“So, what did you think of the speeches I gave, Savel?”

“Complete and utter bullshit.”

“Agreed.”

Tur and Savel were in the former’s apartments. The two dead guards inside, and the eight dead guards in the atrium had long since been removed, and replaced. Tur had lied about what had happened to them, saying he simply had sent the ten away on a private mission, so only the cleaners knew for sure.

And Tur had intimidated them well enough that he was sure those men were never, ever going to tell.

New guards were in the atrium and the apartment, guards less capable than their predecessors, but guards nonetheless.

Not that it really mattered what they could do. The demon had already proved that he could deal with any number of mere mortals. The guards felt to Tur like ceremony, not protection.

“Is there a reason you asked to see me?” asked Tur, sitting down on one of his chairs as carefully as he dared. Since his meeting with the demon, he had been rather on edge when in his apartments.

“Of course there is,” said Savel, sitting on the couch opposite Tur’s chair. “Do you really think I came all this way to talk about those speeches?

That was the way of Savel. He was never quite insulting, and yet almost at the threshold.

“I made the speeches because there are rumors abounding the Palace, especially around the noblewomen, that the civil war will drag on forever, and somewhere down the line, Asan Paril will fall. While they may have been nonsense, they still served a purpose.”

“Lord Ashat,” said Savel, “you truly are jumpy today. I know why you gave the speeches. And I, as I said, did not come here to talk about them. Behind you, I am the second most important man in Asan Paril. I would have better things to do.”

“Then what are you here for?” asked Tur.

“I am here because I have concerns about the Princess and her little troupe, my lord.”

“What kind of concerns?”

“Having them here puts a target on our back, my lord.”

Tur thought of the demon. “I know,” he said. “But I gave Maiako my word that I would do my best to protect her,” he said. “I cannot refuse to harbor her now.”

Savel is Varad carefully adjusted his white cape, then sat up and looked at Tur. “I know how much you love your honor,” he said. “However, I believe Maiako has forfeited her privileges as guest.”

“I can think of no way she had done as much,” said Tur. “But, I bid you go on.”

“Maiako has with her a man named Ishad,” said Savel. “Ishad is of the merchant class, and he is her lover. I cannot tell you how many of the Codes of Sara her relationship breaks. By virtue of that, you no longer must hold to your arrangement.”

“I gave her safe harbor,” said Tur. “Unconditionally. Unless she goes as far as to break one of the ten Laws of the Empire, I cannot go against my word. And last I checked, the codes were not laws.”

“You are making a mistake by not seeing things my way,” said Savel.

“Why?”

“Because there are those that will stop at nothing to see Maiako dead.” His words were eerily reminiscent of the demon’s own.

“If I had agreed that Maiako’s breaking the Codes of Sara was enough to remove her from my protection, what would you have suggested I do?” asked Tur, curious.

“Bag her, literally or metaphorically, and sell her to the highest bidder.” Again, Savel’s words reminded Tur of the demon.

“I thought you said there are those who want her dead, not that there are those who want her as a prize,” said Tur.

“My mother is a noblewoman of the Minsu,” said Savel. “Through my connection with said House, I have been made aware that, if Emperor Ehajdon cannot have her, he wants Maiako dead. However, if he can have her…he would pay a great deal.”

“Emperor Ehajdon’s forces are getting crushed,” said Tur. “He should have much bigger worries than a princess.”

“Not if that princess can single-handedly turn the war around,” said Savel. “Emperor Ehajdon has claimed he is the continuation of the Arathou Dynasty, not the founder of the Tenth. If he can get the only child of the late Emperor Mentis to support him, the Tachen remnants would most likely swear their allegiance to his throne, and House Karaki might well do the same.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“And the Makini would not be able to stand against the Vedil, the Minsu, the Tachen, and the Karaki all arrayed against them,” said Tur. “I see your logic.”

“Not to mention, Ehajdon would then have to deal with all the attempts made on her life, instead of you,” said Savel.

“What are you talking about?” asked Tur. “There have been no attempts made on the Princess’ life since she arrived at Asan Paril.”

“Don’t lie to me, my lord,” said Savel. “It does not become you.”

“What do you know?” asked Tur, guardedly. He looked at Savel in a menacing fashion, making sure to give the other lord a good look at his empty eye socket.

“My sources tell me there was quite the scuffle a few days ago, in Ishad’s apartments, while the Princess was there,” said Savel. “An assassination attempt.”

Tur was reluctant to affirm the information, but he felt he had no choice. “Your sources are correct,” he said.

But Savel was not done pressing. “An assassination attempt, involving magic,” he said.

“Yes.”

“Involving a demon possession.”

“Yes,” said Tur again, wondering where Savel had found his sources.

“A demon, who latter visited you, expressed his displeasure that he had been repulsed, and killed ten of your guards,” said Savel.

If the servants talked, thought Tur, I’ll… “Yes,” said Tur, one final time. “How did you learn all this?”

“A long time ago,” said Savel, “the information came to me that you loved to keep secrets as much as you loved to keep your word. I merely ensured that those who you trusted with those secrets had a very positive relationship with me.” He paused, and took a deep breath. “And now, to more business. When the demon spoke with you, what did it say?”

Tur saw no reason to hide any more information. Savel already knew too much too keep the truth from him. He explained his interaction with the demon.

“And so it said it will give you one more chance to change your mind?” asked Savel. “Fortunate, very fortunate. It should have killed you when it had the opportunity, for we will make sure it will not get another. What preparations have you made so far, for its return?”

“Besides replacing the guards, who I fear will be useless,” said Tur, “I had this city’s priests and spellweavers cast all sorts of wards throughout the palace. But that may not be enough.”

“It will be,” laughed Savel. “For a man of your size and visual ferocity, my lord, I fear you have the heart of a child. Nothing will be able to get through all the wards and enchantments I am sure you made the priests and spellweavers place. We can sell Maiako to Ehajdon with the confidence that no enraged demon with be able to go on a rampage.”

“I already told you,” said Tur. “Mai is not for sale.”

“Perhaps not yet,” said Savel. “But she will be later. Her sole guardian is a man who calls himself Broken, and is quite the character.”

“I know,” said Tur. “One thing even your sources may not know is that he keeps a giant pet owl hidden from us. The owl showed up right after the possession.”

“Ah,” said Savel. “Even more hidden eccentrics. With Broken as Maiako’s protector, it should be easy to lure Mai into doing something she will regret.”

“Like what?” asked Tur.

“You should know,” Savel responded, “that Asan Paril is not the first place I met Maiako and her friends. No, we met in Barad. Broken tricked me out of my sword, thus forcing me to undertake a series of actions to get it back, a series of actions that greatly wounded Ishad, and left Maiako not very endeared to me at all.”

“Did you know who she was, then?” asked Tur.

“No,” said Savel. “I thought she was just some tag-along to the master-apprentice swordsman pair of Broken and Ishad. Now I realize I could not have been more wrong. But what happened in Barad does serve a purpose. I challenged Broken to a duel at noon tomorrow, and, because of our past history, he eagerly accepted. I can beat him, and hopefully when the Princess sees her protector fall, she will be a bit more…unrestrained.”

“What makes you so sure you can beat him, Savel?” asked Tur.

“I am an accomplished swordsman,” said Savel. “An accomplished swordsman who has never lost a duel.”

“Only because you carefully make sure those you fight are less skillful then you,” said Tur.

Savel’s mouth hung open. “That accusation--“

“Is completely true,” finished Tur. “While you may know some of my secrets, I also know some of yours. Rather than entering tournaments, you choose to carefully smirk above it all. But I think Broken might be a bit more than you can chew.”

Savel’s mouth worked. “I won’t lose,” he said.

“Are you sure?”

“I won’t let myself lose.”

“Are you sure it is a matter of let, Savel?”

“Just leave the battle to me,” said the lesser noble in the white cloak and cape. “Then, when Mai, of her own volition, of course, decides to do something she will regret later, we can have her.”

Tur looked at Savel, with his one good eye. “You intend to cheat, if cheating becomes necessary to win,” he said.

“Yes,” acknowledged Savel.

“You are not a pleasant man, my lord,” Tur said.

“Are you?”

Tur looked down at himself, at his massive frame. Often, he wished he had been born smaller, for being as large as he was, he was looked at as a fighter first, and little else after. Tur was a smart man, but only those who knew him well appreciated him for it.

Tur sighed. He tried to care. He tried so hard to care that he had gouged out his eye. But that had hardly been seen as a step in the right direction. He stuck fast to his honor, and the latest result of that choice had been ten good men dead. Maybe he still cared, but, was he pleasant?

“No,” Tur told Savel. “I am not pleasant.”

“I will meet with you tomorrow, after the deed is done,” said Savel. He then got up. “Do I have your leave to go?”

“Yes, Savel,” said Tur. “You have my leave to go.”

And Savel left.

Tur turned to his two personal guards in the room, staring at the far wall blank-faced. They had heard the conversation, of course, of the truth of things, of Savel’s plotting. But they were honor bound never to repeat any of it.

However, there was a demon at loose, and the mere word of it could well start a panic among commoners. And Savel, blatantly, had said that he might well cheat at his match with Broken. And, Savel had his mysterious sources.

Tur was rather less inclined to trust his guards with information than he had a mere day ago. But there was nothing he could do about it.