...Carriage of King Astraka...
"Do you want water?" He asked Vanysa. She stared at him. She seemed to like staring at him. What she did not like was speaking, she hadn't said a word.
"Wine then?" He asked. She just stared at him.
"No eh?" He said, and reached for his own goblet, he poured it himself, it wasn't something King's usually did, but he wanted as few to know of what he'd done as possible, when it was all over, when he was the unquestioned King of the Roble Holy Kingdom and the inept Queen Calca was dead again...permanently this time, of that he would be sure, this was a story that he would make sure did NOT make it in to the stories of the bards.
"You know its going to be an awfully long and boring trip if you won't speak to me. Its been what, three days, and so far all you've done is nod when you needed to relieve yourself, and you haven't opened your mouth to me except to eat or drink. You should be thanking me. This is probably the most comfortable you've ever been."
She shook her head vigorously, but did not speak.
He gestured with both his hands, waving his goblet around the carriage and looked as if to be sure he was still where he thought, it was somewhat mocking, but he was quite incredulous. "Come now, you expect me to believe you, a peasant from down in the gutter of the city, has been in a more comfortable place than this?" He reached over and took a grape and popped it into his mouth. It had a sweet and savory juice, and he enjoyed it thoroughly and made sure it was clear to her that he found it delightful.
She nodded vigorously again.
"Oh come on...really?" He reached across to where he lay, and touched her cheek with his bare hand, his touch was not cruel, it was a caress, but as soon as his fingers touched her, she flinched away and thrashed in her bonds, her eyes meeting him with hate and terror, and it looked as if she were about to cry, and he yanked his hand back as if it were burned.
His eyes flashed with anger, "I'm not Handor. I wasn't going to hurt you...that way." He said with disgust. She looked at him accusingly, she obviously didn't believe him, but even with her gag out, she didn't speak.
He sighed, "I don't expect you to believe me I suppose, its what a lot of people do when they have a beautiful woman bound and helpless...who they're not especially fond of." He gave her an equally accusing stare, reminding her she was being very uncooperative.
She looked at him like he was an idiot, and he rolled his eyes.
"Do you take some perverse pleasure in not saying anything?" He asked.
She nodded.
"Let me guess, taking the piss out of me?" He asked, she smiled, it was answer enough.
"Would you like to know where we are?" He asked.
Her expression said she did.
"Well what if I said I have a deal to offer?" He said. "Not many peasants are given the opportunity to make deals with kings you know." He finished his goblet and laid it aside.
Her eyes sparked with interest.
"You tell me one place you've been that is more comfortable than this. And the next time we stop, I'll make sure we grab some things you like to eat, I'll eaven cut your hands free so you don't have to be fed like a dog, but you have to cooperate when I secure you again. Do we have a deal?" He asked, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
Her eyes danced like jewels and she said, "Ah need bread, some turkey meat, an some lettuce, tomato, bacon, pickles, an..." She frowned for a moment as she thought, "guess ain't got no mustard...ahhhh...some kinda sauce...oh ana knife, but not a sharp one."
"Deal." He said as he poured himself another goblet of wine. "Now," he said as he began to drink, "Where has a peasant girl like you been that is more comfortable than the carriage of a King?"
She lay there looking at him for a moment and said with sparkling eyes, "Tha bed ah tha Sorcerer King."
Vanysa giggled when he spat out most of his wine and choked on the rest. She did not even care that some of it got into her golden hair.
...On the road to the Slane Theocracy...
"We looked like FOOLS!" Yvon snapped.
"We looked worse than fools, we looked like monsters!" Maximillion snapped back.
"We looked like petulant children!" Berenice said, glaring at Dominic.
"Bah! What does it matter what they say or what they think?! We just have to win!" Dominic clapped back.
"How do you expect to win the war if you can't even defeat your temper!" Ginedine said with a sharp tongue, "You were put into a fit of rage by a girl barely into her twenties, how stable do you think that made us look eh?"
Dominic looked sullen at the rebuke.
"No..." Raymond began, his low and even voice cutting through the tension and the cacophony of noise in the large carriage. "Its worse than that. We looked guilty, they know we have it, and I suspect the Sorcerer King has known that we have for a long time, and with everybody else knowing it, and what it does, if we ever use it we'll be presenting ourselves as an international threat. Calca's words cut deep, the neutral nations don't trust us, Astraka doesn't even trust us. The Draconic Kingdom is all but in the Sorcerer King's pocket and we only narrowly avoided having Argland coming against us."
He shook his head. "Remember when we thought we were so clever, we thought we'd outmaneuvered him by removing his cause to intervene? We thought that all together we has outdone him, that we had the perfect set of conditions to break the undead worshipers and rebuild the Roble Holy Kingdom into a more united place, one right in line with the sacred doctrine of the gods? His voise sounded wistful, "Only now look at us? Now we're the invaders who suborned the throne, supported a usurper, and are using him to butcher his people while the legitimate queen lives in exile under the hospitality of the same king that saved her nation." Raymond actually laughed, he couldn't not, it was either that or cry.
A sour mood filled the carriage, "I think he planned this." Yvon said.
"Do you think so...really...how insightful." Dominic snapped.
Berenice sighed. "Shut up Dominic, its not like you saw it coming either. Who the hell even knew the ninth tier existed at all, let alone...the rest of it."
"We should have intervened when Jaldabaoth was active, if we had...well at least we could have answered Calca, at least we could have had a come back to that 'Pope' of theirs." Ginedine said dejectedly.
"Speaking of," Maximillion began, "Did you see her eyes?"
Dominic shuddered.
"It was like...I could see demons in them, like there were thousands of them whorling inside her eyes...but they were being tortured and screaming for help, it felt like they were saying I was going to join them...and her voice...gods her voice, I've never heard anything like it." Raymond said.
"Do you think she really killed Busar? I heard he was exceptionally powerful." Yvon pondered.
"You saw what happened when the Elf King tried to use his killing intent on her. She smiled at him like a parent praising a child's first attempt at drawing a picture, like he wasn't even there, how could that have not had an effect on her?" Dominic asked.
"Well its simple, we have to kill her." Ginedine said.
"Well...that's easier said than done, but more than that, how long till our soldiers reach the South?" Berenice asked.
"They'll be in the South before we reach the Theocracy." Raymond said.
"Good. Its about time this happened, now what about our promise to the elf king? We promised he could have the women he wanted to...breed with, but we signed an agreement with the Sorcerer King that prohibited this exact behavior." Maximillion said, not without some disgust in his voice.
Raymond felt sick.
"We might even get another defender of humanity out of it, like we did with Zesshi." Dominic said.
Raymond looked at him with daggers in his eyes.
"What? You don't actually consider a treaty with the undead to be binding...do you?" Dominic said, and started to laugh.
...Kedyn...
When Gustav entered the city, it was to great fanfare, not least becaus the twins had used their speed to bring them back to the city well in advance of the rest of them, and he entered the city with a hero's welcome, one which redoubled when the armor and sigil of Black Justice was seen on some of those who marched with him. Lakyus, Evileye, & Gagaran walked beside him as he played the role of 'returning hero' quite dutifully, though being as close to them as they were, they could feel his discomfort with a pretense he did not feel he deserved. Similarly when they made it through to the keep, they heard as he breathed a sigh of relief.
Though there were guards along the walls...more alert, better equipped, definitely more disciplined, the passive gazes of duty didn't seem to bother him, it was praise that Gustav did not like. When he reached the entry to the keep, he called a halt, turned and faced his men. "You've got till high noon tomorrow, go enjoy yourselves, you earned it! But don't forget to mind the law! I'll block a paladin's sword to save your life, but I cannot save you from guilt! Dismissed!" There was a round of cheers, and the soldiers scattered.
Gustav turned on his heel and walked into the keep with Blue Rose behind him. "You don't like praise, do you?" Lakyus said.
"After what I'm responsible for? No not one bit." He said, his pace was quick as he made his way to the inner keep to greet the Viscountess.
Evileye grabbed his hand as it swung behind him in mid-stride and turned him to face her. "You didn't MAKE Remedios this monster that she's become. You can't take on guilt for that!"
"Oh no?" He said gruffly, "Watch me." And he pulled his hand away, "And more importantly, what do you think the Sorcerer King is going to do to me when he finds out I let that woman go? He stepped close to Evileye, who removed her mask as he did so, meeting his gaze with her vampire's eyes. Maybe I didn't mean any harm, but we're past intentions here aren't we?" He huffed, "Maybe I don't swing that sword in her hands, but every time she does so, a little a that blood splashes on me too! I can't just pretend that isn't so!" He figited in frustration in the shadows of the overhanging stone just before the main door, "I've got no choice now! I have to fight for the only side that seems to give a damn about life anymore, an its not the Theocracy, its not Remedios, an its not the damn King. The only one that seems to give a damn anymore is a bloody undead and...by the gods I don't even have words for her. But sooner or later a bill is going to come to my table and I'm going to have to pay it in full." He ran his hands through his hair and the sweat beaded on his face.
"What about the Queen?" Cercei asked as she stepped out beyond the door.
"She's dead!" He snapped. Then suddenly realized who spoke behind him, and he turned to kneel, but confusion rapidly appeared on his face.
"You didn't know?" Cercei asked.
"Know what my lady?" He asked.
"Queen Calca is alive." She said softly.
"You beat me to it." Lakyus said with a smile.
Gustav had shock on his face. "No...how?"
Evileye gave him a grin. "His majesty's magic."
Cercei reached down to him, and he took her hand, and rose slowly to his feet as she raised it. "Follow me to my private council chambers, you've clearly been out of the loop for awhile."
Gustav sputtered until he fell silent and followed her through the hall until they entered the main court, and then she took them in to a familiar side room where they could speak in privacy.
Ulthis was already waiting for her, and she said to him, "Ulthis, have refreshments brought for our guests," she paused, "Evileye...would you...care for a drink?"
Evileye looked confused, and the Viscountess gestured to a bottle. "A few of these arrived the other day, the Sorcerer King sent them to me as a token of appreciation for your help in Wenmark. He included a few for myself as well for my favor towards Black Justice, and they are absolutely marvelous." She said with a grin.
Evileye smiled happily, "How could I say no?" She said, and Ulthis went and ordered something prepared for them all, he returned shortly thereafter and took a seat next to Cercei.
"Before we get down to business," Cercei said, "Let me tell you how we've been doing, Gustav, obviously I haven't been able to write you any letters lately." She said sardonically, to which he gave a wry smile.
"Messengers have a hard time finding people on the run." He said, "Its part of the point of being on the run, since most of those messages involve daggers in the kidneys."
"Point taken." She said, and a round of laughter ensued at the terrible pun.
"Well you are better at jokes than his majesty." Lakyus said with a grin.
"Well I'd trade the joke telling to have all his other gifts." She said, "But as it is...well we make do with what we have, don't we?"
Servants entered and poured wine for them, and then exited with a bow polite bow and a nod of acknowledgement from Cercei, when the door closed Ulthis stood, poured wine into three goblets, and handed one to Cercei, then to Evileye, and then took one for himself.
"To doing what we can." She said, and raised her goblet.
"To doing what we can." The said, and raised their own in turn.
"That's from the book." Ulthis said.
"The book?" Gustav asked, "What book?"
"The Sorcerer King's, he says it is on everyone to do what they can, with what they have, where they are." Ulthis quoted with a little smile, "Looks like we're going to see just what that means for all of us soon."
"Just...what do you mean, and m'lady what happened with the Queen? You can't mean she's literally alive? I saw her body, there was nothing left of it but the ruined stump of a leg!"
"Be that as it may, she is alive." Cercei said. "And she's demanded her throne back from King Astraka, and he's apparently gotten very comfortable on the throne in very little time."
"It can't be..." Gustav said, leaning back in his chair in disbelief.
"It is. We met her in Nazarick where she had been staying...temporarily. Gagaran thought she was a bath attendant." Gagaran blushed and the rest of her teamates laughed at the memory.
"Its definitely her?" Gustav said.
"Well we didn't meet her before then, however she met with a number of diplomats and other leaders, everyone who could confirm it, did confirm it, she is herself and she is not controlled in any way." Lakyus said firmly.
"Is she his...puppet? Doing anything under threat?" Gustav asked.
"Not that we could tell." Tia said.
"She seemed to be enjoying herself." Tina added."
"She genuinely believes he'll restore her to the throne." Gagaran said with conviction.
"Well...this changes things. I'm going from a rebellious outlaw hunting law abiding paladins...to a loyal soldier in her majesty's army." Gustav said as he drank.
"Do you think Remedios knows?" He asked with a grin.
"I doubt it, word got to me through Blue Rose, but official word is racing around now and has reached the general public here only now, which means its racing all over the Kingdom." Cercei said, baring her fangs as she drank blood from the goblet.
Evileye seemed to enjoy her own, and it struck Lakyus how ordinary this kind of thing had become.
"Would it be a bit of sour grapes for me to say I'll enjoy the irony of her most fervent supporter fighting against her because of the undead fighting for her?" Gustav asked.
"Yes." Tia, Tina, and Gagaran said in unison.
"Well, then I guess its a bit of sour grapes on my part." Gustav said, and raised his cup, "To sour grapes."
"They make good wine...sometimes." Ulthis said, and they raised their goblets again.
"So you'll fight for the Queen then?" Cercei said expectantly.
"Absolutely." Gustav said. "I assume I'm in the right place for that?" He said wrly.
"You are." She replied, "You'll find no shortage of volunteers over much of the North, King Astraka may not have passed many of the policies Handor did, but he's not backing off of them either, and since he needs the Slane Theocracy and the South to keep the North, well...it's going to be a long year."
"What about you?" Cercei asked Lakyus, "Will the roses bloom for the Queen? Or will you stay closed for the winter of my nation?"
There was silence around the table as eyes turned to Lakyus.
Lakyus took a sip of her wine, and set the goblet down. She looked into the ornate cup and watched as the red liquid moved back and forth like waves against the inside of it, never quite rising to the top and spilling over, and eventually becoming still as death. She then lifted her eyes and took a deep breath. "The Sorcerer King asked me to work for him directly, to join one of his armies, our reputation is such that just doing that alone might win many to his side." She looked to her sisters. "I believe he is right, and...seeing his ways, the way his people live, seeing what the undead, vampires, can really do and really be like, I think its why I'm sitting next to my sister now, instead of weeping over the grave I would have put her in." She reached next to her where Evileye sat, her body shook a little as she spoke, but Evileye took her hand and squeezed it. "In a way, he gave my sister life, saved my life, I don't know what would have happened if I'd been the person who struck the undead first and listened later...and I got to see her happy, playful, at peace in his realm, relaxed in a way I'd NEVER seen her before. If he wants to make our world like that...then I want to fight for it too." She looked down, and made a fist with her free hand.
"But I'm an adventurer, we're not supposed to fight in wars, its one thing to act to protect individuals, or small villages, but joining armies? If we set that precedent in the traditional guild, what happens in the next war? Will the adventurers of those two nations, in a wave of patriotic ferver, join the armies of their home nations and kill one another? What happens when monsters appear and those adventurers are dead because they killed each other? That is just why we're considered to be immune from conscription in national levies. I have to think beyond what I believe in, I have to think about what is best in the bad times, as well as how to make good times. I will continue to protect villages from harm, that is the contract I agreed to, and that is what I'll do, that is what my roses will do. But I cannot join an army. If I impose that change on our world, its consequences may move far beyond what I intend here, and beginning something that I cannot see through to the end is not something I'm prepared to do. So to the larger invitation, I have to decline." Lakyus said.
Cercei lingered in thought for a moment, and then nodded. "I understand. I'll convey your answer and your reasoning to his majesty, I'm sure he will accept it and be content that you will protect the people as you have before."
Gustav looked curious, "Will he?"
"Will he what?" Ulthis asked.
"Will he accept a no? No is not a word often used to respond to the wishes of kings." Gustav elaborated.
Lakyus nodded, "He will, he may be disappointed, his servants may even be angry, but he will accept it, he's that kind of king."
Gustav emptied his goblet. "Well if our Queen is that kind of Queen, then there are two of them on the thrones of our nations, our part of the world may be entering a golden age."
"Maybe so, but a lot of people are not going to live to see it." Evileye said, "I've been alive a long time, golden ages float through time on oceans of blood, and they sink the same way."
"Well, with an immortal behind it, maybe...not this time." Cercei said hopefully.
"Maybe not. May I have some more?" Evileye asked.
"Of course." Cercei said, and gestured to Ulthis, who poured it into her goblet, bloody eye to bloody eye as they thought of the future they were seeing unfold.
...Argland Council chambers...
"Well we have a problem now, don't we?" The Platinum Dragon Lord said bluntly.
"We do." The Blue Dragon Lord answered.
"Well we all know that but what is there to be done?" The Diamond Dragon Lord added.
"Should we consider an alliance with the Sorcerer King?" The Obsidian Dragon Lord asked seriously.
"Why should we? Let the monsters kill each other." The Worm Dragon Lord replied.
"He did do us a favor. None of us knew they had a weapon like that, now we know they do beyond any reasonable doubt. More than that, I think I know what weapon they have." The Platinum Dragon Lord said as the thought ran through his head, his fellows turned their gazes to him and he answered...
"They have the one that controls minds. That is why he said it. He knew what they had, or suspected at least, and now if they use it, we'll know what they did." He elaborated.
"But...why not just say it?" The Diamond Dragon Lord asked.
"Because he wasn't sure, or perhaps he wanted them to be uncertain if he was sure or not." The Obsidian Dragon Lord answered.
"It doesn't matter." The Worm Dragon Lord replied. "They'll fight, one will win, the other will die, and we'll still be here, and then eventually the winner dies too, its how things are."
"You forget, he's an undead. We can't wait for age to take him like we did with the others, he's also cunning and absurdly powerful, if he were only powerful, maybe we could simply wait for him to do something stupid and die. If he were only intelligent, we would have power on our side, but he has both, and wealth to match. You saw wheat he wore, you felt the pressure he was able to release, and you saw the plot unfold before your eyes. Now yes this war will end, and he will probably win it, but what then?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked.
"Explain." The Blue Dragon Lord asked.
"Do you think he'll be more likely to remember...or to forget...who was on his side, who was against him, and who was on the sidelines?" The Platinum Dragon Lord asked.
There was a heavy silence.
"Fair point, but what are we allying with? He has a city doesn't he? Lets send representatives there, official and...unofficial." The Blue Dragon Lord suggested. "If he's really a good king, we'll see a good kingdom, if he isn't, then we know we should at least not side with him, if he is, we can work with him, and if the Slane Theocracy uses one of their weapons on us or anyone else, we'll ally with him to bring them down." The Blue Dragon Lord said reasonably.
"Well thought out." The Obsidian Dragon Lord said. "All approved?"
"Aye." They said in unison.
AN: Well I hope you're enjoying these rapid releases, I for one have been having a blast. Thanks to all of you who have donated either blood, food, or financial support so far, I don't even mind that you're a bunch of goddamn greedy slave drivers. I'm MORE than happy to churn out Chapters for Charity. Of course if you want me to churn out even MORE double release days, well every donation gets you another day of them, sooooo...go get vampired at the Red Cross (and send me a snapshot of your blood sucking moment so I know you've done it) or donate to my favorite charity organization bdgiving dot org, and you'll keep me rolling them out. Don't worry about overworking me, I love this stuff, and if I HAVE to miss a double release day because of work, well I'll catch up. :)
Thanks everyone for all their contributions and reviews and of course, reading! Gotta love you guys, the Overlord community is the best. :)