Into the Icy Darkness: The Great Demon War

[Emperor Valerian]

A Noble is Born, Part Two

“Bombards are like beer barrels on wheels, Majesty. They can blast stones or iron balls great distances at great speed.”

“They sound useful. Do we have any?” Shaun asked.

The general smiled with pride. “Indeed we do. In fact, my section of the army is in charge of them.”

“We still need to plan how to defend the valley.” Tess said, pointing. “Maybe we can put spellcasters or the like on top of the cliff? That way they can rain down fireballs and flamestrikes on the hordes below.”

The generals nodded. “It’s a good idea. Unfortunately, unless we use magic to put troops up there, it would take a very long time, more time than we might have actually.”

“Tess and I know levitation magic,” Elenya cut in helpfully. “Maybe we can do it?”

“Not alone.” Siabrey added. “I’ll send some of the court mages to help you out.”

“I can also put the Casalad Rangers up on the cliffs as well.” One of the other generals offered. “They are elite archers, very skilled.”

“I also have a small group of ranged troops to help out.” The last general offered.

Siabrey nodded. “Good. It sounds like we’ve got the cliff covered. Now then, there is one more defensive area to discuss.” She leaned over the table and pointed to the small triangles that represented camps that had been drawn on the North side of the map.

“What about the dragons?”

The generals looked at each other, confused. “We are honestly not sure, My Lady.” One of them finally said. “Lucius and Alexander never told us their plans about using the dragons. We were hoping you could tell us. You see, we are inexperienced with their combat skills, and so are unsure as to how best to use them.”

“Well, you could put some of them on the cliffs to help protect the valley.” Tess pointed out.

“Maybe…” Siabrey was looking over the map with a furrowed brow. Something Luke had told her, a seemingly life-time ago, was surfacing in her brains.

”See Siabrey, when you are being attacked, you want something solid at your back, like a wall or river, to prevent your enemy from sneaking up behind you.” Luke had said. They were laying naked together in their bed in a Temple, going over strategy books while Lucius tried to learn the finer points of being an army commander. Siabrey had frowned, turning the page.

“But it says here that if you’re attacked by an overwhelming force that that is a bad idea, because they can break through your lines and pin you against the river, breaking you up into smaller groups and destroying those one by one.”

“Ahh, that is true, my love.” Lucius had nuzzled her. “However, if your enemy knows that they have a change of crushing you, and they become overconfident, they can become careless and leave their rear flanks open.” He turned the page and they looked over the picture of a surprised-looking army being destroyed by calvary from the rear. “That means that you can send friendly troops around to attack them from behind…”

“And catch them between your two armies and destroy them.” Siabrey finished out loud.

The generals and her friends looked at her in surprise. She blinked, and then pointed out the large area to the South of the city where the Countess’ army would march from.

“With an army that huge, the Countess is going to be unlikely to be watching her rear and flanks. We could send in a contingent of dragons, have them attack from behind, and sweep the enemy ranks forward. They would be facing foes to the front and the rear! I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them fled!”

“That…is a good idea.” One of the general sounded surprised. “I wonder why I didn’t think of it.” Siabrey smiled, pride showing clearly over her face.

Thank you Luke, for making me study those books with you. Perhaps I can save a few lives with that knowledge, even if I couldn’t save you… A sudden wave of sadness and exhaustion washed over her, reminding her that it had been over a day since she had last slept or ate. Strangely, she felt no concern. In fact, she was dreading the moment when she had to close her eyes to sleep, for behind them she saw only Lucius’ face, not even hearing her pleas as he disappeared into the Countess’ embrace.

“I recommend talking to the dragons before we assign them anywhere.” Siabrey said, shaking herself back to the present. “Alisandra will know how to best use her troops. I will send for her.”

Siabrey excused herself into the hallway, looked up and down till she spotted a servant and called him over.

“Send for the dwarf Alisandra at once. She should be in the camps to the North. Please tell her to come as quickly as she can, it is a matter of great importance to the defense of the city.”

“Right away, Majesty.” The servant bowed and turned to go. Siabrey caught him by the shoulder and turned him to face her. “Wait. I have another, much more personal favor to ask…” she said, and got a wicked grin as she pulled out her money sack.

Alisandra arrived a short while later. She had been in the castle looking for the party, and had run into a group of servants speaking her name in the corridor.

“Alisandra, how are you? You look tired.” Siabrey smiled as the dwarf entered the war room. The dragon in disguise did indeed look exhausted, she had obviously run to the castle. Nevertheless, she looked concernedly at Siabrey. “I am well. And you?” A haunted look passed briefly across Siabrey’s face before she could hide it. “As well as can be expected. You came quickly.”

“I was already in the castle. I have news.” Siabrey motioned for the other women to take a seat and poured her a glass of the wine that she had ordered for the generals.

“Thank you.” Alisandra emptied the drink in a few gulps before drawing a deep breath. “The dragon’s training is complete. There were a few problems; mostly with riders not understanding their mounts entirely, but the mounts corrected the problem. Your dragon riders are ready and willing to serve you.”

“Excellent. I am glad to hear it.” Siabrey refilled Alisandra’s drink and pushed it back towards her. “We need your advice on something. You see here, on this map of the city, we have marked where the Countess’ army is most likely to attack.” Briefly, Siabrey told the silver dragon of their plans, and of her own idea of how to use the dragons. Alisandra nodded throughout the exchange. “They are all very good plans. However, I have a slightly better idea on how to use the dragon riders.”

“That is the reason we called you in. We figured you would best know how to effectively use the other dragons.”

“Well, its very similar to your idea. We’ll split the dragons and their riders into two groups. One group we’ll position here on top of the cliff to wait with the archers.” Alisandra pointed. “And the other group we’ll position north of the city. When the attack comes, they will fly over the battlefield and strafe the enemy with their breath weapons, as well as take out any flying troops that the Countess has, such as the other dragons.

Siabrey looked over the dragon’s need drawnings with a critical eye. “They sound good. You be careful though, ok Alisandra. Xanadu would kill us if anything happened to you.”

The dragon twitched her lips slightly. “That big silver lug of mine had better be careful himself, else I’ll hunt down his spirit and beat him.”

Her response reminded Siabrey too much of similar words she had said to Lucius. She nodded to Alisandra, and excused herself. Shuddering slightly, she made her way across the room to the door and checked outside. Servants were running past, carrying decorations, all types of food scattered on plates, and barrels and barrels of alcohol. One of the closest ones saw her and gave a double thumbs up, grinning wildly. It was the same servant that she had sent out in the first place. Satisfied that all was in order and that something was finally going right, Siabrey closed the door again and smiled at the others in the room.

“Siabrey, what’s going on out there?” Shaun asked with a raised eyebrow.

The fighter smiled. “Why don’t you all come and see. I believe this war party is over, my good generals. Would you care to accompany me back to the throne room?”

With a large group of rather confused looking individuals following her, Siabrey made her way across the room to the other doorway that lead to the throne room.

“Siabrey, what do you have planned?” Tess asked as she followed the fighter.

“Oh, nothing much. Just a little impromtu celebration, my dear bard.” Siabrey opened the door with a flourish and a smile. “Happy birthday, Tesseron.”

Tess’ jaw dropped. For once, she was speechless. The usually dapper throne room had been transformed into a gala. Streamers hung from the paintings and along the walls. The brightly colored cloths that covered that tables that had been set up along the far wall could barely be seen for the sheer amount of food that adorned them. Finger foods of all sorts jostled for position among breads, jams, and desserts of all kinds. Anything that could be found and brought up in a hurry was there. Adjacent to the table, opened barrels overflowed with ales, beers, rums, as well as several very fine stocks. The highlight of the spread however, was a massive gold and green frosted cake, five tiers high, and topped with a miniature, but very beautiful, golden harp.

The room was already crowded with the commanders and high ranking officers of the army. Laughter and merriment filled the room to overflowing.

“You did all this…for me?” Tess’ voice cracked, her eyes slightly tearing up.

Siabrey shrugged, but smiled moderately. “Mostly. I thought it would also be a good way to improve the moral of the commanders. You know, as slight relaxation before the upcoming fight.” Luke and Xanadu always said a happy army fought better... I am assuming that applies to officers as well. She gestured towards the heavily laden tables. “I had the servants grab anything they could in such a short time.”

Shaun meanwhile had stepped out into the throne room. Glancing around, he whistled at the piles of food and alcohol. “You must have raided the palace cellars to get all that, Siabrey.”

Now the fighter truly grinned. “Hey, I figure if I’m in charge, I might as well spend a little bit of the gold that comes with the job. Oh and by the way,” she leaned towards Shaun. “That harp on the cake? Yeah, its real gold.” The rogue stared at her in shock.

“I’m rubbing off on you way too much,” he commented.

By now, the rest of the party had entered the room and also stood glancing around, their eyes filled with shock and wonder. Alisandra was the first to recover. A smiling hovering in her eyes, she nudged Siabrey gently. “I don’t see any of the nobles here, do you?” The fighter snorted. “No, I preferred to leave them out of this. I did however, invite the Court Mages. They should be here in a while to talk about, you know, the staff.” She swallowed hard. “But enough business. Tess, this is your special night. Enjoy it.”

Siabrey then proceeded to walk out into the room, clap her hands, and introduce all of her friends to the commanders. They all clapped and cheered; the parties’ fighting reputation had preceded them. They especially clapped for Tess... after all, she was the birthday girl.

“Now Tess,” Siabrey said, pulling her friend aside. “I know that normally people don’t like to play on their birthdays, but I wasn’t sure if you’d want me to hire several other bards, their music so pales in comparison to yours…”

“I’m glad that you didn’t.” Tess smiled, still overwhelmed. “This may be my birthday, but nothing gives me more pleasure than playing for an appreciative audience.” Siabrey nodded understandable. “Then go right ahead, my dear.” She said, pointing up to the dais. “I will bring you a slice of your cake and some ale.”

“Being served by the Empress, the best birthday present ever.” Tess winked. Siabrey smiled, but it was veiled at the memory of her title. If fate looks upon me kindly, I am merely a Princess... with a Prince at my side...

 

[Lela]

Wow, I'm starting to feel a deep connection with Siabrey. Well done EV.

 

[skullsmurfer]

I have been very impressed with you postings. Your characters are very appealing and the action is great. I can't wait for the next installment.

 

[Parlan]

Great Posts as always!

I stopped reading for just a few days, and suddenly there s tons of updates to catch up on! Thank you Emperor Valerian and Drag n Fly!


BTW, Emperor V, what kind of military history are you studying?

 

[Parlan]

Wow, I'm starting to feel a deep connection with Siabrey. Well done EV.

Alright, I ve been dying to ask for a while now: Lela you follow like, every single story hour on the boards, how do you find the time to do it?

I keep thinking, is she retired? Nah, retired people don t frequent EnWorld!

Is she a student? Nah, even students take breaks to like sleep and eat!

How do you do it!?!?!

 

[Emperor Valerian]

BTW, Emperor V, what kind of military history are you studying?

Well, it's going to be some combination of Russian and military history. Right now some of the things that have caught my attention are the Russo-Japanese war, and the various dealings of the nascent Russian Empire with the Kingdom of Poland.

I have been very impressed with you postings. Your characters are very appealing and the action is great. I can't wait for the next installment.

Glad to hear you like it. Next section or two should be up later tonight.

Wow, I'm starting to feel a deep connection with Siabrey. Well done EV.

Part of that is because that with the exception of Tess, Siabrey is the deepest character in the group... its easier to write about her emotions and Tess'. The other, quite obviously, is her player is helping me write up the story thread. Drag n fly deserves alot of credit for the last couple sessions... I would have been swamped without her help.

 

[Lela]

Actually I am a student. Multimedia, in fact. So I spend a lot of time using a computer. It really helps to have something to do (that doesn't take forever to set up) when I need a break or when somethng else is happening. For example, right now this computer is working in high gear to Render out a Video for one of my final projects. Been at it for 15 minutes and only 36% done. Since I can't do anything else while that's going on, boom, I check the boards.

Lately it's becoming harder of course. Finals plus EV (who never stops posting long updates) but it's still fun. Also, I don't have a life. Lost it a year or so back somewhere in Idaho. The search teams have been called off but I'm still hoping for some kid to stumble over it and return it (ya hear me kid, that's not your's!).

Oh, I'm actually a guy. When I signed up on the boards some years back (just after 3.0 came out) I used the name of a favorite character for the screen name, thinking I probably wasn't going to be around much (I was wrong). Since it's so much hassle to change it and find all my threads again I've kept it. And there seems little point in mentioning my gender in every post. It's not a big deal. I once worked at a call center and the phone line going out of there combined with steryotypes and puberty had me being called "Mam" all day. Such is life really.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

The Staff of Graz’zt - mostly typed by drag n fly

“Don’t be so sure, Tess. I have more surprises in store for you.” Siabrey said to try to cover her pain with a wink as she headed over to the table and toped a plate with a massive slice of cake and the golden harp. Meanwhile, Tess made her way up to the dais, and settled down on a small but comfortable chair that had been set up there. Stroking her harp strings lovingly, she began a series of compositions detailing the parties various encounters with demons. She thought briefly about playing Siabrey and Lucius’ love song, but decided against it in the face of their recent loss of the Heir. Instead, she stuck to the battle songs. Her music rose in the air, almost thick enough to taste. Many of the commanders echoed the chorus’ back at her; as usual, Tess’ voice was beyond compare.

The party spent most of the next hour talking with the commanders and officers about the upcoming battle. Most were not that concerned about the Countess’ overwhelming numbers; offense was much harder than defense when you’re in a city. It was the rumors of dragons and demons that had the army concerned. Shaun and the others worked hard to assure the officers that the demons were, in fact, slayable, and Shaun’s descriptions of the horrors that had killed in the Temple of Hextor set many a commanders fears to rest.

The party was so busy initially, that they did not see the Court Mages arrive, and it was only when the Chamberlain came up to Siabrey and told her that Aeron and the others were waiting in the war room that she even remembered that she had contacted them.

Finding the others quickly, she rushed them into the war room, making sure the door was clearly locked behind them as they entered.

“I see we are not important enough for your counsel,” Aeron sniffed. Apparently Siabrey’s promotion had not elevated her position in his mind, for he stared coldly at her. She didn’t rise to his ruse however, and merely bowed slightly to each of them.

“My apologies, gentlemen. Tonight is Tess’ birthday, and I felt that a celebration before the war would get everyone’s spirits up. You are all, of course, invited. There is much ale and wine to be had.” Siabrey smiled slightly, hoping that the gluttony of the mages would win them to her side. Although she saw several of their eyes light up at the mention of ale, Aeron cut of her gesture with a hand.

“No, we have much more research to do tonight. However, since you have taken the liberty of summoning us here, we might as well tell you what we have learned.”

Siabrey’s nostrils flared slightly at the man’s arrogant tone, but she nodded and gestured for him to continue. As Aeron was about to speak, he in turn was cut off by one of the older mages... whose eyes had glinted at the possibility of entertainment. On the subject of the staff, however, the man’s eyes were glum.

“It is as we feared, Majesty,” she man stepped forward. “The staff must be taken to the Abyss and neutralized.”

“Neutralized?” Siabrey raised an eyebrow. “Why can’t we just break it here?” I’m sure there’s a ‘very very important magic hojo reason,’ but I want to know! “And why the Abyss?” The man sighed, and began to explain. To her surprise though, his voice didn’t change to the tone of an adult talking to a small child... it was grave, and full of concern.

“Majesty, you see...” he started, before looking off to the side in thought, trying to decide how to properly explain the nature of the universe. “Majesty... there are many... um... ‘planes,’ if you will... worlds in essence. Our Empire is a large and very important part of our world, but our world is one among many. The Abyss is one of these other worlds.” Siabrey nodded her head slowly... so far she was able to follow the man.

“So the stories of demons coming up from the ground are just mother’s tales to scare children? There is no hell beneath our feet, replete with demons and devils?” she gave a wry grin. To her surprise, many of the mages grinned back at her slight poking attempt at humor. Good... their not sulking anymore at least.

“Not quite... the Nine Hells of Baator are an independent plane of their own that houses devils, not demons... but we’re diverging,” the man lowered his head, and cleared his throat. “Now... this fact is recognized by very few throughout all of these worlds, but good and evil are not mutually exclusive... indeed, the multiverse requires both in order to survive.” Siabrey tilted her head in confused. The mage growled softly and waved his hands in frustration.

“Hmm... how to... aha!” he raised a finger in triumph. “Good and evil are like a pendulum,” he started quickly, holding out one hand, palm up, while holding the other one over it, index finger pointed down. “The multiverse and fate inherently work to try and keep a balance between the two,” he held his index finger directly over the middle, keeping it still.

“It takes a great deal to move this pendulum... all the minor balors in the Abyss could be slain and the pendulum would barely move. However, if something as vastly powerful and vastly evil as Graz’zt himself were to be destroyed... the pendulum would move,” the mage set his finger in motion, first towards the left. “Initially, the multiverse would shift towards good. But as time progressed, the system would try to correct itself, and the pendulum would shift towards evil to do so.” He moved his finger back and forth, “it will keep sliding back and forth until it has reached balance again.”

Siabrey shook her head in confusion, “so why don’t we want to destroy the staff and kill Graz’zt again? You just said it would shift towards goo...”

“NO MAJESTY!” the man almost bellowed at her. She recoiled slightly, and he got a frustrated look on his face, before starting again, more insistently, “If you destroy the staff, and destroy Graz’zt, yes... the system shall swing towards the side of good, but then... watch Majesty... it will swing decidedly towards evil by just as great an amount. In effect, Your Majesty’s actions will cause, in the future, an evil that Graz’zt would pale in comparison to. It might not strike our world, but it would strike some world... and likely kill thousands...”

“Hogwash,” Orion snorted. “I might not be mage, but I still know evil has no place. We should take that staff, and run up to the tops of Mount Celestia with it... the place where evil is completely destroyed! I’m sure the other ‘worlds’ or whatnot would only thank us!” His rant could have gone on longer had Siabrey not raised her hand for quiet.

“If we cannot destroy it, how do we ‘neutralize,’ as you say, the staff?” Tess asked. If we can render it harmless, without destroying it or killing Graz’zt, we might just accomplish the same goal without the bad results...

“The staff has two ends... you must take the end empowered with ice to a fiery layer of the Abyss... Graz’zt home world, and dip it into a pool of demonic lava. You must then take the end of the staff imbued with flame to an icy layer of the Abyss, and purge its flames with ice. Finally, the staff must be taken to Graz’zt’s home layers, and left there.”

“Wait wait wait...” Shaun raised his hands, “so we’ve got to travel to three different, ‘layers,’ ‘planes,’ or whatnot in the Abyss, and leave this staff off in Graz’zt home turf? Why can’t we neutralize it and keep it here, where we could watch it? Or break its ends and hide them, so people need to rebuil...”

The mage rolled his eyes, and began speaking to Shaun in a patronizing voice. “If you break the staff... you merely set Graz’zt free... in this world! Not with his limited powers that he has now, but with his FULL set of powers!” The mage shuddered. “If you take the staff up to Mount Celestia, where all evil is immediately destroyed never to return, then the shift of good and evil will began, with disastrous consequences for some, if not ALL of the worlds!”

“Do you know yet where in these worlds we need to go?” Siabrey asked. I’m assuming its us that will have to go... assuming Luke and Alexander are ok... The split second thought of Luke made her twitch, but she managed to hide her feelings.

“We’re still trying to find that, Majesty,” Aeron finally spoke again. “There are many many layers of the Abyss... we are trying to find ones with enough power and connection to Graz’zt that they would be effective, but yet are safe... relatively speaking, of course... for Your Majesty to travel in.” Siabrey nodded.

He didn’t sound condescending for once... amazing...


After the doors to the war room had closed, Siabrey gave a long sigh. The thought of having to basically travel to hell, after all the events that had happened that day, was starting to take its toll on her... and her friends could plainly see it.

“Siabrey, look. They said they need to do more research... maybe we won’t have to go after all,” Tess offered. “You’re the Crown Princess now... I’m sure you could find someone to take it down there for us.” Tess’ face visibly winced at this comment... she herself didn’t like the idea of letting ‘someone else’ take that monstrosity.

The reflexive grip of Siabrey’s hand on Kelir showed that she didn’t either. That black staff has caused so many so much harm! It caused Mephys to burn, it caused Kulloden to burn, it has the blood of tens of thousands to its name, it corrupted Lucius... Her look of anger tumbled into a look of depressed horror, and it took her a few seconds to hide her face behind the facade. Her defenses were slowly wearing down... she wasn’t going to be able to keep up the happy exterior much longer.

Shaun saw this as well, and walked over, putting an arm around Siabrey. As her protestations that she was fine rolled off her tongue, he smiled and shook his head.

“No... you’re not. Now... I’d like to go back to an idea I had a long long time ago, Elenya,” he turned to his wife, who looked confused. “I believe when you two were bathing and talking about Lucius, I made an invitation, and your response,” he pointed at Siabrey, “was... ‘in a cold day in hell.’ Well, it appears somewhere in hell it is cold right now... soooo....” His face was already giggling, and he deftly dodged Siabrey’s elbow. She broke into a small smile as she was joined by Elenya, and Shaun laughed as they pummeled him. His mission had been accomplished.

“C’mon you crazy fool!” Elenya laughed. “Let’s get back to the party... Siabrey, you’re coming with! You need some relaxation!”

 

[Emperor Valerian]

The Party Winds Down - half drag nf ly, half me

The group returned to the party, and an affair worthy of an Imperial celebration was underway. Wine flowed, laughter filled the air, and it was to Siabrey’s relief that she saw her formerly tense commanders and their subordinates relaxing, laughing, joking, or lounging around. She was even more relieved to see a couple of the mages had joined in... perhaps they could be beachheads for improving relations between the group and the Imperial Mages Council.

Earlier in the night, Siabrey had also specifically agreed to the ‘courtesans’ that normally appeared at private Imperial affairs. While to some such entertainment was unseemly, she recognized that the inclinations of many of her subordinates were not inclined as hers. Trained in the art of good conversation, in addition to more usual courses, she’d specifically asked three of the more musically inclined males to go and talk with Tess.

Even if all she does is just have a relaxing conversation with them... it might take the edge off of her for a bit. She’s been near the edge so much...

As the hours wore on, and Siabrey continued to make her rounds, talking quietly with officers about their men, or more lightheartedly with her friends, things grew rowdier. Wines were replaced with ales or bourbons, and some of the unattached officers slowly started to trickle out, many with courtesan’s in tow.

As she surveyed the crowd, Siabrey noticed Shaun on a divan in one corner, next to three quiet drunk Imperial officers... and by his red face and exaggerated gestures, it was obvious he was drunk as well. A look towards the doorway revealed Elenya getting ready to leave.

“You aren’t waiting for Shaun?” Siabrey asked as she headed over. With a yawn, Elenya shook her head. She looked back at him and grinned.

“He’s having fun, I’m not going to take him away from it, but I’m so tired... is there a place we can specific place we can...” Siabrey had already clapped her hands, and two servants came over.

“See to it that Lady Dice and Lord Dice,” she pointed out Shaun to them, “have an elegant room to stay in.” She then winked at Elenya as the servants took her outside, and to bed.

I’m almost getting used to this power thing. She thought with a shake of her head.
Scary. I never wanted this, yet no one seems to be complaining.

It is often the ones that least want power that are the most apt at wielding it Kelir mused.

A few minutes later, she was far more surprised to see the normally dour Orion stumble past, a flashy, under dressed young woman in tow.

“Enjoying yourself?” Siabrey asked, knowing the obvious answer.

“I’m gonna be!” he laughed, and she waved him on with a smile. Good... he’s relaxing too... Relaxed people fight better... and think better, right Kelir?

You’re going to need sleep too, you know... her sword mentally chastised her, and she smiled.... sometimes Kelir was almost like a nanny... just one that could slice a foe into pieces.

The number of guests in the room had dwindled. She watched as Shaun stumbled towards the exit, only to have the same two servants that had guided his wife to a room practically carry him out, presumably to bed.

A few minutes later, her heart rose a little bit when she saw the last of her friends present, a very drunk and happy Tess, saunter by, with the three courtesans in tow. Tess gave Siabrey a wink.

“Can’t pick, Tess?” Siabrey asked with a mischevious grin.

“Nah... this one here... he knows harps really well, which is good,” Tess stopped, the process of ceasing movement making her stumble. “This one here... he knows music theory.... I loved talking to him. And this’n... well... I like his body,” she gave a laugh. Siabrey merely shook her head, the comments making her miss her own Luke all the more.

“Go Tess... enjoy yourself!” Siabrey blocked from her mind any thoughts of what kind of enjoyment involved that many. The thoughts of activity, and comments made Siabrey’s mind go back to Luke. As her friend and escorts stumbled up the hall, Siabrey’s eyes went to stone for a second, before looking at Tess again. The bard was laughing her head off at some comment made by the courtesan, ‘that knew music theory.’ A slight smile of satisfaction came to the fighter’s face. Of all of us, Tess needs this chance to relax the most. Sometimes I fear what will happen to her if she keeps up this charade of vengeance.

You are not much better yourself, Siabrey. Kelir’s patronizing tone reminded her.

Siabrey’s hands tightened into fists, then relaxed. The sword was right. If she tried to chase down the Countess herself, she’d probably be killed before she could get anywhere near Lucius. Not the mention the fact that the entire Empire needed her; she couldn’t abandon all these innocent people, not even to try to save her love, and she had no time or right to appoint a new leader in her stead. However painful the thought may be, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.

No, Lucius was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it…for now.

Siabrey breathed a deep sigh, which quickly grew into a yawn.

“Majesty, perhaps you should get some sleep.” It was the Chamberlain again, looking up at Siabrey from her elbow, a worried look on his lined face. Siabrey looked wanely down at him: somehow, the man always seemed to know exactly what was needed.

It probably comes with the job description She thought wryly.

He is right, Siabrey. You have been up for much too long. Kelir chastised her.

But I can’t go to sleep, Kelir, you know that. Not yet…not while Lucius’ face still hangs behind my eyes… Outwardly Siabrey forced a smile.

“I will be alright. Thank you though.”

The Chamberlain bowed and stepped back. He was unwilling to give up without a final comment however. “When you are ready, Your Majesty, I have had the Empress’ Chambers prepared for you.”

Siabrey stiffened, then nodded again. “Thank you.” I’ll be sleeping in the same chambers where that whore Zoe wanted to seduce Lucius… Anger and bile rose momentarily in her throat, before she remembered that Zoe was dead, and couldn’t hurt her anymore. Still, the memory of the old Empress kept Siabrey going for about another hour. Finally, however, she could no longer counter her body’s demands. Rather than fall asleep on the throne, as she was starting to, she allowed herself to be lead off to the chambers.

Once there, she spent several tormenting minutes assuring the maids that she did not need help undressing, before closing and locking the door behind her.

Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and turned to look out over the immense bedroom.

The room was decorated in shades of blue and gold; colors that Siabrey felt were oddly ironic, considering her family’s background. The floor was covered in thick honey-colored woven rugs that begged to be dug into with toes. The room was actually rather sparsely furnished. A few tables lay strategically scattered around the room, while a massive wardrobe covered the wall she was standing beside. A door to her left led to what she assumed was a bathing chamber of sorts, while one directly across the way appeared to lead out onto a balcony.

Ignoring the substantial gilt bed that dominated the room, she crossed the room and opened the silk-shrouded doors.

They did indeed lead out onto a balcony, one surprisingly small for such a large palace. Siabrey stepped outside, and looked out over the city. Immediately below her lay the palace grounds; an intertwining mass of sculptured bushes and well-manacured lawns that she would have loved to stroll across with Lucius, and perhaps have a little impromptu fun under the stars.

Far in the distance, she could just make out a thin dark line topped with fires at intermittent spots; the outer wall, no doubt.

She gazed for a while before the night air, surprisingly chill for mid-summer, cut through her robes of state, and she shivered and went back inside.

Latching the doors behind her, she finally allowed her gaze to settled on the object of her dread.

The Empress’ bed was huge; much larger than any piece of furniture Siabrey had ever seen. Although it looked warm and comfortable, the fighter felt repulsed by the thought of sleeping in the same place where Zoe once had.

Except she probably didn’t sleep there. Kelir reminded her. She was with many men, sometimes several a night, even during her short stay here.

Siabrey stared down in astonishment at her sword. “And how exactly do you know these things?” She asked.

The sword responded almost smugly. Some of the other swords talk, and I listen. Besides, it doesn’t exactly take a genius to figure out that that woman was a man-slayer. She went after every piece of meat that appealed to her; Lucius certainly wasn’t the first.

Siabrey smiled slightly. What Kelir had said made sense, given Zoe’s character, and she felt a little better. Enough so that she gave in and prepared for bed.

Shedding the robes, she crawled quickly under the covers and tried to sleep. At first she lay Kelir on the bedside table, but on second thought she brought the sheathed sword into the bed with her.

She lay there for several minutes, fighting hard to stop her mind from thinking and just go to sleep. As tired as she was, however, she couldn’t stop running the previous day’s events through her head. She saw Lucius’ kidnapping about 50 times, each vision more painful and horrific than the last, before Kelir sent her soothing memories of her time together with the young noble.

Heartbroken and lost, the visions were both comfort and torment, and under the careful protection of the katana, she finally let herself break.

Curling up tightly around the sword for comfort, she closed her eyes and sobbed and sobbed, till finally the night wrapped her in its all-forgiving embrace, and she slept.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

A New Day...

Orion gave a slight smile as he sat on the ground, meditating as the sun rose above the cliffs high above the city. He felt relaxed, at ease, at peace.

In these times, moments like this came very rarely. When they did mercifully arrive, he took full advantage of them.

His meditation was interrupted by the noise of gentle stirring on the bed behind him. With a smile, he turned and saw the sleepy head of a courtesan pop out from under the covers.

“Meh. Morning already?” her tired voice asked, and Orion nodded simply.

“Yes. Did you sleep well?” he asked, standing up. His meditation done, he was now looking for other activities.

“Excellent, thank you for asking,” she gave a sleepy grin. The smile gave Orion an idea.

“Would you like to take a walk, through the gardens?” he asked. “Of course I would wait till you got yourself arranged comfortably.” It’s been a while since I’ve had a little bit of fun... other than last night’s festivities... She gave a larger grin... courtesan’s usually weren’t treated this well.

“Of course.” She clambered out of bed, and disappeared behind a privacy screen in the ornate bedroom to change and wash up. Fifteen minutes later, she emerged, and Orion held out his arms.

“Here. Let me carry you,” he offered, and her eyes went a little wide with surprise. Most of her patrons DEFINITELY did not make such... gallant offers.

“Why thank you,” she said, letting him scoop her up. It wasn’t every day she got carried... though she started to look at him funny when he started walking towards the window.

“Sir... where are we going?” she asked hesitantly as the window drew closer.

“To the garden,” Orion said with a grin, and then jumped. (Mantis Leap) He clutched her tight, as she screamed the twenty feet down, her eyes still squilched shut when he landed on the ground. Her eyes flickered, and then opened in shock.

“H...How? Wh...How?” she started to stutter, as Orion carefully set her on her feet.

“I’m fine, my friend. Don’t worry about it.” He held out the crook of his arm, as she continued to stutter in confusion and shock, “Let’s go for a walk, shall we?”


Siabrey herself stirred quietly from bed about the same time. Her arm instinctively had ensnarled itself around the softness of a pillow. Her awake form, eyes still closed, for a second thought the warmth of the pillow was that of a body next to her... and she cooed slightly. Then her eyes flickered open, and she let out another sigh. He will be back... soon love... you will be back... she consoled herself, hoping somewhere, Lucius could hear her.

Its hard... I can only imagine the deep voice of Kelir said in her head. You have more important things to deal with right now, Siabrey... there are thousands counting on you.

“I know,” she answered back, aloud. “I... I want to go after Luke... but I know I just can’t right now.”

Do not worry... he will return, Kelir comforted her. She gave another sigh, got up, and began to change. It would be another long day... as undoubtedly more petitioners and nobles had filed in to replace those she had dismissed the night before...


Tess by this point was already in the throne room, watching with a lazy, happy smile as the Chamberlain was taking down the names of the new petitioners, and telling old ones that their case had yet to be heard. When she spotted Siabrey, she gave a wave, and the fighter, clad in royal robes yet again, swept by the gaggled mob towards her friend.

“So? Tess?” Siabrey gave her friend an enormous smile. “Anything...”

Tess cut her off with a nod and a lazy smile.

“Tesseron Keldare! I am so proud of you!” Siabrey laughed, and Tess’ smile went towards a friendly scowl.

“It was my birthday!” she said haughtily, “I think I had the right to a little fun! Besides, its not like its going to become an everyday occurrence, unlike some people I... oh,” her friendly rant ground to a halt as an uneasy subject came up. Siabrey’s partial look of pain had already vanished; sleep had given her energy, and recharged her defenses.

“I understand Tess, don’t worry about it,” Siabrey smiled. “Still, I think I should inform Shaun of this...”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Tess leaned forward, failing at an attempt to look menacing. If he finds out I had fun with several courtesans last night... I won’t hear the end of it!

“I wouldn’t?” Siabrey raised an eyebrow. “Tell you what. I won’t tell him, if you keep an eye on these jokers for me,” she motioned to the growing group of petitioners, now loudly complaining to the Chamberlain. “I’m going to go check on the mage’s... make sure they didn’t stay up all night researching...”

“I think I can keep these people in line,” Tess grinned, surveying the petitioners which were slowly making their way towards her. One loud one, the same one that had harassed Tess the night before about his “three acres,” was in the lead. Siabrey gave her a wink as she slipped out of the throne room.

“Just like you kept those courtesans in line?” she asked, ducking away from Tess’ kick and out of sight.


It was a fifteen minute walk through the colonnaded halls of hte palace before Siabrey was able to reach the Imperial library, where she expected to find most of the Court Mages conducting their research. As several servants pulled open the great doors leading inside, she saw her prediction was right.

Inside the massive chamber, scattered across numerous stalls and desks, were easily 60 or 70 men clad in the bright, showy robes of Court Mages. About ten of them look up at the noise of the doors opening, and immediately stand as she entered the room. Their eyes were deep red, from lack of sleep. The others, indeed, were asleep. The awakened ones looked at their sleeping fellows, and then back at her nervously, as if expecting a lecture.

“Sit... sit sit sit,” Siabrey said, motioning for them to sit down. “Be comfortable. You’ve worked all night. All I wanted to know was if you needed anything,” she asked simply. After all, you are busting your brains trying to find out things for us about our enemy’s greatest weapon... the least I can do as the person in charge is make sure you’re taken care of.

To her surprise, as she looked at each mage, they all shook there heads no... save the last one.

“Majesty, if I may... I would like some breakfast,” the clean-shaven young man said. The other nine, all clearly older, scowled at him in a fury, evidently thinking he’d arouse her ire by being so blunt. Instead, Siabrey smiled, and motioned for a servant.

“See to his request,” she said loud enough for the others to hear. “Does anyone else require anything?”

One by one, the others began putting in requests... breakfast, a drink, pillows, a magnifying glass (she wasn’t sure what this was, but she hoped one of the servants did), rest from research... to one smart aleck asking for a courtesan. After each, even the smart aleck, she would motion for servants to go arrange the matter. After the last waking request was taken care, she beamed with pride on seeing the mages now much happier (though still tired).

“Could you tell me where Aeron is?” she asked the clean shaven mage, who was now hungrily devouring a piece of bread. He nodded, mouth too full to talk, and pointed to a sleeping form in a corner.

She walked over, and with a gentle nudge woke him up from his slumber. He turned with a scowl to see who had disturbed him, and jumped slightly when he saw her in regal finery.

“Majesty,” he slurred out hurriedly, sleep still disturbing his tongue. “I apologize for...”

“Don’t worry!” she said soothingly. “You all have worked hard. I just came to see if you needed anything.” She saw him give a large sigh of relief, and then slowly nod.

“Rest... food and drink. If the others here can get that, we can take a short break, and then resume searching much better.”

“Then it shall be done,” Siabrey said simply, motioning for the servants to bring in a breakfast table, several jugs of wine, and some pillows and blankets. “You all have worked hard... and I deeply appreciate that.” Siabrey was still being her blunt self... she did appreciate their efforts.

“Thank you, Majesty,” Aeron gave her a slight smile of thanks.


“Shauny!” a voice, pleasant and singing in the rogue’s mind called. He grinned, knowing it was Elenya’s. His tired mind couldn’t place the voice as real or dreamlike... but nonetheless, he smiled. The feeling of shaking on his arm pulled him into realizing the voice was real... and the light assaulting his eyes through closed lids made it seem real as well.

“Augh!” he put a hand over his eyes to stop the pain, and with effort, rolled over onto his stomach, burying his face in a pillow. The shaking hand grabbed his shoulder again.

“Shauny! Wake up!” Elenya’s voice said, not as pleasant... more insistent this time.

“Why?” he murmured, his head seeming to thunder with pain with every heartbeat. “It hurts. I want to sleep!”

“Shauny! Wake up! Wake up and take this!” Elenya now grabbed his shoulder, and heaved him onto his back. “Take it, it’ll make the pain dull,” she said softer, and he felt the tip of a canteen or bottle being put on his lips, and a bitter, smelly fluid flowing into his mouth. He had no choice but to swallow, and the liquid hit his stomach with a thump. For a second, he felt like he would throw up, but then suddenly, the nausea and headache dulled, and he was able to open his eyes...

...seeing that Elenya’s were filled with worry and confusion.

“You shouldn’t have drank so much,” Elenya said softly, running a hand along his head. “I was worried for a bit you weren’t going to wake up for a long time.” He turned his head slightly, and kissed the palm of her hand in thanks.

“I just got carried away... that’s all,” he said quietly, hoping he hadn’t worried her too much. Her eyes flashed, and a mischievous smile came over her lips.

“I’ve also been waiting to tell you something... namely Tess had some courtesan’s last night... thank me later after you’ve teased her,” Elenya grinned, clambering back out of the bed. Shaun started laughing, and couldn’t stop, despite the pain it still gave his head.

“I knew you’d like that tidbit,” she grinned, heading over towards the window. “Maybe later today we can go for a walk through the gardens?” she suggested, heading towards the window. Ideas were popping into his head, until he saw her face fall as she looked out.

“Hon... what is it? You see a ghost or something?”

“Shaun... there’s lightning... lightning to the south...” she said uneasily.