BALADA: The Sight Of You Recalls The Grief's That Locked Within man’s Bosom Bide;

by Solea Razvan

Volun 4 Imperial fleet, Skyfall.

  Ealiupus 17th 23:30

 

  “Come in.” the spymaster replied as a knock on the door too Zula’s quarters was heard.

  “Sorry do disturb you so late spymaster, but I’d like to have a word with you if that’s possible.”

  “Of course Admiral!” she said as Metternich entered the room and sat in the chair opposite to her.

  “Admiral, it feels strange to be called like that.” he said surprising himself, since this was not how he wanted the conversation to begin.

  “I know, I felt the same way when I was made the leader of my first planetary spy group.” She smiled fondly as the memories of her first serious assignment briefly came back to her, before focusing on the present once more.

  “It never stops feeling strange does it? I mean going from a person who address others as sir, to someone who’s called sir by others.”

  “It never does Admiral, but forgive my rudeness, for it is rather late and you did say wanted to tell me something?”

  “Oh! Yes of course Lady Spymaster; forgive me!” he asked a bit embarrassed to which Zula gave a discreet giggle, foxes where very funny creatures!

  “Yes, well you see the reason I’ve come here is to apologize.”

  “Apologize? For what?” the High Princess said, genuinely confused at that sentence, which was a feeling she had not felt in years.

  “Well, I must have insulted you in some way! Either verbally, economically or socially since you decided to sponsor Oscar and compromise my command.” the rear admiral replied to her question.

  In truth he was thrilled that she was trying to dismantle his authority, since it meant a permanent way out of the military, but all the same it didn’t pay to make enemies of friends in high places, since he had to earn an income once he would leave the fleet and powerful enemies where a no, no for that!

  “I see your partner, what was his name? Oh yes, Akanthos’s reputation as a stock broker is well deserved! I regret that I was not the one who got him first; but to answer your question you did not insult me.”

  “Thank you God for your blessing!”

  “But you did challenge my authority.”

  “And please give this unworthy soul who squanders you gift, strength to stop being stupid!”

  “I challenged you?!” he said worryingly.

  “Yes, and I must say admiral Pelasgiamus that it was a very original dare, putting your lips into burning S class battle aura was a most elegant challenge! If only there were more heads of the High Houses like you!”

  Metternich’s replied came after a moment of muted silence, during which he recovered from the shock that once more he was being stung by deadly bees, of which he provided the flowers for.

  “Spymaster that was not a challenge! That was just me being polite!”

  At that answer Zula’s eyes widened, she straightened up from her reclining position and covered her mouth with both her hands in shock.

  “T-that wasn’t a challenge! Oh, by the Creator! You mean I just made an enemy without reason and squandered a potential alliance because of polite etiquette?” the realization of this mammoth size blunder hit her hard, she got up from her seat and started pacing about the room.

  After a few minutes of walking back and forth and muttering a few select choice of words under her breath, she returned to her seat on her side of the work desk.

  “It would have worked in the past…………..but now………..” Metternich heard her mutter, but desperately tried to avoid looking like he was hearing it.

  “Admiral, I’m afraid that there’s nothing you and do to stop it at this point.”

  “Why not spymaster?”

  “Because since you’re friend Akanthos had been able to hear about it, it means that others have as well, thus a lot of people know that I have challenged you to a battle of wits, if I back down now I lose face and in my line of work one’s reputation is everything, as such I will be forced to use the full extent of my reach to damage your faction and defeat you, I’m sorry but I have no choice.” she said Zula meant every word of it, this was a senseless conflict.

  Something a rooky or a barely competent spy would make, but not her! The greatest of them all! Not the Fire Princess! Not ‘Cainblessing’!

  She looked sadly at him, expecting anger and she joy instead!

  In fact she found him happy and almost jubilant!

  “Well since this is a battle without a conflict there is only one viable strategy for me to adopt!”

  “And that is?” she asked genuinely curious for the first time in years.

  “Why help you of course!”

  Volun 4, Imperial Fleet, Skyfall officers lounge.

  Two officers sat at the bar nursing their drinks and savoring them to the max as was customary amongst soldiers and sailors before an upcoming battle.

  “What you did at the meeting surprised me Oscar.”

  “And why is that Dalius?”

  “We’ll since the day I met you at Eastfield and through all the years we’ve served together I’ve never heard you pledging yourself to someone before.”

  “I’ve never met someone worthy before.”

  “Oh sure, sure, anyway I know your shtick is office politics, but this is going a bit too far in terms of theatrics and deception, this may come back to bite you latter.”

  “Who said anything about theatrics?”

  “Wait! You mean you where serious back there?”

  “Of course Dalius! He’s proven himself so far, so accordingly I pledge myself to him, since he is worthy of my loyalty.”

  “Does that mean…..” Dalius hesitated and discreetly looked to his left and right to make sure no one was listening in, thought considering that the other occupants of the room where trained soldiers and what he was about to say was an open secret it was done more for propriety’s sake than anything else.

  Thievery and backstabbing where a routine in the competition for rank, but rudeness will get you disqualified from the race!

  “…….does that mean you’ll turn down the offer for promotion from ‘you know who’?” he avoided using the princess name, since you never know who might be listening and how a simple word you say could be used against you when taken both in and out of context.

  “Of course not!” The Duke replied as a matter of fact, which made Daliu’s eyebrows shot up in confusion and leave his jaw, with all its sharp teeth, hanging for a moment in astonishment.

  “But you said-”

  “I said that I would follow him since he is worthy, but a leader must constantly prove himself worthy! You see, if someone who is either smarter or stronger than your current commander comes along who do you follow? The worthy or the unworthy? If he can stand up to……’you know who’.” Oscar hesitated for a moment, for it paid to be careful when it came to the spymaster and gossiping about her, but once he thought that he was certain she wasn’t in the room, he continued.

  “….And leaves the conflict with a victory or at least a draw, then I will continue to follow, but if he loses, then shouldn’t I forge a new path for myself? Or is there something wrong with that way of thinking?”

  “I wish I could contradict you, but no; what you said is just basic common sense for us military types and honestly what was he thinking challenging her like that?” Dalius said, concerned on this recent turn of events.

  “I wouldn’t rattle my brains trying to figure that out.” a voice from behind them said and they both quickly turned their heads to its origin and discovered that it was Akanthos.

  “How was he able to sneak up on us?”

  “I’m a business man and a lawyer commodore, that should answer any questions.” Akanthos said, as if he could hear the thoughts of those present, perhaps he could, or maybe he was simply that good at reading people.

  “He will find a way out of this, he always does.”

  “And what makes you say that mister Akanthos?”

  “Just Akan
thos, let’s not be so formal, we are friends now after all!”

  “All right, Akanthos.” Oscar paused, stared the seemingly eternal grinner in the eye to let him know that he would play along but in truth he was not so easily swayed by such a pitiful effort .

  “Now answer my question like a friend should.” He added coldly, he was not in the mood for veiled words, at least not today.

  “Of course, you see the reason he will succeed is simply because of the way he thinks, you see some people fight to be the richest, some to be the most powerful, some to have all the glory.” he paused as he took a sip from the bourbon glass in his hand.

  “But the thing is, power fades away, riches go faster than they come and glory is ever fleeting and that’s why he will always triumph, he fights not for money, power or fame, but something far nobler, that makes him invincible.”

  “What?” Dalius asked cautiously as he and Oscar waited with bated breath the answer.

  “You’ll find out, oh you’ll find out soon enough!” Akanthos said with a grin, which combined with his scars made a quite disturbing sight, unnerving the pair as he leaned over them, lips stretched in a smile, eyes wide in joy, when suddenly and without warning he frowned his face in confusion as he looked over their shoulders, to the other side of the roundabout bar, where Commodore Jackson was seated.

  “Uh, commodore may I ask what you are doing?”

  “Oh, nothing master Akanthos, just keeping some of my limbs extended”

  “Why?”

  “You see sir; I have upon close examination of my limbs, realized that some of them are slightly longer than the others, so I have to keep them elevated from time to time to keep a balanced blood flow!”

  “And……..which limbs exactly? For unless I am mistaken you have eight limbs.”

  “Why the uneven number’s of course!” she said with a chuckle as she continued to nurse her drink, while reading the bible and keeping between three to four of her arms and legs elevated.

  “It’s much weirder when she’s in her second form and walking about.” Dalius said to Akanthos.

  “Yeah, you sometimes mistakenly look around to whom she’s apparently waiving to” Oscar also added .

  To which Akanthos raised an eyebrow and shook his head in slight disbelief for a moment, before he remembered that everyone was with their peculiarities, him included.

  “Well……….this is getting interesting!” he said and downed his drink.