Descent Into Darkness

Descent Into Darkness Part 58

 "How do you know this?" asked Spedro, standing from his chair.

"Because I am one, and I saw them keeping to the shadows, and also because I killed one of them while he crept behind this very building with a flint, aiming to set fire to the building."

"The bastards have no honor," Tanos purred, leaning back in his chair and placing his feet up on the table.

Ember took a deep breath, her eyes closed, but Phoenix could see them darting to and fro beneath her eyelids, something she always did when she was deep in thought.

A moment passed in silence before she opened her eyes, exhaled quickly, and began giving orders in a clipped tone. "Elaina, please go and greet our guest, give me a few moments before allowing him in here." Elaina nodded and rose, her long skirt swaying as she strode toward the door.

"Lian," Ember continued, "please take to whatever it is you take to and try to find more of these assassins if there are more, but do not kill them if you must not, they may be a valuable source of information. Spedro, please stand directly behind my chair, as menacingly as possible. Tanos, do as you will without antagonizing our visitor, and Phoenix, in the shadows please, we do not know if they know you yet live. Neka, please go and find Ana, send her to us."

All of them nodded, and they rose to do her bidding. Phoenix took a page from Lian's book and jumped onto the table and then into the rafters, pulling himself up by his arms. He crouched low and placed himself where he thought he might be directly in front of the emissary when he came into the room to deliver his terms. The rough wood made for excellent traction even as he crouched, and moments passed before Ana swept into the room, her eyes fierce, followed by Kelissa. Tavius came a few moments later completing the war council of Brisiris. Elaina, ever graceful, swept in after, followed by a man in blacked armor, with a high red crest on a helmet that covered all but his eyes, shining a bright green.

Ember stood, the embodiment of control to all but those who knew her, but Phoenix could see her bristling at the edges, barely controlled fury boiling beneath the surface. "General Ember," Elaina said, her voice lilting, "I give you Corbin, emissary and messenger of Demetrius."

Ember bowed her head a fraction, but Corbin bowed low, removing his bow was lowest. A shock of raven black hair grew from his head, in the smallest ringlets Phoenix had ever seen. The skin of his face was as dark as Neka's, but his features were different, like those of the desert dwellers of the west. "My lords," he said in a deep baritone, his accent strange and musical. "I bring tidings of peace, and wish no one in this noble hall or in this proud village any harm, and my men have been ordered to not even draw their swords on pain of death."

Phoenix had to swallow a scoff, and repositioned himself slightly so that if he had to drop from the rafters, he would land directly in front this silver-tongued snake.

Ember inclined her chin, and gestured for him to sit, but he denied with an elegant wave of his hand. "My apologies, my lady, but I have spent days upon my horse, and to stretch my legs is like a boon from the gods themselves. Please forgive me if I would stand instead of taking the seat you have so graciously offered."

Ember's left eye twitched, but she sat and smoothed her shirt. "What message do you bring, honored emissary?"

The man bowed again, and then spoke, not to Ember, but to all the assembled Generals. "As I said, I bring tidings of peace. My lord, Demetrius, lord of Lebrus, the land across the Endless Sea, and coming lord of Isandir, Brisiris, and all other lands sends his greetings and wishes for your health and long life."

Ahna scoffed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. "And is that why he brings an army to our shores, to our very door, and has spent the last two years having his soldiers cross our lands, kill our people and lay siege to our towns and cities?"

Corbin waved a hand. "My lord wishes no one in this noble land harm, but it would seem that our soldiers, sent to create peaceable contracts were misunderstood, and, shall we say, unfortunate events took place, events for which my lord is deeply regretful for."

"You call sending assassins into our cities to annihilate our leadership, and soldiers to capture our elementals and kill any who resist peaceable contract?" Ember asked, her voice smooth.

"My lord simply asks for fealty, for loyalty, for tribute from each city and village, and he will usher in an era of peace and plenty the likes of which Brisiris has never seen."

"Fealty, as in servitude?" Tavius asked.

"Fealty as in an unbreakable bond between lord and subject, in which the lord protects the subject, and the subject may have to dip the head in deference when the lord passes."

Tanos spoke for the first time. "The only one Brisiris needs protecting from is your lord himself, and maybe you with your honeyed words and meaningless platitudes.

Corbin bowed again, a small smile on his face, in which Phoenix could detect the slightest hint of a sneer. "My lord Tanos, word of your greatness has reached far across the Endless S-"

"Cut the candied words," Ember snapped, and Corbin looked wounded. "You have come with a message, emissary, and I would hear it without being subjected to anymore of your worthless drivel."

Corbin stood straight, his chin inclined. "Very well. My lord has decreed that you all discontinue this folly of a war council. He will be upon your shores in mere days, and truly does not wish you all dead. Brisiris is nothing without the people who inhabit it, and he does not wish to see it emptied. But, mark his words, he will kill any and all who oppose him, through his great might, or through the might of his armies, whom will roll over you like stones in a riverbed."

Silence reigned. Tanos crossed his legs at the ankles, which were still upon the table. And then a peal of laughter, clean and pure, rang out, and Ember doubled over, clutching her sides, her hair falling to hide her face. She kept laughing, long and hard, then reared her head back, breathless, and Phoenix could see tear tracks on her cheeks. He smiled himself, and braced for what he knew was coming.