NOVEL WEB CHAPTER 30: COMPLICATIONS
Xander Vasilias, ☆☆Graviton Knight, Stone Lvl 14
Dreamserpent Club, Aragon
Zahara entered her office a few minutes later. She saw Xander sitting on the edge of the bed and she arched one eyebrow at him. Xander stood up and moved over to her, intending to enfold her in an embrace, but Zahara shook her head and held up one graceful hand.
“Not until you tell me what’s on your mind. I could practically hear your thoughts screaming at me the entire time I was making my excuses to my guests.” She chuckled softly, “I had thought you were eager for something else, but this is even more intriguing.”
Xander sighed, running his fingers through his long black hair as he prepared to tell her. “Zahara…I need to leave tomorrow. That is, it’ll be me and my whole team. We’re…” His voice stuck in his throat and he caught himself before he told her all about the encrypted message he’d just received from his mother. “I’ve been ordered to head out into the field. I can’t tell you more than that.”
Zahara nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing slightly as her mind worked. She was quiet for a few seconds and Xander waited with bated breath, unsure how she would respond. “It has something to do with your House’s recent rise, of course,” she said musingly. “You’ve told me that your House was still twenty-five years away from being able to re-apply on Merits alone, but that’s not what happened here. Rikael didn’t put forth a petition to the Imperial Senate. There was no application for advancement and the Emperor certainly made no such decrees.”
Xander didn’t say anything. He just frowned and looked away. Zahara, undeterred, started pacing as she thought. She held out her hands and her signature instrument, a gorgeous navy blue nine-stringed djevek with mother-of-pearl fretboard inlays, appeared in them. She started a complicated waterfall of notes as she walked, her fingers dancing over the strings with incredible dexterity.
“That means there’s only a few other ways for Vasilias to have risen so suddenly but we can rule out most of those other ways. After all, I don’t think anyone in your family has Ascended without the Emperor’s blessing and so far as I know there have been no Cataclysms averted by any Reborn in your family lately.” She changed key, “That leaves one option. Great House Scions. It seems impossible but…” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. “Take me with you! I can help you find your missing Scion!”
Xander sat there, stunned with his mouth opening and closing like a landed fish. “Um, well you see,” he started and then trailed off. “I think I might be required to detain you if I’m going by strict House operational security standards.”
Zahara smiled wickedly, put her djevek down, and held her hands out in front of her, pushing her arms together and leaning forward so her dress clung even more dangerously. “Oh, well if you must detain me, I suppose you must.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him and laughed when he blushed again. “Come now Xander, you can’t think the biggest political upset in five thousand years could happen in my city and I wouldn’t know every detail about it? Your mother has been moving quickly and quietly, but not as quietly as usual. She’s left a trail for those who know and care to look for it.”
Xander took her hands in his and kissed her fingertips, eliciting a girlish giggle from the red-haired musician. “Why do you want to come with me? You know it’s impossible of course. Your family name alone should preclude the very idea.” He tried to be airy and dismissive, but it came out leaden and depressed. Fine, he thought, it’s a depressing situation. “I fucking hate this feud.”
Zahara sat on his lap, caressing his hair, her big eyes staring into his. “I know you do, my sweet. It’s one of the reasons I adore you. You’re one of the few people in this city that I can be Zahara Bardoul in front of.”
Xander looked around uncertainly. “I wouldn’t say that name too loudly. I swear that there’s an enchantment that turns monitoring and recording spells on whenever someone mentions it. My mother’s security crackdown…”
She rolled her eyes and pushed him none-too-lightly on the chest. She was Ivory rank, after all, and it was easy to forget how much stronger she was because of her incredible grace. “I have somehow evaded your mother’s security sweeps for a decade now, despite being a demonic Bardoul.”
Xander was about to protest but thought better of it for once and shut his mouth. She had a point after all. “I understand your objection, but consider this: I am only known as Zahara Bardoul to you, my dear.” Xander was about to object again but she cut him off with a raised hand. “To everyone else, I am Zahra Manet, famed independent Reborn. I would be an asset to your search.”
“Are you joking? Do you really think your alias is so adamantium-clad?” Xander chuckled ruefully. “I’m sure Aashva knows. The only reason she’s allowed me to think I’ve gotten away with hiding our relationship for so long is so it’ll give her leverage against me.”
Zahara squirmed enticingly on his lap, settling herself more comfortably. “So Aashva knows! So what? She’s a security officer. It’s her job to be suspicious. Who are you?” She tapped her lip and looked vacuously at him with wide eyes, as she said, “Oh? Are you a Great House Scion? Hm. Why I suppose you are! I can’t be sure but I think that outranks a security officer.”
“Aashva isn’t just a ‘security officer’ and you know it.” He held up his hands in surrender when she opened her mouth to protest again. “But you have a good point! Truly!” He said when she raised her eyebrow challengingly. He continued, “I am the Scion here. No matter how close Aashva and my mother are, they have not married and she cannot give me legal commands.”
“There, you see reason,” Zahara said, snuggling against him, and leaning her head on his chest. Xander brought his arms around her, his massive frame enfolding the slender woman completely. “When do you plan on leaving? I’ll have to get packed.”
Xander chuckled, “You don’t give up, do you? Even if I wanted to bring you on this potentially dangerous mission—and I normally would, truly—I couldn’t. This is going to be a top-secret assignment.” He sighed again. This was more of a trial than he’d hoped it would be. “People aren’t meant to know we don’t have a hold of the Scions and there’s no way I could get away with adding even an independent to my team. Not for this mission. Why do you want to come so badly? You’ve never wanted to come with me before.”
She was silent for a long while. Long enough that Xander thought she wasn’t going to answer. When she did finally answer, her voice had lost the playfulness it always had and she sounded cold with a barely concealed anger. “I had a communication from my mother recently.” She nodded over to her desk where Xander saw a single sheet of message film lying on it. “She has decided that the humiliation of exile was not enough. Now I am completely cut off. I no longer have access to my Bardoul accounts in the System. All my credits…all my savings, my Inventory…it’s all gone.”
“Oh, Zahara, I didn’t know—”
“You didn’t know because I didn’t tell you,” she interrupted. “But it occurred to me that any Reborn who assisted in the recovery of a Great House Scion might have her sordid family connections overlooked in…say, a bid for vassalhood. Or maybe even a House of her own.”
Xander didn’t know why, but he felt a little hurt by her reason. It was eminently logical. It made sense. And yet… “You didn’t want to join because I was there?” He regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth; he hated how childish he sounded.
“Xander! I’m surprised at you. Of course, I want to be there with you!” She leaned back and looked him in the eye, still in his lap. “But that would not be a sufficient reason for you to allow me to join you, would it?”
Xander opened his mouth to reply but didn’t have a great response ready. “No, it would not,” he said lamely. “But I wouldn’t say you being broke is exactly a great reason either, even if it is compelling. You know I have money.”
“Thank you, my Lord, but I will not accept your charity,” she almost spat the word. Her posture had gone from supple and snuggly to rigid and formal. “If the answer is ‘no’ then just say it now and we can go our separate ways. You have your mission, after all. I have my club.”
“Go…? Our separate ways?” Xander asked slowly.
Zahara shrugged, examining her nails minutely. But she didn’t get off his lap. “Do you think you’re the only Lord who comes calling at the Dreamserpent? I practically have to beat them off with a stick. Still, you are certainly the most handsome,” she relaxed ever so slightly. “I would hate to end our relationship over such a thing. I have enjoyed you—and I think you enjoy me.”
“End…our…?” Xander blinked. He hadn’t known that was suddenly on the table. “Why, what do you mean?”
Her eyes seemed to soften for a moment and she sighed. “Xander, my dear darling Scion of a House who values you… You do not know what hardship is. I do. I had to tear and claw for everything I have now. When my mother’s tests determined that re-education wouldn’t solve her problem, she discarded me.” She shuddered. “I will not go back to that. Never. And if you don’t trust me enough to assist you in this thing that will save my life and livelihood, then…I must play another tune. You will never have to live through what I did—thank the Witheld—so you cannot understand my perspective. You simply have to trust me.” And then she shut her mouth and looked right into his eyes, and Xander felt his heart wanting to break.
He cleared his throat, trying to get past the sudden lump. It shouldn’t have even been a question: his family—the House—came first. But his House wasn’t currently filling his nostrils with the subtle scent of prisma blossoms and it certainly wasn’t warm and sitting in his lap. Mother will consider my request to join the Order of Ascension, he thought. Aashva wants me to end things with Zahara because she’s a relentless busybody. What do I want? Should that matter? It never seemed to matter to anyone else. It matters to me.
“Very well, come with me on this desperate hunt,” he said softly, surprising even himself. “I’d be a fool to deny you when you’ve already more than made your case and double the fool if I didn’t admit that I want you with me out there.” Almost before he’d finished his sentence, Zahara had melted into him again.
She kissed him for a long time. When they could finally breathe independently again, Xander said, “I don’t know how I’ll convince them, but I’ll handle my team. The most challenging people to convince will be the regular troops and support staff, but they’ll come around.”
Zahara didn’t respond, she simply reached behind her neck to undo her dress’s clasp. Xander’s hands met hers and engulfed them, preventing them from doing any more. “I must go,” he said gently, kissing Zahara again. “Back to the Rose Palace. I got an encrypted message from Mother just a few minutes ago. I’ll be in touch soon—await my message and try not to do anything…rash, will you?”
She kissed him again and smiled impishly when she finished. “No promises. Now go, you have a lot to organize.”
Xander nodded and stood up from the bed, re-buttoning his shirt and his jacket. He hadn’t realized his shirt had become unbuttoned. His pants slid down his legs and he blushed as he reached down and pulled them back up, fastening the belt. When had Zahara undone his belt without him knowing? His mother’s message had come at the worst possible time.
Zahara accompanied him back through the club and gave him another lingering parting kiss when he resummoned Auggie before riding off down the wide street with a roar of arcane engines. She watched him for a long time before turning around and making her way back into the Dreamserpent Club to prepare for her upcoming trip. It had been far too long since she’d been out in the field.
Zahara Bardoul, Songmaster, Ivory Lvl 14
Zahara Bardoul
Race
Human
Rank/Level
Ivory Rank Songmaster Level 14
House
House Bardoul
Racial Gifts
System Access, Minor House Seal, Limited Inventory, Mindspeech, Eidetic Memory
Attributes
Dominion
15 [Fire] / 50
Speed
39 [Djevek] / 50
Precision
20 [Voice] / 50
Growth
18 [Life] / 50
Arcana
35 [Music] / 50
Tensa Pool
2 ms [770 ks base + 1023 ks tensa batteries]
Gear
Legendary 9 string djevek, Systablo, replacement djevek strings, casual clothing, formal attire, picking glove, etheric amplifier, tensa batteries
Core Grafts
Firebolt [Fire], Divine Chord [Djevek], Babble [Voice], Mend [Life], Backing Track [Music]
Class Powers
Attack
Shredding Solo [Djevek]
Fiery Words [Fire]
Defense
Cacophany [Music]
Utility
Firestarter [Fire]
Summon Instrument [Music]
Amplify Voice [Voice]
Movement
Traveling Song [Music]
Support
Healing Burst [Life]
Encouragement [Voice]
Moody recessed lights were the only illumination in Zahara’s office bedroom. She sat at her desk, listening to the almost audible thump of bass through her floor. The rhythmic beat was hypnotic, making her eyelids feel heavy for a moment before she stretched and rubbed her lower back. She’d paid over a hundred thousand credits for the tip from her source inside the Rose Palace that had arrived only fifteen minutes before Xander had walked through the club’s doors.
Of course, the news of House Vasilias’ sudden ascent had been shocking. But in the wake of press releases from Lady Rikael and her House’s public relations corps flooding the System message boards, it was impossible to understand exactly what had facilitated their sudden rise. If you were to believe the House press releases, it was due to their steadfast resolve, natural leadership, and sheer patriotic gumption. Those ads seemed to infer that it was because of the efforts of the common folk as well as due to the incredible power of the Reborn their House boasted. Zahara needed reliable, immediate information that she could act on.
She still felt good about her decision to accompany Xander on his search. It was unlikely that he would find anyone—he and his team were only Stone rank after all—but she would be seen helping and that boost to her image would be enough. It would position her close enough within the good graces of a Great House and that might finally be enough to break free of every chain that still bound her to her own House. And if by some miracle the Witheld smiled upon Xander and he did manage to stumble across one of the Scions…well, that would be something else entirely. She didn’t allow herself to hope for that outcome.
“You always had a natural sense of aesthetic, daughter,” a cold, precise contralto voice emerged from the shadows. “Though your particular tastes run a bit to the fantastical, I must say. This Issatar, for example, is…whimsical. The painting shouldn’t fit with your décor and yet it does.”
Hearing that voice here sent a shiver down Zahara’s spine and a cold sweat broke out on her back. Her eyes snapped over to where the voice came from. Standing in the shadows, draped in darkness, was the tall, imposing figure of Desalia Bardoul, Zahara’s mother and head of House Bardoul. Even draped in shadows and darkness, the crisp military cut of a House Bardoul armored robe uniform could still be discerned.
How did she get in here?! Zahara wondered, panicking internally. Externally, she was cool and dispassionate. She allowed herself one word, “Mother.” She tried to pour all of her animosity, and all of her hostility into that one word.
Her mother’s light laugh was particularly grating. “My goodness, daughter, please don’t act so wounded. I gave you the space you wanted.”
“How did you get in here? I’m not asleep—my alerts would have gone off. And you shouldn’t be able to—” she cut herself off. The anti-dream walking enchantments she’d webbed the entire room in had not been sufficient to prevent her mother from simply appearing. Clearly, she was asleep.
“Yes, now you see that I could have dropped in at any time but I respected your privacy and your need for space. I would think to find you grateful, but a sense of gratitude has never been one of your graces.” Her mother stepped into the dim light, though the shadows didn’t retreat from her form. “Now come here and let me look at you.”
A welter of conflicting emotions was boiling through Zahara as her mother faced her. She found herself getting up from her desk and walking slowly over to her mother, almost in a daze. Desalia nodded in approval as she approached. “You look magnificent, daughter. I see that you have not neglected your training,” she said warmly. “Good. It was clearly useful in your conquest of the Vasilias Scion.”
“I’m not going to do whatever you’ve come here to tell me to do, Mother,” Zahara said stiffly. “I’m not a child anymore. I’m—”
Her mother’s musical laughter cut her off. “Oh, my child! I do apologize for my interruption but I didn’t believe we would be re-hashing the same tired arguments we had when you were a teenager.” She shook her head. “Your status as a child or an adult has no bearing on what you will do; you know that.” She paused. “You should know I’ve kept your estates exactly as you left them. I kept your servants employed and your—”
“My gardens? And my orchards? The…You fed Ridley and Isops? The others?” She couldn’t help asking.
“Your animals are all well. Isops finally delivered a full litter: a round dozen!” She smiled. “My dear daughter, there was nothing said a decade ago that cannot be forgiven. I said a good deal more to my mother—and worse—when I was your age.” Her voice sounded warm and reasonable. “That doesn’t make you any less a Bardoul—or any less a Scion of our House. You have responsibilities. Duties. Come home, daughter.”
Oh yes, Mother, she thought. Repeat our blood relationship, emphasize our only tie. You even brought up my old estates. What do you want? What do you know? Surely she knows this won’t convince me of anything.
Zahara deliberately turned her back on her mother and walked back to her desk. She turned back around and faced her again, steeling herself as she said, firmly, “I’m not coming home, Mother. I’m not coming home.” Deep breath. “I have my club, my life here. I have friends, relationshi—”
“Yes, you do, don’t you? You have your relationship with that young Vasilias Scion.” She chuckled disbelievingly. “I must say I am impressed, daughter. I don’t think I could have asked for a better showing. You have done well.”
She snapped, “I didn’t do it for you.” She drew a sharp breath through her nose and continued in a calmer tone. “I didn’t do it for you. Will you please get to the point, Mother?”
The shadow-wrapped figure of her mother appeared right next to her. She didn’t cross the intervening space like any normal person. There wasn’t even a surge of tensa or a hint of intent through her anima. One moment she was across the room, the next she was standing right next to Zahara, looking down her nose at her. It was her ‘subtle’ way of reminding her that in the Second World of Dream, she was all-powerful.
MY CHILD, I GROW TIRED OF THESE VERBAL SPARRING MATCHES. Her mother’s mouth didn’t move but her voice thundered in Zahara’s office. Glass shattered, books were blasted off their shelves, and Zahara herself was thrown to the floor, blood streaming from her ears and nose. THERE IS NO DISCUSSION. THERE IS NO REFUSAL. THERE IS ONLY THE WILL OF THE HOUSE.
Zahara was screaming, though she couldn’t hear her own voice. This was an old, familiar tactic her mother had employed all through her childhood. Its familiarity did not make it any easier to withstand. All of a sudden, the awful pressure was gone. The destroyed room was back to what it was. Zahara was still on the ground though.
Lady Desalia knelt next to her, caressing her face gently. “I don’t ask anything onerous, my daughter. Nothing that you weren’t already doing.” Her voice hardened until it was like bared steel, “Go with your Vasilias Scion lover. Participate in the search. When you go, you will be wearing this.”
She held up a sinuous silver snake with flecks of sapphire and opal for its scales. “If you happen to find what your lover is searching for, drop the serpent.” She dropped the metal serpent and it landed in Zahara’s hand.
She saw that the serpent was attached to a silver chain as if it were an amulet. “That’s it? What…What is it?” She asked hesitantly.
“Your duty.” Her mother’s voice was still hard. “You needn’t concern yourself about its nature. Operational security.”
Zahara looked up, but something intangible had changed. Her mother wasn’t there. She wasn’t on the ground anymore. She was at her desk. A spot of drool had collected on one of her notebooks from where she’d been sleeping. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and blinked a few times, feeling her anger bubble up.
It flared up and quickly died away as her eyes rested on the serpent amulet. She picked it up with one trembling hand and put her other hand to her temple and rubbed it. She sat there considering the amulet for a long time before she took a deep breath and looked around. No one else was there. The rhythmic thumping of the club’s music had come back, barely audible through the floor and walls.
What am I going to do? She thought, staring at the amulet.
She had thought the enchantments she’d paid for would keep her mother out of at least this place, if nowhere else. Of course, what else should she have expected? Her mother was Jade Rank. She might as well be Ascended already, so great was the gulf in power between them. Freedom had felt so wonderful, but it had proven as illusory and ephemeral as the anti-dream walking enchantments she’d commissioned.
With a sigh, Zahara stood up. She put the amulet in her Inventory, hiding it for now. She didn’t have to decide right now. There was still time for her to figure this out. Besides, it wasn’t very likely that Xander and his team would be successful at all, not when House Vasilias had their own high-ranking Reborn scout teams. This would just be a jaunt in the countryside—maybe they’d visit a Dungeon or two—and then they’d be back in Aragon, empty-handed but none the worse for wear. She felt herself smiling again. Yes. That’s exactly what would happen.