Elements of Deceit

Dark Plots

Early Auxumn, 793 EY.

Dazansus, Capitol of Vassicus.

Lysone

The back hallways of the Royal wing in the palace were near silent, with only the creaking of the patrolling guard's armour and the steady footfall of their patrols. Lysone had chosen his own team to cover this part of the palace, slowly maneuvering the selected few that had been put in place by General Itri before the man had left. Thinking about the task he had sent the man on, Lysone grimaced as he stepped through a back hallway and wandered undetected through the secret passages between the rooms.

He had liked Kamau when they were both soldiers. The man was smart and loyal, driven in the direction his commander put him under and braver than common sense would generally credit. He almost felt bad, taking advantage of Kamau's trust in him. And the General's blind faith to the Regent.

Just as he thought of the Queen, his niece, another shudder of guilt went through him, though he shoved that deeper into his soul and started in surprise when he saw a dark figure step out of the passageway that led to the girl-Queen's apartment. Terror seized him, as it always did, as the swirling mass of black shadows moved toward him. The figure walked in his direction, but the darkness itself also reached for him as well. And despite how long he had been around the witch, he still could not get used to that part of her presence.

"The bird returned?" Her voice echoed for a moment, then the darkness fell away, leaving him looking at the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.

Lysone wondered if she actually looked like that, or if it was another illusion to distract him. Bitterly, he glanced toward the door she came out of, then back to her. "I told you to slow down on your... visits... she was looking incredibly ill the other day."

The witch laughed, wrapping her arm around his and pulling him toward his bedroom. "She is dying. Every night I spend with her, she gets closer. But I am going slowly. Far slower than with her parents.... now. Your little puppy?"

"Received the Knife and instructions. They should be on their way already. What... were the instructions?" Lysone shuddered.

General Itri's response had been curt and not very elaborative, but the soldier's tone and coldness of the assurance that the mission would be carried out, did not sit well with him.

The witch, Beldona, laughed softly as she pulled him into his suite of rooms. "Does that really matter? He will fail, most likely will die, and his failure will be the reason the Queen dies. Those who are most loyal to the Queen are associated with him. They will fall from grace and no one will be around to question your ascension, leaving you and those who support you to embrace the power you deserve."

"And you..." Lysone gave her a curious look. "When that's all done, our... arrangement is done."

Beldona gave him a hard smile and a dark look, chuckling softly as she shook her head. "If that is what you wish. My payment is the energy I get out of my tasks. The knife... every injury it causes, it drains the life force of the injured and sends it back to me. An added bonus for me."

Lysone shuddered at the concept, though he was far beyond judgement. He had opened up his home to the woman, allowed her into his bed and showed her how to gain access to her sister and consort.

Then the child.

Perhaps he had been weak at the time.

His sister had just forbade him from marrying. As per royal custom, only the Regent could produce heirs. The woman he had been in love with had been married off to some other country, far away from temptation, and his sister had hinted that he was lucky she had not enforced the normal tradition for siblings when her daughter had been born.

Lysone scowled at the memory. What kind of sister threatens to castrate her own brother, merely because he had fallen in love?

Heartbroken and bitter, he had agreed to revenge with this witch. A necessary evil to bring himself into full power on the throne, with no suspicion coming his way. Lysone had sent the Empire's best General on a desperate, but last-ditch attempt to save the Queen. He only lamented he could not be confident that his friendship with General Itri could secure the man's loyalty. He had sentenced the man to death, essentially. If only because Itri would remain loyal to the Regent, the girl, no matter how many battles they had been in together.

As they walked, Beldona had explained that even she would have difficulty making the journey. That there were very few witches who could maintain protection and their sanity long enough to traverse the mountains. And that any witch worth half her power would know that Itri was going to try to kill her. The contract had been worded ambiguously enough. There didn't need to be success to get payment. They just had to go on the trip. And witches could break contract at the first sign of betrayal of that contract with the other party.

"Stop thinking... you'd think you weren't attracted to me anymore." Beldona's purred words brought him back into the room, and he smirked softly when he noticed that she was in the process of undressing.

"You can't betray me, as long as I hold up my end of the bargain. And if you want to change the terms, we have to renegotiate, right?" Lysone asked idly, feigning indifference as he turned to pour himself a drink.

"You are protected from dark influences, any machinations that I can detect. Though I wonder, that you still find me so repugnant, after giving you everything you wanted?" Beldona had a hint of offence in her voice, but she walked up beside him, stark naked, to pour herself a drink, before walking over to the fireplace.

Standing in front of the carved stone hearth, she stared into the flames, looking as upset as she did vulnerable, though Lysone knew it was an act. It was hard to remember that she wasn't the young woman that she portrayed herself as.

Lysone nodded carefully. "What have you been doing with all the gold? You live here, I purchase every luxury for you, what costs do you have?"

"I'm a smart woman." Beldona turned to look at him, smirking. "As you said. When this is done, it will be done, and I will no longer enjoy these luxuries. I can retire somewhere and live in luxury."

"I would think that you would get bored with that." Lysone murmured thoughtfully into his mulled wine. "If you stopped with all the black magic and stealing life force from people. You would make a very talented advisor to the King."

Beldona just laughed, shaking her head before taking a mouthful of wine. "And yet, it seems like that would just mean me doing all your dirty-work again. While you chase after skirts and look for a wife."

"Women are very well suited for leadership positions." Lysone shrugged. "My sister was a far better ruler than I will be. She was just a deplorable sister."

Beldona smirked, before glancing toward the bed. "I can see that you're interested in fun. But your forlorn puppy heartbreak isn't very attractive."

Lysone scowled at her, putting his glass down on the mantle of the fireplace. "We scratch one another's mutual itch, that is all."

But he just did not trust the grin she had on her face when she murmured. "Just that."