Chapter Two

Tiriol

“Lord Tiriol, Lord Tiriol, you are needed immediately!”

I turned my eyes, icy not in colour (no, that was quite violet) but in my feelings towards the man who ran up to me, away from the children I was watching play with a ball. I liked these children about as much as the scum bent over before me, hands on his knees, panting. With any luck, I would not be required to train one at any point in their lives. I focused now on the man. Kicking one or both of his feet from under him seemed a very attractive idea, one I resisted following through with- what he’d come to tell me might actually be something vital.

“Where am I needed?”

The man straightened up, still fighting for breath. He must have run half the area at top speed to reach me. “Milord, the other six have already gathered. Lady Vierna is growing impatient for your presence.”

My lips turned down in irritation. How could I have forgotten the planned council today? How dare they send scum like this one to fetch me? “Out of my sight!” I barked. “Now, worm- make yourself useful somewhere else before I see fit to remove you from the Clan forever.”

He paled and nodded violently. “Of, course, milord!”

I watched him go, sorely tempted to kill him from where I stood anyway. He’d done nothing to earn it, they rarely did. I simply hadn’t spilled blood in a long time, so any chance to do so was a chance poorly spent in doing other things. I made a mental note to summon Clan members of his level to my chambers sometime soon and do away with them all. No reason not to.

One of the children kicked the ball, most likely meaning it to go straight to another of the group. Instead, the child it flew toward missed his kick, and it sailed right to me. I flicked my arm up in a swift movement to catch it. Not a problem.

The child who missed the kick came running over to me and stared up at me hopefully. Oh, the temptation to laugh. “Lord Tiriol, could I please have the ball back?”

I looked down at him through narrowed eyes. Giving the ball back would have been so very easy. Just as easy, on the other hand, and far more entertaining was the second prospect: I tightened my hold a bit more, pressing my fingers in deeper and deeper until the pressure became too much, so the ball popped.

The child’s face fell.

“Away with you.”

After watching the child scurry back to his friends, face beginning to fall apart, I started away myself. They were all so far beneath me it was near infuriating, especially when they gained the confidence to speak to me. How dare they? The only ones in all of the Liserys Clan I felt had the right to speak to me were my mother, the other six council members, and the Dragon King.

Halfway to my destination I felt rather than saw the presence behind me. Enough was enough for one day already- I’d been forced to speak to a lowly member of the Clan, as well as had a ball almost hit me in the face (popping it had been a slight redeemer to my feelings, just not good enough) and I wanted so very much to kill at this point. I began to pull my cards from their place in my clothes, thinking of how long it had been since they’d seen use. After two weeks without death, they would be craving blood just as much as I was.

I spun around, one hand back to thrust the card at whoever happened to be standing there. I let it fly easily, expecting to see it go into someone’s throat, to find instead it being held up between two fingers of a young woman. Her darkened hair glinted in the sunlight, something it had been doing for as long as I’d been alive. The eyes, matching my own if just a bit paler, glared at me, another normal thing for this woman.

“Oh, hello Mother.”

“Tiriol. Do be careful of your actions with these cards, won’t you?” Her voice was cold.

So many things were regular for my mother, a woman who felt hardly anything toward anyone not my father, meaning she hadn’t felt emotion on many occasions at all for the last few years. In regards to me, well, I was someone she just put up with. It had always worked that way. Every so often she chose to speak with me (such as now), always with some ulterior motive. I wondered what she wanted this time.

“May I ask what you want? You’ll have to walk with me for whatever reason you have. I’m already late for a council meeting. Please, or I’ll need to leave you here.”

My mother seemed to glare even more, if that were possible, eyes growing narrower by the second.

I rolled my own at her. If she didn’t believe me about leaving her here, she had another thing coming to her. I continued on my way, not exactly in the mood to deal with whatever the council would want to say to me. According to Clan laws, none of them could actually attack me, and they wouldn’t if they could- our powers were basically equal.

“Tiriol, how dare you walk away from your own mother?”

I didn’t slow my step. “Oh, because you were always such an attentive mother.”

She reached me a moment later. “Tiriol, I need you for something.”

“I’m sure you do. You can tell me all about it on the way to the council meeting. It’s so close now, I suggest you hurry up for whatever it is.”

My mother, I knew, would be becoming frustrated with my behaviour. Let her. If she would be such a bitch, I would allow myself to be a bastard. I wouldn’t stop talking to her, she had given birth to me. I wasn’t giving her any further credit for my life. She hadn’t taught me anything outside of the art of neglect- all I knew now, I learned from my father.

“I need you to kill a Clan member.” Her voice, unexpectedly shrill, came into my ears. “I need it done quickly, tonight.”

I paused, surprised- she was showing emotion. I turned to her, wondering what I had flickering over my face. My fingertips were settled onto my cards, back in their place. I’d been itching to kill, hadn’t I? After another second of watching her, I spoke.

“Who?”

--

“I’m glad you finally decided to show up, Tiriol.”

A cool smile slid onto my face, directed mostly to the man at one of the table’s ends, one of the oldest council members. There were six people, three women and three men. Appearances varied between them, including hair colours I’d always felt were rather disrespectful and wondered why they were allowed to be had. My own hair was a pale shade of auburn, coming from my father. I couldn’t stand people like Amalathistia, with her blue style, but was forced to, as she was of a level equal to mine in the Clan.

I slipped into my seat at the end of the table opposite the original speaker. From my place I answered him. “If you must know, Kio, I did consider not coming at all.”

“Your impertinence isn’t going to be getting you anywhere.” Kio’s eyes, icy in their colour and their opinion of everyone around him. His hair, white and sticking up everywhere, may have made him a laughingstock among the camp if everyone hadn’t known very well he could kill them in several seconds flat if the urge took him. “We’ve awaited your arrival to begin, so simply take your seat and join the meeting.”

After a moment of glancing around in false mystification, I returned to looking at Kio. “I believe I’m already in my seat. Would you please tell me what this meeting is about?”

Vierna, the only member of the Liseryian council younger than I was, as well as the happiest of us (or having a tie with Amalathistia and Limyaael at the very least- something about being a woman, I suppose) grinned at me from her seat directly beside mine. “We’re here to talk about the invasion planned for next week!” She got on my nerves constantly, but so far had managed to avoid bringing me to my breaking point. Her most constant habit seemed to be flipping her dark hair and doing cartwheels. The immaturity was near unbearable at times.

“Oh, is that it?” I sighed, drumming my fingers on the table. I wasn’t bored, exactly, just… Invasions were nothing new. We’d taken the entire continent we lived on by way of invasions, a fair portion of it with me at the helm of the invasions. “Should I be interested in this?”

“Hmph.” Amalathistia rolled her eyes, the ones almost perfectly matching Kio’s, not bothering to hide it being in my direction. She brushed a few strands of her damn hair out of her face. Did she do things just to anger me? Of course she did- if I ever bothered to attack her (as was often tempting) we both knew Kio would protect her, even if she couldn‘t hold her own against me without aid. “Vierna has good reason to be excited regarding this matter.”

I perked up despite myself, studying the woman beside me. “You are leading your first invasion?”

Vierna nodded eagerly. “Yes! Of course, Rikhter is coming with me as second in command, so we can make sure nothing goes wrong-”

“But I’m sure she’ll do a good job.” Rikhter, another of the oldest members, though not one of the first two, spoke, as he so rarely did. I was faintly surprised for the second time this day, to see a smile touching on his lips. “Any member of the council should do well in leading an invasion. No matter that it’s the first time.”

On my opposite side sat Halsei, who looked up from where he’d been doing something along the lines of studying the table. He’d been in the council from the beginning as Kio had (basically the original order of entrance was Kio and Halsei, followed by Rikhter, then Amalathistia, and Limyaael a few years after her- I joined next, and finally Vierna joined our ranks only a year prior to this meeting), but unlike Kio, was not an asshole. In fact, he was the one member of the council I often found myself getting along with, partially because he fascinated me so much- he had many secrets, not the least of which I was interested in regarding his hair. For the most part it was black, perfectly acceptable, and I knew for many years it had been entirely so. Near the front, however, there was a strip of perfect white. “I entrust Vierna with this mission, in fact was the first to do so. I gave her my vote of confidence, leading Kio to do the same.”

“You convinced Kio to do something?” I let out a laugh. “That’s a bit of a feat on your part, Halsei. Good job.”

Limyaael, between Rikhter and Kio, smiled at me brightly. “Just because Kio is stubborn, Tiriol… Well, you know him as well as the rest of us do. So don’t you want to know where Rikhter and Vierna will be setting off for next week? We‘ll be losing them for quite awhile.”

I considered for a moment, trying to recall what locations we’d been talking about lately, and in the end drew a blank. “I would love to know where we’re looking at taking for ourselves now.”

Vierna beamed at me. “I get to go kill some phaeries! Halsei and Kio want to get rid of one of the major weapons of that damn pool, so we’re going to deal with one of its lead sources of those women who protect it. Isn’t that exciting?”

I’m sure it is for you. “Yes, yes, that’s wonderful. I look forward to the results. Although I thought I was in charge of what areas we take over.” I narrowed my eyes at Kio, knowing if anyone chose to go against what I was supposed to do, it would be him. He never wanted me to join the council in the first place, so of course Amalathistia didn’t want me to become a member either, meaning the only reason I did in the end was the Dragon King’s desire to see what I could become, given the opportunity. “May I ask why I wasn’t consulted about this?”

“Because we aren’t taking it over.” Amalathistia, as expected was first to defend her lover, although I hadn’t expected it to be in this fashion.

“What do you mean we aren’t taking it over?”

“Just that.” The bitch rolled her eyes at me again. Such a pity my mother hadn‘t requested I kill her. “We are merely going to destroy it. There’s no reason to let the place alone, no reason to let it exist at all. I daresay we’ll achieve some new slaves from this expedition, but in the end the kingdom will be gone. Nothing left for Noevre to try and rebuild.”

I frowned down the table at Kio. “I believe further slaves are one of the last things we need. May I ask what the Dragon King has said about this?”

“The Dragon King has given us his full approval.” Kio stared at me through his slanted eyes.

When I first joined the council, those eyes of his bothered me. After being a member for so long, my opinion changed. I feared him not at all, rather I often considered doing away with him, and if the council had a member with more authority than the others, he and I would be the two going after the position with the most effort, despite my being a newer member (if being on the council for over half a century constitutes as being new, though it must when the oldest members have been around for numerous centuries, like my mother- one of our Clan‘s wonders, we look young until the day we die, which takes a very long time in itself) I had a lot of support, from Halsei in particular.

“Do you plan to argue with what he has said, Tiriol?”

One of my hands moved once more to fondle the cards within my clothes. Looking at me, no one would realize they were there- I had no pockets, at least not ones visible to the naked eye of any of our Clan’s scum. I itched to kill him, but I preferred to not set off a battle like we would have at council meeting.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

--

“Tiriol, you must always obey your mother.”

I nodded, wishing I didn’t have to . My mother hated me, everyone knew it. I didn’t know why. She couldn’t have asked for a more powerful son- I was hardly a century old and already I was on the verge of joining the council, at the wish of the Dragon King himself. What more could she want?

“Father, why do you tell me this?”

“So you will never refuse anything she asks you, my child.” His smile was amazing. My father was the only one who cared about me in the slightest. He taught me how to use any weapon, followed those lessons up with instruction on the art of creating my own weapon (resulting in my cards), and defended me from my mother before I was old enough to do it myself. “She needs you, and she will need you more after I am gone from this world.”

“I pray she goes before you do. She will do her best to make me suffer further otherwise.” I stared at the floor, hating this bowed position as much as I always had. My mother drilled it into my head early on in my life, in a most painful fashion. “However I will promise to always do as she desires, even should she ask me to kill myself.”

My father laughed delightedly, clapping a hand onto my shoulder. “Ah, my child, I would not ask you to fulfil that of all wishes. Simply do anything else she requires of you.”

“Yes, Father.”

I blinked out of the memory, one of the last I shared with my father. I’d gone to my quarters for the purposes of meditation upon the closing of the council meeting. It would help before the murder my mother asked me to carry out. I stood up and brushed my clothing off, not that it was possible for anything to get on it within my sanctum anyhow. I drew my cards out and flipped through them.

“Well, mother,” I whispered, “be grateful for my promise to father, or you would be dead already. Instead I will be having my fun with…” I pulled a single card from the deck and smiled at the skull which grinned back from the surface. “Nelea.”

Closing my eyes, I removed another card, knowing I would appreciate the result no matter how it turned out. This card would show me what sort of death Nelea would receive. I cradled it, knowing I could identify without looking- these cards were my closest companions. A smile flicked onto my lips. The Stag. Swiftness. I was to kill her quickly. Too bad for me. I always preferred to savour the death. Wonderful for Nelea. She wouldn’t be forced to suffer.

I replaced my cards and removed myself from my sanctum. To my surprise, Halsei was waiting for me outside, leaning against my wall. He straightened up when I exited, towering over me. It wasn’t that I was short- he was just incredibly tall.

“Can I help you?”

Halsei smiled weakly. “Tiriol, I need to speak with you.”

I cocked my head at him, one hand on my hip. “Can it wait? I’m a bit busy at the moment.”

“You’re going to kill Nelea, correct? Don’t ask how I knew.” The man shook his head at me and gestured down my hallway. “Walk with me. Nelea will wait, I promise that although your mother is not the only Clan member with a vendetta against her, no one else is planning an attempt on her life until at least tomorrow.”

There were hours left until it would be dawn, killing Nelea would take only a few minutes. I shrugged. “Fine then.” As we started down the hall I avoided the urge to look up and try to read his face. He’d never been very readable, even to a master like me. “What do you need of me?”

“I just wish to make a few inquiries. What is your opinion of the other council members?”

I couldn’t help the surprise flickering over my face. He’d asked me to put off a killing to ask what I thought of other Clan members? Of all people, Halsei was not one I expected to pose such pointless questions, and especially to me.

“Does this question have any relevance at all, Halsei?”

“A bit. Won’t you answer?”

“Of course.” I couldn’t refuse my strongest supporter. “I detest Kio. I believe he will one day turn traitor to the Dragon King, he is so wanting for power. Rikhter is a good Clan member. He is loyal to the King, and is supportive to other members in a way I could never be.”

“A way you choose not to be.”

I stiffened. “If you want to know all of my opinions, you will not interrupt again. Amalathistia is loyal in her own way, the wrong way. She will support Kio rather than the King should he turn according to what I’ve already told you. I don’t have an opinion on Limyaael, other than feeling she should get over whatever is keeping her from telling Rikhter she is in love with him.” I made a face of contempt. Love was something entirely unneeded in society. A distraction with far too much power to make things crumble in ways they shouldn’t. “Watching her blush and stammer when he speaks to her is becoming irritated. Vierna was the perfect choice for the seventh council member. Like others she is loyal to the Clan and the Clan only, and she is happy with her work. I look forward to the results of her invasion.”

Halsei turned to me and surveyed me cautiously. “And your opinion of me?”

“I am grateful to you. You support me more than any other within the council, without which I believe Kio would have come after me long ago.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t gone after him yet.” Halsei chuckled. “I can see in your eyes every time you are near him the desire to spill his blood is great, is it not?” He slid his hands into the pockets of the jacket he wore even in sweltering heat. “I must wonder why you never seek out the company of others. Even in moments when most would yearn for company.”

A shock ran through me at his question. I expected this less than his previous one. Furthermore, I wasn’t sure I wanted to answer it.

“Tiriol? I’m curious.”

I hesitated, fingers running along the edge of my cards once more. If this wasn’t Halsei he would be dead already. “I seek not the company of those beneath me.”

“Then why not spend time with the council members? I would never dare to suggest your mother, of course. I would gladly grant you my time if you ever bothered to ask me for it.”

I gave him more silence for some amount of time, I wasn’t sure how much. Finally, I enforced my voice to come out properly, “I don’t wish to have anyone around me. If you don’t mind, I must uphold what I swore to my father I would do for him. Which is to say, I have a Clan member to murder.”

From there I went the opposite direction, feeling my cards quiver with excitement.