More Than War
Chapter 3: Alaric's P.O.V.
"Hmm, the taste is very smooth." I would muse, sighing in content after taking another sip of a rich red wine. I would turn my head to the demon who brought it at my command, it's bug like head twitching erratically like always. 'I wonder if that's a habit or not?' I would think to myself, putting the thought away for later so i could ask. "So, where did you say this wine was imported from, again?"
"Ah, from the valley of spirits, lord alaric." The bug headed demon would rasp, its head turning so far to the side, i thought it would topple over, but the demon stayed on its feet, to my slight disappointment.
"Ah, the spirit kingdom. Land of the most introverted people i've ever met in my life." I said, chuckling as i got up from my seat, and walked around the room. "What of my old drinking companion, sahara? How's that stuttering bastard doing?" I would ask, looking through my window to view my future kingdom, the orange sunlight reflecting beautifully off the red desert sands.
"Ah yes, i nearly forgot to tell you." The demon would say, pausing to rub one of its eyes before continuing. "Lord sahara is calling for a meeting in a month's time." A meeting? now there was a surprise. I would watch a group of imps engage in a battle with birds over territory, pondering my next thoughts in silence.
"Meeting, huh?" I would remark, leaning against the wall. "There hasn't been a meeting for a while. Not after the crystal ruling..." I would crack a smile at that, feeling nostalgic. "Not the greatest idea to ally with chaos and nightmares for the hell of it, just because their crystals weren't allowed reactivation, i will admit." I would then shrug. "But hey, at least it hasn't been boring for the last three years."
My demon butler would lift a hand, about to say something, before being interrupted by the basin in the corner of my room starting to shake. Raising a eyebrow at this, i would walk over right as the basin activated, revealing deacon. "Ah, there's my favorite drunkard!" Deacon would claim, fake mirth dripping throughout his tone.
'Great,' I would think, audibly groaning. 'The one person i hoped would never call me, called me. well, might as well have fun with this.' "Deacon!" I would exclaim happily, visibly throwing deacon off for a moment, before continuing. "The future king of the chaos kingdom, wielder of chaos magic-" The more i continued, the higher i could see his ego rise, making me all the more giddy.
"-And the man-child, most commonly known for having lost most battles he initiated." I finished, taking extreme delight as i saw deacons smirk crumble away, leaving a baleful scowl.
"Ha-ha," Deacon would mutter, crossing his arms as he glared up at me. "So very amusing." Smirking, i would take a seat next to the basin, motioning for my butler to bring another drink. "I can't help the fact that you're so damn easy to make a fool."
"We'll see who's laughing when i win the war, and take-" I would interrupt boredly, popping open a wine bottle to take a swig from before doing so. "-Before you take over all the other kingdoms, and claim yourself as the one true ruler, and blah, blah, blah." I would shake the wine bottle with each blah, having more interest in that than i did in the current conversation.
"You make jokes now, but it's only a matter of time before your forces are too weak to stop me." I would turn my attention back to him when he said that, honestly curious. "And how exactly, do you plan on doing that when most of your forces have either been returning to you kingdom severely wounded, or on the backs of their fellow soldiers shields? So far, even with your alliance with glacious, the two of you haven't managed to best me." Taking a sadistic delight at watching him grind his teeth, i would press on.
"And i've heard that sahara, the bookworm that loves peace, has also been winning in these battles you send at him." I would tap my head, pretending to ponder. "Which spirit did he use to recently wipe out your soldiers again? Amut?" I would then scoff, bringing the bottle up to my lips, before muttering, "You should learn to lead your forces and people better, if you truly wish to take over everything." Then, i would take another swig of wine.
I would turn my attention back to the basin as he yelled in anger, only to scoff again as his eyes blazed a vibrant orange and black. "Please," I muttered. "You know that little mind trick of yours won't work on me, now turn off the light show eyes." I watched with a smirk as deacon struggled to control his rage, his eyes dimming down as the magic left them.
Deacon would take a breath, smooth his hair, then look back at me, face blank. "Anyways." Deacon would say. "It has come to my attention that the meeting was set to be at the sky kingdom, instead of the original council hall. Do you know anything about the sudden change of place?"
Sky kingdom, huh? I would hum to myself, thinking about the reason as well. "Well this is a new development, for sure." Taking another sip of wine, i would sigh happily, before continuing. "It could be a trap, for sahara and vina to kill us all-" Rolling my eyes as i saw deacon open his mouth, looking ready to agree, i interrupted. "-BUT, my sarcastic answer aside, and the obvious fact they wouldn't try that... I don't know, maybe they want to discuss somewhere else that isn't that stuffy old room we regularly talk in?"
"Feh..." Deacon would mutter, before turning away. "Oh, before i forget... How are you?" His question would throw me for a loop, wondering what his game was. "Doing just fine, thank you. Just finished destroying the forces that you and glacious sent at me for the umpteenth time." I would smirk, only for it to lessen a bit as deacon nodded. Just what is he planning?
Deacon soon had a smirk on, as he then asked a question that made my grip on my wine bottle tighten. "Good, good. So, how's your brother?" My silence only made his smug smirk grow, as he continued. "Ah, i forgot..." Deacon would say, tapping at his chin with a fake thoughtful expression. "He died, right?" "Yes, he did." I would say, monotone, quietly seething.
"I have horrible memory, how exactly did he die, again?" Gritting my teeth, i would surge from my seat and slam the bottle into the basin, unflinching as the bottle would shatter, glass and wine flying everywhere. Deacon wouldn't even blink, still smirking as he knew he had gotten under my skin.
"Now, don't throw a fit at me. I didn't murder my own brother, after all." Laughing softly to himself, he would wave a hand, and he would disappear from the basin, not before saying his parting words.
"Drunkard and a brother killer. I wonder if that will make you a great king for your kingdom, or a horrible one?"
It was like i had suddenly gone deaf. All i could hear was my own heartbeat, and the blood rushing to my ears as i stood ramrod still. It wasn't until my butler started to shake me, urgently saying my name as i snapped back to reality. "Lord, lord!" He would plead.
"You must calm down, you're destroying your room in your rage!" My eyes would widen, as i looked around the room. Multiple cracks would have appeared all over the walls and floor, glowing an eerie red. The various alcohol i had painstakingly acquired over the years, would be on the floor, some of it thankfully not shattering, but most of it would be ruined, further souring my already bad mood.
"Great," I would mutter, shrugging off the butlers hands as i reached, grasping the broken top of a bottle of rum and scowling at it. "Ugh, remind me to end the spell so he won't remind me of that shit next time, okay terbang?" Terbang would nod, head twitching again as he assessed the damage around the room. "I'll go fetch the cleaning staff." He would then scurry off, leaving me alone to my thoughts.
Sitting back down, i would scowl at what deacon had said. What would he know about being a good king? So far, he's been the leading cause for the chaos kingdom losing so many of its forces. He's not the person who can call me a good or bad ruler.
"Urgh..." I would grunt, feeling a crushing feeling deep in my stomach, one that made me wanna curl into a ball and curse. "Dammit, not now..." Reaching for a not destroyed mead bottle, i would take a long drag from the bottle, sighing and closing my eyes in happiness as the crushing feeling disappeared, the stress and sadness temporarily leaving once again. 'The life of a king,' I thought bitterly. 'Stress from being trained, depression from thinking you'll fail, and... No, that's about it, it seems. Thank nova for liquor.' Raising the bottle as a salute, i would let out another sigh. Might as well map out where the sky kingdom will be, this time of month. "One of you lot bring me the nearest sky chart!"
