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Words of wisdom from another time.
By now, the other Lords and Ladies had noticed me. There were two reactions. The first was to raise a glass at me in greeting. I smiled politely and nodded back. The second were those who grumbled under their breath and turned their backs on me.
Those I considered my friends belonged to the latter group. They had been loyal to House Taw for generations. I grew up with them, was like a brother to them.
And now they ignored me.
What a difference a single decision could make.
Meanwhile, those who greeted me warmly had always been those quick to sell out when a quick profit could be had.
It made me feel sick that these were the people who considered me a friend.
I wondered who would have the courage to approach me first.
Lord Flex.
It wasn’t courage that drove him but stupidity.
“Kal, so pleased you could make it,” he said. He had a boil the size of a fist on one side of his nose. He’d long since begun to turn cross-eyed with it. “Some of us were very nervous about the decision you might make. Especially after the… complication.”
The ‘complication’ he referred to was the death of my brother. I kept my smile fixed firmly in place.
“My brother was foolhardy,” I said. “Someone had to look out for the people’s best interest.”
“Quite right,” Lord Flex said, one eye turning toward the boil. “We kept an eye on the beacon in case you called for our aid. Of course, we would have responded.”
Fat chance of that, I thought. House Taw had called for their aid many times over the years and they had never responded.
“I must say, a good many of us are relieved you didn’t burn the beacon,” he went on. “What good would it have served? The death of thousands of innocent Titans. Why throw away so much when there is no guarantee of success?”
No “profit” was what he meant to say.
The moment the Changelings turned up, he would have dropped to his knees and puckered up and kissed their feet, asses, or any other part of their anatomy they requested… so long as the price was right.
And that, unfortunately, was how many of them thought.
“I was very sorry to hear about your dear elder brother,” Lord Flex said, shaking his head as if he wasn’t secretly glad he was dead. “Tragic. Just tragic. But it will happen when you run into war without being properly prepared.”
Or with a bunch of assholes ready to turn him in once the reward was high enough to warrant the risk.
My smile didn’t waver a fraction.
“My brother would be glad to count such people as yourself among his friends,” I said.
Lord Flex’s hand twirled in circles as he bowed low.
My eyes happened to glance up at the crowd, at the sight of a figure drifting like she floated on air.
My chest tightened at the sight of her and the blood drained from my face.
“No…” my lips murmured, barely capable of producing a sound. “It can’t be…”
Her skin glowed, ethereal as if she existed on another plane. Her eyes flicked up and met mine. My entire body shook and I thought my legs would give out.
“Jeyell…” I whispered.
Lord Flex rose from his bow with a confused look on his face. I leaned to one side to peer around him at the woman once more.
