V2Ch72-Skullduggery and Sanctity
“Any pointers?” Tybalt asked as the group walked away from the ibexfolk meeting place.
He looked at each woman in turn.
“I, for one, found it very inspiring how you made them fear for their lives if they make the wrong political decision and refuse to give you more and more power,” Dero said, winking. “You’re going to be a phenomenal tyrant.”
“I agree with Dero, but without the sarcasm,” said Mariella. “Letting people have some autonomy is fine, but nobles exist because people properly shouldn’t be in charge of themselves. They need someone strong and wise who’s willing to look after their interests. You showed firmness of purpose.”
“For the record, I actually did like how you intimidated them,” the dark elf clarified. “Not because of… Mariella’s thing, but because they deserved it. I hope your meetings with the other councils haven’t all been like that, or I think I might know why there are people out there trying to kill you. But thanks to you, I didn’t need to say anything at all to those morons.”
“Which you had promised not to do anyway,” Tybalt said.
“Right, I wasn’t going to say anything, and thanks to you, it wasn’t necessary anyway.”
The necromancer raised an eyebrow, shook his head, and moved on.
“Any other opinions?”
“You imposed the divine order,” said Kistana flatly, as if stating an uncontestable reality. “Hopefully, for their sake, they’ll see reason and not court destruction.”
“I have nothing to say,” Vidalia added, “except that I’m glad my visions are adequately predicting the political stuff, at least. Just keep following your instincts, my future king, and everything that we’re after will be yours.”
“Good, good,” Tybalt said. “Vicky?”
“I think…” She swallowed. “Honestly? I… kind of liked seeing those men put in their places. They think no one can question them, just because they sit in a circle and give orders all day. The ibex Council of Elders makes our Council look incredibly wise by comparison. Dero was right. If you weren’t already making them, um, piss themselves with fear… I’d have wanted to say something to them. About the way their tribe is organized, and about the way they spoke to you. The disrespect…”
As Victoria was pausing, seemingly thinking about what to say next, a sound of panting came from just behind them.
“Oh my, you all walk very quickly,” said an older female voice.
Tybalt turned and saw the old ibexwoman who’d been taking notes on a piece of parchment during the meeting. She stood, bent double, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. He immediately felt a flash of sympathy for her.
The group had made it about four hundred feet away from the village, and she seemed a little too elderly to sprint that distance without some strain.
“You did well pursuing us so swiftly,” he replied after a moment. “Considering that whatever you have to say, they must have decided after we left.”
Although very quickly.
“That’s - ha - right, um, L-Lord Necro- ”
“Take your time,” Tybalt said. “Catch your breath. We’re not in a hurry right now.”
She took a minute to recover, then straightened up.
“Right. I came to tell you that the Council has quickly and unanimously voted to appoint you as war chief. They wanted to make sure I conveyed that it was unanimous. And they will ensure that the young men follow your dictate. That, um, that’s all.” She turned to go, but Tybalt raised a hand to signal for her to slow down.
“That’s good, and thank you for delivering the message. Could you stay a moment? I have a few other questions.”
“Um, yes, my lord, if I can be of any help.”
“What’s your name?”
“Tanith, Lord Necromancer. Elder Tanith.”
The only woman on their Council. I wasn’t sure if she was actually a member or not, since she didn’t speak, just took notes.
“You deal with those men regularly, correct?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Are they always like that?”
“Um, I, that is to say…” She let out a long breath. “They’re sometimes more serious, but they had made up their minds not to take you seriously. If I may speak freely, I think the threat was very effective. Now they’re more likely to consider future requests with the gravity that they deserve.”
“How likely is it that they’re going to come to their senses and do what I ask?”
She bit her lip, then shook her head. “Maybe if you showed up wearing the Crown of the Beastkings or directly threatened to strike them down and slay their whole families or something. But I think they’re determined to show they have more steel in their spines than you saw just now if you push them too hard.”
Tybalt nodded. “Thank you.”
“I have a question,” Dero said. “How many of those men beat their wives?”
The necromancer gave her a little look, trying to convey, We don’t need to do this right now.
“I think that physical discipline is a normal practice in our tribe,” said Elder Tanith. “Though I am fortunate that my late husband didn’t believe in anything more forceful than a stern word.”
“Such a charming people,” said Dero. “Their customs are not my own, but I look forward to learning so much more.”
“You can go,” Tybalt said. “Thank you again.”
“Of course!” The old ibexwoman bowed her head low and practically dashed away.
“That last part was completely unnecessary,” the necromancer said.
“Why? Asking things you don’t want to know the answers to?” Dero said.
Tybalt pointed back toward the village and made a throat-slitting gesture with one finger.
I’m probably going to kill them all anyway. The ibexfolk need a new Council. I’ll choose them myself.
“Oh,” said the dark elf. “Fair enough, then. Right now, or…?”
“Time isn’t right,” he grunted. “We just came from there. I need to be careful, or I’ll be at war with a whole tribe.”
Dero clapped and rubbed her palms together. “This is the kind of skullduggery I could really get into!”
“As opposed to Tybalt actually digging up skulls?” Mariella asked.
“Well, whatever serves the cause,” the dark elf said, a hand under one chin in a thoughtful pose. “Rewriting the rules of the world to right all the wrongs that piss us off.”
“I’m not sure- ” began Victoria.
“No, no, she’s got the spirit of the plan,” Tybalt said, smiling.
“Which, as we’ve learned, is the more difficult part to summon anyway, right?” Dero asked.
Tybalt rolled his eyes but smiled.
“Let’s go home,” said Vidalia.
“Yeah, speaking of skullduggery, I’ve definitely got work to do before we start getting ready for the first attack on a Salt Waste village,” Tybalt said. “And this is the last day I won’t be training men of the ibex tribe.”
“Can I help?” Victoria asked quietly.
“Um, I’ll be working with dead bodies and killing my remaining living human prisoners in whatever evil experiments I get up to. Probably making human-beastfolk hybrids and fusing bodies together and stuff to try and get an edge. Are you sure you want to help?”
“You’re going to be fighting for our people again, risking your life again, maybe a week after a rock slide almost killed all of us. Can I please help with your preparations? It’s literally the only thing I can do unless - unless I learn to fight, which I think we both know isn’t happening in the next week.”
“It’s going to be disgusting…”
She just stared him in the eye, calmly and without apparent anger, but also resolutely.
“All right,” he finally said.
“Good,” Victoria said. “Dero?”
The dark elf transported the group back to the hut, where they split into smaller groups again.
“I’m going to go to sleep,” said Vidalia. “So is Kistana.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the catgirl said.
“I’ll watch the children,” said Mariella.
“I guess I’ll help with that,” said Dero with a slight smile. She turned to the last two people left outside the hut with her and Mariella. “You two kids have fun!”
“We’ll try,” said the necromancer.
And Tybalt and Victoria went off, unchaperoned by anyone this time, to work with dead bodies.
“So, no offense, but I’m not sure what you really intend to do,” he said slowly as they trekked up the mountainside. “I mean, you’ve already shown you’re great at making things aesthetically appealing with your garden, but it’s different to work with corpses. I have the undead to do any heavy lifting that I need, and the results don’t need to be pretty either… They rarely are.”
“Well, don’t be squeamish in assigning me work. I took shifts changing your bandages just like Vida and Mariella, so assume I’m not as delicate as you might imagine. I can stand the sight of blood.”
“Hm. How would you feel about being a priestess?”
She gave him a little smile. “Now that I’m no longer a farmer?”
He smiled back. “Yeah.”
“I’d be happy to become one if it would help.”
“Hopefully,” he said. “Not every priest or priestess gets a class, but you can at least pray, and if I consecrate someplace or something, your prayer around it should strengthen the connection between that place or thing and Lord Mudo. That’s something.”
“So, you’ll need me close to where you’re working or fighting?” Victoria asked.
“Oh. That’s a bad idea- ”
“No, that’s what I want - I mean, not necessarily to be in battle unless it’s wise, but to be useful to you and those fighting for our people.”
He looked at her and decided not to argue. She had that cute look of stern resolve on her face again.
“All right, we’ll discuss how best to use you later, but I’ll consecrate you.”
“Great! How do we do it?”
“Kneel,” he replied.
They stopped, faced each other, and she dropped to her knees in front of him, looking deeply into his eyes. If they hadn’t been on their way to perform necromancy, it would have felt oddly romantic… or sexual.
That thought must have occurred to Victoria, too, since a flickering of pink appeared on her cheeks for just a few seconds as Tybalt looked down at her affectionately.
I’d rather be kissing you, honestly, he thought.
Then he invoked the power and placed a hand on top of her head.
Unholy Consecration.
Divine energy flowed into him, like a geyser of power that mixed in only a small amount of his own mana. Then it went out, into the foxgirl. Her body trembled and then shook more violently, her eyes widening and rolling back so that he could see only the whites.
What the fuck? It wasn’t like this with the others. Is she having some sort of fit?
He wasn’t certain if epilepsy could cause complications when combined with divine power, or if the foxgirls had any history of epilepsy in their family. It seemed like the sort of thing that might go with the dream seer class, but it was too late to ask that question now.
They kept locked in their positions, his hand on her head, her body shaking and jerking up and down on the stony ground.
He felt the moment when it ended.
Victoria slumped to the side, almost tumbling onto the ground until Tybalt caught her. Her body felt limp in his arms, eyes closed.
“You’re all right,” he whispered, cradling her, almost praying. “You’re all right.”
He caressed her face and hair. She didn’t move or acknowledge his touch in any way.
Shit. He reached down with the arm that supported her upper body and touched her back, just behind where her heart was. That reassured him a little. I think her heart rate is a little faster than usual, but that’s to be expected after whatever just happened. It hasn’t stopped or anything. That’s what matters.
He laid her down on the ground and used both hands to gently pry her mouth open.
All right, she hasn’t bitten her tongue either. I guess she’s just fainted. The energy was too much for her. Hopefully that means something good.
Tybalt shook his head, shifted Victoria back into a princess carry, rose to his feet, and continued walking uphill.