[15 - A brokered agreement]

"I told you to wait five minutes." Said Callian, letting go of Zeri's shin and allowing her to move away from him.

"She was going to kill you." The girl protested, gesturing towards the somewhat stunned Camille.

"Go and wait outside." Callian motioned toward the bedroom door.

"But-"

His violet eyes flashed dangerously as he stared at her masked face.

The teen shrunk under his volatile gaze, head hanging low, before walking to the indicated exit, turning the knob, and stepping outside into the hall.

Only after Zeri shut the door behind her did Camille speak up once more.

"You allowed me to subdue you." Her tone was accusatory, but contained more curiosity than upset.

"Most people tend to be more forthcoming when put in the position of power." Replied Callian, turning back to face the wary woman now standing behind him.

"So the flaws in your otherwise perfect guard were… On purpose ?"

Funny. She didn't care about the difference in their speed or strength; just the fact he purposefully simplified his skills while facing her.

"Correct."

"That is quite… Humiliating." She muttered, casting her eyes toward the broken stool lying in the corner of the room. "Well, if you truly aren't another assassin, then why did you approach me in such a manner? And to impart such inconsequential information as well."

Camille shook her head ruefully, her uncaring gaze darting toward his masked face.

But Camille couldn't completely disguise her compulsive need to know exactly what he was talking about.

That seed of doubt had been planted the moment he stopped Zeri from killing her.

"Your brother couldn't come to know of our meeting." He said.

"You… What are you implying ?"

The taller woman walked over to him, her ice-blue eyes glaring down at him fixatedly.

She was as sharp as ever it seemed.

Callian gave her a measured look, before walking over to pick up and right the overturned chair back to its original position.

He sat, glancing back at Camille's now folded arms.

She took a step forward to his seated figure, staring down at him. "Talk. I may not be able to kill you with as much ease as I would like, but you can be sure I'll do my damnest to try."

Callian smiled up at her wryly, but upon noticing the taller woman's fingers twitch uncontrollably, he decided he'd had enough fun for one day.

If it was the future her, she would have already sent a kick straight at his head for being so irritatingly unhelpful.

"Your brother Stevan Ferros, felt threatened by your existence. He believed that despite being younger, frailer, and less competent, he was more deserving to be the family heir than you were."

Camille's face was stony, the instability behind her eyes fully disappearing.

So even that was an act all along? Typical.

She was just no fun at all.

Callian's lower lip unconsciously curled into a smirk.

The woman stared at him indifferently, before walking past him and heading towards the open balcony.

She pulled back the curtains, the frigid breeze caused by the Season of Frost swirling through her hair and blowing into the otherwise warm room.

Callian continued, unbothered by the woman's purposeful movement into his blind spot.

"In order to secure his place as the next family head, he commissioned a few of Zaun's more competent mercenaries to assassinate you and your father on one of your regular visits to Promenade."

Camille stayed silent, her rhythmic mechanical heartbeat betraying no outward reaction to this revelation.

"And your price for sharing this admittedly lucrative information?" She asked coldly, striding back into the room and taking a seat on her bed.

"So you believe me then?" Callian asked, before amending his statement. "No, that isn't it. You already knew that didn't you ?"

The woman gave him a long, hard look before answering him. "I suspected as much, but I had no credible evidence to go off. There was also the fact Stevan didn't actually turn out to be an ineffective leader of the family, so I didn't feel the need to step up and correct that fact based on speculation."

How pragmatic.

But that impassive attitude of hers would change for the worse in the near future.

The blue-eyed woman looked at him condescendingly.

She wasn't impressed with his attempt to dodge the question it seemed.

"I require a suitable environment to train my hot-headed apprentice in, as I'm sure you've noticed that her current level is far less than desirable." Said Callian offhandedly, bringing his hands together and resting them on his armoured thighs.

The woman snorted. "Yes, that much I gathered at the very least. While her speed was certainly nothing to scoff at, the girl's strike was stiff - lacking the proper fluidity. Almost like she hadn't even fought with that style before - just practiced with it."

Perceptive as ever.

Callian nodded in agreement, making Camille's eyes flash in satisfaction.

Fighting techniques were the one subject the woman opposite him was passionate about.

She took immense pride in her own abilities, looking down on those who were not at her level of commitment to the arts.

"I taught the girl her current moveset within a month. She learns fast, but lacks the proper experience to utilise what I taught her properly."

Camille's eyes sharpened akin to a hawk's, glancing towards the bedroom door, intrigued.

The girl's level was far too advanced for her to have only been learning for a month. Was the man lying?

Callian watched her reaction intently.

Hook, line, and sinker.

"But enough of that." He said, waving away the matter of his apprentice uncaringly. "The environment of which I speak are the Shuriman mines. Coincidentally, the high council of Piltover has just commissioned an expedition be sent there due to a breakthrough concerning the Brackern crystals."

The taller woman's gaze flicked back to him critically.

"I would like a seat on the ship that will sail there, as well as a place among the harvesters your family are hiring to complete this very profitable venture."

"With your skillset, I can see such an arrangement being beneficial to the both of us." Said Camille, looking at the masked man opposite her analytically. "However unfortunately for you, I do not possess the authority to add you to said expedition. That privilege resides solely with the family head - and I doubt he would take my opinion into account given our history together."

"But you will possess that authority, soon enough." Replied Callian.

The white-haired woman leapt to her feet in an instant, her right hand snaking out to grab Callian's unprotected throat once more.

"I will not allow threats towards my family, no matter how useful you may be to me." She snarled, trying to lift the man off of the chair and into the air.

To her surprise however, she could not lift him.

The man was too heavy.

Impossible. She had pushed him around earlier with no issues.

"It wasn't a threat Camille. It was assurance."

She struggled to manoeuvre the man, quickly realising just how impossible it was to accomplish her intent.

The woman made to let go, but Callian grabbed her hand, locking her arm in place.

He was far stronger than her.

"Besides." He continued, his voice hardening. "It won't be me killing Stevan. It will be you."

Camille laughed patronisingly, still struggling to free herself of his iron grip.

She suddenly sent a powerful high kick towards the side of his head, aimed at his already occupied right side.

He caught that too, his arms crossing over each other; all while still sitting down on the chair, his pink eyes staring at her dully.

The man took no pleasure in dominating the woman before him so utterly. There was no fun to be had in demeaning his former friend like this. Not when she was so weak.

"In what world would I kill my own brother?" She sneered, sending her other leg upwards towards his chin.

He blocked the attack with his elbow, watching as Camille's stony face winced in pain as her bare foot connected with his metal elbow padding.

She hung in the air before him, supported only by his unbreakable hold on her trapped limbs.

"Hakim." He said.

She froze, all hostility and contempt for the man before her evaporating within a split second.

"Where did you learn of that name ?"

Callian ignored her question. "Once a talented young crystallographer from the coastal city of Bel'zhun. Formerly the lead artificer of the Ferros family."

The woman's ice-blue eyes blazed with maddened rage, all semblance of calm vanishing from her shocked expression.

Camille's attempts at freeing herself redoubled, disregarding her personal safety in favour of killing the man in front of her at any cost.

Her joints creaked in protest at the unnatural movement, nearing closer to their breaking point.

"Do you know where he is now?" Callian asked her, finally growing tired of the woman's endeavour to kill him.

He threw the woman across the room, watching as she righted herself midair before screeching to a halt on the opposite side of her large bedroom.

Callian kept talking. "Lying in pieces at the bottom of the great river. Your brother couldn't have him getting second thoughts and returning to you. Not after your attention was so wholely, so perfectly focused on preserving his well-being."

The enraged woman stiffened, her balled fist mere inches away from connecting with his white half-mask.

"You're lying." She said, her voice cracking slightly.

Callian said nothing. He could see the painful comprehension dawning behind her shaking eyes.

Camille believed him. She had always wondered why the man hadn't contacted her again - it wasn't like him at all.

But, she had respected his decision to leave, as he had with hers to stay behind and support her brother.

The woman's face contorted with an even more uncontrollable madness.

Callian watched as she turned away, briefly glimpsing a single, small tear collecting in the corner of her eye before she walked over to the wall and slammed a fist into the painted stone.

The stone bricks, precisely chosen from countless others for their incredible strength and integrity, broke into tiny pieces; careering outwards into the adjacent room.

Callian stood up, walking to the door and opening it, glancing at a suspicious-looking Zeri standing just outside it.

"Come." He said, beckoning her back into the bedroom.

The pair both pulled their hoods up, obscuring their hair once more.

Camille still faced the wall, but Callian could feel the oppressive salgi emanating off of her in waves.

His little apprentice could too, however vaguely. That was evident by the spike in her pulse after entering behind him.

"Come to the docks in a week." Camille's tone was unreadable.

"And get the fuck out of my house."

…

More readable.

The masked duo walked towards the balcony, jumping down onto the estate's grounds and darting towards the iron fencing.

The two vaulted it easily, disappearing from view into one of the many connecting streets surrounding the mansion.

—

"So? What did you talk about?" Asked Zeri, as the two of them took to the Piltovian rooftops and began surfing them back to the great river.

Callian gave her a look. "Don't act like you weren't eavesdropping the during our entire exchange girl."

She had the decency to look ashamed at least.

"Why did you invite me here anyway? Surely you could have done this by yourself."

The teen's query was not unfounded. To her, it must seem like she did nothing but sabotage his mission.

Callian answered her. "You were the bait. Camille Ferros has a penchant for fighting, as I'm sure you are now aware. She respects technique and skill above all else. A fighting prodigy appearing on her doorstep may as well have been progress day come early." 

"But you didn't call me in - wait…" The girl skidded to a halt, forcing Callian to match her action so he didn't leave her behind in the dust.

"You - You expected me to burst in like that?" She muttered, gazing up at him tentatively.

The older man walked over to Zeri. He brought up a hand and patted the teen on her cloaked head.

"And what of it?" He asked, staring down at her now slouching figure.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Callian paused for a moment. "You are many things Zeri, but a good actor is not one of them. I would not compromise such an important mission due to your inexperience with deception - especially not against someone as perceptive as Camille Ferros."

He felt her heart rate spike, listening as her teeth grated against one another.

She was frustrated.

"I have now secured our passage to Shurima. You will be accompanying me there as this trip was arranged entirely for your benefit."

Callian's statement was a lie, but he lost no sleep over that fact.

The girl looked back up at him, and he could see the conflict behind her yellow eyes.

After a second, she surged forward, wrapping her lean arms around his waist.

"Thank you." She mumbled gratefully, her owl mask pressing into his side.

"Let's return to the hideaway." Replied Callian, wrapping a singular arm around to girl's back to return her hug. "I'll begin your education on Shuriman customs and exactly what we will be doing during our stay there."

—

My apologies for the lack of a chapter yesterday, I spent all my allocated writing time going back to fix every single error in my previous; be it misspellings, punctuational, structural, or simply a lack of creative vocabulary.

There were a lot more than I realised. It was pretty soul-crushing actually.

There was also the issue of Marvel Rivals releasing - my friend practically begged me to play it with them.

While I wouldn't ask any of my older audience to go back and re-read the book; hopefully the story is a little more engaging and legible now; especially for the new readers.

You can all thank my friend for that.

—

(Total word count: 2353)