Demi-Sin of Deceit: Part Two

Two days later…

Tatiana

Madorinne remained seated as Guards began to shout outside, the Palace of the Northern Isles far better protected than any of our own had been, her knee bouncing nervously as she turned Caelum over in her hands, studying the markings on it.

Lucifer and Erelim nervously sipped from cups of tea, the boiling kettle still placed on the glass coffee table between all of us, and I studied the room we had been in only once before.

The Queen of the Northern Isles was not a woman to be trifled with, and it had only been Madorinne’s connections through the Night-Hunters that had gotten us here, into a private meeting with her.

We’d landed on the coast of the Northern Isles at dawn, Madorinne almost immediately sending a scout to invite us to her home, where we’d spent the next two days reading up about the Royal family here, as well as the information she’d managed to dig up about the war we were currently fighting.

For the Royal family, there were numerous books and pamphlets about her and her vast number of homes, Madorinne explaining that over here, the Royal family were a bit of a tourist destination, with the Queen and her only daughter making frequent daytrips out into the city to show off, allowing hundreds of tourists to sketch them, get signatures from them, even give them gifts.

Queen Ressila of the Northern Isles, and her daughter, Grand Duchess Elvissa of the Northern Isles. She was forty-five, her daughter thirty-one, and both were formidable rulers. Madorinne had described her experience with the Queen as ‘stressful, and in need of more wine’.

Kavrin, Madorinne’s leader, had come to us yesterday. He had visited only to deliver a message to Madorinne about an assassination he needed done, but upon seeing what we were discussing, had given us his honest opinion on the Queen.

“Leave no stone unturned,” he’d warned, “You may be a Fae, but she knows the ways of trickery better than any of your kind could. She’s used to getting her way, too, so do not argue back. If she says no, she means it, and arguing will only let your head end up on the chopping block. If she says yes, thank her, and then ask her what her conditions are. There are always conditions.”

We’d thanked him, and then sent him on his way.

Layne, Haiden and Bal’gag had been at Madorinne’s home, too, the former two looking comfortable now that they were back in familiar territory, while Bal’gag looked happier than he had in a while, adjusting well to the island life, not to mention being one of Madorinne’s Assassins.

Until he asked about how Destiny was doing.

Lucifer had been the one to tell him about Ordeallan’s fall, the ultimatum that Lilith had given us between choosing Tarvenia or Ordeallan, how we couldn’t protect both.

The Lords of Ordeallan had ordered Destiny to stay and refused to let Cain come fight alongside her.

She’d held the wall, and the city, for three days, suffering huge casualties with her minimal army, before she’d surrendered herself to Caliem.

“Have you gotten her back? Is she alive?!”

“We’ve been unsuccessful at getting her back. We can’t vouch if she’s even alive. Tiskial went after her three and a half weeks ago, and hasn’t returned. Seth is missing, too.”

“Has anything else happened?!”

“Syrphien was killed by a Caliem Assassin,” I’d added, and Bal’gag had dropped his head into his hands, groaning in despair when Erelim had mentioned, “We lost all four cities, too. Once Destiny was gone, we fell apart. Caliem was too clever for us.”

“So you’re here to advocate for The Borderlands?” He’d asked, and I’d tilted my hand, saying, “Not just that, we’re here to bring a warning to your Queen. We fought for months and got nowhere, and we have new information about Caliem’s plans that could… Well, end the Dimension.”

We’d had to tell him, then, about what we’d seen in Daemonium, explaining Nazareth, Lazarus and Nicnevin, not to mention the ritual issue, and the End of Days prophecy that seemed to directly involve not only Destiny, but Jezebel of Eden.

We explained why Caliem had really been looking for the Sacreds, and why Destiny, who owned Inferos, had been sent here. She had been the unknowing beacon to lead Caelum and Faeretan to Caliem.

We’d told him and Madorinne the new plans, and the reason for why we were here- Yes, we needed Ressila’s armies, but we also needed to warn her about what avoiding this issue might bring down on her people, not to mention herself.

Caliem intended to end the Dimension, not just The Borderlands, and from that, there was no return. If we didn’t win the war, we lost. Permanently.

There would be no arranging secret rebel meetings in the tunnels under Ordeallan, or fighting back through the secret assassinations of certain leaders, because if we lost, Ordeallan, those tunnels, and everybody who had ever lived in this Dimension would not be alive.

If Ressila didn’t fight with us, fine, but she had to understand that she would never fight again.

A Guard in the hallway outside shouted something, the sound not one of panic, but a casual order to stand tall, and Erelim leaned over, whispering, “If we fail today, King and Queen of Tarvenia, we fail permanently.”

We nodded, the tension falling over us as the doors swung open, four Guards marching in, holding their spears firmly at their sides, their faces stoic, and Madorinne rose, greeting one with a warm smile.

“General,” she said, and he replied quietly, “Your Queen is approaching, Madorinne. Sit down to greet her.”

Madorinne took her seat again, tucking Caelum into her belt and saying, “Thank you for arranging the meeting.”

“My debt to you is fulfilled. I had to pull a lot of strings to get all of you a private meeting. You have ten minutes to convince her.”

Ten minutes to explain the entirety of the war we fought, the soldiers we’d lost, and the desperation that surrounded us.

Ten minutes to explain the end of the world.

As the Queen of the Northern Isles entered the room, standing tall in a dress as blue as the ocean outside, dotted with splotches of colour to represent the bright fish and coral of the reef, we all rose, Lucifer and Erelim bowing deeply, Madorinne and I curtseying.

With a grim look on her face, she gazed over all of us, before saying, “It seems we have dire circumstances to discuss…”