Chapter 57

He'd appeared before them so suddenly, Lus had nearly attacked him without thought. It was really only Jo catching hold of his hand which had stopped him from harming the gallant stranger.

'Who are you,' Lus pulled his hand away from Jo.

'Kashmana,' his voice was calm and smooth, 'I'm here to see Miraid.'

'Well I'm here to see Catilin,' Miraid gaze narrowed on him.

'I know,' his own gaze narrowed back, 'Dayena told me all about it.'

'Trust Dayena to know,' she folded her arms casually, 'she seems to do nothing but spy on me these days.'

'She just sensed you were here Miraid and wanted to know why. And after the conversation I just had with her I figured I owed her a favour.'

'I don't care what you owe her, she should have come and asked me personally, instead of spying.'

'That would have caused too much of a fuss,' Kashmana gritted his teeth, 'and neither one of you would have wanted that.'

'Don't' you dare tell me what I do and do not want you pathetic excuse for a Demi God.'

'I will tell you what ever the hell I want,' Kashmana half spat the words at her, 'now, be a good little girl and come with me; if you want to see Catilin I'll take you.'

'Oh no Kashmana, I am not going anywhere with you,' Miraid's voice was loud and snide. 'You see, I was told to come here, by a certain more than mutual friend of ours.'

'I'd guessed that much for myself,' he stuck his jaw out, 'why do you think I came here to get you?'

'Because you can't stand the thought she might trust me more than she trusts you.'

'She trusts you about as much as she trusts a demon with a chainsaw,' his expression was bordering on dangerous now and Lus was beginning to wonder how safe it was for any of them to be there.

'Which is still a lot more than she trusts you,' Miraid laughed, 'because why else would she tell me what she wouldn't tell you?'

'I know more about her than you ever could,' he snapped. 'Now you are to come with me Miraid, nothing else will be gained by you remaining here.'

'Whereas plenty will be gained by you if I do not, right,' she cocked an eyebrow. 'You've never had any taste for me, but there are others here which send your sexual appetite racing.'

'That has nothing to do with anything.'

'Oh, but I think it does, because you know I'll sour anything you try to do.'

'And you wonder why I hate you so much,' he growled at her. 'You're nothing more than a cowardly, manipulative, destructive force who poisons everything she touches. And no matter how hard you try you will never be able to win the one thing you want, because you've destroyed it before it's even touched your hands.'

'Take that back Kashmana,' she flick summoned a dark energy ball, unlike any Lus had ever seen before, into her hand.

The edges of the dark mass glowed with a purplish red as white sparks blazed periodically from its epicentre. The whole mass also oozed with a scary kind of energy which left Lus feeling more than a little cold.

'Oh put that away Miraid,' Kashmana took up a defensive stance, 'you know you'll never have the guts to use it against me.'

'That's where you're wrong Kashmana, you've pushed me too far this time; I will not stand for this anymore. Either you show me the respect I deserve or I swear on the beast's head I will kill you.'

For a few moments Kashmana just stared challengingly at her, chuckling lightly under his breath as he did. Then he shrugged and turned his gaze.

'I don't believe for a second you'd kill me Miraid, but I do know our mutual friend has some form of respect for you. Why else would she tolerate such a waxy creature?'

At his words Miraid dissipated her energy ball. Clearly that had been enough for her, although Lus couldn't work out why it would take so little. Before he could say anything to that effect, however, there was a rush of commotion behind them. Turning he spotted an excited Crovell pulling someone Lus barely recognised up the corridor towards them. Instantly he heard Jo let out a deeply sorrowful sigh and move to the front of their group.

'There's no need to pull his arm off C,' Jo's voice was calm and almost silky, 'everyone will get a chance to see him soon enough.'

'Soon enough isn't now though,' Crovell sounded like an excited school girl, 'and I have to prove to them all that they were wrong.'

'Wrong about what,' Lus frowned.

'Wrong about Duke, obviously,' Crovell shot him a look as though he couldn't believe anyone wouldn't get it.

'Wrong about Duke how,' his frown deepened.

'Didn't anyone tell you they think he's dead yet,' the elder boy babbled, 'because that's what they've been tricked into believing. But as you can see,' he indicated towards the person behind him, 'he's definitely alive right now.'

'But…' Lus went to protest, but Jo held up a hand to silence him.

'Yes we can see,' her voice showed clear traces of humouring her brother. 'But there's still no need to rush this. Why don't you go gather everyone else, tell them that you have a surprise for them, whilst the rest of us get a celebration ready, okay?'

Nodding excitedly, Crovell disappeared, leaving his companion behind looking more than a little wary.

'I swear I didn't tell him I was Duke,' his eyes were wide and almost panicky.

'I know,' Jo sighed, 'and I know you tried to do everything you could to convince him you were SK, but he's not going to listen to that.'

'But why not,' SK's tongue lightly traced over his lips, 'I mean, I'm clearly not Duke.'

'You are as far as he can see.'

'But how? Or even why for that matter.'

'He can sense the part of you that is now Duke more strongly than he can sense any other part of you,' Jo's voice was weighty and careful. 'As such all of his senses are tricking him into perceiving you as Duke. I know it's hard to understand, but that's his reality now and there's nothing anyone can do to change it.'

'But I can't just let him think I'm Duke.'

'Why not,' she shrugged, 'it's not a complete lie you know.'

'But it'll be hard on the others if he does and that's not fair.'

'SK, nothing about this situation is fair,' she lowered her gaze, 'but you will just have to go along with this.'

'We need to warn the others.'

'I know, that's why I'm getting Crovell to gather them all together. I know how I can do this without hurting him.'

'Alright,' he nodded, 'I guess I have no choice but to trust you.'

'It'll be okay SK,' she sighed again, 'you'll see. You'll see.'