CHAPTER 144 COLD XII

The human stood transfixed on the spot, staring at her as if she’d grown another head. Teyva hesitantly reached up and rubbed her shoulder just to double-check that she actually hadn’t grown a second head. These days she just wasn’t sure exactly what was going to bud out of her body next. She winced inwardly at the thought and crossed her arms, tapping her foot as she waited for the human to speak. The human’s expression fell as the silence stretched out and he looked over to Azrael and then to Batel as if searching for something they were missing. Finally they took a breath and spoke, their tone a little strained, “Pardon, I was waiting for the punch-line, madam.”

Teyva raised an eyebrow, “Punch-line?”

The man raised his hand to his heart and offered the barest of inclinations of his head, “Forgive me, I certainly appreciate your help in dealing with those deluded ruffians so I mean no offense, but the Azar do not possess such a hierarchy or sufficient culture to possess a king let alone a princess. Perhaps it is a difference in language, miss Akura?” He said, trying to sound as polite as possible while he dropped one insult after another. Teyva pursed her lips together and stared at him with open disbelief, her eyes dulled over. How could someone be that stupid? Teyva licked her lips and glanced over at Azrael whose neck was something like a steel girder it was so tense.

“Okay, one moment,” Teyva said, holding up a hand to the obvious nobleman’s face and glancing over his shoulder. “Excuse me!” Teyva called out to the other humans, “Are any of you merchants by any chance?”

The nobleman opened his mouth to speak and she glanced over at him, grinning, “Nope nope nope! Shh, the big kids are talking,” Teyva said cooly, “Well? I’m waiting!”

One man hesitantly got to his feet and called back, “I am the chief merchant of this caravan?” He called back.

“Great!” Teyva called back, “Join us please!”

“I don’t understand what-” He was cut off by Teyva waving her hand at him again.

“Azrael, please and thank you,” Teyva said, checking her nails.

“I will have you know that I am an Earl in the service of the great Count Otel! Lay a finger on me and-” He was cut off once again as Azrael punched him in the nose, grabbed him by his hair and brought his head down onto her knee. When he went limp she threw him over her shoulder and started walking toward the caravan behind Teyva. Teyva looked up at the man who was walking over from the gathered humans. He had paused in his approach when he saw the Earl’s treatment. Teyva waved for him to come closer.

“Don’t keep me waiting, dearie!” Teyva called out to him. Batel shook his head a little as the man mustered the nerve to keep walking.

“You should tell Conrad who he is connected to, is that not the Count that ires him?” Batel pointed out.

“Good idea!” Teyva turned, “Conrad dear! You should go ask Azrael about what that nobleman she’s carrying had to say! You might be interested, love!” 

Conrad, who had found a place to sit away from the arguing siblings and the upcoming interrogation of the robed men looked up and frowned, he glanced at Azrael who shot him a grin and got to his feet. He walked over to Azrael as Teyva turned her attention back to the merchant who was approaching. His laughter brought a smile to her face and she crossed her arms behind her back when the harried-looking man came to a stop, offering a small bow. 

“Don’t bother, your friend back there wasted all of my goodwill,” Teyva said sharply. He flinched and stood up straight. “You’re just going to answer my questions as succinctly as possible and if I’m satisfied, you and your people can be on their way, without him of course.”

“He is an expected guest of the Elven King,” The merchant said hurriedly, “It was my caravan’s responsibility to-”

“Not my problem,” Teyva said. “I’ll introduce myself one more time since my sister insists that the local human merchants are pretty alright folks. I am Tevya Akura, Crown Princess of Osan.”

The man went pale and was about to drop to his knees when she gave him a hard look, “Don’t, I'm really not in the mood.”

He swallowed and straightened his back, “H-how can I be of service, your highness?”

“What do you know about the men who attacked you?” She asked, glancing down at the robed individuals, “I’d like your side of the story if that’s possible.”

He cleared his throat, “T-that’s all?”

“I know right? Surprised me too, but it seems your Earl friend was too stupid to even answer that question, which is why I called you over,” Teyva said with a sigh.

He inclined his head, “Forgive me, I know only what I overheard them saying. They were raiding our caravan for supplies and trying to recruit from our group. They were insisting that it was the end-times or some rubbish,” The human merchant said quickly, “They wanted to bring in as many people as possible as servant-offerings to some coming god. They insisted that the offerings had to be willing, though but they weren’t making sane arguments. Of course none of us wanted to go with them.”

Teyva glanced at Batel who shrugged, “Alright then, neat,” Teyva laughed, “You’re free to go,” Teyva said and opened her inventory, pulling out a pair of [Ugroth Tyrant Scales]. “These are worth something, probably, got them off of an Ugroth Tyrant,” Teyva said scratching at her chin. “Hopefully it makes up the inconvenience.”

“P-pardon? I c-can’t accept this! You already s-saved us, highness!” The human babbled.

“Where are you right now? The Northern Wastes or the Northmost part of the Wildlands?” Teyva asked, still holding out the scales.

“We still have a day until we reach the wastes, ma’am,” The human said, “I don’t understand.”

Teyva leaned in and looked him in the eye, “Then you’re in Azar territory,” She said, “So dealing with shit like this is our responsibility. Since you dealt with it in our territory, I’m compensating you. Is that clear enough for you?”

He took the scales and bowed half a dozen times before hurrying back to the caravan and his fellows. Teyva let out a weary sigh and scratched her head, “Good grief.”

“At least you finally got one side of the story,” Batel said soberly. Teyva shrugged and looked down at the two men who had been sitting on the ground, looking at one another and at the fact that they hadn’t been tied up to prevent escape. Teyva approached them and crouched down, resting her elbows on her knees and looking them in the eyes.

“Why do you think I didn’t tie you up?” Teyva asked.

One of the Elves looked away from her, not willing to even answer that question. The other cleared his throat and returned her gaze with his own, “Because you believe that even if we tried to escape, we wouldn’t get far.”

“Smart,” Teyva said, tapping him on the nose and turned to the other, “One more chance,” Teyva added, ruffling his hair like he was a child, “Okay dearies, time to tell me all about your little group. Let’s hear that mission statement, mm?”

The talkative one leaned forward, “We are the-” He was cut off by his comrade who elbowed him and then leveled a defiant scowl at Teyva.

Teyva tilted her head, “You lot are really bad at recruiting, aren’t you?” She pointed out to the talkative one. “Look hun, you’re new blood. I can tell. This means your silent but friend here has more experience and probably knows more. Now he has the option of doing right by your movement which probably includes keeping your numbers as high as possible. The best way to do that is to get off his high horse and tell me what I want to know. I'm really not interested in offing you guys just because I can't get information.”

The silent man stared at her in disbelief, his eyes going wide as he looked at the younger man who was closer to the threatening woman. "I'm waiting."

The older one looked between the younger and Teyva. Sweat began to bead on his brow and slide down his angular face. Teyva hadn't moved an inch. She really didn't want to hurt the poor guy but she wasn't going to tell him that while she had the upper hand.

Finally, the silent man threw up his hands, “F-fine! I’ll tell you whatever you want, just let the boy go!” 

Teyva let out a sigh and looked up at Batel, “Can you make sure the kid gets medical attention from Sari? Just in case.” She asked.

“I understand, Queen Mother,” Batel rumbled and helped the young man to his feet. He shot the elder a warning look before escorting the younger toward Sari and Elat.

Teyva turned to the older one, “Alright, your friend is being looked at, let's talk."

“Brother,” The man said stiffly, his jaw set.

“What kind of big brother doesn't immediately come to the youngers defense? I really don't like you,” she continued, waving her hand at him. “Alright, everything. Who are you, what do you stand for, who’s your boss, and where are they located?”

“Some causes are more important than blood,” He bit out only to be grabbed by his cloak and pulled close to Teyva’s face, she looked him square in the eyes as she bore her needle-like teeth at him.

“Nothing. Is more important than family. Ever,” Teyva snarled, “Now answer my goddamn questions and thank whatever being you pray to that I'm going to let you live after that comment, trash.”

The man’s eyes went wide and he trembled more in her grip, she let him go and he began to speak, “W-we are the followers of the Dark Priestess, she has seen a vision of the coming new age. The Zenvek is coming to the wastes and the Elven people must be ready to receive them with open arms.”

“Not familiar with the word,” Teyva said, “What’s the Zenvek?”

“The reaper of ages, the one who will kill the current age of the world and bring about the next one, a living god,” The cultist said, his eyes wide with fervor. “We aim to tear down the aristocracy of the Elven Kingdom that refuses to prepare for the Zenvek’s coming. They cast our leader out into the wastes where she gathered us and taught us the truth of what is to come. The Zenvek will come wielding the power of horrors, they will command legions of nightmares and possess two right hands.”

Teyva blinked and glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was listening to the conversation, she looked back at him again, “You said, two right hands?” Teyva asked, “I’m not misunderstanding? Like literally they’ll have two hands on the right side of their body.”

“I figured you would mock our beliefs,” The man snarled.

Teyva let out a sigh and sat completely on the ground, holding her head and drawing her chain back to wrap around her arm. She rubbed her eyes and let out a few more breaths, “And your Dark Priestess saw this person coming in a vision?”

“She possesses the gift of Prophecy, not something that non-believers would-” She raised a hand to cut him off.

“Could you, for just a minute, ease up on the ‘down with the non-believers’ bullshit? Just to keep the conversation going without giving me an aneurism, yeah?” Teyva asked, trying to sound as sincere as possible. He blinked, dumbfounded, but cleared his throat and crossed his arms in silence. Teyva let out a sigh and fell onto her back, staring up at the sky. “I don’t know what to do here, a cult, really? Come on,” She whined. “First the Akurai and now these morons?”

She groaned and sat up, “Alright, you’re gonna take me to see your ‘Dark Priestess’, so I can hear exactly what she had to see, yeah? You do that and I’ll forget about how you left your brother hanging like that,” She said offhandedly, scratching at her chin.

“And why would I do that?” He demanded.

Teyva’s lips formed a line and she rolled her eyes, raising her right arm and turning her chain back into a proper limb. Both hands wiggled their fingers in his direction before the lower arm returned to its chain shape. She got to her feet and brushed herself off, “Because your wait is over, idiot.”