Agatha H and the Voice of the Castle

Tarvek gave a humorless chuckle. “And then I immediately went and told him that was exactly what I was going to do.”

“The Baron accused me of spying for my family. I denied it, of course. And then Gil betrayed me. He told the Baron to look behind the light fixture in my room. He knew that I had a cache of notes there. He had helped me put it there. He’d even helped me install the secret compartment. The Baron found everything and I was shipped home the next day.”

Von Zinzer looked puzzled. “Wait—so you really were spying?”

Tarvek snorted. “Of course I was spying. All of us were spying! In retrospect, it’s obvious that we were being fed tailored information. Things that the Baron wanted our families to know.”

Tarvek smiled. “We all thought we were so clever because no one ever got caught. He just didn’t want us to get caught.

“But I did get caught, and everybody knew it. So I was made the Object Lesson. I was the only one who ever got sent back home.” Tarvek closed his eyes. “It was so unfair.”

“But…” von Zinzer really looked confused now. “But I thought all those kids on the Castle were there as hostages—to keep their families in line. Weren’t you glad to go home?”

Tarvek shrugged. “Leaving aside the fact that the only way to keep my family in line would be to bury them in a row, Castle Wulfenbach was the place to be. The Baron was collecting and educating us as the future rulers of Europa. We had access to teachers, diplomats, scientists, and adventurers from all over the Empire—all over the World. It was the center of the universe. To get sent away from all that—not to mention back to Sturmhalten and my father’s obsessive work—was the worst punishment ever.

“To me, it made no sense. It was too harsh. I thought the Baron had to be hiding something. Eventually, trying to find out what became a sort of hobby. And years later, I found it. I discovered why the Baron had overreacted.

“My research revealed that ‘Gilgamesh Holzfäller’ was the son of Petrus Teufel, Leader of the Black Mist Raiders.”

Von Zinzer and Violetta gasped. Tarvek smiled. “See? Of course his family was kept secret. Every power in Europa would have cause to kill him. Only the Other has caused more fear, death, and devastation. Teufel was a Spark so strong that even Wulfenbach had trouble taking him down.⁸²

“No wonder Gil was brilliant. No wonder Klaus wanted him under his eye. The discovery was too much—it turned me sick just to think of it. I shut it all away and tried to forget the whole thing.

Tarvek paused, and took a deep breath. “Eventually I managed to convince my father to let me go to Paris. I felt like I was back in the center of the world. I found freedom! Culture! New Ideas!

“—And Gilgamesh Holzfäller; a debauched, amoral wretch who spent most of his time in the local nightclubs and bordellos. Nature had obviously triumphed over nurture.

“Well, our friendship was long over, so—at first—I was determined to ignore him and get on with my life. I had my own work to attend to.

“But Gil had a way of showing up where he was least wanted—and it quickly became obvious to me that he was involved in something nefarious. I was never able to discover exactly what but, because of him, I wound up dealing with an endless stream of monsters, pirates, and what seemed like every half-baked Spark who wandered through Paris, never with good results. By the time I was called back home, I wasn’t terribly sorry to go. Whatever Gil was up to, someone else could sort it out.”

Tarvek stared into the past for a moment. “It’s so obvious now. He’s the Baron’s son. Of course that’s what he was hiding! And all that about Petrus Teufel—I see now that the Baron had merely concocted yet another layer of false identity to hide his son.” He smiled ruefully. “I wonder how many more I would have discovered if I had kept digging? Probably scoundrels all the way down…”

He snorted and shook himself. “Well, fine. It serves me right. I’ll just have to be less trusting from now on!”

“Tarvek! Hold still and let me put this on your head! I have a great idea I want to try!” Agatha had bustled up with an armload of instruments, topped by a pair of bulky metal skullcaps connected by wires and hoses.

Agatha settled Tarvek’s cap in place, and turned to von Zinzer. “Okay, get them both up!” she called.

Von Zinzer began to snap open his restraints. “Uh…they’re not going to go all monster-y, are they?” he asked.

Agatha considered this. “Well, that’s still within the realm of possibility, of course… But probably not.”

Tarvek relaxed slightly.

Agatha frowned. “Not yet, anyway.”

Tarvek sat up and tried to look at the device strapped to his head. She was clamping one of its cables to an exposed terminal on the larger apparatus. “Agatha, what exactly is this thing going to—”

“Here goes!” she called, as she flipped a small switch.

A wave of nausea hit him, and he toppled into Agatha’s arms. “Uergh. I feel terrible. Again. What is this?” he asked her.

“It worked!” She sounded delighted.