Six Rulers

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Dylos

"Are you sure this is safe? I'm all for death-defying crap and all, but I don't want to actually die." I said to Jayra.

"I assure you, Your Majesty, this has a 98.9% success rate." Jayra continued her preparations.

I wasn't reassured by that margin of success.

This chick was weird. First, she comes to me and says she wants to help me be a better king, then she tells me she's double crossing Syric, then decides to do... whatever the heck she's doing right now.

Maybe I shouldn't have trusted her... or let her in my castle....or even talked to her...

"Sir, it is ready," She said from where she crouched next to the thing she'd drawn on the floor .

"What did you draw that in? Because if it's anything but pudding, it's going to stain the floor. And I like my floor the way it is. Unstained." I was hesitant. I wasn't sure I wanted to go through with this.

"With all due respect, Sir, please." Jayra handed me a knife and a small bowl. "Here."

I took the knife, but didn't proceed with what she wanted me to do. I itched to run away, throw the knife on the floor – but I didn't move. Couldn't move.

"You're taking too long."

Jayra ripped the knife out of my hand and cut open my forearm, then tipped my arm so the blood dripped into the bowl.

I tried to jerk my arm away, but she had an iron grip. Finally she let my arm go. I stumbled back, regretting every decision I'd made that got me here.

She set the bowl next to the wilted flower and the chunk of smoky quartz.

Jayra stood next to the thing that was definitely not drawn with pudding and raised her arms. She began to speak in a weird language I'd never heard.

"Jayra, stop this now!" I yelled.

She kept on chanting. I tried to tackle her, but I was frozen in place. A moment later, a cloud of dark smoke began to billow in front of Jayra. It swirled and frothed until it took a vaguely humanoid shape.

Who calls me, it spoke.

"I do," Jayra called to it. "I have called you here."

Why.

"To help me."

Why would I do that.

Jayra smiled wickedly. "Because I have brought you a vessel."

The cloud roiled. What makes him a worthy vessel.

"Because he is a king."

A king.

"Yes."

I find him...acceptable.

"Then he is yours." Jayra bowed to the cloud.

Before I could scream, the cloud raced towards me and everything went black.