“Oh? This is surprising.”
Jac was relieved that Kierra seemed happy to see her. Or, at least not upset. She was as surprised as anyone else when Lou introduced her foreign bride to the family and doubt she made the best impression. Her attitude wasn’t deplorable by any means but she wouldn’t blame the elf for being uncomfortable around her.
Thankfully, Kierra had a more forgiving heart than Jac’s father. She hadn’t changed in the year Jac hadn’t seen her. Her skin was still green, her long hair was still a vibrant silver, and her eyes were still the same strange mix of green and gold that changed depending on the light. She seemed more relaxed than when she had strutted around Jac’s home like she owned it. Probably because Jackal wasn’t around to subtly prod her for her secrets and goad her into cooperating with gold-hungry merchants.
Jac didn’t know what gesture was appropriate for meeting her cousin-in-law. The elf didn’t seem the type to hug and a handshake felt too distant. Thankfully, Kierra didn’t have the same hesitation, plowing forward past the awkward moment. “What are you doing here, little cousin? I thought you were preparing to sail across the seas with the golden family.”
“Well…things happened.” When Jac was first pulled from the dungeon, she was beyond angry and ready to watch the capital burn. Weeks of quiet travel and good food had mellowed her temper, giving her the clarity she needed to truly comprehend the consequences of her actions, past and future. She still planned to tattle to Lou. The question was how she would phrase her complaints. And who in particular she aimed Lou’s ire at.
At first, she thought she was angry at the king. He was the highest authority in the kingdom. It was his law that had sparked the conflict with the summoners. His orders that had her thrown into the dungeon and seen her mentally violated by a member of the interrogators. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the king was the source of all her problems.
She wanted him to pay but whatever tragedy befell the crown would affect the kingdom five times over. That wasn’t something she wanted and especially wasn’t something she needed to be responsible for.
There was a second target of her anger she wouldn’t feel nearly as guilty turning Lou against and wouldn’t have a fraction of the fallout. Her father, Javarius “Jackal” Tome. The one who put in motion her torture by running to the king to give evidence against his own brother and the summoning community. The one who had turned his head when she told him about the travesties visited upon her. The one who had sided with the crown over his own blood.
She wanted him to pay, badly. Better, she knew Lou would be much more willing to go after him. Her cousin had never liked her father. Once Jac told Lou that he had betrayed both their family and their family’s art, there would be a reckoning.
She was much less confident in getting revenge on the interrogator that had so grievously taken advantage of her and his affinity. For the life of her, she couldn’t describe the man and he hadn’t been accommodating enough to give his name. She couldn’t pick her offender out of the interrogators. Revenge would require the king giving her the name of her assailant…if he knew it.
Most times, she didn’t request a particular servant to do a menial job and she had no idea that was how the king thought of her. A minor nuisance he didn’t have the grace to personally confront before shipping her out of the capital. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had no idea who had carried out his dirty work.
Another person who might know the name of the offender was the head interrogator, a target only slightly less daunting than the king. King Sebastian did not have personal power, but the palace grounds housed the royal knights, the strongest fighters in the kingdom. However, if an attacker could slip past said defenders, it would be relatively simple to take out the king himself.
The leader of the kingdom’s mental casters was an accomplished caster in his own right. The interrogators were no royal knights, but they were an elite group that could decimate a small army in the right circumstances. Worse, their magic was the hardest kind to defend against. A sturdy shield could stop a sword or arrow. It could even work fairly well against most basic spells. It would do absolutely nothing against mana intrusion.
Jac didn’t know any spells that could stop it either. The only defense was very expensive artifacts created from incredibly rare materials. The few mental affinity stones the kingdom had were relics from before the Great War and couldn’t be bought with gold. Attacks that couldn’t be defended against were almost as scary as overwhelming power.
Lou was strong. Her wife was stronger. But whether they stood a chance or not, Jac didn’t feel right winding her cousin up and possibly sending her to her death to satisfy her own grudges. She had decided that she would present the facts as neutrally as possible, besides shortchanging her father, and let events take their natural course. Her revenge would be not talking Lou down if she got her own ideas. Surely, the saints could forgive her that much.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
But that was for tomorrow. Lou was throwing a party tonight and she was not so crass as to interrupt a celebration. “Recent events convinced me I needed a vacation and Lou is the only person I know with a home outside the capital worth visiting. Seems I have good timing.”
“Perfect timing. Had you come tomorrow night, you would have missed all the festivities.”
Jac tried not to react to the elf’s unnervingly wide smile. It said she didn’t understand everything the woman had said but she decided not to pursue it. “So? What are we celebrating?”
“Lou’s criminal status.”
“…what?”
Kierra chuckled. “We are not to speak of it. Come.” A strong hand grabbed Jac’s shoulder and guided her across the room. “There is someone you must meet.”
It was a good thing Jac had no trouble meeting new people because Kierra didn’t give her a chance to protest as she was marched up to the stage. Jac hadn’t given the performing musicians much thought, as they were usually irrelevant, but given that she was about to be introduced to them, she looked at them more closely.
One of them was a young boy wearing the same dark purple jacket and dark pants as the strange servant that had greeted her. A bit young but it wasn’t unusual for young servants to apprentice to more experienced workers. The boy was clearly talented from the music she’d heard. So much so that she was a little concerned that Lou was doing the Hall and the kingdom a disservice by keeping him to herself. The boy cut a confident figure, the picture of patience as he waited with his instrument at the ready.
On the opposite side of the stage was Lou’s thrall. Geo, she thought the creature’s name was. It wasn’t a surprise that the succubus knew how to play an instrument. It would be easier to list things that the creatures couldn’t do than the other way around. The elemental appeared to be in good health, for as much as that counted for.
The star of the small group was the woman that stood center-stage. She was a beauty but an unusual one. Her complexion was pale even by the capital’s standards but rather than the sickly pallor of the doorman, her skin was more like milk or cream. Her hair was darker than black, a waterfall of ink pinned with a delicate butterfly ornament, the thin wings gleaming under the bright lights. Her white and silver robe was simple but elegant, an effect achieved in no small part by the woman’s natural grace. Just the way she held herself was worthy of an artist’s brush. If the woman wasn’t a noble, Jac would eat her shoes. No one was simply born with that poise.
Her eyes opened as they approached and Jac gasped at the strange sight. They were inversed, the whites completely black and the pupils were as white as a cloud. It was unnerving and not just visually. Jac felt like the strange gaze could see right through her.
“Little cousin, this is Umphrieltalia. Flower, this is a member of Lou’s family that she likes, Jacquellin Tome.”
The woman’s demeanor changed. Her expression remained the same but the air around her shifted. Became…warmer. The woman closed her eyes again as her lips turned up in a faint smile. “A pleasure to meet you Jacquellin.”
“Just Jac is fine.”
“Lou calls me Talia. You may also if it makes you more comfortable.”
“Ah, thanks.” She glanced at the grinning elf beside her. “What exactly is your relationship with my cousin?” It had to be interesting if Kierra was so insistent they meet.
“I am the flower, but a more understood designation would be Lou and Kierra’s mistress.”
Jac gaped in incomprehension. “What?”
“A mistress, Jac,” Kierra purred. “Our pampered little lover.” The elf raised a hand and Talia bent over, letting the long green fingers brush her cheek with the obedience of a well-trained hound. “She is family through vow.”
“Er…” Jac wasn’t naive enough to be scandalized by the thought of a mistress but Talia was not what she envisioned when she pictured that word. She wasn’t a young beauty usurping an older man’s attentions under his wife’s notice or a painted vixen with both guile and bold sensuality. Talia was beautiful but too quiet to be a seductress. Her solemn expression and dignified air gave the impression of a scholar or etiquette teacher.
What was such a woman doing with Lou? Kierra, she could understand. Was that it? Had Kierra taken a second lover? Lou being Lou, Jac was sure she not only accepted the situation, but welcomed it with open arms.
The situation framed with logic she could understand, Jac’s confusion faded and her curiosity rose. “So, you’re a singer?”
“No,” Talia said and Jac had to admit, inwardly and never aloud, that the strange woman had an amazing voice that she could listen to all day. “I am currently unemployed.”
“Ah.”
“Do not let my flower’s words fool you,” Kierra said while shaking a finger at Talia. “She gave up quite the position to spend more time at the house. You are looking at the previous dorm mother for the noble cubs attending the Hall and the heir of your king’s head interrogator.”
“A position I am no longer interested in,” Talia said.
“But are the most qualified for.”
“Wait. You’re an interrogator?” Jac asked, voice sharp.
“I have taken the vows and received the training, but I have not and have no intention of serving the crown.”
“…then I’d like to ask for your help. I—"
A green hand covered her mouth and hot breath tickled her ear as Kierra bowed her head beside her. “Not now, little cousin,” the elf whispered. “You have vengeful eyes and that is tomorrow’s business. Tonight, there can only be happiness and revelry.”
Jac felt a spike of annoyance, but she buried it. The thought of Talia retrieving the identity of her assailant from her mind had sparked her simmering anger, but she had already spent days with no hope. Waiting a few hours for a chance at justice was no struggle. She nodded and the hand left her mouth. She glared at her cousin-in-law, who smiled at her, unrepentant. “If I’m going to forget it, I’m going to need something to drink. And a lot of it.”
“That can be arranged.”