Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle

Klaus glared at his son. “I was lying. I knew the cat was there.”

Gil tried to look shocked.

Klaus’s eyes narrowed. “You are trying to change the subject. Even if she wasn’t the Other, this girl is a Spark and that makes her dangerous enough. You do know that every single woman I have ever known who has possessed the Spark has tried to kill me?”

Gil crossed his arms. “I think that’s just you, Father. How many women that you’ve been involved with without the Spark have tried to kill you?”

An odd look crossed Klaus’s face. “I… I don’t see what that has to do with anything,” he muttered. “This girl—”

Gil made a chopping motion with his hand. “Father, I’m not going to argue about this now. I sent the Jäger to bring her here and then I—we—will examine her. Until then, you should rest.”

Klaus’s eyes widened in surprise. “The Jäger…Vole? Captain Vole? You sent him to fetch your Heterodyne girl?” Gil nodded, and a great weariness filled Klaus’s face as he closed his eyes. “Well, that should solve everything. It’s what I would have done myself.” He took in a deep breath. “I seems I have misjudged you. Well done, son.”

A chill skittered across Gil’s heart. There was something he wasn’t getting here… He leaned in. “Is this another test?”

The Baron twitched and a small pained sound escaped from his mouth. “Please,” he whispered. “Don’t make me laugh.” He took another deep breath. “No,” he announced. “There will be no more tests, my son. The time for such things is over. Now give me your report. What has been done?”

Gil stared at his father for a second—his mind racing—then he straightened up and organized his thoughts. “Castle Wulfenbach is not yet here. I have closed the city gates and established a perimeter. I am reinforcing the garrison. I was trying to do it subtly, with troops rotated out of Balan’s Gap, which has also allowed us to secure the main road. Tourists and non-residents are being urged to leave. No one can enter except for vetted residents. The garrison here was never very large, and the false Heterodyne neutralized the Black Squad when she entered the castle. We’re…still trying to locate them.

“With the remainder, I’ve reinforced the gates and entrances we know about, but I doubt we’ve found them all. I’ve put out a call, but we have no air power here, and thus I haven’t been able to bring down the imposter’s airship. Since it has no weapons to speak of, I haven’t made it a priority. I have the remainder of the troops patrolling the streets and guarding the armory. I thought about activating the Mechanicsburg militia, but since we’re dealing with an actual Heterodyne, I thought that could be a bad idea.”

Klaus nodded at this. “Why are you still in here? Surely there are better command posts?”

“Word of your state has spread,” Gil said frankly. “I feared assassination.”

Klaus snorted. “Any attempts?”

Gil glanced to the side. “A few. Nothing worth mentioning.”

Klaus absorbed this. “The work of your imposter’s people?”

Gil shook his head. “I… don’t think so. They’ve all been very disorganized, just random enemies taking advantage of the situation. To a degree, I believe the imposter’s people are also taking advantage of circumstances but they’re much more organized. They are following a plan.” He leaned against the window and stared out at the town below. “Killing you would seem to be a necessary step, but it’s been long enough that I have to conclude that our imposter’s people haven’t tried to do it.”

Klaus frowned. “That does seem sloppy.”

Gil nodded. “And I haven’t seen sloppiness anywhere in this. No, if they want the Empire…” Suddenly Gil felt his eye drawn to the brooding pile that was Castle Heterodyne. An errant thought trickled through his mind. “If they…want the Empire…”

Klaus had long been able to recognize when the people around him were being clever. He knew when to be silent and when to prod. He waited a second and then cleared his throat.

Gil spun about. “But what if they don’t?” He stared at his father. “What if all they want—at least for now—is Mechanicsburg?”

With a bound he was at the door to the room. He pulled it open with a jerk, startling the two troopers stationed outside. “Get Captain DuPree in here,” he ordered. “Now!”

He then spun about and went to his father’s side. As he spoke, he made a last check of the medical machinery and then began to perform a similar check upon his walking stick. “I’m afraid I must go after all, Father. When the main attack comes, it will not be here.”

“Explain.”

Gil waved towards the airship that could be seen floating above the town. “These people had a false Heterodyne all prepared. She was trained. Rehearsed. They could conceivably have known about Agatha, but you being injured? They couldn’t have planned for that.” He gave his father’s hand a gentle squeeze. “We’re not even a part of this yet. This isn’t a direct attack upon the Empire, it’s an outflanking maneuver. They’re after legitimacy.”