MakiaVi: The Frozen King - Chapter Fourteen (Patreon)

 
It was late into the night when the servants began cleaning up the aftermath of the feast. The last lords and ladies of the realm bowed before Edion and offered their final congratulations. All that remained were the MakiaVi members and the Royal Family. Edion’s body was stiff from having to remain on his uncomfortable throne for the majority of the feast. He stood up and stretched out his back. The sound of his joints cracking echoed throughout the empty room. 
Ursago stepped before Edion. “Your Grace, what shall we do with the leftovers? The former king and queen always differed on this topic.” Among other things, Edion thought to himself. “Where do you stand?”
“I tend to favor my mother’s approach.” Edion said.
“To the orphanages it is then.” Ursago said, seeming relieved. He gave a quick bow before darting back into the kitchen.
Edaro stepped up to the throne. “You two leave at dawn then?”
“We still have a job to do back at the MakiaVi.” Riza said. “We never really intended to stay long.”
“Yes.” Edion said. “By this time tomorrow, the realm will be yours to run Edaro. Please don’t make me come back up here.”
Edaro chuckled. “I will do my best.” He started to walk away but returned to his spot. “What shall we do with father?”
Edion grimaced at the question. The excitement of the day had nearly put Kardon out of his mind completely. He looked over to Riza who was already staring Edion down with a stern look in her eye. Edion let out a deep sigh. “I will speak with him first and then make my decision.”
“Fair enough.” Edaro said. “While killing him would rid us of the possibility of a repeat performance, I would prefer it if he lived to attend my wedding some day.”
Edion gave a boisterous laugh. “You? Married? The deserts of Serraf would sooner flood.”
“It has been raining heavier than usual brother.” Edaro turned and strode down towards the throne room’s main door. 
“Let’s get this over with.” Edion grumbled.
“Do you want us to come?” Zan asked.
“No. I need you all to go into town and see if you can find more people to join the MakiaVi. I’m sure there are some willing come who were not able to attend the coronation.”
Zan smirked. “Is that an order from the king?”
“It’s a request from a friend. I fear Elise would lock us up if we do not return with something to make up for sneaking out.”
Zan grinned. “I’ll see what we can do.”
“Here.” Edion threw a silver pendant to Zan that bore the Xarzith family crest. “Tell them that King Edion humbly asks for their blades in the battle against the dragons slayers.”
Zan scanned the pendant and raised an eyebrow to Edion. “Do I have to say it exactly like that?”
“Paraphrase if you must. Just show them the crest and they will know you have my permission to recruit new members.” Edion rose from his seat. “Now if you'll excuse me, I must take a trip to the dungeons.” He extended his hand to Riza. She used it to lift herself out of her own seat. 
They walked together down the stairs and out a door that sat to the left of the throne. Two guards accompanied them as they walked down a dimly lit spiral staircase.
They opened a small wooden door to reveal dozens of steel cells covered with magical runes to keep their inhabitants in check. Typically the royal dungeon was reserved for war prisoners and those awaiting a transfer to the main cells in the city. They were mostly empty save for the two that Edion had filled himself. The new king figured he would talk to the assassin first to warm himself up for whatever his father was going to tell him.
The wolf was curled up in the corner of his cell. Edion shouted at him which jolted the dog awake. With his good arm, the assassin propped himself up off of the floor. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“You know why we are here.” Riza said.
“Do I? I really could not conceive of a reason why a king and queen would want to enter this disgusting place.” 
Edion punched the cage. The wolf jumped at the loud clang. “It has been a long day. Don’t test me mutt.” Edion growled.
The assassin took a moment to compose himself. “Well even if I were to tell you anything, they would just kill me anyway. If I don’t talk, you might kill me but at least there is a chance you won’t. To tell you the truth, unlike my allies, I am actually quite fond of living. I only kept that poison on my tooth because they force us to.”
“So if I promise to keep you alive, would you be willing to talk?” Riza asked.
“As tempting as that deal is, I highly doubt you would be able to keep up your end of the bargain, so I must decline. In my experience, half-breeds tend to be… less than competent.”
Riza’s face twisted in anger as her right ear started twitching. Edion glanced at her face and mumbled, “Uh-oh.” before stepping away from the cage.
“Open it!” Riza commanded through her teeth. The guard pulled out a small brass key, unlocked the cell and swung the door open. The wolf crawled away as Riza stomped toward him. “I wouldn’t get too close. A dangerous assassin like me could lunge at you at any sec-” 
The wolf’s sentence was cut short by Riza grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air. She slammed him against the stone wall and showed him the claw on her index finger. “I’m sure you watched me defeat Kardon with that poison. What you don’t know, is that I can make something a little less… humane than what I used on him.” She put her finger in her mouth. When she pulled it out, it dripped with a purple liquid.
The wolf stammered, “You can’t scare me. If you are going to kill me, just do it!”
Riza chuckled. “Oh this won’t kill you. This is a special mixture that will torture you with immense pain while simultaneously keeping you just barely alive. Even if you don’t eat, sleep or drink, you will stay alive for as long as I want you to, writhing in pain. I never felt it myself but the last guy described it as being burned alive from the inside out. He only lasted ten seconds before he begged for the antidote.” Riza inched her claw closer to the assassin. “Let’s see how long you last.”
The wolf stared at the poison-drenched claw and pulled his head as far away as it would go. He finally cracked. “The dragon slayers! The dragon slayers sent us! They hired my guild to kill the King of Zekul. When Edion became the king, I assumed we needed to switch to him.”
Riza’s grip tightened around the wolf’s throat. “The dragon slayers!?” She raised her fist into the air. The assassin closed his eyes and turned his head to prepare for the strike. With a loud grunt, Riza struck the stone next to his head. Her hand plowed through the wall all the way to her wrist. The assassin peeked at the queen’s target and breathed a sigh of relief. She dropped him on the stone floor and walked out of the cell. The guard locked the door behind her. “If he says anything else useful, inform me immediately.” She told the guard.
“Yes my lady.”
“Let’s talk to Kardon.” Riza said as she stormed down the hallway.
Edion followed closely behind. “By the gods, I didn’t know that you could make a poison like that!”
Riza smiled. “Did you actually believe that crap? My saliva is purple as a byproduct of making poisons. See?” She opened her mouth wide and true to her word, it was dripping with strands of dark purple. Her MakiaVi tattoo glowed on her tongue. 
“Look at that. I guess you learn something new everyday.” They made their way to Kardon’s cell. He sat on the floor with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. “How are you holding up old man?” Edion asked. Kardon’s shot open. Even now, that stare still sent chills through Edion’s body. The new king cleared his throat. “Riza said there was something we needed to talk about. I assume you know what that is.” 
Kardon grumbled before telling Edion his story. About the village he slaughtered, the experiments he did, all of it. Once he finished, Edion was supporting himself on the bars of the jail. He could hardly believe it. Kardon’s awfulness was no surprise but to think that things were that bad in the west. It was just too much.
Kardon continued. “What’s worse is that the MakiaVi knows. They have known all along yet they refuse to kill those monsters. All they do is slow them down and evacuate dragons a handful at a time. For many of us, help comes too late.”
Edion stared into the ground. There is no way. Elise would never allow that. Edion became nauseous as he imagined the horrors Kardon described. He clung to the bars and shook like a leaf. 
Riza put a hand on his shoulder. Her touch brought him back to reality or at least, away from the reality of the west. Edion straightened up and took a deep breath. He started to walk away from the cell but stopped nextdoor. “Thank you, for telling me.” He muttered before continuing back to the castle.

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