BECMI Chapter 259 – Moves of a Grandmaster

“He was a sleeper agent of Delphax, feeding intelligence to his Immortal Patron and other agents. He was never meant to be an assassin, hence his lack of real preparation, save the knife. If you consider your position, killing you would normally have little real effect on political matters, although I’m sure if you truly dig into his past history you would find that he replaced a loyal Delphan at some point and is actually a native of Siricil, his origin obscured just enough to be completely credible,” Sama informed King Brucall of Aetla blandly.“Thus precipitating a war between Delpha and Siricil.” King Brucall was not blind to the implications of such things. “Delphax. So the legends are true, and that madman does still exist?” he had to ask.

“And is now an Immortal. His destruction of His own empire was the great event that brought Him into Entropic Immortality,” I confirmed. Oh, I’d definitely had the Sims investigate that rat bastard, all as part of their investigations into the background of the Delphans and Freir. From the reports they’d made, it had been quite the exciting time for the initial duo who had gone planes-hopping on that task, heading out to investigate Delpha before it even became a magical empire of incredible breadth and size.

I probably knew more of Delpha’s ancient history than they did, at this point. The destruction of their homeworld had cost them a lot, and my Sims had naturally been very diligent about preserving aspects of that history, so much so that I was informed they had a very sizable museum and repository in another dimension with keepsakes of the past.

They’d also pointedly tracked that idiot Delphax across the planes, and even witnessed His Descent into becoming an Entropic Immortal.

Sponsored by Thanatos. Because of course He was.

The destruction of the World of Delpha was one of the five points I was being called back to by my Sims to destroy an Avatar of Thanatos… and maybe some other Immortals. The growth and fall of the Delphan homeworld had actually all happened AFTER the Doom of Darkmoor...

Learning Delphax had followed the Delphans to our world, and that He was still obsessed with destroying them, as well as the Followers of Fire who blamed Him for the mess and who had abandoned Him, had not set well with me. He was a destructive arse with a severe pyromaniacal streak to Him, with the subtlety of a burning club to the face and the forethought of a rampaging forest fire.

And He had a mortal base of operations in this era, and quite a few servants. Immortal temptations are tempting, after all.

And He was sponsored by Thanatos. Definitely someones I was going to wreck… in two timelines.

“Your maneuverings, machinations, political awareness, and sources of intelligence seem to vastly eclipse my own,” King Brucall admitted ruefully, a weight lifting from his chest, although he did not know why. “Still, I have seen enough of such things to know that you came here with some other purpose in mind. The revelation of the split loyalties of my advisors could have been done with intermediaries, and yet you came here yourselves. A show of sincerity, a show of force…?” he trailed out, questioningly, glancing between the three of us.

“And to make several offers,” King Antius said kindly, not denying any of it, studying the younger monarch. “I have been advised that despite your inexperience at matters of rulership, you have a good heart, King Brucall. To put it bluntly, you are not really suited for the position you strove so eagerly to claim. The realities of your upbringing did not prepare you for the life and duties of a ruler outside the magocracy that is Delpha. There is no overwhelming magic around to solve all your problems, make matters more efficient, and smooth over any difficulties, and you most especially do not have such talents yourself.”

Something in his voice earned Brucall’s attention, and his instant defensiveness. “Not being able to Cast does not make me an unsuitable ruler!” he immediately spoke up proudly.

“If you could Cast, would that make you a better one?” I instantly refuted him. He started to reply, paused, and actually thought over his answer. The shock of the truth of it hit him hard, and he could not hide his wincing as he did so.

“...Yes,” he admitted, looking like he’d swallowed something completely unpalatable. “With the right magic, there are things that I could take care of quickly and personally, help to manage my time… judge my vassals properly…” he even added sourly. “It would not improve my judgment or my morals, but it would enable me to act more quickly and precisely.”

“And start you down the road to greater sanity,” I said without an ounce of weight behind it.

His eyes flickered in amusement. “One needs proper magic to be a truly legendary megalomaniac?” he asked of me wryly.

I glanced at Sama, pointing repeatedly at Brucall. “You see? He understands perfectly!”

“His Majesty is clearly under emotional trauma,” Sama jibed right back. “Stop contributing to it!”

“If His Majesty will allow me to be blunt?” King Antius inquired rhetorically, cutting off the banter of the two women. Brucall could only nod. “You will never become the king of all Eislas. There are far too many forces opposed to you, including our own, and you do not have the personal strength or the personnel to expand and enforce such dominion properly. The people of Aetla are faithful and true to you, but they alone are not enough to deliver the land to you… and trying to tear yourself free from Delpha is only going to run into the sword of Siricil in your face, whose fielded soldiers alone number greater than the population of all cities in Eislas.

“You are very much caught between a rock and a hard place. I am assuming by your willingness to call non-Delphans to nobility, that you eventually dream of a land ruled by a wise king, where being able to spellcast is not a qualifier for a man’s worth?”

Brucall sighed heavily at being seen through so easily, glancing between us all, but his gaze came back to Sama at the end. “A dream that I hope you do not look down on, Your Majesty,” he admitted easily enough.

Sama and Antius both looked at me expectantly.

“Before we begin, you must agree to an Oath of great power, that nothing we speak of will pass beyond this circle. If you refuse, then this meeting is over, we thank you for your time, and we shall depart, leaving you to pursue your dream as you see fit.”

Brucall pursed his lips in consideration, but his eyes were gleaming. “I have a feeling that I am about to be initiated into secrets my mother would most desperately wish to know… But I have only one question.” He directly turned to Sama. “Grandmaster, you do not know any magic, do you?”

Sama’s smile was thin and deadly. “I a great deal of magic, Your Majesty… but . I am the very opposite of a spellcaster, and woe to the many, many spellcasters that have found that out when facing my husband and I.”

Her smile was all very, very daunting teeth.

Brucall nodded slowly. “I will take this Oath to reveal nothing, even if I decide to pursue my own way of doing things,” he stated carefully.

I just flicked a finger Sama’s way, and drew a Symbol in the air.

Brucall’s entire being tensed up in shock as manifested before him in Rune form, and blew through his being, illuminating his whole life with impossible clarity. His strengths, his many weaknesses, his delusions, his failures moral and physical, his resentments and anger hidden deep, his constant need to prove himself and only continuing to fail to earn the respect of his parents again, and again, and again...

Sama rose, stepped around the table, and as the struggling king grappled with his every single insecurity and failing rising before him, she bent and kissed his forehead.

The Mark hissed and flared into being, as flowed forward to etch it in and empower it.

Golden strands of hair latched onto it, dragged it down and around and up into his nose, past it into his nasal cavity while his head absolutely was unable to move in her grip and under her gaze despite his instinctive struggles and Wishcrafted strength.

Only when he finally stopped twitching and pulling did she release him, sliding back and around the table in one long swaying step of impossibly sinuous grace, retaking her seat.

King Brucall clutched the arms of his chair, shuddering. “This… this is a powerful Oath indeed, Lady Edge,” he whispered. “What… is this door in my mind?” he asked reasonably, his blue eyes unfocused as he stared at it inside his head.

“That is your Markdoor. It connects you telepathically to every single individual who has a Mark like the one now inside your nasal cavity,” Sama answered coolly. “It is closed now. You will open it when you believe you can take what it will reveal. Antius?”

And King Antius drew himself up.

Brucall blinked, because it suddenly felt like his fellow monarch’s presence had filled the entire room.

“I have another name, lost to the legends of your time,” Antius stated with gravity an emperor would envy. “I am also King Antius Darkmoor, founder of the Kingdom of Darkmoor, lost these four thousand years ago to a Doom wrought by the hands of the Immortals.”

“Darkmoor?” His focus broken, Brucall repeated the word blankly. “THE Darkmoor? The kingdom of legend from this world?” he remembered, stunned.

King Antius just nodded calmly, waving towards me. “Lady Edge wrought a tunnel through Time itself, and I have begun evacuating my people before the Doom that is coming can consume us all, wiping us away from the world. It will take many years on our end, but in this time will seem quite rapid. Eismoor is where my people are slowly fleeing to, and we are preparing it for those who come behind us.

“There is only death and destruction embedded in the history of the world behind us, King Brucall. We cannot remain there, so we are coming, and not even the Immortals are going to stop us this time.”

The son of a Delphan Empress stared at the man who was the embodiment of the greatest and most legendary native kingdom ever to arise on this world. If ever a people could stand against the Delphans, this man definitely embodied it! The kingdom of Darkmoor, where humans and elves, dwarves and hyn had existed in legendary harmony, rising to heights undreamt of in a short time, only to be obliterated by some sort of disaster that had utterly destroyed them…

And it seems, not destroyed them at all…!

“Lady Edge and the Grandmaster are not my subordinates. They are friends and partners in this effort, both giving and gaining as they help us and are helped in return. The magical and martial ability they bring to the table is nigh unparalleled in our world, while the engineering and scientific knowledge we bring complements everything magnificently.”

Even if we hadn’t gotten to the heights the Greens could bring us to quite yet. It was coming!

“We will not be stopped, because there is only obliteration behind us,” King Antius continued. “I would like to have you join us, and build a world your dream can dwell in, because science is the magic of those who cannot Cast, and is what we bring to the table here.

“Eismoor will be built on all of our strengths. We have even begun recruiting from Delphan non-Casters in some of the outlying provinces of the empire, people who want a chance at a better life without having to be arcanists.” The stunned expression on Brucall’s face was unfeigned at the pure chutzpah of that move. “Unlike you, we have the resources to assess and evaluate each person before we offer them the chance to move, and we are selective, not throwing the door open, and definitely not recruiting spies, mercenaries, and those loyal to causes other than our own.”