The Storm King

Kill Tiberias. That was the advice that the Thunderbird had given. There was no justice to be had in the Bull Kingdom for the young nobleman’s attempt to kill Leon—not that Leon ever seriously considered seeking legal justice. There just wasn’t enough evidence there, especially after he destroyed the bodies of the assassins with demonfire and told no one about the attack for weeks.

All he had was the invisibility ring and Elise’s word that it had been commissioned by Tiberias’ father, and that wasn’t enough for a court of law to convict one of the highest nobles in the land. The Duke of Aurelianorum could always say that it wasn’t his, or that one of his people went rogue, or that one of the rings went missing, or was stolen.

No, if Leon wanted legal justice, then he would be left wanting with little to show for it, and it could even go against him. Bringing Tiberias’ family to court would only announce that he was still around and still a threat.

That his justifications coincided with what he already wanted to do was quite convenient, but Leon didn’t devote too much brainpower analyzing that little detail.

‘Better to just end Tiberias and be done with it,’ Leon thought to himself, echoing something that resonated within him that the Thunderbird had told him when he consulted her about what he should do. Permanently end the threat, that’s what he wanted, not to be tangled up in what could be a years-long investigation and court case that he doubted would go his way.

Still, even with his mind made up and his heart set on killing Tiberias, he still wanted to confer with Elise. Her family had already had Heaven’s Eye retaliate against Tiberias’ family, and what was more, Tiberias had been something of a nuisance to her before. Leon wanted her opinion as to what he should do next before he put thought into action.

Fortunately, in the time that Leon spent in his soul realm, Elise had come home. Leon emerged from the meditation chamber just as his lover collapsed face-first onto a couch in their living room after kicking off her shoes.

“Hey there, beautiful,” Leon said with a smile and uncharacteristic cheer.

Elise was so exhausted that she barely managed to look up at him and smile back.

“Long day?” Leon asked. He’d somewhat lost track of time after working on his Mind Palace and training with the Thunderbird, but he was still a bit surprised to look out the window and see that the sun had set not too long ago.

Elise slowly nodded, and after taking a few seconds to just lay there and relax, she finally spoke.

“Pretty bad day, all things considered,” she said, her voice tired and husky as if she’d been yelling at someone for significant portions of the day.

Leon moved closer and made to sit in a nearby chair, but as he did, Elise lifted her legs and made room for him on the couch, so he changed directions and sat down next to his lover.

“Tell me about it,” Leon said as Elise stretched her legs back out over his lap. Leon pushed her black silk dress up a bit and began to rub her calves, eliciting a few giggles and moans from Elise, preventing her from beginning immediately.

“Stop it, that tickles!” she cried with a wide smile on her face, and her upper body jumped up at his touch so quickly that it seemed like her fatigue had been completely forgotten—which was actually pretty accurate since, her being a fourth-tier mage, she didn’t get physically tired that easily. Her fatigue was more mental and emotional than physical.

Leon didn’t stop, and he kept up giving her a rough massage while staring at her with a teasing smile.

“All right!” she shouted as she swung her legs off of Leon and stared at him, her playful smile betraying the serious look she was going for.

“So, what’s up?” Leon asked.

Elise then proceeded to vent about her day, about the boring meetings with prideful nobles that she had to attend, how she had to manage a number of new attendants—including one particular braggart who had been giving the rest of the new attendants trouble—who had come in after some of the older and more experienced attendants entered noble households as spouses and concubines, and worst of all, how she had to see to the needs of a couple of high nobles who, while otherwise polite, didn’t stop staring at her in ways that made her uncomfortable.

The last part infuriated Leon, but he just sat back and let her express her frustration at having to work with these kinds of people. If she truly wanted those things fixed, if she thought that they were worth fixing in the first place, she had more than enough power and will to do so.

But then, she got to a part that really caught Leon’s attention.

“We had a visitor today who asked for me,” Elise said, her voice trembling in muted anger. “It was Tiberias. Apparently, he’s back in the city.”

“I know, I saw him at the Royal Palace today,” Leon said.

“What was he doing there?” Elise asked with concerned curiosity.

“Don’t know, I just got a glimpse of him waiting around the area where the King’s accountants deal with taxing the nobility.”

“Hmm,” Elise hummed in thought. “The sanctions we placed on the Decimius family hurt their finances badly, but it didn’t cripple them completely… Duke Decimius had to sell some land, but in almost two years, he’s been able to mostly recover with the vast incomes he still has…”

“What was Tiberias doing at the Tower?” Leon asked as he exerted a bit of effort to keep his killing intent from leaking out.

“Asking around for me, it seems,” Elise said, her face contorting in disgust. “After being told about it earlier today, I found out that he’s been coming quite a bit recently and bribing one of our head attendants not to throw him out.”

Leon blinked and reeled a bit in surprise, and not just because Elise had apparently saved the most infuriating news for last. He’d gotten quite used to thinking that Heaven’s Eye was above just about everything that normal people wanted, so he hadn’t considered the possibility of one of their employees being corrupt. But they were still just as human as everyone else, it seemed.

“Needless to say, I had that manager fired and blacklisted from all Heaven’s Eye services as soon as I heard about it and repeated my instructions to have Tiberias removed should he show himself around the Tower. Still, it was hardly the best way to end the day…”

“I can empathize,” Leon said as he pulled Elise closer to him. It took her by surprise, as Leon was hardly the most physically intimate person unless she took the initiative to touch him.

She liked it, though, and allowed herself to be pulled into his arms.

“I’ve been thinking for a few hours,” Leon began, but he paused there, not quite knowing how to continue—he assumed that Elise had the same feelings about this matter as he did, which was why she didn’t open up with her information on Tiberias right away. After Tiberias tried to have him killed, Heaven’s Eye responded economically, since they had a policy of non-interference when it came to local politics. The only reason they did as much as they did to retaliate was because of his relationship with Elise.

In other words, he knew that he would receive no support from Heaven’s Eye to kill Tiberias, but it wasn’t their support he was after. He just didn’t know if Elise would approve of his determination to kill the other noble, and that was what gave him pause.

[You’re going to kill that man?] asked a voice in their heads that seemed to be coming from the other side of the room. When Leon and Elise looked over, they saw Naiad with their own eyes for the first time in days.

The river nymph looked perfectly fine, fully dressed and presentable—none the worse for wear despite her relatively long seclusion. Her attitude, however, was far calmer and more laid-back than either Leon or Elise were used to. She didn’t have a hungry look in her eyes, her attitude was calm and curious, and with her eyes, she acknowledged both Leon and Elise. She seemed almost… human, rather than the staggeringly arrogant demigod she had been before.

[This man that tried to kill you, you’re going to kill him?] Naiad repeated after a period of shocked silence.

“That’s the plan…” Leon muttered, and Elise looked at him in shock.

“You what?” Elise demanded.

“I’m going to kill Tiberias Decimius,” Leon said, confirming what Elise feared she’d heard.

“Things haven’t changed since the last time we talked about this,” Elise protested. “I get why you want to kill him, but think about this, first!”

“I have thought about it,” Leon said. “I’ve been thinking about it for the past two years. The plan was always to kill Tiberias, but it was just a matter of when, not if. He tried to kill me once, I can almost guarantee that he’ll try again.”

Elise stared at her lover, but she couldn’t deny that she wouldn’t be at all grieved if Tiberias vanished from the face of the plane. Still, she didn’t want Leon taking unnecessary risks.

Naiad’s face broke out into the familiar smile of a predator who had just caught sight of a juicy snack. [When you go, I will accompany you. No harm will come to you.]

Silence fell upon the room as Leon and Elise blankly stared at Naiad, then at each other.

“… Huh?” Leon asked in surprise and confusion.

[I said that I would accompany you when you go to kill your enemy,] Naiad repeated. [My power reaches what you would call the eighth-tier, so I can’t imagine there’s anyone around here who could pose much of a threat to me—or to you, should I go with you…]

For a moment, both Elise and Leon reeled from Naiad’s reveal of her power. However, they quickly recovered; it wasn’t the largest surprise since they’d already seen her utterly thrash a seventh-tier vampire. It was still a terrifying reveal, conceptually speaking, but both Leon and Elise decided to concentrate on the matter at hand and revisit the matter of Naiad’s power later.

“… Why?” Elise asked once she managed to recover from her surprise at Naiad’s power, her confusion rivaling Leon’s as to why Naiad would offer, though inside, her heart began to beat in excitement. With an eighth-tier equivalent being like Naiad present and covering for Leon, then there was hardly a need for her to be concerned for his safety.

[Does it matter?] Naiad countered.

“If someone is going to accompany me to kill someone, then trust is a necessary part of the deal, otherwise it would be best if you didn’t,” Leon explained.

[No it isn’t,] Naiad disagreed. [You have enemies. We are now mates, at least for the time being, so it’s only natural for us to kill those enemies together.]

After repressing a retort about not really being mates, Leon’s thoughts ended up about in sync with Elise’s, that it was best to have Naiad along if she was offering to go, just in case. Didn’t make him happy, though; just because they had sex once didn’t mean that Leon fully trusted Naiad.

‘Still, though, she saved us from those vampires, but that was mostly out of convenience, I’d say…’ Leon thought to himself.

Leon hesitated to give an answer and thought about this long enough that Elise spoke before him.

“You should go with him.”

Leon stared at his lover in as much shock as he felt when Naiad revealed her power. Those were words that he never thought he’d hear fall from Elise’s mouth.

“… Huh?” Leon repeated.

[Thank you,] Naiad simply replied. [I will keep Leon alive and kill your enemies. Leon, please tell me when it’s time, and I will join you.]

With that, Naiad turned around and returned to her rooms, leaving a slightly somber Elise and a very confused Leon in her wake.

Seeing Leon slowly turning back to her, Elise preempted him by saying, “I don’t want you to come back to me injured again. I don’t think I can handle that. Besides, I have no more limb-regenerating herbs, so if you’re so injured again, you’ll be taking the long road to healing.”

“I… I honestly can’t argue with taking her along given her power and what I’m planning to do…” Leon reluctantly muttered.

“Loath as I am to leave you alone with her, I also know that she won’t harm you.”

“How can you be so certain?” Leon asked.

“Woman’s intuition,” Elise replied, smiling for the first time since Naiad appeared. “She’s had many opportunities to bring harm to you before, and she hasn’t taken them. Instead, she’s done what she had to in order to survive, and I can’t blame her for that… though not for lack of trying.”

“Sounds like you’re coming to like her,” Leon said, cocking an eyebrow in surprise and intrigue.

“Not really,” Elise replied, though she did take a moment to stop and think before saying so. “You’re going to take her along?”

“I suppose I will,” Leon half-heartedly said. “If an eighth-tier being is willing to come with when I’m planning to do something violent, who am I to tell them no? If things go sideways, it would be better if she were both willing to assist and in a position to do so. She seems willing, so I suppose nothing more needs to be said.”

“When do you want to do this, then?” Elise asked with utter seriousness, giving this small conspiracy to murder one of the highest nobles in the land all the weight it deserved.

“Don’t know, yet. I’m going to have to do some scouting, probably figure out where Tiberias rests his head, then the defenses of that place and how to get around them, then the actual plan of attack. Could take weeks to work out the details.”

“I almost thought you intended to go out the instant it was decided upon,” Elise stated in mild amusement. She was happy that Leon wasn’t taking this too quickly.

“I almost thought you would refuse to let me go,” Leon shot back.

“I was going to, but Naiad changes things,” Elise explained. “Getting rid of Tiberias has been something I’ve longed to do for years, and now that we’re both seriously thinking about this, I can’t help but feel excited and look forward to its completion. Besides, what can the Bull Kingdom do to me if we fail?” Her last sentence came with a vicious smile and slight current of killing intent that Leon had rarely seen on Elise’s face, not even when they had been attacked by vampires.

He honestly appreciated it when Elise showed her ruthless side. Made him feel better about how quickly he decided on the violent option.

“Good to see we’re on the same page,” Leon said, wrapping his hands around Elise’s waist and pulling her closer on the couch.

“Then let’s get to work,” Elise said, her smile turning more loving and supportive. It was a smile that also possessed the absolute confidence of someone with the backing of a being with eighth-tier power and the single largest economic superpower on the plane.

“Your wish is my command,” Leon replied as he leaned down and sealed Elise’s lips with his own.