B6 Chapter 9: Political Question

(Hi, not going to say much but my current tooth problems actively make me desire to bash my head against a wall. A normal feeling I'm sure. --Realtalk, been literally too agonizing to write, but I squeezed this out through some ibuprofen and late night promise of blissful sleep. Sorry the start of b6 has been a little slow, but it'll get to the main point soon!)

When my vision resolved itself, I found my soul shift inside its shell of meat. A lightning storm shot through my limbs, spawning from my lower gut like a maelstrom. I collapsed forward but barely managed to prevent my chin from hammering down on the smooth tiles. When the others arrived, I was already shrinking into a ball from the pain.

“Cyrus!” Brelten yelped.

He rushed forward, but my tail whipped around and held him back. 

“I swear to… If this was your plan, I’m going to break you with hours upon hours… Of infomercials,” I rasped.

Brelten and Sereza came next, somehow slower than the ex-guildmaster. When Khrem found his bearings, he rushed forward and pulled out a paste from his storage. Without much gentleness, he lifted my shirt and practically slapped it on my torso.

The forceful appliance actually helped distract from the constant itching. Closing my eyes, I shunted the stimuli into the outside world as I hovered above my soul realm’s mana pool. Reaching my arms forward, I pictured my soul as a fire, going through the instructions Eraztis left after he undid the seal.

The flame expanded into a roaring fire, and I started to twitch even in my avatar form. From there, I pictured mana as oxygen, soulforce as fuel. Closing my mental hands around the imagery, the flame shrank. Within a minute, the twitching stopped and I reluctantly returned to the physical world.

I breathed deep and groaned. “Dragonshit. I swear, I’ll cover the city in glitter. Cal’s warning be damned.”

Brelten had the decency to look sorry, but there was also apprehension as he helped me up.

“Cyrus… I know you probably meant that as a joke–”

“I didn’t.”

“Ehem,” he said, clearing his throat. “I don’t know what glitter is, but it doesn’t sound pleasant. Please, Nathan and Anastasia have already marked the city during a fragile time. We do not need more chaos.”

I chuckled darkly and eyed the guards doing their best to avoid looking in our direction. “Oh, you have no idea how funny your word choice is. And honestly, glitter is rather pleasant.”

“Oh?”

“To look at, not experience. In fact, it’s called the std’s of the crafting world. And every day some stupid shit keeps happening to me, I get closer to asking Khrem to help make it.”

Brelten eyed Khrem and the sharkman shrugged.

“I’d prefer not contributing to the world's apocalyptic harm. But if the tool keeps us alive, I won’t shy from the danger.”

“I see,” was all Brelten said before he led us to the throne room.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was expecting, but I recognized some faces as we approached the throne. 

Allistair and Imelia stood to the side next to Hubold, the king’s attendant. Upon our arrival, Brelten clapped his hands. The echo was loud enough to make a few people cover their ears.

“That will be enough for today. Those who are unrelated to the royal line and or are their personal attendants, leave. No exceptions. Failure to do so and I’ll have you escorted out.”

Immediately, people began to protest. A few nobles bore crests of the major houses as well as a dozen minor ones, but Brelten clapped his hands once more and started to glow green.

“Failure to leave within the next minute will result in public demerits for your house. Do not test me.”

One man, who shared features of inky hair and eyes made of starlight, crossed his arms. “You would dare, Giltollo? Has the weight on your head already sunk too deep?”

Brelten regarded the man with cold eyes. The aura projecting off the tier three made those below his tier start to buckle. To my surprise, the Ajestella noble held himself upright, but I caught the bead of sweat along his neck.

“Heavy is the weight on your head as acting leader of your house. After the father’s betrayal and execution of others of your ilk for siding with the monster who besieged our city, I would have thought you smarter. Your house cannot accept another demerit at this time. Do not make the mistake of thinking you are above my authority.”

The Ajestella pressed his lips and swiftly headed for the door. That action started a flood as the throne room was quickly vacated. Left behind were the royal kids, the attendant, and a smattering of maids and butlers. 

Brelten sighed once the guards shut the doors behind them, leaving us in silence. “They grow bolder by the day.”

I eyed the two youths who were staring past Brelten. Their eyes were locked in our direction, in particular Khrem and me. Yet they held back, looking unsure and they kept glancing toward Hubold.

“Brelten. Who sits on the throne?”

I had a sneaking suspicion I already knew the answer. From how Brelten talked. From how he commanded the room. There was also the fact that none of the siblings were sitting down, and none looked confident enough to do so.

Brelten shot me an exhausted smile. “It’s been… Difficult. But as particular emergency plans have been activated, I currently sit as the temporary ruler. There are other tier threes who could argue for the right to rule, but they would not dare challenge me. Yet.”

The last word spoke more than what wasn’t said.

I whistled and shook my head. “I don’t envy you in the slightest. With that said, why are we here, Brelten? Why come to us the second we are in the city?”

“I had eyes on the manor, but I knew of your arrival from the guards. Your team has gained enough traction to have a reputation start to build amongst the guild. Guilds, actually, considering Khrem’s ties to the alchemist guilds.” He looked up at the large throne and grew somber. “I learned my lesson from trying to bother Nathan and Anastasia. They actually warned me about you. Well, so did Syrreisha and my sister. However, as much as I’d rather not bother you, it’s for the best that we get this out of the way.”

“Brelten,” I said, crossing my arms. “Get to the point.”

He sighed and started walking. He soon reached the throne and ran his hand along the armrest. He turned and sat, straightening his back as his eyes landed on mine.

“I speak with the full authority of the crown. I am the current ruler, the king, the leader. I, Brelten Giltolo of Solunaria, have a question that demands an answer. I do not know if your party members know your secrets, so please tell me now if you’d like this conversation to be private. If not, know that I will ask and reveal to those still in the room. They have been vetted and are trusted beyond others. What I ask of you will reveal to these select few and a few more who cannot currently be present, the truth of this world’s future. What say you, Cyrus?”

All eyes were on me. I could feel the staring even from Khrem and Sereza. I didn’t recognize any of the servants; they were all new faces, but they all held an air of… civility? It was like seeing Walter multiplied. Whoever these maids and butlers were, they were trained and tiered.

I looked at Khrem and formed a question mark on my mask. “Welp. It’s up to you, big guy. Feel like being spoiled?”

Khrem’s pensiveness softened, and he smiled with his teeth on full display. “You mean your status of being a reborn? I guessed a while ago. Too many inconsistencies and crazy with you. Sereza confirmed it.”

Sereza shrugged when I glanced at her. “It wasn’t like you were trying to hide it from him.”

“What gave it away?” I asked, not at all mad at Sereza.

If I were really trying to be secretive, I wouldn’t have let slip so many references to my past. While I was talking with my friends, I was also paying attention to the reactions from the others present.

The attendants, while professional, looked confused or baffled. Allistair looked at me fearfully, while his sister stared at me with something akin to Celenae’s expression when she first learned my secret.

Brelten remained stony. He tapped against the armrest and the attendants schooled their expressions.

“I take it, by your response, that it is okay for me to proceed?”

I shifted my mask back to normal and nodded. “Sure.”

“Then my question for you, Cyrus, is simple. As the acting ruler, I need to know where you stand.”

“Stand where…”

“Will you fight for Solunaria? Become its ally?”

And there it was. 

I scanned the room and stretched my senses to probe against each one. They noticed, their eyes gave it away. I didn’t care if they did; by now, I just needed to know something. When my actions returned negative for mana usage, I cocked my head.

“You know, this many people could be taken as a threat. You know this, so why? Actually, before that, why are you asking me this? I’m tier one, Brelten. That’s it. You could kill me from afar if you wished. Hells, you have how many people under you? Send some specialized hand and they could have assassinated me. So why? Why the farce?”

Brelten’s face remained stoic. “Your tier is irrelevant. What you represent means more than the number on your status. I don’t need to name what you’ve accomplished since coming to this world. Less than a year, and you’ve fought things far beyond yourself. If it wasn’t for the damage you took while defying the natural order, you should already be tier two, no? So let’s do away with the farce of pretending that your tier matters.”

“Fine,” I conceded. “But why this? Why ask? Why does it matter? I have no love for Luneterra. They actively contributed to Broken Tower’s kidnapping. They tried to murder Sereza. I’m not siding with them.”

“That doesn’t mean you side with us either.”

“No, it doesn’t.” Anger started to build and I let it show in my voice. “Why exactly would I go to war for a kingdom that tried to use me like a fucking board piece? Allaron admitted, it was all political. They sent a mind reaper against me. I’m not fighting your fucking war, not theirs, not yours.”

Brelten lowered his head. “Is that your final answer?”

“Yes.”

Silence hung in the air. Minutes passed and I was ready to turn around and walk out. Except, Brelten matched my gaze and cracked a smile.

“Good. I was hoping you’d say that.”

Wait what?

He smirked and waved at the attendants. “Please leave us for the time being.”

The maids and butlers exited the throne room without argue, simply leaving as they were told. When the door shut once more, Brelten rose. The stony expression sloughed off and he grinned fiercely in my direction.

“Thank you. I’m sorry to use you, like Allaron did. It was a requirement, one needed to help justify protecting you from the church.”

“I’m leaving.”

“Wait!” Brelten shouted as I turned for the door. I reluctantly stayed, and motioned for him to continue. He coughed into his fist and stepped down from the throne. “I apologize, Cyrus. I mean it, I had no desire to play these games.”

“But you must,” I groaned.

“Indeed. But know that with your formal response of wanting to be left alone, you can acquire just that. The kingdom’s official stance will be that we shall remain neutral in regards to the newly discovered Reborn.”

“Are we done then?”

“No.”

“Brelten…”

“First, you have two people who’ve been waiting to meet you,” he said while nodding at the royal siblings. He clapped my shoulder and pointed at Hubold. “Also, I needed to play out this farce so we can get you your rewards.”

“Wha-rewards? What?”

This time, Brelten cocked his head in confusion. “You have a few tokens given to you from Allaron. Now that the invalids of the court can’t accuse you of fighting for the other side, we can finally get you what you need from the vaults. Also, did you really think the crown would neglect the fact you managed to save a pair of royals?”

He shook his head and pulled me forward. Already, Imelia had taken a step in our direction, her eyes brimming with excitement.