Lind woke up in a cold sweat in darkness. He at first thought he was still in that terrible place but then he saw the golden silks and white drapes that reassured him he was in his bed. It had been a terrible dream but he could not recall it despite the deep terror slowly fading from his beating heart.
"Your Highness?" A gentle voice spoke beyond the border of his bed and cemented he was home. It had all been a terrible dream. A quick glance inward and he could feel all 4 primary elements strongly resonating inside his dantain at the peak of the Soul Realm.
"Talia, I am awake, please brew some tea." Lind saw a vague shadow move with the glow of Qi. Lind wiped the sweat from his brow as he moved the curtains aside to see that the sun had yet to rise but the horizon was lighting up like a fire.
"What was that dream?" Lind spoke aloud but could not dredge up what had driven him from sleep so early. He glanced into the corner and smiled at his first spear leaning there. It had been a gift from his father when he broke through to the Soul Realm at the age of 11.
His Royal Uncle had been worried Lind would overtake his cousins, but Lind had happily let his right to inherit languish. He was aware of the battle for the throne and wanted nothing to do with it. The war with the Lotus Empire had raged for millenia off and on, but the Kingdom of Altair had emerged triumphantly.
Despite not being in line for the throne, he had been trained in the duties of ruling a duchy once his father retired or broke through the World Realm at last. Lind then frowned as his memory caught up with what was on his list of duties today.
He was nearly 20 years old, so he was now entrusted with arbitration. Apparently the locals had tried to incite a rebellion and the soldiers had caught a big fish this time. One of the royal family of the Lotus Empire had been caught.
"Jia Teng, why did you stay here?" Lind shook off his dark thoughts and stripped before entering his scented bath. He smiled to see that Talia had prepared it for him just before dawn. He must have been tossing and turning so she expected him to awake early. "I do not deserve you, Talia."
Technically she was his maid but he had grown up with her and she was his best friend. His dark green eyes sparkled as he dove into the bath and let the water invigorate him at last. The sun broke just as she returned with steaming tea and sweet cakes. Lind smiled wide as he quickly tried to grab the sweet cakes but had his hand slapped away.
"Your Highness, drink the tea first and then you can have your dessert." Her stern tone made him love her more. Her amethyst eyes and freckled face were so cute to him but unlike most of his family, Lind was taking his time. Talia was special to him. Still, he could not help tugging on her curled up red lochs. They were so soft. "YOUR HIGHNESS!"
Talia turned scarlet and Lind felt his throat go dry. He gulped the tea but it was still too hot! A little cough covered his own embarrassment as she turned to prepare his official robes. They were not the royal tans and blues but black and violet to show he was the Duke of the Lotus Duchy.
Lind's father only controlled what had once been the capital lands of the Lotus Empire aside from the Ruins. Lind had no issue with that as it was the compromise issued by Darkmoor Kingdom. The Lotus Academy remained standing but it was far different from before. Only men were allowed to attend as the women were turned into servants.
Lind made sure Talia went nowhere near the place but he worried about the students. Talia did wear his emblem so most would leave her be, but not all. The demons for instance were not pleased with how Altair was running the Ruins so it made a target on her.
"There is no need for you to come today, Talia. It will not be pleasant." Lind did not like this part of his job. Even so, it had to be done. Talia looked sternly at him as she put her fists on her hips. Despite being a head shorter than him, she seemed to loom now. The pose also pulled tight her black dress across her chest which was very distracting to Lind.
"I am your attendant. I will always be by your side." The silence suddenly became awkward. Lind smiled as she blushed deeply as she stuffed a sweet cake into his mouth. Lind nearly choked but it was worth it to him.
A sudden knock on the door made them both jump. Lind quickly swallowed the food and Talia moved behind him into the shadows of the room. A cold look came over Lind's face as he looked towards the door and made sure nothing was out that could be an issue.
"Enter, father." A tall man with golden hair came in. Despite the smile on his face, his aura swept over the room before narrowing on the tea tray. The other sweet was there but Lind slowly picked it up and ate it. He never once smiled back, but this was his father that he adored.
"You are up early, I figured you would be still in bed." Lind felt a chill enter his heart as his father's eyes glanced behind him. What was wrong? Why was his father angry?
"How can I serve, father? I have my arbitration later and was preparing to review the materials we collected." His words drew his father back and there were indeed a stack of jade slips and scrolls that were clearly ready to be looked over. The stern visage cracked and a proud smile finally crossed it.
"You will be a good duke, Lind." His father then sat down and they discussed the coming week as well as any special issues that should be considered with the arbitration. It was a formality but it was good for Altair to look fair to the outside world. Their current status was not much better than dung beetles.
"You have always been a fair minded person but firm in the law. I entrust this final member of the former royal Teng Clan to you. Make me proud, son." Lind almost bought it. He knew his father too well. Something was wrong. Lind did not push, though, because it was likely another test.
A glance at the spear in the corner made both men smile. It was the last time Lind felt unfiltered love from his father. Once a noble broke into the Soul Realm, their childhood was considered over. Lind had been a prodigy of not only breaking through at 11 but cultivating the 4 primary elements. His progress had left his peers far in the dust behind him.
"Talia, collect everything and follow me." She smartly brought everything together but they both noticed his father remained seated. He was sipping the last of the tea as if he planned to stay in this room. Alarm bells began to sound in Lind's heart. "Was there something else, father?"
It was a stretch, but not an unreasonable one. His father slightly nodded and only Lind noticed it. He could feel Talia was wound tight in fear. His father then gently put the tea cup down and smiled in a very odd way.
"I was thinking you need a more capable assistant for your first arbitration. Mira!" Lind nearly stumbled at that name. A slim woman with dark hair slowly walked into the room. Her right hand was missing a few fingers, but her dark green eyes matched Lind's own. He had only ever seen her kept in his father's room and had no memory from when he was a baby.
He had heard her hum one night, however, and tears had fallen from his face as he listened. She was his mother without question, but why was she here? Her competence as an aide was unquestioned. She had been with his father all of Lind's life everywhere he went so she clearly was capable, but why today? Why now? Lind felt a darkness in his heart as his hand trembled.
"I thought you might like to have your mother help you. Besides, you are about to break through to the World Realm, you should spend some time with her while you can." Lind looked into those orbs that were identical to his own and somehow understood a message. His eyes misted over as his body shivered.
"Talia will learn a lot from mother today." Lind tried to use one last tactic. A sad smile spread on his mother's face but a frown crossed his father's. Everyone knew what Lind was trying to do and a quiet sob came from behind him that almost broke him.
"You are still too soft, Lind. I warn you now, go with your mother and finish your job. I will be along afterward to see how things went." Lind felt rage rise in him. Lind wanted to fight, right now he wanted to fight so badly, but his father had reached the peak of the Gold Tier. Lind stood no chance.
"May I say goodbye?" Lind would not bend on this and his resolve shone through. A sarcastic smile spread now on his father's face but a flicker of acceptance that this was Lind's final line. Despite the current situation, Lind was his only worthy son.
"Very well, but be quick. Mira, gather those things for him." Mira walked by them but Lind made no move to rush her along. There was plenty of time and they both knew it. Finally, his mother walked past him and he turned back to see something that broke his heart. Talia was weeping.
He moved close and hugged her. She clung to him and he wished for the power to whisk her away right then. He looked into her eyes and did something he swore never to do without her permission but now was the time. Her lips connected with his and he felt her return it a thousand fold. They clung to each other until Lind was roughly pulled away.
"That is enough! You should have done that sooner and I would not have to do this." The words seemed like they were reluctant but Lind saw the greed in his father's eyes. Something broke inside Lind. Something precious had just been lost as he was guided from the room.
He had not even made it a few steps when Talia began to scream.
"Why? Why is he doing this?!" Lind spoke aloud but did not expect an answer, yet gentle arms encircled him.
"My precious boy, I heard him complain so much about how you treated the servants but it only made me proud of you. I wish this had never happened, but this is Altair. There is nothing you can do." The hopelessness in his mother's voice made him grasp at her and pull her close. He hugged her tight and felt a familial warmth he had not felt in over a decade.
"I love her! I love her damnit and he knows that!" A feeling of the hand with missing fingers caressed him as he realized he was crying. He would look terrible for the arbitration. Lind suddenly felt like he was struck by a thunder bolt. He listened to Talia's whimpers that could have been hidden by the sound proof formation but his father left it down intentionally.
"What will you do, Lind?" He only looked at her but he could see heavy makeup on her face covering old and new bruises. Lind had adored his father until this moment. He made excuses and hoped time away from the royal court would change him, but Lind had been a fool.
"Follow me." Lind walked down the stone corridors of what had been the royal palace but not to the hall he was meant to go to. There was a treasury with a few items he would need for what he was about to do. He wondered if he was going too far when the final nail reached his ears.
"Please no, I won't disobey anymore, please sto–" Talia's voice was cut off and silence came from his rooms. Lind felt the fire vanish from his soul and a coldness entered his eyes as his mother looked on crying. Every noise had made her cringe or jump and he had noted it all.
"I am going to kill them all, mother. I am going to destroy them all!" Lind turned and walked to the treasury. He would free Jia Teng, she may kill him, but it no longer mattered. All that mattered was that the bastard had to die! They all had to die!
Lind turned a corner and suddenly a pike entered his heart. A guard looked troubled as his duke's son was on the other end of his weapon, but the orders had been clear. If Lind came down that hallway, he was to be killed on sight.
"LIND!" His mother screamed his name as she caught him. Lind felt nothing but rage. He raged at it all ending like that! He could not let them off, he could not let them be. His cultivation suddenly spiked as darkness swallowed him and dead eyes looked out with a cold smile.
"At last, you are me." Lind screamed as the world fell away into endless darkness.