The men met her as requested. They came separately, as to not raise suspicion. Still, Reale kept a close eye on the movements of the camouflaged camp.
“I need you both to take watch tonight at the prince’s tent,” she ordered.
“Gladly,” Brion said without hesitation.
“Can we know why?” Ric was a newer soldier and was more likely to question.
Reale indulged him, “I have a strong suspicion that we will be sending a messenger this night.”
“To whom?”
“I will send word with her to Head Major Jax of what is transpiring here, of the state of the leader of the Black Legion.” Jax was the only one she could trust. He may be a fallen lord and a dog of the crown, but he was still of the Tower. No one held more love for its halls than the long-haired Westerner.
“Who, exactly, will go?” Brion was made bold by Ric’s questioning.
“Someone who will fly like the wind.”
EMPEROR SOLARIS
Tiberum Solaris, Emperor, conqueror, sat completely vexed as to what his next move was going to be. There were a few things that bothered him above all others: insubordination, loss of control, and anything that called into question his authority. Vhalla Yarl was all three personified and given a power that she barely comprehended the depth of, to top it all off.
He rubbed his temples in frustration. It was becoming more appealing by the day to outright kill her. It was well within his right. No, the Emperor left his tent, needing to stretch his legs. He would avoid killing her at all costs. The future of his campaigns depended on her. He’d invested too much in her now to find another. But she was certainly making it appealing. There was only so far he could be pushed.
The camp was a shoddy setup, but he’d seen worse. He’d lived through worse. Tiberum folded his hands at the small of his back, gripping them tightly, and started for a tent with two guards posted on either side.
“Just the woman I was looking for,” he spoke as Elecia Ci’Dan emerged. It spared him going in and facing the weakness that festered under the camouflaged canvas. He’d always expected so much better of Aldrik.
Two emerald eyes faltered in surprise under his pressing gaze. Elecia Ci’Dan made herself out to be a Western princess in her mind and he would never allow that sort of thinking to flourish in his presence. Especially now, not after he suspected her involvement in the Windwalker’s flight. She was making a dangerous choice in where she stood and he would make sure she knew it.
“Report,” Tiberum demanded.
“No change.” The girl looked askance in a cheap display of servitude, but it was servitude.
“How much longer can you maintain?”
“I need more medicine, other skilled clerics, I could provide you a list,” she answered stubbornly. Her demand was thinly veiled and the Emperor could hardly believe that she’d have the audacity to harp upon it now of all times.
“Have you not already provided a list?” The Emperor took a step forward and dropped his voice so only the girl could hear. The flash of panic in her emerald eyes confirmed everything. “Was it just you and the Windwalker conspiring?”
Elecia’s eyes darted toward a group of sorcerers. Reale, the Emperor thought as he followed her stare, he should have known she would be involved. The woman was practically a zealot for those with magic. Tiberum would not tolerate loyalty to anything beyond him and his Empire. Variables that compromised absolute power were kindling, and revolutions sparked too easily. She’d need to be removed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, my lord.” Elecia looked at him defiantly. Let the girl have her defiance for now, she’d told him everything he needed to know.
“I think you do.” Tiberum relished in her momentary panic. She would learn her lesson from this before the day was out. “For you were part of the council that supported the idea of my sending the Windwalker.”
“What?”
“This is what you will tell the soldiers, when they ask where their hero – ” he bit out the word, “ – has gone.”
JAX
Compared to most, Jax liked unpredictability. Change was the natural order of things. Mountains gave way to the sea, kings rose and fell, people who were there one moment were gone the next… Yes, yes, change meant the world continued around him even if he could no longer continue with it.
He rummaged through the pile of clothes, stripped from the dead, humming over options. The girl was as thin as a stick. Gangly and awkwardly proportioned. Jax had no doubt that when she cleaned up her beauty would be like that of a strong spiced liquor. Kept certain men, perhaps a certain man, drinking despite being what traditional logic would define as being “unpleasant”. An acquired taste, perhaps.
“Eri-berry, how long are you going to stand there?” Jax didn’t even turn, he threw a second pair of trousers over his arm to consider.