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Belial: alive by an inch
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Picking himself up off of the floor, Valgus reached up to touch his blood-soaked neck. Supreany's claws had dug in deep. He was lucky she had missed his jugular. He stood to his feet and staggered back into his room to his chair. A small host of men came rushing into the room.
"Sir, Governor, are you all right?"
"Do I look all right?" he snapped. "Well send for a doctor, and clean this mess up ... AND FIND ME THAT WOMAN!"
"Wh...ich one?"
"Both of them!" He paused. "Why are you still standing here!" he screamed as he hurled a paper weight at them.
They scrambled from the room. As they did, the mysterious, tall, slender woman walked into the room. Glancing down at the dead bodies, she gave a slight smile.
"Have some problems, did we." Her voice was low and smooth.
Valgus glared at the woman. "They've escaped, but we'll …"
"Do what?" she interrupted. "Find them and kill them? You already had your chance for that. Do you really think we're going to let this stay in your hands just so they can slip through your fingers again?"
"I don't appreciate your master sending his dog to hover over me."
"Careful. The higher your blood pressure, the more blood you'll lose." She leaned over him. "I would hate for you to bleed to death."
He said nothing to her threat as she walked over to the window.
"Besides, Kahn told me that if you failed to kill the queen, he would have a different proposition for you. So, I suppose there is yet hope for you and your dreams of power." She seemed to be mocking him.
"Well, let me hear it."
"For that, you're going to have to wait." She turned and began to walk toward the door. "We'll be in contact." Without another word, she disappeared down the hall.
He sat there drumming his fingers on his table as a doctor entered the room and began to treat the five gouges in his neck.
'I really don't like that woman.'
Though he would never admit it, not even to himself, she scared him. She just felt evil. Not that he was a saint. But that still did not change the fact that there was a menacing power that seemed to radiate from her, and even he felt it.
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Folklend Plains: thoughts of the past
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"So, CC, how is it you know how to fly one of these things?" Blaizen questioned.
She looked back at him with the wind blowing her hair back over her shoulders. "When I was very young, a king across the sea gave one to my father. They were very good friends and through that friendship my father had already learned how to fly a condora. So, when the king gave him one as a gift, my father taught me how to fly it."
"That's handy; sounds like your dad wanted you to be a jack-of-all-trades."
"He wanted me to be prepared for anything. So, he made sure I learned everything I could."
"You know, CC," Supreany interrupted. "It seems to me that your father knew that you were going to be queen."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just that he taught you all these things, not your sister. Let's face it; he was the king. If he wanted to teach your sister these things … he would have." A great pause came over the group.
Cecealye took in a deep breath. "I, too, have made note of this. Long have I suspected that even when I was young, my father knew that my sister would never sit upon the throne. However, he is now gone, and whatever secrets he had, he took with him to his grave. I may never know the truth of it."
"This king across the sea, do you know him?" Blaizen questioned.
"Yes, our kingdoms have a strong alliance. Currently, they are helping supply us with anything from weapons to food to ships and men. He was indeed a great friend of my father's."
"That's fortunate."
They rode on in silence, with only the sound of the wind. Flying provided a good time to think, because though they could talk, it was easier not to.