Chapter 8: A Revealing Truth

"You seem distracted today, Winter," Lord Ironwood said.

It was the next morning, and Winter and Ironwood were standing over the table in the castle's drawing room. They had been going over Winter's map.

"Apologies, my lord," Winter said. "I had a…restless night."

"I hope you get more sleep tonight then," Ironwood said.

"We will see," Winter said, managing to keep a completely straight face. She suspected she would not be sleeping much tonight either if Yang had her way. "Regardless, I'm beginning to wonder if the dragon has fled Atlas. Surely we should have been able to track it down by now."

"I've had people watching the borders," Ironwood said. "There haven't been any reports of anything unusual. And if the dragon was going to turn tail, it would've done so weeks ago. It's still here. I'm certain of it."

"As you say, my lord. But there must be a reason it's lingered in Atlas for so long," Winter said.

"I agree," Ironwood said. "There's something here it needs to protect. Which can only mean one thing. Its treasure hoard is in this very kingdom."

"I…" Winter said. She suddenly felt like her mind had skipped a beat as all of Yang's insinuations about Ironwood's motives came flooding back to her. Surely she was misinterpreting what Ironwood was saying, but if so, why was he concerned about the dragon's treasure?

"Do you intend to use the beast's hoard as a trap of some sort?" Winter asked, trying to puzzle out what Ironwood had really meant.

"An interesting idea," Ironwood said. "But I fear it would take longer to find the dragon's hoard than the dragon itself. It would be much simpler to find the beast, let it unwittingly lead us to its lair, and then slay it."

"But if we find the dragon should we not slay it immediately?" Winter asked. "If we let it live then we risk it harming more people."

Ironwood turned to Winter and gave her a pained look. He said, "Dame Schnee, what we do is important. But what we do is also expensive. Not to discount your deeds, but the dragons you've slain so far have all been young for their kind. They would've hardly amassed enough wealth for their hoards to be worth the effort of finding. This dragon we're hunting is a full adult, and a covetous one at that. It likely has enough gold and jewels alone to make your father weep with jealousy. Its hoard will be enough to sustain the Order for years, or even decades."

"But the annual pledges we receive from the kingdoms…" Winter started to say.

"A pittance," Ironwood said. "Insignificant really. Those are more of a political tool rather than a financial one."

Winter was flabbergasted. She didn't know what to think. On one hand, everything Ironwood was saying made logical sense. On the other hand, Winter knew all too well that wealth was addicting. It didn't take much before it became an end unto itself rather than a means to serve a cause.

Ironwood's expression softened. He said, "Consider our duty, Dame Schnee. It's extraordinarily dangerous, so our resources must also be extraordinary. A dragon's hoard is enough to buy things that can't be bought. Why do you think we were able to provide you with your magical armor? Or acquire this sword of mine? A hoard is even enough to buy authority. The title of lord didn't come cheap after all."

Winter's eyes drifted to the unassuming sword sheathed on Ironwood's hip and then to the red and blue sash around his chest. One did seem like a great boon. The other seemed hollow and vain.

"It appears…" Winter said, picking her words carefully, "…that I've misunderstood the objective."

Winter hoped Ironwood would contradict her. But all he did was smile and pat her shoulder. He said, "That's more my fault than yours. But let's get back to the task at hand."

"Yes my lord," Winter said mechanically. Her head was spinning from everything that had just been dropped on her. Had Yang really been correct all along? Or had the princess's words poisoned Winter's perception of Ironwood's motives?

Ironwood said, "Since the dragon has evaded us so effectively, I'm beginning to suspect it knows our plans."

The absurdity of Ironwood's statement pulled Winter out of her confused thoughts. She asked, "Are you suggesting the dragon is somehow engaging in espionage?"

"Not the dragon," Ironwood said. "How is Princess Yang these days?"

Winter's eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask?"

"I find it odd that she's still here," Ironwood said. "True, the king's envoy hasn't returned yet. Also odd. But the princess has made no effort to secure her own way home either."

"You think the princess is in league with the dragon?" Winter asked.

"Perhaps," Ironwood said.

"My lord, that's preposterous," Winter said.

"I would have thought so too. Once," Ironwood said. He clasped his hands behind his back and lowered his head. "The last time I hunted this dragon, I came so close to glory. The beast had seen through all my traps and fought with amazing ferocity, but I had nearly prevailed."

"What happened?" Winter asked.

"I was distracted," Ironwood said. "A young woman I hadn't even been aware was there appeared and begged me for help. By the time I had…ensured her safety, the dragon had fled. I had thought the woman had been a prisoner of some sort. Or perhaps intended as a snack for later. But the moment my back was turned she vanished too."

"Perhaps she simply ran away out of fear," Winter suggested.

"No," Ironwood said. Winter could see the anger building in him. "No one in the nearby town matched her description. She didn't leave a trail to follow. And I never saw her again. All these years her face has haunted my memories. A girl with red hair and silver eyes."

"Red hair and silver eyes…" Winter said. She had seen that combination of colors before, but not on a human. She quickly dismissed the information as unimportant and said, "But surely Princess Yang isn't a traitor."

"It wouldn't be treason if her loyalty never lay with us in the first place," Ironwood said. "What do you even know about her that she hasn't told you herself?"

The question hit Winter like a charging bull. What did she actually know about Yang? Surely Yang wouldn't lie to her. But as Winter recontextualized some of Yang's more eccentric behavior, she began to doubt everything.

Ironwood didn't seem to notice the sudden personal crisis Winter was going through. He placed his hands on the table and bent over the map. He said, "I think it would be prudent to ensure no more information accidentally passes from you to Yang. Call it a precaution if you must. We can't give this dragon any possible advantage. It will not escape me again."

"Yes my lord," Winter muttered. Her voice sounded hollow, like it was echoing from the depths of despair.

Several hours later, Winter found herself in the castle's undercroft. It wasn't a place she'd anticipated visiting today, but today was apparently the day for unexpected things. She was holding a lit candle mounted in a candlestick to ward off the gloom of the keep's poorly lit sublevels. An absolute maelstrom of emotions was brewing inside of her. In the space of minutes this morning what she'd thought she knew about two of the people she held most dear, Lord Ironwood and Princess Yang, had been metaphorically defenestrated. Was Ironwood truly only concerned about finding the dragon's treasure? Was Yang somehow in league with the creature? Everything was muddled and confused. There were so many questions, and Winter had so few answers. Even worse, she didn't dare confront Ironwood or Yang. She didn't want to endanger her relationship with either of them by spouting off false accusations.

Winter finally reached her destination, the castle's archives. She pushed open a large, heavy door nestled under a stone arch and stepped inside. The musty scent of old scrolls and codices immediately permeated her nose.

Winter's tiny candle was the only source of light she could see in the cavernous chamber as she walked past row upon row of shelves and racks overloaded with rolled and bound parchment. It was amazing to think about how much information was stored here and how little most people cared about it. But Winter cared very much. She was counting on this repository to help her out of her predicament.

Winter ventured deeper into the archives until she saw another light shining in the darkness up ahead. It was emanating from another candle that was resting on a desk. And sitting at that desk was a short and stout man who was wearing an austere robe that resembled a monk's. He was scratching away on a parchment with a quill, the sound of which echoed loudly in the lonely space.

Winter walked up to the desk. She said, "Hello, Klein."

Klein looked up from his writing. When he saw Winter he smiled brightly and said, "Ah! Princess Winter! Welcome! Welcome!"

"I'm not a princess anymore," Winter said.

"Very true. But some of us live in the past," Klein said with a wink.

Klein was the castle's archivist and historian. He had been a fundamental part of Winter's education growing up, and he had also been the one who had introduced her to the game of chess. Winter considered him a dear friend, but then again, almost everyone who knew him did. He was such a kind man that it was impossible not to like him.

"Did you receive my message?" Winter asked, getting right to the point. Unfortunately, she didn't have the time to be sociable with Klein, as much as she would have liked to.

"I did," Klein said. He reached for a codex sitting on his desk and passed it to Winter. "As requested."

Winter looked at the thick tome. Its title read, "Atlas Valean".

"It's a few years out of date by now," Klein said apologetically. "But it was complete and accurate when your father acquired it. If there's something you want to know about the Empire of Vale, that's where you'll find it."

"Thank you, Klein," Winter said. "This shouldn't take long."

Winter left Klein and wandered over to another, unoccupied desk. She set the codex on it, placed her candlestick nearby, and sat down. She stared at the atlas's bound cover for a moment or two. She had no clue how she'd hit upon the idea of requesting it from Klein. She didn't even know what she expected to find. This was a hunch, nothing more. But she was desperate to glean any bit of information that might validate Yang or Ironwood, and her instincts told her this was somehow the key.

Winter finally opened the atlas up. The first page she came to had a historical drawing of Emperor Peter I, Vale's first ruler. He was of no relation to the current Emperor Peter IX, but all the Valean emperors to date had taken the same regnal name.

Winter turned the pages of the atlas. She had no need for a history lesson about the Empire itself. What she was looking for was more specific. Eventually, she came to the section on Patch. It started with a discussion about the island's weather patterns which was also useless to Winter. She kept flipping through the codex at an ever-increasing pace, paging past information about Patch's local agriculture, customs, and the like. Then, at long last, she finally reached the section on the island's politics and government.

Winter ran her hands over the codex's pages, pressing them flat. This was what she was looking for. Surely this would tell her something. However, she didn't even get past the first sentence before she froze. Her eyes locked onto a single word, and her mind fixated on what it meant, or rather, what it implied.

The darkness and the gloom of the archives pressed down on Winter as she sat there. A tremor went through her body. She couldn't say if it was caused by rage, fear, regret, or a combination of the three. But her physical reaction was as palpable as it was undeniable.

Winter slowly reached for her candlestick. Slowly because her hand felt unsteady. But after a good deal of effort and concentration, she picked the candle up. Then she stood and walked back toward Klein.

Klein looked up from his desk as Winter approached. He said, "My, that was quick! Did you find what you were looking for, Princess?"

"I suppose I did," Winter said, not bothering to correct Klein on mistitling her. "Although perhaps not what I wanted."

"Ah. The truth can be like that. Take it from someone who knows," Klein said. He looked sullen for a moment before he perked up again. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Yes. There is," Winter said. "I must access the castle's vault. I have need of my armor."

Author's Note: Did I say updates will resume in two weeks? I guess I meant three. Unfortunately, I caught the plague last week, and that's really put me behind. Truth be told, I'm still a bit behind, but I couldn't stand the thought of delaying another week.

This was a surprisingly difficult chapter to put together. There were many revisions. But the next chapter…. Well, let's just say I've had that one planned out for quite a while.

As always, I welcome constructive criticism. Please feel free to leave a review. And if you like what you've read, taking the time to favorite and/or follow really helps me out. You can also find me on tumblr (electronicyarn) if you want to send me a message or be notified of updates.