Chapter 83 - An Offer He Couldn’t Refuse (Patreon)

Reyna pressed herself against the wall in the hallway, concealed within a spell cast by her brother, making both of them invisible and inaudible to anyone who was not a true master of magic.

Less than a minute had passed since they had finished their conversation when Arien entered the chamber, looking around it with curiosity. She didn’t need to look at her brother to know he was smiling at the sight of such rustic manners.

While at the Academy, Reyna sometimes forgot just how vast the social gulf was between herself and most of the students. Arien looked especially small in the enormous hall, which was undoubtedly part of the reason it had been designed that way. Serig sat in an ornately carved, high-backed chair, dressed in burgundy and black embroidered with gold, dark fur resting across his shoulders, white lace at his throat and cuffs, and a cane held lightly in one hand. He looked exactly as a lord of House Voltorey ought to look while bestowing the favor of his presence upon some common-born boy. 

She knew Arien well enough to suspect the display would have the opposite effect, irritating him rather than impressing him.

“My Lord, it is an honor for your humble servant to be summoned into your presence,” Arien said, dropping to one knee.

He had received lessons in etiquette, and although he performed everything almost perfectly, she still felt as if the words barely passed through his teeth. From their conversations, Reyna had gathered that Arien had little patience for the idea that birth alone made one person better than another.

“Welcome, boy,” her father replied in his cheerful voice. Normally, he only used that tone when speaking to his dogs. “You are undoubtedly wondering why I invited you here.”

“My Lord, merely being in your presence is an honor.”

Reyna caught the brief twitch in Arien’s face and felt a chill. If she had noticed it, her father certainly had too. Ramsy’s hand settled on her shoulder, a silent reminder of Serig’s warning not to interfere. She could only hope her father chose to ignore it.

“Yes, yes.” Serig nodded. “You see, boy, yesterday’s events filled me with sadness. Such an unfortunate situation, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I agree, my Lord.”

“You see? And what am I to do?” He spread his hands dramatically. “On one hand, there was an attack upon my son… On the other hand, well... two Academy students could not harm Ramsy even in their dreams. So you see, a difficult situation. And after all, you are Reyna’s classmates. We do not wish you any harm. Don’t you think we should resolve this matter so that no one feels wronged?”

“Of course, my Lord.”

“That makes me so happy,” Sergi said, even clapping his hands together. “I spent a long time thinking about how to keep everyone satisfied. Ramsy is so rarely at home already, and I would hate for this incident to make him visit even less often. And then there are you, such young and talented mages with so much potential! What a tragedy if it were wasted!”

He leaned forward. “Tell me, boy. Do you know what is needed to wage a war? Three things. Can you guess?”

“Money, money, and money, my Lord?” Arien asked.

For a moment, her father’s smile thinned slightly. Reyna had to suppress a laugh, even though she already suspected where the conversation was heading.

“Oh. What? No. Magic, money, and the favor of the gods,” he replied, noticeably less cheerful than before. “And you see, boy, you possess magic and the favor of the gods. But without money, the coming years will be very difficult for you.” He smiled broadly. “Which is why I have a brilliant proposal. I offer you one thousand mithril talents. In exchange, I ask only two things. First, that you forget this unpleasant incident and never speak of it to anyone.”

He paused dramatically. 

Hidden only a few paces away, Reyna saw the shock on Arien’s face. One thousand mithril talents was an unimaginable fortune for him. With that much money, he could afford artifacts, spellbooks, and private instruction for years without signing himself over to a Faction. It was enough to secure the future he wanted on his own terms.

“And the second thing, my Lord?” Arien asked breathlessly.

“The second concerns your relationship with my daughter. You see, I would like my children to get along with one another. That is important to me as a father. Surely you understand?”

He smiled warmly.

“This whole situation yesterday... I fear Ramsy and Reyna may come to resent each other because of it. And as long as you remain in Reyna’s orbit, the matter will continue to simmer.”

He folded his hands together.

“So I would like you to remove yourself from the picture for a few years. Perhaps after the Academy you may renew contact, but for now, sever all ties with Reyna, no matter how much she may insist otherwise.

“Can you do that? For the sake of my family?” He paused, still wearing the expression of a concerned father. “And for one thousand mithril talents?”

As Arien stared at the floor, Serig glanced toward Reyna. She knew what that look meant: that because of her incompetence and trustfulness, he had been forced to break this boy.

Arien would take the money. For a while, the House would leave him alone, but eventually he would disappear. Betraying Reyna would make him untrustworthy, while his talent and lack of strong connections would make him useful to their enemies.

Reyna wanted to hate her father for thinking that way, but after her brother had died because he had placed his trust in his best friend, she could not entirely dismiss the logic.

“Well?” Serig urged.

One of the most powerful men in Wyndor, famous for thinking several moves ahead of everyone around him, waited for Arien’s answer.

“Do we have an agreement?”

“No.”

What?

Arien lifted his head and looked her father directly in the eyes.

This time Reyna was the one who smiled. Warmth spread through her chest despite herself. Her father had been so certain Arien would sell her out.

“What did you say?” her father asked, abandoning his cheerful tone. “The offer is not open to negotiation. And if you walk out of here, it will never be made again.”

“My Lord, I truly thank you for such a generous offer,” Arien said, lowering his gaze back to the floor. “However... I must decline. I promise that I will not spread stories about yesterday’s events, but I will not sever ties with Reyna for money. That would conflict with my principles.”

“Principles?” Her father snorted, completely abandoning the mask of the benevolent old man. “Don’t make me laugh. I know the principles of commoners well enough. I have bought dozens of them. One merely needs to offer the proper price. And I’m not even asking that much of you. You have other friends. In time, you will make new ones. Do you have any idea what kind of life you could purchase with that amount of money? ”

“But what kind of life would that be?” Arien replied so quietly that Reyna had to strain to hear him. “Friendship isn’t something you can simply buy or sell, and without friends and family, life is just a slow death.”

“My Lord,” he added, catching himself.

“I see.” Serig closed his eyes for a moment. “Very well. If not willingly...”

He rose from his chair, and the air in the hall seemed to grow heavier.

Reyna’s knees nearly buckled even though none of that pressure was directed at her. Arien, still kneeling, collapsed face-first onto the stone floor.

“You will agree to the terms,” Serig snarled. “You will receive ten mithril talents, and you will consider it an excellent bargain.”

Mana swirled through the chamber as Arien clutched his head, eyes wide with pain.

Reyna tried to rush toward him, but Ramsy’s grip held her in place. She screamed, though her own voice sounded distant and muffled in her ears, as though she was underwater.

Arien writhed on the floor, fighting whatever her father was doing to him. Reyna knew he had no chance. The Mental Resistance they had acquired during their first years at the Academy was nowhere near enough to stop a mage like Serig.

“No,” Arien gasped, struggling to rise.

“Don’t resist. There’s no point. You’ll only make yourself suffer,” Serig said as he descended from the dais.

The pressure increased until Reyna herself dropped to her knees.

Arien cried out, blood beginning to run from his nose.

Give up, Arien, please. She was moved by his loyalty, but she didn’t want to watch him suffer. She would remember this, however. When she became Head of the House, she would repay him a hundredfold. The world was what it was, and there was no sense in resisting it.

“Suffer?” Arien hissed through clenched teeth.

He laughed. Had the pressure broken his mind? 

“What do you know about suffering, you old bastard?”

Then, slowly, he pushed himself back onto one knee.

Serig smiled, and the pressure increased again.

Arien forced his other foot beneath him.

Please. Stop.

Blood now ran from his ears as well, but he kept rising until he was standing again.

“No.” Arien forced himself fully upright. “You don’t get to decide what I think.”

The air in the chamber vibrated. Reyna felt as though thunder had rolled somewhere far away.

Arien stood fully upright, glaring at Serig from across the hall.

The pressure vanished.

Reyna sucked in a breath as her lungs finally worked normally again.

“Good,” Serig said in the same cheerful tone he had used at the beginning. “Thank you for visiting our estate. It has been a pleasure hosting you. I look forward to your future visits. Perhaps we’ll even train together again sometime.”

Arien stared at him, anger giving way to obvious confusion.

“You may leave now. I’ll have someone escort you back to your quarters so that you may freshen up.”

For a moment, Arien looked ready to say something that would probably get him killed after all. Instead, he turned and marched toward the doors without offering the proper farewell.

A moment later, they slammed shut behind him with a thunderous bang.

“What a temperament,” her father remarked. “He reminds me a little of your mother.”

The concealment spell dissolved around Reyna and Ramsy.

“Go make sure he’s taken care of,” Serig told his son. “From what I can tell, he collapsed just outside.”

Ramsy left without question. As usual. Reyna often wondered whether he was even capable of deeper emotions. As long as she could remember, he had been nothing more than their father’s obedient hound.

“I must admit,” Serig said, turning his attention to her and looking directly into her eyes, “your friend turned out to be quite fascinating.”

“And that’s it?” she asked angrily. “You won’t admit you were wrong? Won’t admit you made a mistake? What about all your assurances that he would sell me out?”

“Calm yourself, daughter,” he replied in a colder tone. “The fact that I promised your mother certain concessions regarding your upbringing does not mean I will tolerate such open disrespect. Yes, based on the information Ramsy gathered, that outcome seemed the most likely. But remember this: when I indulge your childish little games, I do not use my usual tools. If I had wanted to, I could have arranged everything so that your friend would have come to me begging for a contract. And if I had wished it, he would now be a drooling idiot lying on the floor and whimpering. You do not doubt that, do you?”

“No,” she answered. 

Reyna took a slow breath and forced herself to calm down. Throwing a tantrum would achieve nothing. She had to make use of this unexpected victory. And yes, she did not doubt that if her father had truly wanted to carry out his threats, he could have done so. For years he had played a game that determined the fate of thousands of lives. A game she herself hoped to join one day.

But that did not change what had happened.

Serig had expected Arien to take the money, and Arien had refused.

“Would you at least agree,” she asked carefully, “that Arien is a project worth investing some of my time and resources into?”

“Yes, indeed,” he chuckled. “Money, money, money. Where did he even get that from? Much better than my quote from Andranichus. The fact that he didn’t sell you out, I attribute to his ignorance. He has no idea what the later stages of level and skill progression look like. But we shall see. What interests me more is where he got a mind-protection skill at the Rare tier. Most likely Unshakable Mind or Mental Fortress. Those are extraordinarily difficult to acquire at such a young age, not to mention for someone of his background.”

“A Rare-tier skill?” she asked in surprise.

She herself had been immensely proud of Psychic Fortress, an Uncommon evolution of the standard Mental Resistance.

“Of course. I had to hold back considerably, but surely you don’t think ordinary Mental Resistance would have allowed him to defend himself against even the lightest touch of my power? Still, he doesn’t seem particularly advanced in using it. It was close. He nearly damaged his own mind.”

“You mean you nearly damaged his mind,” she growled, remembering her friend’s suffering.

A Rare mental skill? What other surprises is Arien hiding?

“Oh no, my dear. It truly pains me how poor your opinion of me is. Your friend was experiencing far more pain from overloading his own skill than from anything I was doing to him. Brave, but foolish. Besides, do you remember when he called me an old bastard?” Serig asked with a laugh.

“You were attacking his mind,” she replied immediately in Arien’s defense. “You can’t accuse him of failing to observe proper etiquette.”

“In truth, I could,” he answered thoughtfully, “But that isn’t what interests me. When he said it, he accused me of knowing nothing about suffering. As though he were implying that he himself had endured experiences that allowed him to ignore pain. Perhaps that’s how he acquired the skill?”

“Part of his family was killed when he was young during a raid from Tyranny,” she said, considering her father’s words.

“That’s not it,” he replied with complete certainty. “Grief or a traumatic event does not instantly unlock a Rare-tier skill. Trust me, that has been tested.”

A chill ran down her spine.

She knew that every major and minor power experimented with the System, but the darker practices were both officially and unofficially forbidden. Those who broke the rules were supposed to face the united wrath of everyone else, all working together to eliminate the offenders.

At least, that was the official narrative.

“However... prolonged suffering over many years? Now that is interesting.”

“So,” she said quickly, afraid her father was becoming too interested in Arien, “will you leave him alone?”

“You may have him,” her father agreed.

The weight on her chest immediately lessened.

“I won't interfere for a while. He may prove useful in the future, if only because of his Life Magic. But if someone else manages to contract him before you do, that will be your failure, and it will count against you when the time comes to decide who will lead the House. Do you understand?”

Reyna held his gaze for a moment before nodding. “I understand, Father.”

“But...” The coldness returned to his voice as he raised a finger in warning. “If I see you becoming too attached to him out of some childish need for friendship, I will interfere. Remember, the only people we can truly trust are members of our own House.”

“Yes, Father,” she replied, lowering her head.

“Good.”

“So maybe now let’s discuss the funds I might use to identify and attract other allies equally worthy of attention to our House. That thousand mithril talents you were about to throw away...” she said, beginning her negotiations.

Good news!

Okay, I can finally share this:

I’ve signed a three-book publishing deal with Aethon Books for Emissary of Nothingness.

It feels a little surreal.

When EoN launched, I hoped it would find an audience. I definitely didn’t expect that a few weeks later I’d be talking to publishers, going through contracts with a lawyer, and eventually signing one.

And honestly, Patreon was a pretty big part of that.

Having so many of you willing to directly support the story showed that EoN wasn’t just getting clicks on Royal Road, it had readers who genuinely wanted more of it. So thank you. Seriously.

Aethon will eventually be releasing the series in ebook, print, and audiobook, with professional editing and production.

As far as Patreon is concerned, nothing changes. Early access continues exactly as before, and I’ll keep writing and posting on the usual schedule.

There will eventually be some changes when individual books get close to Kindle Unlimited, but that is something for much later, and I’ll explain everything well in advance.

For now, I mostly just wanted to share the good news with the people who helped make it happen.

Next week on EoN:

Monday → Chapter 84 AdvancementTuesday → Chapter 85 Sister's PrivilegeWednesday → Chapter 86 SixThursday → Chapter 87 The Empire of Three SunsFriday → Chapter 88 The Reznan Forest