"So, as I was saying, Lord Sl'Ayiysab, you must simply attend that show in the Isles of the Depressing Lake." one of the nobles I was mingling with told me.
"No can do, I'm afraid." I tell him with a small smile while he becomes confused.
"But you showed such interest in it before?" he asks me rather loudly.
"I did, but to get there I would have to pay the absurd tariffs your territory has!" I answer with a loud laugh. Eliciting one from him soon after once the confusion had made itself scarce.
"Oh? Is a famous Lord of the Border light on funds?" one woman joked while I scoffed at her before looking around. I don't think it was possible for me to ever be light on funds. I had all the direct taxation from this mobile-city as well as my colonial holdings.
"However, if funds are an issue, I can make an exception? You would have no need to travel extravagantly if yo-"
"Enough, I would be happy to pay my dues. I was just draining your oasis is all." I tell him with a smile before I pat his shoulder and walk off. Carefully dissecting some dates with my fingernails before I joined up with my wife again.
"Use the date-scaple, darling."
"You know those things are too fiddly for me in my old age." I respond before my smile gets me a scornful look.
"Honestly, try to act like you belong here." she scorns just after before she opens it up for me instead.
"Yummy." I comment with a laugh once I took the date out of her fingers. Smiling even more as I saw her blush at my childishness.
"Darling..." she moans quietly before I let the childish behaviour stop.
"Don't worry, Rain. We've made it for some time without me changing at all. One small gathering won't cause issues."
"A few words can do more than a few issues..." she rightfully complains before I pull her in close.
"As I just said, don't worry." I tell her as I stroke her beautiful blue hair. The same hair she was kind enough to pass onto our daughters.
"My lord! My lord!" one servant cried as he came running in. Actions that disrupted the party entirely. And, were it not for us turning our attention towards him. We'd never have known he was talking to us.
There were many lords here after all.
"And what prompts such a break of character?" I ask with some annoyance as this was unbecoming of a member of staff here. Or anywhere for that matter.
"It's Mistress Tiyanat! She wishes to speak with you urgently!" he explains before he starts to correct his mistake. But, before he could, I take ahold of his arm and stare intently at him.
"Take me, now." I order as I let him feel the pressure of my hand.
"Of course!"
"What's wrong!? Why is Tiyanat calling us now? Our picture-to-picture isn't until the end of the week!" my wife asks him. Yet, all he could do was shake his head.
"I'm afraid I don't know, Lady Sl'Ayiysab! She just started to call while I was doing my duties and she was in tears!"
"Ti-Ti!?" I let out with urgency as I picked up the pace. Leaving my wife behind in the rush to get to wherever it was that she had called.
"In here, my Lord!" the servant tells me before my wife catches up with us. She might've been annoyed with me normally, but now was not the time to complain. So we both entered the room and were greeted with a horrifying sound. Tiyanat was crying without restraint...
"Tiyanat? What's wrong? It's alright, Mummy and Daddy are here!" my wife tried to calm her with while she reached out for her. But, I had to pull her back as there was nothing she could do physically. This was just a way for us to communicate... We weren't actually there for her...
"It's... It's Larishazza!" she struggled to get out before the crying got worse.
"What happened, Ti-Ti!? What happened to Lala?" I demanded to know as it had not been that long since her prior disappearance. She was fine when we saw her last, but a lot can happen in a short time...
"She..." and my poor daughter was struggling to say anything, "She..."
"Shh! When you're ready, Tiyanat." her mother tries to calm her with as her hands scrunch up my clothes. She could not hold her daughter and it frustrated her...
Then, when she was seemingly ready, "She... She's been attacked and... She's not recovering... Someone attacked her and she's not getting better!" my daughter cries before I freeze up. What did she mean by that...? Why wasn't she recovering...?
WHAT GOOD WAS THAT SCHOOL'S REPUTATION IF THEY COULDN'T RESOLVE THIS!?
"Was it just an accident? Something at school?" I ask calmly just to make sure that this was just her being her usual worrywart self.
"N-No..."
"Explain, please." I ask slowly, moving away from my wife and making sure I dominated Tiyanat's view. I wanted her to explain it all now!
"From... F-From what I have heard... A serial killer has..." she failed to fully get out.
"I see." I say as I slowly move away from the screen.
"W-WAIT DAD!" I heard her scream before I walked out the room. Regardless of their motivations, they targeted the wrong girl... My Larishazza, my Lala, she was not some ordinary girl. She was a Sl'Ayiysab!
And I would show this so-called killer what that meant...
"Darling!? Darling!" my wife called out, yet, she did not chase after me. So I was free to keep on marching and marching until I was out of the estate. From there, it was a simple task of casting aside the people filling the streets. Those who were attentive moved and those that weren't were swept aside.
Merely running or walking out in the streets was too slow... So I found myself inspired by an unyielding torrent of water. And I kept it up all the way until I reached the place so many people here worked at. Then, without the usual grand ceremony my visit would entail, I broke the doors down.
"WHERE IS THE CITY'S GUIDER!?" I roar once the dust and leftover water disappeared.
"Lord Sl'Ayiysab!?" one of the workers asked before I placed my hand around his throat.
"DO NOT SPEAK UNLESS YOU CAN ANSWER ME!" I snap before throwing him down.
"Lord Sl'Ayiysab, what is the problem!?" the man I was looking for asked over the speaker. And, a mere moment later, I was right next to him. Much to his shock.
"Turn this city around and take us to the closest coast to the Land of Wind." I growl with a magnificent display of power backing me up.
"O-Of course!" he nervously replied before I started to slowly march up towards my throne. There was nothing I could do now but be patient... Yet, when I sat down in it, I could hear the room creak and break under my power.
"Darling!" my wife suddenly called as her face suddenly popped up. Tiyanat's did too...
"Dad, please, listen to me! I know you are overreacting right now!"
"OVERREACTING!?" I shout with such rage and power that I could've potentially have destroyed the city's ability to walk.
"Darling, calm down." my wife tells me from the safety of our estate.
"Okay, you have five minutes." I tell the pair of them as I let my aura weaken. And that was all I did, I did not let it go away. I let it stay so those near me knew I was in no mood to tolerate failure.
"Dad, stop! I know that you're just going to march here with an army! DO NOT DESTROY THIS PLACE!"
"You care more about that school than your sister?" I ask her as this was unacceptable. What right did she have to tell me to stop!?
"NO! I JUST DON'T WANT MY FRIENDS GETTING HURT! I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO LEAVE ANOTHER PLACE BEHIND BECAUSE YOU OVERREACTED!"
"Darling..."
"Tiyanat... Your sister was attacked by what you claim to be a serial killer. But how am I meant to trust that claim? What's to say it wasn't an assassin!?"
"BECAUSE LATER THE NIGHT LARISHAZZA WAS ATTACKED, THREE WOMEN WERE KILLED WHILE ONLY SHE LIVED! I SAW THAT MAN'S FACE AND HE DID NOT TRY TO KILL ME!" she screamed before she flinched away in fear at my gaze.
"I see..." I let out lowly before I started to fixate on another detail, "And she isn't recovering because...?" I ask her. I wasn't expecting an answer, but if she was the only one who had lived... Then that made it all the more likely this was a message sent out to our family.
But that was contradicted by the fact that Tiyanat was okay... Did this have something to do with Larishazza's prior disappearance...?
"Darling, she doesn't know. Stop being so harsh on her." my wife tells me before she turns to try and comfort our daughter.
"Of course, I am sorry, Tiyanat." I say with a sigh.
"It's okay... I know you're worried for her..."
"Obvious, no?" I sarcastically mutter.
"Ahmedallin!" my wife snaps.
"So, if I take things too far, what do you suggest, Tiyanat?"
"At least give the doctors some time! Please! Keep your armies away from here! Not one drop of water is to come onto this continent, okay!?" my daughter snaps angrily before she drops to her knees.
"Tiyanat, look at me." I mutter to my daughter.
"Okay..." she quietly answers as she places her head on the desk she was likely at.
"Tiyanat, show me your face." I say once it became clear she was going to sob behind her arms. And I had to wait a little bit before she did as she was told.
"Darling, just say what you want to already." my wife tells me despite the annoyed glance I shot her way.
"Is me calling upon the best doctors this land has acceptable for you as a first measure?"
"I... no... If you can help Larishazza... Please..."
And I nod slowly at my daughter as a lone tear stealthily escapes me, "Of course. I will use what I can to secure the very best. But, let me be clear. I will respect your wishes for a more timid response. However, should the worst come to pass? I will call upon one of them." the words at the end bringing shock to both of their faces.
"Darling! You just agreed to-"
"Mom... It's alright." she says before my daughter glares intently at me.
"Anything else?" I ask as a face like that only meant one thing.
"You will not send one over, because this will work..." she tells me with a stern expression at first before she starts to cry once again.
"Tiyanat..." my wife lets out while I feel my heart ache at the sight. I can't even begin to imagine what this must be like for her... I have only heard of it and this was how I was reacting. She either saw it happen or the effects of this attack directly.
It was a small detail, but I knew full well it had a far greater impact. It was nothing in comparison, but, I had no issue about wiping out a rogue nation. However, if I was to see the drowned bodies afterwards, I had issues stomaching it. So, like her mother, I wish I could be there for Tiyanat...
Yet, I had some relief in regard to that. If she was this determined to keep me in check, then she must have made some good friends. Ones she did not want to see hurt by a ruthless manhunt ordered by me. As much as I could not care about them, their safety did affect my daughter's view of me.
And I did not want my family to be strained further by infighting... We had a cause uniting us for now. Yet, I feared ruining that more than the political backlash I might cause with my actions. His Majesty would not be happy with me, but he would have to just drink it up.
The tide flowed where the tide flowed... And if it truly came to it, I would lead the tsunami.