[Tammo's Competition II] Flames of Truth

[MathLuk]

This is the second of two fics that I will submit to the competition.

Spoiler

Lorelei Skyward walked out of her private chambers. Her father was waiting for an audience with her, citing 'an urgent matter' as the reason.

Urgent matters can mean a lot of different things, and her father has seen fit to keep everything a secret. Her husband has left this world after a long struggle with a slow-acting illness, and his posthumous son being born days after did not help matters. After a brief discussion with her stepson, she named the infant after his father, as was dictated by Garlean naming customs. Seeing that Corrado was a Skyward household name as well, her father quickly accepted her little decision.

The now six-month old Corrado Truetide journeyed back with his mother. The infant resembled his mother more than his father, and hers in turn. After his fur had grown, it displayed a light brown hue - a Trielian characteristic, not the black fur displayed by the otters on the West side of the Parman Spine, and her husband and father in particular. The infant had her husband's eyes though - a light, whimsical blue pair. All Truetides before him had this colour, up from their ultimate ancestor, Orlando the Hornblower - or at least the legends say.

"Lady Lorelei!" a high-pitched voice rang out from the top of a flight of stairs. An absent-minded head poked through a balcony, revealing a familiar otter. Niels Crestworth may have been the kin of her father's sworn enemy, but he was raised by her father, and was one of her greatest friends of her own age, even including her ladies-in-waiting.

"It is good to see you again, my lady." At twenty-six, he was at the beginning of adulthood, but was still a good five seasons older than Lorelei, though he did not show it

"You seem to have waited for quite some time." The Garlean lady laughed. She was not the definite heir to her father's titles - her father may yet sire a son with her mother, and failing that, another wife, yet he seemed to have given up trying.

"My lady, I would like to make a little confession." the Doman lord's ears flattened as he continued to speak, each word softer than the last.

"I know, I know." Smiling at her friend's awkwardness, she spoke as gently as she could, which, of course, was still not very gentle. "You have feelings for me, do you not?"

Niels seemed to freeze for a few seconds before obtaining an answer. "Yes," he admitted with a sigh. "How did you know?"

"The whole court knows. Even the Trielian and Southard emissaries." She sighed deeply, studying the embarrassed otter in front of him. He was a scholar and healer through and through, and loved a number of cultural disciplines more than the responsibilities of lordship. His brother once joked that he was a better gardener than a warrior, though the beast himself took no offense. Lorelei hoped Corrado, no. Lorelei hoped no son of hers will turn out like him, to become a beast who tries his best to not try his best - to avoid problems rather than confront them head on.

"You left quite a large number of clues. Your ears swivel every time I enter a chamber you are in, and you stutter every time you talk to me or my parents."

"Oh..." Niels seemed to drift off into the distance. "Has your father matched you with anyone? My nephew, perhaps? Lord Valdemar is seeking a bride from far and wide, and this match can resolve my brother's conflict with your father."

"It is not like Father to seek reconciliation. He prefers an alliance - this time with Erlend of Kaldos. He has poor relations with his brother, who allied himself with Winchell of Jayso - the exact beast father seeks to destroy.'

Thordan of Parma had enemies in all directions, dead set on the destruction of the kingdom. To the North there is Canute Crestworth, the magnate long having an eye (or even both) on the Parman throne. The Crestworths have not recovered from Balv, but they are on the mend. This is not good news.

To the East lay Valnain - a cesspit of viperous intrigue, and a land where there is no 'vermin' or 'woodlander', which sounds less attractive than it seems. Lorelei knew. She had been there.

In the South King Winchell of Jayso conspired as naturally as a bird flew and a fish swam, with far-reaching ambitions that have reached exactly nowhere, thanks to the efforts of her father.

The West was a different story. The Valeran league, enemies of House Skyward since Thordan the First, was a dagger pointed at Vargo for fifty long seasons. Aided by the fact that King Thordan knew almost nothing about them, they seek to diminish the might of the High Kingdom via subterfuge instead of open war - a welcome change of pace.

"Erlend? A weird choice, considering his love for another beast. I'm surprised that your father even considered him."

"Father's managing the arrangements now. I have no idea if he will accept though."

"Well, he is rather handsome, or so I've heard. Almost as good as his brother, and he looks better than four-fifths of male otters. Myself included, of course." Niels laughed.

'You need to think better of yourself, friend." Lorelei smiled. 'If the match between Erlend and I fails for some reason, you are always free to ask for my paw."

"Really?" Niels must be euphoric by now.

"I think so. I have no idea about your degree of success, but you will not get any result unless you actually try." She watched as he stood with mouth wide open. "You are a good friend with a noble heart, and I never had the chance to thank you."

"There is no need for that!" exclaimed the otterlord. 'I am your loyal servant and, dare I say, companion, and helping you is but my duty."

"Lorelei?" another voice permeated through the walls of the castle, this one more booming, and definitely belonged to a beast with stronger will as compared to somebeast like Niels.

"I have to go. Now. Goodbye!" Lorelei turned her head and walked briskly to the lower levels of the castle.

"Farewell! And may you have a happy marriage!" She heard her friend say behind her.

The corridors of Castle Vargo have been well-kept, with tapestries of the old Skywards, those who never sat on any throne, being placed together with younger, newer-styled oil paintings of more recent Skywards, kings all of them. Corrado the Brave, Thordan the Red, Henrik the Quarreler all adorned the wall, alongside a portrait of her father. Thordan the Astrologer, the commonfolk called him, and Lorelei found this byname most fitting, her father having spent too much time studying the supernatural. Sometimes she wondered what name she would obtain for herself, as well as her children.

Finally finding the hall in which her father was in, she opened the door to the Chamber of the Sun. Modeled after the Chamber of Stars in Floret, this room was constructed by her father to handle his observations of the stars, clouds and whatnot. The room may be darkened now, as the curtains have been half shut, but when it was fully illuminated, the view was truly a sight to behold.

"Ah. I have waited long, my dear." Thordan the Second, High King of Parma, King of Otharn and Ilsadia, jure uxoris Duke of Thavnair and Lord Elector of Vargo. A beast with many titles and bynames, and Lorelei's father. He didn't really shower affection on her, but he was an otter with many duties and interests - he may be a king, but his 'ottery' characteristics pierced through his kingly aura.

Lorelei scanned her father. He was with that black fox that was his spymaster. Between them, the remains of a game of chess sat idle on a table, its purpose finished by a timely attack. Some of the pieces haven't even been moved yet.

"Eight moves." The dark creature whined. "I got blasted in eight little moves."

"Didn't expect that queen sacrifice, hmm?" The king grinned as he picked up a crowned lutrine carving, her dress revealing her role in the game. A devil's grin, the Electors called it, yet a familiar expression for Lorelei.

"I thought I was here for something more important." Lorelei snidely remarked. "A simple game of chess is hardly an urgent matter."

"Well, some say it is." Thordan parried her concern away, like he had done for the previous twenty seasons. "Life's too short for chess, and not the other way round."

"Besides, I am one of the few beasts he can beat in a game." The fox chuckled, earning himself an annoyed stare from the otterking. The fox had black fur all over, but Lorelei knew that his fur was paler in colour around his midsection - all foxes are like that. Father plucked him out of the streets of Kurburg during his election, and he has proven to be an adept, if not perfect, master of intrigue and backstabbing.

"Now, daughter, on to more important matters." Finally. "The politics first. Erlend of Kaldos is here in Vargo."

"What?" Lorelei blurted out. Remembering the etiquette of a proper lady, she shifted into a more calm countenance. "Shouldn't I, the lady, go to meet the Lord at his own lands?"

"Oh..." The king grinned again. "No sane banker in Southard would ever lend money to him, so he's here, trying to secure a loan." He laughed even louder, with the spymaster alongside him. "From a vermin! An Ulfinger of Dravania borrowing from vermin!"

"So will he come to meet me here?" Lorelei interrupted the revelry. "Or shall I go to him?"

"That is your choice," said the king, his grin fading into a mere smile. "Yours and no other."

"Well I do wish to meet him." Lorelei smiled. Choices seldom came to her, but the Dravanian was a risk she could take. After all, he seemed very interested in female company (although of the wrong sort), handsome (so the reports and portraits say) and she will be likely to call the shots during the marriage. Her father was higher in rank as compared to his, after all; though Lorelei heard that they were friends. She only had to give him a son - a task she had succeeded before, albeit with timing slightly off.

"Really? He's more boring than Niels, for Fates' sake." Isangrim had his own reservations. "And what fun is lording over an otter as soft as butter? I may even say that you will only drive her into the paws of more females-"

Before Thordan knew it, his daughter's paw had curled into a fist, and crashed into the fox's muzzle, earning a very surprised shriek as his only reaction.

"Lorelei!" The king barked, causing his daughter to turn his attention from the downed vulpine back to him.

"I apologise - only that I did not reach for Shadowbringers before going for him." The pair of gauntlets were a gift to her from her husband, seeing her interest in beating up anyone and everyone who stood in her way. Needless to say, this was her husband's favourite gift to her - if one would exclude her son.

King Thordan sighed. "Great Seasons will that you may not have daughters!"

Lorelei laughed. "I don't think you can do anything about that."

"It is a simple statement of fact," said Isangrim, rubbing his sore muzzle. "You won't see a daughter be born to you. It is etched."

"What?" Lorelei successfully resisted the urge to spring up into the air.

"Ooooh. Yeah. The urgent matter." Thordan chuckled as he caressed his king chess piece, the outride carving seeming to smile. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Er... Yes." To be honest, she wasn't sure most of the time, but it is her father asking her. He raised her, fed her, played with her - she was his very future - Lorelei will keep his secret, whatever it may be."

"Daughter, you do know what's a seer actually like, don't you?"

"They're in little stories that vermin use to lull their children to sleep. And they are featured in a few ancient legends as well. That's what the books say, anyway." Truth be told, Lorelei hated these books with a passion.

"That means all three of us are living legends! Hurrah!" Thordan was clearly enjoying his daughter's little fit of anger.

"Wait! Waitwaitwait." She pointed at Isangrim, and her father as well. "So he's a seer, you're a seer," then she pointed two thumbclaws at herself. "And I'm a seer?"

"Your daughter is an observant one," the fox remarked snidely, which earned him an angry stare from Lorelei. The fox flinched, clearly afraid of another impact to his snout.

"Yes, yes. The power of seers lie within our veins. This is why I was fated to have only daughters, and you only sons." Thordan toted at his piece, then set it at his table.

"I don't understand!"

"You don't have to," the king smiled, picking up the queen piece, with her crystal crown on her head. "You just have to hold this in your paws."

Catching the flung piece, Lorelei grimaced. "And what would you have me do then?"

"Concentrate." The fox, Isangrim he was called, seemed to breathe heavily with every word. "Focus on the piece."

And so she did. The foxqueen was made of orange acacia wood, with some stripes decorating her clothes. A wooden carved crown sat on top, with a glass jewel capped on.

"Now close your eyes." Thordan was nervous as well. Lorelei seldom heard him use an uncertain tone, but this was definitely one rare occasion. "Clear your mind of everything else, then seize it! Seize it with your mind!" Lorelei obediently did so, focusing on the texture of the wooden figure - smooth, with a few cracks within. Then, she discovered something else.

The figure started to warm up, as if a fire was smouldering within. She opened her eyes with a sudden, for fear of a sudden danger. If there was one, though, it did not come. What did appear, though, was a light, white in colour and with a piercing intensity, that can be missed when one decided to blink at the wrong time. Another flash followed. Then another. The light emanating from the crowned head was as feeble as a watchtower viewed from miles and miles away, yet it still seemed to shine and bloom.

Finally, the chess piece was back to just a regular, non-luminous piece of wood. All three occupants of the room sat with their mouths agape, unable to comprehend what happened.

Then Thordan spoke up. "And now we have actual proof that you're a seer. You can see the future in short bursts, and can only bear children of the opposite sex. That's why I have you, and you alone." Tossing the vulpine queen chess piece to Isangrim, Thordan nodded. "You may start it now."

"Start what?" Lorelei asked.

But it was too late. A second has scarcely passed before she witnessed the otterqueen figure shine with a light of its own, and she felt something tug on her. A warm ripple, gentle to the touch at first, but then she let out a gasp. In one fleeting moment, the heat became a searing flash, like she blundered into a volcano or something.

In that same moment, she felt fear. Not fear of getting killed or even getting hurt, but somehow, her fear was one of doing something wrong.

Endangering someone.

"What did you do?" she stood up and turned towards a trembling fox. Now, she was afraid of getting hurt. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"I... er... bonded you." Isangrim's ears folded as he responded. Lorelei didn't wait. Ignoring her father's confused stares and her own unexplained fear, she delivered another paw-blow to the fox, who doubled over in pain.

This time, however, he was not the only one. The otter felt the impact as well, and she finally knew what was to be hit with her own force. Lorelei was one to recover quickly, but even she had to be shocked.

"What sorcery in Hellgates was that?" she asked, coldly turning her head, pretending that nothing had happened at all.

"The properties of a Bond are, to say the least, interesting." Wholly undaunted by his daughter's temper, King Thordan continued to smile. "Of course, this is not to be confused with the bond between master and slave. As a result of being bonded by the seer in front of you," the king pointed at the groaning fox, "you can now go longer without food, water or sleep. Perfect for a future queen. Don't you simply feel stronger?"

"Well, I do feel that she's stronger," said Isangrim, rubbing his snout.

"What advantages can it bring to the idiot?" Lorelei scowled. "He couldn't just have bonded me for no reason."

Thordan seemed to actually become serious, his usual smile becoming a void - a rare occurrence. "You can now feel what he feels, and sense what he senses, but not think what he thinks. Remember that." His erstwhile smile returned almost immediately. "Oh. And you can know where each other are, albeit vaguely."

"So almost all feelings can travel up the bond?" asked Lorelei, still confused.

"Correct! Master Matoya told me so, anyway. There was that one time that I drank too much, and... I think I'll just say that we discovered that drunkenness travels across the Bond much faster than expected."

"That's... interesting." Lorelei sighed. "You know, I think I will keep your little secrets indeed."

"These little figurines allows us to influence the real world. They amplify Conjuration and Thaumaturgy to produce little effects that result in greater changes. I will tell you about them later, perhaps next summer."

Seeing Lorelei's smile, her father was quick to change the subject. "Don't tell anyone about this. Not your future husband, not your mother, and not your children. I told you all this for a reason. Even if any one of your sons do inherit your gift, tell them nothing until I want you to." Thordan's eyes seemed to burn.

"I understand."

"Swear it. On the life of your son, SWEAR IT!"

"I swear that I will not tell anyone about me being a seer without your tacit permission." As if having to share a heart with this vermin wasn't enough... "Why are you doing this now, of all times? Why now, in twenty years? Why is this an urgent matter?"

King Thordan frowned, the second time in two minutes. "We now know that Parma is not the only realm to have seers on their side. There are rumours of Southard foretellings, and our plans will have to accelerate. For the salvation of this star."

Isangrim followed suit. "We have been too slow to act, and now we pay the price. The flames of truth shall burn bright, till the world and its shards are no more. It is etched."

TWIN WARDS OF HEAVEN, FOX AND OTTER

FOR THEM THE SAVIOUR IS BUT A TOOL.

BURN IN FLAME AND BROIL IN WATER

AND LET THE LORD OF CHAOS RULE!

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