Legacy of Death_Revenge

by Thomas J. L. Green

  “Hide outside of the city, I shall call you when we leave,” she told the massive bird. It cawed in agreement and fell off the side to fly away.

  The guards were observing her calmly.

  “I am here to see the queen,” Zerae announced. They didn’t react. There is something wrong with them. Zerae waited. After a while, a large man wrapped in full plate armor came out of the door.

  “The queen shall see you, please follow me,” he said in a rough voice, “my name is Voras.”

  “I’m Zerae,” she introduced herself and followed him. The insides of the castle were lavishly decorated and perfectly kept. He led her to a smaller room with a curtain for a door.

  “The queen is ahead, good luck,” he announced and left.

  Zerae braced herself and entered. Beyond was a barely lit room. The only light came from what was clearly a pond that emitted a soft green light. On an elevated chair across the room sat the queen. She was dressed in pure white robes. Her face was young, perhaps even pretty… or well, half young and half pretty, because the second half of her face was literally bare bones. “Greetings, Zerae Hellwind,” she opened up.

  Zerae snapped out of the shock and bowed. “Your highness.”

  “I see you bear the emblem of James. Why have you come here?”

  “Us, Faye, have lived in isolation for our entire existence. Until now. The war is already set, but we shall need alliances after it ends. I am here to explore your stance on such an option, your highness,” Zerae stated carefully.

  “What makes you think you are in a position to talk to me? The last thing I’ve heard is that you were stripped of all your official titles,” Khalia pointed out.

  “That’s a mere temporary setback. I shall reclaim the position of the Faye War Leader shortly. Eventually, I shall inherit the throne of the Hellwind clan and, over time, I shall become the second Faye queen,” Zerae announced as confidently as she managed.

  “Bold words… bold and ambitious. Anyway, I haven’t yet picked my dress for tomorrow’s ball, so I will cut this a bit short,” Khalia mused, “you are in no position to negotiate with me until you become a matron, at the very least. Once you do, we can talk. But since you went through the trouble of coming here, I shall tell you this. I shall be making a kingdom, the first kingdom since The Upheaval and I shall do it as soon as the Palai army pisses off from my future lands. I have no intention of conquering the Zaraguza highlands, at least not for now since nothing is interesting in them in the first place and their strategic location is uninteresting at best. I shall, however, offer you to join my kingdom. But there is nothing to talk about without you having at least as much as one city. To not make your effort wasted, I shall let you attend the masked ball that’s organized for tomorrow.”

  Well… I suppose the success streak had to end at one point. I have no time to attend some stupid ball, but refusing her invitation would be downright insulting. “Thank you, your highness,” Zerae bowed slightly. What was that sound? Zerae turned to one of the walls covered by darkness.

  “Hmm?” Khalia asked.

  “Nothing, I apologize, your highness,” Zerae stated awkwardly.

  “Why did you look in that direction?” Khalia insisted

  “I thought I heard something,” Zerae admitted.

  Khalia rose from the throne and briskly walked to the wall.

  “There are my private chambers behind this wall, there should not be any sound coming out from there,” she announced and made a symbol in the air with her right hand. It was bare bones, exactly like the right half of her face, “follow me, sword ready, do not touch anything.”

  “Why would you let me go there?”

  “If it’s not your fault, you might be helpful, if it is, it will save me the chase before I kill you,” Khalia replied poisonously.

  The door disappeared and revealed a room behind. It was a total mess. The room was originally fashioned into a study. Now, it was a total mess of clothes, books, weapons and devices Zerae couldn’t place.

  I owe Astril an apology… her room is a stellar example of order and cleanness compared to this one.

  There was a sound coming from a side. It sounded as if someone was quickly rummaging through things. Khalia made an ivory staff tipped with a sun symbol appear in her hand.

  Symbol of Alnil… that’s not what I had expected.

  She led the way, Zerae followed her carefully with her hand on the handle of her sword. They advanced through a hallway and another room to the stairs. They led to a room above, a room from where the sound was coming from.

  “Did you seriously have to turn my old room into a storage?” a voice shouted from above.

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” Khalia shouted and rushed up the stairs.

  “Looking for a mask, since your ethic codex explicitly bans the ones I normally use,” Lucas replied calmly as he kept sifting through the things lying around the room, “but it would go faster were you to tell me where you put my old stuff.”

  “Fuck off from my things!” Khalia shouted a blast light-grey energy shot from her toward Lucas. He teleported out of the way, then back to his original position after it passed.

  That was a perfect teleport if I’ve ever seen one. Instantaneous, seamless and without any gestures. The only one who could ever teleport like this was the Queen herself.

  “Oh, hey Zerae,” Lucas greeted her as he finally noticed her standing by the door.

  Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! I hope Khalia won’t understand this as me bringing him here. “Hi… do you two… know each other?” she asked awkwardly.

  Lucas pointed a finger at the wall. Zerae looked in the direction. There was a large painting hung up on the wall. It was a set of people sitting by a table. In the middle sat a gentle looking man with a crown on his head. By his right a woman with a crown and then six more people to the sides of the table.

  Is that… the Immortal King? I’ve only heard the stories of the old kingdom, but never saw any art. They say all was destroyed during The Upheaval. But… come to think of it, Sirissi Skalla was the capital of the old kingdom. If that is the king, then next to him sits his wife, the queen. The people around them… well… fuck. I don’t recognize all of them, but I am absolutely sure that, among others, next to his queen sits Khalia and Zakuma, while next to the king sits James and Lucas. I guess the Faye aren’t the only ones who don’t die of age… because the date on this painting puts it to about hundred and seventy years ago. I’ve gotten involved with some seriously dangerous people, haven’t I?

  Wait… I’ve been staring at the picture for a while and I can hear Lucas rummaging through the stuff, but the queen hasn’t said a thing.

  Zerae looked away from the picture. Queen Khalia was staring at her, mouth gaping.

  “Is something wrong?” Zerae asked awkwardly.

  “No. Not at all. I need Lucas for a minute, alone, now,” Khalia blurted and literally shoved Zerae through the door. She slammed them behind her.

  39

  Lucas

  “Is that who I think it is?” Khalia shot straight.

  “Yes,” Lucas sighed.

  “She doesn’t know, does she?”

  “No.”

  “I’m impressed… seriously… I never thought you were capable of something like this. I mean, I still hate you for killing my best friend and I have no intention of forgiving you. But still… I’m impressed,” Khalia smiled warmly.

  “It was his choice, not mine. Why would you care anyway?” Lucas made a confused face.

  “Are you kidding me? I spent the best part of my life preaching about self-sacrifice. I mean, there is other stuff in the teachings of Alnil, but ultimately, it’s about self-sacrifice. Out of all the people into who I tried to hammer it, you are the last one I ever expected to get it. I stand corrected. Anyway, the chest of your old shit is in the study, far left corner. About Zerae, I won’t use her against you, at least unless you
piss me off. I will also keep your secret, but you will do something for me. I will sit here until you are done warring in my future lands. Then I shall go on a small conquering spree and after I do, I shall announce a kingdom. You shall officially acknowledge it and neither you nor any of your legions will get involved when I conquer the wasteland your armies leave behind. Understand?” Khalia announced.

  She was never supposed to see me next to Zerae. Now I am in no position to negotiate. FUCK!

  “Alright,” Lucas conceded, “but let me warn you first, Khalia, if you use her against me or screw her, I will murder you. I will not care about politics, history, favors or promises; I will slaughter your people, burn your cities, destroy your body and shatter your soul.”

  “Good. I’m happy to see you care about her, you should. Now take her to the city, treat her to a dinner, get her a dress, haircut and everything else she needs for the ball and, for one evening, be for her who you were supposed to be. Give her a nice memory, you both deserve it. I’m off to celebrate,” Khalia mused.

  “Any tips? I haven’t exactly been in town lately,” Lucas sighed.

  “Emperor Street is the best one, Sapphire Fin is the best restaurant and I’ve heard the boat rides on the river are truly magical,” Khalia mused.

  “Think she will like sushi?” Lucas contested.

  “Oh, yes, their city is inland, so I don’t think they have seafood. He has finally died, hasn’t he?” Khalia pivoted the topic.

  “About eight years ago, why?”

  “Because this is something he would have done. You could have teleported away the second you saw her enter. You didn’t. From what I know about you, you would have teleported away instantly, but Lucius would have stayed and faced the reality,” Khalia evaluated sadly, “were I to guess, I would say that for as long as he existed, you could tell apart his thoughts and emotions from yours so you could shield him off. Now you can’t," Khalia smiled sadly, “can you?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “I guess I have another reason to celebrate,” Khalia sighed, “Lucius has indeed succeeded in his final mission.”

  Lucas just smiled back.

  Khalia opened the doors. “We’re done here, Lucas shall take his shit and both of you shall piss off,” Khalia announced as she faced Zerae, “for the ball, you can’t go like this. You need a dress, accessories, mask and a haircut. Luckily, Lucas will help you get all that, won’t he?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Also, if the haircut costs less than hundred gold, it isn’t good enough to be worn at my ball.”

  Zerae smiled and bowed. “Yes, your highness.”

  40

  Zerae

  Zerae and Lucas walked out of the castle in awkward silence.

  I don’t know what to say… and neither does he. This is the first time we meet in real life and it’s not what I expected, at all. He looks absolutely the same as in the Dream World, which is totally not what I expected. Okay, he wears a thousand times patched tunic instead of a perfectly fitting suit. But he feels the same… he feels so… normal. If someone told me he is a peasant, I would believe him. I thought that it’s his disguise for the Dream World, but he doesn’t have any special aura around him, no innate feeling of power or authority. He’s like a normal man. Were I to pass him on the street, I wouldn’t even notice him. Yet, at the same time, he is likely one of the most powerful men in the world. This is really, really weird and hard to wrap my mind around.

  “I guess neither of us is good at small talk,” Zerae observed.

  “Yes. In any case, Khalia was right that you cannot really go to the ball dressed as yourself, neither can you afford to not show up,” Lucas revealed.

  “How come?” Zerae tried.

  “The ball will feature six demon princes and most likely one of your matrons. That’s seven people who absolutely cannot see you there plus whatever escorts they bring,” Lucas answered.

  “Okay, time to go shopping. I hope you have some money because we don’t really use gold where I come from,” Zerae admitted.

  This is so embarrassing that I find no words to capture it. I need gold, now it’s too late for it, but I’m seriously going to raid a small town if I can’t get it otherwise.

  “It’s alright, but first we go eat… I’m starving.”

  Me too, but it was too awkward to say it. By the Goddess, I need money.

  “How’s the fish?” Lucas asked calmly during the dinner.

  It’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life… I couldn’t even imagine something would taste this good. “It’s acceptable,” Zerae smirked, “anyway. I would like to address the elephant in the room. What did the queen notice about me and how is she blackmailing you into doing all this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The only explanation I have for what happened is that she noticed something about me and instantly used it to blackmail you. That explains why she was in such a great mood while you have been kind of pissed since then. She didn’t blackmail you too much though. Hence you are just slightly thrown off rather than seriously angry,” she stated.

  “There are some things I cannot and will not tell you. This is one of them,” Lucas announced.

  “What am I to you?” Zerae pressed with narrowed eyes.

  “That’s the second thing I cannot tell you,” Lucas refused to answer.

  I expected as much... but there is one thing different between here and the Dream World. In the Dream World, he has perfect control over his looks, so he doesn’t show any emotion if he doesn’t want to. He can lie there without any signs. He has no such option here... I guess this is my golden chance to get some answers out of him. It isn’t exactly a nice thing to do, but who the fuck cares? My people are at war, the least I can do is take advantage of every opportunity.

  “Why are you on a hundred and seventy years old painting?” Zerae jabbed as she bit into salmon sashimi. It was beyond delicious.

  “Well… it’s not exactly me. It was the previous owner of this body. I am a demon, I do not have a natural form, so the only way I can exist in the real world is by possessing a body of a human,” Lucas explained.

  “But you and the queen seemed to be… friends,” she remarked.

  “It’s a bit complicated. The previous owner of this body was a great friend of hers. A demon taking over a human’s body kills the human, but the human’s soul coexists next to the demonic one before it dissipates. In the meantime, the demon obtains its memories. So, I have the body of her best friend, I have all his memories, but I am not him. Frankly speaking, it’s kind of awkward,” Lucas exhaled.

  “Yea… that sounds weird. Meh, how about we get drunk? These luxurious restaurants and shops are uncomfortable at best, you look like you really need a drink and I’m afraid there is no dress without a skirt,” Zerae proposed.

  “Sure, I will order some saké. Why is the skirt such a problem?” he pried.

  “I have never worn a skirt in my life… and I’m not looking forward to doing so.”

  So… we have done all the shopping, got stoned with weed and drunk. It’s been one of the best times I’ve had in my life. “Why are you so kind to me?” Zerae shot as they were approaching the inn where Lucas got her a room, “and don’t try the professionalism bullshit, this is way beyond anything your duties could ever require.”

  “You remind me of someone… it’s hard to not feel the nostalgia when I see you,” Lucas breathed.

  That was a lie. A well wrapped lie, but I can feel it wasn’t honest. It’s not that he does anything when he lies, his mimicry, tone and posture are all perfect. But I just know.

  “Why do you wear the collar?” Lucas broke the silence.

  I was curious if he asks about it since I don’t have it in the Dream World. “I have one more power within me, cursed power, a cursed flame. The collar keeps it in,” Zerae revealed.

  “What makes it cursed?” Lucas pried.

  “I can’t control it. When I was young, no m
ore than six years old, we had a competition. I lost and the flame exploded from me. It killed all the other children… I can’t risk that happening again, plus I do fine with strengthening plus teleportation,” Zerae shrugged.

  “I am sorry to hear that,” Lucas smiled sadly.

  “Don’t be. I am better than that. They called me Devil’s Bastard, the daughter of dreams who was cursed by the devil. I hated every second of it… but they did shut up when I won the tournament and was named the War Leader of the United Faye clans. I have overcome my curse,” Zerae stated strongly.

  “Alright,” Lucas breathed.

  “That sounded like disapproval,” Zerae observed.

  “Partially… I wouldn’t be so hasty to discard power, no matter where it came from or how hard it is to control it,” Lucas admitted.

  That’s a valid point. I hate it, but it’s valid. I never thought I needed that power, but if there is anything the clash between us and the Palai navy taught me, it’s that there is never too much power. “Shall you come in the Dream World tonight?” Zerae tried.

  “No… I have something I need to take care of,” Lucas refused.

  “Then this is the last time we see each other before the ball, the ball where we shall need to pretend we have never met. How about you answer me one question? Answer without dodging.” Zerae demanded.

  “Alright.”

  Zerae grabbed Lucas by the waist, slid to be straight in front of him and leaned on him, looking intently at his face. “Do you love me?”

  “Perhaps,” Lucas replied with a perfectly impassive face and neutral voice.