Chương 14: One Goal

Darthminth narrowed his sullen eyes at Sara and glanced at the wine bottle she was holding as she left the room.

"Can I assume you need that?" He was asking if the meeting went bad.

"Sure do," Sara said, swigging from the bottle and shivering.

"I'm a growin' girl. Need all I can get."

"That's not what I asked," Darthmith said sternly. Aelia exited the room.

"For the time being, Lady Reece is to be treated as the King's rianka," she said. Rianka was a Krallen term that translated to 'jewel' but, colloquially, meant something between 'guest of honor' and 'top priority.'

"Edico. You'll be her personal guard," Aelia said.

"Just remember where your allegiances lie." Edico bowed his head.

"I took a vow."

"Good. Take her to the patrons." She nudged her head, and Sara found herself walking through the hall with Edico.

"That was quite the compromise you made," Sara remarked.

"I don't believe I lied."

"Well, for all you omitted, I clarified in detail. I told Trinov that Jason seized the throne. He thinks that he can be molded."

"Did you tell him about the memories?"

"I did. He's making me a landowning noble and sending me away."

"That's a brilliant move."

"Sometimes I do alright." The two opened the cloth doors to a large room filled with twenty men and women of different visible ages.

"The woman of the hour," a man with a charming smile and black and gold noble's garb said, lifting a glass of champagne. His name was Lilikan Westia, and he was the exact person she was looking for.

"I choose you," Sara said dully.

"And you, you, and you." The others were Hedica Reesta, the "Queen of Propaganda"; Flinn Gorthri, the man who ran the census; and Margrave Mariko, the noble who protected the southernlands, which is where Sara wanted to live. All of them were thrilled to be picked so suddenly, as three of them had more political power rather than liquid capital, but they shouldn't have been so thrilled. Not after what Sara had planned for them.

"I've done research in advance," she clarified as she strode into the room.

"I'm open for negotiations from all other parties. I'll speak to anyone interested after I speak to my chosen patrons."

Lilikan Westia wore distinctive black-and-gold garb that made him stand out in any room, and he smiled genuinely every time he saw someone he knew. He was delighted to sit across from her. Sara sized him up. The man was twenty-eight in terms of appearance, and eight hundred and seven in terms of corrupted human cells. She didn't know his real age, and didn't really care. What interested her was his alchemy skills.

Lilikan was enormously wealthy because he supplied the kingdom with cleansing elixirs that kept the women looking as young as twenty-five. He also created jorakona, the noble party drug of choice, and ran the largest blackmail ring in Amia. He did so openly, as he fed Corrigan, the Economic Advisor to the King, information from his blackmail ring. In short, he was both a puppet and a puppeteer. He was a packaged deal.

"It's a pleasure to meet such a… unique individual," Lilikan said.

"Your talent for magic is… unprecedented. Even compared to Lord Newborn. And that's—""I had Liana Ria hung last month," Sara interrupted.

"A terrible blow to your ring, I'm sure." Sara hadn't seen such an aggressive switch in someone's expression since the last time she exposed Lilikan Westia.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked curtly.

"I suppose exposing Rogan would lance you from gut to collarbone," Sara continued.

"But I think that Helten would be better. He'd break all faith in your… control."

"So you're in with Corrigan," Liliikan stated.

"Oh, no, I'm not 'in' with Corrigan, but he'll be 'in' with me," Sara said.

"See, Edico just rightfully confirmed that I'm not an Oracle. I'm from a separate yet identical timeline. A timeline I watched your legs flail around like caught mackerels. Your neck didn't break. Quite inhumane." The image of the gallows truly put the man's mortality in perspective.

"You're lucky you didn't get quartered," she said.

"Trondas have a lot more power than your standard horse. But they move much more slowly when they're given a task like dismembering people. They don't like being ridden." Lilikan leaned in.

"What do you want?"

"You've been given a silvermoon bloom," Sara said.

"A bloom I found for the king. It's large enough to make four doses of tyrexia. I want one of those delivered to my room. And if I hear you've told Corrigan… or anyone, of this I'll make sure your legs stretch not dangle." He leaned back.

"Is this where I ask no questions?"

"It is. I also want six untraceable hollows of zinconia crystal. Do that, and I'll get rid of Corrigan when I can, freeing you of all your worries and blackmail."

"Six? Six pounds of zinconia is impossible to get."

"Not if I raid your stash on Calbino Street." Every muscle in his hands tensed. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I own you," Sara said.

"And you'll do as I say. But… I will reward you. Corrigan's on his way out, whether you lose your limbs or not. Remember that—and don't test me." He nodded solemnly.

"Now put on that fabulous smile of yours and get Reesta. There's gonna be a whole lot of fake smiles before I leave this room."

Edico escorted Sara to her room with a complex expression. He stopped inside her room and shut the door.

"I'm not sure what you talked about with your patrons, but it reeks of power acquisition."

"I have a single priority right now, Edico, and I need a whole lot of clout to pull it off."

"You have someone you want to protect."

"You remember?"

"I don't."

"Then don't look. I've decided not to involve them in this bullshit life of mine."

"And the moonbloom? You can't heal someone of tyrexis without triggering a worldwide row." Sara sighed.

"Listen, Edico. I'll be auctioning it in a black market in Helscope. If someone is healed to prove it's the real deal, then…" She shrugged. He stared at her momentarily, lost in a state of awe.

"That's… a great plan."

"Yeah. It's a great plan. Lilikan'll make the tyrexia. Reesta will control the narrative to prevent 'the person' from getting dragged through the muck." Edico's eyes glazed over, as if he were staring at a magnificent ghost that only he could witness. Ten seconds later, he snapped back to the real world.

"You remember now," Sara said. He shook his head.

"Just the aftermath."

"When she died."

"Well, after."

"Okay. Then you know it was important enough to seize this fuckin' kingdom. Now if you have any loyalty to me over Escar, you'll look aside this one thing. Because so far as I'm concerned this one thing is the only thing that matters to me."

"Okay. I can do that. But… what about you?"

"They'll never even see me."

"Because you'll teleport…" He shook his head.

"Sara. If Escar finds out you teleported, the kingdom's gonna swarm you. You're not queen anymore. You're gonna be somewhere between a gem and a prisoner."

"Edico…" Sara swallowed.

"You were my teacher. My general. And my only real friend for the last ten years. Even now, as I'm on the eve of doing the one and only thing I've decided to do, I'm telling you all of this despite your vow. I need you. Just this once. After that, you'll follow your king, friend or controversial figure as I may ever be." Edico strode to her tea table and sat down, staring at the marbled wood as he sighed. He shook his head. Opened his mouth. Paused.

And said:"If someone lies once, it's a declaration that they are willing to lie. It's proof they're willing to lie, and that they will, if it suits them, lie again. Our vows as sycounts prevent that. They require infallibility. Total loyalty. And if I do this for you, it'll be a declaration that I may lie or break your trust, should you ever become queen again." Sara sat on the other side of the tea table and poured herself some Rislemoor brandy. She pushed it across the table. Then poured herself a glass.

"Edico. I will reframe this in a way that may make you draw your sword on me right here and now. If you want to protect your king, you will do as I say. Because if you or anyone else comes between me and my family, I will make this goddamn kingdom burn." Edico's arms prickled in visible gooseflesh, hairs rising. He eyed her.

"I saved this kingdom," she said.

"I fought for this kingdom. I gave my life, humanity, and blood to this kingdom. And despite this kingdom abducting me, molding me, and then stealing my daughter from me, I still solved this world's fucking problem. I took a sword and I stabbed it into Agronus's heart to fulfill the goal your king—the man I just saved—thrust upon us. This kingdom owes me. If it doesn't pay its debt, you'll watch it fucking burn." Edico took sharp breaths, and then blinked a few times, staring at the brandy.

He lifted it to his lips, hesitated, and then downed the entire glass.

"If you're loyal to your king, you'll lie to tell the truth," Sara said.

"Now leave. Tomorrow night I'll have enough zinconia to teleport to Helscope. If you're waiting here with an army, be prepared to pay the price." Sara didn't enjoy tormenting her greatest friend and ally. But in her world, her family mattered more than the king. It mattered more than Agronus. It mattered more than friends, loyalty, and common goals. She'd pay the pied piper and play to his tune. But that assumed that the only thing that tied her to this world, her family, remained safe and alive.

If she ever lost that, no one could say what would happen. She would either spiral into despair and alcoholism, or become as bad and corrupted as Jason Newborn. Sara was no hero. She didn't ask to come to this world, and despite the entire world benefiting massively from her existence, she didn't seek the fame, glory, or power she ended up with. It was all a matter of happenstance, and fueled primarily by the death of Tiber and the persecution of Sara's lover, Kyrius Senaco. Everything she did was for them.

If she lost them this cycle—she'd lose all attachment to this world and its problems. Sara didn't know if she could keep to her threat—but it was a serious possibility. That's what Edico had to contend with. Edico studied her, scouring her face for the depths of her intentions.

"We'll see," he said.

"Thanks for the drink." He left, and she stared at the bottle for a few moments. Then she grabbed it and threw it against the stone fireplace. It shattered like liquid fireworks, glass showering the hearth. Her servant entered the room.

"Lady Reece!"

"Out!" she screamed.

"Get the fuck out!" Her servant left, and then she sat on the chair, cycling between guilt, a desire to apologize, and a desire to burn her room to the ground as a warning. This experience reminded her that she wasn't the type of person who could make the most of a second chance. She was the same alcoholic hothead that she was before she returned. Her last life had permanently corrupted her. Traumatized her. Hardened her.

It stabbed her thousands of times with the weight of deaths and fighting and the clandestine dealings that both helped and harmed her. She was the furthest thing from naive. And she knew, for a fact, that there was a good chance that Edico would lay bare all, intercept the zinconia shipment, and bring "Lady Reece" into the audience chamber to announce some futile plan to bring Kyritus and Tiber into the kingdom's fold—to give her proper healing as a "thank you" for saving his life.

It was going to sound so reasonable and obvious that everyone would force her to agree. But the second that Jason or her Secret Admirer found themselves unable to control Sara, they would capture them and hold them hostage. Sara needed to take Kyritus to the Miralands to regain his power before putting him anywhere near this fucking place. And that still wasn't enough. Jason Newborn had been in Veridia for three months. He had been training for one month and had the power to decimate multiple rankers with ease.

Power to kill them without even comprehending the value of their life. If he regained all of his memories, he'd have the power to destroy the castle with a single blast. No one could overestimate the power of the Hero's Party. They weren't the people you called to protect a town from an orc invasion. They were the party summoned to destroy two brigades of human soldiers in biblical floods.

In this world, there were only five entities that mattered: Jason Newborn, Jason Newborn, Jason Newborn, Sara Reece, and Agronus. No, there were six. There was someone out there who reversed time and started this mess. Oh, what she would do to that person when she met them. It wouldn't be pretty.