It went without saying, that Lady Meredith was immensely beautiful. Though the lady herself was a fair bit older than him, she undoubtedly aged gracefully. The wrinkles on her forehead did little to sway against this fact nor did the lines around her eyes.
Her chosen choice of attire was fashioned similarly to her daughter Evalia. She wore a long black dress with white accented lines throughout it. Her skin was nearly as pale as milk like everyone else he had encountered in the fourth domain so far. Her long hair was black and her eyes the color of a light blue.
Evalia stood up. “Mother.”
Lady Duvaugn embraced her daughter lovingly with her long black-gloved hands. She peered at Kiran as he stood up anticipating how things might go with her and him.
A manly figure stood near her left never daring to look away from Kiran in particular. One of their hands remained close to the sheathed curved sword at their right hip. They had long white hair and strangely enough, their eyes were entirely pale making him think they might possibly be blind while at the same time completely capable of knowing exactly where Kiran was at.
Lady Meredith pulled away from her daughter who was quite eager to see her mother. “Is this who you briefly mentioned to me a moment ago?”
“Yes my lady,” Felghan said. “This is Kiran. He is someone who I believe you will be interested in speaking with. I encountered him on my journey to meet with Lord Hywell and Lord Tee.”
She acknowledged his words with a slight gesture. “And what of both Lord Hywell and Lord Tee? Were you able to settle their disputes among one another?”
“I’m afraid not my lady,” he said disappointedly. “I never made it to them. I do promise to have had good reasons for that.”
Lady Meredith herself held a plain and somewhat intense gaze towards Felghan only for it to be redirected towards Kiran. “I see then. Explain it to me come the morn. For now at least, I am deathly tired and must recover from my own journey back here.”
“So it shall be, my lady,” Felghan said bowing his head. I was hoping we’d be able to talk right this moment. It seems I’ll have to wait just a little while longer. He wasn’t someone who could make many demands lest he wish to throw away future opportunities for an amicable arrangement between himself and this lady who held a lot of power in these lands.
After briefly encountering the lady herself, he wandered outside with a candle holder in his hand. If he could still conjure magic, he would’ve used a spell to provide some illumination, but alas, he could not summon any, therefore, he had to rely on a simple candle for light.
He imagined that the gardens which occupied the spaces within this fenced-off area surrounding the manor would’ve looked quite enchanting once upon a time. He imagined a lively place full of green grass and beautiful flowers to add a nice bit of color to the lawn. It was quite nice as he envisioned it in his mind along with bright blue skies and sunlight to shine down upon this old manor built many generations ago. With the way things were currently however, any and all fauna was completely dead and rotted away like everything else in this domain that he had come across so far. The roots that clung to the sides of the manor in some places were dry and entirely dead as well giving the place a somewhat unsettling vibe.
While he remained outdoors feeling the air brushing up against him, he began to succumb to some form of delusion. He began to try to form a connection towards his companion who he hadn’t seen since they entered the portal before him. It also wouldn’t be the first time to make such an attempt nor would it be the last.
When in the fifth domain, it hadn’t mattered how far away they were. There was always some kind of tether that existed between them allowing him to sense her. In this domain that connection hadn’t been noticeable at all. The more he tried to sense this tether between them, the more he thought that it didn’t exist any longer. Perhaps it did and he simply couldn’t sense it for whatever reason. This too is a delusion I wish to accept, isn’t it?
“Can you hear me Lar?” he said telepathically with the slightest bit of hope that she might respond back. But the longer he waited for that response, the more he knew the reality was that he would receive none back.
In time he gave up entirely on this fictional hope that he wanted to believe. She was simply too far away for such a thing to work. There was also the possibility that even if it could theoretically work since magic was not working properly, it might not work anyways.
All he could do was hope that his companion was doing alright without him. He had gotten so used to having them around, that he really felt vulnerable without them and he imagined she likely felt similarly from her own perspective even if she wouldn’t ever admit such a thing straight to his face.
The truth was that she had done so much for him and he wanted to do more for her, especially since she was still recovering since she saved his sorry rear end. It was going to take a lot for him to fully repay her for saving him the way she did. It might even cost him an entire lifetime to achieve such a thing.
But at the end of the day, if anyone could survive this darkness—besides Frederek of course—it would be Lar. She had proven as much by managing to survive in the wasteland covered in green fog long before he ever showed up.
Wherever you are Lar, I hope you’re doing alright out there. I’m coming for you. I don’t know how long it’ll take me. But I’m coming soon and I will find you assuming you’re still out there.
* * *
He had rested up for another night not knowing what time it was. Without the sun, it made getting up harder. Sleep in general had been more difficult under these conditions.
How have they managed for all these years without the sun? It’s truly remarkable. Blood flowed throughout his arms and his legs as he stretched. He bent down touching his toes and stretched out his knees a bit and slapped his thighs once he was done. There we go. Now I feel a tad bit better.
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After relieving his morning bowels, he was finally afforded a proper audience with Lady Meredith that he had hoped to receive the previous day.
They met in the same extravagant interior room where he had drank tea previously with her daughter Evalia. Lady Meredith sat in a fancy red chair that was placed on a slightly raised platform with a candlelit wall behind her. Her delicate pale hands sat atop the armrests as she prepared to say something to him.
Kiran stood a comfortable distance away from her as her blind guardian stood off the platform towards her left. Those pale eyes of his never looked away from him in particular. As for Felghan, he stood off to the side near Kiran as the two maids stood behind them.
“Felghan.”
“Yes my lady?”
“Explain to me why you’re here and not in the south resolving matters of import.”
He began to explain what happened and how he had run into Kiran under unfortunate circumstances. He then explained to her some of the details surrounding Kiran and how he had come from the fifth domain. Though she was noticeably annoyed that Felghan had failed in his responsibilities to deal with two opposing lords who were having some kind of disputes with one another, she became less annoyed by this as she came to understand some of the troubles plaguing this domain with the arrival of Kiran and everyone else. She had been in the dark and only now did she come to hear of these issues that she likely hadn’t thought would occur.
She readjusted her position slightly in the red chair. “Tell me Kiran since you’re personally involved in this whole situation. How many would you guess have traveled over to our domain?”
“I couldn’t give you an exact number. It would’ve been many thousands.”
Her hands gripped the armrests more tightly. “Such a number is unsustainable.” She said those words with regret. “With how limited resources are in this domain, I fear we must expect massive amounts of death regardless of whatever actions I or anyone else take. I am somewhat curious however why such a note-worthy migration occurred in the first place to necessitate your arrival to our domain.”
Kiran gave her a relatively brief summary of why they had no choice but to come here. She appeared to understand, but it did little to sway her thoughts on how dire things were becoming the more they all thought about things.
The fact remained, that growing food and procuring it in general was a problem here. They could grow it through methods that she and Felghan were intent on keeping a secret from him. These processes allowed for enough of a population to live and survive in this domain. But it wasn’t enough for the sudden population that had just arrived meaning, that if this perpetual darkness cannot be ended somehow, all of their efforts to save as many people as they could back in Liall, would be in vain.
“Judging by the look on your face,” she said towards him, “you know as well as I do how dire things are for you and your people.”
“I do,” he said reluctantly. It made him feel helpless knowing that when and if he locates everyone, he’ll only have bad news to give them. He just hoped that they had brought enough supplies to last long enough to possibly try to figure out a way for things to work out for everyone and prevent further deaths.
“I know that this was not your intent,” she went on to say, “but you’ve put me in a troublesome position. And if these people of yours haven’t already figured it out, their days are numbered. Conflict will almost assuredly ensue if it hasn’t already leading to all-out war as people scramble for the few resources they can get their hands on.” Her observation sounded likely to him and with it, a dark thought crossed his mind; in some twisted way, a war would help in lessening the total population to allow for the people who survive such conflict to have a better chance for themselves.
These were the kind of thoughts that he never wanted to contemplate or ever think about. Yet, the thoughts did cross his mind desiring the chance to be entertained in some capacity.
She began to cross her legs. “I believe that it is paramount, that you return to your people. I will assist you in this regard. As for what else I am able to do, I will do what I can to try to help your people but I can only do so much. I must put my own people first before any others. I hope you can understand this.”
Kiran nodded his head. He wasn’t in any position to demand otherwise anyways. He also wasn’t interested in making enemies out of rulers or powerful individuals the same he had with Queen Luvia Aenveld. He saw how that had turned out and he wanted to avoid such problems in the future if at all possible.
At least Lady Meredith appeared reasonable to him. The fact that she was even willing to speak with him showed that she cared about those who were beneath her in status.
“Aphelia and Evelyn. Please approach.” The two maids stood more to his right bowing their heads slightly towards the one they served. “I want you two to help him reach his people.”
“My lady,” Evelyn said, “cannot Felghan handle this task instead?”
“No, I need him to return to his previous responsibilities.”
“Understood.” He got the impression Evelyn was quite averse to this decision. Kiran was a little averse as well. Can I really trust her to make sure I make it to them intact? I may make it there but in chopped-up pieces. Perhaps her sister Aphelia can temper her anger towards me.
“If I may Kiran,” Lady Meredith said, “can you tell me about the relations within your people? If I am to have communications with them so I can help them, it’s best I know of any problems that they might have with each other.”
“Relations are admittedly a little precarious. The dire circumstances that occurred in Liall led to everyone uniting but I cannot say for certain whether that has been maintained since their arrival here, especially if it’s true that signs of a major battle from them remain accurate and true.” He expanded a bit explaining the tense relations between the humans and familiars. Thankfully, Lady Meredith was not contemptuous as the former queen was towards familiars. She explained to him that she held a rather neutral view of them and that they couldn’t afford to hate each other in these dire times. Survival was the top priority for everyone. If they were to hate each other, they needed to be safe and comfortable first.
With knowledge of the varying groups with opposing beliefs, it perhaps would help her plan out whatever strategizing she needed to carry out in order to secure as much peace as possible, because at this point, she no longer could only worry about her own people, she had to also now worry about all of these new people in her domain. Things could quickly get out of hand and any community or civilization that so far had been cultivated by Lady Meredith could become embroiled in a variety of conflicts.
We have to avoid any further major conflicts. So much death had already occurred. The last thing any of them needed was more. Yet it seemed clear to him that no matter what, things were going to be immensely difficult for everyone involved.
Trouble it seems follows me around, no matter where I go or how far I try to wander away from it. It’s always there tethered around my ankle going with me wherever I am.
Despite this, Kiran was not one to give up. He could easily lie down and not do anything. But he was capable of doing something so he was going to at least try to do whatever he could.
It was a hard path to walk. There was no doubt about that. Someone though had to stand tall amidst the literal darkness plaguing this domain and push through it regardless of that fact.