Shadows danced across the cold stone, flickering candlelight as its only illumination. Today’s meeting was an eerie echo of the last, taking place within the same hall that Aspreay had lost his soul.

Much was different this time, however. Before, the room had been filled with enough nobility that their fine cloaks almost felt like set dressing for the hall itself. At present, there were only three people, and one of them had once been a court painter.

Who now sat upon Penumbria’s throne.

“Discussing business in front of others seemed insulting,” Adam explained. “No one is allowed here besides Tenver. I trust you have no objections?”

“None,” Lord Vasco replied, in an amicable tone. “In fact, it saves me the trouble, my lord. I’d planned on asking you for privacy, but did not expect it to be granted so readily.”

“Tenver will be most discreet,” Adam promised. “I assure you that–”

Vasco dismissed it with a shake of his head. “No, of course. You needn’t worry, my lord. Lord Tenver’s discretion requires no assurances.”

Lord Tenver. Adam refused to let his mild surprise show on his face. Which was easy enough, because it was only a mild surprise. People were reluctant to talk of Tenver’s background – too reluctant for it not to be something significant. Truthfully, the longer Adam went without hearing about it, the more dramatic he expected the full truth to be.

At this point he’d be pleasantly surprised if the man turned out to be anything less than a bastard prince or something of the sort.

“If we are in agreement, then I invite you to sit, my lord.” Adam gestured at a chair laid across from his throne, a single table positioned in between. It was another change in their meeting; he meant for the visiting lord to sit down as an equal, rather than make him stand like Aspreay had. There was no reason to try to intimidate him like Aspreay had.

Better to make him comfortable. Get him to relax. Then, if I *need* to make him uncomfortable, he won’t have time to get used to the change. Keeping him on edge the whole time won’t help with negotiations.

“Very well then.” Vasco appeared pleased by this as well. He gladly took the seat and offered Adam a smile. “Now then. You have your demands, and I have mine. Let us speak frankly.”

Adam nodded, placing a slip of parchment between the two of them. Vasco seized it at once, expecting it to contain prepared terms – then lowered it again when he found something else entirely. He frowned, looking up at the painter. “A map of the Empire. I pray you are not expecting land from us?”

Yeah, sure, that’s what I want. More expenses. How goddamn stupid do you think I am? “Of course not. But look here – Penumbria is flanked by Rotted terrain from every direction. Austern used to exist to our west, but not so much anymore. Nothing but Rot in there nowadays. If we go south, though...we reach your city of Gama, my lord.”

“What of it?” Vasco defensively said.

“Just this: speaking plainly, Penumbria doesn’t have enough Orbs to survive. We have too many people, including refugees from Austern and others. Our only trade is with your city, and you tax our bronze quite heavily.”

Vasco grunted. “I know you were a painter, my lord, but do not paint me as a villain. Our taxes stem not from greed, but from care of our own. We have only a little more than your own city.”

Adam took a second to make sure he’d parsed everything correctly. The way nobility spoke in this world wasn’t that hard to understand, but it did take some effort to make sure he was paying attention. “I would say you have more than a little.”

“We have less bronze than you.”

“You have the sea,” Adam pointed out. “You can reach the rest of the Empire and avoid dangerous roads. Most of your Orbs come from sea trade, right?”

Vasco raised an eyebrow. “My lord, if you are implying that you wish to use our access to the sea, it has already been established that we have less bronze than you. Allowing you free reign would–”

“Be bad for you,” Adam cut him off. “Yes, yes. We still need it.”

The lord quirked a questioning eyebrow. “Lord Adam, I had assumed you more reasonable than Aspreay, not less. Even he wouldn’t have dared to request this.”

“Because he was a coward.”

“What does bravery change?”

“Because if he threatened you with what I’m about to, you wouldn’t believe him.”

Lord Vasco stiffened. “You threaten me, Lord Adam?”

“Not yet,” Adam said, quickly but firmly. “I know your city is lacking in bronze. Our own reserves are low, yet less necessary. What about–”

“Though I respect you, Lord Adam, I must warn you that there is nothing in Penumbria that I would consider trading for my own citys’ economy. Burn me, I can always find bronze from the Dragon Puppets if my desperation grows.”

Adam closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. Dragon Puppets? Should probably look into that later. For now, though, he needed to focus on the negotiation. He didn’t think Vasco would end the negotiation right here – if so, the Lord would’ve just left in the dead of the night rather than stay in a foreign castle with a psychotic painter who could steal souls. There had to be something Penumbria had that he wanted.

Yes, this song and dance was just him trying to make Adam think he had no choice but to accept whatever terms Vasco proposed. That’s how you wanna play? Talking mad shit and hoping the other side is too afraid to call you out on it? Cool, say less. I’m game if you’re game.

“In which case, I do threaten, my friend, and I do it loudly! Do you know why? Because with my Talent as a Lord, I can withdraw these walls, let monsters destroy Penumbria, and flood your city with refugees.” Adam smiled softly. “Would you like to have your homeland become the Empire’s dumping ground instead?”

Vasco’s mouth opened, his features contorting in fury, a reply nearly leaving his lips. However, only a second after the first utterance came out, he paused. His gaze met Adam’s. Recollection was plain on his face: Vasco remembered Aspreay having his soul stolen. It had been an affront to two divinities – the divine right of the Emperor, and the divinity of life itself. It was a power no one had seen, a power that should not exist.

And it scared him.

Yet he did not break. “It is more likely that you would bring down Penumbria’s walls than Aspreay,” Vasco admitted. “Still, I don’t think you would shed your own people’s blood.”

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

He studied Adam up and down, then barked out a low, dismissive laugh. “Let us set aside how suicidal such an action would be, because I dare not question your attachment to life after brazenly stealing Aspreay’s soul. I simply don’t believe you have the eyes of a madman willing to kill thousands just as a negotiation tactic.”

He was right. Adam was bluffing, and not particularly well. His words sounded cold, but deep inside he couldn’t even imagine sacrificing the people whose fates were now in his hands, and Vasco could sense that. Maybe he didn’t have the stomach for this.

But he had to find a way to be convincing nonetheless. How do I make him believe me? What do I need to do?

Painting was, in a sense, like lying. You aren’t actually creating three dimensional figures – merely an illusion of them. And to do that, you needed to show things that were sort of true. If the colors looked like they would in real life, if a farmhouse looked like it was really being shaded by sunset...then you can make people believe it. All you have to do is use just enough truth.

What was true enough for Adam right now?

I have to do something for the people of Penumbria. Their lives were hard under Aspreay, but stable, relatively speaking. Then he’d come and thrown it all into disarray. There was no guarantee that his reign would be an improvement, even with good intentions. A part of him wondered if they’d be better off if he hadn’t done anything.

Guilt. So much guilt there. So much sheer...responsibility.

Maybe that was it.

“You wouldn’t shed your own people’s blood,” Vasco continued.

“Perhaps,” Adam acknowledged. His hand fell on the map, his finger drawing a slow path toward Gama. “But perhaps I would shed yours.”

A heavy pause fell over the room. Adam didn’t know if Vasco believed that he would risk attacking a city like that. Adam himself didn’t know if he would. He liked to think he wouldn’t. But his feelings right now were something like a runaway train, and he had very little idea of where it was leading.

Man, that art contest...it really had messed him up, hadn’t it?

How long am I gonna keep using that as an excuse to behave like this? He forced himself to push the thought away. There were other things to focus on right now – and they made for an excellent excuse to avoid introspection.

Lord Vasco drew a deep breath. “You have been very upfront with me, so it befits that I bestow upon you the same respect. The Emperor would be very displeased if I allied myself with someone guilty of your crimes. Furthermore, the chances of you attacking us are slim.”

“But not none,” Adam noted.

“But not none,” Vasco agreed. “And so I offer a compromise. Trade rights – we can tentatively agree on them, as well as your tax-free use of our ports, but this agreement would only be valid if the Emperor agrees to recognize you as a lord, not a rebel.”

In other words, you’re willing to give me absurd terms because you’re gambling on the Emperor annihilating us. That way you’ll never have to pay up. Adam and Vasco smiled at this. They both knew that the other was aware of the implicit terms here. It was a raw, harsh truth, and as unwavering as the two confident lords who played dice with the lives of their men.

Except Adam had no intention of allowing his fate to be determined by the Emperor’s whims. “And what of until then?” he insisted. “I’m confident the Emperor will see to reason and recognize my rightful rule.” He let the word hang in the air, taunting the man of noble birth. Vasco, to his credit, gave no reaction. “I’ll be upfront – you’d need to give us Orbs to make that worthwhile. An advance to see Penumbria through the winter.”

“And what the devil would I be purchasing with those Orbs?”

“Peace of mind.”

There was a long pause. Twice Vasco opened his mouth, appearing to hesitate, and twice he shook his head, as if a wiser version of him asked him not to say the words.

Strange. He didn’t seem too bothered by my threats, or by the idea of giving up some Orbs. What’s he so nervous about? Adam looked over his shoulder to give Tenver a quick glance, but the man only responded with a shrug and baffled expression.

As the silence dragged on, Lord Vasco shifted nervously in his seat, before finally speaking up. “I...offer a deal. While the Emperor would not look kindly upon allying myself with a rebel, he would not reprimand me too heavily for doing business with you, else I would not be here.”

“You want a trade to justify the amount of Orbs you’ll give us? That’s fine. We don’t have much to offer, though. What do you want? The bronze, or was that thing about the Puppets actually–”

“I want your power.”

Tenver’s weapon left its sheath before Adam could respond. The guard’s movement was so precise that his longsword was immediately drawn and extended over Adam’s shoulder, the tip of the blade glaring down at Lord Vasco. “If you think what Lord Adam has done is treason,” he said, in a colder voice than Adam had ever heard him use, “then know this – if you allow your greed to covet his power, I will cut you down.”

Lord Vasco did not waver. He was older, and the days when he could have matched Tenver in a contest of steel were long gone. Despite that, he stared down the blade without flinching, using two fat fingers to gently, but forcefully push it aside. “I am not threatening to steal your lord, Tenver. I want to hire him. If he can steal someone’s Talent for me, I will give him the Orbs he’s requested.”

“I cannot give you their Talent,” Adam lied. “I can only keep them for myself.”

“To hell with the Talent!” Vasco thundered. Then, after the violent outburst, he chuckled quietly to himself. “Even better if you can burn that Talent straight to hell. All I need is for you to do what you did before – take someone’s soul out of their body. Steal their Talent. Consign it to the abyss if need be!”

Adam nodded slowly. That sounded like a reasonable exchange. “Very well. What target do you have in mind?”

Lord Vasco drew a deep breath. He appeared much tired, older, and frailer than he had been a moment ago, as if his aura of powerful nobility had vanished.

“My daughter. I want you to steal her Talent.”