╚╩╩╩╝ Camparn ╚╩╩╩╝

“My lord, you have a visitor.” One of my servants announced through my office door.

It was nice to be nobility. I have to do very little work and I get paid for it. I have servants that answer to my every call and nobody questions any of my orders. There was paperwork, though. A lot more than I would have thought someone of my small noble standing would need to do. I occasionally had others do the paperwork, but I was responsible for managing the estate, and others would grow suspicious if they noticed a difference in the work I had done, and the work that I had others do.

“Inform them that I will be there shortly.” I replied, looking over the letter that I was writing.

After hearing of my deeds, the king had placed me as the head of a group responsible for dealing with any situations regarding the noble families. The king had told me in secret that it was a branch of something called the Watchmen, and that being a part of that group meant that I was obligated to report any contemptible public conduct from any of the nobles to my direct superior. I was not given the name of my superior. Instead, I was told that an agent would come to receive my weekly report at the same time every week.

The letter on my desk was the report in question, and my visitor was no doubt my contact. The letter reported nothing of note.

Satisfied that my writing was worthy of a noble, I stamped it and stood from my seat. The report was a half-truth. I had not witnessed any shameful conduct from any of the other nobles, but my men had. Truthfully, this position was perfect for me. I had quickly built a network of spies and had them infiltrate every noble household from the capital to Renae, and continued to expand further every day. Every day, I received new material to blackmail nearly every noble family I could think of. Infidelity, abuse, theft, collusion with Farrol, collusion with the rebels, badmouthing of the crown and, funnily enough, blackmail. Nearly every family in high positions had some history of crime, deception and evil.

And, of course, I let them know exactly what I had on them. Not directly, though. Anonymous letters detailing what they had done and how I would report them if they did not do what I asked. Each and every one of them would be a step on the stairs that led me up to the king, where I would take the crown from him and destroy this rotten country.

“Try not to get too excited.” My benefactor spoke to me, his harsh voice digging into my head. “You don’t want to seem suspicious.”

“Yes, sorry.” I replied, shaking my head and forcing away the smile on my face.

“I can understand your excitement.” He responded. “There is much to look forward to.”

“The day that I finally get my revenge is coming soon.” I laughed to myself, struggling to fight the excitement.

After what he did to my mother, I was going to take his whole world and tear it down. It didn’t matter how long it took, or what my master had me do, as long as I got to take his head for myself. Maybe I’ll mount it on the wall in my estate.

Shaking my head, I breathed in deep and left my office, letter in hand.

Inside the parlor was the most nondescript individual a person could ever see. It was hard to know how to describe them. You could say that they looked like everyone else, and that everyone else looked like them. I couldn’t even tell if they were a man or a woman.

This person approached me, and I handed them the letter, which they gave a quick once over before thanking me and leaving.

“Quite a strange person.” The voice spoke after the contact had left. “It doesn’t matter how many times I see it. It amazes me how far humanity has come with their abilities. I certainly look forward to the future.”

In a contest to determine which was more eerie between my benefactor and the contact, I couldn’t tell you who was worse.

Sighing, I left the parlor and went back to my office. Back at my desk, I stared down at the blank sheets of paper that sat, waiting to be written on and felt slightly nostalgic for the forest. I spent too much time in this office, sitting in this chair. Standing, I decided that it was time for a break.

On the wall, not too far from where I was sitting was a wall lined with bookshelves, all except for a small section where a wall, light hanging thing sat. I grabbed onto it and pulled toward myself and felt it give slightly as something clicked in the wall. Pushing, that section of wall swung out into the darkness.

This little mechanism cost me quite a bit, but it was more than worth it. It was installed as a panic room in the event of an intruder breaking in. Stepping down the stairs in the darkness, I felt my way until I came across a normal door. Swinging this door open, I was greeted by a small room, lit by a few dim light crystals. This supposed panic room had been expanded well beyond its original purpose. One of the walls had an enormous, perfectly rectangular opening in it that led down into the tunnels that Lior was still expanding.

Stepping through this passage, I was greeted by every individual that passed by. The stairway down into my panic room was barely lit by a couple of light crystals. These tunnels, however, were brightened by hundreds of them, purchased with what we earned through our blackmailing efforts. I thought I’d hated being stuck underground like this, but it felt nice. Aboveground, I was in danger of public scrutiny and being ousted, but down here, I was king.

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The underground passages seemed like a maze at first, but had been built with a surprising amount of ingenuity and foresight. Each tunnel connected together, all of them centering around the five main rooms, each larger than my own estate on the surface. Coming to this central room, where something like an office had been put together, I was greeted by my second in command, Sylas.

Sylas had replaced my previous second in command, who had been sent somewhere as a spy. Truth be told, I’d rather have killed him, but Sylas had convinced me that he was still useful, so we made him a spy and sent him to one of the bigger families in Renae.

“Sir, we may have an issue.” Sylas reported. He looked nervous, which made me less than happy.

“What kind of issue?” I asked, expecting the worst.

“It’s Carth.” He started. Carth was the name of my old second in command. I’d honestly forgotten his name. “He hasn’t reported back to our contact in Renae.”

I sighed and grit my teeth. I definitely should have killed him before.

“If he’s tried to betray us, then we need to take action.” I replied, trying to control my anger.

“I doubt that he’s betrayed us, especially considering what family he was sent to.” Sylas explained, trying to calm me down.

“Where did we send him?”

“You wanted him to prove himself, remember?” Sylas started. “You sent him to watch Marquis Renae.”

Ah, I remember now. It makes sense that he hasn’t reported back. If Renae was still his old self, then Carth was probably already dead. That man could make you spit out your deepest, darkest secrets with ease. That man caused us no small amount of trouble when we were under Lord Gelling, and no doubt he’s still trying to go for us now. It makes sense, seeing as how we’re competitors in the same business.

Thinking it over, Haver, as messed up as he was, was a family man. Carth was a smart guy, so he probably got caught for something odd. I still had my doubts about him spilling the beans, but he knew as well as I did that when the Marquis of Renae caught onto something, it never got out alive. He probably did something to die as quickly as possible without letting any secrets slip, while also telling the truth. If I were in his shoes, I would have told the man that I was an agent of the Watchmen and that I was going to get his family deposed. He would most likely end my life then and there.

However, as far as he knows, we still work for Gelling, so if any secrets were spilled, then it may work out in our favor. Just to be safe, though.

“Lior!” I called out.

The man rushed forward and dropped to his knees. He had been hiding in the corner of the room, watching. His blue skin was off putting to most people here, so I told him to stay in the corner unless he was needed, and so he did. He never left, never slept, never ate, yet he always looked the same.

“Yes, master!” The man answered, kneeling in front of me, his hands quivering as he reached them out.

“Close all of the current exits and open the secondary ones.” I ordered.

Vigorously nodding his head, the man darted down one hall.

“Sylas, inform everyone that we’ll be using the secondary exits until we’re sure that we haven’t been compromised.”

“Yes, sir.”

After watching the two of them leave, I swept my gaze over the entire room and admired the large group still working hard. I finally had competent people to rely on. They all handled the work I gave them with ease, from managing the information we had on the nobles, to coordinating the blackmail to ensure that nothing could be traced back here or to me. We’d even started taking over and managing some of the other, less than virtuous businesses running on the surface. From prostitution to the production and sale of narcotics, they did it all.

Of course nothing would have been possible if it weren’t for my benefactor. It had taught me and guided me along this path. Without it, I would not be here. I was a little worried about what kind of powers it possessed after what happened with Gelling and Lior. Though the two were different, his powers were something to be feared. Especially with Lior. I knew that Lior obeyed my every command to exactness, but not from anything I did. The man obeyed the voice, and the voice told it to listen to me. I dreaded the idea of it turning the man on me.

With a pleased sigh, I turned away from the group and to one of the other four large rooms. These rooms were not for business; they were containers. Stepping over to the solid, metal door separating one of them from the central room, I unlocked it and stepped inside.

Inside the room were just under a hundred Arkans. Ninety-four if they had been counted correctly. The ones in this room were all male. We hadn’t separated them like this until recently. When one of the females had died in childbirth, Sylas had suggested keeping them like this.

The Arkans were a special race of people. This room was a collection of some of the most vibrant colors I had ever seen, from vibrant pink to a bright cyan, while the females room was a puddle of dull colors. Just like the birds whose wings they bore on their heads. They were a more passive people, but fought like monsters when their lives were threatened, especially when it was another's life at stake.

Their special characteristics were the reason why they were so heavily trafficked. Nearly every Arkan on the main continent was either a slave or in hiding. They were used for entertainment in many ways, though mainly in a kind of gladiatorial combat. They would take one family and a human slave and make them fight with the Arkan’s family on the line. I’d been invited to one and recognized the family. I’ve never seen any person torn apart like I had that day.

Leaving the males container, I wandered over to the females and hesitated for just a second before opening it.

Arkan females all had neutral hair colors, all of them ranging from brown to cream and, unlike human women, took no pride in or care for their appearance. Despite this, they all had some form of natural beauty that was hard to describe.

None of them, however, could compare to the woman I knew.

“Oh, Avryelle. Why did you leave me?” I mumbled, glancing over the females in the container.

The glares I recieved from any of these Arkans is nothing compared to how you would look at me. You and…

My mind suddenly turned to Hamil. I’d caught the boy glaring at me in a very similar to his mother. It wasn’t the same, but close enough for me to do whatever I could to get it more. Now the boy was nowhere to be found. He’d run away about two years ago, and while I was mildly concerned, nothing ever came from it. The boy had probably died in some hole somewhere.

I would just have to find someone else to look at me like that. With a gaze that would send my soul to the deepest depths of suffering if it could.