Spearing the Siren

TEN

      The chancellor stepped to the side as the door to his suite slid aside, allowing his council director to walk inside ahead of him. Valiskar slowed his pace at the pleasure master reclining on the couch like a sex god awaiting an unsuspecting mortal, his arm stretched over the back, his eyes warm and suggestive on him. Valiskar gave him a muted gaze as Loridian went to pour them drinks while the pleasure master patted the place beside him, his eyes beckoning him for more than a place to sit.
      Loridian turned with three glasses, curious when he saw his council director sitting closer to the pleasure master than he would have suspected of his intense, all-business associate. He set the glasses on the table in front of him, sitting in the chair beside Navariel, noticing he looked like a cat that had just fed as he looked at his council director. He leaned forward to collect his drink, somehow making the movement seductive, his eyes never leaving Valiskar's.
      "Seems you've been quite busy while Daddy was away," he said as he took a sip, Loridian expecting his associate to call attention to the fact that he didn't answer to him. His fiery, controlled gaze only met Navariel's.
      "I don't believe we've officially met," he said instead, Loridian smiling down into his drink, hearing the warmth most wouldn't.
      "A grave tragedy," Navariel said smoothly, Loridian giving a low chuckle. Neither elf looked at him.
      "Business first, then pleasure, gentlemen," he said as he rested his drink on his table. His associate turned a more muted gaze to him. "The legion general?" he asked in a more professional voice as he took a sip.
      "Dead," his council director stated flatly.   Loridian looked at him approvingly.
      "I would have paid good money to see that."
      Valiskar's gaze slid over to Navariel before he leaned over to retrieve his drink.
      "I've heard you've been busy as well," his council director said smoothly, transitioning the attention from him with ease Loridian had always appreciated.
      "I had little to do with it." Navariel looked down into his drink, Loridian sensing some of his quiet pleasure had been doused. He raised his eyes to Valiskar. "The Midgardian commander dealt the blow."
      Valiskar's gaze intensified on him. He looked away.
      "That presents an interesting dilemma."
      Loridian leaned forward to relinquish his glass, giving him a tolerant gaze.
      "A Midgardian isn't going to take over the armies of the Dokkalfar."
      "Especially this one," Navariel commented before taking another sip.
      "He does seem rather...single-minded," Valiskar said with a sharp gaze on his chancellor. "Do you think he will really pull out?"
      "I think it's inevitable," Loridian said as he stood, shrugging from his red chancellor robe, hanging it on a coat hook near the door. He reclaimed his chair. "Brandt only wants to protect his people."
      "Understandable," Navariel said as he looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "He doesn't want to involve his people in a war that isn't theirs. It's commendable."
      Valiskar's steady gaze had returned to him.
      "What is your part in all this?" he asked boldly, in classic Valiskar style. "You've left Talangul for a reason, I presume. As far as I know, nothing can draw you from your kingdom."
      Navariel crossed his legs on the couch, coming within a hair's breadth from Valiskar's leg.
      "I was instrumental in his death, even if I didn't release the arrow."
      Valiskar raised an eyebrow. "An arrow put down the Black Dragon?"
      "It was a very precise arrow," Navariel replied, his voice having lost its flirtation. He brushed some lint from his embroidered pants. "Right in the heart."
      "Somehow I'm not surprised," Valiskar mused. He gave him a keen look. "Must have taken the joy out of it for you." Navariel avoided his gaze, taking a sip of his drink, Loridian reading curiosity in his associate's eyes. Valiskar returned his gaze to his chancellor. "Where does that leave us? Dokkalfar's armies don't have a commander. I can't see this one taking over. What about Terynzia?" A shadow fell over Loridian's face. Valiskar's gaze sharpened on him. "What's happened? I can't imagine anything getting the best of her—"
      "Her brother happened to her, and she was six months pregnant at the time."
Valiskar nodded without surprise.
      "The time differential. Yours, I presume."
      "Well...she seems certain it is, but I'm not."
       Valiskar rested his glass on his leg, his direct gaze giving away his curiosity.
      "I didn't think she wandered."
      "Alvaen might be the father."
       Valiskar choked, it might have been a laugh, it was difficult to tell. He leaned forward to keep his glass from spilling. Loridian gave him a raised eyebrow over an amused look.
      "Didn't see that coming," he said as he calmed himself, Navariel grunting in amusement.
      "There's more to him than meets the eye."
       Valiskar looked at him with warm green eyes.
"Is that so?"
      "You don't know?" Navariel asked in sarcastic surprise as he took a drink. Loridian saw those warm green eyes increase temperature before he looked away from him.
      "What happened with her brother? He's an enforcer, isn't he? The Black Dragon's thrall, last time I checked." Loridian gave him a direct gaze, knowing he'd catch up quickly. He saw the calculation in those piercing green eyes. He grunted. "Makes him look weak, especially since he failed."
      "Well, he's dead now, so it doesn't matter," Navariel said in a flat tone that didn't fit him, straightening to set his glass on the table.
      "His pride was always his weakness," Loridian said calmly. "But Navariel is right, he's dead, and no one has come forward to claim the position. Someone will, it's only a matter of time."
      "And whoever does, could deem our cause a waste of resources," Navariel said.
      "Is Terynzia still recovering?"
      "She's in a coma," Loridian said in a hard voice. Valiskar gave him a measured look.
      "And the child?"
      "Still alive. It's the mother that's in danger."
      "What kind of wound—"
      "Dagger in the back."
      Valiskar's face heated and he understood why.
      "He's still alive?"
      "Alvaen wounded him pretty badly, but his remaining men got him off the ship before we could recover enough to track him."
      Valiskar lifted an eyebrow, no doubt about the part with Alvaen, but he didn't question it.
      "So, technically, he could take the position."
Loridian frowned. "He doesn't have the seniority or the popularity. He's brutal and nuts, but that's not enough to win the highest position in the Dokkalfar armies. He'd need men and—"
      "And according to Alvaen, he always needs extra muscle, so he's obviously not confident in his own skills," Navariel interrupted in a hard tone.
      "Having an extra man could just mean he's lazy and doesn't want to do the dirty work," Valiskar interjected, Loridian noticing the tightening around Navariel's mouth.
      "He will get everything he deserves, in time," he said, addressing him, and the pleasure master's expression went neutral. Valiskar looked between the two of them.
      "Something I'm not getting here? Other than what he did to Terynzia?"
      Navariel rose stiffly from the couch and took his glass to the cabinet in the corner, Valiskar watching him before returning his gaze to his chancellor.
      "Apparently, a long time ago, he took Alvaen and...Olgar was with him."
      Valiskar stared at him, not with his customary fire but with an expression closer to horror than he'd ever seen.
      "Alvaen?" he asked in disbelief. Loridian stared into space. "How did he—"
      "He was at my place and my enforcers dropped the ball," Navariel said in a hard voice from where he stood in front of the liquor cabinet, not turning around. "I dropped the ball," he added in a quieter voice. Valiskar stared hard at his back and Loridian wondered how his passionate associate would react to this news. He could be unpredictable at times, caring about things he thought wouldn't show up on his radar.
      "Terynzia crushed his skull," Loridian felt obligated to add to detract his attention. His associate seemed to calm, but he could never truly tell his moods. He didn't give an approving statement, Loridian's gaze softening when he realized this information truly upset him. He didn't think he and Alvaen were that close. Perhaps he didn't need to be.
      "Was he working for Morloc then?"
      "Unknown," Loridian said as Navariel poured himself another drink, filling the glass higher than the chancellor had.
      "I still think the fucker will try to make a play for it," Valiskar said in a heated tone that warmed Loridian. "If he's truly insane, he won't have anything to lose."
      "But he will lose, with little fanfare," Loridian said firmly. "We probably won't even hear about it, that's how important his claim will be to the Black Council."
      "Unless he's found another master," Navariel said, turning to the side, his glass in hand.
      "Hmm," Valiskar murmured.
      "Who else would have the leverage? There are few in the unique position to make a play for the Black Dragon."
      Navariel turned towards them.
      "If he doesn't make a play, someone else will. Perhaps he would try to ingratiate himself with him." He leaned against the cabinet and took a sip.
      "That leaves the question if the Black Citadel will approve the elves we've requested for the war."
      Loridian raised a sharp look to his associate.
      "I am the chancellor and you are the council director. We make the decision in regards to war."
      "She could step in," Valiskar said in a grave tone. Navariel looked at him warily. Loridian stared into space, considering.
      "She won't unless forced to do so. You know she hates anything to do with the military."
      Valiskar grunted. "Bold of her, considering she wouldn't be on the throne without it."
      "With the Black Dragon dead, she might consider the matter important enough to see to herself."
      Valiskar looked up at the pleasure master with resignation. Loridian looked at the carpet beside him.
      "You don't mean she would come here."
      "Without a leader for the military, she would need to step in."
      "Surely she would appoint a proxy until the court could make a decision."
      "This is not some local squabble," Valiskar said. "This is a war against the Ljosalfar. For Asgard."
      "Fuck."
      "This is definitely a complication we didn't need," Valiskar said in an even tone.
      "She will want to hold a hearing when she arrives," Navariel said as he pushed off the cabinet.
      "A hearing in the middle of a war?" Loridian snapped. "With Alfheim breathing down our necks? What, is she going to call for refreshments as Ljosalfar cruisers blast the hull?"
      "She has a precise way of doing things," Valiskar agreed with a heavy dose of resignation. "You know what a stickler for the laws she is."
      "But now is not the time to put us on trial for the Black Dragon's death! We need action!"
      "You don't need to convince me," Valiskar said, crossing his ankles. "She's the one you'll need to convince."
      "Fuck," Loridian growled.
      "We could all burn for this," Navariel said quietly. Loridian grunted.
      "And none of us dealt the blow."
      "At the very least, she won't want to ally with Midgard because of it. She might consider it an act of war."
      "We're already at war. Fucking royals, thowing around their war declarations, but we're the ones who have to enforce them."
      "Well, to be clear, the military does," Navariel said as he returned to his place beside Valiskar. Loridian gave him a dark look.
      "I am in this as much as they are, Navi. Do you think I'm going to stand back and let elves die for me, when I'm right here?"
      Navariel gave him an appreciative gaze.
"Most politicians wouldn't feel that way."
      He raised his glass to his lips.
      "My mate is an enforcer. I can't be like other politicians."
       "True," the pleasure master agreed.
      "So then, what is the plan? Wait for her majesty to show up and fuck us?"
      Loridian shook his head. "We can't wait. Lysandril is going to be here in less than a day."
      "Shouldn't he have already arrived?" Valiaskar asked.
      "He likes to study the enemy before he strikes, gathering data," Navariel said. Valiskar raised an eyebrow at him.
      "I wouldn't think the pleasure prince of Talangul still observed the movements of high elves."
      Navariel gave him an appreciative gaze.
      "You don't know everything, young one," he said smoothly.
      "Hmm," Valiskar murmured, Loridian's mood improving incrementally at their exchange. Then he remembered the mess they were in and groaned, leaning back in his chair.
      "Fucking queens."
      "Mm, fucking queens," his associate agreed. He and Navariel drank.