RD 5 Ch 23

Apparently, Syssy was determined to make this trial difficult for me.

At least, that was my impression as I woke up with Circe still cuddling me and an unfulfilled quest flashing in the corner of my vision. I took that to mean that even wearing Circe out in bed and exerting several forms of dominance was not considered subduing this woman.

I stared over at Circe as she lay in bed, content to do her best impression of a log. "You know that I know you’re awake, right?" I said, staring at her.

She cracked her eyes open. "Sometimes it's nice to pretend that you just enjoy staring at me," she rolled over, pulling the sheets with her and being modest, at least slightly. After our time together the previous night, I wasn't sure there was any reason for modesty between us. 

"Don't give me that look," she said with a pout. "A woman has to keep some air of mystery, otherwise men will grow bored of her."

"That's an overly broad statement," I scoffed, reaching down and grabbing her by the chin. "Somehow I don't think you're going to let me get bored of you. Not at all."

Circe smirked. "No, I'll keep you around. You're very fun," she purred, staring me in the eyes. 

"Speaking of fun," I said, deciding to test the waters, "now that we've gotten to know each other, do you think I could get a little more leadership amongst your group?" 

She raised a delicate eyebrow. "Sleeping your way to the top already?" She gasped and rolled over laughing while I just sat there staring at her, waiting for a serious answer. 

"Sure, sure," she said, waving a negligent hand. "You definitely seem to have the smarts. Despite looking as weak as you are, you must have been some general's protege. At least, that's my working theory," she said with a smile. 

"Can I be your general?" I asked, deciding to push the issue.

Circe paused and thought. Part of me wanted to be a little annoyed at how flippantly she was handling my questions, yet at the same time, I knew it was mostly an act. 

"Sure. Can't say that the girls will listen to you. So you'll be my rear general," she bounced her eyebrows. "And you'll be behind me, coming up with all of the actual plans, but execution will still be on me." Even if she was saying this, she was still powerful enough to wrest control back from me if she ever needed it.

"That sounds perfect," I said as the quest flashed on the side of my vision. I didn't know if that quite counted as subduing her, but I understood now that what Syssy really wanted was for me to take control of their individual organizations rather than necessarily tying them up or making them beg. 

The second the quest flashed, however, pain slammed into my gut hard enough that even with my mental fortitude, I couldn't help the physical reaction of wincing and curling inward.

The gesture caused Circe's eyes to flash with both concern and ability as she shot up and grabbed me by the shoulder. Her brow furrowed as she no doubt saw my stats the same as I did. 

[Name: Bran H

Level: 61

Class: Elder Vampire A [Blood Hegemond S - Sealed]

Status: Healthy [Sealed and obfuscated]

Strength: 1820

Agility: 1249

Vitality: 2012

Intelligence: 1843

Spirit: 4195

Skills: [Moderately Sealed]

Soul Gaze E

Soul Resilience E

Blunt Weapon Proficiency C 

Endurance D

Throwing Proficiency E 

Blood Boil D 

Blood Siphon D 

Sanguine Slash D 

Regeneration C

Axe Proficiency D 

Inscription B 

Swim D (Bracer) 

Bloodline Manipulation C 

Powers of Blood C 

Training F]

Circe's eyebrows continued to rise as my stats dialed upwards. 

"Did I do that?" She asked. 

"Sort of. By letting me lead your people, I guess I fulfilled my objective," I replied.

"Well, it's sad that your objective wasn't to fuck my brains out.” She answered.

I smirked. "I do hope that'll continue for a good long while. I consider it my own personal quest." I said, staring into her eyes, wondering exactly what this was going to mean for my relationship with her outside.

The Trial of Kings would wipe her memory. Inwardly, I grimaced, but also knew I would be far more successful, particularly now that I understood inner Circe so much better. 

"Well then," Circe said, her eyes resting on me. "Do you get stronger?”

“If we can get Winnie or Simone to hand over their troops, it will continue." I told her.

Circe's eyes narrowed. "If we take out one of them, the remaining two will come for us like sharks smelling blood."

"I know, which is why we can't just take them out; we have to fold them into our group with minimal damages." I answered.

Circe scoffed. "Both of them are mad women. You do know that, right? Simone runs a blood cult. Meanwhile, Winnie is just as likely to slit anyone's throat who looks at her the wrong way."

"Okay, well, Winnie clearly has some problems," I said, not making excuses for her. Clearly her drive to kill the Demon King went deeper than I had realized before. Yet, it was somewhat understandable, the demon had cursed her to endless agony for years and her only solution was to become a cold block of ice. "But I think there is a chance we can get Simone on board. It's just going to be a little tricky."

Circe winced. "Somehow I feel that when you say it like that, it's not going to happen. Or worse, it's going to be very, very bloody."

"What I actually need from you, Circe, is some cover to meet with one or both.”

“If Simone or Winnie get a whiff of me meeting with the other, I doubt they're going to show up. Both of them will feel like they're walking into a trap. I may have tried to trap both of them once already." Circe whistled and avoided my eye contact.

I ground my teeth and closed my eyes. Lets figure out a way to get Simone on board then. I knew her best. "Then better yet, why don't you try and do a hostage exchange with Simone? Include me in that, but don't make me overly special. And then try and get a meeting with Winnie separate from that entirely."

Circe hesitated and leaned back to think about my idea. "A hostage exchange might work. She has been capturing a number of mine."

At those words, I winced. "Fuck." 

Circe raised an eyebrow. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"We'll see what Simone says. I'm not sure how many of them she's left alive.” I thought about all of the bloodlines I’d taken.

“Goddamn blood cult." Circe groaned. "She's psychotic. You know that, right? She is obsessed with her Lord Bran and spends all her time getting the rest of the Mul Branova just as obsessed as she is with him."

"And that's where I come in," I pointed out. "You've seen my skills." 

Circe hummed in appreciation. "It very well might be enough to tempt her. But I'm not sure I'm actually willing to trade you." Circe bounced her eyebrows. "After all, you are a lot of fun."

"The goal here isn't to lose me," I said. "It's for me to rope Simone and the whole Mul Branova underneath us. If we're going to come out of this stalemate between these four factions, there has to be alliances between them."

"Well," Circe said, looking me up and down, "you were fairly good in bed, but I don't think Simone will even give you a chance. Maybe Winnie, but like I said, she's batshit insane."

"Trust me to deal with Simone," I said, leveling my gaze at Circe and staring into her eyes.

"Fine, fine," she waved with her hand dismissively, but I knew there were calculations swirling in her brain. She was probably wondering what my possible angle might be. The woman I knew outside the trial wouldn’t be quite so accepting of someone they’d only known a while. “If we do this, we do this in such a way that if anything goes wrong, you're the one who's screwed and not me. Preferably."

"I'd always prefer we be screwed together, Circe, but your choice." I shrugged, a massive smirk spreading across my face.

Circe pursed her lips. "Sure, make jokes about it for as long as you can. You'll understand once you see these ladies that we're talking about. I know you came from Simone's, but I bet she kept her crazy nice and bottled up for you so you’d keep your head down and work."

I smiled and hid any reaction as best as I could. Simone was a certain type of crazy, but so was Circe. Perhaps she didn't see me as a threat if I did anything wrong, but what kind of person would give another control of their army after knowing them for such a short time?

"Well, if you're going to settle up with both of them, you might as well explain to me what the moves are," Circe said, getting out of bed and plopping herself down on a chair to begin combing out her hair. "Go on and explain whatever grand plan you have. My hair takes a decent amount of maintenance, so you have time to get through it all."

"Well, I told Simone before that I was under a number of seals and I was really the Bran that she worships. That wasn't a joke," I said, stepping up and taking the comb from her to start working on her hair.

"So you said," Circe replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Up to you to believe it or not. It's not like I can give you any proof beyond what you just saw with my stats." I told her.

Circe watched me carefully. "Nothing shows up on your sheet. Then again, the second I tell you that you get to be the general, your stats fly through the roof. Something's certainly happening, something that I can't see through with my Inspect.”

I smirked, she wasn’t stupid. “If you know that, then why are you letting me continue like this?"

"I figure that either A, I can squish you if you cause me too much issue or B, eventually you settle this whole war," she waved towards the center of the conflict. "As much as I'm here for artifacts for the Heros clan, I do not enjoy this constant turmoil. And frankly, something still isn’t quite adding up with all of this."

I raised my brow, waiting for more.

"Just a feeling. A few errant pieces not fitting together," she shrugged. "Take it for whatever you want. Women's intuition. It’s experience over any analytics, or perhaps just a gut feeling."

"People have done miraculous strategic moves with just a gut feeling," I said.

Circe nodded along. "Then we'll call it that. I have a gut feeling that something is amiss, and you are the key to solving this. Now I just need to make sure you are working for me.”

I just grinned at her while I continued to work on her hair.

She eyed me for a moment and then sighed. “Fine, I'll get Simone to a neutral location for some prisoner exchange, and in the process, I'll include you in the exchange. As for Winnie, well, fuck. The best way for you to meet her might just be for me to pick a fight. If I can get her alone on the battlefield, could that work for your plans?”

I paused, taking that question seriously. "If we hit Simone first, then yeah. I think we can make it work on a battlefield just as well."

Circe grunted but accepted my answer and began getting into the details with me.