4.

Arkona sends one last glance at the retreating backs of her son and his companion before focusing on the two sitting in front of her.

Once the door closes with a click, her benevolent aura turns cold and her smile slips away from her rose red lips. Her eyes bore into them with cold intensity, making them gulp inaudibly.

“So, tell me more about your family.” Her tea cup meets with its saucer with a clink. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about House Vermillion. Only little bits of information here and there.” She bats a hand.

“Well, Lady Arkona, the Vermilion House is one of the oldest family in the Durien Empire.” Marbethta begins. “The father of the Empire, Lucien Delaerian, had two sons; Taegrion and Vermaegry. We are the descendants of the second son and we are tasked with the duty of making sure that the first descendants are safe and are doing their duties as they should. We are sort of watchers and limiters to them; making sure that they don’t bring the empire to ruin.”

Arkona nods in understanding.

“Currently,” Marbethta continues. “Due to an unforeseen event, we are just seven in number.”

“…what happened?”

Marbethta exhales again, shakenly, Caelum joining her this time.

“We… we were attacked.” She replies. “The Vermilion House and some few others had a small gathering in the former Vermilion Manor; celebrating Zalrar’s Day as usual. We don’t know really know or remember what really happened that day. Up till now, it’s all still blurry.”

The woman massages her forehead.

“Some of us were passed out, maybe due to the overflow of magik that was in the air. When we woke up, it was to dead bodies. My first son and his wife, along with 90% of the Vermillion family, were killed. Their Ward-daughter and biological daughter along with another child, Raemon, were on the floor, bleeding and unconscious. Luckily, it was nothing serious; but their Ward was in a coma for a month and Raemon sustained serious damages that not even magik could fully heal.”

Marbethta squeezes her handkerchief, eyes blank.

“Till this day, we can’t remember what happened. Our memories were altered, either by the killer or rescuers.”

“Rescuers?”

“Rescuers.” Marbethta nods. “The surroundings that day was shaped as if it was battled on by Mages. I and so many others believe that we were saved by strong individuals. It 8is a miracle any of us survived.”

The atmosphere becomes somber and gloomy. All while Marbethta was talking, Arkona was just staring intently at her with a blank look.

“That is tragic. I pray that the Goddess fully heals your wounds and cover your scars with needed happiness.” Arkona inclines her head and Marbethta nods in thanks. “Well, unto other matters. I heard a whisper about a law called the First Male Child Law. Can you please shed some light on it?”

“The First Male Child Law…” Marbethta repeats, humming a bit. “Well, it’s a law which states that only the first male will become the sole heir of a family.”

“Only a male child?” Arkona echoes with a light frown. “But what if the family is without one? Or no child at all? There are exceptions, aren’t they? Seeing as Leona is clearly a female and is the heiress of the Vermilion family.”

“Ah… yes, there are exceptions.” Marbethta replies, hesitant.

Arkona cocks her brow again, hand waving in a ‘Go on’ gesture.

“As there are exceptions to many things in this life, so are there exceptions to man-made rules. There are only three exceptions to the FMC Law. One,” Marbethta raises a finger up, “If by chance the first born son of a family dies, the second son will automatically become the next heir. But you’re already aware of that, aren’t you?”

Arkona nods in affirmation.

Marbethta raises up another finger. “Two, if the first born male dies, and there is no second son in the head’s family or any other child for that matter, the mantle of succession will be passed to the son of the sibling to the current head of the family.” She raises a third finger. “And lastly, if the head of the family dies and he had no children at all, the succession goes to the next son, which is his brother. If there are no male children in the entire family, then the succession will go to the head’s daughter or sister.”

“Hmm… then pray tell, how did Leona became the heiress to the Vermilion family and not your second son, Caelum?”

“My, ah,” Marbethta clears her throat, “My son, Cadmus, wrote a new will, before he died, and it was unknown to us until later.”

Arkona’s eyebrow make its way up higher. “So, you are saying that your first son made his daughter, who is also his first and only child, his heir, against the wishes of the First Male Child Law?”

“I… yes.”

“Wow, your son must really love his daughter so much for him to do this behind your back.” Arkona lets out an amused grunt, ignoring how Caelum glares disdainfully at her with gritted teeth. “Wait… I just remembered that there are female heads in this Empire. I even met one, um, what’s her name again?”

“I think it was Lady Lilian of the Ancient House of Rose, my Mistress.” The maid in the background supplies.

“Thank you, sweet darling. Yes, that was her name. She told me – well, more like hinted actually – that if needs calls for it, a family head will declare their daughter the next head. It might be because of greed or that the head gives zero cares for the Law. Am I correct?”

“Yes. But as you said, it is when the head is desperate or go behind the family’s back.”

“So, it’s an exception then? Seeing as the female child is made the heir.”

“I… yes. If you decide to call it that.”

“Then your son never went against the law behind your back. He just made use of an exception. Not well used, but it’s still an exception.” She shrugs. A thick silence envelopes them after her statement, making her subtly roll her eyes.

“You know, for a one thousand year old Empire, you lot are quiet backwards.” Arkona raises her cup and took a sip of her tea. She frown when she discovered that it was now cold.

“I beg your pardon?” Caelum splutters out.

Arkona holds out the cup for the maid to take, which she does swiftly. “I said, Lord Caelum, that for a one thousand year old Empire, you lot are sure backwards. You both are clearly displeased by Cadmus’ action of making his daughter the heiress.” She raises an eyebrow.

The maid comes back with her tea cup filled with steamy, hot tea. An uncomfortable silence fell on them again, but Arkona pays it no head, sipping her tea without a care.

“Well, as you might know, Lady Blackwater, everyone has a custom, and so do we. Some might refuse to acknowledge it and ignore its very existence, but a majority of us heed to it. It is our sacred law and we are not ashamed of it.” Marbethta says with a proud voice, making Arkona stare at her with an amused brow up.

“I apologize if I insulted your law, Lady Vermilion. I will try not to do so throughout our conversation.” Arkona tilts her head a little in an apologetic nod.

“And we shall strive to do the same.”

Arkona lets a sharp smile grace her lips, making the two Vermilions to shift uncomfortably.

“So, as I was saying, before we got derailed,” Marbethta hastily continues. “As the descendants of the second son, if anything were to happen to the descendants of Taegrion, the throne would be automatically handed over to us. But unfortunately, we are not interested.”

“Really?” Arkona raises a brow again, her lips tilted at a side.

“Yes. We found out that ruling over an empire can be quiet… tasking, if one were to put it that way.”

Arkona lets out a silent snort at that. What an understatement.

“After a two hundred years rule, we didn’t want the throne at all.”

“Wait, the Vermilion had the throne for a two hundred years rule? I thought you guys didn’t desire the throne?”

“And we still don’t. More so than ever after what that two hundred rule did to us.” Caelum immediately replies, making Marbethta to look at him with a warning glance.

“Hmm. I will like you to elaborate, Lord Caelum.”

Marbethta opens her mouth to object but was stopped by Arkona raising a hand, a serious expression on her face.

“And please, do not lie to me. I will find out what you are trying to hide and that will be stressful for me. So, I urge you, don’t make this harder on me.”

The two Vermilions nods hesitantly at her, glancing at each other with a worried look. Marbethta gave her son the go ahead with a stiff nod of her head.

“The empire had a slight… problem some five hundred years back.” Caelum begins. “The Taegryon family began having incestuous relationships between themselves. Fathers marrying their daughters or sisters, sons marrying their sisters or aunts, just to keep the bloodline ‘pure’.” The lord made an air quote with his fingers at the pure. “The inbreeding had many consequences such as madness, sickness and brain damage. We, the descendants of the second son, had to put an end to it when they showed that couldn’t rule the empire under their… condition.”

Caelum’s lips curls in a sneer, and honestly, Arkona wants to follow his lead.

“Due to the misuse of the throne by Tyrion III, who might I add was the product of an incestuous marriage between his father and his elder sister, the Vermilions finally had enough. So, we took the throne by force and rule until the Taegryons were fit to rule again.”

“So, a coup then?” Arkona takes another long sip of her tea.

“If you decide to call it that, then yes.” Marbethta answers stiffly. “It was for the good of the empire and also for the family. If they had continued as they were, the empire as well as our family name and image would have be in ruins by now. Due to the decisions of the kings of those periods, we were risking a war with not one but THREE other empires. And everyone knows that if a war gets out of hand, leading to millions of people dead, The Four Guardians will descend on those empires and put an end to them. Permanently. And we couldn’t risk that.”

“So, you decided to step out of your comfort zone and do the heavy lifting.”

It’s a statement and not a question. Marbethta and Caelum nod in confirmation to her words.

“Vaegatroy Vermilion took over the empire from the Mad King Tyrion. He had to make the hard choice of cutting down half of the Taegryon clan – those begotten from incest. Seeing as we all on this planet can’t have more than three children, it made things easier for him.” Caelum continues, making his mother to throw him a sharp glance. “Those who showed no signs of madness or illness were spared. Just to be on the safe side, a Mage – which were forbidden from the empire – was called upon to make sure no ill blood was coursing through their bloodstream.

“We rule the empire whilst keeping them under strong scrutiny, making sure that they don’t go back to their mistakes. After three hundred years, Vaelian Vermilion finally decided that they were ready to rule once again, and it was time for us to step into the background once again. Before he died, he crowned Zaelak the First as the new ruler. The people of the empire were sceptical, and for a good reason. It was the Taegryons who almost lead them to war two hundred years back. But we Vermilions reassured them and they accepted.” Caelum pauses and the atmosphere becomes solemn once again.

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ here.” Arkona comments.

“But,” Marbethta sighs out, “We were proven wrong once again.”

Caelum takes over from his mother once more, making her drop her face on her palm, highly exasperated.

“After giving a speech, Zaelak proceeded in cutting Vaelian’s head clean off. After that, he commanded the soldiers to kill the Vermilions and those who supported them, right in the presence of the people. About six houses were nearly made extinct that day, if not for the intervention of the civilians, who jumped right in into the fray. We, along with those six houses, left the empire and seek sanctuary with the Izataksu Empire. Luckily for us, they accepted us with open arms and a warm welcome, seeing as we were the ones who stopped a large scale war at the risks of our lives.”

Arkona blinks slowly. “Wow…” She trails off, speechless. “After all your family did for them, to save their bloodline, their reward for you was to… slaughter your family like mere pigs?” She asks with a frown of distaste.

_____________________

“Now, that is a whole new level of pettiness.” Aeron’s lips were pressed together in a thin line, expression soured. “Your family took on an obligation not meant for them - for Zaelri’s sake, they had to make a tough decision that wasn’t meant to be made in the first place - , all because they wanted to see the line succeed and to prevent the downfall of the Empire. And what was their reward? Death? That is petty.”

Leona sighs, hand still petting Lildera.

“Zaelak felt threatened by the power Vaelian and the rest of the Vermilions had. Vaelian had the ability to entrance his audience and make them see things his way. He was known as the Golden Tongue in the empire. Although he didn’t abuse it – the man and the rest of the family literally made it known loud and clear that they had no interest or desire for the throne, but Zaelak still felt threatened. His heart was consumed by hate - pure unquenchable hate for his brother clan. And for what? Just because we insured their non-extinction and descend into madness and into the section of horrible history.” She snorts, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

“Humans are never satisfied.” Aeron states, his face blank. “They want and take and take, but they are never fully and truly satisfied. Their insatiable lust eventually leads to the destruction of others and ultimately themselves. Their hate and prejudice for their fellow humans and things they do not understand breeds a never ending cycle of unfathomable hate and, sadly, death and destruction. It is the ultimate curse of being human.”

Leona exhales loudly, giving a nod of agreement.

“My mother always said to my father that humans are a disease, pest soiling the face of the planet. They lay waste wherever they go and destroy everything they touch. At first, I never understood why she said that, but as I grew, I couldn’t help but agree with her more.”

The pair sit in comfortable silence. Lildera starts fidgeting, making Leona realize that the Linex wants to get down. She releases her grip on the feline, who didn’t hesitate to jump down. The feline turned and stared at the two with keen, intelligent eyes,

“Thank you for your hospitality.” Leona inclines her head at the feline, Aeron doing the same. The feline returns the gesture before majestically walking away.

“So, what happened to the empire after your family and the other six houses left?”

“It became, as expected – forgive me for my language - , a shit show.” Leona deadpans.

_______________________

“It became an utter disaster.” Caelum states dryly. “Zaelak became nothing more than a dictator in the eyes of the people after that. Rebels sprouted in every corners of the empire, opposing his rule. Begin the heartless bastard he was, he cut down all those who opposed him. He will kill their families before their eyes, before they too were killed.

“It was hell for the people. News of the people’s suffering came to our ears, and we were powerless to do anything. Everything we tried failed. As the empire is mostly filled with Non-magi’s, we hired and sent the best known assassins after him, he killed them. We sent Shadow Assassins to end him, instead he killed them. How can someone with no speck of mana in him survive a squad of Shadow Assassins?!

“Then, to our horror, we learnt that he managed to hire a Necromancer.”

“A Necromancer?” Arkona echoes in disbelief. “Necromancers are liaisons of the gods. They provide a balance to Life and Death, which in this case are Zalrar and Helma.” She grabs hold of her chin, her brow ceasing in a light frown. “To see one take a side is unusual.”

“That’s why we lost all hope. We couldn’t do anything but to pray that the moron didn’t start a war with the other empires, like his fore-father before him. But once again, fate simply scoffed at us.”

He pauses, then sighs. Not once did he look over at his mother, who was staring at him with a dry look. “Once the seven houses heard that a war was brewing, with Zaelak at the front most center, we started planning how to get some civilians out of the empire. Before the Guardians arrive.

“Now, not only did he manage to get a Necromancer to side with him and invited him into the empire – an empire that forbids all things that has to do with mana – he gave said Necromancer free reign to do as they pleased. This Necromancer experimented on some of the people, turning the living and the dead into mindless soldiers for the upcoming war. It was more than a disaster. The seven of us were praying night and day that someone should intervene in the madness before the empire was burnt down to ashes for it transgressions.”

“To their utmost delight, their prayers were answers.” Marbethta takes over. “Zaelak was killed by his own son, Zoraen. According to his journals, Zoraen took notice that the Necromancer was gone from his father’s side during noon. Due to this discovery, he poisoned the rim of his father’s goblet.”

“Poison?” Arkona arches an eyebrow. “Zaelak moved with a Necromancer - a high leveled one at that if he could easily raise the dead and also control the living and the dead at the same time - and Zoraen’s plan was to… poison his father? Who might I add will be heavily protected with spells by said Mancer.”

“I understand your skepticism Lady Blackwater, but Zoraen didn’t make use of any normal poison.” Marbethta batted the air.

“Oh?” Arkona eyebrow went up higher, expression showing how curious she was.

“I’m afraid we can’t share that information with you-“

“He wrote in his journal that he met a visiting Mage, who came to the Empire because of the unusual dark mana rolling in the empire walls like a tidal wave. Zoraen wrote how the Mage gave their services, but at a price. Before you ask, no, the prince didn’t state what the price was, he left that out of his journals.”

Caelum blurts out, making Arkona inhale sharply while Marbethta face palms again.

“The prince wrote that the Mage made a potent poison out of a drop of blood from the Earth Guardian and a petal of a Dulderey flower.” He adds.

“Caelum!” Marbethta grits out, a glare leveled at her son, who shrinks under her gaze.

Arkona’s eyebrows were up, passing her hairline, before they came back down heavily, her eyes turning to slits.

“What?”