Mercedes wanted to rush over to Harlan and give him a piece of her mind, but there was another thought that passed through her, Harlan was trusting her with this situation, and gave her command over his Otherselves.

She walked to the Dague Quarter, where the former king of Elfique and his men were ordering around the citizens of Kor.

The Others were watching, but they wouldn’t react until they actually tried to lay hands on someone.

They wore armor much like Harlan, but they didn’t let down their faceplates and they wore hooded robes over their armor.

The longer robes would hide their intentions, but these reached only to their waist and would show when they pulled a weapon or started casting spells, there would be no misunderstandings if a fight was starting.

She wished to waste no time on him, her time with the man as a double was never positive.

“Former King Edmond Dantes, you are free to leave, but only with those who would follow a monster like you instead of an honorable man like Harlan Fomoria, The Chainbreaker, The Immortal, The Shapeless.

And those who leave, know that you are free to return at any time, and we will welcome you back with open arms, because that is the mercy of your king.”

“May we not talk?”

He reached forward for a handshake, she always hated how his hands felt, frigid, like a living corpse.

Mercedes backed away.

“You are giving orders to his citizens, that such an insult is being given only the punishment of banishment is a mercy to you, that you are being allowed to leave with those who would follow you is nothing but a sign of our majesty’s grace.”

He tried moving close again but the Others blocked his path with hands on their blades, and the royal guard on either side of Dantes did the same.

“Is there such an issue with a father hoping to embrace his daughter?”

“She has shown once that she doesn’t wish to come closer, you will respect that, or we will react.”

He tried to hide his anger at being threatened.

“And how will you react?”

“By cutting your hands off. We will not mince words, you will step back from Lady Mercedes.”

“Lady Dantes.”

“No, I am Lady Mercedes, Elfique is a relic of the past, and that name has no meaning here.”

He spoke in a hushed tone.

“You have a lot of nerve for a body double.”

“I do.”

She started walking away as she gave her orders.

“If he attempts to force anyone into serving, kill them all.”

“Understood.”

In the end he left with only a few hundred men, not all of them even Dague.

Back in the mansion, D’if and Mercedes were in her office along with the Otherselves.

“I want him dead.”

“What about those with him?”

“They are our citizens, if he dies, they will come back.”

“How soon?”

“The faster this happens the more of them survive.”

D’if exhaled in several puffs as he thought of how to get it done.

“Harlans, can you look like Cast?”

“Simple, shift our armors, color magic. Or we go skin a few Cast and wear them.”

“You are some sick fuckers.”

“The Cast skins would look more genuine, but I doubt anyone would look too closely. We attack under the cover of night, anyone questions it and we just say that since he came out of hiding they attacked.”

Mercedes listened for a while as D’if and the Otherselves talked back and forth about method, time, and place.

“Harlan, or whatever you want to be called, what is your take on the plan of us killing him.”

“That is above my paygrade.”

“You aren’t being paid, you just use whatever resources Harlan has.”

“Exactly. We aren’t supposed to make those choices, because we understand that too many cooks spoil the broth. When the prime Harlan wakes up we can ask him.”

“Please, don’t make excuses, what do you think he would do?”

“He’d probably say that we should let them die on their own.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Those people made a choice, they went with him. If they come back, good, if not, then it lets other people know that they made the wrong choice, and they won’t make that choice next time.”

“Let them live by their choices.”

“I’ve only said it a hundred times. We are all about people being free within the confines of our rules.

The only people being hurt are the ones that leave and then their friends and family who have lost them.”

“You people are more casual than Harlan.”

“We know that we exist as tools to learn and eventually govern in his place, and then die. So we are trying not to take this all too seriously. He also took pieces out of us. When we start ruling towns we’ll probably become stressed out like him and drop this casual demeanor.”

“That sounds terrifying.”

“We aren’t people, not really. The Darkness said that we won’t even be worth nearly as much energy to Life as a real person, until we live as long as a normal person and make our own memories. The rules are kinda fuzzy on that, since everything she hears is from multiple other gods up the chain of command.”

“I think that I will trust you. D’if, watch them, but leave them alone for now.”

“I’ll send my Others.”

“Save them if possible, but don’t lift a finger until he is dead and gone.”

“Alright.”

She sent the Harlans away, but asked D’if to stay.

“How do you feel about them? Having copies of yourself running around?”

“I don’t care. I’ll drink and fuck and live what years I have left then die, they live the same way.”

“Do you believe in Harlan?”

“I haven’t believed in anyone in my life, I just follow orders, but Halran… He knows what he wants and he takes it and defends it with everything he has, and I respect that.”

“Do you-”

“If you want to know about him, just ask, hell, he’ll probably be glad that you did. He isn’t hard to understand if you are able to accept that he is what he says he is, only people like you that can’t trust anyone think he is hard to understand.”

“You sound almost friendly with him.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Kid hates me, and I’m a piece of shit, but we understand what we are.”

“And what are you?”

“Killers.”

Mercedes thought for a while about Harlan.

She didn’t believe much of what anyone said, even if they could back it up with actions.

But Harlan, so far as she could tell, was consistent with what he wanted and what he did, and he had been straightforward with her and with Joan.

Still it was hard to accept that.

She was taken from her home young enough that she didn’t actually know what her name was, she had been stripped of that identity, and she was made to understand that her life was meaningless, only her death matter, and only if she died so that the princess might live.

Life had been cruel, it always was, and she handled it little better than Harlan did.

She made her way to Harlan’s room, where he was still asleep, and she just looked around.

There was almost nothing there at all, not that could be tied to him at least.

The one memento he had was a remembrance, a gem that would display some image, and for Harlan, it was Darrath and Dawn together.

“Did something happen?”

She jumped back, dropping the gem.

He snatched it from the air, he had moved directly behind her without her noticing.

“Edmond Dantes left with a few hundred citizens.”

“You let him leave with them?”

“They went with him of their own free will.”

“Very well.”

“I also wanted to say that Joan is gone.”

“She escaped?”

“One of the guards let her out, she went to her office and took a few things, notably her armor and her saber along with Pepper. We have D’if’s men out-”

“Call them back.”

“What?”

“If this is the moment that her cowardice is too much to bear, then only a few things might happen.

One, she will kill herself, which is fine by me.

Two, she hides away and never bothers us again, which is fine by me.

Three, she forces herself to grow until she is worthy of forgiveness, which is the ideal outcome.”

“Is that really alright?”

“What is the purpose of a prison of punishment?”

“To make one suffer for their failures.”

“No, it is to teach a lesson. What Joan did Harlan cannot ever forgive, but King Fomoria might be willing to if she is a useful asset.“

Harlan placed the gem back on the table and returned to bed.

“May I join you?”

“You may.”

She got in bed with her back to him and he wrapped his arm around her.

“I have continued to realize that how I think of you is wrong.”

“Alright.”

“Tell me, in simple terms, what kind of man are you? I see what you are, but I want to know what you think of yourself.”

“I am a judge, and I act under the highest authority one cna have, force.

I will judge this land, and anyone else I meet, anyone who fails my judgment will be tried in my mind and their punishment will be carried out or delayed at my whims.”

“That just sounds tyrannical.”

“Dictatorial actually. Ultimate power is rarely given to or used by good people. But if one has that power and uses it for the right reasons, does it matter that they are an absolute ruler?”

“I suppose not. But it still seems wrong.”

“You think that because you have been abused by that power already.”

“I would rather be the one with that power.”

“Wanting power because you’ve been abused and you want to use it against others is more dangerous than what I do.”

“But isn’t that what you are doing?”

“Perhaps. But I think about it like me using my power to make sure that nobody else is abused like I was. Yes, it means I must use my power against others, but the intent matters a lot.”

Mercedes turned around so she was face to face with him.

“Do you love me?”

“I slept with you because you were there and I wasn’t worried about my title as king making you feel forced.”

“Do you think you could?”

“That is a wholly different question. I do not love you as you are, because you cannot trust people, you are a user, a political player, a noble in your heart.”

“What if I changed?”

“My only request is that you don’t make me pick up your pieces, you can ask for help and I’ll do what I can, but I don’t want to feel like your entire life is going to be my responsibility.

How you’ve changed since we slept together has me worried. Have you been with anyone else before me?”

“She would make me watch her and other men. Then once she asked if I would like to join. When I said yes, she banned me from ever being with a man. You understand why I spoke of her like I did before, don’t you?”

“I understand, but it doesn’t excuse it.”

Mercedes slipped out of bed.

“I have more work to be done. Shall I just start sleeping in here?”

“If you wish. And don’t expect this to affect our working relationship. It is best not to shit where one eats, we are still very likely to clash over the way that I rule, I won’t hold back and you aren’t allowed to either.”

“I’m not some young girl lovestruck with a handsome king. I am still myself.”

“I’m going back to sleep, if you need me, wake me, if not, make my Others handle it.”

Mercedes went back to her office and just started laughing to herself, quiet at first, and then she grew louder and louder, and she started banging on her desk.

“Damn, Harlan that good in bed? I might need to try him myself.”

She jolted straight and froze up.

“I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Yes, that is my job.”

She cleared her throat.

“Did you need something?”

“We need to handle that guard who let Joan go.”

“Right, and Harlan just went back to sleep.”

“Where the hell did he even go?”

“I didn’t ask.”

“What did you talk about? Or was it just more bedrocking?”

“I am his consort now, I think.”

“Great, you got a promotion. Hey, any chance you can get him to make an Other of you?”

“I am going to move past the implications of your question and say that we pay a visit to that guard.”

“Good, I think Harlan would probably cut my balls off if you told him.”

“Why do you constantly seek to infuriate others? Then you seem to understand that you are doing something wrong? Are you just mentally unwell?”

“Maybe I want someone to finally punish me, maybe after all these years I’ve understood what I’ve done wrong, but I know I can’t ever change my life. Maybe my life has been nothing but a string of bad choices and pain in my wake, and I’m just waiting for it to catch up and I’m finally free.”

She started to feel some pity for him.

“I understand, it can be-”

He couldn’t keep a straight face any longer and burst out in laughter..

“I’m an asshole, I find it fun, and I know I’m useful enough that you can’t just kill me. Come on, let’s go.”

She wanted to slap him, but she knew it wasn’t going to do anything, D’if just didn’t fear her, he didn’t fear anyone, not really.

If he was actually afraid of Harlan he would shut up, instead he heard that she was now his lover and instantly made a request to have an Other of her for sex.

They made their way to the main guardhouse in the city.

The guard was a fairly young man, barely over 20 years of age.

He had been stripped of his belongings and shackled to the wall.

“Do you understand why you are here?”

“She needed to go, I heard the story, she fled like a coward. If Harlan personally killed her, it would send a message that he won’t let dereliction of duty be forgiven, but also, a lot of us liked Joan, and it would be a sorespot. This way she dies out there and then I die here.”

“But why give your life like that?”

“To help maintain public order, to give my life for that is far better an end than I would otherwise have.“

“D’if, what do you think Harlan would do?”

“Either cut his throat and push him through a gate to the fleshpit, or give him a full pardon.”

“What is your name?”

“Lanrezac.”

“D’if, let him down, then hold his head.”

He did as asked and she unsheathed her blade, a simple rapier Harlan put some spells in, but that he hadn’t updated since he gave it to her, and it was intended for someone he couldn’t be sure wasn’t going to betray him.

“By my authority as Head Advisor to King Harlan Fomoria, I sentence you, Lanrezac, to death.”

She pulled back her blade, and he didn’t break eye contact.

Right before it struck his forehead, she stopped.

“How would you feel about being the new guard captain.”

“Mercedes, are you sure that-”

“Lanrezac, you have shown a willingness to do what you think is right, and you don’t flinch in the face of death. Harlan liked Joan because she was willing to stand up for what was right.

As it turns out, that means little when you won’t stand up for what is right against a real threat.“

“I would be honored to have the position.”

“Then I will ask Harlan to meet with you when he wakes up. Assuming he doesn't execute you on the spot, you will be promoted.”

Lanrezac was released and given his uniform and weapons back, he finished the days work, and then went home to sleep.

It was just past three when he woke up and saw a man sitting across from him.

He lunged with the dagger he kept under his pillow, and the man deflected it with a glance.

“Do not disappoint me. And train your telekinesis properly.”

Harlan got up from the chair and left through the bedroom door.

Lanrezac heard his heavy footsteps go down the stairs and out the front door.

He could’ve just used a void gate, but Harlan wanted him to know that he didn’t need that magic to sneak into his home.