Infernal Blade

Nine

Kanika

I could sense his presence long before the door opened. Evil seemed to emanate from him, and the smoky sensation pricked my senses as I walked past the door of my home. A servant was hard as work shining the chandelier hanging above me, the rickety ladder one push away from falling apart.

Instead of heading for my training room, I turned and went back to my room to change. It wasn't that I felt the need to dress up for Brevil, but I wanted him to know I sensed him coming. I didn't want him to think he had taken my by surprise.

Back in my room, I pulled out one of my more elegant outfits. A dark tunic with silver trim and an elegant cloak. The cloak was spun from the darkest fabric, almost pure night. It shimmered with every step I took, elegant and ominous at the same time. the clasp wrapped across my throat and adjusted to drape partly in the front. I made sure it was tightly secured before pulled on the matching bracers and using a bit of magic to adjust my hair.

Then I heard the scream.

Holding back a sigh, I strode down the hall and back towards the entryway. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, taking a moment to study the scene before me. The servant who had been cleaning the chandelier was now on the ground writhing, his hands wrapped around his throat as an invisible force choked him. Maxim Brevil stood a foot away, solemn and dark with his eyes locked on the servant.

"Come now, that is no way to greet an old friend," I said, stepping around the servant and flicked my fingers, breaking the spell Brevil held over the man. I didn't have to watch to see the man scramble up and race out of the room. Brevil's eyes slid over and up my body, landing on my eyes.

"I had to let you know I was here somehow," he said without a hint of remorse. The same cold man as before. Well, at least he hadn't changed too much.

Brevil wore the same dark cloak over his face from the meeting, only his eyes visible beneath it. The red orbs studied me. I offered him a seat in the drawing room, and he didn't hesitate to accept.

He flicked the hood of the cloak back, the scars once again unveiled for me to see. A gasp from across the room drew my gaze as I servant caught a glimpse of Brevil's face as well.

"Leave," I ordered the young girl, leaving no room for argument. Brevil was a tightly strung man, and I didn't want him to kill the girl for any imagined slights. The poor thing had barely been here for a year, as it was, and I didn't like to waste the help.

Once the woman had scurried out of the room, I took a seat and waited for Brevil to do the same. His hands clasped behind his back, he stared out the window to the dark forest beyond. I took the opportunity to study him, noting anything that had changed in the years he had been gone. If I wasn't mistaken, he had certainly grown stronger. Being able to induce someone beneath your power without a single touch was certainly a feat in itself.

"You haven't changed."

I smoothed out a crease in my pants. "I can't say the same about you." He still didn't turn around, but I knew he wasn't focused on the view anymore.

"You didn't take my advice." This time he turned around, facing me with that expression that said so much and so little at the same time.

I forced back the growing unease beginning to surface in my mind. "I don't take anyone's advice. Don't take it personally." Although it was personal. Oh, it was oh so personal with Brevil.

Brevil took a step back towards the center of the room, his posture rigid. "Perhaps I imagined that we were different than all the others." The words held no emotion, but I knew what he meant anyways.