“thank you for honoring my house with your presence” I said with a smile on my face to yet another delegate from a merchant or mercenary house, after the twenty fourth one there faces had begun to blend together and if not for Felina being right there beside me whispering their names and titles in my ear I would have just stared at them until they introduced themselves to me.

      It seemed the nobles in my house had been itching for a good ball and it was showing, boisterous and exaggerated laughter echoed across the hall and broad smile displaying all their teeth were pasted on every ones face as they glided from table to table before ending up in front of me where I would repeat the above phrase.

     I would have normally put more effort into the impression that I gave a damn about anyone present but the bomb Galfin and Felina had dropped on me right before I made my entrance into the banquet had my brain spinning various strategies that would let me keep my head, but more importantly the question of why now was more prominent in my mind.

     Had they somehow found out that Mablung was about to form his pillar and were here to forcibly recruit him, or did my display of magical and martial prowess require them to come and see if the young lord of the Van Rost family would pose a threat to their rule in the future.

      They being aware of my tangle with the three general level opponents were in a unique position to have all the available knowledge of my current skill and know precisely how dangerous I was, but for the members of the royal family to come here themselves was something I had not expected.

      I would have to play a greater part in Mablung’s pillar creation and the emergence of Raijin’s core.

      “Thank you for honoring my house with your presence” I said reflexively as another elf approached me only to realize that it was Galfin the head of the Loft clan.

     I smiled in embarrassment as I realized my blunder and endured Galfin’s scowl.

     “it would be safe to draw this feast to a close using the fact that the tournament for the first decade candidates would begin at first sunlight” Galfin said to me and scanning the room I agreed as the celebrations had already begun to simmer down and it had been a while since the last hidden barbs were traded between any of the nobles present.

     I let loose a sigh of relief and the smile on my face turned genuine as I realized the farce was all over, ignoring the chuckle from Lairden who was seated next to me at the joy I displayed at my imminent escape I rose to my feet and gently let a light aura exude from my mana wells to encompass the entire hall bringing everyone’s attention to me.

      “My most honored and esteemed guest, it brings me great sorrow to draw this feast to a close. The brief time we have spent together has been most enjoyable and enlightening but as the tournament starts tomorrow I must beg leave of you all so  I might make final preparations to make the event a memorable one for all you esteemed guests” I said and a smattering of applause rang out across the hall.

       “this however would hopefully not be the last time we meet as you are all invited to the winners feast, where the champions of four tournament as well as the most promising of the participants would be invited along with everyone present here to once again grace this house with their magnificent presence but until then I bid you all goodnight” I finished then bowed slightly in the general direction of the crowd before turning to Galfin.

      “Did you inform the house advisers and the leaders of the various clans I would meet with them?” I asked Galfin while I gestured for the occupants of the table of honor to follow me.

    “Yes my lord, they will gather in your office in fifteen minutes and I also informed Lord Glander that he would be standing in for the branch family” Galfin stated and I nodded in approval. Though gone Vanlathriel’s reach still extended to the new lands and if she heard that I was mistreating her son she would try even harder to make things difficult for me, until I had destroyed all her agents within the clan I would continue to tread lightly.

     I left the hall through a side exit and headed deeper into the manor in the direction of my office while mentally preparing myself for a different kind of battle.

        The nobles of my house desired power but their lust for wealth was far greater. Most of them had not had the foresight to see the amount of business the tournament would draw to the town but now that it was here they wanted in.

       Few things could unite the nobles under the banner of the house Van Rost, even Vanlathriel had failed to get a unanimous vote when she had wanted to install Glander as the head of the house, only when she had offered the house wealth had the former elders been persuaded to stand on her behalf and they had jumped ship far to easily, if I attempted to keep the entire business venture to myself trouble would soon come my way.

         The trick was turning them against each other, and I would use the very thing that would unite them against me to do so.

      I strode into the office and immediately sank into the large chair behind the desk.

      “the nobles would be angling for shops along the road to the arena as well as a cut off the proceeds of the event itself, they have been vigorously recruiting shop owners to boycott tomorrows event if you do not concede, a plan that would have been disastrous if between you and the main house you did not own more than half the shops there” Felina began as soon as she saw I was settled.

     “I haven’t seen them this united since your grandfather took lady Fremay as his concubine” Galfin said with a tired voice as Felina continued to lay out all the information she had acquired, but this was something I had expected to occur sooner rather than later.

      The strongest among them had tried to take me down and failed, they had then adopted a wait and see attitude in hopes I would prove inept at ruling or expose a crucial weakness that they may exploit but I had proven more than able and extremely guarded towards them all, the next logical step in the face of a common enemy was to unite and take me down.

     “why do they hate you so lord Tal” Erthor who had been quite most of the night in fear of saying something he should not in the presence of powerful nobles finally spoke out seeing he more or less knew everyone present did not mind him so much.

    That Erthor had a talent related to beast taming had been firmly established in my mind as the young elf currently carried a basket that would occasionally have a soft cry emit from it once a while, this was the envoy from Van Linterg’s final attempt to woo me.

      Having heard how close I was to Raijin and the care I took to raise him, Lairden’s family had procured five more long tooth cubs for me, these mini Raijin’s were beyond adorable and if raised right would turn into formidable war beast that would aid my forces in the future. the instant the basket filled with the cubs had been placed in Erthor’s care they had all obediently curled into a ball and fixed their green eyes on the young elf as if he was the most fascinating thing in the world.

      “they don’t hate me Erthor, they are just unhappy that they cannot control me” I replied offhandedly as I strategized my approach to the coming meeting of the houses upper echelon.

     “Lairden I have already inconvenienced you for the evening, I’m afraid the coming meeting will force out a side of me I would not like myself to see, would you mind taking Erthor somewhere until I weather this storm” I smiled towards Lairden.

      Lairden been way more politically savvy than I was picked up on my hidden clue for him to run away as fast as he could, he smiled in appreciation then left with Erthor in tow.

   A silence pervaded the room as Galfin, Felina and I mentally prepared ourselves for the upcoming confrontation.

        “lord Tal it has been too long since I have been blessed by your presence” the doors to my office swung open and the first in the door was the recently appointed head of the Trahl clan, Amrod Trahl.

     In the power vacuum that had occurred when I had demoted the elders to advisers and then the subsequent one month house arrest I had sentenced the heads of the clan to had given a crucial opportunity to the lurking nobles of the house to execute a power grab, not all the former clan leaders were able to hold onto their positions in the subsequent shake up that followed.

     Amrod Rahl had won his position through a brilliant display of the carrot and stick technique, bribing where he could and blackmailing when that didn’t work out, the subsequent spree of assassinations however was something I had not thought he was capable of.

    As the new brown haired and blue eyed clan leader drifted off to claim a seat, the female elf approaching me had been a dark horse I had not seen coming.

    Lady Halnef Elensar had always been a force to be reckoned with within the house, but when the Elensar clan went silent throughout their heads house arrest and then named her his successor the evening after his release I knew something was off.

    It had taken Felina three months to insert one of her ears within the Elensar clan only to find out that the clan had not simply changed heads but had gone through a complete remodeling from top to bottom, whether this was a good or bad thing for me only time would tell.

     “Lord Tal” Lady Halnef greeted, dipping slightly in a curtsey before she wandered away.

     The heads of the Losselhelm, Sumon and the Anarion clan had managed to hold onto their positions and had grouped together at the back of the room occasionally throwing conniving looks in my direction while the new head of the Helayanwe clan wandered from group to group.

       There were some knew cards in the deck but the game was the same, it was time to play who has the bigger stick.

      I rose from my seat and every eye in the room swiveled in my direction as everyone present fell silent waiting for me to speak.

     “Galfin has informed me you wish to see me” I said with a smile and simply stood before them. Everything from this point on had to be with a purpose this was the new council that I had to deal with and if I did not force them into a position I was comfortable with them being in they would forever remain a thorn in my side.

      “why are the elders not present in a house meeting?” Belrundus Losselhelm asked as she stepped forward. It would make sense that she would advocate the presence of the former elders being one of the original clan leaders and also having one of the said elders originating from her clan but that wasn’t the crucial point.

      Answering my question with a question and calling them elders even though I had very publically demoted them to advisers of the house was an indirect challenge to my authority but to confront her now would unite the clan leaders against me more than they already were.

     I let my gaze linger on her for a moment before I smiled and looked away, the best method to fight against greater numbers was to divide and conquer.

      “Does the head of the Losselhelm clan speak for all of you?” I asked and with that simple statement, there well thought out united front began to crumble after all even if the other six houses were united clan Loft was firmly in my pocket.

      “the clan Losselhelm does not speak for the clan Loft, we were under the impression that this meeting was called to discuss the sales of tickets for the tournament and rental of shop space along the arena road, if clan Losselhelm wishes to advance their political agenda they should do so another time” Galfin promptly responded from beside me.

      Never in both my lives have I seen someone been thrown so smoothly under the bus, the female head of the Losselhelm’s face became froze in fury at the blatant slap in the face delivered by Galfin. And the room became restless as people began to shift about in anxiousness as I had subvertly raised a question that they may have not been willing to face.

      If they were in an alliance who was leading it?.

        Every alliance had to have an individual who would speak as its unified voice, be that person be a simple face acknowledged by the people or a figure head manipulated from behind, an individual who could be called upon at any point in time to speak as the voice of the alliance had to exist either in title or person.

     Upside, through this person there would be no confusion concerning commands or instruction given as the person could always be sought to confirm or deny the order and if things go wrong a scapegoat to be punished was readily available.

    Downside, the other clans would be unofficially declaring that the person or clan was leading theirs or they were following his instructions and in the elfin society deferring to a noble of equal stature on too many occasions could be seen as weakness.

   Me asking who their leader was tantamount to asking whose instructions they had chosen to follow, even if there was a master mind behind this new unified clans approach they would not be willing to publicly admit that as the head of their clans they were willing to differ to others concerning events that involved their clan.

     I let the smile linger on my face as I watched the clan heads shuffle through the first hurdle I had set in place and re organize themselves for a retort.

     “lord Galfin is correct we did request this meeting pertaining the ticket sales of the tournament and the rights to the shop along arena road, we should focus on these aspects instead of meandering onto various personal agenda” Lord Amrod spoke out from his corner of the room.

       I chuckled internally as I watched the first rift open in their internal working as Lady Belrundus threw a scowl in the direction of the lord of the Trahl clan but let the matter drop.

     “so I take it you all agree that this meeting was called on the issue of the sales of seats to the tournament and the renting of shops along the arena road?” I rhetorically asked correcting the little twist of words the clan head of the Trahl clan had try to let slip in.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

       There were positive nods around the room as the other clan heads realized the first issue raised by lady Belrundus was a lost cause and silently agreed to change battle fields.

     “so whats the problem?” I simply asked throwing my second monkey wrench into their plans.

    A confused silence descended on the room before a dazed lady Halnef let out a puzzled “what?”

       “you called the meeting concerning the sales of seats to the tournament and the renting of shops along arena road, is there a problem with these things?” I asked again this time deliberately enunciating my words clearly like I was speaking to an individual who wasn’t quite all there.

       “Lord Tal, since the arena, the path leading to it and the shops along that path were built by house funds isn’t it right that the clans associated with the house benefit from it as well” the head of the Elensor clan began the second assault, ignoring my earlier insult and instantly the other lords rallied behind him.

      I let a look of confusion cross my face for a moment as I bent my head in a thoughtful expression causing the room to fall silent again.

    “my sincerest apologies I was not aware that the opportunity to rent space was not offered to the clan heads, or the ability to participate in the tournament organization so that you may benefit from the sales of seat was not made available as well” I said in my most sincere tone, but as each word fell from my lips the nobility before me face’s kept getting uglier and uglier and Galfin soon showed why?

        “all clan heads where approached before the construction of the arena for funds in aiding in its construction and each and every one of them claimed financial difficulty, as lord Tal instructed when hotels and shops were being planned for the road leading up to the arena every clan head was asked if they were interested in acquiring a space for their family but each replied in the negative. The Helayanwe, Losselhelm, Sumon and Anarion clan heads were asked three times because when I was making my rounds to include the new clan heads I asked them again” Galfin promptly responded as soon as I was done speaking delivering the killing strike to the entire thing.

     “when it was time to plant the seed you were nowhere to be found but now the crop has been harvested I find you at my front door with your hands outstretched like beggars “ I calmly stated injecting some steel into my voice.

      There was a collective wince as each clan leader recoiled from the blatant insult I had thrown at them. A medley of emotions ran across each face present, anger, shame, indignation but before they could rally I presented the carrot.

     “this situation is easily solved, since you were presented the opportunity to own a shop along arena road and rejected it that path is forever closed to you but I will put six shops up for rent and let you all bid the amount you are willing to pay the house to rent the shop for the entire tournaments duration” I said.

       A sigh of relief washed through the room as the lords and ladies heard my offer, after all with the clans present there were enough shops to see to everyone so they wouldn’t have to fight amongst themselves. Just as that though was taken flight in their heads the door to my office swung open once more and Glander walked in.

      Realization dawned on the heads of the clan as Glander came into their view, the branch family was also a clan under the Van Rost banner and with Vanlathriel’s influence and Eeth Rahn’s deep pockets their son Glander was not lacking funds to get into a bidding war with the best of them.

     Suddenly two or three lords head snapped round to face me or should I say Galfin besides me realizing it wasn’t six shops amongst six clan heads but six shops amongst eight clan heads.

      “Forgive my tardiness my lord, I was getting sufficient funds to acquire a shop along arena road” Glander thrown off by the attention his arrival caused eventually apologized and stated the reason he was late. Ever since the Van Flotina incident Glander had been avoiding me and the few times he was in my presence he was extremely well mannered and polite. It would be nice to believe he had learnt his lesson and turned over a new leaf but I am not that innocent.

       Glander’s words were like the final nail in a coffin to the clan heads who had realized that I had already succeeded in the dividing them.

     “lord Tal! It is unjust for you to ask us to pay for these shops when you used our money to build the very shops you ask us to pay for, this is tyranny!” Lady Belrundus leapt to her feet exclaiming in outrage as she desperately try to keep the alliance they had shakily forged intact.

      “that would be true if you all hadn’t been blatantly stealing from the house under Vanlathriel’s supervision” I stated immediately extinguishing any progress along this path.

        A noble house and its clans functioned very much like a city and the businesses within it, normally the business was independent of the city only to follow a few laws and guidelines and to pay tax for operating a business within their borders, but for the ten years that Vanlathriel was in control not a dime was given.

      Vanlathriel with the backing of her consort who belonged to the powerful Rahn clan wouldn’t feel such a drop in the bucket, instead she had used the fact that she was waving taxes to draw more of the nobles over to her side, sometimes letting them draw directly from the house vaults, part of the reason they were so reluctant to show me their financial records when I first seized control.

     The statement was like a blow to the head of the Losselhelm clan and she sank dazed back into her seat her mind racing desperately trying to counter me.

     I waved Felina forward and she brought out a map showing the arena and the road leading up to it, on the map various shops and inns were marked out and truly only six remained mark less.

     “we will begin the bidding form the area of least value to the prime locations like around the arena itself and the entrance to arena street, each shop has it initial rent value and at the conclusion of the tournament ownership will revert back to the house” I began sliding into my business mode as I gazed greedily at the money bags in front of me.

     The change was instant as each clan head leaned forward in their seats, eyes flashing like wolves watching a lamb skip merrily towards them.

       “The first shop is a quaint little thing that contains a single large room, built with the intention to serve as a simple ornament shop, it has various display cases and counter tops already installed within the initial price will begin at three hundred gold” I stated and as soon as the rent price left my lips a vicious hiss simultaneously echoed out from every noble present but just as they were about to protest Galfin struck.

   “four hundred gold for the Loft clan” Galfin called out beside me and I scowled internally.

      The arena was built into the inner perimeter of the wall surrounding town Rost, it was shaped as half a circle it flat half against the wall while the curved part extended into the town itself, the road followed this curve and if Galfin managed to get this little shop his house would dominate a small segment of the road there giving him a clear advantage over the other shops nearby.

      As if sensing my thoughts Lord Amrod gazed at the markings on the three other shops to the left of the shop in question and probably realized G.L. stood for Glander Loft.

       “four hundred and fifty gold coins from the Trahl clan” Lord Amrod called out and with that the damn broke.

    “Five hundred, why don’t you all give me some face and let me have this little shop”

    “five twenty, I your father wants this shop lets see who will snatch it from me”

     “five twenty five, don’t test me bro”

    I chuckled internally as I watched the united front crumble, by the time I was done with them they wouldn’t be able to spell the word alliance let alone form one.

       “Lord Tal that was to mean” Felina said beside me as we ascended the stairs back to my quarters. I diverted my gaze from Galfin who was chuckling maniacally as he counted the various notes of promises he had in his possession, this was what had probably prompted Felina’s statement.

     As the auctioning of the shop spaces for the tournament gained momentum I had realized trusting the nobles to pay the promised sum was not in my best interest so the head of the silver ship merchant clan had been called forward to act as the banker for this auction and it had been most amusing watching them try and convince Orchaldir that they would be able to pay the sum that they were calling out to win the rent space, hence the notes of promise.

     “that’s what they get for approaching me with such a half baked plan”  I snorted as I approached  the door leading to my chamber, then I felt an extremely familiar energy ripple pulse through the air.

      In a flash I was beside one of the many windows that lined the hall leaning to my room as I cast my aura over the sleeping town Rost, searching for the source of the disturbance.

     Considering the time this had occurred it could be a trap to lure me out into another ambush but if it was the real thing my life would become infinitely easier.

       “is something wrong lord Tal?” Felina called from beside me but I waved her away as climbed up to the window ledged as my aura rapidly closed in on the source of the ripple then finally I found it.

    “you are all dismissed for the night, report on the movements of the various clan heads tomorrow”  I said before leaping from the window and sailing into the night sky.

        As I fell I summoned the wind to control the speed and direction of which I fell, carrying me clear over the manor wall and into the town proper, I alighted silently on a thatched roof before leaping forward crossing over multiple houses in a single step until I descended into a darkened ally.

     “if you had told me you were returning I would have ridden down to greet you at the harbor” I called out into the darkness joyfully as the close distance between myself and the source of the ripple left little doubt who it was that caught my attention.

     Suddenly a white streak shot out of the darkness towards me at lightening speeds, but I didn’t bother to dodge instead I stretched my left hand out in the air and waited for the inevitable.

     A delicate hand appeared and gripped my forearm between the thumb and forefinger before a disgruntled grunt rang through the air.

     “you are just at the peak of the body tempering stage” a melodic voice sounded out as my mothers black eyes rose to meet mine.

      Lady Erulasse Van Rost, once known as the white sword elf, a large part of the reason I was fighting to maintain my seat as the house head and the single thing on the entire planet I was willing to risk my life to protect, she also happened to be my mother.

     With snow white hair, that flowed all the way to her back, pearly white skin and coal black eyes though my mother wasn’t an earth shaking beauty her uniquely colored hair, sharp features and proficiency with the sword made her a highly desired individual.

      “forgive me for not being a cultivating genius like you, I have only been cultivating battle essence for four years, this is considered impressive in most clans” I defended myself while giving out an embarrassed chuckle.

        “impressive, or did you mean barely acceptable” was the immediate retort she gave me.

     My mother Erulasse Van Rost the cultivating monster of the black sword clan did not see herself as a genius merely as a hard working individual, so anyone who did not perform as well as she did was simply not putting in enough hardwork.

      “besides the noble of the house have had me on my toes since you left, cultivating is hard to do when multiple people are praying for your quick and untimely death” I finished before shifting my eyes back to the dark shadows that hugged the ally we currently stood in.

       “Are we meant to continue to pretend that your friends aren’t waiting in the shadow or should I greet them?” I asked

      My mother glanced back at the shadows before giving a non-committal shrug and looking me over, “you lost weight”

     A snort escaped me before I could help myself, this was her go to statement when she wished to express how she missed me, having grown by two inches since she saw me last and also gained a significant amount of muscle mass I knew she wasn’t been truthful.

       “forgive us young lord Tal, when lady Erulasse told us of your proficiency in magic we all thought it was the words of a proud mother but we can all see there was some truth to it”  an elf with a shaved head and a necklace and bracelets made of wooden beads stepped out of the shadow. He was barefoot and wore a toga like dress that exposed his left chest and fell to just below his knees.

      “it could have been a bluff Daizen, he might have not known we were here and was simply testing the waters” a second figure emerged as well, this one was female and stood taller than Daizen. She had short brown hair and on her back was a massive bastard sword that looked just shorter than she was tall.

        “The bald one is Daizen, he saw me use the fist techniques you taught me and his been following me ever since. The tall one is Kamahi, formerly of the blood flower mercenaries she is my usual sparring partner she wanted to meet the person that enchanted my sword, and she is also partially the reason I had to flee the capital”.

     My mother’s non challant introduction of the two individuals behind her was slightly funny if not insulting, but the last part of her sentence sent my mind into a tail spin.

  “You had to flee the capital!” I exclaimed in horror, my thoughts racing through the various offences my mother could have committed that would cause her to flee for her life.

      “hmm, at first I think they just wanted to capture me alive, but when they overheard Kamahi praising my sword and also the fact that I had become a realm expert once again we had six of the more powerful lotus generals on our tails, this one joined us when Théoden van Ruwel seized my second blade and I had to result to your punching and kicking style” mother said letting loose a sigh at the end.

        My heart froze and blood rushed to my head as I heard each part of my mother’s statement, what was going on?

         Not all the members of the lotus generals were looked at with disdain, some of them had actually been qualified to be acknowledged by the crown when they had been acknowledged but of the twelve lotus generals three of them had already been observed by the war minister to be named as general before the royal family stepped in one of those three was Théoden Van Ruwel.

        Condensing his first pillar at less than fifty and breaking into the realm state before two hundred Théoden had only one thing against him in the eyes of the elfish community and that was his age, this was the person that my mother had to deal with along with five other general level opponents and she seemed more bothered that she lost the sword she usually wielded in her left hand. 

       “It was extremely puzzling, one day they were trying to apprehend us the next they were hell bent on seizing your mothers swords” the female elf Kamahi said scratching the back of her head with a puzzled look on her face.

      I glared furiously at the collection of three powerful elves who seemed more interested in a mundane thing such as a missing sword.

     Offending the crown was only a matter of time for me, a new lord who was previously thought crippled and insane, suddenly regains his cultivation and establishes a magic guild and in one fell swoop sweeps aside all those who contested his rise to house head and stabilizes the internal affairs of his house.

     Best case scenario for them is that I found a magical relic or ancient elixir that restored my cultivation base and cleared my mental defect, worst case scenario, I had uncovered a hidden treasure trove of some ancient cultivator which I was using to rebuild my house, either way the crown would want me in their grasp for either the potential they believed that I had or the treasure throve they believed I possessed, only one thing stood in their way, my nonexistent master.

      The simple assumption that my grandfather had thrown out had apparently grown wings and was now taken as an establish fact. Looking at it objectively, one doesn’t just stumble across a hidden treasure trove or ancient elixir; it was more believable if an esteemed senior cultivator had given these things to me.

      I let loose a sigh, rubbing the bridge of my nose before I faced the three realm experts before me. This manna from heaven that mother had orchestrated, this sudden rainfall in the middle of a drought that mother had brought to my doorstep how could I not recognize it for what it was.

       My mother had gone to the capital for one reason and one reason only to ensure my installment as the head of the clan, not to keep her position as everyone assumed but to ensure I would continue to have a vast amount of resources to cultivate with.

       Erulasse Van Rost was not a social individual; this was plain for all to see. Left to her own devices she would have built a hut on a secluded mountain and trained her swordsmanship till the end of time. This was part of the reason we had become so close after I had recovered most of my cultivation.

       Me being hell bent on acquiring power before the ultra powerful god like monsters that sent me here came to collect on the favor I had never asked for had transformed from my vapish young master ways to a training demon.

     My mother delighted by my new approach in life had given me her hundred percent support, using her personal wealth to buy the much needed elixirs for my magical training and when I started training my body in preparation for battle essence she had started insisting on me retaining my position as clan head. Embarrassingly enough it was because she believed with my poor talent I would surely need vast resources to break into the realm level.

       “Mother I think it best we retire to the manor so we can accommodate your guest properly” I said as I shoved all my insecurities under the carpet

      We moved the reunion from the dark ally into my office at the back of the manor and even though I felt we had returned stealthily Galfin presented himself within minutes with servants carrying tray upon tray of food.

     “Now explain yourself properly mother, how did you end up being chased out of the capital?” I asked once I observed all three realm experts had eaten their fill and I had observed all necessary pleasantries I felt I had readied myself for any disaster my mother was about to tell me.

     “oh, it was nothing major, I broke into the royal armory” my mother replied.

     I changed my mind; I don’t think there was anything I could have done that would have prepared me for that piece of information.