“You’re welcome,” I replied. “But that wasn’t just a ruse—there is something I need you to take care of for me. Birt and Wenda were among those who arrived, and I need you to assign them quarters in the Palace, with room for him to work attached if possible.”
“I have just the thing in mind,” she smiled back at me with satisfaction. “One of the people I spoke with was the former chamberlain at the King’s residence in Olóra. I was going to ask you to have one of your special interviews with him, and if he passed, I intended to assign him those same responsibilities over the Palace.”
“Why did he leave Olóra?” I asked with suspicion. “A position as chamberlain is not something one simply walks away from.”
“No, not usually,” Venna sighed. “But Olóra is not a very usual Kingdom these days either. The new King is somewhat… eccentric and is extremely intolerant of any outsiders. Lelan, the chamberlain, made the mistake of seating the dwarven ambassador too close to the King and was discharged immediately. His story was not the only one like it that I heard today. Most of the elves that came to us today are fleeing the zealotry that is being put in place in Olóra.”
Olóra was not too far away from us. In fact, while Dhel-Ar was our closest neighbor to the west, more or less, Olóra was the nearest Kingdom to us from the East. Having such a xenophobic nation so close to our borders made me uncomfortable, and I could tell that Venna shared my concerns.
“I will speak to Khorim,” she offered without me having to ask. “We will need to acquire some sources within Olóra who can warn us if they intend any harm.”
“That would be a wise precaution,” I replied. “Send Lelan to me as soon as you can, and I will interview him. I’m sure you’ll be happy to have those duties taken off your plate.”
“You have no idea,” Venna sighed in exasperation.
I led our little procession back to the Palace and up the many flights of stairs to Venna’s offices. Once they cleared the rooms, both our guard details stationed themselves outside and we could finally relax. Venna poured us each a glass of wine, and we sat down on the large couch she had managed to procure for herself.
It had been weeks since we had spent any real time together, and far longer since we had shared any… quality time. So, after the first sip of wine, I set my glass down and stared into her eyes.
“Now?” Venna almost choked on her drink as she recognized the look I gave her.
“Were you thinking we’d have a better opportunity sometime soon?” I replied as I took the cup from her hands.
Venna only had time to shake her head before our lips met, and I flooded her with the pent-up desire that was inside me. She had been right in her description of our relationship—the love I had for her was an entirely separate thing from the deep bond I shared with Tási, or even the subtler link between Ella and me. Being with one of them did nothing to dampen my need for the others. The longing in my heart for each of them had its own place; its own little facet inside me, and no one else could quench that fire.
In only moments, there was a pile of chain and leather armor adorning the floor beside the couch, and our bodies were wrapped around each other in an almost desperate embrace. I was clearly not alone in my need, and I felt Venna’s longing as strongly as my own in the thick threads of passion I sent inside her. She let out a soft moan of contentment as her lips brushed against the side of my face, and I sent softer tendrils of desire into her as I traced my fingers along the gentle curves of her body.
Her back arched and her legs quivered in response to the waves of passion I sent into her as I slid my hands over the soft mounds of her breasts, and it was far more than I could withstand. The sight of Venna reacting to my touch filled me with desire, and I had to have her right then. I climbed on top of her, pressed my body against hers, and kissed Venna more passionately than I ever had before. Her absence had kindled my desire into a raging flame, and the torrent of passion I sent into her sent us both into a reeling climax.
Our release seemed to last for hours, and I couldn’t say how long we lay on the couch sharing the ecstasy of it together. When Venna finally let out a deep sigh and brushed a stray lock of hair from my face, I rolled over to lay beside her. As we lay together, I let my hands play along the graceful contours of Venna’s body and she smiled back at me in utter contentment, a feeling that I shared with her wholeheartedly.
“I missed you so much,” she confessed after a few moments.
“We can’t let things go so long,” I replied. “There has to be a way for us to escape, even if it’s just for a little while.”
“As your Chief Minister,” Venna said with feigned importance. “I will ensure that this issue is taken care of.”
I couldn’t hold back and broke out in a fit of giggling. Venna’s façade crumbled, and we both fell into unrestrained laughter for a few moments. Once we got over the ridiculousness of it, we reluctantly got dressed and prepared to resume the duties that had kept us apart for so long.
“I was serious though,” Venna said before we reached the door. “I felt your need as much as I know that you felt mine. I’m going to find a way for us to have some time together more frequently.”
“Believe me, that issue will be getting a great deal of my attention as well,” I promised her. “I’m not sure it’s good for either of us to be without the other for so long.”
“I was wondering if you felt it too,” Venna replied in a voice that was barely above a whisper.
“I did. We’re a part of each other, Venna, and being without you made me less than I was. I hadn’t realized just how much until now, when you made that part of me whole again.”
It was a rather profound revelation for both of us—I always knew that we shared a certain closeness, and that our need for each other went far beyond a mere physical desire, but the recognition of just how powerful that connection had become, or perhaps always had been, caused us both to stop dead in our tracks for a moment.
“You know what?” Venna finally asked rhetorically. “I don’t care. I’m well past questioning any of this. Whatever happens, whatever it means, I’ll be with you till the end, Dreya.”
“Thank you, Venna,” I replied as I gripped her hands tightly. “I don’t know how long it will take us to reach the end of our journey together, but I have a feeling that I’m going to need your strength to get there.”
We shared a quick embrace before reluctantly leaving to go our separate ways. Venna wasted no time trying to rid herself of the responsibilities of running the day-to-day affairs of the Palace, and Karina announced that Lelan was at my own offices waiting for his interview almost before I had a chance to sit down behind my desk. I smiled as I waved for her to let him in, and two of the sergeants escorted the man inside.
Lelan was an older elf, obviously well into his hundreds, yet still hale and healthy. He sat down across from me and offered a respectful bow of his head before we began. Without any preamble, I cast See Truth on him and started my questioning.
“What is your name?”
“My name is, Lelan, Dreya Sintári.”
“What was your position in Olóra?” I asked him.
“I was High Chamberlain of the King’s formal residence, my lady.”
“Why did you leave that position?”
“I was dismissed from his Majesty’s service after I failed to properly account for his… preferences in making the seating arrangements at a state function.”
“Explain,” I commanded. “Hold nothing back, Lelan.”
“Forgive me, Dreya Sintári, but it is… unseemly to speak ill of a former employer.”
“Thank you,” I replied. “Those words alone tell me all I need to know about what transpired.”
“Do you intend to do any harm to me or anyone else in my Realm?”
“No!” He objected strongly. “I have come here to escape such things.”
“Are you aware of anyone else who may seek to inflict harm within my Realm?”
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“No, I am not.” Lelan replied firmly.
“I am sorry to have to ask you these questions, Lelan,” I said to him as he answered my final query. All his words had flowed forth in tones of clear blue, and I was comfortable enough to relay some additional information to him.
“There has already been an attempt on my life.” I told him, and his eyes lit up at the disclosure. “And I am certain it will be only the first of many. Anyone under consideration for a position that grants them access to sensitive areas or information, or who raises any suspicion, will be subject to similar scrutiny.”
“That being said, Venna tells me she intended to offer you the position of Chamberlain of my Palace. It will be a challenging role, Lelan. As you have undoubtedly noticed, construction of the building is not even complete as yet, and you will need to assemble your staff as well—all of whom must pass the same sort of scrutiny that you just did, but if you want the position, it is yours.”
“Dreya Sintári, I would be honored to serve as your Chamberlain,” he replied with the faintest hint of a smile. “The position is a challenging one, I admit, but I look forward to it, nonetheless. After I was dismissed, I despaired of ever finding any employment that matched my particular skills. The market for deposed chamberlains is quite limited, as you might expect. You will not regret this decision, I promise you that.”
“Good, that’s what I’d hoped to hear,” I said as I opened one of my desk drawers and pulled out a bundle of papers.
“These are the plans for the Palace,” I told him as I passed Lelan the parchments. “You will want to familiarize yourself with them, I imagine. There are designated quarters for you already noted, but if you find something else you prefer, you need only get Venna’s approval to appropriate them for yourself.”
“I will begin right away, my lady,” he said as he rose and began to leave the room.
“Lelan,” I halted him before he could venture too far.
“My apologies, Dreya Sintári,” he replied hesitantly. “Should I have waited until you dismissed me?”
“No, I’m not quite that formal, Lelan,” I assured him. “But there is one more thing I need you to see to. I have procured the services of a tailor. He will be taking up residence in the Palace, and I need you to find quarters for him and his wife, along with the space he needs to work.”
“Oh,” Leland replied, obviously impressed. “You have managed to hire Birt before I even had the opportunity to suggest that you do so.”
“Well, Birt and Wenda are old friends,” I informed him. “In fact, he gave my friends and I some truly stunning outfits when we last parted ways.”
“He gave you one of his garments?” Leland replied in amazement. “Even the least of his works sell for over 20 Talons.”
“I had no idea,” I responded, somewhat taken by surprise. The stunning emerald gown Birt had given me was clearly not anything that would have qualified as the least of his works, as Leland had said, making it worth far more than even the outrageous sum he had quoted.
“I will see to it that the master tailor is provided with both accommodations and work space suitable to his station,” Lelan promised me.
Once he left to attend to the many tasks that awaited him in his new position, I leafed through the jumble of papers that had been left for me on my desk. Most of them were simply status reports and updates on the progress of our many endeavors. After the attempt on my life, my daily tours of the Realm had been severely curtailed, and the reports had become my main source of information on the many developments that continued to occur. But the lifeless sheets of paper were no substitute for seeing my people and hearing their stories first hand, so over the frequent and strident objections of Ella, Karina, and the rest of my guards, I still made my rounds from time to time.
Reading and sorting through the reports took most of the rest of my day, and once I was finished, I took a quick dinner in my office before I headed back to the chambers that still served as my temporary quarters. Venna assured me that my permanent residence was nearly ready for me, and I couldn’t wait to be in them. Despite how comfortable my current quarters were, I never felt truly at home in them, knowing that the arrangement was only temporary.
Karina brought us to a halt outside the door to my suite as usual and sent a pair of guards ahead to sweep through my rooms. Despite the presence of the two outside, and the other pair down the hall, she insisted on performing the inspection every time we returned, and it was her strict adherence to that protocol that probably saved my life that day.
Almost as soon as the two entered the antechamber, a loud thud came from inside, followed by a muffled cry for help. Karina and the rest of my escort rushed inside, while the two sentries drew their weapons and took up protective positions at my side. But if there was trouble inside my rooms, I was far more capable of dealing with it than any of my guardswomen, so I drew the Essence Blade and Dagger of Laceration from behind my back and followed right behind them.
As soon as I entered, I saw three of my guardians down on the floor, while the rest surrounded a lone, black-clad figure. Karina held one hand against her side and a stream of blood flowed from between her fingers, painting a streak of bright red down her leg and onto the floor. Two others bore lesser wounds, while their opponent seemed to be unscathed. At my appearance, I could see the cold grey eyes behind our enemy’s mask flash with recognition, and I knew that the assailant we faced was yet another assassin sent to end my life.
In addition to wounding Karina and the others, the killer had put three of my guards on the ground, possibly dead. I had neither the time nor the patience to deal with the fucking animal in anything other than the most immediate and final way I could think of, so without hesitation, I dropped the Dagger, rotated the palm of my hand to face outwards, and shot a Bolt into the center of the dark figure’s chest.
The powerful blast of energy launched the assassin’s body through the air and into the next room, where it slammed against the far wall. The shrouded form didn’t move once it crumpled to the ground, and the uninjured members of my guard quickly disarmed and restrained the unconscious assassin.
With the killer dealt with for the moment, I rushed to tend to the fallen guardswomen. The assassin had shown little restraint even though they were not the ultimate target, and the two that had been sent in first to inspect the rooms were already dead when I reached them. Fortunately, the third was still alive when I got there, and with the help of a few crystals, she was soon sitting up again and recovering from her wounds. Then, I made sure that Karina and the other wounded had seen to their injuries before I returned to the dead.
I knew them both, obviously, as I knew all of my guards, and their deaths caused me grief, but it hurt just a little more to see Tana with her throat slit open. She had been the first to speak in favor of bringing the orcs among us, and had made a point of showing them kindness, despite the loss she had suffered. The other dead guard was also an honorable woman and looking at the ugly wounds on Nomi’s body brought tears to my eyes. After a moment of reflection, I silently brought forth Death’s Embrace for the first time.
I suddenly realized that I actually had no idea how to use the Artifact—although its description mentioned using its charges to resurrect the fallen, it did not tell me exactly how I was supposed to do that. So, I simply held the rod in my hand, and focused on what I needed it to do for me.
As I did, there was a rush of energy that flowed through me for just an instant. Although still incredible, it was nothing like the overwhelming experience I had when using the resurrection scrolls, yet the familiar nature of its power was unmistakable. When the brief surge passed, I looked at Tana’s body and saw her take a deep breath. Her torn throat was mended, and Tana’s eyes fluttered open as she looked around in bewilderment. Karina and the other guards shepherded her away as I moved on to Nomi’s corpse, and I heard them offering Tana comfort as I began to focus my mind on restoring Nomi.
A second
wave of energy coursed through my body, and as the subtle feeling of its passing faded away, Nomi too opened her eyes and gazed blankly at the ceiling for a moment. The other guards were still occupied with Tana’s recovery, so I lifted her up into a sitting position and tried to help her as best I could.
“You’re alright, Nomi,” I soothed. “I brought you back, everything’s okay now.”
“She was so fast, Dreya Sintári,” Nomi whispered. “I barely even realized what was happening before Tana was down and she cut me to pieces.”
“How do you know the killer was female?” I asked, as I had no such indications during our fight.
“She spoke, cursed us as we fell,” Nomi replied as her voice came back to her more strongly. “Called us filthy abominations.”
I was angered enough by the second attempt on my life—even more so since the killer had hurt so many of my guardians so badly. The fact that she felt the need to add vile insults to the deaths she’d caused only made matters worse. For her.
“Get out,” I said to them all as I stood up.
“I won’t leave you alone with that animal,” Karina replied.
“Get. The fuck. Out,” I glared back at her.
She had yet to see me full of rage, but was smart enough, or perhaps had been warned well enough to recognize that it was time for her to leave. Karina quickly ushered the others outside and I strode over to where the assassin lay bound on the floor.
She looked up at me with hate-filled eyes, and I let my own anger flow through me as I took the last few steps towards her. The room flared with green light, and the killer’s eyes widened in surprise as I knelt down next to her trussed-up body.
“You are going to answer my questions,” I told her flatly.
“Fuck you, human whore,” she spat back at me.
I responded to her insult by gripping her by the throat and choking off her breath as I let her know just where she stood with me.
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