Chapter 61 Uncle Eddie
Sera was getting impatient. She didn’t show it of course but as the time ticked away towards when Isaac and Lenna were to arrive her excitement only built. Another baroness came by to wish her another year of health and happiness and Sera thanked and greeted her as usual but her mind was elsewhere. Her eyes kept glancing towards the wall clock that took up an impressive ten feet by ten feet of wall space. All of the internals were visible through only the finest crystal, it had been a gift to her now deceased father-in-law from the king after all, and watched as the fifteenth hour of the day approached. She had all but jumped every time someone new arrived in hopes that it was her favorite duo even far before the agreed upon time.
Two guards pulled open the door and Viktor, the servant in charge of coordinating the ball, walked a few steps out. “Now announcing!” He called out to get everyone’s attention. Sera’s excitement was palpable, a quick glance at the clock saw fifteen hours exactly, her eyes were glued to Viktor. “The Lord of Darkness, Lord Isaac Wexler and his escort Lady Lenna V’Nova!” The entire ballroom froze for a few long seconds. Viktor turned to look back over his shoulder. No one was there, no one had followed him out, the people he had just announced had vanished at just the right time so that no one inside had seen any sign of them. “Pardon?” He asked quietly, so quietly that the only reason Sera even knew what he said was because she had been trained on lipreading a long time ago. A grin spread across her face.
An egg or a bud six feet high and made of a black void, that seemed to devour the light, appeared in a blink just inside the ballroom and a few feet away from poor Viktor, who nearly fell when he jumped backwards. Then it opened. The void was indeed a bud as it spiraled open like a rose in bloom. Ten petals spun and spread to reveal Isaac and Lenna at the center. Sera’s eyes were too glued to the pair to notice the reactions from the mana sensitive guests or the guards who had all grabbed their weapons before realizing who it was. The petals opened until they rested on the floor. Then, in an instant, they all turned to a black fog that went rolling across the floor for another ten feet at ankle height before dissipating completely.
‘Just as advertised.’ Sera thought with a beaming smile. ‘This will teach all those uppity fools to say that there was nothing interesting in a frontier city. Boring my as-’ Her train of thought was cut off by Isaac and Lenna approaching arm in arm. The mix of magical lighting and firelight caught Lenna’s gown and scattered stars of white and yellow across the ground around her as she walked. Isaac’s smirk was controlled and breathed hidden objectives and dangers. Lenna’s smile was pleasant but trained much like the one Sera had been giving the rest of the guests. The smile she gave the duo though was genuine and radiant.
Isaac gave a deep nod to Sera and then to Izen. Something that shocked Sera only slightly but Izen seemed to take it in stride. Usually a greeting like that was reserved for a king to their subjects, especially when in a person’s own home. It was a statement of authority and power reserved for one of higher station. There were only three women of higher station than Sera; the queen, crown princess, and the archduchess. The same went for Izen. Though both of these lists were only by technicality. The other dukes were often treated as being of higher station due to their wealth and the age of their noble families but by noble rank alone the list held true.
Lenna was a far bit less brazen but still greeted them in a way that was bound to rub quite a few other nobles the wrong way. She gave them a short curtsy along with a deep nod. She greeted them like one duchess would greet another while in the other’s home. A deferring of authority but a reminder of power. Sera’s eyes twinkled.
—
“Sera.” Isaac greeted her with a genuine smile that lost all its threat and intrigue for a moment. “Happy birthday.” She was in a white and red ballgown that was trimmed in gold with sapphire earrings and pendant as accessories. The jewelry matched her eyes perfectly and the gold trim of it all was the same shade as her hair. She obviously knew what colors looked best on her. Izen wore the same colors though without any jewelry. His coat was adorned with a singular campaign tassel and a pair of medals. Isaac wasn’t familiar with what the medals meant nor which campaign the tassel belonged to.
“Thank you, Isaac. It is always a pleasure to see you.” She returned the greeting. “And you as well Lenna. You should come by more often.”
Lenna’s smile gained some genuine happiness behind it. “Apologies, he keeps me very busy.” She glanced at Isaac. “Maybe once things calm down.”
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“Izen.” Isaac shifted his focus to Izen so the Ladies could talk. A mischievous glint shown in Isaac’s eye. “You shouldn’t talk to me like I’m some troublesome nephew just because it’s by letter and not to my face.”
“You still did what I asked of you though.” Izen commented. The power dynamic was shifting back and forth too quickly for Izen’s liking and he was struggling to keep Isaac from going too overboard. If for no other reason than he didn’t want the king or another demigod to show up because Isaac was ignoring etiquette and decorum. Worse case, Isaac acting too brazen could be seen as someone trying to claim the same authority of the king himself. The problem was that Izen was beginning to think that that was what Isaac was doing.
“It was good advice.” Isaac agreed, a show of being able to listen to those more experienced than him even if no context was given to any listening, most of the ballroom was listening. He turned back to Sera. “Thank you for the invitation.” He told her and then smiled with the same smile that made the hair on the back of Izen’s neck stand up. It was a smile of one who knew that they had free reign to do whatever they pleased yet chose to be amicable. “I wouldn’t have missed your birthday regardless.”
Sera was almost giddy with all the excitement and attention. Isaac had only ever played himself up one time with Sera and that was their first meeting. Every time they had seen each other since, Isaac had been completely casual with her. It was fun to see how far Isaac could go without bursting his own bubble. “Anywhere in the darkness is within your reach, correct?” She asked him.
“Of c-” Isaac was cut off by an especially loud viscount.
“Arrogant bastard.” The man cursed. It was clear that the man wasn’t mana sensitive otherwise there was no way that he would have made such a comment. “Stop acting like you’re better than the rest of us. No one even knows who you are.” Isaac turned to face the man. He was in his fifties by the look of his gray hair but relative lack of wrinkles. “You are no king, you should bow to your betters, has no one taught you common etiquette?” He pressed. The man had been loud enough for most of the room to hear him as he was practically yelling across the dozen feet between them.
“My Lord.” Lenna spoke to get Isaac’s attention and gave him a slight bow. “It appears that some may doubt your reign.”
Izen’s blood ran cold. That word held far too much weight for their ballroom. Sera inhaled a sharp breath. She may have gotten more than she bargained for. Isaac’s chin tilted up and he looked down his nose at the viscount like the man was a stray dog. “It appears so.” Isaac spoke calmly and quietly.
“Reign?!” The viscount yelled in surprise, shock, disbelief, and horror.
Isaac took a step towards him. The room darkened as the floor turned black. “I.” Isaac spoke with the authority of a god looking down on mortals from the top of the tallest mountain. “Am.” His voice deepened as shadowy tendrils snaked their way up the walls towards all of the magical lights. “The lord of all that is dark.” All of the magical lights were smothered in shadows and all color died. The yellow candles and lamps couldn’t light more than a few inches around them with the shadows sucking up the light like a man in a desert.
What no one but Isaac and Lenna knew was that Isaac’s reserves were actively plummeting from the show of force. The room was far too big for him to cover it all completely. The forty foot by forty foot ballroom was simply too much for him. “I. Am. Darkness.” He spoke and then let go of his grip on the shadows and let them dissipate naturally.
He turned back around to Sera. “Sorry Sera, where were we?”
“I believe that conversation was just put on display.” She told him with some shock still evident.
“Oh.” Isaac replied simply. A sound of footsteps approaching caught Isaac’s attention but just as he was turning to see who was coming the doors opened again.
“Now announcing!” The servant, Isaac didn’t know his name, bellowed. “The Blade Master, Edward Von Sasston.” All four of them turned to see Edward speed walking over to them.
“Duke Arbencroft,” He gave a shallow bow then turned to Serentia. “Sera.” He greeted her with a smile that quickly vanished from her cold glare.
“Eddie.” She spoke like a mother mad at her son for stealing cookies before dinner. “You are late.”
He swallowed and glanced at the massive wall clock. “Only by like ten minutes.” He tried to defend himself.
“You arrived after the guests of honor.” She told him and nodded towards Isaac and Lenna.
“Sorry.” He offered but before he could even greet Isaac or Lenna, Sera closed the distance and grabbed his collar. She straightened it and then his campaign tassel, the same one that Izen had, and moved on to try to fix his uniform. It was a deep blue with golden trim. It matched both his and Sera’s eyes and hair perfectly. After a few moments of her fussing over his clothes he pushed her hand away from him. “Alright mom.” He told her and then grumbled under his breath: “There’s a reason I became an adventurer.”
Isaac chuckled. “Definitely siblings.” He commented.
“Agreed.” Lenna added.
“Far too casual to be childhood friends, at least for the venue.” Isaac continued.
“Yes.” Sera replied. “Who never comes to visit and when he does, he is only ever here for business with my husband instead of his poor sister.” She chastised.
“Mom, cut uncle Eddie some slack.” A voice of a man in his twenties who sounded like a younger version of Izen spoke from behind them. “He’s the Guild Master. That must keep him busy.”
The footsteps from earlier had ended up being the Arbencroft heir who had been patiently waiting for his time to enter the conversation. His dirty-blonde hair was a pleasant mix of his parents’ brown and golden blonde. His blue eyes shown with the same intensity of Sera’s but with a bit more of the seriousness of his father. He gave Isaac and Lenna a bow of middling severity. “Lord Wexler, Lady V’Nova, it’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance. Mother has told me so much about you.”