Throne of Cards 70 – Sires and Scions
It is of course perfectly fine and acceptable to teach your children every trick you know. Just keep in mind that it may at some point end up being used against you.
Excerpt from 'Ruminations Of A Master Bard'
It was that time again. Zaerini found herself floating once more in formless darkness, trying to get her bearings. She seemed to be alone this time. No Solar, no friendly god or sibling to guide her path. She'd have to figure things out on her own, remember what had happened and determine what would happen. An image floated to the front of her mind, a tall tower, a slender body helplessly plummeting.
Illasera, yes, I remember her. She fell. She could remember it clearly now, the sight of the swift huntress leaping backwards, attempting to avoid an exploding herd of rats. Leaping, and falling from the top of the tower where she had thought herself so unassailable. This time, she's definitely dead. I saw her body, before it fell apart. And Balthazar…yes, he is dead as well. She couldn't say exactly how she knew that, but she was absolutely certain. Part of her had sensed it, the part of her holding the divine essence had known that her powerful monk sibling had met his end. We did it. That's the Five, all of them dealt with. Only Melissan remains now, and she, she is something different. Not a child of Bhaal at all. And I need to know more about that before I face her. That is why I'm here.
Yes, that all made sense. There was no guide to be seen this time to tell her what to do, but she knew all the same. Melissan. Where are you? Who are you?
The darkness around her resisted, but she pushed against it, tore at it with invisible claws of sheer will until a crack began to form. There was light now, an eerie green light, and she drifted noiselessly closer to it, not wanting to be noticed if it could be avoided. She peered through the crack into another segment of reality, and yes, there she was. The woman standing there with her back towards her had to be Melissan, even if she somehow looked much taller and more imposing than Rini remembered her. The red hair was the same, but the tall and feathered headdress was definitely a new and not particularly flattering addition. The snugly fitting black and red armour looked pretty nice though, and Melissan certainly wore it well. She was carrying a long spear nonchalantly across her shoulder, and she was speaking to…to…
Oh Gods. No. Not gods. Only one god.
Melissan was standing on a white stone platform, seemingly suspended in empty space, and in the middle of that platform there was a tall pillar of that sickly green light. It was a bit difficult to make out the details of what was inside that light, but she could see a humanoid shape there. Too large for a human, and she couldn't make out the face, only vague impressions of shaggy hair, an unkempt beard and…
His eyes. I've seen them before, in my dreams. Bhaal, or what remains of him.
"YOU RETURN, MY HIGH PRIESTESS," the dead god spoke, and Zaerini shivered at the sound of that terrible, all too familiar voice. She tried to make herself small in the darkness, to not even breathe. "DO YOU THEN REPENT YOUR REBELLION AND COME TO SUBMIT, TO CARRY OUT YOUR ORDERS?"
"Please," Melissan scoffed with a dismissive snort. Her voice sounded…different somehow. Much harsher than Rini remembered it from before. "We have had this conversation before, have we not, my foolish former god? Once, I was indeed your high priestess, but that time is long since passed. Now, I am Amelyssan the Blackhearted, the soon to be Goddess of Murder. Nearly all your divine powers are now mine to siphon, and your plan has failed." She half turned, and Rini could see the triumphant smirk on her face. "And you came so close to succeeding too. Almost all your offspring are dead by now, and what few remain can pose no threat to me. Why, had I but done as you commanded and diverted the power back to you…you would have risen already."
"AND INSTEAD, YOU CHOSE TO ROB ME. IMPRESSIVE GALL."
"It should hardly come as a great surprise. Why would I not seize divinity when it is within my grasp?" Melissan…Amelyssan…tested the sharp edge of her spear, scraping it across the spiked glove she was wearing. "You must admit it has all worked beautifully. The Five were very helpful, slaughtering the minor Spawn as they did, and then I took care to remove them from the gameboard as well." She laughed. "Your feeble offspring made for excellent pawns. I am nearly a goddess myself now, and what few stragglers remain cannot possibly prevail against me. You will remain dead and return to dust, my foolish former god. You really should have known better than to put your trust in me, you know."
"YES, MY PRIESTESS. IN THAT, YOU ARE QUITE CORRECT. REGRETTABLY, YOUR FELLOW PRIESTESSES WERE MUCH THE SAME. YOU…REMAINED MY BEST OPTION OF SUCCESS. AND YET, YOU HAVE NOT ENTIRELY WON YET, NOW HAVE YOU?" There was a new sound, a low and dark chuckle coming from within the swirling and chaotic light that made up the Throne of Bhaal. "FOR ALL YOUR BLUSTER, YOU DO NOT HAVE THE INNATE POWERS OF MY OFFSPRING. YOU HAVE GATHERED MOST OF MY POWER HERE, IT IS TRUE. BUT IT WILL TAKE YOU TIME TO SIPHON IT INTO YOURSELF." Rini crouched lower, making herself as invisible as she could, and yet she could swear that her dead sire was staring straight at her. She had the uncomfortable feeling that Bhaal knew exactly where she was. "ABOUT…A DAY, WOULD YOU NOT AGREE?"
"What of it?!" Melissan snapped. "A day, that is nothing compared to an eternity as a Goddess. Face it, you have lost this game. Your pawns cannot aid you now."
"OH DEARIE ME. WHY, IF ONLY IT HAD OCCURRED TO ME TO TELL THEM THAT IT COULD BE WORTH THEIR WHILE TO DO SO…NOT TO MENTION THAT IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE AND NECESSARY FOR THEM TO RECEIVE MY AID SHOULD THEY CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT. OF COURSE I WOULD NEED TO SPEAK WITH THEM IN A PRIVATE AUDIENCE FIRST. IN…OUR MUTUAL CELL, PERHAPS."
Yes. He knows I'm here, all right, and he wants something from me.
"Enough," Melissan said with a slight sneer. "I have work to do, and you are distracting me from it." She turned away, focusing on something further away that Rini couldn't make out properly. "As you say, this will take me another day or so, and I will allow you to distract me no longer."
The crack slowly closed, the light faded, and Rini found herself alone with her thoughts once again. Alone…no, I'm never entirely alone, am I? My sire has always been there, in my head, trapped in there with me. Our…mutual cell, as he put it. He wanted me to hear that. He wants to speak with me. Why couldn't the dead god simply invade her thoughts though, as he had done so many times before? Because he wants something from me, something only I can give him, and when he's tried to bend me to his will before he failed. He's trying another play. This time, I must come to him, where Melissan cannot hear us. The pocket plane will have served its purpose then. This is the final challenge, I know it.
It was a challenge she'd have to face without her friends, too. They will be there, in the end. But not for this. This is between my sire and me, one final time. She cloaked her thoughts, wrapped them around with tall walls to hide her true purpose. It just won't be what he thinks it will be.
"You can hear me," She spoke. "I know you can. But Melissan can't, can she?"
OF COURSE NOT. The voice was all around her, above and below, within and without, as familiar to her as her own inner voice. And in a sense, it is. I'm my own person, not Bhaal, but there is that tiny part of me that is him. SHE HAD HER CHANCE AND SQUANDERED IT, the dead god went on, and now something was gradually becoming visible in front of her, a faint humanoid outline of sickly green light. It slowly took on more and more shape and form, until finally, for the first time, Zaerini was looking straight upon the face of her sire. Huh. I expected…more, I guess. He looks pretty ordinary.
"Her chance to rise to power through assisting with your return. I suppose if she'd remained loyal, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
NO. PERHAPS I SHOULD HAVE PROMOTED YOUR MOTHER INSTEAD. DESPITE FAULTS OF HER OWN, SHE WAS A TRUE FANATIC, DEVOTED UNTIL THE END. There was a faint, low chuckle. WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET WITH HER ONCE MORE?
"No. I'm done with her." And with you, but for this final thing. I know now why I brought you here. "But you're not done with me just yet, are you?" She went on. "Melissan can be of no further use to you, and you know it. She wants to steal all the power for herself, and there's no way she'll ever give it back. You'll finally cease to exist once that happens, am I right?"
YES. BUT YOU, MY DAUGHTER…WITH YOU IT IS DIFFERENT. YOU DO NOT PARTICULARLY WANT THE DIVNITY, BUT YOU KNOW THAT YOU MAY BE FORCED TO SEIZE IT. AND IF YOU DO…I WILL REMAIN, EXACTLY WHERE I AM. THE SLICE OF DIVINITY WITHIN YOU WILL GROW AND EXPAND, AND IT IS PART OF ME. The voice turned slick like a puddle of greasy oil. YOU WOULD BE IN CHARGE, OF COURSE, AND I WOULD BE YOUR SERVANT AND GUIDE, HELPING YOU ALONG.
"Right." Trying to take me over completely and make me your new avatar, you mean. "And what if I choose differently?"
WHY, THEN YOU WOULD NEED TO SIPHON THE POWER AWAY FROM YOURSELF, BACK INTO THE THRONE. BACK INTO ME. I WOULD LIVE AGAIN, AND YOU COULD GO BACK TO YOUR HAPPY LITTLE MORTAL LIFE. SOUNDS NICE, DOESN'T IT?
This is it. The final thing I need. Hiding her true thoughts deep inside, buried far away from her sire, Zaerini smiled, a bright, trustworthy and entirely innocent smile. "Sure it does," She said. "But you know it's complicated. I can't know just yet how things will go. Still…I suppose it can't hurt to let you teach me how to do that siphoning thing, just in case."
LISTEN THEN. YOU CAN SENSE THE DIVINE POWER WITHIN YOU, AND YOU HAVE LEARNED HOW TO DIRECT IT. NOW REACH OUT, AND THEN SENSE MY ESSENCE WITHOUT, MUCH LIKE HOW YOU FEEL IT WITHIN YOUR SIBLINGS. ENVISION IT FIRST, ANY WAY YOU WANT. A NET PERHAPS, OR A RIVER.
A river, yes. Zaerini reached inside, and she could see it with her mind's eye again as she had seen it before in her dreams. A river of blood, of shared blood. It was flowing not just through her veins, but through her soul. She could see it, so red, coursing swiftly, flowing into her. Flowing from where? She looked up, and she could see it now, a deep red cord, pulsing in time with her heartbeat. It came from outside, from the darkness, and she was firmly attached to it. So, I follow it backwards, to the source. The darkness parted before her, and she could see more clearly now. There were other rivers, large and small, swift and slow, all of them being fed from the same source, further ahead. Most of the other rivers were stagnated, dried out, blocked off from the source. Dead. Those are all the dead Bhaalspawn. Only a few of us remain, so very few. And the others, all of them weaker than me. She moved carefully ahead, not wanting to risk alerting Melissan to her presence. The source was ahead yes, a deep dark well of power, but between her and it was something else. Dams? Yes, Melissan has diverted most of the power off to one side, storing it for herself.
DO NOT TOUCH THAT, NOT YET. SIMPLY DIRECT A SMALL TRICKLE TOWARDS YOURSELF. YOU HAVE DONE IT UNCONSCIOUSLY BEFORE; NOW DO IT WITH PURPOSE.
It was so easy. She reached out a careful mental finger, steering a portion of blood towards herself, then around in a circle, forming a new little groove in the pattern of rivers, and towards herself again, joining with the rest.
YES. THAT IS MELISSAN'S WEAKNESS, YOU SEE. SHE DOES NOT SHARE YOUR INSTINCTIVE GRASP ON HOW TO DO THIS, THAT IS WHY IT HAS TAKEN HER THIS LONG AND WHY YOU STILL HAVE SOME TIME LEFT. NOW DO YOU SEE? YOU CAN GUIDE IT AS YOU PLEASE, BUT IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THE POWER IN THE END, IT WILL REVERT BACK TO THE SOURCE. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, AS LONG AS YOU WIN, I WILL STILL WIN AS WELL.
"I see." And she did, oh how she did, though she made sure to let nothing of her true feelings show on her face. Cards close to the chest. Don't let him see the aces up your sleeve.
VERY GOOD, MY DEAR DAUGHTER. Again, that satisfied, smug smile flickered across the dead god's face. YOU ARE A QUICK STUDY.
"Had to be, what with all the running for my life and getting chased by archvillains." She aimed a disarming smile of her own in her sire's direction. "So, I think I got this. I can sense the power, and I can move it around, into or out of myself. Now I just need to pull it off under Melissan's nose and figure out how to deal with her. After that…we'll see, I guess. So, are we done?"
ALMOST. Fingers like claws reached out towards her, scraping lightly across her chest, and hellfire danced in deep eye sockets, weeping sparks like burning tears. MELISSAN IS NOT QUITE A GODDESS YET, BUT SHE IS VERY CLOSE. YOU CANNOT SIMPLY SLAY HER LIKE A WANDERING KOBOLD. FIRST, YOU MUST SEVER HER CONNECTION TO HER STOLEN POWERS. A single claw broke off and fell into the palm of her hand, growing longer and even sharper. It was no longer a claw, but a dagger made from bone. DO WITH THIS AS YOU WILL. YOUR FINAL BIRTHRIGHT, A GIFT OF MURDER. He was chuckling now. IT CAN SEVER ANYTHING, BUT IT CAN BE USED BUT ONE TIME. THAT WILL BE ENOUGH. REMEMBER THAT.
Zaerini watched the dagger laying flat in the palm of her hand. It was flickering now, turning invisible, and then it was gone, melded into her skin. There was no mark left behind, but she could sense the deadly weapon lurking there, hidden from sight. "I'll remember that" she said. And I remember that gifts from you are not to be trusted. I may find a use for this in the end, but it will be my choice, not yours.
THEN WE ARE DONE. The lethal claws patted her head with a parody of fatherly fondness, and the shape before her no longer even remotely resembled anything human. There were the claws yes, and fangs, and a hulking, brutish body. IN THE END, YOU TURNED OUT RATHER WELL, I THINK. DO ME PROUD AND PUT ME BACK IN MY RIGHTFUL PLACE NOW.
"Of course," she said, proud of the way her voice didn't waver at all. "That, I solemnly swear." She made certain to put every ounce of sincerity she could muster into her statement. From the way the monster in front of her grinned, she thought he believed her. Because he wants to, and just like all the best lies, it is entirely true. Let the mark spin his own tale inside his head, make him want to believe you hard enough and he'll do half the work for you. "And now, since we're done, I think I'd better leave. I've got a day to prepare for Melissan, so I need to take care of unfinished business. You know, find all my friends, make sure everyone is rested and ready for battle, mop up leftover cultists or mercenaries…who knows what else. I'll see you on the other side…'father'."
The darkness faded, returning her to the world she had left behind, and her sire's voice faded as well.
Good riddance, it's not as if he ever was much fun listening to anyway. Time to finish this. She grinned as a very amusing thought occurred to her, her eyes sparkling. But first, I think there needs to be a party.
And now she was back again, the whole confrontation having taken place in the blink of an eye, between one breath and the next. She was once again standing below a tall tower, in a square where the flagstones had been liberally splattered with blood. The corpses were everywhere, monks, mercenaries, resistance fighters. One corpse was missing though. There was a pile of empty clothing and armour on the ground at her feet, an exquisitely crafted crossbow lying on top of them. As Zaerini watched, the last motes of glittering dust scattered and drifted off on the wind.
"And hopefully that's the last we'll ever see of Illasera," she said as she turned to her friends. "Things are looking up. Balthazar is dead and gone as well. I saw…well, I'll explain it later. But he's definitely dead, and we should go meet up with the others."
"At least we know what direction to head in," Viconia said. "Though there may just be a few monkish obstacles between us and our companions."
"Not for long," Edwin said, flexing his fingers. "I would say twenty minutes at the most. Less if you have no objections to me demolishing the odd unnecessary building."
"I kind of think the people there might, love," Rini said, smiling at her lover. "But I get you're in a hurry. Let's go then." She waved to the small group of miniature Bhaalspawn standing next to her. "Bye, you guys! Thanks for the help with the rats and take care now!"
Tibbit the goblin grinned back at her. "Bye bye Mighty Bhaalspawn! Small Wonders always remembers, us buy drinks later, best Goblin Gin in town, or Dragon's Breath if us find extra copper to reverse bar ban. First one makes ya beautiful, green like me, second just makes ya green."
"Ah, thanks Tibbit. We'll see about it later, for sure."
To be sure there was still fighting going on throughout the city of Amkethran, Balthazar might be dead, but his subordinates either hadn't heard the news yet or else were simply dedicated or desperate enough to carry on regardless. As the party approached the large monastery, they found the plaza before it to be a veritable mayhem. Over to one side, Rini could spot Asana Haraad, the young leader of the Amkethran Resistance, along with a small group of fighters. There were quite a few dead bodies on the ground around them, but they were still hard pressed by the sheer numbers of mercenaries. Other pockets of resistance were closer by, and the path to the gates of the monastery were entirely blocked by the throng.
"Can't see Sarevok or Vadrak anywhere," she said. "They might still be in there…of course in this crowd it'd be pretty easy to miss them. Let's clear it up a little…but no fireballs on top of innocent people, Eddie."
"Fine, fine. (Only for her sake, of course.)"
With that, the group joined the fray. Minsc gleefully charged into the melee, his large sword scattering limbs and entrails wherever he moved, although he didn't stray too far from his Witch. For her part, Rini hung back, trying to use debilitating spells of confusion or slowing to weaken the foes as much as possible. Viconia was keeping an eye on Minsc, while Imoen darted here and there, alternating between her bow and her sword to take out such monks as were preoccupied with trying to avoid the roaring berserker. As for Edwin, he did stay true to his word and avoided the fireballs but was still capable of a diverse selection of destruction and devastation. A towering fire elemental burst out of thin air and proceeded to lay into the mercenaries with burning hands and breath of flame, while bouncing lightning made a sort of daisy chain of monk corpses, all neatly laid out in a line. The foes were definitely starting to look under pressure, and that was when several of the mercenaries all had what they thought a bright idea. About a dozen or so wounded men reached for their belts to pull out their freshly made healing potions, courtesy of Alhazred the Alchemist and drank down deeply. There was a brief pause, and then the shouts of battle turned into horrified and repulsed screaming. Rini stared with a mixture of fascination and disgust as horrific pustules erupted all over a nearby monk's face, growing as large as apples before they exploded. What remained of the monk was…well, mostly an empty skin covered with a gruesome mix of pus and blood. Another man grew bulging fisheyes, scales and gills, and proceeded to choke to death deprived of water. Yet another one saw his arms replaced by squirming purple tentacles which proceeded to choke the life out of him. What monks and mercenaries hadn't been affected were fleeing in wild panic now and were easy targets.
"Awesome…" Imoen breathed with a wide smile on her face. "That worked even better than I figured when I messed with that cauldron back at the shop."
"Good job," Rini agreed, giving her sister a quick hug. "Just remind me never to drink any potions you happen to make, right?"
"Aww, you're no fun. Anyway, looks like we're more or less done here. Let's go inside!"
To be certain, Balthazar's army was in shambles. The ones who weren't already dead or dying were running for the hills and getting picked off by Resistance archers in the process. Zaerini took the time to briefly greet Asana Haraad, glad to see that the younger girl was still alive and well. "Balthazar is truly dead?!" Asana said with a laugh once she heard the news. "I trust you of course, though I would like to see his corpse myself."
"Well, that might be a bit tough, there won't be much left of it. But he's dead all right, that I swear."
Asana nodded, her large dark eyes very serious. "Then you have done us an enormous service, friend. The people of Amkethran will be forever in your debt."
"Well," Rini said, feeling laughter building inside as she thought things over and decided what to say next, "really you and your group did the bulk of the fighting. I was happy to take out Illasera to clear the plaza of course. As for Balthazar…a couple of my friends really handled him. We're just on our way to catch up with them. I'll make sure you get to thank them too, if you want."
"Oh yes, the entire town is very relieved to be free from Balthazar's tyranny! We do wish to show that, you really must let us!"
Zaerini met Edwin's eyes, and she saw the same amusement as she was feeling there, and a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "But of course," The wizard said. "It will be our pleasure, and we will discuss the details with you shortly. (I will make a list, to ensure no details are neglected.)"
With that, the group entered the monastery. At first, it seemed eerily quiet, with no monks about at all. Having walked a short while, they could hear distant screams though, and what sounded like the groans of dying men. "That will be them," Viconia said, nodding. "I hope they took care to keep themselves in good shape, I would hate to have to patch them up the first thing I do."
"I hope they didn't loot any dodgy healing potions off any monks," Rini mused. Then, seeing the horrified look on her sister's face, she added. "Just kidding, Immy! I'm pretty sure at least Vadrak would be able to tell if something was wrong with a potion before drinking it."
"Yes, but…what if they were in a hurry? What if…"
"Do you think our friends saved some monks for us?" Minsc asked. "Boo was just getting warmed up when we ran out of them." The hamster on his shoulder made a quiet 'snf snf' sound and wiped blood from its snout with a tiny paw.
"I think if you want more monks, we'd better hurry. Sounds like they're almost…oh, here we are."
As they turned a corner, Rini saw that she was entirely right. The corridor was entirely blocked by a pile of corpses, and on the far end she spotted Sarevok and Dekaras, both of them alive, well, and blissfully devoid of tentacles. They had apparently been fighting back-to-back, and a great many of Balthazar's fanatical followers lay dead at their feet. Sarevok slid the final monk off his sword and kicked the corpse aside before looking up with a huge smile. "Ha! You are late to the party, sister! Balthazar is no more."
"Yup, I know," She replied with a smile of her own before proceeding to give the both of them a hug. "So is Illasera. How did things go over here? I'm glad to see you're both safe, was it very difficult?"
"Oh, not especially," Dekaras said, meticulously wiping off his daggers. "It all went according to plan, really."
"We stormed the Cave of the Dead," Sarevok filled in, "And we forced the lich residing within to grant us passage on pain of death…second death, I suppose it would have to be."
"The Cave of the Dead?" Asana Haraad gasped. "Lich?!"
"Oh yes," Rini explained. She proceeded to quickly introduce Asana and then went on. "He was apparently living there on Balthazar's orders…my friends here ran into him before, funnily enough, they saved some poor girl whose soul he'd stolen."
"That was you?!" Asana said, her eyes shining with admiration. "I had heard about that! Malla is a dear friend of mine, she told me her wicked father would have left her for dead, no worse than dead, and you rescued her! And gave her gold enough let her travel away from here…she wants to be a healer, and now she will have the resources to go into training. This is wonderful!"
"It…was merely reasonable, given the circumstances," Dekaras said, looking mildly uncomfortable. "At any rate, it seems the lich had developed something of an aversion to us after that. It was not very difficult to convince him to cooperate."
"I don't know…" Rini mused, trying very hard to keep from laughing. "Intimidating a lich sounds pretty difficult and impressive to me. So, what happened then?"
"We infiltrated the monastery of course," Sarevok said. "The secret passage in the lich's lair took us straight in, and then it was just a matter of getting past the sand giant. Ah, that was a good battle, you should have seen it!"
"Sand giant?" Edwin said in a mild voice, turning to his father. "Correct me if I am mistaken, but aren't those considerably dangerous? As in fierce, strong, fast, and with some innate magical abilities?"
"There was no avoiding it if we wanted to reach Balthazar in time," The assassin said, crossing his arms across his chest. "And as you can see, everything went perfectly according to plan."
"Ah yes, of course, personal safety must take second place after the vital mission at hand, yes?"
"Anyway," Sarevok interrupted, "The giant was merely a minor obstacle in our path. We breached Balthazar's inner sanctum, and through a combination of subtle stealth and terrifying taunts he was soundly defeated without him even drawing blood." He grinned wildly and placed his large hand on the assassin's shoulder. "All in all, a highly enjoyable outing! We finished off with clearing out the monastery some on our way out, as it seems these monks had objections to raise over their Master's death. Too bad you missed it."
"All in a day's work," Dekaras said. "Really, it is nothing to make a fuss over."
"This…this is marvellous!" Asana Haraad exclaimed, clasping her hands against her chest. Her eyes were shining like stars. "Such an amazingly brave and noble feat! And modesty as well! This story must be told, for all of Amkethran to rejoice over!"
"What? No, that is entirely…"
"A feast!" Asana gushed, sticking one of her hands under each man's arms. "We must arrange a grand feast and celebrate this great deed! You, my friends, will be our guests of honour of course, and there will be speeches, and songs, and a ceremonial reward presentation! First Malla and the lich, and now this! You two have well and truly earned the title of the Heroes of Amkethran!"
Rini did manage to keep from laughing at loud, but she had to press her hand across her mouth to avoid it. Edwin didn't even try. Sarevok's eyes were almost bulging out of his sockets, and Dekaras looked as if he were contemplating gnawing his arm off with his teeth to escape the clutches of the enthusiastic young Resistance leader.
"Heroes?!" Sarevok protested. "Now wait just a…"
"Oh, don't be modest, dear brother!" Rini chuckled. "You both earned it, from the rousing tale of dashing heroics you just told us!"
"Absolutely not!" Dekaras said, and although he wasn't outright sputtering, Rini could sense he wasn't far off it. "I refuse to…"
"But Father," Edwin intervened, sounding so innocent that Rini had to turn her head to make sure it was really him who had spoken. "Haven't you always taught me to…what was it…'be gracious towards people offering a courtesy'? You wouldn't want to be a bad example to me, now would you? Or insult our kind hosts? I'm sure Mother would never approve of that."
The dark glare leveled at the mage would probably have made many a man wither. Edwin just put his hands on his hips and smirked right back at his father. Finally, the assassin sighed. "Oh, very well," he said. "Go ahead and say it, then. I know you want to."
"Ooooh, I don't know. What I could possibly be wanting to say at this particular junction in time? Let me think…something long awaited, but certainly greatly deserved. I could spell it out, if you prefer it that way, perhaps even backwards. I could put it in writing too, a hundred times over. Or would you like it in Elvish? Or Orcish?"
"Edwin, do not delude yourself into thinking my patience is eternal. Just say it and be done with it."
"Of course," Edwin said, smiling triumphantly. He cleared his throat and bowed deeply. "Checkmate, Father!"