuri asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Treason. He claimed maintaining a close relationship with a member of a guild meant I was sympathetic to the guilds and not the empire."

"You almost lost your job for being friends with me?"

Flynn glanced up from the paper to see Yuri's frown. He knew Yuri felt unworthy of standing by Flynn's side, and Flynn hated that he felt like that, so he quickly said, "Don't worry, the accusation didn't get very far. Ioder shot him down immediately and even the rest of the Council thought Hallward was reaching."

Yuri's frown didn't entirely disappear. "Still… sorry to cause trouble for you."

Flynn shook his head. "Don't apologize for being my friend. Anyway, another option is Reyes. He doesn't like me very much, and he was at the Council meeting, but he lives in a mansion across town so I don't know how he would have staged the bloodied shirt. The rest of them are all like that - Morell hates me, could have gotten my shirt but not the knife. Joplin wants to see me gone, and she could have gotten the knife, but not the shirt. I'm hesitant to include Emmery, because she looks down on me due to my sub-par math skills, but as far as I know she doesn't have any other gripe with me." He sighed heavily. "I suppose it's a start."

"Yeah, it's something," Yuri said, handing the list back. "Where the hell do we go from here?"

"I think we should focus on catching the assassin," Flynn said. "We don't have any other clues about who hired him, but if we catch him, we might be able to get him to tell us who his employer was." And also find confirmation that Flynn wasn't the killer. He really wanted that confirmation.

Yuri nodded. "Sounds good to me. So… where to?"

Flynn spoke slowly, working things out as he said it. "If he was an assassin… I doubt he's based out of Halure or Capua Nor. The Knights and the empire have too strong a hold there. My best guess is Dahngrest or Capua Torim. In any case, all of those are northwest from here. We'll set out tomorrow and head for Tolbyccia. What time is it now?"

"Uhhh…" Yuri looked out the window. "Looks like it's around midnight."

"That's specific," Flynn said.

Yuri shrugged. "I don't have a clock."

"Yes, you do," Flynn said. "I lent you my pocket watch last week."

"'Lent'?" Yuri said. "You chucked it at my head."

"Because you said we were going to meet at three o'clock, and then you came sauntering over at four-thirty."

Yuri put a hand to the side of his head. "I had a bump on my head for a couple of days thanks to you, you know."

"Good. Hopefully it pounded a sense of time-keeping into you. Anyway, where is my watch? I'd like it back."

"Huh…" Yuri said. He put his hand to his chin and looked around the room. "Now where did that go…"

Flynn tried to hold back an annoyed sigh. "Please don't tell me you lost it."

"I didn't lose it!" Yuri protested immediately. "I could have sworn I left it sitting on the table."

Flynn shook his head. "You are the most disorganized person in the world. Never mind, I'll worry about it when I'm not on trial for murder. I think I'm going to bed now. We should get up early and get out of Zaphias around daybreak."

"That's what I planned. You mind sharing the bed, or is the fancy commandant too pampered to share?"

Flynn gave him an annoyed look, and then said, "No, of course it doesn't bother me." They'd shared a bed since they were kids, because it never seemed worthwhile to buy a second mattress when buying food was a more pressing concern. "Do you have any clothes I could borrow?" All he had was the uniform he'd been wearing when he was arrested. This would obviously attract far too much attention, so hopefully Yuri could lend him some more casual clothes.

"Of course."

It took them less than ten minutes to get ready for bed and then crash to the mattress. "Get off me," Yuri said, shoving him aside.

"Hey, don't push me off the bed," Flynn replied, elbowing him back. "Ugh, I think we got bigger since the last time we slept together."

"Yeah, you got fatter," Yuri said. "You used to be a beanpole. Too many cakes in the castle, Commandant?"

"It's not fat; it's muscle."

"Whatever, it's in the way." Yuri tried to scoot over, but hit the wall.

"You haven't gotten any smaller yourself."

They lay still, giving up on trying to get comfortable. There was only one pillow, but Yuri let Flynn take it.

"Hey, Yuri?" Flynn said quietly.

"Hm?" Yuri had closed his eyes already, trying to get to sleep.

Flynn was silent for a while. "…Thanks. You've put yourself at a lot of risk by breaking me out. I really do appreciate it, even if I gave you a hard time earlier."

Yuri sighed. "Go to sleep, idiot."