by Brent Tyman
“Has the ball already started?” I asked. Rali shook his head while he still looked forward.
“Not yet. Everyone is just arriving now, and the ball will officially begin later in the evening. I believe the high priests want to meet with you now, and then you can mingle with the guests afterwards,” Rali said.
The inside of the royal castle had the same shining white walls as the rest of the capital. A soft hum was also in the air and Zelenia’s face consorted into a feral scowl.
“That’s the crystal, it's so close,” Zelenia whispered to me as she gripped my wrist this time. I nodded to her as we followed Rali through the corridors.
The hum was low and felt like it was coming from the walls more than anything else. The longer I heard it, the more strange it seemed. I just couldn’t place what was wrong though.
Eventually, Rali led us to a corridor that had many guards on patrol. It did not seem like the throne room, however, as the corridor seemed too narrow for it. Rali directed us to a sturdy white door and whispered some words to a nearby guard. After a few moments, the guard knocked on the door and peaked his head in, where more words were exchanged that I couldn’t make out. I was about to infuse my ears with prime to hear them more clearly when the guard turned back to Rali with a nod.
“The high priests will see you now, please go in your majesty. Your own guards may stay out here,” Rali said with a bow as he motioned for me to enter.
I gave my guards a hand signal for them to stay put and waved for the women to follow me. As I stepped through the door, I had to shield my eyes from the sheer brightness inside.
There were floating white orbs of prime that dangled from small strips of rope attached to the ceiling. I wasn’t aware you could bind an on orb of prime at all, so this was news to me. They emanated a bright white light that illuminated the room that was already lacking in darkness, thanks to the shinning walls.
Three men in decorated white robes sat around a table in the middle of the room. I tried not to crack out a smile when I saw that the table was the first normal thing I had seen in this castle. It looked like it was made of a sturdy oak like material.
Once the door closed behind us, the three men stood and gave me a small bow of their heads.
“Greetings king of Fulgrem, come, sit with us,” one man said as he motioned to the chairs across from them all.
I looked around and made sure there were no surprises before I proceeded forward. No guards were present in the room and there didn’t seem to be any tricks that I could see, for now at least.
Tessa took the lead and pulled out the middle chair for me to sit on. Zelenia sat to my left while Eliandra to my right. I hoped that Zelenia could behave herself with these high priests right in her sights. My other two women grabbed the remaining chairs to sit on.
“I welcome you to our holy city of Lunatium. I hope you found the views pleasing to your eye,” the man right across from me said.
All the men had intricate designs etched into their white robes. They were green symbols I didn’t recognize, but something was familiar about them, as if I had seen them before.
“It’s been quite an experience,” I said noncommittally, as I examined each man.
All three of the men had white hair, but unlike the council mages I had seen earlier, these humans looked as young as me. Their skin was fair, with the one that spoke sporting blue eyes. The other two men had brown eyes and no real notable features, other than their robes.
“Oh, I’m sure,” the man in the middle said. “Let’s proceed with the introductions. I am Nidola Angalis, high priest of Vulenchia. These are my fellow peers, Radeli Karella and Hora Maxcilli. Together, we form the ruling body that governs Vulenchia.”
I quirked my eyebrow at this, as it surprised me greatly. I was under the impression that these priests would be fanatical in their beliefs and their speech. For the moment, they sounded more like truth sayers than anything else.
“It’s a pleasure,” I said as I forced a smile. “I am king Ordan Strix of Fulgrem. I have brought with me duchess Eliandra Vos Venture and princess Lunara Delerain of Dunara. The others are Tessa and Zelenia, my concubines.”
I motioned to each woman in turn and felt a pang of guilt for Tessa and Zelenia. The other two had fancy titles while I had relegated them as my concubines. Titles mattered little to me, I would rather have my Slayer of Saina title stricken from my name, but it may be important to them. I may consider giving them some formal titles once we were home. It was within my power as the king, after all.
The high priests nodded thoughtfully at each woman, but they gave questioning gazes at Tessa and Zelenia. I think they wondered why I brought them at all, but said nothing on the matter.
“Excellent, now let us get to the heart of the matter,” Nidola said as he placed a hand to his heart. “It deeply saddens us to hear that one of our armies tried to invade your territory. Julian Hydo Tekara was a respected general, but his utter faith made him do terrible things in the name of our God. We will, of course, provide reparations for this affront.”
It was an act, I could see it in his eyes. Nidola was probably the one that ordered Julian to invade me. Laying all the blame on a fanatical general said all I needed to know about this man. I wondered if he knew that it was me that killed Julian to begin with. One of the survivors could have told him.
I had no information on how many of the remnants of Julian’s army reached Vulenchian, and whether those that did saw me kill that excuse for a general.
“That’s a good start, I lost a lot of good men because of his invasion,” I said as I tried to suppress my rage. So many soldiers lost because these high priests thought they could capitalize on our weakness.
“Indeed, so we can discuss the details of such reparations after the ball and ceremony,” Nidola said.
“What will this ceremony entail?” Eliandra asked as she smoothed out her dress and Nidola nodded to his peer, Radeli, beside him.
“At the end of the ball, the king of Fulgrem will kneel in front of the holy crystal of Lunarity and read out a pledge we display before him,” Radeli said with a deep tone in his voice. “The crystal will bestow upon him our truth and he will rise as a supporter of our faith. It's a ceremony that dates back through the centuries, when Lunarity was but one of many faiths in Vulenchia.”
“There used to be other faiths in Vulenchia?” Lunara asked with surprise written on her face.
“Other falsehoods yes, before the people saw the light and accepted Lunarity onto their heart,” Radeli said.
I licked my lips and tried to keep a cool head. The talk of this drivel of a faith grated on my ears.
“Come to think of it,” Nidola said as he turned his attention to me. “What made you decide to reach out to us and accept Lunarity?”
As every pair of eyes was now directed my way, I quickly cleared my thought and opened my mouth.
Me, Lunara and Eliandra had spoken before about what reason to give to the high priests about our change of faith. It would look hugely suspicious if I outwardly claimed to have seen the light. We kept it vague in our letter to them, and it was now time to see how well I could sell my act.
“My army is few in number and news of threats to the north has made me reconsider my position. If swearing to your god will make us allies, then I consider it the best course of action for my nation,” I said with as neutral a tone as I could manage in front of these men.
It was either this and tell them I didn’t want them to invade me anymore and my pride would not allow me to stoop to that low a level.
The three high priests were silent as they stared at me, with Nidola running his hand along the bottom of his neck absently. His blue eyes tried to see right through me and I gripped my knee tighter as a waited for a response.
“Hmm, you are not the most… enthusiastic man to join us, but perhaps you will see the light in time,” Nidola finally said.
I wanted to slump my shoulders back in relief, bu
t held off in the presence of these men. Looks like they bought it.
The high priests looked at each other and came to some silent agreement amongst themselves. Nidola gave me a nod.
“Very well, we have the local nobility in attendance and prominent members of the high priesthood. By all means, enjoy your time before the ceremony. I would prefer to talk about the relationship between our two nations after your… enlightenment,” Nidola said with a wide grin.
“Rali!” Nidola called and the door behind us opened. The white-robed Rali came in to stand behind Zelenia. “Please take our guests to the main hall, I’m sure they are eager to mingle.”
“I’ll see you at the ceremony,” I said to Nidola before I got up and followed Rali out the door. Zelenia quickly took hold of my wrist, and Eliandra flanked my other side.
I could feel all three of the high priests stare at my back as we left and my hands dug into my palms. If I had enough men, I would destroy these scum with no remorse.
They were up to something and when the dust settled, I would be the one over their corpses.
Chapter 14
I hated balls. I really did.
If one more person made meaningless conversation with me, I might resort to killing them with my bare hands.
The ball was in full swing now, and the past few hours have passed with every single nobility in attendance trying to talk to me. Either because they were curious to see the so-called barbarian king, or because they wanted something.
A few noblemen, and even ladies, had come over to offer their daughter's hand in marriage. We had yet to make my marriage to Lunara and Eliandra public, so I had to act noncommittal to each attempt. One noble even presented their daughter not as a marriage partner, but requested to have her be a concubine.
If I didn’t have my women glare at each and everyone of these ladies, I might have considered that one. The thrill of bedding even more women coursed through my veins until either Eliandra or Lunara looked at me. Then that thrill chilled, and I wanted them instead.
The main hall was a large room with a huge ceiling. Light shone in every direction from the orbs of prime above. Apparently, the crystal was supposed to be here too, and they would lower it down from a hidden duct in the ceiling. They had raised it to provide more space for the hall and guests. All I could really hear was the hum that resounded everywhere. It was strange. By now, it felt as normal as my heartbeat.
Zelenia seemed to get more and more irritated as time ticked by. She often stared above us like an animal that passed its night gazing into the sky. I would occasionally see small impressions left by her tail at the back of her gown, but I doubted anything else noticed.
Perhaps now would be the time to proceed to the next part of our plan.
All the women hovered around me, while I posted my guards around the main hall. I led the woman to a more secluded area so we could talk in private.
“Oh king Strix,” A nobleman with a curled mustache and expensive looking doublet called from my side. I looked over to see that a young woman in a tight fitted red gown accompanied him.
“May I introduce my young daughter Telissa, she has just turned eighteen summers and has recently become a disciple of Lunarity. Perhaps she can offer you her insights into the faith after the ceremony?” the nobleman said with a smile.
I had to admit, Telissa was a beautiful woman, although she had a slim figure as if she hadn’t been eating correctly. In any case, I had to come up with yet another reason to decline. I was sure I had met this nobleman earlier, so I was less peeved at his presence.
“I’m afraid is king is very busy with another matter that requires his attention. He will certainly like to discuss this later in the evening,” Tessa said smoothly. That impressed me greatly, considering the fact that all Lunara and Eliandra could do was glare at Telissa.
“Oh, I see, well later then,” the nobleman said and Telissa gave me a sharp curtsy with a smile as I turned away.
“Gods, these harlots won't quit,” Lunara said under her breath once we were far enough away from everyone else.
“I thought dark elves didn’t get jealous,” I said with a grin. Lunara’s cheeks grew pink as she rounded on me.
“This is different, these women see you as a means to an end and it pisses me off,” Lunara said with a snarl.
“Yes, the day has been difficult for me thus far. I never imagined that the noblewoman here would be so forward with you,” Eliandra said.
“Master is a powerful man, it's no surprise many women want to bed him,” Tessa purred, more directed at my own ears than to the others.
I made a final check to make sure no one else could hear us and brought the women close.
“All right, lets proceed with the next part of the plan,” I said. “Lunara, Eliandra and Tessa, you three distract the crowd and try to suggest that I’m off to bed with Zelenia. It should not be hard to sell, seeing as they regard me as nothing more than a barbarian. Me and Zelenia will look for an empty part of the castle for you know what.”
The woman all nodded, and each gave me a kiss before they departed, all in separate directions. This left me alone with Zelenia.
“Come then, Zelenia, shall we get to business,” I said as I extended an arm to her. She looked at me with a tilted head before grabbing my arm with her superior strength. I noticed she gripped my wrist tightly.
“Yes my consort, it is time,” she said with a smile.
I signaled to my guards to not follow me when they spotted that I was leaving. There was a corridor that I thought led to the bedrooms of the royal castle.
There were a few Vulenchian guards posted near the corridor and they stepped into my way.
“Can I help you, your majesty?” a guard asked, his eyes mostly on Zelenia.
“I want to go to the nearest empty bedroom,” I said. The guard head snapped back to me and he grinned like a fool.
“Oh… I see,” he deadpanned. “There are a few empty rooms behind me but please do not stray too far from the main hall.” The guard side stepped to let me through and I nodded to him as I went by.
“Foolish humans, I can't wait to eat them,” Zelenia murmured more to herself than me.
There was barely anyone in the corridors other than the occasional guard that patrolled by. I saw another couple of perhaps nobility, exit out of a room with smiles on their faces and figured this would be the ideal place.
The ceremony would not begin for another few hours, so I was fairly certain no one would look for me in that time. Especially since my women were still in attendance at the ball.
I stopped to examine the activity in this corridor, while pretending that I was engaged in conversation to Zelenia. Only one guard patrolled the area at a time and there was a lengthy period where there was no one else around. This was perfect.
I checked a nearby door and saw that it was an empty bedroom, with a table, chairs, paintings, and of course a bed. I dragged Zelenia with me inside it and closed the door behind me.
I double checked to make sure no one was hiding anywhere and saw that the room had its own side room with a drain hole and buckets. No doubt this was a bathroom, with pipes that were filled with water. We could drag any of the corpses here to keep them out of sight.
“This should do nicely, now we just need some bodies,” I said as I headed back to Zelenia.
Somehow, I knew something was bothering her, but she seemed content to keep her issue inside for now. I wondered what it was.
“Very well, how should we proceed, my consort?” Zelenia asked as she crossed her arms under her chest. I stopped for a moment to admire how good she looked before I snapped back to reality.
“It's easy, I’ll call a guard in here to help us with using the pipes next to us and once he's in there, we kill him,” I said. Zelenia nodded.
“Should I go to the other room?” Zelenia asked.
“Actually, that would be perfect. That tail of yours must do some damage. If you hide in the bath
room, you can catch them unawares,” I said with a nod.
Zelenia gave me a smile as she stepped past me and walked towards the bathroom. As soon as the door closed behind her, I headed out.
There was no one in the corridor, so I waited until a guard came around the corner to patrol. I flagged him down and he walked until he stood before me.
“Can I help you, sir?” the guard said. I don't think he recognized me directly.
“My concubine wishes to use the bath and can’t figure out how to operate the pipes. Send a servant here to show her,” I said. The guard grinned at the mention of the bath.
“The pipes? I can show her, I know my way around those baths,” the guard insisted. I tried not to grin at his excitement.
“Fine, go help her,” I said and let the man through. As the guard eagerly walked to his death, I checked both ways of the corridor to make sure no one else was watching.
I stepped back inside a moment later and ensured I locked the door. A sharp piercing sound resounded from the bathroom, followed by a hard thud.
I stayed by the entrance to make sure that no one else heard. I couldn’t really hear anyone coming to investigate, which was a relief.
Once a few moments had passed, I made my way to the bathroom. I saw Eliandra stare at the dead body of the guard with an almost feral look in her eye. Her tail appeared from behind her gown and was soaked red with blood.
I noticed that the corpse already had small wet pods embedded inside it. The pods pulsed in tune with each other and I saw that another pod grew next to the others. I felt my eyes twitch at the sight; it wasn’t very pleasant to see.
“My children will be born soon, then all will burn,” Zelenia said with a growl.
“How long does it take?” I asked curiously.
“Before, in the city they called Croydra, they came to maturity in a few hours. Now it takes around half an hour at the most. The more I feed, the faster the process is. Being close to you has sped up the incubation,” Zelenia said as she looked at her tail. The blood still dripped off its tip.