Chapter 52

"Ambassador, it is good to see you again."

The Sound of the Queen's voice caused Nicholaus, Royal ambassador of Gavroza, to turn around with an elegant spin. He then bowed deeply, his lips brushing against the ruby that adorned Argath's left index finger.

"Not as good as it is to see you, Your Majesty" the leopard replied in a suave tone. "It is always a pleasure to visit the Vinolian court and to bask in the presence of its esteemed monarch."

"You must be tired from your journey" Argath said, with a courtesy that rivaled that of her guest's. "Please, sit down. We shall remain standing though, We have been seated for many hours and feel the need to stretch Our legs."

Thanking the Queen, the ambassador sat down at the table. Several small bowls, filled with a variety of fruits and sweetmeats had been placed on it, as well as a decanter of wine and two glasses. Argath filled the glasses herself and handed one to the ambassador.

"Help yourself, ambassador." She said, indicating the delicacies at the table.

Nicholaus' eyes fell on a bowl filled with red, shiny cherries. He promptly picked one out and put it in his mouth. 

"Delicious" he said, spitting out the stem and the pit in his handkerchief. He then took another one and repeated the procedure. 

"Your Majesty's had a busy day then?" He asked.

"Alas, the work of a sovereign ruler is never done" Argath sighed. "By the way, how is Daphne doing?"

"She is doing well. Thank you, Your Majesty." A knowing smile passed briefly over the ambassador's face. "I hope Your Majesty was not too disappointed when she came into this room only to find yours truly waiting for her?"

"Oh, not at all."

Last time, Argath had entered this room, prepared to meet with the Gavrozan ambassador, only to find herself face to face with a female leopard, wearing a blue dress which hugged her figure in all the right places, causing the Queen's tongue to temporarily get stuck to the roof of her mouth.

"Greetings, Your Majesty" the young woman had said, curtsying. "I am Daphne, ambassador Nicholaus' niece. My uncle has regrettably taken ill, but he has sent me in his stead. I hope that Your Majesty is not offended by this."

So, that's your game, Nicholaus, Argath had mused, as she kept eyes focused on Daphne's oval-shaped face. You send this minx my way thinking that she'll distract me. How adorable. Its so transparent that I'm not sure whether I should be insulted or not.

"On the contrary" she had replied. "Have a seat, We trust that your uncle has filled you in?"

"A most charming young lady, your niece" Argath said to Nicholaus, while she put a piece of licorice in her mouth. "We should welcome an opportunity to get to know her better."

"Your Majesty most certainly will" the leopard replied. "I intend for Daphne to become my successor, one of these days."

"A female ambassador? Will your King agree to such a thing? After all, in all of your country's history, no woman has ever held that position."

"Its a controversial choice and its bound to cause some waves back home. Still, its ultimately His Majesty's decision and I believe I can convince His Majesty that Daphne is the right person for the job."

"How is King Frederic doing these days? We heard that he suffered a stroke recently. We trust he is still alive."

For a second, Nicholaus was unable to conceal his surprise, then he inclined his head.

"Your Majesty is well informed. The King is still with us, though he has grown weaker and the doctors fear his next stroke will be his last. After all, he is not a young man anymore."

Argath nodded. She recalled when she had first met King Frederic, during a diplomatic mission to Gavroza. At that time, the current King had been a cub, sitting at the feet of his father's throne with a multicolored ball in his lap. 

Now that cub has become an old lion; one whose mane is graying and whose teeth are soft, whereas I still have my youth and will continue to have it when Frederic's own son becomes as old as his father. 

The Thought caused the Queen to smirk inwardly; to her, this was yet more proof of the superiority of dragons over all other races.

"That is one of the reasons why I requested to meet with Your Majesty. With the King in a weakened state, he is beginning to worry about the state of the nation that he is leaving behind to his son and certain parties within the government are using this to try to persuade His Majesty to move away from Vinoli. They believe that agreeing to your proposition was a mistake on the King's part and I fear that the King is starting to find their arguments persuasive."

The Queen's eyes narrowed slightly. Before the Vinolian army had set off for Guanaca, she had sent an emissary to King Frederic's court, carrying gifts as well as a message. The Gist of the message was this: If, once King Faljan had reclaimed his throne and he and Argath were wed, Gavroza made a promise to acknowledge this marriage and stand by Vinoli's side against any who would contest it, all Gavrozan merchants would be allowed to traverse Guanacan territory without having to pay any fees or taxes, for a period of three years. Argath thought that this had been an extremely generous offer on her part, especially considering that it did not require Frederic to take any action himself. In fact, all he had to do was to remain at home and not send any support to Bashar. And now he was beginning to have second thoughts? 

Of all the spineless...

Argath could feel anger well up inside her, her shoulders shook with barely restrained anger. 

Nonetheless, she kept her feelings at bay and spoke in a calm voice:

"The Vinolian army" she began, "is the best trained and most well-equipped army in the World. We concede that this siege has been going on for some time, but mark Our words ambassador, Guanaca will fall and when that day comes and the city is in Our hands, Vinoli will forget neither her friends nor her enemies."

She paused to let her words sink in. In the silence that followed, the sound of Nicholas swallowing another cherry seemed to fill the room. 

"There is another reason why this faction seeks to influence our King against Your Majesty", the ambassador remarked, dabbing his lips with his handkerchief.

"Oh? And what pray tell may that reason be?" Argath asked. Probably the fact that I am a woman who rules her own kingdom instead of being the subservient consort to a male monarch, she thought scornfully.

"There is a rumor" Nicholas said, his finger-tips touching each other. "That Your Majesty had a hand in the unfortunate demise of your father."

Argath staggered backwards, as though she had received an unexpected blow. She stared at the ambassador, her eyes wide open.

How is this possible? She thought, sparks flying as the gears in her head spun rapidly. I thought I had squashed that rumor years ago. How can it have reached all the way to Gavroza? I better put Lorenzo on the job; he'll find out who the guilty party is. 

"By all the Gods!" She roared, bringing her fist down on the table with such force that the bowls jumped. "Who dare spread such vile and baseless rumors about Our person? When We find out who they are, We shall have them drawn and quartered!"

She put her hand on the back of Nicholaus' seat and thrust her face so close to his that the ambassador could see the thin wisps of smoke coming out from her nostrils. For the first time since he could remember, Nicholaus felt fear seize him. He had never seen the Queen of Vinoli like this before and he was afraid that she would forget that he was a foreign diplomat, whose person was inviolable and strike him, or worse. Instinctively, he bared his claws.

The Sound of claws being bared acted on Argath's anger like a bucket of water on a fire. She seemed to deflate like a balloon and took a few steps back, her expression now no longer conveying white-hot anger, but a deep sorrow over how cruel and unjust people could be.

"Forgive Us for loosing Our temper, ambassador" she said in a voice that sounded as if it was on the verge of breaking. "Its just..." She shook her head, as if in disbelief. "We loved Our father and it pains Us that some people are so cynical as to believe that that love was feigned on Our part."

"I understand, Your Majesty" Nicholaus said."It can not be easy for anyone to have such suspicions hanging over them. Rest assured that I, for one, regard them as nothing more than complete nonsense of no consequence."

At this point, Argath decided that the time had come to bring their conference to an end.

"Thank you, ambassador" she said. "We appreciate your support." Once again ,she offered her ring for the leopard to kiss. "Give Our regards to King Frederic and remind him of the friendship between his kingdom and Ours."

"I shall, Your Majesty. Farewell, it has been a pleasure and an honor, as always."

Just as Nicholaus was about to leave, there was a knock on the door. Argath bade whoever it was to enter and a shrew wearing a servant's livery appeared in the doorway.

"Forgive the disturbance, my Queen" the shrew said and if a voice could grovel, his would. "A dispatch has arrived for you. Its from General Jeraddin."

Argath and Nicholaus traded looks.

"Give it here" the Queen demanded, her heart pounding with excitement. 

She broke the seal on the dispatch using one of her claws, unfolded it and began to read. She then handed the dispatch over to Nicholaus.

"Here, ambassador" she said."We think you should read this yourself."

Nicholaus looked down at the cursive letters in front of him. Half-way through, he paused and shook his head, as if he could not believe what he had just read and yet, there it was; as undeniable as the existence of gravity or the changing of the seasons:

Guanaca had fallen.

Grim Fandango Revisited

"Ever cheated on your husband?"

"Mr. Calavera, there's no ring on my finger."

"There's no skin on it either."

-In-game dialogue between Manny and Meche.

Originally released in 1998, Grim Fandango was the penultimate adventure game made by the kings of the genre: LucasArts (sorry, Sierra), as well as their last truly great game (no offense to any Escape From Monkey Island fans out there).

I originally played Grim Fandango in the early years of the 2000s and, at the time, it immediately earned a spot among my all-time favorite games. With lots of water having passed under the bridges, since I last played it , I decided that it was high time for me to revisit Grim Fandango, in order to see if my feelings for it had changed since last time.

This time, I chose to experience the game in its remastered version, which was released by Double Fine back in 2015. This version comes with updated graphics and the option to play with the mouse (originally, Grim was only playable via keyboard), but besides that remains the same game as it was back in the late 90's.

For those of you new to the game, Grim Fandango takes place in The Land of the Dead; a dimension inspired by equal parts classic film noir and Mexican culture, particularly the Day of the Dead (it was actually via Grim Fandango that I first became aware of this holiday).

The Player assumes the role of Manuel Calavera a.k.a. Manny, a travel agent at the Department of Death, whose job it is to sell travelling packages to the recently deceased. Exactly what package you qualify for is based entirely on what kind  life you used to lead prior to your death: If you were an exceptionally good person, then you receive a ticket to the Number Nine; a state-of-the-art express train that will take you straight to the Land of Eternal Rest. However, if you've royally screwed up your life or been a real piece of shit, then you are stuck doing the job Manny does now, until you've paid off your karmic debt.

Things used to go well for Manny; he had a large office and was the top salesman on his floor. That's all in the past when the game begins though. Now, Manny's office is in what used to be the supply closet and his smarmy rival Domino gets all the good clients, leaving Manny stuck with no-good bums who, at best, only qualify for the Excelsior Line (i.e. a walking stick). Desperate, Manny decides to steal one of Domino's clients, the saintly Mercedes 'Meche' Colomar.
Unsuprisingly, Manny's plan backfires, causing Meche to lose her spot on the Number Nine and condemning her to wander the Land of the Dead on foot for four years, like any lowly sinner. Having been fired from his job, Manny, accompanied by his driver; the demon Glottis, embarks on a journey to find Meche and make things right. In doing so, Manny finds himself mixed up in a conflict between his former employer and the Lost Souls Alliance; a secret organization bent on uncovering the corruption within the Department of Death.

Out of all the classic adventures made by LucasArts, Grim Fandango has, by far, the best writing: Marrying the great comedy seen in games like Day of the Tentacle, with a genuinely gripping plot; one whose twists and turns keep the player engaged from the moment when Manny makes his first appearance on screen, to when the credits begin to roll.Personally, I'd say that the game reaches its heights during the second year, Rubacava is one of my favorite settings found in any game and as always, I found myself almost reluctant to leave it.

Great as the story may be, the game's greatest asset is its cast. Perhaps more than any other developer in the genre, LucasArts was known to populate their games with strong characters and Grim Fandango is no exception to that rule: Each and every character in the game, from the major players like Manny and Glottis, to the tiniest bit-parts, all have distinct, memorable personalities and are brought to life (or after-life) perfectly by their voice-actors. Some characters I love, others (like Domino), I love to hate, but there's not a single character in this game that has not left an impression on me, one way or the other.

Gameplay-wise (the most important aspect of any game), Grim Fandango comports itself well. In the past, I never had much trouble with the game's original keyboard controls, but I can't deny that being able to play the game with the mouse is a boon indeed. Puzzles are usually good as well; being challenging, but rarely a source of frustration. Although I've never been a fan of some of the more time-based puzzles, such as the one involving the player having to control a forklift in an elevator.

As you have probably guessed, my feelings toward this game remain unchanged. Grim Fandango will always have a place among my favorites, everyone who has an  interest in adventure games (or games in general) should travel the afterlife in the company of Manny Calavera at least once before they have to enter it for real.

Gallery

Siblings

"Mom is going to be fine, isn't she?" Risha asked, turning to her father with a concerned look on her nine-year old face.

"Of course, dear" Jeraddin replied, smiling.

He reached out and ruffled the fur on his daughter's head.

"Rose is with her, she is the best midwife in the district. She helped bring you into the World."

Though he had uttered these words with assurance, Jeraddin was far more worried than he let on. A couple years after the birth of their daughter, he and Nasari had decided to conceive another child. It had ended in a miscarriage and, as a result, Nasari had fallen into a deep depression. Risha had been too young at the time to remember it, but Jeraddin could still vividly recall that dark time in their lives.
Eventually, Nasari had managed to overcome it and life had resumed its normal course and now, their second child was about to be delivered. Though not particularly religious, Jeraddin sent a silent prayer to every deity whose name he could remember that the birth would be a success, not just for the child's sake, but the mother's as well.

"What are you hoping for?" Risha asked suddenly. "A boy or  a girl?"

Jeraddin thought about it for a moment. He loved his daughter; she was the apple of his eye and certainly if his second child turned out to be a girl as well, he would love her just as much.
That said, he could not deny that he was holding out hope for a son. He told Risha as much.

"Yeah, a brother would be fine, I suppose" Risha said in an exaggeratedly casual manner, her shoulders briefly touching her whiskers.

Time passed at a snail's pace. Soon, Risha's eyelids became heavy and she fell asleep. Albert the servant came by to ask if he should take her to her room.

Upon hearing her name, the young girl opened her eyes slightly and shook her head.

"No bed" she muttered, stifling a yawn. "I want to stay here."

Albert turned to his employer for the final decision.

"She can stay" Jeraddin said. "Just a fetch a blanket for her."

Albert left and returned momentarily with a blanket. Thanking him, Jeraddin took the blanket and wrapped it around Risha.

"I have some matters to tend to in the kitchen" the goat said. "I pray that the mistress will have a safe delivery."

"Thank you, Albert" Jeraddin replied warmly. "So do I."

 Having excused himself, Albert left once again. Jeraddin looked at Risha, who was visibly struggling with staying awake.

"Go to sleep" he said.

"Will you wake me when its time?"

"Of course."

At that moment, the sound of a door opening banished any thought of sleep from Risha's mind. She sat up straight in her chair and looked at her father: That was the door to the master bedchamber right now, wasn't it? The Next moment, Rose appeared in the hallway, wiping her paws on a towel.

"How did it go?" Jeraddin asked, rising half-way from his seat, the sweat of trepidation hanging on his brow.

"You can relax, General" the midwife replied. "Everything went well; the baby is born and both he and your wife are doing fine."

Jeraddin breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to ask another question, but Rose anticipated him:

"Yes" she said. "you may go in and see them."

This was all Jeraddin needed to hear. His eyes met his daughter' and then, the two lynxes rushed towards the master bedroom. Rose watched them go, shaking her head in amusement. Then, she sat down in the chair previously occupied by the house's owner, in order to get some well-deserved rest.

******

Nasari was lying in bed, nursing her newborn child, when her husband and daughter came in.

"How do you feel?" Jeraddin inquired, as he and Risha approached the bedside.

"I'm fine" Nasari replied. "Look, Jer, it's our son. Isn't he the most beautiful boy that you've ever seen."

Jerddin leaned down and looked at the tiny bundle that his wife cradled in her arms.

"Incredible" he said, shaking his head in awe. "He is the spitting image of his mother. Its like I'm looking at a tiny, male version of you, dear."

"He has his father's eyes though" Nasari said and turned to her first-born. "Risha, say hello to your brother."

Risha looked at the newcomer. When her parents had told her that she would soon have a little brother or sister, she had been opposed to the idea. Why do they need another one for? She had asked herself. They already have me, am I not enough? Then, as it had a tendency to do; Risha's fertile imagination had begun leading her down an unpleasant path.

"Are you guys tired of me?" She had asked, her voice quivering.

"Oh, sweetie, of course not" Nasari had said, wrapping her arms around her little girl.

"When the baby is here, it will take up most of our time" Jeraddin chimed in. "However, that does not mean we love you any less."

Risha had felt reassured by these words, though she was still not very keen on the idea. Feeling a sting of jealousy at the knowledge that soon, the days when she had a monopoly on her parents' affection would be gone forever.
Well, now that day was here and as she looked down at her brother, Risha could sense any lingering feelings of jealousy disappear. After all, it simply wasn't possibly to be jealous of something so tiny and adorable.

"What are you going to call him?" She asked.

"Well" Nasari said and looked at her husband. "There is a name I've always wanted to give a son, if we ever had one..."

"Any name you decide is fine by me, dear" Jeraddin said magnanimously. "What did you have in mind?"

Nasari looked down at her infant son and smiled.

"Leorin" she said softly.

"Leorin" Jeraddin repeated the name to himself then nodded. "Very well, Leorin it is.

"Welcome to the World, little Leo" Risha said, a smile brightening up her face. "I know you can't understand me, but I'm your sister: My name is Risha."

She leaned in closer and whispered:

"Just wait, when you get older, the two of us are going to have so much fun."

*****

"Leo, what are you doing in my room?"

From the bed he sat on, Leorin looked at his sister. She was standing in the doorway, wrapped in a large towel.

"Hi Sis" he said cheerfully. "The Door was open so I let myself in." He looked around the room. "You have a lot of books here. Have you read all of them?"

"No, Leo, I have not."

"Can you read one of them for me? Please?"

Risha sighed. Normally, she would be more than happy to oblige. Right now, however,she was not in the mood.
Summer was here and Risha had returned home from school for the holidays. She had been out on her daily stroll when the clear summer skies of the past few days, suddenly and without warning, had changed from blue pitch-black and a heavy rain had begun to fall over the roads and fields of the countryside. Risha had returned home completely drenched and all she wanted to do now was change into some dry clothes.
She was just about to tell the hyperactive five-year old who was currently dangling his legs on her bed to get out so she could do that, when her brother piped up again:

"This book looks interesting" he said, brandishing a slim volume that had been lying next to him on the bed.
Risha recognized it immediately; her eyes widened and a pink blush spread across her cheeks.

"Leo" she said, taking a step forward, one paw outstretched. "You better give me that book."

"It was hidden under your mattress" Leorin continued, paying no attention to his sister's demands.
"What was it doing there?"

He flipped the book open on a random page and stared at it with a puzzled look on his face.

"Sis, I don't understand what's going on in this picture. Can you tell me?"

He turned the book around so his sister could see.
Risha's blush assumed a deeper shade of red. She remembered an old story she had read once; it had been about a man who had killed his younger brother and although she knew she could never do anything like that to her own sibling, right now, she felt a deep sympathy for the man in the story.

"If I do, will you please get out?" She asked exasperatedly.

"I will."

"Fine" Risha sighed. "The Tigress was bitten by a snake and her friend is sucking the venom out. There, are you satisfied?"

Leorin seemed to consider this for a moment, then decided that he was and nodded.

"That makes sense" he said. "I'll leave you alone now, Sis."

Risha watched him get out of her bed and walk towards the door. Once she was alone, she opened her wardrobe and changed into a new pair of clothes.
Later, at the dinner-table Leorin turned to his father:

"Dad, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, my boy" Jeraddin replied, putting down his fork. "What is it you want to know?"

"If one of your friends have been bitten by a snake and you have to suck the poison out, does it work better if the two of you are naked?"

"Is something wrong, sweetie?" Nasari asked Risha, who was bent over coughing loudly. "Do you need help?"

She was just about to slap her daughter on the back,  when Risha shook her head.

"I'm fine, Mom" she said, lifting her head up. "I just swallowed some water down the wrong pipe, that's all."