23 Escanorum. 1001 hours. - Tour cancelled. Cedric's recon men were alerted to a possible ambush. I'm amazed any brigands could put together something so quickly and without the route fully planned! But apparently it was something planned close to the castle - bold, almost something we would never suspect given the level of security. Lady Cecelia was understandably disappointed, but we're spending time in the royal gardens. I'm not quite accustomed to leisure, but it is pleasant. Something about Her Ladyship is otherworldly, similar to her brother, but it's a different aura. Can't quite describe it. Perhaps I've taken a bit of a liking to her - haha! But she wouldn't care for a lumbering creature such as me!

1240 hours. - Somehow two members of her entourage found a few Lerynian figs to add to our lunch. Must have picked them up from the kitchen (but they weren't coming from any path leading to the kitchen; odd. His Highness doesn't keep many fruit trees I know of; must be a private section).

1506 hours. - I had to excuse myself - I couldn't take that Corvus any more! How dare he make insinuations that I fancy Her Ladyship! Fancy Her Ladyship? Outrageous! This is strictly business and politics. I have an assignment, and while I'm a man of action and not leisure, I do what I am told, and if I am told to indulge a head of state in leisure, then that is what I do because I follow orders! Honestly, does he think that fairy tales of love at first sight are true? Outrageous! And certainly she wouldn't requite if I were so bold - why, she is not repulsed because I am a Galhot, but what of my class? Oh! Certainly she shows me respect because I am her brother's assistant, advisor to the Prince's advisor, but she outclasses me, and to select a man of my station?

How dare he? How utterly dare he? That honourable woman would recommend that I become the Prince's jester if ever I removed my hat and bowed like a would-be suitor, charming her - or at least, failing to, so badly that she might laugh until she died.

I knew from the start there was something odd about Her Ladyship, and Corvus is that thing. If he isn't gazing at you as though you were the filthiest, vilest thing he's laid eyes on, then he smiles in the snarkiest, most predatory of ways - I wouldn't trust ten adult men alone with him! Such a vile creature himself! He says vulgar things in the regal ways, but ah! That doesn't make him less vulgar. He needn't shout obscenities like some of the soldiers do in order to be repugnant, and oh! Suggesting that I visit her while the servants made gay in the library tonight - her... alone... By the moons of Gaahn! He can't leave soon enough for me!

24 Escanorum. - I'm worried, utterly, utterly worried after today. What should have been a smooth journey to the borough of Enfield turned into a disaster with the siblings fighting; and I certainly couldn't understand one word as they shouted, but does one need to? When anger boils over like that?

Many of the Prince's loyal followers reside in the borough of Enfield. From the castle, one must cross through neighbourhoods of mixed politics and those who 'sit on the fence,' so to speak. (I still don't understand why there are those who do not take sides, especially when it should be clear with whom to stand; but as long as they do not stand against His Highness, I assume I should not complain.) In order to ensure that the trip was as brief as the Prince desired, the Lady and Lord rode within the clarence she had ridden to arrive here, drawn by her fearsome steeds. Their faces are like skeletal hunting hounds, with ears erect like bats' and canines jutting from their mouths. Their coats are white (an easy color to spot by enemies), but it is a phantasmagorical white with blood red stockings and and blood red muzzles. Surely they look like the Demon Steeds of the Infernal Lord! so that anyone who gazes upon them would stay their ambush for fear of invoking His wrath.

My men and I rode atop Ferdermer's rhinoceroses, which are lighter in weight than their spotted cousins and can make hastier retreats. We entered without a hiccough in Enfield and during the morning market hours, too. I introduced Her Ladyship to the citizens, and they were delighted to make acquaintance with her. She inspected the different wears they peddled and made light conversation with older gentlemen on Meridian politics. I thought they were honest but not in a way that would trigger alarm - the war had been hard, but that is war, and people were happy to get back to a mostly normal routine.

'Would you say life is better now than it was under the Queen?' she asked a half-Galhot woman.

The woman laughed and said, 'Who am I to say? I tailor for a living. If this one's politics or that one's politics are different from mine, as long as I keep my job, I keep my nose out of all that.'

While I watched for trouble, I also glanced at Cedric, watching for his subtle disapproval any time anyone talked. To dissent is one thing as long as one is civil, but it is wise to keep an eye on anyone with suspicious thoughts. I watched the muscles on his face, ready to record the names and addresses of anyone who might need watching, but at the time, Cedric seemed content.

We engaged in a late lunch with Brwyn, one of the Prince's viscounts. He served us in his belvedere, with a perfect view of the castle, a meal highlighted by roasted Hoogong, jellied Tempeter liver (always a bit musky for my taste, but Cedric seems to enjoy it), and the finest red wine awarded to him for his service to the Prince. The meal seemed to be going alright until I heard Corvus snarling at his Lady, having pulled her aside.

'Is everything alright?' asked Brwyn.

Cecelia snarled at Corvus in their foreign tongue, and he returned to his seat. Then she turned to the viscount and said, 'No, but don't let the foul spirits of a few ruin this meal.'

It was then that I looked at all her servants, and they all had the audacity to scowl at her! Then she hissed at them in their foreign tongue, and for the first time ever in all my years, I saw Cedric shudder and cringe - it was ever so slight, but I swear to the Godsly Saint Madru'uga! There was fear in his eyes! What was happening?

'Cecelia! A moment?' he said, and he laid a hand upon her shoulder, leading her from the table, back through the viscount's home, and into the courtyard below.

I asked Brigodek to entertain the viscount and the Midnight Children while I watched from the belvedere the siblings' conversation. It was sprinkled with Escanor but mostly their sibilant mother tongue. I could only catch smatterings of their argument - 'and do you not feel it? (And here began their mother tongue before she said)... Will they stop here in the city? Will they overtake our land? Do you really think (And here again she transitioned to their mother tongue)?'

Then Cedric growled, 'You have no idea what it was like (And here again was their mother tongue). But he stood by me! He didn't need to, but he did! And the vines out there? They are necessary. (And here again was their mother tongue, and after this, if there were Escanor words interspersed, I could not understand them, for the siblings had transformed and began to roar at each other.)

Now everyone had risen, and the viscount's face was ghastly pale. His bony hand seized my arm, vise-like and painful, and he begged, 'Do something! My Gods! Is His Lordship going to destroy my home? Do something!'

Who was I to yell at my superior? But even the Midnight Children, even the arrogant Corvus - they had all turned ashen grey as though realising that yes, they bore some responsibility for this duel, and the thought set in that they might lead to the destruction of a stranger's property.

So I, bulky I, roared long to them: 'STOP THIS NOW!'

Cedric and Cecelia gazed hatefully at me first, but their hatred vanished when they began to see all the eyes locked upon them. Cecelia looked at her brother and wondered, 'What have I done?' Then the green light that accompanies all their transformations engulfed her great body. She turned into an Escanor and immediately collapsed in the courtyard.

Needless to say, Prince Phobos is not at all happy about what transpired. All three of us met in private, and Cedric insisted that she was making 'wild accusations about you and me and whatever happened... before.' He began to ramble for half a minute and then fell silent. His Highness dismissed me.

I can only dread what type of punishment awaits Cedric and me and everyone else. I do so hope that Lady Cecelia has recovered from whatever ails her.

By the Gods, what happened? Why the yelling? Why the fighting?

And I think again just now: Cedric had warned me that something terrible might happen when he and she were together. My Gods, I didn't do enough to keep them apart. I feel terrible! Miserable! This shouldn't have happened. I've failed. Failed harder than I could have imagined. My Gods, may I see mercy!

25 Escanorum. 730 hours. - Got up as early as I could. Early before the Prince and Lord Cedric summon me. I called the Lady's chamber. Corvus answered. I asked if she were alright; Corvus says she has stomach pains, head pains too. Too faint to walk. Shouldn't see the Prince and 'is definitely not interested in seeing her brother, if you're so curious,' he hissed.

I asked if I may bring a doctor, but he said, No, it was something that needed to pass on its own.

What a miserable thing that Corvus is! I don't know if I hammered home the point enough last night to His Highness, but if not, well! I'll make sure he knows that that blackguard is probably the cause of all this! I swear, if that fool leads Lady Cecelia to think poorly of the Prince, and she reports back to this feared Olindoyo, and Olindoyo declares war or even some sanction against us, I'll make it my duty to hunt that creature down. How dare he upset the Lady! And lead his cohorts to do the same! Have they no shame? I pray to the Gods that she recover, and I pray They give her the strength to get rid of that horrid beast!

1 Lerynium. 330 hours. - I don't know what to think of her. I simply don't know what to think! My Gods! it's early in the morning. I should be asleep, not tossing and turning in my head like this!

I went back to my Lady's chamber in the afternoon, just like I had planned, but the lady was fast asleep, I was told. Come back in the morning.

'I'll need to anyway,' I said, 'she needs to meet with the Prince.'

And I finally began to wonder: What really is the purpose of her visit? I began to suspect any number of things - maybe she really was a spy or on some assignment to harm our Prince!

But no! she was merely ill, I told myself. She needs calm and quiet and no visitors. Those in themselves can be good medicine, along with actual herbs and tinctures and what-nots.

But she had not been sick in the stomach - no, not like that. I come to find that she was sick in the heart and worried about her brother and the kingdom.

Since it seemed she was not coming out for the day, I was assigned to patrol the royal gardens tonight. I found her coiled beneath one of the weeping Guinevere oaks and, at first, mistook her for her brother, sulking at what a dreadful visitation this had been.

She whispered softly for me to join her privately, and I dismissed my two crew-mates - 'Have a pint, each of you, for me,' and they fain hurried to obey. Then I stood before her, her gold eyes glimmering in the dark like some predatory beast, and she asked me if I were happy here.

Am I happy here? Yes, of course.

Truly happy? she asked. (What is 'truly happy,' I wonder) But I said, 'Yes, I am.'

'And you don't see anything wrong here?'

I raised my stony brows and asked, 'What do you mean?'

She slithered closer - quite a frightful sight, even as sad as she was - and she said, 'Don't assume that my critique means I liked the old way things were run. It was imperfect. Far from perfect. And terrible things happened - terrible, terrible things to my brothers when they served the Queen and then Cedric, when he chose to come back, all alone and unprotected. But he survived. All my people find a way to survive trauma, but he used it... He used him.'

'Who used whom?'

'Phobos used Cedric.'

'But how? Cedric serves the Prince of his own accord. He was not coerced - '

'I know. But he used my brother to catalyse this war, this rivalry. The Queen really wanted to change things, but... tradition and politics - all these things are so nuanced that even as the Light of Meridian, she couldn't change the law of inheriting the throne; at least, not on a whim, not quickly. It would have raised so many questions, so much fear... but she should have at least listened to Olindoyo. She warned her - she knew more about her son during a ten-day visit to the homeland than the Queen dared to see throughout the Prince's life. She wanted to see her son as balanced, as perfect... good enough, actually. But he's always been like this - this manipulative... thing, and perhaps, he would have made a good ruler. He would have made a fabulous politician if the Traditionalists were still strict about the law, but this... this is just... wrong.'

All throughout her speech, my stomach tightened. What was I going to do? I couldn't turn her in. By the moons of Gaahn! If Prince Phobos finds out, but then, if he... and Olindoyo... Serpentine Shape-Shifters are not to be trifled with. Cedric fears the Prince's powers, as we all do, but the Shifters? No one alive today knows how deep their powers run except for them, but I've heard enough tales to know that even if Prince Phobos prevailed in a conflict with them, it would be a slim victory, and he would barely have much of a monarchy left over which to rule.

So, I listened. I asked and I listened.

'So, you don't want to go back to the old ways.'

'Correct.'

'But you don't approve of the Prince's rule?'

'Correct.'

'But I don't understand.'

She smiled softly. Her speech was tender, like a mother's caress.

'Vathek, just because I don't like to dwell somewhere hot does not mean I wish to dwell where it is cold. I'll take the heat over the cold, but it is not ideal. Likewise, I don't think that the Light of Meridian has always acted well and acted for good reasons, but I'd prefer to negotiate with her than with... well, I'm not in charge of anything that important. At least, not decision-making on behalf of an entire race.'

'But you're still important,' I said. 'Your Majestic Grand Mistress Lady' - her laughter briefly distracted me.

'Great Majestic Lady.'

'Your Most Esteemed Lady is going to make decisions based on what you say. So, it's quite important to me... to all of us that you send back a report with a net positive. I know that no one is going to say wonderful things about the Prince all the time, but talk about the things that matter, that are a legitimate concern. Don't spread lies and vulgarities about him. It's just wrong to do that, even if you hate a person. You need to criticise people for actual, genuine things and not just name-call them.'

'Oh, Vathek! Of course! I agree with that whole-heartedly, and that's why I am so upset! I have seen the Prince be genuinely good - to my brother, at least. It was long before this war, after Cedric fled for home; Prince Phobos followed him because he was afraid someone might try to kill him.'

'But why?' I asked.

Cecelia frowned and murmured in her mother tongue for a moment.

'The consort accused Cedric of attacking him. Everyone thought he was trying to kill him, but it was Phobos. Phobos was the one who attacked the consort and gave him that infamous limp. He was trying to protect Cedric, but no one listened to him. They all thought that my brother had hypnotised him, which is just absurd!'

'Well, then! See! He must have had a reason to - '

'Going to war had nothing to do with Cedric!' she growled, rearing on her coils. 'It was the catalyst but not the reason, and even if it were, it's a damned terrible reason! Cedric suffered horribly - I'd be cruel to suggest otherwise - and he deserved justice, but this? Is it right to besiege towns and villages that refuse to house your unruly men? Does a victim find justice when he deprives a man the right to a trial? Is there justice in slaughtering women and children just because their men didn't align with your side? What justice is that?'

All too late I realised that her coils had surrounded me. I had no way to jump out, and if she wanted to, she could have crushed me instantly like an insect.

'My Lady,' I stammered, 'the Prince hasn't done these things - '

'Oh, no?' she snarled. 'And what about the vines?'

'The what?'

'The vines! The great hill of vines that have held this castle for centuries. Haven't you noticed what he has made them do?'

'How should I know?'

Then she loomed close to my face, a hundred times more frightening than her brother, and hissed, 'Ever since I arrived here, I sensed something was wrong, dead wrong, with the energy of this land. It felt like it was trickling away, but I didn't know where to. And then when I arrived in the castle, I felt it - felt it thrumming through the stone and the walls and parapets, all throughout, and I know ultimately to him. Why do you think Kandrakar has sealed off our means of accessing other worlds?'

'I... I only know what the Prince has told me.'

'Phobos is a sorcerer, but unlike the Light, his power is limited. In order to maintain his physical and magickal strength, he needs to leech energy from other sources. And if he can't absorb the limitless energy from the Light, he'll get it elsewhere. This world, other worlds, stars, entire constellations. And he'll do what he can in order to seize energy, even go to war and commit atrocities, placing masks upon them to make them appear as noble causes.'

It simply couldn't be true. None of it can be true! I don't even know how she came to all her conclusions, but if she wants to live long, she needs to banish these ideas from her head!

We are working for the good of Meridian and hopefully all of Metamoor. If her people want to keep up, they had better damned well participate or just stay out of our way and stop making these insinuations and talking about nuance this and the Queen that and I know they've picked sides! They side with the Traditionalists, that's what! She should have never come here. She should have never, never, never come here!

Evening. - Lady Cecelia has cut her visit short. Much to Cedric's relief and the pleasure of the Prince. But before she left, she pulled me aside as the servants prepared her clarence and the rest of the company's steeds.

'I am so sorry,' she said. 'I burdened your mind and heart, and that is an evil thing.'

I smiled as best as I could. 'I'm not only a stout fellow but a stout-hearted one. I haven't taken any offence to what you said.'

'Liar,' she chuckled but sadly. 'But honestly, Vathek, please, look at my brother - not now! No, no, not now. I mean, look at him when he acts. His demeanour. He's not the male that I remember. He has changed so much, and that scares me. Please... remove the armour that is your ideas if you feel yourself beginning to sink.'

'Don't worry about me, my Lady.'

'I already am.' Then she sighed and continued. 'Cedric devoted himself to Phobos. It was a beautiful thing, and there are hints of it still there. But... he's changed and changed for the worse. The beauty has faded, and I barely recognise him. You? You are beautifully devoted to this land, to improving it, but I beg you, not for my sake or the sake of the Gods or of Kandrakar - for you, please, think carefully. How would you go about improving the world?'

I didn't answer; and of course it was not meant to be answered there and then, anyway. Then she bade farewell to the Prince and Lord Cedric, entered her clarence with Corvus steering, and the entourage hurried away from the castle.

Then His Highness said, 'I do hope she has a safe journey home.'

'It shall be safe,' said Cedric.

'Indeed! Still, one can't be too careful - '

'Her safe return is assured, my Prince.'

The scowl that His Highness displayed toward the Lord should have instantly coated him in ice; and while Cedric recoiled, his own stony stare remained.

By the Gods... This whole debacle couldn't have ended soon enough.

Assembler's Note: I discovered this letter folded between entries. Dated 16th Morgauseum, Year -.

To my Stout-Hearted Friend,

If you have received this letter, then it means that I am still alive. I longed to write to you after the attack on my entourage that took my dear Corvus's life and left my servants injured. I know whom to blame. He is a fool to have tried to murder me.

For this crime, the Great One has forbidden all members of my people from contacting any member of the House of Escanor or the 'Brainwashed Traitor'. We already respected that alone she could authorize contact with the House of Escanor, but the fact that my brother is now exiled has broken my heart.

Therefore, I write to you, my friend; for though we come from different strains of thought, I do not think that a wall should be built between us. I have seen your heart, and brief though it was, the view gave me hope. While I think it unjust that my people give no aid to those who would fight for a better world, I give my love to you.

I cannot force you to think this way or that way. I can hope that you shall see for yourself what is right; for do not take my word because I, a noble, have said it, but because the truth is what it is, regardless of the messenger.

Be safe, my stout-hearted friend. Survive, so that wherever you are, I can seek you and be regaled by you in person and not from beyond the grave.

Forever Your Ladyship

13th Arthurian. Evening. - I've made contact with my blacksmith, A, again. His leader put me through another battery of rigourous tests. I know I have already committed treason without being a fully fledged member of these men. If I am caught, it is no matter to them. They'll see it as one less man who was once loyal to Phobos.

But I am not alone. I recognise a seamstress who had died - at least, was supposed to be dead. She no longer has her right eye, and the absence of half her left arm certainly has been disastrous for her business. She was caught fighting with these rebels and had supposedly died with a lot of them, slaughtered in battle some weeks ago. But here she is, alive, once loyal to the Prince but now turned against him.

I barely recognised her at first, but she knew me well and was furious to see me.

How could they know that I was not a spy? she demanded. And they listed all the ways I had aided rebels and jeopardised my position - my Gods! not even - my very life, and still, she was wary.

'We were all wary of you, S.,' said the leader. 'And look at yourself now.'

Gods, be merciful! I'm exhausted! Living a double life... what a wreck to the body and mind!

16th Arthurian. 332 hours. - Many months have passed since that letter arrived by Ravemorph. I did not write back to her and have not received any more letters. Just the one. But I woke up just now and had the urge to read it again. My Gods, I'm a traitor. What have I done? But what was I doing before? This city... it isn't piecing itself together like it should. It's divided, contentious, so many rivalries, fighting. Soldiers putting down citizens, keeping order. Giving orders and getting orders and getting barked at by Cedric who's getting barked at by Phobos. We're miserable. I know it took months to put the city back together after the he seized the throne, but we're regressing. We shouldn't regress. What is all this? I need to stay. I can't leave. I can't leave the rebellion. I can't leave here. It's horrible. The thought that I might have to torture my own in order to keep my cover... but it's going to happen, he said. The rebels know, and they accept that they might die at my hand in order to keep my cover. And I just can't.

I'm frightened. I want out. I want out of all of this. No Prince no rebels. I want out. I want out. I want out. I want out.

I want to be with my Lady, to live like my Lady does with indifferent folk. Neither caring about the suffering nor the slaughter. It's a harsh life a shape-shifter but I want that. I don't want this. My Lady, what do I do? What do I do...

634 hours. - Dream: she was there. She was there and beautiful and golden and sheer gold robes, and there was a blinding ribbon like the sun - it was a snake coiled about it her but it seared me, it didn't sear her. I felt the heat and yet she had no scars no burnt flesh. And I fell in a river and I felt like I was drowning and she was floating above me and I could hear her voice in my head:

No one wants to die. The deer struggles for life, but the snake strangles it. It must eat. It must devour. But it does not hate the deer - it never has.

And I'm choking I'm sinking and she says: You know what you are fighting for. You are not black and white. You shimmer many colours like the scales of a serpent. You will do good and you will do evil, and you are never wholly one or the other.

I want to be FREEEE! I scream. I want to BE FREEEE!

Fight fight FIGHT FOR IT I can hear it in my head. The shining, sun-bright serpent bites my right arm and pulls me out of the water and it burns - oh GODS does it burn! But I'm alive and she's there, her violet eyes and serpentine pupils wide and probing my soul

'You will be free one day,' she says. 'The Saints of Kandrakar have heard the cries of the suffering, and the Great Mother has showed me that we shall be liberated or we shall perish in the maw of the Shadow Serpent.'

'We will! We will be free!' I shout back. She smiles and she leans close to me

And that's where it ends.

It ends with an almost-kiss and some hope.

Kandrakar has already shown that it is paying close attention to all that happens on Metamoor. I'll keep praying to the Oracle and the Saints and to Cecelia's Great Mother Goddess. I've got to do what it takes to keep the rebellion alive. I'm gonna do what it takes, and whatever happens, everyone, please forgive me.

Author Annotations:

1) This fanfiction's style is based off Bram Stoker's Dracula.

2) In the cartoon, Cedric hints that Metamoor also uses the Gregorian calendar. In this story, Vathek uses the Escanor calendar in order to track dates. One year contains 12 months, and in each month are 25 days. Arthurian is the last month of the year and is associated with sombre times - days dedicated to contemplation rather than celebration, and the thinning of the veil between the mortal realm and the spirit realm. Arthurian is also believed to be the month in which dreams increase.

3) Serpentine Shape-shifters do not have queens or kings. Their hierarchy is determined first by birth and then by what actions and duties they commit. Status can be lowered either because of criminality or not completing certain training. Status is never lowered or lost because of mating with someone of lower rank.

4) Cecelia hints that Cedric has been abused the Consort. Furthermore, her entire race has survived protracted genocide initiated by Escanor, his knights, and the earthlings whom followed them to Metamoor. Queen Weira was the last monarch to reach out to Cedric's people and attempt to make amends. Her death left a devastating impact upon the snake people and their supreme authority, Olindoyo, whom was fond of the Queen beyond politics.

5) The Great Mother is the Supreme God in Cedric's pantheon. Her enemy and the enemy of all the gods is the Shadow Serpent, whom is similar to Apep from Ancient Egyptian mythology. Unlike the Father Serpents, who wrap their coils around each star and planet in order to keep it warm and alive, the Shadow Serpent wants to crush all light and life in his coils and return everything to the nothingness before Creation. His name is used, although rarely, as a metaphor in the same way a person calls another 'Satan' or 'the Antichrist'.

Dedication: To all those affected by the spikes in violence and vitriol, particularly in the year 2016.