Revelation

There was an awkward silence in the tent, diluted only by the slight ripples of the wind and the sound of its walls. Avitus, Mira, and Aivina looked at Lord Bondrewd, at him, and as if in passing, each tried to explain to himself the meaning of his short and concise phrase. It was difficult to do so, and each in a different way. Avitus, as a monarch should be, was nonchalant, he had already been surprised enough today and could not be expected to react violently. Mira, on the other hand, was smiling as she watched the reactions of her fellow monarchs and waited for Bondrewd's thoughts to continue. She accepted the Lord's words quite simply, realising, "His words contradict his own actions, evil will not save the city twice unless it has very big plans for Celia, otherwise, why bother?". The sorceress, rightly deciding that she couldn't get the truth out of him anyway, relaxed and simply enjoyed the violent and sometimes strange reactions of her colleagues.

She asked the question and received such a strange answer, she was filled with emotions: resentment, anger and simple offence. If Bondrewd deigned to answer the previous questions, it was as if he had forgotten about her, and this after what had happened between them. Fury consumed the head of the trade guild like a tide, her face changed from a good-natured, flirtatious beauty to a raging monster, the room filled with the gnashing of her teeth, and her eyes were filled with a relentless urge to kill. Lord of Dawn in turn calmly watched the ticking bomb in the face of Aivina and as soon as she was ready, added.

"Do you have any questions Lady Aivina?" His words were akin to throwing a lit torch into an oil field. The girl, in her fierce anger, forgot their acquaintance, the compromise, all the arrangements. The girl was guided only by anger and resentment. And she screamed in rage.

"Yes bitch, there are questions, how you still have the nerve to ask about it, what does it even mean, what the fuck evil, you're mocking me, first hooked us, offered us co-operation, and impressed us for our own money, now you laugh in our faces!" This tirade was very loud, so loud that Avitus, who was sitting next to her, was slightly deafened. Mira watched with a simple-minded smile at her rival's acrimonious outpouring.

Lord of Dawn simply remained silent, and waited patiently for their redheaded screamer to calm down a bit. Aivina, unable to bear it any longer, turned towards her colleagues and continued.

"And why are you silent, your what suits his answer!" The torrents of rage of the women did not think to subside, but Mira decided to add oil to the fire.

"Well, who is to blame that you asked such a stupid question, you've made a mess of yourself, now you're whining and raising a scandal out of nothing, grow up already." The final part of the phrase was accompanied by a smirk on the verge of provocation, if Avitus hadn't been sitting between them, the conflict would have grown into an active stage. They despised him, but he was a two-metre tall mountain of muscle, and he could handle lightning well. An altercation broke out between the girls.

"Lady Aivina calm down or I'll be forced to..." he was not allowed to finish the phrase, Ayvina brought to the handle began to cut the truth uterus.

"What, what you'll do, you'll take me down like your brother, but without my finances you'll be at each other's throats with hunger in a couple of months." The king did not hesitate or justify himself, in his essence he was a true gentleman, a knight and loved women with all his heart, but he valued his honour, if not above, then on a par with his principles. The mask of the wise king fell, and the fierce grimace of the murderer came out. 

The man jumped up from his chair and grabbed Aivina by the throat, lifting her body off the ground.

"You little wretch, remember, or better to write down everything in this kingdom belongs to me, you and your little office, and I will not let some petty peddler who drove her husband to his grave accuse me of something I never did!" Her words touched the king to the core of his soul, he respected and loved his brother, even if he always surpassed him in every endeavour, but he never looked down on him and helped him in everything. His brother was a true genius, a once-in-a-century star, and every night Avitus wondered what he would have done in his place.

Mira continued to watch the spectacle playing out before her eyes, she disliked these two as much as possible, and if they stabbed each other now she wouldn't be upset at all, she didn't care what Aivina said, even if she herself was inclined to her interpretation of events, she didn't care, "The nobility has always been and will always be scheming, one more, one less, it doesn't matter who's at the helm, the system will go, only if?". Mira shifted her gaze to Lord Bondrewd, his visor shining brighter than usual.

"You pathetic loser," the words came out of the head of the trade guild with sudden ease and she was ready to retaliate, her two rings were equipped with sophisticated mechanisms with poison and powerful spells, "I won't leave a handful of ashes on that bastard."

"Dirty whore, I'll kill you!" Avitus yelled and was already swinging for a noble blow that would turn her skull and its contents to mush.

"Get down!" Mira suddenly shrieked and ducked under the table, the only thing the pair of debauchees had time for was to turn their heads in the direction of the lord, whose visor was already burning brighter than a star. For a moment the room was almost completely void of light, only the steady glow of the visor remaining. Aivina and Avitus had already managed to gut their lives and there was a gunshot. Hundreds of purple rays, accelerated to light speed, swept through in an instant, tearing the fabric of the tent to shreds.

In an instant, it subsided as quickly as it had begun. The trio rose from the ground and began to examine themselves, no one was dead, not a scratch.

"Look." Mira turned to her colleagues and jabbed her finger at the ceiling of the tent, there wasn't a living spot there, if he wanted to kill them all, he either fatally missed or, more likely, scared them off.

"Now gentlemen, now that you've calmed down, I'll clarify my answer. Aivina, I wasn't lying in my answer, I'm evil in your moral sense, I don't think you want to know what I did in my homeland. And what I saw when I came here, a bunch of bickering idiots who can't even turn their heads and see that their world is going to the grave. I have a purpose, and you will be the first brick in my construction. That's why I've decided to abandon the usual methods, but if you keep getting on my nerves I may resort to the old methods, and take my word for it you won't like them."

His listeners froze in a frenzy, each realising now they were alive for one reason only, a gesture of goodwill from Bondrewd, and if they wanted to live to see the end of the "play" they would have to cooperate.

"Now, let's go through my questions real quick. Avitus, honestly, did you not kill your brother?" The question so did not bring the king out of his hatatonic state, Avitus just stared at one point.

- Hey wake up. - Aivina nudged the king with her shoulder and the king, after a moment's hesitation, said.

- No, I didn't, I swear on everything I have. - Bondrude nodded in satisfaction and turned his gaze to Aivina, who was standing next to him.

"Head of the trade guild, please answer me, why do you have this ring?" Bondrewd took out a gold ring with a black stone, the last battle had not affected it in any way, it was just as beautiful and exuded a deadly coldness.

"Umm..." Aivina took a couple of steps back and spoke uncertainly. "I was persuaded to get it by my late husband, who borrowed it from a very important official of the Baharut Empire a long time ago."

"You've got money to spare." Avitus suddenly jumped in, clearly saddened by his family's poverty compared to that of the trade guild.

"It was not always so, and we had hard times, so there was no money to pay back debts, and we got into bondage, but not so long ago I was offered to cancel all debts, for a small favour. All I had to do was retrieve an ancient relic that had fallen into the hands of a small noble family. Well, next I hired Dick and his thugs to get it." Those present listened quietly, this revelation was nothing compared to what had been said earlier.

"I see, why did they need it you obviously don't know?" Aivina only shrugged her shoulders, Mira wanted to add something, but hesitated. Which didn't go unnoticed by the Lord of Dawn.

"And now you Mira, since you already knew why they would need it, don't pretend you have no idea, I can read your eyes." Mira's eyes swam, yes she had an idea, but "how did he know that this artefact was of great interest to me, my men left no trace."

"Mira," Bondrewd tapped lightly on his sleeve as if if he had a watch there. Mira gathered her wits and approached the Lord intercepting the ring. The girl lifted her hand with the ring up and scrutinised it in the sunlight that so freely penetrated inside through the numerous holes.

"It's just a guess, but I think it has something to do with the Blood Queen." The tent's come alive.

"What are you talking about? That psychopath has been dead for hundreds of years." Aivina and Avitus exclaimed in unison. Mira gave them a stern, irritated look and continued.

"First of all, she is not dead, but in magical anabiosis, and if this anabiosis is of a magical nature, then...."

"A ring that can dispel magic can dispel it." Bondrewd added, his mind already beginning to form a picture of further actions.