“We shall begin immediately,” Jalen said. “And preferably before–”

The door swung open and the unnamed attendant staggered in with a stack of papers. He set them down on the desk with a grunt and a thump, pausing to make sure the precarious tower wouldn’t pitch over before taking a step back and clearing his throat.

“Magus Jalen. I didn’t mean to interrupt, but when some of the family heads heard that you were back–”

“No.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Everything they’ve asked for is rejected,” Jalen said. “And anything that they’ve asked me not to approve is now approved, unless that would create more work for me in any way shape or form, in which case it goes back to being approved. I know for a fact I just told you I would not be doing anything.”

“But… you’re our leader, Magus. There are urgent events happening. We need your guidance. Now more than ever.”

“No. What you need is to learn how to act on your own,” Jalen said through a yawn. “How long has it been since I last came by the Linwick Estate?”

“Seventy-four years, Magus.”

“And has the family fallen apart in the time that I’ve been gone?”

“No, but times are different! Enormous amounts of power are just waiting for us to claim it. There has never been a better time to solidify our position in the empire. The Torrins are reeling, and–”

“Remind me as to who they are?”

The assistant stared at Jalen. When it became clear that Jalen wasn’t joking, the assistant swallowed and powered on. “The Torrin family, Magus. Our greatest opponents.”

“Ah, yes. I forgot about them. It’s been a while since I’ve met up with any of their mages.” Jalen rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes glazing over as his mind drifted off in thought. Nearly a minute passed before he continued talking as if nothing had happened. “I liked their leader. He was an interesting bloke. Far too interested in plants, but good conversation.”

Karina couldn’t keep her mouth shut any longer. “He? The leader of the Torrin Family is Magus Evergreen, a woman.”

“Evergreen?” Jalen chuckled. “I remember her as well. Clever woman. Real nasty magic, and absolutely infuriating to fight. She’s not the Torrin family head, though. She couldn’t hold a candle to Avery.”

Karina risked a glance at the assistant, who mercifully looked just as confused as she felt.

“Magus Evergreen has been the leader of the Torrin family for nearly a hundred and fifty years,” the assistant said carefully. “I do not have any knowledge of a mage called Avery.”

“That’s because he keeps his nose out of this crap.” Jalen waved his hands irritably. “Just like anyone else with half a brain. You probably don’t know who half the worthwhile mages in that family are. They aren’t the ones wiggling around on the surface like a bunch of worms. Evergreen was an exception. I wouldn’t mind swinging by to visit with her.”

That drew an uncomfortable cough from the assistant. “I’m afraid that isn’t possible, Magus. We recently received reports from our spies in Blancwood that Evergreen was killed.”

Karina’s blood ran cold.

Evergreen is dead? Who would have – could have – killed her? She was a Rank 6 Mage, and a pretty strong one at that. The only main enemies the Torrins have is us. Was it Father?

Jalen’s easygoing attitude faded away and he tilted his head slightly to the side. “Is she, now? How’d that happen?”

“The exact details have been repressed well by the Torrin family, but it is being blamed on an Archdemon aiding Magus Rinella in an uprising. It appears the demon traveled with a member from the Torrin family – the bodyguard of Magus Evergreen’s Heir. She was actually traveling with a low-level member of our family that had stumbled across a piece of Evergreen’s scroll and had come to deliver it.”

If Karina’s blood had been cold before, now it was ice. The person being described had to be Moxie, which meant that the “low level” member of the Linwick family she was traveling with had been none other than Vermil himself.

“Evergreen died to an uprising?” Jalen shook his head and let out a huff. “What a disappointment. I never thought someone as tenacious as her would go down so easily. I suppose she got lazy in her old age.”

“You must understand now, right? The Torrins are in shambles. They’ve pinned the blame for Evergreen’s death on her heir’s bodyguard and crippled her Runes, but it’s clear that they don’t actually know who the real culprit was. Rinella wasn’t powerful enough to take out Evergreen on her own. They are destabilized–”

“And I don’t care,” Jalen finished with a dismissive flick of his hand. He waved to the newest stack of paper. A wave of purple energy rippled at his fingertips, passing through the air and into the papers.

Wait. Moxie’s Runes were crippled? She didn’t seem weakened at all. Are the Torrins spreading false rumors?

There was a soft pop as the stack collapsed in on itself, crumpling into a tiny ball before vanishing in a mote of black light. It was so sudden and silent that it felt like Jalen had just flicked some dirt from his hands rather than … well, whatever he’d just done. There was no trace left of the paper.

“You will do as you have always done,” Jalen said. “There are more than enough capable mages in this family to deal with whatever it is you want me to deal with. Have you truly become so pathetic that you can do nothing but bite at the heels of your great enemy? If they are weak and you wish to strike, then strike. If you cannot do that, then sit back and do nothing.”

“But–”

A blast of pressure tore through the room. Karina threw her hands up in terror, prepared to be crushed to paste, but the energy washed around her as if she wasn’t there. The attendant wasn’t so lucky.

He was slammed to the ground with such force that it cracked beneath him. Swirls of purple energy danced through the air as Jalen’s domain expanded through the room. Every single piece of paper covering it vanished, swallowed by growing motes of black light.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Let it be known,” Jalen said, crouching beside the fallen assistant. “that the next family head to reach out to me for help dealing with the issues that they created themselves will have their head mounted from a spike at the entrance to this city. Am I understood?”

The pressure vanished in an instant and the trembling assistant drew a ragged breath. He was surprisingly unharmed, which meant he was probably a fairly powerful mage in his own right. “Yes, Magus. I will let them know.”

“Splendid,” Jalen said. He grabbed the assistant and pulled him to his feet, then shoved him out the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Heaving a sigh, Jalen turned back to look at Karina. His eyes were ice cold. “You know something. What are you not sharing with me, Karina? I don’t like getting lied to.”

She took a step back, the blood rushing from her face. “I – I didn’t realize it was related. I had no idea that Evergreen died.”

“Out with it,” Jalen said. “I believe I have already mentioned that I have little patience.”

“I believe that Vermil is traveling with the person your assistant just mentioned – the bodyguard for Evergreen’s heir. Her name is Moxie.”

Jalen blinked. His cold expression disappeared as a slow grin stretched across his lips. “Meaning he was likely the one that was in the Torrin’s city when Evergreen fell?”

“It’s possible. I don’t know. I just saw them a few days ago, and it didn’t look like Moxie was injured at all.”

If anything, that made Jalen’s grin grow wider. “Absolutely brilliant. This Vermil becomes more and more interesting with everything I learn about him. One interesting event can be a coincidence, but two? Oh, no. This will be fun. Let’s get going. Do you have anything that belongs to Vermil? We’ll use it to track him down. If not, we could always break into his room in Arbitage and take something. I don’t think that counts as cheating. Actually, I’ve decided that it does not, as I’m the one who makes the rules.”

Karina opened her mouth. And then, despite every piece of logic that should have been in her mind, she paused.

What’s the point of this? I’m just trading one master for another. I just got out from Father’s thumb, but I don’t see how Jalen is any better. Is it really worth bowing and scraping for my life again?

Jalen waved a hand before Karina. “You alive, girl? I didn’t let any of my Runic pressure touch you. Wake up.”

His dark, fathomless eyes bored into hers. And, in that moment, a strand that had been fraying for years deep within Karina’s mind finally snapped.

Fuck this.

“Why?”

Jalen blinked. “Why? Why what?”

“Why should I help you? You’re just going to force me to do your bidding, no different than Father or any of the other damn people in this family. After you find Vermil, either you kill me or find a new thing to force me to do. I’m done. Do what you want, but I’m not helping you.”

A second passed in complete and utter silence. Everything in the room felt like it had drawn in a collective breath to watch as Jalen crushed her beneath his heel.

And then, the silence was broken – by a laugh slipping from Jalen’s lips.

“Found your backbone, did you? I thought there was nothing there, but I must have overlooked it.” Jalen stepped forward. Despite her words, Karina limped back, trying to keep what space she had.

“I’m screwed either way. If you want me to do something for you, then make it worth my while.”

“And what makes you think you have the right to refuse me? I’m the family head. You live to obey me.”

Karina could barely force her mouth to move, but she’d already come too far to stop. Jalen wasn’t about to forgive her because she had a change of heart. “You can’t claim that when you just said you weren’t going to do anything that the branch leaders asked. You’re head in name only.”

Jalen cackled. “I agree. You’re completely right. How refreshing.”

What?

“I – I am?”

“I don’t care about the little games you kids play,” Jalen said. “I’m bored. There’s so little that’s left to do when you get to my age. The only fun I get to have is pushing pieces around a board and seeing how far they can go. Unfortunately, worthwhile pieces are rare and far in between.”

He took another step toward Karina, and her back hit the wall. There wasn’t anywhere else to retreat to.

“That’s all we are to you? Game pieces?”

“Yes,” Jalen replied simply. “And the majority of you are replaceable. Do you know how many mages I’ve seen hit rank 5 and die without a single, worthwhile moment in their life? Countless. And so, when I see something interesting, I latch onto it like a starving man. It is a break from this tortured existence.”

“Then it wouldn’t cost you much to give me something in return for my help.”

Jalen smirked. “You are correct. I could give you nearly anything you wanted at no cost to myself. And – to be honest – I likely would have. After I found Vermil, I’d have given you enough power to force you to Rank 5 in the span of a month. I reward those that work for me.”

A spike drove into Karina’s heart, and she fought to keep herself from crumpling to the ground in agony. Jalen could just have easily been lying to her. He’d already said he didn’t care at all about anyone. Anything he claimed could just be manipulation.

At least, that’s what I’ll use to reassure myself in the afterlife.

“Things have changed.” Jalen reached out, grabbing Karina’s hair and pulling her straight. She matched his gaze, gritting her teeth.

“Just finish me.”

“Finish you? Oh, no. I won’t do that. My plans have changed.” Power wormed into Karina’s skull and she screamed, a mixture of pain and terror shooting through her body.

The agony raced past her chest and up and down her arms, burning her veins like magma. It passed by her chest and wrapped around her heart before continuing on into her legs – and pooling in the stump that had once been her foot.

Flesh sizzled and popped. Jalen released Karina and she fell forward – a foot falling on solid ground. She froze in place, the pain fading. Where there should have been nothing, there was a black, swirling mass in the perfect shape of a foot.

She could feel the stone beneath her toes, as if the foot were her own. Disbelieving eyes raised to meet Jalen’s.

“What is this?” Karina asked, her voice shaking.

“The change of plans,” Jalen said. “And your payment.”

Karina leaned on her new foot. It held weight, just like her normal one would have. And yet… it felt like more. There was power within it, foreign but familiar at the same time.

“Why?”

“Because you caught my attention.” Jalen’s smile crawled back across his face and a shiver ran down Karina’s spine. “Our deal has changed. You will not work for me.”

Struggling to keep the surprise from her features, Karina blinked. “I won’t?”

“No. I hate wasting potential, and true power is only forged through struggle. Giving you anything beyond what I have already done would be a disservice. This is the new deal, Karina. I will not seek out Vermil. You will. Your goal will be to convince Vermil to meet with me – and to have him bring the book he stole. I will remain here, waiting for you to contact me.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it,” Jalen confirmed. “I will demand nothing more from you. There will no longer be a time limit – but, if Vermil finds his way to me or is killed by someone before he visits me, then your life will be forfeit. Acceptable?”

“Is there an alternative?”

Jalen smirked. “I can kill you now. You looked resolved to die, and I will oblige if you so request it.”

“All I have to do is convince Vermil to bring the book and meet with you?” Karina asked. “You won’t make me do anything? I can choose how to do it and you’ll leave me alone after?”

“Well, I won’t promise that, but I won’t seek you out intentionally. If we come into contact in some other way, then that’s that. I won’t guarantee your life. You never know – you could always piss me off later. But, for today and as long as you do your part of the deal, I’ll leave you alone,” Jalen confirmed. “I have better things to do. Toys are most fun when they act on their own.”

“Deal,” Karina said. “I’ll do it.”

“Splendid. I’d suggest you get started. Do not return to the Linwick Estate without Vermil – and I would suggest moving with some haste.”

Karina started to nod, then paused. “Why? You don’t want to wait?”

“Oh, no. I have other interesting game pieces to play with,” Jalen said. “But I’m awful at waiting, so I’ll be playing with Vermil whenever the opportunity arises. I’d try to make sure you get to him before I do, or he may be dead by the time you arrive.”

“What? I thought you said you didn’t want to kill him?”

“The rules of the game changed. Before, it was me and you versus Vermil, so it wouldn’t have been fair to seek his death.” Jalen’s smile turned cold. “Now, it’s the two of you against me. Best get started, Karina. I won’t be acting myself, but don’t let that lull you into complacency. And don’t tell him about the exact details of our little deal here – it’ll make things less interesting. No game is fun without a little tension.”

Damned Plains.