Summer Garden

Janus

Janus paced in his darkened drinks room. His whisky lay on the mantelpiece over the dying fire, untouched. He was too anxious to allow himself to become intoxicated, to allow himself to relax. Too many threads that he'd laid over the process of a dozen lifetimes were coming to completion. A single misstep now might prove fatal, and a colossal waste of time.

"M'lord." A voice spoke as one of the shadows detached itself from the rest, a black-haired Fae emerging into the fading light. His wings were dull, absent the dust that allowed them to sparkle.

Janus paused, looking at the spy, "Speak, Rendi."

"The Queen has collapsed." The man responded flatly, "She touched the ghoul, and experienced a vision."

Janus sighed heavily. There was no way to know what the Queen had seen. No magic could pry it from her mind, or at least not without killing her, and eliminating her in that manner would guarantee his failure. She was too well-liked by the people. His annexation of her lands, though necessary, had nearly caused all his plans to fall apart and be for nought.

"Anything else?"

The spy smiled, "The two are alone. The servants have been sent away."

Janus considered it. He could make a case for infidelity. That the queen wasn't observing the Right correctly. Yet whilst that would allow him to expel her from the Council, it wouldn't satisfy the judicial cravings of the rest of the Council, and some would stand against him. War might erupt, and though he could certainly win such an eventuality, it would taint his rule for the rest of eternity. He would lose future subjects.

"Continue to watch." He said, dismissing the man, and resumed his pacing. So, the queen's claim of the Right hadn't been a bluff. She'd laid bait for him to demand an examination. He was glad he hadn't taken it. That would have closed the door to fabricating a lie later on, when the queen's position became more vulnerable than it was now.

This ghoul... He needed to know more of the creature if he were to understand how to manipulate it, and break it. To cause it to break a law, and earn a death sentence without hesitation. He crooked a finger to a man he knew was waiting patiently in the darkness.

The assassin emerged, his eyes blinded by a myriad of scars across his face. This was the greatest warrior the Fae realm had to offer, and one of the greatest infiltrators that served Janus. The man had fought Hero personally, and had stalked and assassinated hundreds of humans in their own world. Any time a mage got close to creating a portal, this was who Janus had sent to eliminate them.

"Find out about this mortal."

The shadow vanished silently.