Entangled

Jinx woke up the next morning in a comfortable mood, the terrors of the previous night seeming less real by daylight. There wasn't any daylight, just the ever-present Rainmoor light, but Jinx decided that it would do for daylight, and he went into the dining room to find some breakfast. It was unfortunate that he'd made much of the breakfast food he'd found for Sean go away, but he managed to find some of it again.

Elanor came to join him, yawning. "What are you going to do today, Jinx?"

"I don't know. Maybe just stay here for a change. I still want to help King-Thomas and all that, but I want to take a day off. Do you want to have breakfast with me, Elanor?"

"Maybe. What are you having? Is it good?"

"Well, there isn't anything alive that you could sink your teeth into and rip to shreds," teased Jinx, "but I suppose I could look for raw meat. Does that help any?"

Elanor shuddered, reminded of her dream the night before. "No raw anything, please. What is there? I'm curious."

Elanor's tastes proved cautious: she hated the various egg things and many of the bread things, but she liked bacon and enjoyed the sweet syrup from the fried-bread stuff Jinx had found for Sean. By the time he'd finished eating, she'd grown tired of experimenting with people food and was finished herself. As they left the kitchen, there was a knocking at the door, and Jinx turned, then realized with surprise that it wasn't the door to the outside, but the door to Vernon's cave.

When Jinx opened it, King Thomas was standing there, looking unhappy. Vernon was behind him, saying "Be reasonable, Tom. Somebody's playing tricks on you, that's obvious. It doesn't mean you have to question Jinx..."

"Silence!" snapped the King, while Jinx was still trying to figure out how he got there.

"What do you want?" asked Jinx.

"You must come with me, Lord Jinx. I have gravely serious questions to ask."

"What, in Vernon's cave?"

King Thomas did not reply, but strode off across the rock floor without looking back. Jinx followed, and Elanor came right after him, almost treading on his paws in her haste. As the King neared the opposite wall, a passageway opened before him, evidently one of those King's Paths Peter had mentioned.

At the other end of the passageway was a strange place, much like a plane of some sort. Jinx was baffled by it, for it seemed familiar somehow, yet he'd never been to a place where the ground was white. There were mountains of a sort, also white, but they were lumpy and preposterous, and seemed to defy gravity. Had King-Thomas invented this place? The inexplicable familiarity nagged at him.

Jinx heard a moan from behind him, and looked back to see Elanor, who was being pushed out of the passageway as it closed up, and was struggling and trying to dig her claws in, looking down fixedly. Jinx looked down at the white ground himself, to see what was upsetting her, and at that moment the white under his feet drifted away, exposing more clouds miles below him. He froze, then reached down and touched Elanor gently. She was trembling, and looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes. "It's not real, Elanor." he said, trying to convince himself as well. "Pretend it's like the lonely place, and you're flying."

Elanor was not reassured, but she followed him anyway as he went up to King Thomas, who'd seated himself in a throne that was just like the floor, constructed of clouds and air.

"Lord Jinx," he said, "I have distressing news. First, I would ask what you know of Lord James's death."

"He's dead?"

"Did you know of this? Answer!"

"Jinx hadn't heard of it until just now. How did he die?"

"Ah. Well, he was clawed to death, as if by a giant cat, since you didn't know."

Jinx glanced at Elanor, nervously. She was preoccupied with staring down and thinking she was about to plummet to her death, and wasn't paying attention to the conversation. "Why are you asking me, King-Thomas?"

"Well, since you'd threatened him, and because of the nature of his injuries, it seemed most likely that you'd killed him. He had made a complaint against you, which I'd ignored."

"I don't even have claws, King-Thomas, and my teeth aren't the same as a real tiger's."

"You don't? I'd always assumed you had. Huh! That casts a new light on Ivan's claims, as well. Ivan claims that you visited him last night and attacked him, biting at his throat and causing him serious harm and great mental distress. Is that not so?"

"Um... I did visit him, but he got attacked by something else. When that happened, I ran away."

"True, but inconclusive. Could you explain that, please?"

Jinx stood there, baffled. In order to explain what he was running away from, he'd have to explain about Elanor attacking Ivan. He wasn't about to do that, since for all he knew it was Elanor who killed James: she'd certainly been in the right place at the right time, and he hadn't asked her if she happened to kill anybody on the way to Ivan's. The reason he was at Ivan's in the first place was because he'd been unable to sleep after his disturbing experience in the Astral Plane, and to explain what was disturbing about the Astral Plane he'd have to understand what had happened to him there. It was just too complicated.

"No." said Jinx, simply. The King stared at him, astonished.

"You speak the truth. Can you explain why you can't explain?"

"No." said Jinx, not even trying to figure out what that would involve.

"Hmmm... How frustrating. Well, even if you can't tell me what you were doing last night, perhaps you can confirm your innocence. Once more, did you kill James?"

"No."

"Did you attack Ivan?"

"No, he attacked me."

"He what? Why did he do that?"

"He said I'm supposed to kill the next King, which is him, and he didn't want that to happen."

King Thomas was silent, and Jinx wondered what he'd said that was so upsetting.

"I see. Did he give any reason for believing this?" said the King, finally.

"He talked to Robert before Robert went away."

"Is Ivan the Nameless Pretender?" demanded the King.

"I don't know. He acts like it, but he said he wasn't."

King Thomas brooded for a while, as Jinx fidgeted. "By the way," he said, "did Elanor kill James? It doesn't matter at this point, but she does have claws and teeth."

Jinx was about to speak, but Elanor interrupted him. "I didn't kill anybody! I don't know who this James is, and I did bite that Ivan person, but only because he was attacking my mate!"

The King was thunderstruck. "Elanor, what is this? Who taught you to speak?"

"Vernon did. Didn't he tell you?"

"He did not. What you say is true, Elanor, and it explains what happened to Ivan, but how was he trying to kill Jinx?"

"I don't know how, but he was. Can we go now? This place is scary."

The King sighed heavily. "Yes." he said. "Jinx cannot tell me more, I don't expect you to, and I should like to be alone now." He got up and began to walk out a King's Gate, which opened before him, and then stopped, having apparently used the wrong one. He went back, and began to walk out the Gate to Vernon's cave. It was strange to watch, since the Gates only appeared when the King tried to walk through them, winking into existence in mid-air, stone-walled tunnels in the clouds with insides but no outsides.

King-Thomas trudged slowly, staring at his feet. He seemed to have lost all trace of the agitation he'd had minutes before, and was peaceful, but terribly sad. As they approached the other end of the tunnel, he stumbled and put his hand against the wall to keep from falling over, as if too troubled to walk surely.

"What's wrong?" asked Elanor, noticing his distress.

"Ah, Elanor. It's nothing you can help, my dear. I had feared that Jinx would bring bad tidings, but the omens he brought are far worse. Let me pet your pretty head once more, my dear, for I may not get another chance."

At that, Elanor reared up on her hind legs, putting her paws gently on his shoulders and looking him in the eye. "Don't say that! Are you going to die?"

"So I hear."

"No! You mustn't! I'm not going to let anybody get you! "

King Thomas hugged her, deeply moved. "There's nothing you can do, Elanor."

"There is so! I'm going to go and kill that Ivan person, right now!"

They'd gone far enough that the passage opened into Vernon's cave, and the dragon, hearing this exchange, inquired "What is all this, Tom? Bad omens?"

King Thomas released Elanor, who dropped to all fours as usual, and as they entered the cave, he informed the dragon, "Neither Jinx nor Elanor killed James. Elanor attacked Ivan, but she was unbearably provoked and cannot be blamed for that. And it seems that you misread the information from Robert, Vernon. Jinx is not fated to kill me. Jinx is fated to kill Ivan, after Ivan kills me."

"You don't say! Why, that makes perfect sense! Why didn't I think of that? I remember that there was something about that message that had me wondering, and you've cleared it up wonderfully!"

King Thomas groaned, and strode back into the passageway, which promptly closed up behind him.

"You hurt his feelings, Vernon!" accused Elanor.

"Did I? I suppose I did, at that. You can't blame me for being pleased, though: I've been trying to work out what that omen meant ever since I got it, and now it all becomes perfectly clear. Jinx kills Ivan after Ivan kills Tom, and Ivan is Nameless, and it all makes sense."

"Ivan said he wasn't Nameless, and King-Thomas doesn't want to be killed." said Jinx.

"Of course he doesn't want to be killed, but he's had a full, satisfying life," said Vernon, with the callousness of one who has centuries yet to live. "He wouldn't last another forty years, maybe not even thirty, even if nobody was going to kill him. I don't expect him to appreciate it, but at least he'll be spared the slow, lingering death some of the Kings of Rainmoor have had. He's not so bad off."

"But don't you want to help him? I thought you liked him!" said Jinx.

"How? When Rainmoor decides to do something, and the magic of Rainmoor starts to guide events, there's no stopping it. Rainmoor does not make mistakes, Jinx. Tom knows that perfectly well, and he can accept it. Nobody's asking him to be happy about it. Look at it this way, Jinx, at least you'll get to kill Ivan and avenge Tom's death. Then Charles will be King, and you can go home."

"Can't I kill Ivan before he kills King-Thomas? Besides, how do you know that Ivan is Nameless? He said he wasn't."

"Be reasonable, Jinx. Who else would it be? He's tried to accuse you of attacking him, last night, and I know that you were in no condition to do any such thing. You probably were out like a light the moment your head hit the pillow. You see, Ivan had no way of knowing that you'd just that night dared the Astral Plane, and that you were left too exhausted and drained to go anywhere..."

"No, I couldn't sleep, so I went out and wandered around. I met Ivan and James, but James left, so I went with Ivan to his place, and he tried to kill me."

"What?" exclaimed the dragon. "You did what? Run that by me again."

Jinx started over, and ended up telling the entire story to the fascinated dragon, down to the smallest details. As soon as he'd finished, Vernon began questioning him closely.

"Now, what was it Ivan said to James, when James walked past you and left?"

"Something about how maybe he could fix both of their problems."

"Roughly translated, that means both of them want you dead. I suppose I shouldn't count James, as he's dead himself. I have to wonder if there are others also conspiring against you."

"They better not." said Elanor darkly. "Just because I didn't kill this James.."

"Please, Elanor!" replied Vernon. "Try and control your predatory instincts! You don't seem to understand how delicate your situation is. I'm not so concerned that anyone's going to sneak in and murder you in the night, I'm thinking about the effect of public opinion! Do you think Tom's in a position to stand up for you at this point? Do you think he'll throw away what loyalty he commands on your behalf, if the nobles of Rainmoor insist that you be put to death?"

"No!" said Jinx. "I didn't do anything, and neither did Elanor, and King-Thomas knows it! He said we were telling the truth!"

Vernon gazed levelly at him. "And what if he is lying? He'd have reason to, if you were doing these killings on his behalf. What did he hire you for, anyway?"

"You think I killed James." said Jinx, unbelievingly.

"I didn't say that. I said, what if Tom is lying? Am I to believe that, since the King can't be lied to directly when granting an audience, therefore he cannot tell a lie himself? And how should I know whether you killed James or not? Frankly, it's no great loss to the human species even if you did. I can tell you, however, that the other nobles will definitely think you killed James, that you attacked Ivan, that you're not safe to have around. The same goes for Elanor, of course."

"Why would they think that? They don't even know me!" protested Elanor. Jinx said nothing, for he felt the truth of it. He, not Elanor, had been run out of towns, hunted, driven away, and it really didn't matter that these people didn't know him. That had never stopped them before.

Vernon had been watching Jinx closely. "Jinx, perhaps you could explain to her? I suspect that you understand what I'm saying."

Jinx looked at the dragon, then at Elanor, and when he saw her puzzled, hurt expression, he said, simply, "No."

"You can't? I'm surprised at you, Jinx. I know you've seen this sort of thing before, surely you can recognize it, explain to Elanor that there's nothing you can do?"

"No. I never liked living that way, but I refuse to make Elanor live that way."

"Live what way?" asked Elanor.

"Guilty." said Jinx. "Elanor, we're going to go out and talk to people, and try to find out who did kill James. I don't know what we should say if they ask us about Ivan, but I'll think of something."

"Ah, Jinx?" said Vernon.

"Don't you try to talk me out of it!"

"No, I was only going to suggest that you tell the truth about Ivan. What you told me was convincing, because it's just the sort of thing Ivan would do and everybody knows it."

"You believe that part, do you?" said Jinx, exasperated.

"It seems probable." replied the dragon. "Nothing is certain, but some things are more likely than others. That Ivan should try to lure you to his rooms and do away with you is exceedingly likely."

"Jinx accepts your apology, if that was one." said Jinx, and left, with Elanor tagging along behind him, to the sound of dragonish chuckling.

King Thomas sat on his throne of clouds, bemused. Lord Charles, upon hearing the latest events, had asked for an audience, and was passionately laying out his plan for doing away with Lord Ivan.

"I shall need your help, my liege, in luring him out. What you must do..."

"Charles, are you suggesting that you can foil his plot? There is reason to believe all this, these events, are guided by Rainmoor itself. Do you seriously believe that you change the course of events, and save my life?"

"My liege, if I can have your help, Lord Ivan will not be able to murder you."

"But you say you will bring me his head! Isn't that rather brutal? I'm surprised at you, Charles, I would not have believed you capable of such an act. I admit it sounds like a thorough way of stopping him, but must you do it that way?"

"I must. No other way is fitting."

"I'm flattered by your loyalty, Charles, but can't you tell me more? You want me to send word to Ivan, to tell all the nobles that you, yourself have been exposed as the Nameless Pretender, and to gather in the Great Hall for your execution! What on earth do you have in mind?"

"My liege, Lord Ivan may have, to some extent, the ability to read thoughts. That would explain much, because if he knows that people think him the Nameless Pretender his actions make sense. He is in seclusion in his rooms, and nobody could kill him there. You must tell all that I am the guilty one, so he will feel safe and come out."

"That's going to be hard on Peter, you know. He suggested you."

"Peter's feelings will just have to suffer. These are desperate times, and I am suggesting desperate measures."

"And what then?"

"I shall hide behind the door, and when he enters the Great Hall I will attack and lop off his head. That is the only way I can think of to kill this dangerous man, my liege."

"There is one thing you're overlooking, Charles, with these desperate measures. Everybody has always suspected Ivan, from the beginning, but what if Ivan is not the man? I imagine you're so caught up in your plans that you never thought of that, but think of it now. What then?"

"My liege, I am willing to take that risk."

"Well, I'm not!" snapped King Thomas. "Sir, I will not be a party to the murder of an innocent man! You will have to come up with more proof than that!"

"Please, my liege, you must trust me! I cannot tell you all of my plans..."

"Which is precisely what disturbs me, sir! What if you are wrong?"

"...for the reason that, if I were to tell you all, they would fail! Should Lord Ivan read your mind, and should he find in it this plan, all my efforts would be in vain!"

"And why, may I ask, does he not read your mind?"

"He considers me beneath notice. My liege, I have played the part of a useless flunky for years, knowing this situation would arise. I knew I would have only one chance, if that, and I shall not waste it."

"Yes, I'd wondered what happened to you. You were among the most valiant knights, and then you started serving Gerald and went to pot. Were you watching Ivan even in those days?"

"My liege, I have been watching Ivan for years, knowing what he is capable of."

"Tell me one thing, Charles. I accept that you cannot tell me more of your plans. Everything you have said is truth. That's all very well, but how am I to know Ivan is the man? Is he the demon people have called Nameless, so when you chop off his head he'll disappear in a cloud of smoke? You must tell me enough that I shall be satisfied. What can you tell me, sir? Speak!"

"I can tell you only this, so mark me well, my liege. When I have killed Ivan, you will know. I cannot say how, or why, as yet, but you will know beyond the shadow of a doubt. Do I speak the truth?"

King Thomas regarded him soberly. "You do, sir. That is not what I would have wished, but I must admit that your words are evidence of certain knowledge. Very well, I will do as you have asked. When do you wish the announcements to be made?"

"Tonight, my liege. Give me an hour's advance warning, that I may hide behind the door. I shall not fail."

"Charles," said King Thomas querulously, "you've no business being certain about that. You really believe that you can't fail, it came across as true. That disturbs me, sir, because you can't know what might happen. What if Ivan refuses to come?"

"Then I'll stay behind the door, and we'll try something else."

"Oh, all right. I have to admit your certainty is reassuring. I'll give you the advance warning, and we'll give it a try. Would it be all right to let Peter know the truth?"

"No, my liege! You must convince all that I am the Nameless Pretender! Ivan is fiendishly clever, and if Peter is not upset Ivan will know it's a trap! My plan depends on your doing your part, my liege, and you must not fail either! Everything depends on it!"

"But, Charles, I'll know you're not the Nameless Pretender! Won't that affect it?"

"You had better try to believe I am, my liege."