Two men sat on a long plush corner couch with orange-red cushions, each on different sections. On the dark stone table between them there was a tray with red wine in an open bottle. Their words echoed in the wide open room and light spilled in from a tall window behind one of them, a Prince. He lounged in his chair, his wine glass in hand and his billowy white shirt open to the room. He watched two dancers in the center of the room instead of paying attention to his cousin on the other half of the couch.

His cousin, Kamer, had a buttoned up gray suit with a white and black collar. Their crest was on the back, an orange rearing hound with the symbol of the greater alliance in its open maw.

Far across the room, a servant with loose gray hair stood over a small table near the thick double doors of the room. She had her eyes closed, and a reddish glow came from behind her eyelids, bright enough to see the veins through the skin. Then she opened her eyes, sighed, and picked up a pen to sketch down a message. She picked it up and carried it across the room, clearing her throat as she got close enough for the two nobles to notice her.

“Yes?” Prince Shan said before taking a sip of his wine.

She bowed her head, “Your highness, Lord Greywind has arrived, and is on his way up to see you.”

“Speak of him, and he arrives,” Kamer said as he put down his glass.

Shan sucked on his teeth, “Don’t ever call him lord again. Or I’ll make you regret it.”

The servant woman nodded without looking. “Yes your highness, my apologies.”

“Go,” Shan said with a wave of his hand.

The woman stood and headed back toward the door.

“As I said,” Kamer began, “they are going to be a problem. I warned you not to make a move so close to the forum assembling and yet here we are.”

Shan rolled his eyes. “Cousin, please. It is going to be fine. Greywind is just a tool, and a tool used properly can’t harm you.”

“That isn’t even remotely true, Shan.” Kamer said. He sat up straighter and ran a hand through his short black hair. His cousin’s hair was longer, but tied back. “We can’t trust him to keep his mouth shut. As soon as someone offers him something he wants, this all starts to shake apart. Have you considered that in your grand plan?”

Shan tossed his head back and took a longer drink of his wine before coming back. “Yep!”

Kamer scoffed, but Shan wasn’t watching him. He was looking at the two dancers. The women were going through a routine that he hadn’t seen repeat itself over the morning show. They were blindfolded, but working in perfect coordination. He knew it was a Bond ability, their souls literally speaking to each other as they twirled around one another. It still impressed him, and their outfits left little to the imagination. Bare skin contact, an orange ribbon tied between them, it was more interesting than his cousin’s new list of complaints.

“Care to share with your trusted adviser?” Kamer asked.

Shan looked to his cousin. The man’s expression was serious. “Not yet. Just trust me when I say that everything is going in our favor.”

Kamer’s face flashed with anger, his fist slammed down on the marble table. The tray rattled, but settled quickly.

“Ashes Shan-on, are you really acting like this is all okay? Do you realize what percentage of your people are Emberist worshipers?”

Shan sat up and put his glass down. “Remind me, how many of them have a vote in the forum?”

Kamer snarled. “Fine then, do you know how many assembly members are Emberists, or just more Orthodox Torchbearers? How many of them would balk at the idea of even speaking an ill word of Akahi? That is their holy land! But you thought it would be fine to-”

“Quiet!” Shan snapped. His hand was tight on his knee, but he tried to keep a reasonable expression. He looked to the dancers, who were still going through their routine. “Ladies, please excuse us. Come back after lunch.”

They stopped in unison and pulled their blindfolds up. They bowed, and then walked out of the room.

Kamer fumed as the only sound in the room was the shoes of the dancers tapping along the tile. When they left the room, he turned back to Shan and opened his mouth to speak.

Shan put a hand up to silence him. “Next time you plan to talk about my blasphemies, maybe don’t do it with an audience, cousin.”

Kamer paused, then nodded with his eyes closed. “I just wanted to make myself clear. I don’t agree with working with Greywind. These Ash Walkers, their whole cult. Do you think Mabony or any of our neighbors will stand for this when they find out?”

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“I don’t care what they think!” Shan shouted loud enough to echo through the room for several seconds. It silenced Kamer long enough for him to speak further. “I’m not the prince of Mabony, or Lasir, or any of the other princedoms. Furthermore, you are not the Prince of Ony, is that clear, cousin?”

Kamer squared his shoulders, but didn’t speak.

Shan grabbed the bottle of wine on the table and started to fill his glass. “And don’t ever pretend to have authority over me, understand?”

“I would never,” Kamer said, his eyes leaving Shan’s eyes, “your highness.”

The door to the room opened and a person in a long gray cloak stepped inside and left the door open behind them. The servant woman left as soon as the cloaked figure entered. They had long stringy brown hair, and wore a light gray mask that ended above their lips and only had their right eye exposed. The eye was a strong blue. Their outfit was simple, a black button up top with long sleeves and black slacks, no emblems on either. They crossed the room with steady steps.

“Ah!” Shan shouted across the room, “We were just discussing you General Greywind.”

Greywind walked up to the table and stood there, clearly having no interest in seating themselves.

They looked over to Kamer, and motioned with their chin. “Get out.” They spoke at a soft volume, without the grit and gravel one would expect of a general. They sounded like a boy practicing at court.

Kamer sat up, “Excuse me? You don’t rule here you little-”

Shan finished pouring his glass, “Kamer-on, get out.”

Kamer stopped, straightened his collar, and stood. He bowed to Shan, “It was a blessing speaking with you, your highness.”

Shan nodded, and Kamer walked out without looking at Greywind. He closed the door behind him, leaving only Shan and Greywind in the massive room.

“You were successful I imagine, since you’ve returned.” Shan said. He pointed to the other half of the couch, but Greywind didn’t even look at it.

They nodded, “The Duchy is under my control, yes. It wasn’t that difficult, honestly. Their fabled Magmaguard were in disarray by the time I even made my first move.”

Shan grinned, and went back to lounging. “You’re welcome. Should I start calling you Duke Greywind?”

Greywind scoffed. “We’ll see if the mountain is as useful as everyone believes. If not, I’ll raze the castle and move on.”

It wasn’t that Shan was oblivious to blasphemy, he could recognize that Greywind’s plans for Akahi would be a tragedy that would bring many people to their knees in grief. Still, they were useful.

“You should spare the temple,” Shan said. “Even if you burn the whole place to the ground.”

Greywind sighed, their one exposed eye going to the bottle of wine. “I’m not a fool. I understand that even if your fake pilgrims don’t care about that temple, real ones will want entry again as soon as they believe the danger is over. Kind of shitty, in a way, but I guess the fate of the royal family isn’t that important to anyone but the locals.”

Shan chuckled, “I don’t know about that. But yes, if you open the temple back up in a few days they will come in even if there are bodies flapping in the wind all around them. The religious are just like that I guess.”

“Not a believer?” Greywind asked.

Shan looked at them in silence for a long moment. “It isn’t a matter of believing or not. It just doesn’t help me win. Did you find the person you were looking for as well?”

Greywind nodded, “Yes. Unfortunately, some of your idiots on the inside let them escape my grasp.”

“Shame,” Shan said with a shrug. “They can be punished.”

“I’ve found a better use for them,” Greywind said with a sly smile.

Shan paused with his eyes on the General. That smile didn’t belong to someone thinking of evil, it was just playful. Yet, their every action spoke to something much darker. Shan sat up and poured another glass of wine, then slid it over to Greywind.

Greywind watched it for a moment, as if it would get up and move. Then they reached down and grabbed it with black gloved hands. They took a swig, then pulled the glass away to look at it.

“Something I don’t understand Shan,” Greywind said.

“Prince Shan,” Shan corrected.

“Yes, of course. What do you get out of all of this again? I understand the power moves, and removing a rival, etc etc. But once the Kingdom to the South finds out about this, you and your Alliance are surely going to be dragged into a full scale war. I’m not even sure you win, unless I step in. Is that what you want?”

Shan laughed, breaking only to sip from his wine again. He laughed some more, and then put his wine back down.

“You see, Greywind, that is exactly what I love about you. You don’t understand any of this, but you don’t try to be a ruler. You know exactly what you’re good at.”

Greywind didn’t say a word, just took another sip of wine while watching Shan.

Shan crossed his leg over his knee and looked past Greywind to the center of the room. “I need some snuffing changes to happen, Greywind. The Allied Princedoms were built during an age of stagnation, and now we do more bickering than acting. If it takes a war to change that, to drag us out of our lethargy, so be it. I don’t intend for this to be suicidal, far from it. I want the Alliance to be as great as it must be, even if that means helping you on your mad little quest. Does that make sense?”

He was imagining the dancers again, their grace and beauty. They were a product of the Princedoms, a symbol of their greatness. But they were also the surest sign of their stale culture, a dance older than some princedoms. It was repeated with such efficiency, it was done blindfolded.

“Not at all,” Greywind said. They finished their wine, then set the glass down on the table. “I’m leaving, by the way.”

Shan looked back to Greywind with a raised eyebrow.

“That mistake your men made, I need to look into it. I want your eyes within the Kingdom of Barune to look out for them, any survivors from Akahi, or just people acting odd and out of place. I’ll be gone for at least three weeks, don’t start any major campaigns without me.”

Shan made a dismissive motion. “Yes, yes, you can go now.”

Greywind turned without bowing and left the room.