Pacifying Tene's grief for the next few days, I couldn't help but look up at the moon's ethereal glow baring down at me. Silver ephemeral light blanketed the city of Nocturn in a blaze of glory, interlocking in the darkness; As if at war with the light, the city grew darker and unfathomable.
Lifting the glass of whisky to my lips to dampen the melancholy this city beckoned, Tia's soothing voice reached out. " Arsene."
I turned and showed a grin. "If it isn't my bastard and my first love. " I teased, staring at Tiamat and the silver-haired boy… no Man at her side. "I guess this is your real appearance. You look nothing like me."
Hair tied in an elegant ponytail, Zaid stood with a poised expression in scarlet black garms. His scarlet eyes narrowed into cold slits, leaving a dreadful cold I couldn't help but approve.
"So I was your First Love?" Tia mentioned, lifting her lips upwards.
A little embarrassed to admit it, I nodded, unable to resist the urge to scratch my cheek. "I knew you didn't feel the same. But you were. You were wild, badass, untamable, crazy, freeing? You were everything I wanted."
Anger flashed through Zaid's eyes as he stepped forward. " I did not come here to witness this horrendous display of affection. Why am I here?"
"You…" Tiamat started.
"It's fine. The bastard is merely uncomfortable." Amused by his expression's increasing irritation, I drew close, sipping my whiskey. "Zaid. You are going to be my new knight."
"When a whore stops spreading her legs." he spat. "Your Knight? A weakling like you?"
"He's got my arrogance." I approved, nodding to answer his question. " Yes. You will assist me or else."
"Or else what?" He pressed.
"Or else your Mother here might end up dead helping you." I coldly said, turning the empty decanter to dust with a flare of abyssal fire. I stood before Zaid, arms poised behind my back, as the warming sensation of whisky slithered through my chest. "As it stands, while I may be a weakling. I possess the highest defense against those that just tried to kill your Mother and my wife."
Zaid expression warped into surprise as he turned to the grimacing expression of Tiamat, who found herself near my bar, pouring herself a glass of wine.
"It's true. I need you to work with your Father."
"He's not my Father!" Zaid barked, flaring his sword-like brow. He snapped his gaze at me. " You are no father to me."
"Hense why I call you Bastard." I calmly replied, amused by the reaction. "Because no child of mine barks like a dog over something so trivial. Or is this all a show? A way to show weakness in hopes of garnering something from this King."
"You have nothing I want."
"On the contrary. I have everything you'll ever want." I told the boy, turning to face the balcony overlooking Nocturne from my chambers. "Zaid, personally, how you feel is irrelevant. You are a Bastard through and through who has yet to achieve anything. And unless it's you behind the hit on my wife and your Mother. You're a complete failure. At least if you were really behind the hit, I'd have some respect for you."
Embellishing in the exuberant anger rippling off Zaid, I continued. "But your not. You're nothing more than the lucky sperm I shot into your Mother. Who merely kept you as a testament to her affection for me. Nothing else. Tell me, boy. What do you have that I want?"
Silence engulfed the chamber for a while as Tiamat inched closer and leaned her head over my shoulder. Her stance was clear to the boy behind her.
"I don't need what you have!"
"Lower your tone," I said calmly. " You are not a dog. You are a Snow. Have some dignity and speak with a poised demeanor that demands respect. Or are you telling me you haven't mastered your emotions?" Pondering for a bit in the stone-cold silence, I turned with Tiamat clinging to my shoulder and stared dead to hideous grimace over my son's face. "I have two unborn children, and they've accomplished more than you. How sad. If not pathetic. Tiamat wasted her time on you. And perhaps so am I."
Tia shuttered but still maintained her smile. But I could feel her body wanting to fall limp. She really loved him. More than I've seen her love anyone.
"What do you have, Zaid? My unborn children are known as the Black Sun and the Azure Abyss. What title do you hold? Timats son? Arsene's Bastard? You carry the Snow linage, yet you… It's pathetic."
Trembling where he stood, a rich demonic hue shone through my son's eyes, twisting into something from the core of the hells. Anger bled through his pores as he stood there. Not attacking, not wailing out, he held it in.
"You have promise. You carry Tia's blood and mine. Meaning you carry the Forsaken heritage? Or do you not."
"He does not," Said Tia calmly.
Fury continued to build as I only nodded, not giving it a second thought. It wasn't my blood that made me a monster. Sure, it helped greatly. But I would have reached where I am without it.
"I don't need your bloodline."
"No, you don't," I admitted. "I'll not make you a Shadowfell. Nor will I grant you a superior bloodline because you'll make your own. I am appointing you my next prince within the Hells. After this… when all this is over. You will enter the Nine and bathe in the Acheron Sea. You'll bathe in it till your body and soul are withered by the Nines. Only when you are Tarnished shall you emerge as 'something' else. "
"I don't need—"
"Boy. you carry my surname. And my blood. You don't have a fucking choice. Bitch and moan all you like. I don't give a damn." I snapped, sneering at the possibility of choice in this matter. " I possess hundreds of demons and Devils who will break you in such ways you'll wish for death. You will accept my assistance, or I can force it."
Zaid's eyes went utterly wide as two Blood Reavers emerged from behind him. Their eyes were focused and dark, rich with bloodlust.
"Zaid…" Tiamat calmly whispered his name, the torn in her voice almost bellowing despite its soft nature. "Accept his help… Get to know your Father the right way. Not the wrong way."
"He's not giving me a choice!"
I smirked. " Welcome to the world of a Snow."