Chapter 50. On Bad Terms.

After leaving his children to get to know each other, Marcis returned to his study to enjoy a light snack. Parenting was often a challenging role. Tiring as well. As a man who preferred never to challenge himself, and to rest whenever he made the slightest exertion, Marcis felt that he had earned a proper respite for being able to introduce his daughters to one another while narrowly avoiding being stabbed. A fitting reward was clearly called for.

Upon entering his study, to his surprise, he saw another man sitting in his chair, apparently awaiting his arrival. Marcis did not approve of people sitting at his desk. He angrily opened his mouth to order this impertinent intruder to depart when he suddenly realized who it was that had come to pay him a visit.

An anticipatory smile soon spread across his face. Oh, this was going to be fun.

"My word, it's you," Marcis said as he stepped over to his shelf and poured himself a glass of wine. "How delightful to see you again, Louis! How long has it been since good King Septis saw fit to send you off to that hellish banishment to the north? I see you've been keeping trim. If you don't mind my saying so, you seem a bit younger! Perhaps the cold is keeping you spry?"

Grail said nothing in reply but glared angrily at the other man, who smiled at his reaction before suddenly striking his palm against his forehead as though he'd made an embarassing faux pas.

"Oh, dear! Please accept my sincerest apologies," Marcis said. "You're not actually him, are you? Just a mere simulation of my old friend's memories. A simulacrum if you prefer. Goodness, what did they call creatures like you in the world Everly's soul hails from? Artificial? Yes, that sounds about right. You're an artificial man, aren't you? Uhm, Grail, was it?"

"I don't care what you call me, Van Belsar," Grail said to him. "But you and I need to speak."

"Is that right?" Marcis asked. "Well, in that case I think I'll call you, Louie. Oh, I like that! A nice term of endearment to be shared between old friends."

"You know damn well that we were never friends, Marcis ," Grail said bitterly. "Don't think I don't remember who you are. The real you slithering beneath that pleasant facade. The hedonistic bully. The unwanted student, whom I was obliged to accept due to the request of the former king."

"Well, it never hurts to be good friends with a prince," Marcis smiled with a nonchalant shrug. "Still, I'm a little hurt by your assessment of our relationship, Louie! Wasn't I the most talented of that crop? Even Septis couldn't equal me. He still can't, either, although I'd never say that aloud."

"You just did," Grail said without humor.

"Well, so I did. How about that?" Marcis replied carelessly. "Would you care to explain the purpose of this visitation, though? Pleasant though your company is, I'm about to enjoy my evening meal and I'd prefer to eat alone. Does Everly even know that you're here?"

"Don't think I've forgotten what a poisonous influence you had on Prince Septis, Van Belsar," Grail said while ignoring the other man's question. "How his character changed once he met you. You darkened his soul with your foul presence and turned him against his own brother."

Marcis smiled with delight at the accusation.

"Oh, Louie. Do you still blame that exciting little war on me? How can you be so unreasonable? I was so young back then, we all were! I merely introduced Septis to a little bit of my personal philosophy, how can it possibly be my fault that he took to it so readily?"

"There didn't have to be a war," Grail said heatedly. "There was a plan in place—"

"What? Shared rulership of the kingdom? Oh, please," Marcis said, his voice now dripping with contempt. "Louie, that was a fantasy from the start. A kingdom needs a king. A king. Not two. That would have been a ridiculous constraint upon them both. It disappoints me that you feared the spilling of blood so much that you attempted to wrangle their father into that desperate compromise. Thank goodness, Septis saw reason and decided to assert his rights, otherwise this boring little land would have been even more insufferably dull."

"You were the war's architect!" Grail shouted, now no longer able to contain his anger. "Everything that happened stemmed from your friendship with the prince! If you had never been there—"

"But I was, Louie. I was there. So, there's no point in dwelling on the how and why of our dear king's decision-making," Marcis said with a malignant grin.

"It happened because you corrupted him!" Grail yelled.

"You give me entirely too much credit, old man. The darkness in His Majesty's soul is greater than you know. I merely helped him realize his own potential like a good friend should. Where his instincts took him from there was his own business."

"And now you'd do the same with Everly," Grail said.

"Ahhh, now we've come to it!" Marcis said with an insolent grin. "Louie, as dear as you are to me, I must warn you, it's a foul thing to come between a father and his beloved child. Propriety insists that you take a step back, old man."

"Shut up!" Grail said. He was across the room in a moment and slapped the glass of wine from Marcis' hand, before grabbing him by the shirt to glare into his eyes. "Everly doesn't need you in her life, you vile serpent! After she leaves for the capital, you're not to contact her, ever again!"

"Oh, Louie," Marcis moaned. "It's been so long since you last manhandled me with your strong, strong hands! I've forgotten how enjoyably rough you can be! Chastise me more!"

"It was fate that spared you that night in Redmane's fields," Grail said with a murderous whisper. "I nearly had your head then, you little wretch. I'm sorely tempted to take it now."

"Oh, that fight was the making of me, Louie. It really was. Sure, I lost. Some would say badly, but the entire experience was of such intensity. Too bad I've grown so powerful since then. I really don't think I'll ever be able to experience another night quite like it," Marcis said dreamily.

"What are you babbling about—" Grail began to say before he was sent flying back with a shove.

He recovered his balance immediately but before he could retaliate, Marcis was upon him, now with a sword in hand. Despite his resolve to wield only an axe in battle, a lifetime of practice caused Grail to snatch a mounted sword off a wall and parry the thrust that had been aimed at his neck. "How dare you," he growled, enraged at being forced to break his vow.

"I am a little scamp, aren't I?" Marcis grinned. He then began his attack, one hand behind his back as he began making rapid thrusts with the single-edge saber he carried, his movements so quick that even Grail found it difficult to defend against them.

This was another reason that Grail despised this man. Even though Marcis couldn't even use harada, he was somehow able to match those that could in single combat. His strength and speed had always been astonishing and even at the peak of Grail's power as the Mountain Splitter, defeating him had been a close call.

It seemed that the years since their duel hadn't slowed the bastard one iota. Indeed, he seemed even stronger than before.

It was infuriating.

"Hmm. You seem a bit off your game, Louie. I'm disappointed! If you're going to come into a man's home and threaten his life, at the very least you should be able to back your words up!" Marcis taunted him.

"Enough!" Grail roared. From his body sprang plates of heavy armor that sheathed around him, making him impenetrable to harm. In moments, a giant horned figure towered over the Count, staring balefully at him with eyes that emitted fire.

"Oh, my. Didn't expect you'd do that," Marcis said just before Grail seized him by the neck and hurled him through a window to land on the lawn outside.

"Hmm. I think I may have touched a nerve," Marcis said to himself as he lay in the dirt. He rose unsteadily to his feet as Grail's footsteps pounded towards him. "Ah, Louie, old friend? What say we call this off for now? Wouldn't the evening be better spent enjoying a good meal and reminiscing about the good old days?"

"I'm going to pull your head off and place it on an ant hive," Grail responded grimly as he lifted the man up once more.

"Well, that's always an option too, but how are you going to explain my demise to Everly?" Marcis wondered. "I mean, it's not as though you can keep any secrets from her. She'd be awfully sore if you did such a thing to me, wouldn't she?"

"She'd get over it. She's resilient."

"Of course, she is! She takes after her father," Marcis replied cheekily. "But she still doesn't like it when people ignore her wishes, does she? How do think she'll react to this bit of unilateral homicide?"

"Swear you'll stay away from her!" Grail demanded.

"I can't do it, old man. She's far too interesting," Marcis said apologetically. "I'd rather be dead than bored, so go ahead and do what you must. My only regret in life is not being more selfish!"

"Have it your way, bastard," Grail said as he reached for the other man's head.

"Although…now that I think about it, even if you do kill me, my dearest daughter will simply resurrect me from the grave. Build me a new, immortal body just like yours and that Nalec chap's, wouldn't she? Then I'd have eternity to do as I like? Oh, I like that! I like that a lot! Go on, Louie! Finish me off!"

He then bared his neck to make it easier for Grail to strike.

"What a ridiculous bluff," Grail frowned. "She hasn't copied your mind."

"Can you be certain of that?" Marcis asked him quietly.

Grail paused. Then he stared hatefully at this ridiculously evil man, torn between the desire to destroy him and the fear that he was being deadly serious. Indecision gripped him in that moment, leaving him unable to decide the best course of action.

Finally, although it frustrated him greatly, he hurled Marcis back onto the lawn, battered, but alive. Then he retracted his armor.

"If you do anything to impede Everly, if you dare use her to enact even one of your miserable schemes, then I'll come for you no matter what. Do you understand me, Marcis?" Grail asked him.

"Of course, of course," Marcis replied. "Wouldn't even dream of doing such a thing, Louis. A father's job is to encourage his child's dreams. I just want to see my little angel soar, that's all. Any real father would."

"I love her as dearly as if she were my own blood," Grail said.

"But she isn't, is she? And that's a boundary you should respect," Marcis said with an unbearably knowing smirk.

"You little bastard," Grail said vehemently as he took a step towards the other man.

"Ah, ah, ah, I was merely offering an opinion, my friend. No more tussling for me tonight," Marcis said. "Thank you for the exercise though! It was quite invigorating. That'll aid my appetite well, I think."

Marcis began heading to the house while whistling a jaunty tune when Grail cut him off once more. "Everly deserves better than you, monster," he said to him in a low voice.

"Yes, I expect she does," Marcis replied. "Funny how life goes, isn't it? I'll let the guards know not to attack you if they should sight you. If I were you though, I'd retreat to that wonderful memory palace my daughter created. Wouldn't want her wondering what you've been up to, would we?"

"One day, Van Belsar…" Grail said to him.

"Of course, of course, whatever you say," Marcis said dismissively as he walked past him.

There in the dark, Grail stood for some time.

Angry and alone.