I channeled my rage into my words as I hurled them at her, and she recoiled in abject terror before me. The former assassin was reduced to a quivering mass, and I waited a moment for her to recover before I began my questions again.
“Who hired you?”
“He has my daughter,” she said as the first tears fell from her eyes.
That was certainly not what I expected to hear, and the revelation gave me pause. While the bitch in front of me might have been a cold-blooded killer deserving of no mercy, her daughter was likely an innocent. Or was she? The words had flown from her mouth in an oddly neutral color, neither blue nor green, something that I’d never seen before.
“Explain.”
“He took her from me,” she replied a little too quickly. “He said he’d kill her if I gave anything away.”
This time her words came out tinged in deep, oily green, and I responded just as I told her I would.
My hand was still pressed against her skin, and I sent a wide thread of rage roiling through her chest. She bucked beneath me as her screams of anguish echoed inside the tiny cell, but I pushed her down into the mattress and pinned her there until I felt that my point had been made.
“You lie to me one more time, and I will make that seem like a gentle caress,” I seethed at her when she recovered enough to hear my words.
“Fuck you,” she panted, but her weak tone belied the strength she was trying to project.
“If that’s what you want,” I whispered as I sent an entirely different tendril of emotion coursing through her body.
I offered her no restraint and flooded her with pure, unrelenting passion. But unlike when I was with someone I actually cared about, I had no interest in sensing her in return, so I shut myself off from her completely while the thick thread of ecstasy wreaked havoc within her.
The assassin gasped loudly in response to the raw power that I forced into her and let out desperate scream as the incredible wave of desire immediately overcame her. In only seconds, she was shuddering in a violent release, and I pulled my hand away from her in disgust. It took several moments for her to come out of the deep state of euphoria I had thrown her into, and when she did, she stared back at me though half-lidded eyes.
“Shall we begin again?” I asked.
Tási and I spent several hours in the cell that morning, where I alternately sent sensations of both excruciating pain and unmitigated pleasure into the assassin’s body. Despite the power I exerted over her, she resisted my efforts for quite some time, until I finally broke her will and she confessed everything to me as she collapsed into a blubbering mass.
Her blue-tinged words confirmed what she said when she admitted that it had been the King of Olóra that had sent her to kill me. King Gilfri hated the other races of Arrika so much, that when he learned I had established a Realm where not only all were tolerated, but where a human ruled over some of his own elvenkind, he had flown into a rage and ordered my assassination.
The assassin, I never bothered to ask her name, assured me that she would not be that last to come for me, but she also told me what I should look for. Gilfri would only trust one of his own for the mission, so I needed to be wary of elves coming from the east. They would come in many different disguises, so I would have to be alert, especially when larger caravans arrived that would provide the killers with an opportunity to blend in.
“We need to talk about what you did back there,” Tási said as she stopped me on our way out.
“I warned you about this yesterday. I did what I needed to do, nothing more,” I replied in irritation.
“You did warn me, but still that was not what I expected,” Tási said as she held her ground. “I understand why you did it, and my concern is not for her, but for you, Dreya.”
“You know that I have darkness in me, Tási,” I answered her in carefully measured tones. “But like so many other pieces of me, it’s like a separate thing. What I did in there, all of it, has its own little home inside me. My darkness knows its place, and I know its place as well—you don’t have to worry about it coming out unless I want it to.”
“Are you sure about that? Really sure?”
“Do you think that she didn’t deserve what I did to her?” I answered her question with one of my own.
“She’s undoubtedly killed many people, and while what you did to her was harsh, she’s certainly not worthy of any mercy,” Tási reluctantly admitted.
“I’m glad we agree about that,” I replied. “And I’ll expect you to remember that in the future, but I’ll also expect you to stop me if I ever try do anything like that to someone who doesn’t deserve it.”
“I’ll try,” Tási promised. “But, honestly, you frighten me when you get like that.”
“I’m sorry, Tási,” was all I could say. “I understand that I can be a little… intense at times, but you know I would never hurt you.”
“I do, but you’re still really intimidating, especially when your eyes start glowing,” Tási shivered as she finished speaking.
“I’ll try not to do that,” I smiled back at her. “At least not when I’m looking in your direction.”
“Now that the assassin’s told you everything she knows, what will you do with her?” Tási asked.
“You’re head of my security, I’ll leave her fate up to you, Tási,” I replied with disinterest. “Hang her, burn her, leave her to rot in that cell, I don’t care.”
“Alright,” Tási responded reluctantly. “I’ll figure something out.”
After we left the prison cells behind, I sent out a group of messengers to bring my Ministers together so we could discuss what the assassin had revealed to me. It took a while to gather everyone together, as the increasing responsibilities of their positions kept them quite busy, but after a few hours, we were able to assemble in our meeting room. Since this was a matter of security, I allowed Ella, Karina, and Aiva to sit in as well.
“We cannot do much with only the word of an assassin to back us up,” Broda responded after I relayed what the woman had said. “Gilfri will simply deny her accusations. With the word of a King against a failed assassin, we will come out worse in the eyes of most for even daring to put forth our claims.”
“Broda’s correct,” Venna hesitated before she seconded Broda’s words. “While we may know the truth, without any real evidence, there’s not much we can to about it.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear,” I replied as I slumped back in my chair. “But we’re not exactly ready to go to war with anyone right now, so I guess it’s better for us to be satisfied with at least knowing where the threat is coming from.”
“I’m glad you saw the wisdom in acting with restraint,” Venna sighed in obvious relief. “We were concerned that you might push for a more… rash course of action.”
The reason for the delay in our meeting suddenly became obvious to me—while my companions, my Ministers, were indeed very busy with all the work I had piled on them, that had not been it. They had taken time to conspire with each other ahead of our conference to decide how they were going to deal with me. They anticipated that I would fly off the handle in rage, order some ill-advised action, or march off to war in a fit of anger. While I knew that I had a temper and could indeed lose myself in my rage under certain circumstances, this was not one of them. Those moments were rare, and only occurred in the heat of battle, not when I had time to truly consider my options, but if they anticipated seeing my darker side, I decided that I wasn’t going to disappoint them.
“Rash?” I said as I rose from my seat and glared back at Venna.
“Stupid?” I continued as I turned to Tási and let my eyes blaze with green light.
“I am getting fed up with how little credit you seem to give me,” I went on as I stared down each of them in turn with the viridian glow.
“My actions are under my complete control,” I continued harshly. “Even when I do something that seems unrestrained, it’s because I choose to le
t myself go. The only thing angering me right now is how poorly you think of me.”
As I sat back in my chair, I let the light slowly fade from my eyes. My anger had not been intense enough to bring forth the light on its own, so I had conjured it myself to make my point to them. I loved them all dearly, but I needed them to stop treating me like a bomb just waiting to explode. So, with the first part of my message delivered, I relayed the second point that I needed to make to them.
“I need you to tell me what I need to hear; forcefully, if necessary,” I continued in a gentler voice. “You’re useless to me and to our Realm if you’re afraid to confront me when I’m wrong. Unless you’re planning to put a knife in my back too, none of you have any reason to fear me, or any reason to manipulate the decisions I make.”
“I’m sorry, Dreya,” Venna apologized. “We didn’t mean to insult you, it’s just that we know how protective you are of your people, and we were concerned that you might feel compelled to act.”
“I understand,” I replied to her. “And I want you to feel free to let me know anytime I overstep the bounds of prudence, but in the future, I would appreciate it if you don’t presume that I’m going to do so.”
“Forgive me, Dreya Sintári,” Aiva broke in. “But what was that?”
Only Tási had seen me project my anger before—I had not even demonstrated the blaze of light for my other companions prior to the display I had just put on, but it was probably better that they see it for the first time in the safety of our conference room, rather than in the middle of a fight for our lives.
“That,” I replied to Aiva, “is something that happens when I’m not very happy.”
“In that case,” Stel responded, “I will do my best to see that you are always in the best of moods.”
“It’s always so damn creepy,” Tási shivered as she whispered.
“You’ve seen her do this before?” Venna asked.
“Yes, unfortunately,” Tási replied. “She tells me Bane actually likes when she does it.”
“He does,” I smiled back at her. “Bane says it looks magnificent.”
“Wait,” Venna suddenly realized. “You did that on purpose?”
“Yes, I did,” I replied to her. “Although I didn’t plan my actions in advance.”
Calling her out on that seemed to shut down any further protests, and after a minute, we moved on to address other items of concern. Khorim promised to try and learn as much as he could about the goings-on in Olóra, but with the xenophobic nature of the Kingdom, he couldn’t promise that his efforts would produce any real results.
Other than that, the only news of note was that the permanent accommodations for not only me, but everyone else as well were nearly complete. All that remained were some final finishing touches, and for Ella’s last-minute security concerns to be addressed, and we would all be able to move into our offices and formal residences.
“How exactly have you dealt with the issue?” I asked Ella as the meeting adjourned.
“I’m really happy with the idea we came up with, so I’d like to save that for a surprise, if you don’t mind,” she smiled at me.
When she promised that her measures would only require a short delay, I let the matter slide so that she could have her little surprise.
“I meant to give this to you during the meeting,” Karina said as she handed me a pouch. “It was among the assassin’s possessions when we searched her.”
“Have you looked inside?” I asked as I took the coin pouch from her.
“Yes,” she replied in amusement. “The price that has been placed on your head is rather impressive.”
I had added the coins from the first assassin’s purse to our general treasury, but this time, I decided on a different course of action.
“Assemble all of my guards,” I directed her. “I want to see every last one of them in your barracks in one hour.”
Although she seemed confused by my order, Karina promised to see to it, and immediately left to gather all of them together.
“What do you intend to do?” Ella asked as she took over command of the guards around me.
“Let that be my little surprise for you,” I smirked back at her.
I led my detail off and had a quick bite to eat before we made the short trek to my bodyguard’s barracks. Karina had been true to her word, and every single member of my personal guard was in attendance. With them standing around the room, I strode to the center of the chamber, and stood beside one of the small tables they sat around to play cards or share stories during their down time.
“Yesterday,” I began, “there was an attempt on my life. Thanks to your valiant efforts, the assassin was thwarted, although not before she inflicted a great deal of damage. Tana and Nomi almost paid the ultimate price trying to protect me, and all of you deserve to be rewarded for your dedicated service.”
“So, I’m happy to bestow the contents of the assassin’s purse upon you as a gesture of my appreciation,” I said as I upended the pouch and let the hundreds of coins inside fall out upon the table.
“I’ll leave it to your Captain to decide exactly how the spoils should be divided among you,” I smiled mischievously at Ella as I left the room behind.
My detail tried to follow me, but I ordered them back so they could share in the raucous celebration that erupted the moment I stepped outside. Karina steadfastly refused to leave my side, but I was able to persuade her to allow the rest of them to join in on the festivities.
“I wouldn’t say this in front of the others,” Karina said as we left the barracks behind. “But we were completely outmatched by the assassin. Without your help, she might very well have killed us all.”
“You have something in mind?” I replied.
“We can work on our martial skills,” she offered. “But it was your spell that ended the fight in an instant. I think we need some Evokers and maybe even a few Curates in your guard.”
Every last one of my guardians had been pulled from the Garrison troops, and all of them were warriors of various stripes. The only two healers we had in the entire Realm had taken over the Garrison infirmary when I promoted Venna, and Tási was it as far as Evokers went. Even if we recruited some to the Realm, they would have to be willing to swear the same oath of allegiance that Stel and the others had in order for Tási to allow them to serve on my guard, or anywhere in the Palace for that matter. Tási had been adamant on that issue.
But Karina’s point still remained—my guard needed to be much more well-rounded if they were going to be able to protect themselves from the next assassin, let alone save me.
“I will speak with my Ministers and see what we can do to address this issue,” I sighed.
“I’m sorry,” Karina replied. “I didn’t mean to make more work for you, but I’m not sure what else to do.”
“It’s fine,” I assured her. “You’re completely right—with an Evoker or Curate among you, that fight would not have gone so badly.”
We were interrupted by the sound of boots rushing up the stairs towards us. The Palace was sparsely occupied, and there was no reason for anyone to be frantically running up the staircase that led to my personal quarters. With a look of grim determination, Karina drew her sword and prepared to meet whoever was coming for us, and I followed suit.
We were both relieved to see that it was a pair of messengers, and not a group of assassins that emerged from top of the stairs. The two of them screeched to a halt when they saw our blades pointed at them, but quickly relaxed once the swords were sheathed.
“What the hell has got you running through my Palace like a pair of maniacs?” I questioned them as I stowed the Essence Blade.
“Ambassador,” one of them managed to say between breaths.
“Broda?” I asked in a near panic. “Did something happen to Broda?”
“No,” the other one said as he got his wind back. “The dwarven Ambassador is here from Dhel-Ar. The King is on his way to see you.”
The Ambassador from Dhel-Ar had indeed arrived unannounced at the Garrison gate. Broda’s uncle apparently heard enough about our little Realm to pique his interest and had decided to pay us a visit. The Ambassador explained that the King had been forced to keep his trip here secret, not only because my Realm had not yet been officially recognized, which would make any official visit to us unseemly, but also for his own security concerns.
In the interest of providing us the courtesy of at least a modicum of notice, the Ambassador and his detail had ridden ahead to inform us of the King’s impending arrival. My brand-new Realm with its unfinished Palace had exactly five days to prepare to receive a King and host its first state dinner.
Broda negotiated procedures and protocol with her counterparts, and it was quickly decided that when the King arrived, she would receive her uncle, and then escort him to his guest suite so that he could have some time to rest after his long journey. Although we had met before, official introductions would be made later in the evening at a ball that we would hold in his honor—only general matters of little importance would be discussed that night. A meeting between the King, myself, and my Cabinet was scheduled for the following day when weightier issues might be put on the table.
With our schedule made, the Palace immediately descended into a flurry of activity. The stonemasons, who now included a number of elves in addition to the original dwarven crew, focused their efforts on finishing up the rooms and quarters that would be used during the King’s visit. With only five days to get the job done, some of the finer details would simply have to be overlooked, but they assured me that they could complete the truly necessary work in time.
While the masons got to work, the few people we had on staff in the Palace made themselves busy getting the accommodations in order and ensuring that we would have the appropriate food and drink in a sufficient supply for the upcoming event.
Second Skin Omnibus Page 135