Grand Game 591: A Declaration of Intent

Kartara gasped.

The others, already on edge, half-rose, hands on weapons.

The huntmistress raised a hand, only slightly shaky. “It’s alright. I’m fine.”

“What is?” Duskar demanded. “What did he do?”

“He gave me a trait,” Kartara murmured absently while she craned her head left and right. She was trying to get a fix on the other rifts, I imagined.

Senzo frowned. “What sort of trait?”

The huntmistress’ attention snapped back to her subordinates. “Rift sense. It has revealed the presence of three other rifts in the sector.”

That bald statement only renewed the trio’s anxiety.

“They pose no danger,” I assured them. “The rifts are even farther away than the mature tree’s nest, and lower leveled than the one we just closed.”

“He’s right,” Kartara said before anyone could argue with my assessment. “We’re safe.” She turned my way. “This is a remarkable trait. How did your faction get it?”

She deliberately did not call the Forerunners by name, I noted, for which fact I was glad. “The trait is newly acquired,” I admitted. “The Adjudicator awarded it to us after the tree’s fall.”

Senzo whistled softly. “Damn, that’s a nice reward.”

“Why didn’t we get anything like that?” Duskar complained.

Cait rolled her eyes. “Perhaps, because we didn’t do anything except kill a few nagas.”

“The brotherhood did more than that,” I countered. “And assuming you are willing to join my faction, this trait can be yours too.”

Cait did not reply, nor did Senzo or Duskar, but as one, their gazes found Kartara. 

“It’s a remarkable trait,” the huntmistress repeated, feeling the regard of the others. “And there is no doubt it will be of immense help in any future rift dives we attempt.” She inhaled. “But—”

I closed my eyes, realizing what her decision was going to be.

“—we cannot join your faction,” Kartara finished.

I didn’t let any of my disappointment show. “Why?” 

“For all the reasons Senzo gave earlier,” she stated forthrightly. “The brotherhood cannot afford to disappear from the minds of the Game’s players. Our role is not just to fight the void, but to be seen fighting the void. That way we can serve as an example that will hopefully encourage some of them to do the right thing and take up the fight as well.” 

The huntmistress paused. “Then, too, there is yourself to consider. I cannot claim to know what you are or why the Game’s Powers want you dead, but it would be remiss of me not to consider the implications of your earlier pronouncements. You claimed the truth would make you a pariah—and any allied with you—and I believe you.”

She blew out a troubled breath. “The Kingdom cannot afford for the brotherhood to become refugees, Havick. We have to be able to operate in sectors where the Powers rule. We cannot risk being actively hunted by them.” She stared at me searchingly. “Do you understand?”

I wanted to say I didn’t, but I did. I sighed. “I do. So, where does that leave us?”

“As allies?” she offered.

My brows furrowed. “How would allying with me be any different from joining my faction? The brotherhood will still be tainted by association.”

Kartara leaned forward. “You’re right. The brotherhood cannot openly join forces with you, nor can we support your faction in any conflict it engages in, but that’s not to say we cannot come to an understanding of sorts.”

“An ‘understanding’,” I murmured. “Then it’s a secret alliance you’re proposing?”

She nodded. “I am.”

I rubbed my chin. “Go on, then. I’m listening.”

She shrugged. “There is not much more to it. What I’m proposing is simple. The brotherhood will arm and fund your people. From our prior discussions, I gather your faction is short on money, supplies, and weapons. We can provide all that.”

I nodded slowly. All those were things the Forerunners required. But we needed more too. “What about manpower—players?”

She shook her head. “Regrettably, we can’t provide that. The brotherhood will not lend your faction direct military aid again.”

“Why not?” I objected. “I get the brotherhood not wanting to get involved in a factional war, but surely you can—and should—join forces with us against the void?”

“We can’t,” she reiterated. “As it is, after today alone, there will be many unanswerable questions.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

Her look turned wry. “Have you forgotten? You entered the battle as a harbinger and were seen battling a flying void tree. What’s worse, you won, and in full view of all two thousand of my people.”

My frown deepened. “Are you saying—”

“No one will deliberately betray you,” Kartara interjected. “And in fact, except for the four of us, there are only a handful of others who know Havick and the harbinger are one and the same.” She shook her head. “But a harbinger fighting a void tree? And defeating it? That tale is too fantastic not to get out. People will talk. It’s inevitable. And eventually, the factions will send their spies to find out how the brotherhood managed to slay a void tree and to learn more about the harbinger who betrayed the void.”

I bowed my head. The huntmistress was right, and if I’d time to think through the matter myself, I’d likely have come to the same conclusion. After today, the brotherhood was bound to attract significant attention from the new Powers. 

And once the Game’s factions started digging, sooner or later, my own involvement would come to light.

“It’s not all bad, though,” Kartara added. “Senzo has a plan.”

I looked up. “A plan?”

The spymaster nodded. “Yes. We can’t hide the truth of what happened here today, but we can obfuscate it, piling lies atop lies. When I’m done, there will be so many rumors flying through the rank and file, it will take someone weeks—or months, if we’re lucky—to separate the truth from fiction.”

“Weeks,” I repeated, not liking the estimate one bit. “That still implies that the truth will get out.”

Senzo grimaced. “Unfortunately, the truth usually does. There is no way we can hide what happened indefinitely. Eventually, one of the Game’s factions will realize the brotherhood had help from an outside Power, and that will only further their curiosity as to what occurred.”

My lips thinned. As much as I wanted to dispute the spymaster’s assessment, I couldn’t. I turned back to the huntmistress. “And what does the brotherhood get out of a secret alliance?”

“Knowledge for one,” she replied promptly. “Your help for another—with you by our side, I foresee more victories for the brotherhood in the near future. And finally, there is rift sense.”

My brows rose. “You will stay in my faction, then?”

“If we can come to an agreement, yes. And assuming we do, I will also select a few more of my people to join your faction—in secret, of course—so that they too can gain access to its factional trait.”

I nodded. What the huntmistress was proposing made sense and would benefit both the Forerunners and the brotherhood in the long run. There were still a few more issues to iron out, though. “What sort of help are you expecting from me? Personally, I mean. Given that you can’t afford any more rumors to spread, I gather you will not want me openly slaying void trees again.”

“Definitely not,” she said firmly. “We will have to take more care in our future battles to keep your involvement secret.”

My lips turned down. 

“It’s an unnecessary complication, I agree,” Kartara said, noticing my expression, “but it’s not something that can be helped. One dead void tree is difficult enough to explain. Multiple slain void trees would be impossible. ” 

She was right. Even leaving my bloodline out of the equation, openly killing the void trees would attract too much attention—and of the wrong sort.

“So, do we have a deal?” Kartara asked.

Clasping my hands together, I bit gently down on my knuckles while I thought the matter through. The huntmistress’ proposal was a good one and would give me nearly everything I wanted—in the short term, anyway. 

The sticking point was the gossip that was already circulating among the brotherhood ranks. Senzo’s plan for dealing with it was far from ideal and meant that eventually, the brotherhood—and the Power who had aided them—would eventually become of significant interest to the new Powers.

But perhaps, there was a better way to stop the rumors from spreading.

“I have an alternative to propose,” I said.

The huntmistress tilted her head to the side. “Oh?”

“You said the army will talk, and I get that. But that only becomes a problem if they rejoin the Game.”

Kartara’s brows creased. “I’m not sure what you’re—”

“What if the official version of the battle is that the brotherhood lost.”

Kartara blinked. “Lost?”

“Yes, what if none of your people return—except for you and a few carefully selected individuals to carry back the tale of the brotherhood’s defeat, of course.”

“Where would they go?” Cait asked, confused.

“To his faction obviously,” Duskar growled, his face growing heated. “The bastard is asking us to gift him our entire army!”

“That’s one possibility, certainly,” I said blandly. “And naturally, I am not unopposed to the notion.”

Duskar’s face grew more incensed.

Chuckling, I went on. “In fact, they could even—” 

“Stop toying with Dusk, Havick,” Kartara instructed, looking far less amused than I was. “You must know I will not surrender my people to you. No matter how well intentioned you appear, the players you are talking about are brotherhood soldiers and my responsibility—and will remain so.”

“I was fairly certain you’d feel that way.” I smiled. “But you have to admit, leaving your army in my care would make things easier.”

“Enough,” the huntmistress said tersely. “That’s not an option and you know it. So, out with it. What are you really proposing?”

I shrugged. “That they stay here.”

Senzo’s brows drew down. “Here?”

“Yes, here,” I said, my face growing serious again as I turned back to the huntmistress. “I think it’s high time the Brotherhood establishes a base in the Nethersphere, don’t you?”

“You want us to strand two thousand of our people in the nether?” Duskar spat. “How is that any better than letting them join you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. They won’t be stranded. They’ll be isolated, I agree—which is what we need them to be—but they will also be doing valuable work.” 

“Such as?” Senzo asked.

“Investigating the other rifts in the sector, for one. Seeing how the mature tree reacts to a long-time player presence for another. As far as I know, no one has actually tried to live in the Nethersphere before. How would the void trees react to such an incursion? And is it even possible?”

“Who cares?” Duskar protested. “Why would anyone want to live here?”

My eyes flickered to him. “Because like it or not, the brotherhood’s present tactics are not working.”

“What do you mean by that?” the orc demanded hotly.

“Come, I’ve seen the map of the fallen sectors in the brotherhood’s castle. It’s grown hasn’t it? I imagine a hundred years ago—or even fifty years ago—it wasn’t as large.”

Duskar jutted out his jaw stubbornly. “So?”

“So,” I said, drawing out the word, “that map alone is a clear indication that your strategy is failing. Your rift dives are not working. Face facts: the brotherhood is losing the war and the nether is expanding.”

“That’s unfair,” Senzo objected. “We lack the resources to take the fight properly to the void. If—”

“If what?” I interjected. “If the Powers suddenly had a change of heart and joined your cause? If you managed to recruit more players? Neither of those things are going to happen. You all know that.”

Silence fell over the brotherhood officers, and it fell to the huntmistress to break it. “What are you getting at, Havick?”

I leaned forward. “It’s time for a change,” I said softly. “It’s time to stop fighting this war on the nether’s terms, and start fighting it on your own.”