Chapter 3
Kiliordes closed the door. Tolian still did not trust him and he knew
it. He had no trouble understanding why,
really. He still remembered watching
helplessly as the Demon took possession of his body and used Brythia as a
hostage against Tolian. The expression
of hatred on Tolian’s face, directed at him, was burned into his memory. Such fury. Such outrage and horror. All directed at him. And Kiliordes knew that Tolian remembered as
well. Sometimes he could see it in her
expression, hidden in the corner of her eye, maybe, but it was there. He knew that Tolian felt bad about it, but
she couldn't help it. It had placed
quite a distance between them.
They had been quite close before. Before.
Before there even was a Kiliordes.
When he was two different people.
As Rwiordes, he was one of the three bungling sorcerers who had allowed
the Demon access into the world, and possession of their bodies to launch his
hellish conquest. He had managed to warn
King Tolris of the imminent invasion by the Demon's forces before he fell
completely under the Demon's power, though.
As Kilfrie, she was the druidess who had the gift of Hamfahring, the
ability to take possession of any living creature. She had been one of Tolian’s original druidic
captors sent to bring the prince (at the time) to Hyge Bryth for his
transformation. It had been her
assignment to use her unique gift to take possession of the then male Tolian
and father his heir upon Myrthis, a fellow druidess. No doubt, the princess still bore Kiliordes
some measure of suspicion over that.
Nonetheless she choose Kilfrie as one of her companions on her quest for
the Moonsword, and the two of them became friends.
Kiliordes knew it had to be difficult for Tolian to
deal with him. Tolian and Brythia were
the only two people to ever come in contact with Rwiordes when he was possessed
by the Demon. And Kilfrie, of course.
Except that he was Kilfrie. Or
she was him. It was only confusing when
he thought about it. Normally the two
personalities were completely unified and blended harmoniously into one being
forged in the darkest depths of chaos, a vortex of entropy that was the
Demon. Kilfrie had attempted to wrest
control of the possessed Rwiordes’ body in order to save Brythia from the
fiend’s wrath. For her trouble, she and
Rwiordes were exiled into the pit of swirling evil from which the Demon was
born. They unified what was not torn
away of their personalities into one ordered being. One that could not exist in the realm of
chaos and was, therefore, expelled. He
was that new being of order who again took control of Rwiordes’ body and saved
Tolian and the world itself from the Demon.
He could picture the severed head of his possessed friend Perelisk lying
at his feet and in his hands, Tolian’s Moonsword glowing with power.
He used the name Kiliordes now. It seemed like a name that made sense, given
his situation. He had memories of both
of them now woven into a fabric, which formed a new whole. He was different than either of the two
people he had been in some ways as well.
It was not surprising, he reasoned, that the synthesis of the two parts
would have some properties that neither, alone had had. For example, he now liked some foods, which
neither Rwiordes or Kilfrie had liked.
He had never before (nor had she) a taste for ale, but now it was a
weakness for him. This, of course, he
realized, may have had something to do with the superior quality of Lormian
ale.
Another difference was that he had no interest now
in many of the things that had been most important to his constituents. He had no desire to continue Kilfrie’s
druidic practices in general, and specifically none whatsoever to utilize her
Hamfahring abilities. Kilfrie had been
devout in her druidism and considered it her duty to practice her gift
daily. He didn’t even know if he could
still do it. He didn’t want to
know. Rwiordes had a daughter in his
distant homeland. She was a bastard
child and lived in her mother’s house, but he had visited her often. They had a good relationship. Even so, Kiliordes was surprised that he had
almost no wish to see her since his...
Well, since his coming into being.
He didn't know how else to describe it.
He was happy in Lorm. He was regarded as a hero because of his
victory over the Demon in Keythion. He
was regarded as a hero for his timely warnings that helped prepare the palace
defenses for the Demon’s horrific onslaught.
He was, as Tolian had pointed out, the King’s most trusted advisor. A position not without advantages. He was popular at court. He had comfortable apartments (in fact, by
far the most comfortable he had ever had).
It was a good life. The Lormians
may have been famous for being the bravest warriors in the West, but they were
damn fine cooks as well. He enjoyed his
popularity and the material comforts available to him. He simply had no longing for his far away
home
.
.
In Lorm he had a new life. He found that suddenly being a national hero
and the King’s advisor had quickly immersed him, willing or no, deeply into
Lormian politics. Court relationships
were far more complex than he would ever have imagined, with such intrigue and
hypocrisy in the noble classes that he shuddered as he thought of it. Everything in Lormian culture was based on
ancient military alliances, histories, and warrior skills of the different
Houses
.
.
Tolian’s return to Lorm in her new form had been an
incredible destabilizing force in court politics, Kiliordes quickly
discovered. King Tolris was having
increased difficulty getting support for his policies from the other Houses
simply because Tolian was his heir.
There was open grumbling from the Houses of the Yeld and Jirtel. They claimed to be afraid of a druidic take
over of Lormian sovereignty, with Tolian having undergone their magick, with
her close association with druids. But
that was a just an excuse. They were
upset because they simply did not want a “woman king”, even if she was the
greatest warrior among them. There were
even some in the highest houses, those of Hemris and Curdew, who were beginning
to voice doubts over Tolian’s nomination.
Kiliordes was spending a great deal of time trying to keep everybody
happy. And it wasn’t working.
Copyright 2004, 2015 Diana Hignutt
Copyright 2004, 2015 Diana Hignutt
No comments:
Post a Comment