Chapter 49

By the Waters

“He held a necklace of gold as he burned; he clutched it so tightly, even his ashes wouldn’t let it go.”

My Dawn, Vol. XI

Sylene traced over the night streets of the fort, a wave of distant nostalgia surging from within her. She had spent a vast deal of her life within these tall walls of bright, and, at one point, had known all these streets like the back of her hand. However, the streets now seemed almost alien; it wasn't as though she didn't know where to go or which path to take, but that everything had changed considerably. There were several dozen new buildings on her path over, shops, inns, even a mini-museum, making her realize that the fort had changed, just like she had.

She pondered for a moment what her guards would think if they knew she was out, alone, in the night, going to meet someone who snuck into her chambers, unfound. They would probably lose their minds, she mused; especially Pyrt, the man she was entrusted to when she was eleven, and he was merely fifteen. He was almost eighty, yet always looked like a spring ready to bounce should something happen to her.

A faint sense of guilt invaded her as she felt she was betraying their trust. Perhaps, indeed, it was foolish to not have any one of them accompany her, but she may as well be a fool for once. She had been clever and wise all her life, and it was tiring. Too tiring. Every mind needs rest days, the days when it is allowed to make decisions that aren’t particularly bright – and so did hers.

Sneaking out of the fort wasn’t difficult; it was not that the security was lax, but that she knew where everything was, how it was set up, and how to circumvent it. After all, she had traced well over half of the trappings within and without the Fort – despite her age and somewhat shabby appearance, she was one of the most versatile Enlightened. Not quite at the level of the King or the Lightbringer, but not too far behind either. Yet, even that level of prowess wasn’t enough for her to detect an intruder.

Once again, she grew curious, hastening her steps. She had to see who it was that snuck past her with such ease, and what did he want to do with her. If he turns out to be a danger to her House, she was even prepared to fight him – hopefully raising enough ruckus for others to arrive, even if it meant forfeiting her life. Her rather loose and wide dress was full of trinkets that enriched her Light or turned her opponent sluggish through the Curses from Beyond the Seas.

As written in the letter, she arrived by the pier in the dead of the night, stopping just outside the elongated, wooden bridge hanging over the turbulent waters of the river. There was a figure, at the pier’s edge, sitting down.

Sylene couldn’t move; even this far off, even with her eyes on him, she couldn’t sense him. Her Light was blind to the man, as though he was not there. For a moment, she believed she was seeing a phantom – but, no matter how much she blinked, he remained there. For a moment she even suspected she had completely lost her Light without ever being aware of it, but quickly dismissed the idiotic thought.

Taking a deep breath, she braved the first stepped forward, and, with it, the rest became somewhat easier. The sound of her feet belting against the wood didn't move the man, as he remained seated, almost like a statue, waiting for her. She knew she shouldn't approach him, let alone sit next to him, as that would mean giving up any chance of being able to fight him, but she couldn't resist it. She felt weak against the calling, against that hollow spot next to him.

She walked up and stopped by his side, glancing down; he was cloaked and hooded in black, making it impossible to distinguish his features. However, based on his build that was somewhat hidden by the loose gown, he wasn’t someone she ever met.

“… not the smartest thing,” he spoke in a deep voice; at least she confirmed he was on the older end of things, most-likely middle-aged. “Coming here, alone.”

“… that is what your letter said, no?” she said, struggling to sit down, regretting having worn such a lavish dress. He got up and helped her, holding her rather gently until she sat down, hanging both her legs and the bottom of the dress over the pier’s edge.

The waters of Sumnner’s River were, as always at night, rather violent, bashing against the stonewalling, occasionally wetting her feet despite the ten-feet difference of height between the two. There was no logical explanation, at least as far as she was aware, as to why the river changes so much from day into the night. Rather, it is almost like a completely different river.

The moon’s reflection bounced and folded over the water’s surface, forming a rather picturesque scene, though she could hardly care for the poetics of it. Only now did she realize she had done another idiotic thing, but it was too late for regrets. She comforted herself by saying if he wanted her dead, he would have killed her in her bed.

“The strangest thing,” he said after the two settled back down. “Trusting a random letter on your night desk.”

“You almost sound as though you wish I hadn’t come.”

“… the pier’s surroundings are spent to hell with traps,” he said. “I’ve wasted almost eight hours of my life because I thought you’d bring an army over.” She shuddered, subconsciously glancing around, trying to locate the traps. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t spot even a single one, causing the blood in her veins to cool. “Alas, what can be done? We live and learn, no?”

“… I suppose so.” She mumbled. “Who are you?”

“… a rather direct one, just as the stories tell, huh?” the man chuckled momentarily, glancing at her. It was the first time she’d looked into his eyes – and was even more certain she had never met him. They were blue, beautifully blue, like sapphire gems from Beyond the Seas. There seemed to be a strange splendor in them, the ilk of shine that she had never seen before in her seven decades of living. “As my letter said, I am Skyler.”

"… I'll pry nothing from your lips, huh?" she smiled back, relenting, deciding to go with the flow. At least, she now knew, she'd live. And perhaps even learning something new over the course of the night.

“… even if I told you who I am,” the man said. “You’d draw a blank, Lady Sylene.”

“Then why use a fake one?”

“… why indeed?” he sighed, looking up. “It might be unknown now, but, in time, it will spread. Truth be told, I fear that day.”

“… why?” she asked, her curiosity growing stronger.

"… don't you ever wish you weren't born who you were?" he asked suddenly. "No, perhaps choosing you as an example might be a bit overboard. You always did as you wished, but I can imagine that the eye of the public often held you back from trying something you wanted."

“… you don’t need to waste your back of tricks on me, Skyler,” Sylene chuckled, shaking her head. “I came here, meaning I am ready to talk. Save that precious tongue for those young and naïve lasses who don’t know any better.”

“…” his eyes turned crescent for a moment as he looked at her, indicating his wide smile beneath the black mask. “Apologies; it’s a habit of mine, to test the new people I meet.”

“… test what?” she quizzed.

“How much I can exploit them.”

“… what about me, then? How much do you think you can exploit me?”

“Plenty,” he replied without hesitation. “Though I imagine you’d disagree with that statement.”

“Convince me.”

“… we can dance around the bushes for years, Lady Sylene,” he chuckled once again, rebuffing her attempt to dig something out of him. “But, the truth is, that I won the moment you chose to open that letter. The base nature of who we are always wins, be it against caution, fear, or uncertainty. That is why you are here, pondering, probing, prying. I could pull you in any one direction I wanted, leaving behind little crumbs for you to piece together my story, and, by dawn, you'd have given me your kingdom, and I would have given you a lie. Fortunately, I've no interest in your kingdom, as you should have no interest in my story."

“… what interests you, then?” she asked, sighing.

“Your daughter.”

“Hm?” Sylene’s expression hardened suddenly as she clutched her breast pocket, ready to fight at any moment. “Please, young man, hold your tongue.”

"She has no value to you," he continued, looking back at her. In his eyes, however, she missed what all other men who came asking for her daughter's hand had – lust, greed, desire. They were hollow of all of them, as though the man didn't possess them, to begin with. "But she has some value to me."

“… this is a rather strange way to ask a woman’s hand in marriage, wouldn’t you say so?”

“Marriage? I’ve no desire of marrying your daughter,” he shook his head. “In my eyes, she’s still a child. Fortunately, I was blessed with a complete lack of attraction toward children.”

“… then why do you want her?” she asked again.

“For the same reason you don’t,” he said. “A junior of mine owes a great deal to a certain jester, and would like to repay the debt.”

“…” Sylene’s expression hardened once again as the old, buried memories came surging in. The House’s greatest shame… she would behead anyone who dared bring it up on the surface, yet the man was so brazenly and openly mentioning it, without even a pretense. Is he that confident… or does he just not care?

“Ease the murderous intent, Lady; it hardly suits your countenance,” he chuckled again, Sylene finding that it was growing rather annoying. “You know well enough that she’ll wane and rot in that cold house, and, as a lack of luck would have it, probably croak shortly after you do. I know you have plans of your own on how to salvage what little you can of her life, but you’ll be dead, and I’ll very much be alive.”

“… you’ve quite misunderstood me if you believe I’d let my daughter blemish her chances at the Halls of Light for the primal lust,” Sylene snapped. "If she dies, she may yet have a chance to live on with us for eternity."

“… I didn’t take you for a woman to put the hollow words over your own daughter’s happiness, Lady Sylene,” the man sighed, looking up at the moon once again. “But as you said, I must have misunderstood. Alas, we all make mistakes.”

“… as I’ve misunderstood you. I believed you were clever for a moment there.”

“Difference is,” he said, looking at her with a piercing gaze. “I never claimed to be clever.” His eyes once again curled up into a crescent shape, fuming her further. “I will take her, Lady Sylene.”

“—what?!” his words burned out like a bolt of thunder in her mind.

"I've watched her getting beaten, abused, and humiliated in that house of ice for long enough," he added. "And I've watched you turn a blind eye to it all, giving you plenty of chances. Me inviting you out tonight was a courtesy I never give to people; I could have just as easily snatched her that night, and you’d have been none the wiser.”

“… do you really believe it is a smart idea to threaten the Kingdom’s Duchess?” Sylene’s voice had turned completely frigid, the look in her eyes emotionless. “I may be old, Skyler, and may be close to the end of my reign, but that does not mean I am powerless.”

“… your title means nothing to me,” he said hollowly. “Earls, Dukes, Kings, Queens or peasants… in my eyes, you are all the same – red-blooded and very much mortal. Do reconsider, Lady Sylene,” the man said, suddenly jumping to his feet, looking down at her. “I’ll be waiting on this pier a week from now, with a ship ready for departure. Until then, I’ll be watching. I hope you’ll display the wit and foresight that had entombed you in the Kingdom’s histories once more… for everyone’s sake…” he suddenly vanished, much to Sylene’s shock and horror. It wasn’t speed, she realized… the man just… disappeared. As though he was never there. She looked around with her eyes and scryed with the Light, but nothing came to her. She was alone, once again thinking she spoke to a phantom. A very, very terrifying phantom.