Of Shadows and Darkness

Chapter 27

"So," began Earl Alfred. "I'm guessing you've found Gregor."

I clutched the collar of my shirt just to check my clothing was in place. How did he know? Did he see us?

"Did you read my mind?" I asked crossing my arms.

The earl blinked at me. "What? No, Cinnabar texted me. I can't even read your mind from this distance."

"Oh, okay," I muttered ignoring how he implied he could in fact read my mind if he was closer. "Did you just want to ask about Gregor?"

"Well, yes and no. I just wanted to check in to make sure you were alright. Cinnabar said you were panicking earlier."

"Yes-no. I mean..." I exhaled. "I'm fine, I was worried then but I'm fine now. But about Gregor and the bindings you've placed on him..."

"It's just so he won't cause more of a ruckus. It won't hurt him. I've already called his parents, who it seems, didn't know he was even missing. They should really keep that boy on a tighter leash."

"So what's going to happen to him?" I asked dropping my hands to my side.

"We'll have to see when his parents get back to me. I'm feeling a bit more lenient this time since he came to get you. I might just give him a stern talking to and send him back," sighed the earl.

I couldn't understand how nonchalant he was being about this whole situation. "Then why don't you just do that instead of keeping him here?"

"That'll just make me look weak and I can't afford to look weak. The circle of old magic families is very small and people talk. What's happening now will get back to the Lord and I'd rather he not see me as weak since I'm aiming to be his heir," grumbled Earl Alfred.

"Lord...like the demon Lord?" I asked. I had only heard vague things about the demon Lord, how he's all powerful and demands absolute obedience. The demon Lord was meant to be the representative for the whole demon world but no one ever mentioned what exactly the demon lord did.

The earl gave me a stern look, like I had asked an especially stupid question. "How much do you know about demon world politics?"

I shrugged. "No much. The most I know is that it exists, I guess."

"Unfortunately, I don't think you can afford to be this ignorant for much longer. You see the role of demon Lord is passed between the old magic families, each lord must choose an heir from a different family and it is almost always based on who is the most powerful. But because the two most powerful magic families are the Lankeshwar from Motee and that Canaan from Pyropolis are so much more powerful than the others, the role of Lord would pass between them. Since the role of Lord was created there have been only two times where it didn't go to someone from one of those two houses."

"But if it goes to the most powerful families how do you have a chance?" I asked. I recalled how Cin mentioned before that the powerful magic users were the ones with the oldest soul weapons. Did that mean the earl was trying to take their soul weapons away to make them weaker?

Earl Alfred frowned. "The current Lord Ushakanta Lankeshwar, is nearing the end of his twenty year term and has been hesitant to pick a heir. Nestor inherited the Canaan family's soul weapon but married Lord Lankeshwar's daughter."

The world shook around me. "Nestor- as in Gregor's father Nestor?"

"Yes? Was that not clear?" replied the earl, narrowing his eyes at me. He seemed more upset that I was interrupting him than asking another stupid question. I nodded wondering if this was the history lesson Cin warned me about.