Sometime later, I found myself kneeling in a chamber alone with the Queen who lounged on her throne. The second throne was conspicuously empty.
Seeing my glance, the ashen-haired Queen broke her silence, "Kingly duties do not suit my husband, except the one," she winked at me, "You will meet Roegnar once he comes back from his hunting trip, but until then, you'll have to be content with this poor Queen."
I wasn't sure how to respond to that, so I stayed silent.
The Queen's green eyes narrowed, "The silent type, huh? Or do you think my ears are unworthy of your wisdom, sorceress? Aren't you supposed to be an advisor?"
I blinked, raising my head, "I apologise, Your Majesty, I am still unused to courtly etiquette. I would not wish to offend you with empty words."
"Mhm, that's better. Haxo will tell you more about your duties," she indicated to the young castellan that had led me to the room, "Oh, and if I catch you spying for the Brotherhood, I'm having you quartered."
I cast a look at the slightly awkward-looking castellan, before turning back to the young Queen with a frown of my own, "What constitutes spying, Your Majesty?"
I wasn't about to discard my relationship with Tissaia unless absolutely necessary, but I had no idea whether the Queen would consider a letter to be 'spying,' let alone a communication spell.
"Find a dictionary. Anything else?" she responded dismissively.
I suppressed an eye twitch. Well, despite her flippant answer, I could work with the textbook definition well enough. Turning my mind to the matter brought to my attention by Ida, I spoke,
"I have one last question, Your Majesty, what of the war in Ebbing?"
"What of it? Do you want me to armour up my firstborn and send her to fight the evil Usurper?"
The idea of an armoured toddler was fairly amusing, but I took care not to laugh.
"Err, no. I merely wanted to ask whether Your Majesty plans on doing anything, considering your husband's familial ties, so that I could better prepare."
Calanthé stared at me like I was stupid for a few seconds, "No, there will be nothing. Let the Vassermillers deal with their own problems, the gods know we have enough of our own. Now scram."
I bowed, before hastily making my exit behind the castellan.
"Please do not think much of it, Lady Sorceress," Haxo broke the silence as he led me through the winding hallways of the castle, "The Queen can be… irritable when the King is gallivanting around our forests."
I didn't react, keeping my face impassive. I wasn't about to start shit-talking my employer right as I was starting the job. Besides, the Queen had not been truly unreasonable. I sincerely doubted that she could ever reach the levels of the general staff from my past life.
After fruitlessly waiting a few seconds for a response, Haxo continued, "As a Court Sorceress you will be expected to advise the Queen on matters of magic, perform spells at her convenience, and keep watch for hostile magics as well as protect the royal family, should such become necessary."
The Queen and not the King, huh? I supposed there was more truth to the rumours than I had expected. Well, if the King went away on hunting trips frequently, then all the work likely fell on Calanthé whether she wanted it or not. She didn't strike me as particularly saddened by the responsibility, though I could understand her annoyance.
"You will also be expected to attend court every so often," Haxo paused, looking me over, "In respectable attire. A golden lion here and there to indicate your allegiance would not be amiss."
Soon, we exited the castle proper, entering a courtyard. Haxo pointed towards one of the towers, "The Harbour Tower. A court sorcerer used to live there in Queen Adalia's time, but he got skewered by a knight after he had an affair with his wife. It's been used for storage ever since, but we've cleaned it up for you.
"How did that happen?" I could not help but ask.
The castellan snorted, "The knight was one of his guards, but a man murdering another in his bed does not make for a good story. He was executed for it regardless."
Ah, the woes of lacking a proper understanding of HR.
As we reached the door, he gave me a key, "Here. I'm the only one who has another key and barring a royal command, I won't use it."
"Thank you," I said as I took it before I unlocked the door.
The inside of the tower was… empty. The entire ground floor, in fact, had no furniture or windows.
Seeing my face, the castellan quickly spoke up, "The top floor has been furnished for you, it's where the previous sorcerer lived. Now that you are here, guards will be stationed outside and servants can be made available, should you desire them."
"No servants," I quickly interjected. I can take care of myself, thank you very much. On a more practical note, the idea of letting unvetted strangers prance throughout your home was a security nightmare. It certainly wasn't something I was willing to entertain.
"Right," Haxo responded, before taking me on a tour of the next five floors. Not that there was anything to see. Barring the top floor, every room was empty.
I had to admit the man had done a good job with the top floor though. Tasteful wood furniture that must have been a pain to bring up this high along with a nice bathroom, a guest room as well as a walk-in closet, and a very nice balcony with a view of the harbour.
As I looked around my new home, Haxo spoke up again, "There is one more matter concerning your duties, my lady."
I turned my attention to the castellan.
"As our Queen's own mother was a mage of great power, it is not impossible that the young princess might share the talent. The child has yet to show any indication of such, but the Queen thought it prudent to keep an expert on hand," he glanced at me meaningfully, "Naturally, you are not to speak of this matter."
"As Her Majesty wishes," I said. I certainly hoped she didn't expect me to be a nanny, but I wasn't about to say that out loud. Checking the princess every once in a while and being ready to counter any possible outbursts should be fine.
"Good. I'll leave you to get settled. Here," he took out a pouch, "An advance on your salary. Should you require anything, tell the guards, they'll know who to pass it on to. Lastly, should you require funds to conduct any personal projects that would benefit the kingdom, come to me."
"Thank you once again, Castellan Haxo," I told him, extending my hand for him to shake. He looked at it as someone might look at a snake, before shaking it.
With one last bow, the castellan left, leaving me alone in my new tower.
"Not bad," I muttered.
The Queen was a bit… fiery, but nothing I couldn't deal with. The accommodations were nice and the pay, I glanced into the pouch, my eyes widening at the amount inside, was more than sufficient. I might even pay my debts to Aretuza in a few years. I'd have to check exactly how much the Ducat was worth compared to the Novigrad Crown. A year of tuition at Aretuza cost a thousand crowns, a veritable fortune. Yet magical knowledge could not easily be acquired anywhere else, making the price well worth it, even ignoring the excellent opportunity to network with some of the Brotherhood's elites.
Better, the war in Ebbing was far away and I was now protected by the Cintran Royal Guard, while my duties promised to be not overly strenuous.
Despite the hiccup on my way here, I had made it. A peaceful, rear-echelon position. Respect, good pay, influence, and safety. All mine for the taking.
There were just four, teeny, tiny details that were bothering me.
One. The assassins were well-trained and funded. Two. One of them possessed Nilfgaardian coinage. Three. The attempt happened just as the Empire began expanding northward. Four. I was Cintra's new court sorceress.
Coincidence? Maybe.
There was, however, one remaining piece of evidence that I could use to cut the Gordian knot. The name my erstwhile foes had so helpfully shared with me. Coehoorn.
So I got to work. Descending to the fourth floor, which had a suitable circular room I got to carving. Using magic, of course. Just as Gaeth was enough for simple air manipulation, Nolla allowed me to do the same with earth and stone.
The stone yielded easily under my not-so-gentle ministrations, letting me carve the necessary geometric shapes into the floor.
Two hours or so later, the room was changed utterly. To an untrained eye, it might have looked like an unhinged geometrician was let loose here, but that could not be further from the truth. Each line had to be placed precisely and with great care. Checking my work had taken over half the time.
Done, I filled the carved channels with water, then I went upstairs and grabbed a pouch of bone dust made out of blackbirds, before finally going back and sprinkling some of it inside the channels.
Then I waited for it to dissolve, recovering my strength. Condensing the water had not been overly strenuous, but the spell I was about to cast was a difficult one to perform without a megascope, a device far outside my means. Luckily, the Cintran castle had been built on top of an intersection, speeding up my recovery greatly.
A megascope likely would not remain outside of my means for long, considering the fat salary the Queen was paying me, though I was unsure if I'd want to spend the money regardless. After all, I had already gone through the trouble of learning an equivalent spell properly.
Half an hour later, I was ready.
"Dice glamarye ghar," I incanted, my hands moving lighting quick, forming arcane signs, then paused for precisely seven seconds, "Gaeth glosse pont."
Power gathered, pulled from the Air and the Water. It was enough, though I would have preferred Earth instead of Water for this sort of spell. Unfortunately, the ground was far away and the ensorceled walls of the keep were quite resistant.
A strong pulse of magic exploded, likely alerting any magically sensitive individual in the castle. The water boiled instantly, suffusing the room in steam, but one that I knew would linger for far longer than it should.
Then I waited.
Twenty minutes later, the steam coalesced into the image of one Tissaia de Vries, clothes as neat as always.
"Tanya. What a pleasant surprise. I did not expect to hear from you so soon without resorting to telepathy."
"Rectoress de Vries," I greeted her formally. Long-distance telepathy was a much less intensive spell, but one that needed familiarity with the recipient, amongst other things. Not an issue with Tissaia, but there was also a risk of interception, if a small one. As facilitating rapid communications over long distances was one of the core duties of court sorceresses, I chose to think long-term. The idea of connecting my mind to another's did not appeal to me in the slightest in any case, so Dice glamarye ghar et cetera it was.
"I've arrived earlier due to unforeseen circumstances," I continued, "which also happen to be the reason behind my call."
"Unforeseen circumstances?" Tissaia asked, centering her necklace. The Rectoress tended to be a bit obsessive about neatness. It was something we had bonded over, even if my own preference for a clean appearance did not run as deep as hers.
After hearing her question, I explained. I told her about the assassins, then about my encounter with Ida and my suspicion in regard to Nilfgaard. Tissaia stayed silent throughout and though the steam image was not a fully accurate recreation, I could still make out consternation on her face.
"I would like to ask for your knowledge in regards to both this 'Coehoorn' character, as well as the sorceress Ida Emean aep Sivney and her title of Aen Saevherne, as I know nothing of the first two and only a little of the last," I finished.
"I see your time outside of Aretuza has been eventful," the Rectoress responded after a few seconds.