Chapter 542: The Light & Shadow (Patreon)

“Where are your manners? Don’t be rude to our guests,” said Evelyn in a calm, collected voice.

Tauri glanced at Elena fleeing down the hall and then at her mother and the vampire standing beside her. Making up her mind, Tauri sighed to herself, turned to the vampire, and curtsied, “Please, forgive my lack of manners, I was distracted. Thank you for coming to our home, Lady Veres.”

Elise’s red lips curled in a smile, revealing her fangs. “I’m glad to be here, Miss Katag.”

“If you’ll excuse me, I have an urgent matter to attend to.” Tauri bowed and walked off without waiting for a response.

Elise sipped her wine glass. “Your daughter seems troubled, old friend.”

Evelyn watched as her daughter’s figure disappeared amidst the throng of guests in the main hall. “...The woes of motherhood, perhaps someday you will be so lucky.”

She scoffed. “I practically raised my brother alone and what thanks do I get? He runs off when I need him most. No, I think I’ve had enough of motherhood.”

Evelyn glanced at her friend, surprised. In all the years she had known Elise, the vampiress had rarely ever been so blunt. “I’m curious…”

“Hm?”

“My husband told me about what happened at the council meeting this morning.”

Elise rolled her scarlet eyes, “I’m certain the whole city will know what happened at that meeting come the end of the week.”

“Does it not bother you—?”

Elise gave her a flat look.

“What I mean to say is, well, as much as I always enjoy your company, I am curious as to why you are here and my soon-to-be son is not.”

“You mean why is Lady Veres here without this ‘Lord Veres’?” Elise spoke the last words as if it was poison on her lips. 

“Something to that accord.”

“Yes, so would I.”

“You do not know where he is?”

Her lips twisted in a faint, tired smile. “Until this morning I didn't even know we were related. Funny that. You might have learned the truth before I did.”

“...Why are you here, Elise?”

“Do you tire of my company?”

“Never. You are one of the few in this city whose mind is actually as sharp as she appears,” said Evelyn sincerely. “Most of these nobles are boring with such vapid thoughts you’d think them addled. But you, you’ve never done anything without thought, without purpose. The only one who held you back was your brother and now he’s gone… Usually, I’d revel in the mind behind your eyes, the way you pull others into your web so flawlessly, it’s terrifying as it is awe-inspiring.”

“You flatter me.”

“I do not. You did not rise to be Lady of your House out of sheer luck, nor did you manage to forge friendships and alliances in every single Ruling House and cultivate your influence throughout all the Great Houses by simply being ordinary. The other Ruling Houses may be foolish enough to not fear you because of their magic or military might, but I am not so naive. You are dangerous, Elise, a spider queen whose power does not reside within herself, rather in everyone around her. You know their intimate secrets as well as they do. With but a word you could have half my guests fighting the other without either side realizing you were the instigator. So I find myself having to ask, is this part of your plan? Am I a part of your web tonight?”

Elise scoffed wryly, “You and I are both women who know what it’s like to be underestimated. When people hear the name Katag they think of the terrifying mountain of an orc that is your lord husband. He inspires fear and awe in others and everyone simply nods along, because why wouldn’t they? He is Lord Katag and House Katag is a Ruling House to be respected, not only feared. But it was not Krall who made it so, it was you.”

“House Katag has sat on the ruling council for three centuries,” said Evelyn defensively.

“And the Katags ruled through martial might, holding their stringent honor so closely to their heart that it almost suffocated them. But now the Katags aren’t simple-minded brutes who’d challenge to a duel any who might have glanced at them wrongly. They don’t simply rule by fear but by loyalty. You cultivated that loyalty. All the while your lord husband was focused on skirmishes and far-off battles.” Elise’s scarlet eyes softened, “I am envious of such loyalty. Not born out of fear but of love. A spider queen you called me, perhaps that is all I am.”

“Elise… Why are you here?”

The vampire raised her glass in a toast. “And yet for all your loyalty, for all your beauty, grace, and wit, when historians speak of the Great House of Katag, they will not mention you first. They will not see you. They never will.”

“Such is the way of small-minded men,” said Eveylyn, unfettered. “Be grateful you and I do not bear the weight of our Houses’ leadership. No leader can rule alone, yet rulers often fail to see the threats standing right before them.”

“You’d rather be the watcher, the guard in the night? Searching for threats against Krall?”

“Threats against my family. I don’t need the throne of Katag, I don’t need to be remembered by history. I’d rather be in the shadows.”

Elise sipped her drink. “How— humble of you, to willingly step into the shadow and support another’s greatness.”

“You’d rather have power than protect your family, protect Callum?”

“Your problem is that you think you cannot do both. Power is protection. But I understand why you might fail to see that. You come from more humble beginnings. You married into greatness but unlike you, I was born into it.”

Evelyn inclined her head in acknowledgement. “Do you know why our city was named Holo’s Shade?”

“It was named after the legendary mage ‘Holo The Tall.’ It seems many Ebon Lords admired her or him.”

“Some historians say it was named for how the city walls protected us from the power of Solis, the sun god. Sometimes, the shadows protect us from the searing light of others.”

“I’m glad the shadows have served you well, Evelyn, but I’ve had enough of them.”

“Maybe, or perhaps the shadows can still serve you better than they did me.”

“You think I need their protection? To step aside from my throne? For him? An Aspirant of Vulture Woods? Whose vampiric blood is so diluted no one even recognized him as a vampire?”

“He wields Krikolm, does he not?”

Elise laughed softly. “You think him as bright as the sun? A torch may seem hot when it’s thrust in your face, but that does not make it the sun.”

Evelyn stared out the window at the night sky. “A sun? No. I think the Ebon Prince’s light is more like a star. People admire it, chase after it, and lay down their wishes at its feet. But any who try to pull a star down from the sky will burn from its fire.”

“Then I will burn like the phoenix.”

“Lady Veres,” said a voice calmly from behind them.

Evelyn turned and saw Lynette Gale standing beside Elise. Evelyn stifled a shout, she hadn’t heard Lynette coming, the Gale woman was like a ghost. A tall, dark-haired, deadly sword-wielding ghost who could decapitate someone in a single flash. Warriors trained from birth with absolute loyalty to their wards, the Gales inspired fear across the Realm. And Evelyn was reminded once more as to why.

Elise noted the surprised look in her friend’s eyes and turned to leave. “I will see for myself the brightness of this star.”

Lynette silently followed two steps behind her.

Evelyn raised her glass as they walked away. “I pray you are reborn from the ashes.”

~~~

The moon was already hanging in the night sky when Stryg arrived at the Villa District. He spotted the Katag manor rising above the limestone walls surrounding it.  Stryg stopped at the corner street and peered at the mansion. Blue mage light and orange candlelight flickered from the tall windows. Dozens of carriages were parked in front of the manor.

The party had already started.

And he was late.

Stryg could practically hear Gale’s admonishing voice in his head, being late was considered rude among nobles.

He sighed. Great, my first day as a lord and I’m already offending one of the Ruling Families of the city.

Not that he much ever cared for what the nobility thought of him, but he was trying to be a worthy lord for House Veres. To make matters worse, the one who had invited him was Krall. He’d rather not make enemies with Tauri’s father. He needed this night to go well.

If he walked in now the guards would immediately announce his entrance and everyone would all know he was late.

Stryg cocked his head to the side. “What if I don’t walk in?”

Black mana flowed over his skin and shadows swirled around him like a cloak and blended into the darkness of the night. He dashed across the street and made a beeline towards the manor’s walls. 

Every Great House had enchanted their walls with Brown sigils to signal any intruders who dared cross. But how far up did those sigils actually work? The sigils didn’t flare in alarm whenever a bird flew over the manors. There had to be a certain height where such sigils no longer mattered.

Stryg channeled orange into his body and cast an agility spell to lessen his weight. He leaped and cast a Yellow wind spell to push him further into the air. Stryg shot into the sky and for a brief moment he remembered chasing the dragonbane across the city, wings spread over his back.

He felt weightless in the sky and as he looked up at the clouds he felt like he belonged here, flying above it all. Then gravity came calling and he fell like a comet down into the ground. He aimed for the gardens and channeled wind to slow his fall. It did little to help. 

He crashed into a bush and tore it from its roots as he skidded off the grass. He rolled to his feet without missing a beat and brushed off the leaves from Blossom’s white petals. Adjusting the cloak over his shoulders, he walked towards the servant’s entrance at the back of the manor.

A group of guards were waiting for him between the gardens and the manor. The orcs were wrapped in heavy enchanted steel armor, save for one who wore the traditional black robes of mages.

Lightning crackled at the mage’s fingertips as he aimed his hand at Stryg. “Identify yourself intrud— Lord Aspirant…?”

“Um… Hello?” Stryg made a little wave.

The mage’s confused expression melted away and he quickly turned on his men. “Look away! Look away! You saw nothing!”

The guards nodded and hurriedly turned around. 

The mage cleared his throat and pointedly looked up at the night sky, “Hm, must have been a squirrel. The wall’s protective sigils seemed to have made a mistake, right, captain?”

The guard captain nodded and coughed, “Ahem, yes, clearly. I’ll have someone look at it in the morning. In the meantime, we’ll go patrol over— there.”

The guards marched off in the direction their captain pointed. The mage and the captain left a moment later in the opposite direction, leaving Stryg alone with his embarrassed thoughts.

The sigils definitely worked even if someone leaped high that much was for certain. He supposed it made sense, how else would they protect against Yellow mage assassins who simply flew over the walls?

The only question left on Stryg’s mind was how many times had guards caught the Katag heirs sneaking in and out of the manor?