Slowly, very slowly, Elrik turned the door knob open with his broken left hand.

In his right, he held a sword at the ready.

Come on out you bastards..

He carefully pushed the door ajar, cracking a view into the room.

He waited, breath held.. but there was nothing. No army of mercenaries poured out. No crossbow bolts came at his head.

Have it your way then. Here I come

Elrik pushed gently, letting the door open halfway.

He stalked in on the balls of his feet, sword before him, ready for anything, eyes turning to catch the corners of the room.

He was greeted by perhaps the most well appointed study he'd seen in all of Kalaghutta.

Tall bookshelves of of dark, rich wood. A massive, heavy desk with the weight and majesty of a battleship. A chair with fine leather upholstery.

Everything here spoke of wealth, power and privilege.

Elrik's eyes swept back and forth, taking in the room as he walked in - before stopping at the man who sat behind the desk.

Ambrose Vi Gurdia was a large man.

Even from behind his desk, you could see his impressive bulk. Elrik estimated the man to be well over six feet tall. He wasn't fat but he wasn't muscular either, and certainly well fed. The sheer size of him was intimidating.

A pair of tiny gold-framed spectacles sat perched on his nose. From behind them shone a pair of small close-set dark eyes. Those eyes gleamed with an intelligence that almost seemed out of place in his squat, brutish, piggish face.

Ambrose's gaze rose, as he looked up from the papers spread out on the desk, to see Elrik.

As he took in Elrik standing there - looking in equal part fearsome and bedraggled - a variety of emotions played across Ambrose's face.

First surprise, then confusion, then a flash of rage that was quickly replaced by a look of arrogant dismissal.

Surprise asshole!

"You?"

Elrik's ignored the question and instead checked the room again, looking for any other doors in or out. There were none.

With a thud, Sherlot closed the door behind Elrik and they turned to face the man responsible for their last few days.

"Lord Akela's runt is it? And ... eh.. the watchman?", Ambrose raised an eyebrow, "Well done. I didn't think I’d see either of you last the week.. let alone breaking into my study"

He put away some of the papers on the desk and examined them with a clinical eye.

Elrik and Sherlot stared wordlessly back.

"I take it then, that ass Larik didn't fare well?", Ambrose asked.

Elrik tilted his head, "If you mean the school trained man outside? Then no. He's dead", he lifted his sword, "And we have some questions"

Ambrose seemed to ignore the threat. His face showed no fear. Instead, his eyes examined Elrik like an entomologist examining some new species of insect, "Impressive, very impressive.. You're not trained.. and you killed Larik? You are gifted"

Elrik's lips curled back in a snarl as he strode towards the piggish lord.

"Oh, I intend to show you how I did it"

Before Elrik could close the distance, he felt an arm grab his shoulder, holding him back.

It was Sherlot, his voice insistent, "Wait, corporal, hear him out"

Ambrose smiled imperiously, "That's right corporal. Listen to the little Akela there"

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Elrik hesitated, something felt off - but he stopped, and let the larger man speak.

Ambrose rose from the desk, drawing himself to his full height.

"I am Lord Ambrose Vi Gurdia - first of my name.

I am a senator of the Imperium. I own ten thousand men. They toil for me working over two thousand iugera in my name. And I am the secret lord of Kalaghutta. I have power you cannot imagine. Do you know how I obtained this power?"

Elrik let his sword lower a fraction, "Enlighten me"

Ambrose smiled, "Because I know my place.".

He gestured around them, "This manor, this city, this Imperium is nothing. It is less than nothing to the master I serve."

"You have no idea", Ambrose sneered, "how little you know. This world is more vast than you can imagine”

Elrik controlled the urge to roll his eyes.

This guy likes to talk

Ambrose sighed theatrically, "I was just the son of a worthless baron, when my master found me.

Back then, I imagined the Imperium was the whole world. I dreamed.. dreamed! of being a lord of great house..

Then my master found me. My master truly showed me the world.. He showed me sights you cannot imagine, living here in this pig sty.. Unbelievable things. He showed me cities a hundred times the size of this shithole excuse for a city. The beasts of the true abyss.. The Forgotten Shore.. The Ivory Tower."

"The only reason my master did those things", Ambrose's eyes looked heavenward at the memory, "The only reason he didn’t just leave me dead, was because he thought I had potential. He thought I was a useful tool. That is why he spared me. That is why he took me in"

Ambrose shook his head at the memory of it, before looking up, "So, because you have impressed me today, I'll give you a chance"

He spread his arms magnanimously, “Serve me”, He smiled

As Elrik raised his sword in reply Ambrose lifted a finger, stopping him, “Before you refuse me, I’ll tell you this watchman.. The day I met my master, I tried to kill him.”

Ambrose paused there for effect, “I was a fool then. I thought he was just a feeble old man. A feeble old man I could kill. But I was wrong.

I was wrong, and I thank the Yitka everyday for it. Because if I had somehow killed him - I would have none of this.”

He smiled dangerously at Elrik, “I can see it in your eyes. You want it. You want to see the larger world. You want the power to command... The power to be free..

You want the power to not be afraid"

The power to not be afraid

Right then though he wouldn't admit it, that made Elrik pause. The words cut to an old need deep inside him.

"I will give you that", Ambrose stared into his eyes, "Serve me and that power will be yours. The day I don't - the day you think I'm no longer of use to you - that day you can leave"

Despite himself Elrik found himself strangely persuaded.

He was being offered power - control - freedom - the very things he wanted. Why would he refuse that? What was stopping him from accepting?

"Yes", Ambrose spoke as if he'd read his mind, "I had you questioned in my dungeons. You were interfering in my plans." he shrugged, "Perhaps in my place you might have done differently."

Then he pointed at Elrik, "You murdered a dozen of my best men, two of them school trained and quite expensive. I felt each of them snuff out like candles."

"But", he held out his arms, "I can be charitable. Let bygones be bygones."

It made a twisted kind of sense. Elrik almost found himself reluctantly nodding.

"Come", Ambrose extended a hand, "It's the smart thing to do"

It's the smart thing to do

The phrase, even in another world, it snagged in his chest, shaking loose memories.

"Come now Elrik, it's the smart thing to do"

"You know it's the best option for everyone. You know there's no better outcome here"

"It's the smart thing to do here, Elrik"

It was the language of liars

Elrik snarled, leaping forward. As he did, he felt something falling away from his mind - and suddenly words that seemed strangely, perversely reasonable, now just seemed like what they were - transparent lies.

The large man laughed, dancing behind his desk, and ducking away from sword. He didn't seem the least bit perturbed, "I was going to have you thrown in the sewers watchman, but I think I'll have some use out of you yet",

Then he turned to behind Elrik, "Now"

Suddenly, Elrik felt the cool kiss of a blade against his neck, and the desperate grip of a scrawny hand on his arm.

Sherlot. Well, of course. I kinda should have seen this coming

Elrik really should have suspected that Ambrose - whatever his abilities truly were - would have a card up his sleeve.

But he'd been too tired, too desperate..

Goddamnit..

Elrik spared a fraction of a second to grab the boys hand, the one that held a blade to his throat, and twisted away, trying to throw his slight frame away from himself.

But Sherlot was dogged, hanging onto Elrik for dear life with his other. As they struggled, Elrik caught a glance at his eyes.

Sherlot looked haunted, his eyes hollow and glassy, as he desperately clung to Elrik's sword arm. He looked like a zombie - his eyes empty of the prodigious young man Elrik first met. Elrik shoved the boy away.

Ambrose!

Elrik realized, in the tussle he'd lost track of the larger man.

With an effort, he brought up a knee between himself and Sherlot - violently kicking him away, before he turned.

Sorry Sherlot

As he turned - there was Ambrose - standing right before him.

In a quick gesture, Ambrose reached out a hand to touch Elrik's forehead and-