Realm of Monsters

Chapter 619: To Drinking

  Everyone had been called to duty, not a single servant was allowed to take the day off. Today was the first true party the manor was hosting for their lord and the last thing any of them wanted was to disappoint and anger Lord Veres. The servants had heard rumors of his brutal violence. Whether their lord was prone to hurting his servants like so many other lords in the city was yet to be seen. Either way, none of them wanted to take that chance.

  As Stryg and Plum wandered the streets of the Trade District in search of ‘The Bauble & Bane’ for a bottle of wine, a dark-cloaked figure visited the Veres Manor. Servants moved in brisk strides from one room to another, carrying out their tasks with a sense of urgency that only ever came with an event as important as their lord’s birthday dinner party.

  Despite the fifty or so servants swarming the home, none of them noticed the lone stranger. He moved with a confidence that brooked no argument. As he walked everyone seemed to just miss him; whether it was glancing at their shoes, turning the corner right as he walked past, or speaking to one another, no one spotted him.

  And so it was, when he reached the infirmary room guarded by two Gale sword masters, they were both engrossed in discussing the finer details of swordplay, that their sharp senses failed them, and he ducked underneath their arms as they gestured and reenacted sword forms, then opened the door and walked right in.

  It was only when he closed the door behind him that the sword masters stopped and frowned, glancing at the door. “Did it just close?” one of them asked.

  The other shook her head and cocked an eyebrow. “By itself?”

  He shrugged and accepted his partner’s words.

  Past the door, the stranger wandered around the room. Staring at the elixirs and potions on the shelf for a moment, before moving to the potted flower in the corner, and then the window. He never stared at one thing for long, as quick as it caught his interest he lost it, and searched for the next. He barely cast a glance at the woman lying in bed comatose.

  “It’s a nice room, for sick people that is, well, I would have done things very differently and quite frankly more effective, but this is nice.” He smiled, but it seemed like the feigned, polite smile one might give at a party full of nobles.

  “I spoke to him yesterday. He’s quiet, like you. Had a lot on his mind, also like you. And he had a bubbly friend who stuck by him, like your friend Virella or should I say the Silver Mother now? Honestly, you and Stryg are more alike than I’d have thought. It’s endearing, really.”

  The visitor cracked open the windows and let the brisk autumn air in. “And he clearly cares for his people, that much was obvious. You raised him well, Auri.” He leaned his back on the window and rested his elbows on the windowsill. “But he is troubled. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders and he seems to be struggling with his nature. It doesn’t help that Lunae fractured his mind. I only wonder if that last bit was on purpose or an accident. She did want to kill him before he was even born, you know. But the fact that he lives tells me she may have had a change of heart.”

  He leaned his head back, past the window, and stared at the blue sky. “I offered him a very special gift yesterday, his deepest desire. I would have given him anything. Can you imagine it? All his enemies dead. Magical power the likes of which he could only dream of. Obscene vast amounts of wealth. The love of the most beautiful women in the world. I’d have conquered and handed him this entire Realm if he so desired. But do you know what he wanted? What he whispered? ‘I wish my mother was healed.’ That was his wish, just as it was once yours.” He sighed, “You two really are alike.

  “I can’t decide if that will pose trouble for him in the future, it certainly did for you.” The stranger walked over to the bed, leaned down, and brushed Aurelia’s cheek. “Come on, say something. I never took you for someone who lies around and does nothing.”

  He studied her in silence for a long moment. “No wonder those healers could do nothing for you. The void flames scorched your soul. You should already be dead. They can’t see it, but I do. The only reason you're still alive is because you’re fighting, even now you’re fighting to stay alive. …You are remarkable,” he whispered in genuine admiration.

  The room suddenly grew cold as he lifted his index finger and a pale white feather sprouted from his fingertip. He plucked the feather and placed it over her forehead. Then he leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips.

  With a snap of his fingers, the window closed shut. He got up and opened the door. The sword masters were back at it again, arguing with one another about a duel between Lady Gale and Lord Jahn. He sidestepped them and walked away. As he turned the corner he snapped his fingers once again and the door snapped shut, startling the guards.

  Servants scurried past him, too focused in their own worlds to notice him.

  “You with the black hair, stop there.”

  The visitor paused in his gait and glanced back. Gian stood a few paces behind him, hand on the hilt of Primoria. But as the stranger turned around, Gian felt a shiver run down his spine. The man was a pale youth with soft lavender eyes.

  “Who are you?” Gian whispered, shaken.

  The stranger smiled, his lilac eyes alight. “You must be Gian Veres. A pleasure to finally meet you.”

  “No one has called me a Veres in a very long time.”

  “Are you not the brother of Stryga Veres?”

  “I am,” he replied cautiously.

  “Then you are Gian Veres.” 

  “Did you… Did you know her?”

  “You could say she was a friend.” He glanced at the elder vampire’s missing arm. “I brought this to help another, but she had no need of it.” Fishing out a vial from his pocket, he tossed it to Gian.

  The old man let go of his sword’s hilt and snatched it from the air. The vial was filled with a golden liquid that shone brilliantly in the window’s sunlight. “What is this?”

  “Don’t mention it, just drink it.”

  “Drink— it…?” Gian looked around but the stranger was gone. Gian dashed through the manor, searching for him, but no matter where he looked he could not find him.

  In a room far away, Aurelia lay in bed, her breathing steady and quiet. The pale feather on her forehead smoked as it burned and shriveled to ash. She made a pained expression, her muscles tensing, then she exhaled and her body relaxed. With a faint groan, Aurelia slowly opened her eyes.

~~~

  Lunae heard a pair of footsteps enter her temple hall before she saw the person himself, a rare, almost impossible feat. Opting out of her magical sight, she snapped her silver eyes open and spun around with a growl. There were very few beings who could sneak up on her and all were dangerous.

  A young man stood alone at the foot of her throne. He smiled up at her wolfen form. “Hello, love.”

  The tension in her body melted away and she sighed, before curling back up on her throne of ice. “Death, what are you doing here?”

  “To drink, what else?” He held up a pair of giant glasses and a bottle of wine.

  “Is that from your garden?” Lunae eyed the bottle, unable to contain her craving.

  “Of course, only the best for my lovely wife.”

  Her wolfen form shifted away in a mist and she arose in her humanoid form, deep silver skin and long, silky white hair. She crossed her arms and glared down at him. “I haven't seen you in decades and now you show up all of a sudden. Why?”

  His youth form shifted away in blue light. His body grew until he stood a head taller than her. His skin was a rich blue the same shade as the sky and his hair was pale white with silver accents where the light struck. Even now, as she looked at him and tried to summon her anger she couldn’t help but stare, he was the most beautiful being she had ever known. 

  Death took her in his arms and kissed her.

  She didn’t resist and kissed him back with a fervor they had both missed. After a long passionate moment, she pulled back. “Why are you here?”

  “Can a husband not wish to see his wife?”

  “It’s been 20 years.”

  “20 years is nothing for us. Besides, you were quite angry the last time we spoke, not that I blame you.”

  “You slept with one of my priestesses. We had an agreement. My acolytes are off-limits.”

  “She was mine by divine oath before she was ever yours.”

  “An oath made before she was even born, unlike the oath she made to me.” 

  “Hm. It’s all in the past now.” He waved it away and offered her a glass. The once giant glasses now seemed ordinary in their grasp.

  Lunae waited until he had filled her glass before poking him in the chest with an accusing finger. “I can smell Aurelia on you.”

  “I was honoring a wish from my son.”

  “A wish?”

  “Freely given, of course.”

  “Why would you grant him a wish now? You abandoned him.”

  “You and I both know having a Calamity around a mortal baby would not have been good for his well-being. My siblings and I exude Chaos, not really healthy for mortals. As for why grant him a wish now? It’s his birthday. And I’ve missed a few.”

  Lunae blinked.

  Death smirked. “You forgot it was today, didn’t you?”

  “Time is different for our kind. A year goes by like a day for us,” she muttered, flustered. “Stryg is still a baby anyways. A year or two won’t make any difference.”

  “True, but that doesn’t mean you should miss it.”

  “You missed the first twenty.”

  “I’m here now, aren’t I?”

  “Why are you here, Death?”

  He raised his glass to his lips and took a sip. “To drink.”

  “Liar.” She scoffed, but raised her glass anyway. “To drinking then.”

  “To drinking.” They clinked glasses and downed the wine.

  Lunae sighed in satisfaction, “Ah, I’ve missed your wine. I could drink this all day.”

  Death grinned, reached into his cloak, and pulled out a crate too large to have ever fit. Cracking it open, he revealed a dozen more bottles.