Former Fake Becomes Grand Duke of the North

After the banquet ended, and it was time for everyone to return to their rooms, I took Grand Duke Kaltbrand and Knight Commander Bardin aside.

“I need to speak with both of you.” I said, keeping my voice low.

Their expressions grew serious at my words.

“Let us go to my study.” Grand Duke Kaltbrand said.

The three of us made our way to the Grand Duke’s study, which was the best place to hold a private conversation in the entire castle. Several nobles, who lingered in the halls near the banquet hall, tried to speak with Grand Duke Kaltbrand but he ignored them. Soon, we arrived at the study. However, to my surprise, we found a group of people waiting for us inside.

Elise sat on a wooden chair in the middle of the study, facing away from the door so we couldn’t see her face. Maria stood beside her, with her arms crossed and a harsh expression on her face. Claus, House Kaltbrand’s spymaster, stood on Elise’s other side. He wore an indifferent expression, but I saw the coldness in his eyes.

“Oh, good,” I said, “This saves me some time.”

“What is going on?” The Grand Duke asked with a frown, looking between the three of them.

Claus nodded towards Elise.

“Dame Elise Meyers is a spy.” The spymaster said. “My people overheard her talking with one of her comrades.” He gestured towards me. “Lord Wulfe can confirm this. He was there as well.”

Grand Duke Kaltbrand and Knight Commander Bardin looked over at me. I nodded. The knight commander’s expression grew cold. I resisted the urge to step back when I saw it. This was the angriest I have ever seen her before. Thank the gods I wasn’t the target of her ire. A small part of me felt sorry for Elise, but only a small part.

Knight Commander Bardin marched over to Elise, picked her up by the throat and slammed her onto the ground. If she had done that to a regular human, they would have died. Elise, an Aura Expert, just let out a groan of pain.

“You traitorous little rat.” Knight Commander Bardin said, her voice calm despite the anger in her eyes. “I’ll make you pay for making a mockery of me and the Order of the Coldsteel Blade. I would kill you here and now, except I know that Claus would want to interrogate you first. So, if you want to stay alive, I suggest you tell him everything you know.” She released her pressure at full force. “Otherwise, I’ll start carving pieces off of you one by one.”

My eyes widened. This was a side to Knight Commander Bardin I hadn’t seen before. Even when we fought demonic beasts together, she hadn’t been this malicious and cruel. Then again, she just found out that one of her subordinates, one of her people, had betrayed her. Of course she was angry.

Grand Duke Kaltbrand joined Knight Commander Bardin, his eyes glowing with power. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he just stood there, a lord ready to render judgment on the damned. The light in his eyes seemed to dance and flicker, like flames. Was this the legendary coldfire, from which House Kaltbrand derived its name? Confronted by these two, I was surprised Elise was still conscious.

“Don’t bother, Knight Commander Bardin,” Claus said. “She refuses to talk.”

“Oh?” the knight commander said. She pulled a dagger out of her dress. Where had she been hiding it? “That won’t be a problem.”

Claus put a hand on her shoulder.

“While I would let you go ahead under normal circumstances,” the spymaster said, “I think it would be more expedient to let Lord Wulfe deal with her. She said she would speak to him and no one else. Otherwise, I would have started interrogating her myself.”

At that, Grand Duke Kaltbrand and Knight Commander Bardin looked my way.

“Why?” the grand duke asked.

“I think I know why.” I said.

At that, I explained what happened to everyone, starting with my visit to the orphanage and ending with Elise’s conversation with the spy disguising himself as a House Kaltbrand servant.

“The only reason we even know that Elise is a spy is because she decided to reveal it to us.” I said after my explanation. “Otherwise, none of us would have suspected her.”

Of all the people I expected to be a spy, Elise and the other Coldsteel Knights were low on that list.

“Not only that,” I continued, “She could have told her comrades about my visits, and set up an ambush, but she hadn’t. At the very least, we should take that into account.”

“Why?” Knight Commander Bardin asked, still glaring down at Elise.

“I think she wants something from me.” I said. “Let me speak with her. We don’t have to resort to torture just yet.”

Knight Commander Bardin didn’t respond and continued to glare at Elise. Grand Duke Kaltbrand put a hand on her shoulder.

“Sofie.” He said in a soft voice.

Knight Commander Bardin clicked her tongue in displeasure.

“Fine,” she spat out, letting go of Elise’s throat, “We’ll do it your way. For now.”

With that, she retracted her pressure and stepped away from Elise’s prone form. Grand Duke Kaltbrand nodded at me. I stepped forward and reached a hand out towards Elise. The woman sat up and rubbed her throat, staring at my outstretched hand. After some internal debate on her part, she took my hand and I helped her stand up. I gestured to the chair she sat in before, which remained standing and intact by some miracle. Elise sat down. The entire time, she never said a single word.

“You understand the situation you are in,” I said, “So I won’t bother with the theatrics. Tell us everything you know, or I’ll let Mom use that dagger on you.”

Elise shook her head.

“No,” she said, “Not until you fulfill my conditions first.”

I gave her a cold smile.

“You’re in no position to negotiate, Elise.” I said, deliberately leaving out her title. A knight who betrayed her lord was no knight at all. “After what you’ve done, you’re lucky to still be alive.”

Elise snorted.

“My life is forfeit,” she said, “I’ve already accepted that. No matter how this plays out, I won’t survive. So, don’t bother trying to threaten my life. It won’t work. The only thing in doubt is whether I’ll tell you what I know before I die. If you want that to happen, you’ll do as I ask.”

I narrowed my eyes at Elise. She had a point. There was only so much information one could gain from torture. Not only that, but the accuracy of said information wouldn’t always be accurate. An individual suffering from torture would say anything to end the pain.

“What do you want?” I asked.

At this, Elise faltered. Her mask cracked, revealing her anger and fear.

“Please,” she said, “Save my little brother, Thomas. Otherwise, they’ll kill him.”

Knight Commander Bardin scoffed.

“Brother?” She asked. “Don’t make me laugh. If you were going to lie, you should have come up with something more believable.”

I gave the knight commander a questioning look, but Claus was the one who answered me.

“Baron Meyers, Dame Elise’s father, doesn’t have a son.” He said. “Dame Elise doesn’t have a brother.” He shook his head. “Not even a bastard.”

“Elise Meyers doesn’t have a brother.” Elise retorted. “I do.”

“You’re not Elise Meyers?” I asked.

Elise, or whoever she was, shook her head.

“No, I am not.” she said.

Claus stiffened at this. I didn’t blame him. An imposter using someone else’s name had managed to sneak into Kaltbrand Castle, and he hadn’t even noticed. He wasn’t the only one either. Knight Commander Bardin’s expression grew even darker, which I hadn’t thought was possible.

“Then who are you?” I asked.

“Ellen.” she said, saying the word as if savoring it. “My name is Ellen.”

For some reason, that tickled my memory. Ellen and Thomas. Why did that sound familiar?

“Very well, Ellen.” I said. “You want us to rescue your brother, Thomas.”

“Yes,” she said, “House Meyers has him. Rescue him from that place, and I’ll tell you everything that I know, including who I serve.” She smirked at Claus. “You’ve been searching for the person interfering with House Kaltbrand’s succession, haven’t you? I know who it is. Save my brother and I’ll give you their name.”

Claus narrowed his eyes at her.

“Why should we bother with such an onerous task, when I can just force you to tell us?” He asked. “We’ve indulged you so far, but at this point, I think it’ll be easier to force you to tell us.”

Ellen looked at me. She didn’t say anything, she just looked.

“No.” I said.

Claus looked at me.

“You aren’t seriously considering her proposal, are you?” He asked, scoffing. “Now that we know she has the knowledge we need, we should just force it out of her.” He gestured to Ellen. “Everything she’s done so far, including asking you for help, could all be an elaborate trap on our enemies’ part. We shouldn’t fall for her tricks.”

I met Claus’ eyes without flinching.

“I said no.”

Claus looked over at Grand Duke Kaltbrand.

“Let Wulfe deal with Ellen.” He said. “I want to see how he handles it.”

Claus looked ready to argue with him, but acquiesced in the end. I gave the Grand Duke a nod of thanks, before turning back towards Ellen.

“Why me?” I asked her. “Why ask me for help?” I gestured to Claus. “As he said, this could all be a trap in order to bait us into making a move. So, before we go any further, tell me why you asked for my help in particular.”

Ellen sighed.

“You’re the only one who would care.” She said in a quiet voice. “The people I work for just see me as a tool. A useful tool, but a tool all the same, and just as easily discarded. Once I’m no longer useful, they’ll kill me and my brother to get rid of any loose ends.” She nodded towards Grand Duke Kaltbrand and Knight Commander Sofie. “Everyone else in this room just sees me as a traitor. If it weren’t for you, they would have tortured me already. You’re the only one I can rely on to save my brother.”

I narrowed my eyes at her.

“What makes you think I care about what happens to you or your brother?” I asked. “Is it because of what I did for the orphanages?”

Ellen barked out a laugh at this.

“Do you think I would risk Thomas’ life over something so flimsy?” she scoffed. “No, it’s because we look out for each other. That’s how it works. We watch each other’s backs, because no one else will. It’s been ten years since we last saw each other, but that hasn’t changed. Isn’t that right, Wolfie?”

My eyes widened and I stared at her in shock. The clues came together. Ellen and Thomas. I remembered now. Ellen was Squirrel’s real name and Thomas was Little Squirrel’s real name. It had been so long that I had forgotten about it until now. However, that couldn’t be right. The woman before me looked nothing like the scrawny little orphan girl I remembered. Well, their eyes looked similar now that I thought about it, but that was it. In my memory, Squirrel had fluffy brown hair that covered the upper half of her face. The woman before me had short blonde hair.

“Squirrel?” I asked, incredulous.

Ellen smiled at that.

“You remember me.” She said. “For a second there, I thought you hadn’t. Not that I blame you. I look nothing like I used to.” She nodded towards me. “Then again, neither do you. The only reason I recognized you at all was because of the story you told to that little boy, Peter. Black hair and blue eyes aren't exactly rare in these parts. An orphan from Towerton named Wulfram? There’s only one person I can think of who matches that description.”

While I still had my doubts, I was beginning to believe that the woman in front of me was in fact Squirrel, one of the orphans I grew up with.

“What is going on?” Knight Commander Bardin growled. “Wolfie? Squirrel? What kind of names are those?”

“They’re nicknames the orphans gave each other, back in the orphanage I grew up in.” I explained. “Mine was Wolfie, because my name was Wulfram.” I nodded at Ellen. “Hers was Squirrel because of her fluffy hair.” I looked at Ellen’s hair. “Though, the name doesn’t fit anymore.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Ellen said, shaking her head. “My hair became lighter as I grew older, and I keep it short so it doesn’t cover half my face anymore.”

I studied Ellen. Her situation must have been more desperate than she let on if she was willing to gamble her brother’s life on someone she hadn’t seen in ten years. I guess she was relying on my sentimentality and sympathy. It wasn’t a bad plan, given my tendencies.

“Please, Wolfie,” Ellen said, clasping her hands together as in prayer and bowing her head, “Rescue Thomas. Unlike me, he doesn’t deserve to die. He’s innocent.”

I mulled it over for a moment.

“You’re right,” I said, “Those of us in the orphanage looked after each other and watched each other’s backs.” Ellen looked up, her eyes filled with hope. However, her expression fell at my next words. “However, we also learned not to be pushovers.” I nodded towards her. “You’re asking me to take a serious risk in order to rescue your younger brother. I’m amenable to that. That said, if you want my help, you have to give something in return first. It doesn’t have to be much. Just something that proves that what you know is worth the risk.”

Ellen let out a sound that was a mix of a chuckle and a sigh.

“Fair enough.” She said. “I suppose it was too much to ask for everything in return for nothing. I’ll tell you about the man I met with, Bernhard. In the hierarchy of the…organization I am a part of, he is my direct superior. He is the one in charge of the agents here in Frostheart.” She looked over at Claus. “And yes, I mean agents, as in I’m not the only one.”

With my peripheral vision, I noticed Claus’ left eye twitch. Apparently, some kind of mysterious organization had planted its agents right under his nose, and he hadn’t noticed. As the spymaster for House Kaltbrand, that must have stung his pride.

“Like the other agents,” Ellen continued, “I report to him and he reports to his own superiors.” She shrugged. “I don’t know how far-reaching the organization is, but I know they have agents in every major city and every important noble house within the Barrens.” She snorted. “Though, before you panic, most of us aren’t in any positions of real power. I’m the highest ranked agent in Frostheart, second only to Bernhard.”

I caught how she said “most of us”, meaning that there were some agents of this organization that were in positions of real power. That was troubling. I glanced over at the others. Grand Duke Kaltbrand and Knight Commander Bardin looked unhappy about this news, while Claus looked downright furious. Maria, who hadn’t said or done anything this entire time, continued to glare down at Ellen.

“I suspect that he, or his superior, was the one behind the attack on Lady Adelheid, though I don’t know this with any certainty.” Ellen said. “However, given our organization’s goal, it’s fitting.”

“And what goal is that?” I asked.

Ellen gave me a tight smile and didn’t respond.

“Can you confirm this, Claus?” Grand Duke Kaltbrand asked. “Was this Bernhard responsible for the attack on Lady Adelheid?”

Claus took a moment before responding.

“It’s not implausible.” He admitted with a frown. “As I reported to you before, the person who hired Lady Adelheid’s assailants was a vassal of House Arbeit. However, I couldn’t find any clues as to who pulled his strings. Unfortunately, the man died before my people could take him into custody and interrogate him.” His frown deepened. “He hung himself in an apparent suicide.”

Ellen shook her head.

“Loose end.” She said with a grim expression on her face.

I grimaced. If this organization was willing to go to such lengths to hide their existence, just how far were they willing to go?

“A vassal of House Arbeit sending a bunch of Aura Experts to attack Lady Adelheid?” I said. “If that ever became public knowledge, a war would break out between House Gerhard and House Arbeit.”

Grand Duke Kaltbrand nodded.

“I know,” he said, “Which was why I decided to keep it between Claus and myself for now.”

“You should have told me.” Knight Commander Bardin said in a biting tone. “I am your right hand after all.”

The Grand Duke gave her an apologetic look.

“You were stressed out enough dealing with security for the castle and becoming my fiancée,” he explained, “I didn’t want to burden you further.”

Knight Commander Bardin snorted at this, but otherwise let it go.

“It doesn’t matter.” Ellen interjected. “If Bernhard, or his superior, is involved, he’ll leak the information. It aligns with the organization’s goal. The only reason why he hasn’t already is because he’s waiting for the most opportune moment.” She shrugged. “Of course, this is all conjecture on my part. It’s quite possible that the organization I work for had nothing to do with the attack on Lady Adelheid. Either way, they will use it to their advantage somehow.”

I opened my mouth to ask her another question, but Ellen spoke up first.

“I’ve told you enough,” she said, “Now it’s your turn. Rescue my brother, and I’ll tell you everything I know.” She nodded at me. “You should hurry. It won’t be long before Bernhard realizes that you’ve captured me or that I’ve defected. By then, it’ll be too late to save my brother.” She gave me a grim smile. “If that happens, I’ll kill myself and take everything I know with me.”

From the look in her eyes, I saw that she meant every word.

“Why bother?” Maria scoffed, speaking up for the first since I entered the study. “We can just take this Bernhard into custody and interrogate him.”

Ellen smirked.

“You can try.” She said. “While he seems weak, Bernhard is an Aura Expert who learned how to conceal his mana signature.” She nodded at Claus. “He also trained his nose in order to deal with your tricks. It’s how he managed to avoid the Blue Shadows’ notice until now. He can smell you coming. If you go after him, he’ll disappear before you reach him. That’s why I met with him in the western garden tonight, so he wouldn’t notice you, Wolfie.”

My blood ran cold as the implication of her words hit me. I looked over at Maria. Fear that mirrored my own filled her eyes.

“Rosalind.” We said at the same time, before dashing out of the office.

The others called out to us, but we ignored them and prayed that we weren’t too late to rescue Rosalind.