Chapter 653: Comfortable Silence

  A servant of House Azol quietly entered the parlor and placed a tray of hot tea on the table, bowed to Nora, and left. Nora grabbed a cup and handed it to Kithina, “Here, I guarantee you’ll like it.”

  Kithina sipped the cup with a tentative expression. “...It’s good.”

  Nora smiled. “I knew you’d like it.”

  “Thank you… not just for the tea. For everything.”

  “That’s what friends are for. I’ll always be here to listen, Kitty, whenever you need me. But— If I may?”

  “What?”

  “Your story, there is one part I disagree with. It wasn’t your fault, Kitty.”

  She shook her head, her fiery hair rippling over her face. “You’re wrong, it was my fault. If I hadn’t gone with Lysaila, then I would have been here. I would have protected my family when the barbarians came.”

  “Maybe. As someone who questioned countless times what could have been had I just stayed at Widow’s Crag with Clypeus and Stryg, trust me when I say, there is no way you could know what would have happened had you stayed. That sort of thought process will only lead you to madness.”

  “Maybe I deserve it… They’re dead and I’m still here. Drinking tea,” Kithina chuckled bittersweetly. “I’m a failure.”

  “I know you’re looking for someone to blame and the fact that you blame yourself more than anyone else shows how good of a person you are. It wasn’t your fault, Kitty.”

  “But it was. It is my fault. I could have protected them.”

  “Many mages fought against Marek’s armies and died. We don’t know if you would have fared any better. But I will tell you what we do know.”

  Kithina glanced at her, curious.

  Nora leaned back on her chair as she gently rocked a sleeping Kamilo in her arms. “I’ll tell you the same answer I found when I looked into my son’s eyes one night; Just like Stryg and Clypeus at Widow’s Crag, you saved people, Kitty.”

  “I didn’t save anyone, I wasn’t even here.” Kithina frowned.

  “Exactly, you weren't here. You chose to accompany Lysaila. And because you did, when Callum came to your door, he begged you to let him join. If Callum hadn’t come along, when Lysaila had caught the Ebon Order agent, neither you nor Lysaila would have recognized the agent for what she was. Callum would have never given the agent the message to alert Bellum. Your mission at the isle would have failed. The dragonbane would have gone through the chrome gate and countless lives would have been doomed across the other Null Realms.”

  Nora looked Kithina in the eyes. “But it didn’t. Because you, Kitty, chose to help a friend in need, because you’re a good person. You’re not a failure. You’re a hero and thousands of people across the world will get to live out their lives thanks to you. They’ll never know it, but they’re alive because one dwarf girl chose not to abandon her friend.”

  Kithina sniffed and wiped the tears in the corner of her eyes. “Thank you,” she mumbled.

  Kamilo yawned, stretched his little arms, and scrunched his face.

  “I’ve got to get this little guy to his crib. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. I’ll have the servants prepare a room for you. Dinner should be ready soon,” Nora said.

  “Thank you. I think I’ll stay here for a little bit, if you don’t mind?” Kithina turned to the large open window and the gardens beyond.

  “Not at all. Take your time.” Nora carried Kamilo out of the room.

~~~

  A knock thumped three times on the Azol manor front door and a servant soon opened it. “Ah, Lord Callum, good evening. How may I help you?”

  “Is she here? Is Kithina here?” Callum asked, breathless.

  The servant led Callum down a hallway and out back into the gardens. It was a minor affair compared to the massive curated gardens that stood as a bridge between the Gale and Veres manors. But there was a comfort in the small things. Callum found Kithina sitting on a stone bench, staring at the small pond at the center of the garden.

  “Thank you,” Callum whispered to the servant. She bowed and left without a word.

  With quiet steps, Callum walked over to Kithina. The grass brushed across his feet and the faint noise seemed loud in the quietness of the garden. Kithina glanced up and her eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Cal?”

  “Hey, Kitty.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Mind if I sit?”

  After a moment of indecision, she scooted across the bench. He shifted his cloak aside and sat down next to her. Kithina looked at him curiously, waiting for him to say something. But he didn’t. Callum simply sat with her, watching the fish in the pond. After a while, Kithina shifted her gaze and watched the fish as well. 

  Though neither would admit it, they both felt alone in a merciless realm that had taken so much from them. Yet for that brief spell of a moment, in a garden tucked away in the corner of the city, they sat together, comfortable in their own shared silence.

~~~

  Stryg dragged his feet in the cold makeshift throne room Lunae had taken up in an abandoned temple. There was a proper temple, a grand temple dedicated to her name, situated in the Central District, right next to the other three temples of the ebon gods. 

  The grand temple acolytes would have been ecstatic to welcome her; in fact, many had already come by after hearing rumors of Lunae dwelling in the Commoner District. Or rather, they had tried. The Sylvan warriors and shamans guarding the abandoned temple had turned the acolytes away multiple times. Stryg briefly wondered if one day they would succeed; perhaps Lunae would show mercy upon her Hollow Shade priests.

  “Stryg,” Lunae said icily.

  Or perhaps not.

  “Hello, Mother Moon. You called for me?” Stryg tried his best to appear innocent.

  Lunae lounged across her throne of frost, shards of ice protruding in a wide circle at the base. Frost-mist filled the throne room and Stryg could barely see anything, save for the throne and Lunae. “What have you been up to, Little One?”

  “You mean besides trying to stop your pet sabertooth from murdering my lover and her family?”

  “...I apologize for that mishap. Arden was there only for the Morrigans. He went too far and he is being punished accordingly.” Lunae waved her hand and the mist parted enough for Stryg to spot Arden in the corner, trapped in a block of ice, save for his face. His eyes were closed in meditation, but the discomfort in his expression was clear. With another wave of her hand, the mist coalesced back into the air, and Arden disappeared from sight.

  “I thought you’d kill him,” Stryg muttered.

  “He is still the Guardian of the Sylvan. His life has value to our people. Arden will not make the same mistakes as he did today.”

  “If he does, I’ll kill him myself.”

  “Eager to protect the Morrigans, are we?”

  “I don’t care about the Morrigans. Tauri on the other hand, I’d kill a hundred Ardens to protect her.”

  “Your loyalty to Tauri is lovely, but,” she let the final word hang in the air. “You care nothing for the Morrigans?”

  “Why would I?” Stryg tried to keep his voice steady and shifted his feet.

  “Where did you go after Arden fled the Katag manor?”

  “I stayed with Tauri. Arden left her bleeding out.”

  “Of course, again, you have my apologies for that. Did you go anywhere else afterwards?”

  “Not that I can recall.”

  Lunae narrowed her eyes, “Is that so?” The giant icicles around her throne grew a hand’s width. “You didn’t perhaps speak with a Morrigan?”

  “Nope, not at all,” he said a little too quickly.

  “Really?” She rapped her fingers on the ice. “It’s strange. You claim not to care for the Morrigans. Yet you make a deal with one of them.”

  Stryg winced. “Deal? Oh, you mean, Beatrix. Technically, she is a dai-Morrigan, so she is not a Morrigan.”

  Lunae gave him a flat stare. “Your excuses are flimsy as ever. You were never a good liar, Stryg. Best to stick with your blunt honesty.”

  “In that case, I think I made the right decision with Beatrix.”

  “By telling her your true nature? You don’t think that could lead to problems for you in the future?”

  “No. I trust Beatrix—”

  “You trust a Morrigan!?” Lunae growled and the room’s temperature dropped so much that even Stryg began to shiver. “Do you have any idea how many goblins her family has murdered?”

  Stryg looked her in the eyes. “We are not defined by our family.”

  “And that makes her trustworthy?”

  “I trust Beatrix to value her own life. She won’t spill my secrets. In any case, I needed her help.”

  “To rescue Lucas Katag?”

  “If you were watching the whole thing, why even bother asking me?”

  “I forbid you from going to Murkton.”

  “What? You can’t—”

  “I have spoken. I will not have you walking into a trap when Beatrix ousts you to her father as soon as you walk into Murkton.” 

  “She won’t.”

  “You don’t know that for certain. Send someone else to rescue the Katag.”

  “Beatrix made the deal with me. I don’t know if she’ll honor that deal if I am not there,” he admitted.

  “I suggest you figure out a way that she does. I will not have you walk into the den of our enemy, vulnerable, and unprepared.”

  “And if I can’t?”

  “Then the Morrigans are as disloyal and heartless as I knew them to be.”

  “Why must you hate all the Morrigans? I understand the reason for war, but Beatrix knew nothing about Murkton’s plan of attack.”

  “It does not matter. Her bloodline murdered thousands of innocents. Her House was doomed long ago.”

  “For what they did hundreds of years ago?”

  “For what they do to this day! They hunt goblins for sport, Stryg. Murkton has secret arena pits where they have goblin slaves fight each other. The last one standing is then killed by those nobles while others cheer.”

  “I… I didn’t know.”

  “There is much you do not know, Little One.”

  Stryg shook his head. “Surely not all of the nobles are guilty. Beatrix never did such a thing, did she?” Newest update provided by N0v3l.Fiɾe.net

  “She did not. But her family is still guilty.”

  “What about House Veres? Stryga was the Bane of Lunis. Why should my bloodline be spared?”

  “Your situation is different.”

  “How?”

  “Your mother. She chose to make amends for your bloodline. Aurelia became my acolyte and dedicated her entire life to that endeavour. Although she has made mistakes, I have recognized her sincerity. The Blue Rose was much the same, as much as I hate to admit it.”

  “Then why can’t the Morrigans be the same? Why not give them a chance?”

  “Because in 300 years, not one of them has shown remorse for what was done to the sons and daughters of Lunis.”

  “You can’t know that for certain.”

  “If any of them were truly remorseful, they would have searched out the Sylvan Tribes to make amends long ago, but not one soul did. The time for chances is over. War will come to Murkton and this time you will stay here.”

  “I made a promise to Tauri to save her brother. I am going to Murkton,” Stryg said defiantly.

  “You will not.”

  “What will you do? Freeze me in a block of ice, too?”

  “I WILL NOT LOSE YOU!” Lunae slammed her fist on the icy throne and her voice reverberated across the chamber.

  Stryg stumbled back a step, eyes wide. Lunae’s expression broke at the sight of his fear. She stepped off the throne, made her way to him, and brushed her fingers over his cheek. “I cannot lose you, Little One. I have let you risk your life time and time again, because I respected your choice. But after what happened with Queen Ananta, I— I am afraid for your safety. I will not risk your life, not over something so trivial. Send someone else to rescue Lucas Katag. Please, just this once, listen to me.”

  Whatever argument he had on his mind died when he saw the genuine fear in her eyes. “...Okay,” Stryg whispered.

  “Thank you, Little One.” She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. “Now, for the reason I called you here.”

  “This wasn’t the reason?”

  “No, this was you doing things you're not supposed to, as per usual.”

  “So, why did you call me?”

  “It is time we pay a visit to this city’s council. Wouldn’t you agree, Lord Veres?” Lunae smirked.