Descent of a God

A Lesser Against the Lord

|Arthur|

Kezess, with his mid-length silvery hair, sat motionless in his seat, creating a palpable silence that hung heavily between us. I understood the game all too well. If Kezess deemed it necessary, Windsom would have stood at attention for hours waiting for his acknowledgment. But I refused to accept him as my sovereign, nor did I accept his invitation to stand in his presence.

"How long have you been following my progress?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Kezess's lips twitched at the corners, and his eyes darkened. "Arthur Leywin," he said, "I should welcome you back to Epheotus. Once again, you stand before me just as war stirs in your world."

"Stirs?" I asked, shifting my weight uneasily. I was acutely aware of the physicality between us, with Kezess still sitting, almost motionless, while I stood before him. "The war between Dicathen and Alacrya is in full swing. How can you say it's stirring?"

"That conflict is no longer of importance," Kezess replied coolly, as if he were discussing a trivial matter. "I told you before that I saw you as a necessary component in that conflict, but you failed to heed my advice, which led to your inevitable failure. Now, it is time to determine if there is a place for you in the upcoming war between the Vritra Clan and all of Epheotus."

Something he said caught my attention, and I couldn't let it go. "Your advice that I 'failed' to heed...you're talking about Tessia."

Kezess's brows rose slightly, and his eyes flashed a deep magenta. "Through you and the other reincarnate, Nico, Agrona groomed the perfect vessel for the entity known as the Legacy. And through her, you have given him knowledge and power enough to be a threat to Epheotus, and in doing so, you have all but ensured the destruction of the world you've come to love and everyone in it. You think yourself wise because you have lived two short lives, and so you refuse to listen to well-meaning advice, forgetting that those giving it lived for centuries before King Grey was born and will live centuries after Arthur Leywin's bones have turned to dust."

Suppressing a scoff, I retorted, "I don't think you know half as much as you pretend to. If you'd understood any of this before Cecilia's reincarnation, you would have had Windsom kill Tessia, Nico, or even me." I crossed my arms and took a step closer to him. "How has Agrona gotten so far ahead of you?"

Without appearing to move, Kezess suddenly stood up. His eyes sparked with angry violet lightning, but his expression remained calm, save for the tightening of his jaw. "You aren't making a good showing of yourself right now," he said. "Before, you had your bond with my granddaughter to shield you. As you have, in your many failures, allowed her to die in battle, you can no longer claim such protection. Don't believe that just because you managed to defeat Windsom with the help of the chimera and the princess, you are my match. If you do not prove to me that you have a part to play in the war, I will destroy you."

As I held the iridescent stone egg in my hand, I braced myself for Kezess's reaction. I knew that revealing what had happened to Sylvie could give him leverage over me, but I couldn't let him believe that she was dead.

Empowering the spellform on my forearm, I reached for the egg, and it glowed with aetheric particles. "Sylvie didn't die," I said, my voice steady.

Kezess's fingers brushed against the egg, but he stopped just short, his eyes fixed on mine. "So, it is true then."

I held my breath, waiting for him to reveal what he knew. But he was just as careful as I was, and after a moment, he pulled his hand back and shifted in his seat. "I trust you will continue to work to revive her," he said, his tone measured.

Relief washed over me, but I didn't let it show. "Of course. She is my bond."

With a flick of my wrist, aether reached out and retrieved the egg, drawing it into the extradimensional storage space.