Chapter 64: Power struggle

Thomas knocked on the door, and then went in after he heard the command to enter. Lucius was behind the desk. His long red hair let loose behind him, his red eyes scanning a document.

The siren sat down in the opposite chair, and waited to be addressed.

"Did you hear what the king has been cooking up?" Lucius did not meet his eyes, and Thomas could only nod.

"What are you going to do about it?" Lucius asked him next. Thomas had not given it much thought. It had been a desperate gambit, what the king wanted from him.

"I don't think I should indulge him. He only wants to use me," the summoner said in a small voice. Once upon a time, he would have given anything to have someone proclaim their love to him. Now, he was ready to throw it back in the man's face.

"You should indulge him. For the good of the guild," the vampire told him, his red eyes finally fixing on Thomas's brown ones.

"I will not be mocked when I have the..." Thomas was stopped, when Lucius's eyes narrowed.

"Mocked? Listen here, Tommy," Lucius spat out the name like it was poison, his eyes flashing dangerously. "You will become that airhead's consort, and I won't hear anything more about it!"

"I thought you would replace him?" Thomas gulped. He knew that Lucius could have ordered him. To do what Thomas couldn't bring himself to do out of guilt.

"What for? You will keep him in check, and I can focus on training the new recruits," Lucius told him with a smirk. "You owe the guild, Tommy."

"I won't pay for my sins with my soul," Thomas snapped. The order was at the tip of his tongue. Chem was cracking mana in her core, as furious as he.

"Not your soul, your body," Lucius's eyes traced Thomas's form, and the summoner shivered. "Once you lose the weight, that is."

"There is only ever so much that we can push the king, before he snaps," Thomas told the vampire. When that happened, the siren wanted it to be said that it hadn't been him that pushed their monarch to destruction.

"We can't allow for him to start a civil war. I spoke with Lester already. He wants his bastard cousin on the throne. As the most hurt party, I dare say his opinion has the most weight?" The smirk on the vampire's lips was back, and Thomas had no idea what to do with it.

"I am going to the Mammoth's Graveyard with Jeremy," Thomas was stubborn, if nothing else. "You can't stop me."

An elegant red eyebrow rose, and Lucius rested his chin on his hands.

"What are you going to be searching for in there?" He asked. Thomas shrugged.

"My death, most likely," he replied honestly.

"Mine as well?" Lucius was still calm, but Thomas knew that it would soon change.

"If you'd like to put it that way?" Was the only thing that Thomas could think of as a reply.

"I am coming with you," Lucius sighed, and then pulled out a fresh scroll. "Fill this up with the mission details."

"I am not here to hire you," Thomas didn't take the scroll. He didn't want to.

"But hire me you will. I can order you, don't forget," the vampire nodded towards the scroll again, and Thomas took a pen and began to write what he felt was relevant information. When he was done, he handed the scroll over.

"See? Wasn't so hard," Lucius took the scroll, and unrolled it so that he could read it. "Why stay there for a month?"

"There are dragon bones in there," Thomas told him. "Once the graveyard becomes my dungeon, they will be mine."

"And, what are you going to do with them?" Lucius asked. Teri was long gone. There was no way to send him some bones, as he and Rina had left without a word to where they were going.

"I figured I'd sell them? There won't be a dome over the graveyard. Dragons will still be able to fly in freely," Thomas just hoped that Lucius didn't pry further. His plan rested on secrecy.

"You want to feed Jeremy dragon meat?" Lucius was not about to beat around the bush.

"Not just that. I have been looking into soul weapons," the siren told his half-truth. "They are made from dragon bones."

"You are no blacksmith, Tommy," Lucius told him.

"But there is a blacksmith skilled enough to create more soul weapons in Orestria. I will supply him, and sell the bones to him," Thomas didn't like giving off half his plan. Lucius's eyes narrowed.

"What are you going to do with all that money?" The vampire asked. Nothing could escape him. He knew that Thomas was beating around the bush with a purpose.

"Kaien is divided," Thomas decided to give up his plan now, before he was ordered to do so. "Places like Yaranhold are almost forgotten. They need to be reconnected to Orestria. I can provide safe passage."

"How does Chem feel about being divided in many small dungeons?" Lucius asked. The plan had merit, if Thomas was willing to sacrifice some things for it. 

"Think Lucius, if the land is united, then the king won't get away with sending the adventurer's guild on the warpath. He will be weakened. There will be free markets and..." Thomas was stopped by a chuckle.

"Has the title of Protector of the People gotten to your head, Thomas?" Lucius asked. Because it looked like it had.

"I have blood on my hands. I killed good people, who were going to do terrible things for the same reason as the one I killed them for," Thomas said with a bowed head. "I can still hear their screams at night."

"Good," Lucius hissed. "We are leaving tomorrow. When we are departing, you will tell Leon you are doing this for his sake. In front of everyone."

"That is part of my punishment, is it not?" Thomas asked. He was being asked to give up much.

"Must you ask?" Lucius pointed at the door, and Thomas got up and left without another word.