Foreign Object
Julian, The Kingdom of Aeris, during the events of Beg Forgiveness
"I personally will stab you in the eye with a foreign object." - The Mountain Goats
Julian, The Kingdom of Aeris, during the events of Beg Forgiveness
"I personally will stab you in the eye with a foreign object." - The Mountain Goats
Xotll’s task had been easy. Round up everyone waylaid by snakes. It had been more time consuming than anything, really! A lot of them had been large and pretty heavy, so she was glad she’d had help.
Her office, an off-shoot of Grilka’s, had been the last place to check. She hadn’t really expected anyone to be there. No one would be stupid enough! Which was why she was very surprised when she opened her office door and found a grown man, a small child, and a large constrictor snake.
The grown man was on the floor, taking up a lot of the real estate in the fairly small office, which she kept decorated with potted plants and terrariums on the shelves in a somewhat excessive quantity. It helped her feel more comfortable, deep in a castle which itself was deep in a city. The large constrictor snake was also on the floor, wrapped around the man in tight-but-not-squeezing loops from shoulder to shin. The little boy was sitting on top of both of them, looking a bit bored.
The man had something sticking out of his left eye socket. There was a pool of blood seeping into the rocks of the floor around his head.
There were protocols in place, sort of, for when emergencies happened. Or at least, Julian assumed that was what was happening. Emergencies didn’t happen a lot when there was a dragon in residence, and this was the first real crisis that Julian had experienced in the two years he’d been living in Aeris’ castle.
The kids would go with their assorted guardians to assorted safe places. Julian had been in the library, so he should have gone to find Miss Bridget, probably. A good gambit; most children would be hard-pressed to imagine being safer than they would be with a pissed-off werewolf guarding them.
But Julian had his own protocols. He had learned lessons from people other than his tutors. He knew what to do in a crisis.
Also, the problem was rats. Rats weren’t even a crisis. They were just rats. Weird rats, behaving weirdly, but it didn’t take a genius to notice they weren’t attacking people and, in fact, would scatter if attacked, rather than swarm.
If the issue was rats, the solution was simple: go where they wouldn’t. And Julian knew a place absolutely chock full of snakes.
He didn’t actually go all the way into Grilka’s office, but only because ey didn’t seem to be there. Ey didn’t scare him; in fact, he rather liked his big sister’s boss. Ey was cool, and not just because of all the scales. But when ey wasn’t in residence, there were normally a number of guard snakes who were, and Julian didn’t feel like getting trapped by a constrictor again when he was just supposed to be hiding. So instead, he stayed in the front room, where Xotll’s desk was. Still an area with plenty of snakes. The rats would stay clear, and if something else went wrong... if, say, this was all a smokescreen to cover up some other plan... Julian wouldn’t be where he was expected to be. And no one would be stupid enough to go where there was normally a large and extremely deadly naga.
It was a good plan. He stood by it. He really hadn’t been expecting anyone to come in, let alone notice him under the desk, but well, he had protocols in place, sort of, for when emergencies happened.
“Julian?” Xotll said, recognizing him quickly as Emma’s little one, who was always trailing around behind Avi or Grilka.
“Hi, Xotll,” he said evenly. He was very good at staying calm, so it wasn’t too surprising, but she might have guessed that any nine year old would be upset by the presence of a corpse.
“Why aren’t you with the other children?” she asked, which didn’t seem, in retrospect, like it should have been her most pressing question.
“Emma told me that during an Incident, the most dangerous place to be is where everyone expects you to be,” he replied, eyes serious and earnest despite all the blood splatter.
“What happened?”
“He came in and was rummaging around in your desk,” Julian explained, kicking against the dead man’s hip with his heel. “I expected him to go into Grilka’s office, but I guess he knew there were snakes in there. He’s wearing the King’s Guard uniform, after all.”
“That’s not what I... I meant the... wait, is that my parcel opener?”
“It was on your desk.”
Xotll gasped, a horrifying image popping to mind. “Oh no! Did he threaten you with it?” This poor child! A wonder he wasn’t more shaken.
“No,” Julian replied, as even as ever.
The man who had come into Xotll’s office was armed.
It was just a sword, but he had it drawn. It made Julian glad that he’d swiped Xotll’s parcel opener off her desk when he’d come in. Most adults didn’t want you to have a sharp object, but Emma had taught him how to handle knives when he was seven.
Julian appreciated adults who didn’t treat him like a baby.
Still, it was a big man with a big sword and Julian was a very small man with a very small blade. Not great odds, but he kept it clutched close and crouched in a back corner of the darkness underneath the desk.
The man bent down, maybe to get something out of a drawer. Julian didn’t like his odds for remaining undiscovered. He also didn’t like his odds taking on a grown man with a sword who’d come to the spymaster’s office while dressed in the King’s Guard uniform. He wasn’t supposed to be here. He wouldn’t appreciate being witnessed.
Emma had once told him that it was better to ask forgiveness then to ask clarification, in certain circumstances. Julian strongly felt that this was one of them.
Most people might have given off a savage little battle cry, but Julian was silent as he launched himself out from under the desk at the man, who was bent over in such a way as to make swinging his sword unpractical.
He was a small boy with a small blade, but it didn’t need to be that long if it was sharp and you knew where to stick it.
“You stabbed him in the eye?”
“I mean... obviously.” Julian gestures over towards the man’s head, the parcel opener still sticking out of his eye socket.
“Well, yes, I meant... just...” Xotll wasn’t sure what the appropriate thing to say in this situation was.
“He had a sword,” Julian reasoned. “He might have stabbed me. Emma says that if a strange adult grabs me--”
“No need to say what Emma says,” Xotll said wearily. Emma was one of Grilka’s spies. Xotll really shouldn’t have been surprised at all. He was just so small and cute, though! It was hard to connect the boy she’d seen trip and fall on his face while chasing lizards with this small, serious fellow who’d just killed a man. Unless the snake...?
“The snake came later,” he added, pouting at the snake as if he was worried it would get all the credit. Or perhaps he was just sour that it was late. “And wrapped him up even though he wasn’t moving at all.”
Well. That probably answered that.
“Well. Why don’t we go to where the other children are, now that the danger is passed, and--”
“If the danger was passed,” Julian said, rolling his eyes, “you wouldn’t want me to go be with the other children.”
“I’m not going to just leave you in here with--” With a corpse. Xotll sighed at the stubborn set to the tiny boy’s jaw. “Alright. Well, why don’t we go find Grilka, then?” She needed to check back in with em anyway.
Julian’s expression brightened at this. “Ey're not busy?”
“A little. You’ll have to stay quiet and out of the way.” Ey was already babysitting one of the King’s children. Another would hardly hurt. Probably.
Julian nodded seriously. “Sorry about your parcel opener,” he added. “It’s really stuck.”
“That’s... fine. I’m just glad you’re alright.” She reached down, and Julian reached up, lacing their hands so she could lead him away from what was, technically, his first and hopefully only murder.
He didn’t seem particularly traumatized. She’d just have Taus keep an eye on him. It would be fine.
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