SVAN CHORYTH

Nothing ever turned out as expected, or maybe I was too shortsighted to figure out the obvious turn of events even when the predisposing circumstances had been laid out for me.

We had visitors. This time, the High Lord didn't entertain his visitors in the great hall, but rather, in a smaller and more confined chamber. It was another first-time location for me. I didn't even know that such a room existed in the castle. It had a simple layout housing chairs that were arranged around a fairly long rectangular table, eight of them in total. At one end of the chamber, a thick sizable red fabric bearing the emblem of House Choryth draped from the ceiling which made the chamber appear more intimidating than formal.

We had four visitors with us inside the chamber, although there were more outside the castle building. There were two familiar faces among the ones seated with us. One of them was Sophia and the other was the young lady with her in the dark caverns. The other two who I didn't know and had never seen, were males.

Mom was absent. She had made it clear earlier that she wasn't going to sit down with the demons but would respect whatever the outcome of the meeting was. I couldn’t blame her. We all bore grudges toward the demons, but hers’ was a lot stronger.

I didn't expect to meet with Sophia that soon, and more so, not under the given circumstances. I believed our second encounter was going to be on a battlefield, clashing against each other's swords. I was surprised when I heard the news that the demons wanted to meet. It felt weird given that every encounter we’d had with them was filled with bloodshed.

Looking at their faces, I mumbled.

“I didn't know they were the type to sit across a table and talk.”

It didn't look like it but the war had already begun and it wasn't looking good for us. The first skirmish reported was a victory on the side of the demons as they decimated the Imperial soldiers that stood as their opponents. All we could do was wait for the war to come to us even though the outcome would be most likely unfavorable. Their request for a meeting had to be good news even though we didn't know why they requested it.

I couldn't keep my eyes off Sophia. Once or twice, she stole some glances at me but that was all to it. All four of them were in identical blue and black colored uniforms which was very contrasting to the black outfits I had almost always seen on demons. It was easy to tell that their outfits were formal military attires. It was almost like they were revealing their true colors.

It was all beginning to make sense. These people we called demons weren't from around here. They had to come from somewhere very far away. All this while, we had been short-sighted, blinded by thinking that they were a mystery group from within, whose members had insane abilities. But it turned out that we were wrong.

“Lord Edger Choryth...” one of the males among them voiced out. His voice was deep and clear, contrasting his appearance since he didn't look too masculine.

“...your reputation precedes you,” he continued.

“Why don’t you skip the flattery and get to the point? I am sure we aren't here to exchange pleasantries.”

With a faint smile on his face, the demon continued speaking.

“I am Vayr Hightide, military chief of the Azkhan Empire.”

Everyone was silent. Those few words he just uttered had a lot of meaning attached to them, and I was just beginning to figure out some of it.

“Why did you request this meeting?” Lord Edger asked Vayr.

“Let’s say, it would be a waste to dispose of this House and its members like we did to the others.”

“I don't think you earned the right to say that. After all, we took care of your people, not once or twice, but thrice.”

Vayr, in a calm but cold manner, asked the High Lord,

“Do you think you can do that again?”

“It's true that we underestimated this House. We didn’t anticipate the fact that there are members of this House who are Arcanes. But in truth, we had other important tasks to take care of so we couldn't pay full attention to this House.”

I couldn't help but wonder who Arcanes were. He had to be referring to Mom, Yukina, and me since they could tell divines and humans apart. Maybe we got the names wrong. Divines and demons sounded like names given to tell the good guys from the bad guys as the word “Arcane” sounded more original. If they referred to Divines as Arcanes, I wondered what they called themselves.

Vayr leaned forward and stared in the High Lord’s direction since they were seated at opposite ends of the table.

“I am not trying to be disrespectful but you see, this House doesn't pose any threat to us. Rather, I think it can be quite useful and that's why we are here.”

Lord Edger nodded slowly,

“What do you want?”

“We are offering you a chance to pick a side, our side.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You will die.”

Vayr’s response was polite and hostile at the same time, simple and clear. He loosened his gait, leaning back on his seat.

“I am guessing you don't fully grasp the situation at hand. Stavren is completely under our control. It has been that way for a long time, and there is nothing this House can do about it. This is war or better put, a conquest. And in either of them, you have to pick sides. We are giving you this chance because you have earned it. It's not an easy feat to beat our strongest warriors thrice and like I said earlier, you will be a useful asset to us.”

“So you are asking the Choryth House to become traitors,” Lord Edger asked.

“Well, you can look at it from a different perspective. Let's say you surrendered to avoid needless bloodshed. I don't think there is anything wrong with surrendering to a stronger opponent.”

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There was a brief moment of silence in the room before Lord Edger broke it.

“I am guessing you would also want us to fight against the Imperium.”

“As I said, you are picking a side. It's either this or that.”

I knew the High Lord didn't have any love for the imperium but what Vayr was asking of him was a difficult one. One thing was certain; if we accepted their proposal, they wouldn't kill us. At least, not anytime soon. But it meant turning against the Imperium. To make matters worse, people might think that we have been scheming with the demons from the start.

I looked up and my gaze fell upon Sophia. She was looking at me too. None of us turned away. We just kept staring at each other. I was still quite scared of her and she was one of the many reasons Lord Edger had to accept Vayr’s proposal. Maybe it was because I couldn't shake off my encounter with her and I didn't know how strong the others were but I was convinced that if they attacked again, we would lose.

I clenched my fist nervously as I did my best to prevent my face from telling it. I looked at the High Lord, his expression remained unchanged as I patiently waited for words to leave his mouth. Our fates depended on the next few words he was going to utter. He could just send us to our deaths and no one would object, but the High Lord was smarter than that.

“We would pick your side. We aren't given much of a choice after all. Just like you said, I would rather not have unnecessary bloodshed that could have been easily prevented.”

“I was never in doubt that you would make the right decision.”

My heart started to make its way up after sinking moments ago as I quietly took in long breaths. I didn't care if we were going to be labeled as traitors, I didn't also care if we would have to go up against the Imperium. I was just relieved that we wouldn't have to engage in a fight with the demons; I wasn't prepared to lose anyone.

The dark cavern encounter with Sophia did more than just a scar on my torso. I became too conscious about dying, having been brought close to its gates. I watched as Vayr left his seat and walked up to Lord Edger, offering him a handshake,

“I believe we have an alliance now.”

“We do,” the High Lord replied.

It felt unreal establishing an alliance with the demons, or rather, these people from the Azkhan Empire given that they had tried to kill us on multiple occasions. One can’t possibly predict what life feeds them.

“I believe we would have to meet more often. We would let you in on our plans going forward,” Vayr added.

Somehow, it felt like they were nicer than the delegates from the Imperium. Although they did make threats which were parts of bargaining, I believed they were honest and intentional, unlike the imperium that had always kept us in the dark and never made anything clear.

I sighed. I tried to connect with Darya but there was no response from her. She had been silent since our last conversation about how she was killing me. I didn't know what she was planning on doing, but I didn’t think avoiding me was the best course of action. Well, she wouldn't stay silent forever so all I had to do was wait. At least, I had goals of my own so I had to focus on them.

The meeting was concluded and everyone left the room one after another until only Sophia and I were left. It seemed we had similar intentions and questions we needed to confirm with each other.

“How is your wound? I was sure not to stab through any vital organ. Seeing you here, I guess I didn't.”

“Is that why you didn't kill me? Because this meeting was planned to be scheduled and my death would have made it impossible?”

She chuckled,

“No, you are getting it wrong. I didn't even know that this meeting was going to happen. It wasn't even part of the plan. The plan was to dispose of this House as we had done to the others.”

“You know, I am wondering how you find it so easy to say things like this. You look young, but you sound like someone who has been killing her whole life. I’m guessing if it were left to you, you wouldn't bother about things like diplomacy. You would have attacked relentlessly until you killed every one of us just like you did to those adventurers in the dark caverns.”

She stared at me without saying a word. I was sure she wanted to speak but wasn't sure of what to say to me.

“So you can understand now, why I can't wrap my head around the fact that you spared me. I wanted to believe that you stabbed me randomly but now, I can say for sure that you didn't, I mean, you just confirmed it yourself. You also don’t seem to be compassionate, so why didn't you kill me?”

I waited for a response from her but she stayed silent.

“I don't think this question should pose any difficulty to you. I thought you had a reason for sparing me and that is all I want to hear.”

“There is no reason. I acted impulsively and at that moment, I didn't feel like killing you.”

“Oh,” I said softly.

“I guess I should thank your impulses for saving my life.”

I stood up, still facing her,

“I really wanted to meet again but I didn't imagine that we would meet like this. I had hoped we would meet under the same conditions as our first encounter, though with subtle differences; one where I would be doing the stabbing, a fatal one.”

I wasn't sure if I meant what I had just said. Maybe I was just trying to get her riled up just to see how she would react. All of a sudden, her demeanor changed completely. She wasn't looking like the murderous maniac she appeared as, moments ago. She was wearing a sad expression. I stood there wondering what had just happened. What I had just said wasn't enough reason for her to suddenly change her expression.

“Is this a common thing with demons?” I wondered

She somewhat reminded me of Vixra. It was almost like they were able to express different personalities whenever they wanted.

“That’s sad,” she said to me.

“What's sad?”

“The fact that you still want to kill me. But I understand and I wouldn't stop you. The only difficulty is that I wouldn't die easily.”

I turned away from her and made my way toward the door. I had only taken a few steps before I heard her voice again.

“How much do you know about gains and losses?”

I didn't answer her question, but the fact I stopped walking was enough of a response.

“You see, it isn't only practical in a business sense. Every conscious action a person takes is heavily dependent on the concept of gain and loss. You may not want to believe it but it's true. Questions like ‘what do I gain from doing this?’ ‘Or what do I lose from doing this?’ are always asked before, at the moment, and after carrying out an activity. Answering these questions tells you if you've made the right or wrong decision. But you see, I couldn't answer these questions when I stabbed you. On the bright side, everything turned out favorably at the very least. Then, when we fought, I felt that something was interesting about you. Maybe it was because you were bold and didn't show any sign of fear even when you were outnumbered. Or maybe because I figured out that you were an Arcane and was curious since I had never met one before meeting you, or maybe because you just had a pretty face. Who knows, it could even be due to all these reasons combined. So I thought it would be no fun if I didn't see you again. Did I answer your question?”

I turned in her direction and she looked at me, wearing a weird smile on her face.

“Was my little speech emotional?”

I cursed under my breath, I should have known better, demons were all the same.

I was beginning to incline toward the belief that this behavioral characteristic was part of some military training that they all go through.

“Oh, I hope you don't expect me to apologize for killing your comrades. You would have done the same if the roles were reversed. It's war, there are no good or bad guys, right?”

I smiled, only curling one side of my lips,

“This is going to be fun, I guess,” I said to her as I continued my walk toward the door.

“You've got to get a lot stronger if you want to kill me.”

Just as I was about to open the door, someone opened it, hurriedly walking inside the room. He was the second male present with them during the meeting. He sighed in relief when he saw Sophia seated.

“Your Majesty,” he gasped.

I was shocked and for a moment I didn't trust what I just heard. I turned in her direction again and looked at her.

“Your Majesty?”

My lips didn't move, but my face said a lot about how surprised I was.