Winning votes:
[] "Because that killer shouldn't succeed."
"It wasn't really about
you, your highness." Memories of a mass of human misery, of dozens of people needing urgent attention to survive, flash through your mind. Memories of pulling shrapnel out of intestines and trying to prevent infection as you do. Missing fingers, ears, limbs. Other memories: the
feeling of such a dedicated slaughter artist, whose entire spirit was shaped to kill others. The feeling of the madra you had to pull out of the Lady of the Night Sky and of Lyn. Etaja telling you about bodies, more bodies, of people killed just as a
cycling aid.
"I helped because no one like that should succeed. I'm... not going to pretend I have deep loyalty to the crown. Uh, no offense, your highness." You glance at Kiro, but he just nods. He'd wanted candor. "Someone like that
shouldn't see success and benefit. Because they should be stopped, I had to help stop them. That's really what it came down to. I didn't think beyond knowing that I had to oppose that. Also... I don't know exactly what Meira and I are, but I think it might be friends."
The prince pulls out his smile again. "She has few enough of those. Most of the nobility tend to look down on those without an equivalent bloodline."
"I'm sure that that will change now, your highness," you say, glancing over your shoulder at the
Underlady.
"Perhaps," Kiro agrees, but he doesn't sound totally convinced. Still, you can sense that
something in his spirit settled from talking to you. It isn't much, but your answer still put some context to the death around him. It gave an answer for why things had happened.
It doesn't take long for the Seishen king to arrive. It would normally take several days or even a week or two, but that's for people using flying serpents or Thousand-Mile Clouds or the like. Conveyances meant for people at Gold are nothing compared to the King's personal cloudship. When the King powers it himself, the madra of an Overlord outraces anyone and anything else in the Seishen Kingdom; he arrives merely one day after your talk with the First Prince. The King's cloudship arrives with the dawn, and takes a spot in the air, a thousand feet higher than both the Luxe and Brightflare mesas. It's small, only the size of a lifeboat or something, and looks like a finely-wrought little sea vessel resting atop an orange cloud. You couldn't see it very well even with the vision provided by your Iron body, so you'd borrowed a telescope from one of Cheng's forgotten hobby rooms to look at it. No other flight is allowed to rise within three hundred feet of his, so despite the fact that it's so small it still hangs over the city like a promise, and air traffic is shaped by it. You think that the King probably was the only rider when it came in, so you're a little curious how he got down and how he's planning to get back up, but presumably he's got a system.
Thanks to the help of your pocket heavenly messenger, you get to listen in on his meeting with the Underlords.
On one level, it looks like a fine meal shared by four powerful people. On another, things simmer. Venkata and Meira aren't here, but the other four Lords in Great Crevasse at the moment take a brunch together. The table, laid out in a celebration hall run by a neutral religious sect, groans under the weight of the food piled high atop it. A hundred people could have a full meal from this, but instead it's here. The Underlords, including Cheng, contributed to it, which in his case meant he had to retain the services of some of the city's best restaurant staff.
A multi-layered dish holds tart, ripe fruit of a dozen varieties, all bursting with the power of force and ice. A plate is piled high with sausage interlinked in an elegant display, emanating an array of madra types—most strongly, earth. Near it is a large bowl of fermented cabbage that has enough poison madra in it that it might kill a Jade or sicken a Lowgold, but it would only be a sharp taste to a Lord. Pakora made with deep cave arowana, a savory cake from steamed lentils and rice, wraps with various vegetables, stews, bacon, porridge, and a dozen other dishes are placed anywhere that they will fit. Cloud grape wine is on hand, as are an array of teas, coffees, spiritual spring water, mixtures of various fruit juices, and fat-rich milk from a sacred beast auroch.
The King is not speaking much, yet, so there is not much conversation. Any time one of the three Underlords reaches for something, the King takes a hearty amount, first. If they do not reach for any food, he encourages them with fake joviality to enjoy the meal. You've seen him in portrait and dream tablet before, but not in person. He's built like a bear, almost as tall as your dad but even broader at the shoulders. He's gone grey in his hair and neatly-trimmed beard, but even through that, the power and presence he exudes is immense. You know what that other you meant, now. He doesn't feel old: he feels like an earthquake has squeezed itself into a human shape. Hair color means almost nothing in comparison.
Eventually, though, the meal starts to wind down. They haven't made much of a dent in the food, and the King in particular has a large number of plates and bowls with partially-eaten dishes on them. King Seishen Dakata places his elbows on the table, folding his hands in front of his mouth as he leans forward. "Gentlemen. Lady. I am extremely displeased with you all." The Lady of the Night Sky keeps an admirable poker face up, though even she shrinks back. Cheng hunches in on himself, and Ju Dao shivers. The King lets silence stretch out for several seconds before he continues. "Somehow, under your collective noses, a powerful rebellion was born, which has reached beyond Great Crevasse and harmed several groups loyal to the throne, including, but not limited to, an attempt on the life of my son which has resulted in the death of a Truegold protecting the First Prince. The dead man's father is one of my close friends. I would be inclined to be understanding except that, according to your own words, you had the affair in hand. In fact, that you had already defanged it before my son came to you. Since the assassination attempt occurred, that means that claim was foolish, or that it was a lie, or that you are ignorant of your own back yards. So, today, we will come to an arrangement that satisfies me that this problem will not recur and that you are seen making amends. Who would like to go first?"
The silence is palpable. Dakata lets it stretch longer, this time. Then, he smiles at the Brightflare Underlord. Or, at least, he shows his teeth and the corners of his mouth go up. "Lord Ju Dao! Youth and genius deserves its due. The youngest Underlord in the history of the Kingdom, at least until this week. Tell me, how is it that two of your elders were deeply involved in this affair while you managed to learn nothing?"
Ju Dao draws himself up straight. "Your majesty. I have been investigating for as long as I was aware something was amiss. My current belief is that the two of them were not operating within the Brightflare remit except circumstantially. Elder Keywan, we believe, was the lynchpin that drew other conspirators together, finding places to link up elsewhere in the city. Elder Geneil we can no longer interrogate directly. It is likely that his efforts were vital in navigating fate to keep the assassins relatively hidden, as his techniques included significant talent with fate reading and manipulation. So, they did not operate either as Brightflares nor on Brightflare ground, and hid themselves from before I reached the rank of Truegold, much less Underlord."
"Understood. Three years' work on our eastern border, beginning immediately, ensuring that raiders and dreadbeasts do not come across." A temporary banishment, effectively: doing dangerous and unrewarding work protecting Kingdom interests that will not advance Ju Dao's career, wealth, or personal power.
The large man doesn't try to fight directly. "As the King commands. However... I must make a request, myself. Brightflare interests in and around Great Crevasse require Lord oversight more regularly than that. We are due some consideration. Perhaps one year?"
"That type of 'consideration' is part of why we are here, now," the Lady of the Night Sky puts in.
"Farzana?" Dakata doesn't even look at her. He's still looking at Ju Dao. "Shut the hell up. I'm getting to you. Ju Dao, eighteen months. Try to avoid any nascent Blood Shadows while you're there, too. And you should kowtow in thanks before the Brightflare Grandmaster next time you meet her. She advocated for you with significant material apologies to make up for your stupidity. An Underlord needs to know everything around him. You may go." Slightly quicker than decency really allows, he's gone.
The Overlord's attention moves to the next victim. "Lord Cheng. I understand you are protecting one of the ringleaders. If you wanted to oppose my rule, I would have respected a lot more if you had simply taken to the field in the Third Pacification. I long ago had readied myself to handle your path."
Cheng is sweating, his fingers running repeatedly through his beard. "Y-your majesty is farsighted?"
"Stop cringing. I spoke to my King's Own Eyes already, and I understand you are working on advancement elixirs for Lords?"
"Yes, your majesty."
"That is your price, then."
Cheng wipes the sweat on his forehead off with the sleeve of his robe, visibly staining it. "O King, I... have been in talks with the Forest Sage. He is expecting the first dose." Dakata gives Cheng a flat look, and Cheng's fingers all seem to get tangled in his beard at once. "I hope to make more. I can give you the second dose, but I can't disappoint the Sage. I, uh, I need my assistant—"
"Shut up. The second dose, and any three other recipes of my choice, to be named later. You will expect no payment and they will be your highest priority. I'll decide on your assistant's fate later. Now, go."
Cheng flees almost as quickly as Ju Dao did, leaving only King Dakata and the Lady of the Night Sky. Once they're alone, their body language shifts. Dakata's anger remains, but it is less aimed across the table. The Lady is still worried, but no longer afraid. They have worked together for many decades, and that working relationship is strained, not broken. The Grand Duchess is willing, as always, to be under a greater power as long as it benefits her, and he had needed and still needs the Luxe's institutional structure. Moreover, out of everyone here, the Luxe were the closest to blameless.
"What went wrong, Farzana?"
"A miscalculation." Farzana looks older than she normally does, older than the King. "Our legal codes prove too favorable to the nobility. The lower class find that their opportunities narrow. A handful of privileged scions take over businesses and places of strong aura, see no need to settle their debts, or punish discourtesy. These spread unhappiness among the lower class further and faster than I predicted it would. Simmering resentment coalesces behind any available hope, and something like this can happen again."
Dakata rubs at his temples. "I can't be dealing with this again, Farzana. We have to stop this from reoccurring—I won't accept more threats to my children. I also do visibly have to show that you were punished to keep other Lords in line. And I can't spend all my time dealing with whining noble Truegolds who insist that their darling little girl has to be able to seize control of a restaurant that caught her eye or a strapping young son needs to legally break the arm of any Lowgold commoner who didn't get out of the street fast enough. We wrote the legal code we did for a reason."
"We did. But I think circumstances have changed." The Grand Duchess leans forward. There's only reluctance in her posture, but she plows ahead. "There might be a good way to achieve all of your goals together."
"What's that?"
"I can be the scapegoat."
You have to talk that over with Etaja to be sure you get everything, especially all the details they work out. {They're basically talking about an amendment to the foundational laws of the Seishen Kingdom, yeah? The thing that drove people to want to be in the Stars Below or other protest organizations was this legal inequality. Someone who catches the wrong eye, or just is unlucky, might lose property or be the subject of violence, and it's all legal.}
<I didn't really see much like that.>
{No, most of it is handled behind closed doors, all right and proper, and people are discouraged from making a fuss about it. It doesn't have to happen often to have a huge chilling effect, either. Gardenia's family gradually sank further towards the edge of poverty because things like this happen. Owners of successful businesses find their profits redirected to the upper class. The unfair contribution points model of the Brightflares is more compelling if you believe it's possible to win it and every other option is worse.}
You frown. <So, basically, every time people try to find a path to a better life, it can get cut off?>
{A lot of the time, yeah! There's still some success stories, which they probably hoped would keep angry responses down. There's people like you, who caught Underlord eyes. There's people like the Tsangs, who have to brag about their successes because if it was just luck, then they aren't as clever as they'd like to be.} You think he's done talking for a moment, before Etaja continues. {Most societies are pretty unfair in a lot of ways. They just have to be good
enough to work.}
<I hate that. How can I make it better?>
Etaja laughs. {That's why I like you, kid. I don't know that you have a lot you can do right this moment, but... keep your eyes open. What the King and the old girl are hashing out is trying to slip reforms into place by blaming her. They're going to run propaganda saying that she was the architect of this system, then introduce a new slate of rights. The idea is that they'll give more protections and rights to the average person, so they'll be happy about it, then keep angry nobles and other upper-crust people blaming the Lady of the Night Sky for losing the most extreme of their privileges. Because they'll be busy hating her, they won't be as able to fight the actual reform. You might just have a chance to play a part.}
That makes your head hurt. <So... Risshon and Fendi win? Basically?>
{Life's not always that clear-cut, kid.} Etaja gives a mental shrug. {And it's... more fair, the way they're talking. Not true equality. So you're going to have to decide if the answer is yes or no. I can't tell you.}
You spend a little while thinking about that.
Etaja flatly refuses to show you the King's talks with Kiro and Meira. {You can't be demonstrating too much impossible knowledge, here. No one's pushed it so far, but you don't want to try your luck if you don't have to. You're much better off not getting to see everything, even though I know your curiosity hates that.}
He's not wrong, but he's also right, which is a thought that feels like it's either a tautology or more philosophically important than it probably is. You
do get to have him summarize the talks, at least. Meira's meeting is heavy on ensuring that Meira still understands what is expected of her, and verifying through a couple of different ways that she is loyal to Kiro first and foremost. Kiro's is more about the King berating him for a lack of ambition. The King seems to think Kiro should have been the one to push for advancement, and any argument Kiro makes about practicality is not one he wants to hear.
You don't think you like the King very much.
Still, the King is in town for at least a week. He has a long list of people he's going to meet with. You end up scheduled on day three. Most of those who do meet with him seem to be energized by it. The Underlords he had to make an example of for letting his son be threatened, but for everyone else, they're mostly here to get rewarded. These were people who worked hard to understand and unravel most of the Stars Below. The King has come in with various commendations, even a handful of minor titles, for some of them, as well as other contracts and considerations.
The propaganda machine is already going, too. Just walking the streets of Great Crevasse, where nothing suggests you're kind of with the Luxe, you've already started hearing that the King is getting ready to announce new rights, and even a couple whispers that the reason they weren't already implemented years ago is because of the Lady of the Night Sky. There's a sense of palpable excitement, if uncertain, about it. It's a kind of hope.
The morning of the day you'll meet with the King starts with a surprise. When you get into Beti's atrium, she comes up to you. That's slightly surprising; usually she just waits for you to reach her. She bends a branch down to you, one with something in it.
"What's this?" you ask. Through your bond with her, you get... that she's excited. That she has no idea what it is. That it came from Cheng. You frown as you undo a little knot holding a little package to her branch. "Why are you excited if you don't know what it is? Does it smell good or something?" No, it's not for Beti to eat at all. "Okay, why are you excited?"
She can't really find a good way to explain why she picked up a sense of excitement. You just smile and let it go once you figure that out. If she's happy, that's a good thing. You finally undo Cheng's knot and take a look at what he put there.
It's a tough little canvas bag, with what turns out to be only two things inside: one is a small, unadorned pill box. The other is a folded piece of paper. You unfold the paper and read it out loud.
"'Keras. I do need assistants. I want you to keep working here. This should help. Expect about one hour of operation. You may find it's of value to you to observe how it will correct your injury. Cheng. P S, it's going to be uncomfortable. I actually couldn't make it safe enough for a Lowgold and also make it an effective painkiller simultaneously. Cheng again. P P S, also, you should talk to little Venkata when you get a chance. Still Cheng.'" You pause. "What is that supposed to mean? What about Venkata?" Beti creaks at you, but that seems to be more that she felt it was time to fit in a response than actually communicating something.
You open the pill box, to find a pill the size of your thumbnail, glittering like a deep-crimson diamond. For padding, it has what looks like wadded-up paper. When you take the paper out, you realize that it's a copy of a recipe, specifically
this recipe, by all appearances. It has a number of powerful ingredients, including a couple you don't recognize, but the core of it is a fairly standard medicinal pill built around and empowering a century-old blood tomato.
You take the pill. Maybe it would be better to wait until after the meeting, but you can't wait. You're too eager. It was only caution and extreme self-control that kept you from devouring the pill the instant you realized what it was, because there was a non-zero chance that it might have some instructions about how to take it. You wouldn't want to waste this, after all.
It tastes like tomato, but sparks of power pulse out of it even as it goes into your stomach. Just a minute later, the power of blood and life surges out from it. It flows throughout your body, though you try to focus its energy to your ankle. As Cheng had warned, it's painful, but also as he'd hinted, you get a new and different perspective on healing through its action. Nerves heal only to report on damage. Bone rebuilds itself. Tendons reweave. Muscle regrows. As
bits of body heal and shift around, it
hurts. It's terrible, and you'd not complain if it were twice as bad. Still, as the healing continues, you don't totally suppress a whimper. There's no reason to act tough, here.
Understanding, Beti wraps vines about you and holds you close to her trunk. You hug her back. And, while you heal, you cycle together. It's hard to hold track of time passing as you do, so all you can do is wait. Eventually, though, the surging power of the pill wanes. Tentatively, you break away from Beti and set your still-bound foot on the floor, to see.
It tingles, but it holds your weight. It doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt. You can resist a lot of pain, but it's still always better not to have it in the first place. Hurriedly, you take off the medical wrap and feel over your foot, with hands and spiritual sense and by working and wiggling toes and ankle and curling and uncurling the foot itself as much as you can, and it works, it works, it's all there, it feels exactly like it would have if you hadn't been hurt, there's no lingering pain and there's no lingering scar. You whoop an exuberant shout, then turn a couple cartwheels, your Iron body making the motion smooth and easy, even if your Goldsign hands end up making it feel a little complicated.
Beti just watches. She's pleased for you, but her kind aren't given to much in the way of dramatic celebration. "Oh, that's just... that's so much better. Thanks for guarding that, Beti." You collect your rather worn, slightly-burnt crutch. "I'm going to put this away." You could throw it out, you suppose, but you'd rather keep it as a reminder of this time, and it
is still a gift from Beti. "And then I need to get cleaned up and ready to meet with the King."
You're done up even nicer than you were for meeting the Prince. The Luxe didn't exactly ask if you wanted it, but on the other hand it actually was kind of fun to be fussed over, especially now that your foot doesn't hurt, so you went along with it happily enough.
They didn't have the time to fully replace your outfit, so you got a hand-me-down from one of Javed's grandkids, with a different tailor you'd never met taking the time to do a quick final fitting. It hadn't been bad, anyway, but this made it look like it had always been intended for you. Meanwhile, someone else explained protocol expected of you, a third did makeup, and a fourth person saw to your hair. You like the last guy's Goldsign: it's stiff combs that extend out from the side of his pinkies, allowing him access to one of his basic tools without needing to carry it around with him or even hold it.
Taken all together, when you catch sight of yourself in a mirror, you almost don't recognize yourself. You look like a well-to-do Kingdom native. The make-up is subtle, mostly making your eyes look even bigger. Your hair has been transformed, now an elegant coil on the top of your head.
Unfortunately, you don't really just get to admire it all. You're ferried to meet with the King, waiting in an outer vestibule of that same religious hall he took over to meet with his Underlords. There's two other people there when you arrive, sitting well apart from each other, and one more arrives before you go in to see him. None of them look like they're eager to speak to you, so you don't bother them as King Dakata goes through his appointments.
Soon enough, it's your turn.
Just entering the room with the King feels like delving deep under Great Crevasse again. He isn't trying to crush you with his spiritual pressure, like you've seen Underlords do before. It's just the quiescent power of an Overlord. It pervades the hall and overwhelms the natural aura entirely, creating the sensation both that you're in a huge celebratory hall on a sunny afternoon and buried underground, simultaneously.
As the protocol specialist coached you, you keep your eyes down and approach to the specified location in the hall. Here, you kneel and prostrate yourself in a kowtow, Goldsign hands atop physical ones. After a few moments, he speaks. "Forrester Keras, on special assignment to Underlady Luxe Venkata, seconded to Underlord Cheng. Rise and approach." You comply, silently getting to your feet with both pairs of arms demurely clasped before you.
Visually, the King looks the conquering warlord more than the reigning monarch. He's got a couple days of stubble around his beard and no styling to his hair. He's sitting in a normal chair, not even a fancy one, behind a simple wooden table, with a banner behind his head carrying the symbol of the Kingdom. His Goldsign breastplate and the well-worn sword on the table next to him speak to his readiness for battle, but, thankfully, there's no threat with it. He glances at a paper in front of him, one of several. "Underlady Riyusai Meira indicated you had an injured foot. What happened?"
You nod. "Your majesty, Underlord Cheng delivered a refiner's pill this morning that addressed the injury."
"Will that prevent you from being objective about him?"
"No, your majesty." You hadn't been thinking about this at the time, but being able to honestly say that is a benefit of having refused Cheng's demand before.
The King scrutinizes you for a moment, then continues. "You have five minutes. Explain your involvement in these affairs."
You launch into a brief overview of how you'd come to suspect Risshon, how Lyn pulled the information from you, how you'd gone to the Lady of the Night Sky, and how you'd sensed and warned Meira when the assassins drew close. He doubtless already heard most of this, but it's a new perspective. He doesn't say anything. He just watches you. When you explain the situation with Elder Geneil, he interrupts for the first time. "You mean to say that you believe
you slew a Truegold?"
You shiver, remembering. "I do, your majesty. Meira's attack did much more damage than mine, and she took his head off, but I was the one who siphoned away his lifeline between those two moments." You come out of unpleasant memories to see the King looking at you. He's not really judging the accuracy. He was looking to see if it was a boast. To see if you're trying to claim that you killed someone to make yourself look better. The idea that would be
better is unpleasant, and you see him see that in you. If he's scanned you with his spiritual sense, it was so buried in the mountain of his presence that you didn't notice, but he's not just using his madra. He was taking your measure with just a handful of questions and by letting you speak.
Given that, he's ready to take control, now. "You are a curious person to try to reward, Forrester Keras. You seem to take many things for granted, but equally are willing to give them up. Much of what I could offer is only a marginal benefit when compared to what you are already receiving from the Luxe. However, my son was adamant that you have earned some regard from the throne."
"He was?" You're genuinely a little surprised. That's why Etaja didn't want to let you see that conversation, you realize with hindsight. The fact that you're surprised is important. If you weren't, then suddenly this looks more like you were angling for something.
"I have found something that should suit," King Dakata says, and slides a piece of paper over the table to you.
You pick it up with both right hands as deftly as you can. It's a license, over the Seishen King's own signature, that states that you have unlimited personal access to lands owned by the throne for purposes of hunting, gathering, tending, collecting, and retrieving animal or plant products. It is good for the rest of your life. "The throne's lands can be dangerous for even unwary Highgolds, but a refiner will find many items of immense value among the danger. As you mature in your craft, access to quality raw materials will become more important for you."
"I am honored, your majesty." You know the value of this reward already. The throne owns many valuable plots of land, most of which are essentially wilderness, across the Kingdom. They're ripe with raw materials, though: sacred beasts and plants with decades or even centuries of growth to gather madra or form natural treasures. If you'd been allowed, you might've been able to retrieve wild fruits and vegetables from the closest such land that could have healed your foot yourself—it would have been days of travel and probably months of refining work, but you think you could have developed the skill if you had the access. And now you legally do.
"I consider it an investment. You are young, yet, but you will not stay that way, and your skills
will increase. When we come to you with commissions, you will be better able to fulfill them by using better materials." There's something tickling at the back of your mind as he says it. "Now, I have a few questions. You work more closely with Underlord Cheng than almost anyone else. Would you say that he is loyal to my throne?"
"Cheng doesn't want to be your enemy, your majesty. As long as he can do what he wants, he will not try to oppose you, and what he wants to do is to play with his refining materials."
"Are you sure? He's trying to guard a ringleader of the attack." The King's face is impassive, giving you nothing to read from him, but now you understand a bit, at least. He's feeling out... something. Cheng's loyalties? Your loyalty to Cheng? Your loyalty
in general? He's just given you access to significant new resources to do refining with, so from another angle maybe he's cutting your dependence on Cheng and seeing if that makes you stab him in the back for your own advantage? Maybe he's testing your ability to take a hint? Or just your character?
It's too confusing to try to sort out, so you just rely on truth, instead. "Your majesty, when he swore to protect Risshon to the best of his ability, I don't think Cheng could have known there was a plan to attack the First Prince. The Underlord was trying to keep a useful assistant bound to him. It didn't have anything to do with the First Prince, your majesty."
"Tell me about Risshon." He keeps his tone even, but you still pick up a bit of a growl in it.
"What about him, your majesty?"
"Whatever you think is important."
"As you command, your majesty." You put your thoughts in order. "The first time I met him, he was saving me from a sacred tree I later bonded with. He's always been outspoken about that he wanted to see certain changes in the Kingdom, but I didn't think anything was wrong at first. He's been my big teacher as a refiner—Underlord Cheng is more skilled, but he's not actually... interested in teaching most of the time. I told you already how I found he was making Nightworm Venom weapons, which means he was the one who made the construct that almost killed my dad."
You risk a look at King Seishen Dakata. He's listening. But he's not really invested. You again are struck with the fact that you
do not like this man. He's powerful, that much is without question. But he's not
good. Even on this, he's only really weighing his desire to punish people who tried to hurt his family with how much that will frustrate an otherwise normally-tractable Underlord. It's not justice. It's not even quite about revenge, which you'd at least understand. He doesn't even care enough to hide his motivations from you. He's going to decide how harshly to punish Risshon based almost entirely on how he feels after talking with the relevant people—and you're probably the last one.
You almost wish you hadn't noticed. Now you feel responsible for how you present the truth.
[] Focus on all the little times he helped even when he didn't have to
[] Focus on how much he really does want to see the Kingdom become better
[] Focus on how conflicted you felt on finding what he hid from you
