Rise of Fire: Dragons Reborn [COMPLETED]

Chapter 48

Talia met the King's gaze with a deep burning rage. He traipsed around clad in finery, though her real anger came from the color. He was wearing the same color of red as herself. He seemed proud and cocky as usual. The whores surrounding him kept their eyes glued to the ground. They all wore nothing but red bras, panties, and thin chemise shawls that did nothing to cover their bodies. The King was sending a message, she was certain she didn't like it one bit.

"Crown jewel?" She uttered dumbly. What in the Gods names could he mean by that?

"The time has come to announce to the world the arrival of a new rider." He spoke confidently as he grabbed a full goblet of wine from a platter in the hands of one of his harlots. She whimpered lowly though Talia was certain he never heard her. He spun on his heel and marched back, the smug look on his face reminded her of a fat hog.

"Indeed? And this is your decision?" She emphasized the 'your' part with a snap of her teeth. As if anyone could tell her what to do.

"Of course, as your King it is my duty and honor to decide when you will do things and how they will be done. Now that you've apparently healed, we can start to spread the influence..."

"I'll stop you right there, I am not going to be doing anything more for you. In fact now that I am healed I think it's time I continued on my journey. I'm sure you're aware of the old laws, Riders were not pawn pieces of kingdoms but were in fact independent of local politics and governments." She could tell by the look on his face that he was not pleased with her sudden knowledge of law. His lips thinned as he set his goblet of wine down on his desk.

"I don't think you realize just how precarious your position within my court is, Lady Talia. You owe me your life. You owe me a great deal. More than that, I own your friends. If you haven't noticed the 'Old Laws' did not serve the riders well. In fact I'd say it didn't serve any of them considering they've all long since died." His voice grew more serious as he held out a hand. Lotus grunted, grasping at her stomach as if in pain. Not a moment later she took stiff lurching steps towards the King. Talia's skin prickled at the feeling of necromantic mana filling the room.

'He's the necromancer? He's a god damned midget!' She thought to herself incredulously. Although her real question was how a man like Gordon managed to acquire the skills and pool of mana to do what he did. Humans had notoriously short lifespans, but necromancers... They could live for centuries. How old was he? And more to the point, how much mana did he have to throw away?

"Is this the path you want to take, little King?" She spoke with a deadly serious tone, her rage uncoiling like a venomous snake within her. Lotus's eyes were flickering between panicked and vacant, Talia's work was holding but only just. She wasn't sure how he still had a grip on the woman but she had a feeling it would quickly grow stronger if she didn't intervene. He smiled slowly, the look on his face made it clear he wasn't going to back down.

"You have no choice if you want to preserve the life of your friends. Or would you prefer I kill her now? I could release you from these chains..." He grabbed a knife from his belt and pressed it to Lotus's throat, a small bit of blood dribbled free from the wound. Talia could smell it, the acrid scent of copper and mana. She shivered slightly as she struggled to maintain her form. The longer she stayed cuffed the more Madora's spell broke down, she was running out of time if she didn't want to crush every single person in the King's quarters.

"Do you know why they call me the Hound?" She tried to stop the shaking in her legs, the burning sensation in her bones was becoming hotter as each minute passed. Would her body break? She tried to fortify herself, gritting her teeth she stood straighter and summoned every ounce of strength she could muster. She prayed quickly to Hephatus, hoping that her next move wouldn't require a lot of mana. The King paused as a look of minor curiosity and annoyance flickered across his face.