Later that same evening, Jacoby was at Hänsel’s manor, as were Krauser, the diamond pup that had been earlier freed, and most critically, Adlerheim’s resident physician, an aging bull from Hollstein whom Hänsel swore was the best in the Confederation. Given his seeming knowledge of diamond dogs, that statement may have had some truth to it.
It was unlikely, at that particular moment, that the diamond pup would be particularly inclined to think much of the physician’s skills; the bull had one end of a tongue depressor gripped in his teeth, and was using the other end to press the pup’s tongue out of the way so that he could get a clear look at his throat. Despite his repeated and barely contained gagging, the pup managed to not throw up everywhere.
They were at one end of the drawing room, the pup sitting atop the small table to make the examination easier. The physician stood, having no reason to sit at that particular moment. Off to the side, a short distance away, Jacoby sat on his haunches, and though he had some questions he wanted to ask, he kept quiet and allowed the bull to work. On the other side of the room, Hänsel sat in a chair, nursing a brandy and discussing the events of the evening, and what should happen next, with Krauser, who lazed across from him on a sofa, spread across it languidly. Jacoby had tried to engage the officer in conversation, but gave up after realizing that everything always turned back to the pup.
Finally, the bull withdrew the tongue depressor from the pup’s mouth- who was only to happy to have it gone- and spat it onto a nearby tray, set aside for just such a purpose, where it landed on top of an alcohol soaked ragged that had been used to clean some shallow cuts on the pup’s body. With a satisfied nod, he grabbed his waiting stethoscope with his teeth and deposited it back into the bags he’d brought to carry his equipment. Only then did Jacoby rise up and approach.
“How is he, Herr Doktor?” he asked.
“Surprisingly well, all things considered,” the doctor replied as he packed up his equipment. “They saw fit to give him plenty of water, at least, although I can’t say much for what his diet was. Meat scraps and vegetables, I would suspect.” This knowledge did not set Jacoby at ease.
“My understanding was that diamond dogs were Mineralfressenden. I thought that was common knowledge.”
With a snap of canvas as he closed his bag, the doctor turned to face Jacoby. “They are, but not just any rocks will suffice, Herr Flynn. They need metamorphic rock, ideally, as well as minerals and especially gemstone. Other stones just don’t have the same nutrition. Meat scraps and root vegetables would have been the most viable alternative, if not a particularly good one.”
Jacoby turned his attention back to the pup, who fidgeted for a moment and then reached out for the griffon, and he was only too happy to oblige. The instant he was within arm’s reach, the pup climbed up and clung to Jacoby’s neck and breast as if he were a sloth, just as he had when first found.
“He’s taken quite a liking to you, I see,” the bull noted, “Will you be responsible for his care?”
“If I have anything to say about it, yes,” Jacoby replied, giving the pup a pat on the back before returning his full focus to the doctor, “I found him, and he seems to trust me. It only seems right to do so.”
“In that case, you are to take care with what you feed him. Diamond dogs are not my forte, but he will need minerals to build his strength back, corundum especially. Rubies and sapphires, I understand, and emery powder if you can obtain it. Try to limit iron until he’s healthier, as I understand it’s bit like salt to them.”
On each point, Jacoby nodded. “Jawohl, Herr Doktor.”
“Good. If that’s all, I’ll see myself out.” In a single motion, the bull gripped his bags with his teeth and deftly flung them across his back. “Gute nacht, Herr Flynn,” he said.
“Gute nacht, Herr Doktor.”
With a final nod, the bull turned towards the door out, only for it to open at just the right time for him. On the other side was Anton; a consummate professional, he never missed his cue. Casting his surprise off with a shake of his head, the bull nodded his thanks and then stepped through the portal, Anton closing it behind him. Watching mirthfully, Jacoby looked down at the diamond pup clinging to him. The pup, after a moment, briefly looked up and met his gaze, and then went back to hiding his face in Jacoby’s vest. With a light snort of amusement, the griffon turned and moved to rejoin the others.
“My apologies for excusing myself, but it seemed my presence would be better served elsewhere,” he said, making no effort to reinsert himself into the conversation gracefully. While Hänsel didn’t seem to have much to say about that, instead taking a sip from his brandy, Krauser snorted.
“It’s just as well, Herr Flynn, as I believe we are finished here.” Rather than move to stand, however, Krauser stretched out on the sofa a bit more. “The Count has graciously offered a room to me tonight, so that I might get my notes in order for the Duchess. I’ll take the dog with me in the morning, and we’ll see what he has to tell us.”
Jacoby furrowed his brow. “Begging your pardon, Offizier, but that’s a bit presumptuous, don’t you think?” he said, “Certainly, where this pup will go is not a matter we’ve discussed at any length.”
“What is there to discuss, Herr Flynn?” Krauser replied dismissively. “This police action was conducted by the duchy, during which the dog was recovered. He will be remanded to the duchy for questioning. It’s that simple.”
“I disagree.”
In an instant, Jacoby held Krauser’s full attention. The older griffon furrowed his brow, considering what had just happened. “I don’t believe I understand,” he said, “What is there to disagree about?”
“He will not tell you anything, in any way,” Jacoby replied, “He doesn’t trust you, nor am I convinced that he should.”
Krauser huffed in the way one might when dealing with a petulant child. “Trust is irrelevant, Herr Flynn,” he said, slower than he normally would.
“I disagree.”
The officer’s eyed narrowed. He opened his beak to speak, but was immediately cut off when Jacoby suddenly continued. “You mean to bully him into signing an affidavit implicating some individual or group in the duchy of participating in illegal activity, the exact identity of which will be whatever is politically expedient at the time. What you would have done at Steinkralle, if the tools had been available to you.”
Silence fell over the drawing room, broken only by the rhythmic drumming of Krauser’s metal-capped talons against the arm of the sofa he occupied. “Don’t you think, Herr Flynn, that statement is more than a bit presumptuous?” he asked.
“Truth often is.”
Silence again fell over the drawing room, this time without the tapping of Krauser’s talons to break it. They were preoccupied with gripping the sofa’s arm hard to begin gouging it, despite being capped. “You know my behaviors, Herr Krauser, insofar as you need to so that you can attempt to control me,” Jacoby said. “Are you really so surprised that I bothered to research your methods before engaging with you even as an ally?”
Hänsel hesitated for a moment, distinctly uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken, and then cautiously placed his brandy on the coffee table. “Herr Flynn, perhaps zis is not ze best time to propose an alternative to Herr Krauser’s plan,” he suggested.
Krauser simply fixed Jacoby with a measured glare. “The Count is right, Herr Flynn, about this and your other conjectures,” he said, “The dog is my concern. Not yours.” His mood only worsened when Jacoby pressed onward, seeming to make a point of looking him directly in the eyes.
“You’ve yet to present a compelling reason for why I should leave him in your custody.” Even if the scowl on Jacoby’s face had not made his mood clear, his wings were doing more than an adequate job, threatening to unfurl and only barely under his control.
“I am the duchy’s Chief Security Officer, Herr Flynn, and that is the only reason you need!” Krauser snapped as he jumped from the sofa. Unlike Jacoby, he made no efforts to restrain his own wings, and they were opened wide and practically vibrating. “This matter is the state’s concern, not yours!”
“I hold a Letter of Marque! The state’s concern is very much my concern!” Jacoby took a step back from the center of the room and raised one taloned foot off the floor, looking as though he might be preparing to run. An opening Krauser pushed immediately.
“Herr Flynn, surrender that dog or I will arrest you!” he shouted, beginning to advance towards the other different.
“Take another step and I’ll shoot you!”
The room froze. With those seven words, all three griffons stood where they were, unwilling to risk moving.
“What did you say?” Krauser asked, suddenly much less certain of his course of action.
“Herren, please, let’s try to stay calm,” Hänsel pleaded to no effect.
“As I said, I hold a Letter of Marque, and you are preparing to interfere with me. That means you are preparing to interfere with Parliament.” However he managed it, Jacoby kept his voice completely even and calm. His stance had not changed, taloned foot still raised from the floor, although no longer seemed as if he was preparing to run. “Take one more step towards me, and I will draw my pistol and I will shoot you.”
“Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?”
“It’s a warning. I’m warning you.”
Krauser was silent for several moments, his eyes dangerously narrow. It wasn’t possible to tell if he was thinking over his words, or simply trying to control his temper. “You’re tired, Herr Flynn,” he said finally, “Not thinking clearly. You should get some sleep, and then you’ll see this is not a prudent use of your Letter."
“That, Herr Krauser, is only partially true,” Jacoby replied, fixing the officer with a hard glare. He gestured to the pup clinging to him. “Our young friend here? He’s tired. Me? I’m just tired of you.
“Gute nacht, Herren.”
Without another word, Jacoby turned and walked out of the drawing room, the pup clinging to him tighter than ever, purposely blocking out the very loud objections Krauser was raising, as well as Hänsel’s attempts to calm him down before he had to summon the physician a second time.
“Honestly, I still can’t believe his nerve!”
Jacoby gave the brush in his talons one final stroke through the diamond pup’s now snow white fur, squirming as children are won’t to do at being fussed over. The brushing was necessary after the bath that had finished not longer before, which was also the reason that fur was now white rather than a dirty grey. Hardly a surprise, but still a small wonder; the bath had to be drained and refilled partway through.
“'Oh, don’t worry, we’ll just remand him to the state, he’ll be fine’. Ha! I’ve seen what happens when creatures are ‘remanded to the state’. If he really believed I’d go along with that, he’s out of his mind!”
The bedroom both of them were now in was what one might expect a bedroom to be in a large hotel room. Two full-sized beds held high enough from the floor by their frames for two low-profile trunks to fit under, a nightstand in-between them, two dressers large enough to hold a week’s worth of morning and afternoon attire, two armoires for evening dress, a low vanity, a full-length mirror, and even a private bathroom. Like much of the rest of the manor, the room was lit with gas lamps, although they had been turned low and shuttered for the evening and the only light was provided courtesy of a small kerosene lamp on the nightstand. No moonlight entered through the large windows that face out towards the estate grounds, blocked by heavy drapes. While this had the effect of exaggerating the pattern of the striped wallpaper, it only bothered the pup, Jacoby not even noticing.
“Well, we’ll see about that.” Finally, Jacoby took a cleansing breath, and the world was better. “Anyway, a good night’s sleep in a soft bed will do both of us good,” he said, pulling down the sheets and blanket on one and lifting and depositing the diamond pup (whose name, he realized, he’d not quite figured out how to ask) on it before tucking him in. “Don’t worry about Offizier Krauser tonight, and tomorrow, we’ll both have a big breakfast and figure the rest out. Tonight, just try to sleep.” Task completed, he turned and twisted the knob of the lamp, extinguishing the flame and completely missing his companion attempting to get his attention. The room plunged into near total darkness, with the gas lamps on the walls casting only a barely visible glow towards the ceiling, and Jacoby climbed into his own bed, sighing with content the moment his head touched the pillow.
The pup, for his part, hesitated for a few seconds, casting worried glances around the room, and then kicked his blanket off and got down on the floor, walked to Jacoby’s bedside, and tapped his shoulder somewhat forcefully.
“Hm?” Jacoby opened his eyes, still adjusting to the dark. The diamond pup gave him a pleading look, difficult though it was to see. “What’s wrong?” he asked, propping himself up on one arm. As he had been, the pup kept quiet, but looked around the room furtively. The griffon furrowed his brow for a moment, and then it hit him. “It’s the dark, isn’t it?”
The answer was rapid nodding, and Jacoby cracked a small smile. “A diamond dog afraid of the dark?” he asked. It made sense, in a way; this was a young diamond dog, one that had probably never known the burrows and caverns of his kind. The dark was where criminals and worse things hid. “Well, you don’t have to be afraid of the dark while I’m here. That was the role that runemasters filled, did you know? To write down everything so that knowledge could be spread, so that we wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore?” Expectedly, the pup shook his head. “Well, it was. And once Brünnhilde learned to shape magic with runes and taught other griffons how, that role expanded to the runecasters, who used runes to literally keep the dark away, and more importantly, to keep the things hiding in the dark away. I’m a rune caster, and while it might be dark in here right now, there’s nothing hiding in it, and there won’t be ever, as long as you stick with me. Understand?”
More nodding, less rapid and happier, was the answer, and the pup dared to smile himself. “Good,” Jacoby added, “Now, let’s get some sleep. We have a lot of traveling to do in the morning.” Satisfied, he laid his head down again and shut his eyes. Not three seconds later, he opened them again. The pup was still watching him, and gave a low, plaintive whine. Once more, Jacoby smiled. “Alright,” he said, shifting further to the far side of the bed. “Climb in.” The pup smiled, and without wasting a moment, climbed into the bed and under the sheet while Jacoby shut his eyes again.
For the final time that night, Jacoby’s eyes opened, this time when he felt the pup grabbing his arm and draping it over his form. The griffon watched the little dog for a few moments, and then shut his eyes once more. All told, the experience wasn’t as bothersome as he’d expected it to be.
It was hardly ever that the Duchess received letters from Jacoby Flynn. Typically, he was only too happy to waste her time personally. And yet, the day after her Chief Security Officer sent an express telegram summarizing the results of his latest action (a full report would be forthcoming later), she had in her grasp a letter from Jacoby Flynn, recounting his own role in that same action, to a very limited extent. And then, it turned down a very strange path.
Your Grace,
I have no doubt that Officer Krauser has already or will shortly inform you of the exact results of our police action (which, despite what he might say, would have ended with corpses instead of captives, had I not been present). Of note, however, is a diamond dog puppy that was in their custody for no discernible reason; I will begin an investigation into this matter as soon as it is practical to do so. His name is Scruffy, which I determined through a game of Charades, but he has not been forthcoming with other details yet. He is presently in my custody, and shall remain so while he recovers from the ordeal. I am invoking my right as a privateer to do this, unless I am given a Parliamentary order to the contrary.
I shall inform you of additional details as I am able to obtain them.
Sincerely,
Jacoby Flynn
“Flynn, what are you planning?” she wondered aloud to herself. She only spared a few more seconds on the missive, however, before stuffing it into her desk for later reevaluation. She had a schedule to keep.