Chapter 552: Tea
The walk back to Hollow Shade was filled with silence. Though Holo had carried them outside the city through various Flicker spells she had decided to withhold her Orange magic and let them walk through the grassy hills of the valley, all the way back to the city.
Stryg had dozens of questions for his sisters but he held them back and tried to face the problems he had been avoiding ever since Ananta had told him the truth of his nature. If he kept ignoring them, if he kept rejecting who he was, then tonight’s incident would repeat itself.
He was a titan, a hybrid of mixed descent, but predominantly a titan. He hated that, it felt as if fate itself had taken away the part of him that made him a goblin, that made him Sylvan. But he supposed Lunae was a titan and who was more Sylvan than the Mother of the Sylvan Tribes? The thought gave him some comfort.
As they reached the gates Stryg got his first good look at the shade wall since the siege. The once ebon black stone was now a semi-translucent grey like glass covered by a thick layer of dust.
“Someday I’ll restore it,” said Holo, determined.
“You’ll need a prime archmage to help you and last I checked, the Ebon Realm is lacking them,” said Melantha.
Holo glanced at Stryg. “I’m sure I’ll find one, in time.”
He didn’t hear her, his mind was elsewhere.
The gates were closed, as usual. Hollow Shade always closed its gates at night, on account of the shades. Now the shades were gone, but looking up at the giant wall looming over them still made Stryg feel small.
“How long do we have to wait until one of the guards notices us?” asked Melantha.
“Not long,” replied Holo.
Stryg stared at the wall’s design with a new perspective. A black marble statue of a skull and a sun stood on the sides of the gates respectively. He had always wondered why the city’s banner was a black sun with a skull at its center.
The dead god of the sun. It was as if they were gloating about Solis’ supposed death. No wonder the Sylvan and Valley Tribes despised the Ebon Lords.
Above the gates, a line of ancient sigils were etched into the magestone. ‘Protection of Death.’
Stryg hadn’t understood what those words meant the day he first entered Hollow Shade. He imagined it must have been some kind of warning about the shades. Now he knew better.
“This place, these walls. Why does it speak about Stjerne? It’s your city, isn’t it?” he asked.
Holo scratched her cheek. “I built the city, yes. But Father helped me design the shade walls.”
“What?”
“When the walls were built the Schism disaster had yet to destroy the Realm Bridges. The Ebon Lords hadn’t ordered the destruction of the realm’s chrome gates. The Mortem Order still stood.”
“Then everything began to fall apart not a year later. Three centuries after that and things look even worse,” Melantha chuckled sardonically.
“You don’t say,” Holo replied dryly. “This is taking too long.” She grabbed them each by the shoulder and Flickered them across the wall and into the streets.
The night streets were empty save for an undead sentinel that bowed in their presence before walking on.
Stryg glanced at the two women, his sisters he reminded himself, a strange concept, yet one he needed to get used to. “How old are you two?”
“412,” answered Melantha without hesitation.
“That’s… old,” Stryg muttered, stunned. He thought Gian was old, but even the elder vampire was only a little over 300.
“To titan-kind she is relatively quite young,” noted Holo.
Melantha laughed, “If you think I’m old, then Holo may as well be a pile of bones. She is well over a thousand.”
“A thousand!?” Stryg stared at Holo with wide eyes.
She shrugged uncomfortably. “Why do you look so surprised? Lunae is over twice as old. I don’t see you freaking out whenever she walks by.”
“Yeah, well, she’s a goddess. Gods are supposed to be old. But you’re, well, you’re my sister. I guess… It’s weird.”
“You do realize both of us are worshiped as deities in other Realms, right?” said Melantha.
“What?” Stryg stared at his sisters as if he had never seen them before. If they were gods then what did that mean for him…?
He shook his head. “I have so many questions.”
Holo’s lips curled up slightly. “Go right ahead.”
“If you’re a thousand years old then did you ever meet Veres I?”
“I did and his partner Gale. We were on opposite sides of the wars, though.”
“Opposite sides? What war?”
“Wars. As in several. I’m half-drow. Back then the drows and vampires fought for control over the lands of Frost Rim. Bellum wanted to get involved, but with Father in her way, she was forced to stay back. As for Father himself, he was content to mostly just watch, so I didn’t really involve myself either, but suffice it to say Veres and Gale still weren’t very fond of me. Koval was different. I met Koval when he was still just an apprentice in the Bronze Realm. We were friends.”
“You were friends with Koval the Unifier…?” Stryg found himself smiling excitedly. “What was he like? What was Veres like?”
“Hm, Veres was never much of a talker. He was cold, brooding. It only got worse after Gale died. Koval was much more tempered. He aspired to be like his master, Parathyan. Now there was a man whose work spoke for him.”
Stryg stopped in his steps. “Wait. You knew Parathyan? The Great Artificer?”
Holo smiled in reminiscence. “I still remember when Parathyan forged the first chrome gate. He changed the world.”
“Parathyan was one of the rare few outside of the dragon race whose chromatic magic transcended the power of an archmage and became something entirely else,” said Melantha.
“Look who’s talking,” Holo smirked. “Our dear Nel is one of those rare few as well, though her talents lie in more— destructive forces.”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Melantha shrugged, “I’m immortal. I’ve had time to develop and grow my powers. Parathyan was a mere mortal. He didn’t have the powers of a titan and yet he saw more than any of us. Even gods admired his work.”
“Did… Did our Father admire him?” asked Stryg.
“Death was fascinated by Parathyan’s work,” replied Holo. “Parathyan was one of the few beings in the entire world whose magical intellectual prowess matched Father’s. He actually understood the complex arcane designs and equations Father had created. The two of them were close.”
“Together they could have accomplished anything,” added Melantha quietly.
“They had plans, Parathyan and Father. Plans that would change everything, or so they used to say on quiet nights atop the mountains of the Bronze Realm,” said Holo bittersweetly. “...But it all fell apart.”
“What happened?” whispered Stryg.
“A story for another time. We should hurry; don’t want to be late for midnight tea.”
“Midnight tea?”
Holo winked, “The strong stuff.”
~~~
Evelyn found her lord husband sitting alone in his study next to the crackling fireplace. A tea set sat on the table, along with two small ceramic pots, filled to the brim with tea leaves. The tea set was custom made by a potter in Murkton, said to be the greatest living potter in all the Realm. Krall had been so excited that he personally had traveled all the way to Murkton and picked up the tea set himself.
She could still remember the big dumb smile he had worn the day he got back. That smile was nowhere to be seen now. A pang of worry struck her heart. When people looked at Krall all they could see was the giant walking mass of muscle that crushed their skull with a simple grip of his hand. They saw the berserker delighting in bloodlust. They saw the lord of the Great House of Katag. Krall was all these things but none of them were him.
Her husband never enjoyed fighting, though he was the most skilled general the city had seen in decades. In this Lord Elzri Noir and he were alike. Kindred souls, powerful in their own right, yet neither had interest in wielding such power. They did it out of necessity and duty to their Houses. Now Elzri was gone and Evelyn could see the way it weighed heavily on Krall. A shadow rested on his face that hadn’t been there before. It was in the way he moved just a little slower and the way his voice trailed off sometimes.
Krall had seemed so happy and full of life at the dinner party, but Evelyn knew he had been forcing himself for the sake of appearances. He was still recovering from the battle injuries. She knew underneath his shirt lay a field of bandages. He had probably opened some of the wounds tonight.
Evelyn closed the door behind herself softly. “The guests have all left.”
He stirred slightly at her voice. “...That’s good.”
She walked over to him. “You should get some rest and have one of the healers look at you.”
“Maybe later…”
“You didn’t finish your tea?”
“...I was trying a new strain of tea leaves.”
She gently pried his fingers off the teacup and took it from him. It was cold. How long had he been sitting here staring at the fire?
“Was the blend good?”
“...Terrible.”
“Ah.” She smiled coyly, “I was hoping I could try some.”
His expression slowly brightened at her words. “Really?”
“Why not?”
“H-Hold on. Just one sec!” Krall lumbered to his feet and hurried over to his desk.
“Be careful, you’ll tear your stitches.”
“Uh-huh.”
She chuckled. “Are you even listening?”
“Sure thing.” He opened one of the drawers and carefully pulled out a third ceramic jar. This one had a little ribbon tied around it, with a note attached that simply said #241. He opened it with a giant’s gentle touch and poured out the dried leaves into a fresh hot cup of water.
“I’ve been working on this particular blend for a few months now.” He handed her the cup and held up his hands before she took a sip, “You should wait a little while. Let the water really absorb the flavor.”
She sighed, “Very well.”
“Do you want some honey?”
“No, I’ll think I’ll be fine,” she laughed.
“The blend still needs a bit of adjustment. I need to talk to Gram to have him adjust it tomorrow morning.”
Evelyn smirked. She loved his childish eagerness. “You know, I think you’re the only person I know who hired a master green mage for the sake of caretaking your tea bushes.”
“Well, that’s because most people don’t have a taste for the finer things in life.”
Her smile slowly faded and her expression grew solemn. “...How is Tauri?”
Krall sighed deeply and sank into his chair. “She’s sleeping. The healers said she had been simply drained of her energy. The head healer said whoever used the drain spell on her was a very skilled master of Grey magic; they drained her lifeforce in a burst quick enough to knock her unconscious, but not a drop more, preventing any sort of damage. She’ll wake up soon enough. All in all, things worked out alright.”
“You don’t seem angry that our daughter was almost kidnapped by a dangerous, possibly mad, battle mage.”
“That ‘mage’ is our future son-in-law and he obviously loves her. Not just anyone would dare kidnap his love in front of her whole family. The kid’s brave.”
“The word you're looking for is arrogant, insane, or tyrannical.”
“The boy clearly wasn’t thinking straight.”
“Really, what gave you that idea? The glowing eyes or the several barrels’ worth of wine floating above our heads? Do you have any idea what sort of magic that even was?”
“Not the slightest clue. Perhaps some sort of combination of chromatic spells? He is a prime mage.”
“And who were those two women!? One of them is a True Orange and a very powerful one at that. But I’ve never heard of her before.”
“I’m certain we can ask Stryg when we see him.”
“Why do you look so calm? Our home was just invaded. Our family was just threatened by the Veres! I know you don’t like to fight, but surely you have something to say?”
Krall shrugged as best he could given his injuries. “Did you make up with Elise?”
“She’s a spider. We shouldn’t trust her.”
“We’ll need her if we are to win the throne for our young Aspirant.”
“...I take it you’re still for Stryg then?”
“I am.”
“Despite him trying to kidnap our daughter?”
“He’s young and in love. It’s a recipe for stupidity. Tauri, it seems, is not much different. After Aizel I thought she might never open herself up to love again. I’m glad I was wrong.” He laughed, “Still, she’ll be furious when she wakes. Hah, I don’t envy that boy.”
“If you are so ready to accept the Aspirant then why did you let Lucas run his mouth at dinner?”
Krall looked at the crackling fire. “I still see it. I saw those monsters hurl down from the clouds and destroy the wall. I couldn’t stop them. One of them almost killed me… When I was lying there, blood filling my punctured lung, all I could think of was what I was leaving behind. Lucas isn’t ready to rule, none of them are. I was leaving our House exposed.”
“But you lived. Our House still stands strong.”
“For now. If I learned anything from that battle it is how fragile our lives are. The war isn’t over. And there very well may be more rivers of blood on our path to be kingmaker. I could die tomorrow and our children wouldn’t be ready to lead House Katag. I’ve been too soft on them, Evelyn. I’ve let them live their lives in whatever way they pleased so long as it didn’t bring dishonor to our family. I did so because my own father never gave me that chance.”
Evelyn reached out and grabbed his hand. “So that whole thing at dinner…?”
“I thought it was a perfect opportunity to see how Lucas would react, how he would lead our House in a moment of diplomatic crisis. He needs real experience as a lord.”
“And then he botched it spectacularly.”
“That he did,” Krall scoffed with a small grin. “I thought things would turn out fine even if he did; I would simply step in and soothe things over.”
“And then Elise stepped in instead and threatened to kill us all.”
“She’s unpredictable. I’ll give her that.”
“...What are we going to do about our daughters? Elena is still in a dark mood.”
“She’ll be fine. She’s young. Crushes come and go.”
“Don’t tell me you really plan on having Tauri marry Stryg?”
“Would it be so bad? Stryg can’t have children. The only thing we have to solidify our alliance is a strong marriage. Love is the foundation of any strong relationship.”
“And Elena and Stryg will come to love each other.”
“That future was poisoned the moment Stryg and Tauri fell for each other. Our best recourse now is marrying Tauri. Besides, she is the elder daughter, it is customary.”
“Tauri doesn’t listen to us.”
“To you maybe.”
“That’s because you always let her do whatever she wants. Even now.”
Krall sighed. “You’ve got me there. Times like this I would have asked Elzri for advice. He always knew what to do, no matter the cost.”
Evelyn blew on the tea and took a sip. She exhaled in contentment. “...It’s good.”