That World Called Zerigoph: The War's End

Chapter 24

"What... what just happened?" James asked, still watching the door.

"What just happened, is that Sukela is back."

"Yeah, no, I got that..."

"No you didn't. I mean the real Sukela is back. Snarky, sex-crazed, slightly polite when needed. Did you feel it? Suddenly, happily drawn into playful conversations with him, feeling emotions stronger than you probably should have at the mere twitch of his face? That is Sukela Coshalak. He was going easy on you before, that stuff he did just now is where his power is. Contrary to popular belief, people with valuable skills like lockpicking, sleight of hand, compulsive lying, and expert manipulation don't just happen to fall into a sex ring run by a king."

"Well we already knew he chooses his toys."

"It goes beyond that," Max said with an impressed smile, "he chooses people who can give him talent at his fingertips, reading them to see if they'd bend into his ring and how much effort or how far from natural balance it would be. That emotional junk he just played with in your head? He was testing you, seeing how far he could bend you."

"So what was the fear?" James muttered.

"The fear was realizing that I wasn't just referring to myself when I warned him about how dangerous finding our breaking points is. It was realizing that if he pushed you to break, you wouldn't kill him like Kernasala would, you'd leave him alive while you go on to destroy everything else."

"I'm... so lost right now."

"Don't worry about it. Essentially, Sukela was playing with you a touch in good fun because his power is subtle manipulation. He saw something he didn't want to unleash, so he backed off and became somehow even more scared of me."

"Yeah, what was that "it's you" thing about? I don't understand that one either."

"That, you definitely don't need to worry about yet. It's an old saying, I'm sure Godel will bring it up in frustration one day." James looked back at the door, tired and confused. Had Sukela been doing that when he was tied up? Had he been afraid of him then, too?

"Come on, let's go find Neeb before he finds us."

"Okay, what's the name I should know?"

"Nebran. Anything else and it'll be evident you've been told."

"Is that bad?"

"Not necessarily, but we've all been through asvada recently... some more literally than others. Let's stick to instinct naming."

"There they are!" Kansha boomed, gesturing to the door with a wine cup as James and Max entered his throne room. It now had tables in it, dressed with food and drink and actual tablecloths. It wasn't half as cold as the eating room during their last visit. "Kaj! Kaj!" he said, approaching with one wide arm. He hugged Max and nearly James, but stopped, looking to Max for permission. James found that strange, but didn't have time to ask before being crushed by the man's meaty arm around him. "Come in, come in! We have wine and food, some deep brew for James, partake, please!"

"What's deep brew?" James whispered, leaning over to Max, cloakless and missing his armor shirt as he walked through the room. Some of Kansha's generals turned towards the pair, beginning to whisper. James had left his cloak but was otherwise in plateless uniform. He spotted Kernasala already planted in a seat near the corner of the room, holding up a cup to James.

"Old liquor type stuff, Incarnations typically like it."

"It's beer, isn't it?"

"I think that's what they called it, yeah." James looked around again as Max scanned the food tables. The generals had stopped being so obvious, but now they just stared, occasionally whispering from the sides of their mouths. He glanced back at Kerny, who shook his head slightly. No threat. He followed Max as he took up a plate, leaving it half empty. He gave Max a confused look. They hadn't eaten since last night and this was a banquet made by Kansha. Max winked at him.