A/N: An Erised POV at long last. Bit overdue to be honest!
-x-X-x-
"Sir Hero! Would you mind sparring with a few of my men before you retire for the evening?"
"Oh. I would be happy to, Sir Bartholomew. Better they experience now what it means to face an naturally stronger opponent."
Erised slows at hearing that exchange. The Princess' War Council had finally come to an end, and with that, it was time for her departure. She was just about to head over to the enemy camp in fact, but now… now she pauses and watches as the Dark Lord follows the grizzled, grey-haired Paladin over to a nearby fighting ring.
It's obvious from Marcus' tone, bordering ever so slightly on disrespectful, that he's still annoyed over how the old Paladin had treated her back in the Princess' tent. Honestly, he seemed to be taking it more personally than Erised herself was. The Demon Assassin hadn't been particularly surprised when the Paladin questioned her abilities. She wasn't even that offended, mostly because she wasn't actually a Beastkin Thief enslaved by the Church, so they were looking down on her for all the wrong reasons.
But her Lord… well, he was who he was. And who he was… was a man who cared. A lot. Lips pressing together, Erised walks to the edge of the fighting ring that seems to be one of the main attraction of the Crusade's Camp. There are already Paladins sparring there, but when Sir Bartholomew approaches with her Lord at his back, they all stop and turn to stare.
"Clear the ring! Unless you'd like to a chance at the Destined Hero! Sir Hero, how many do you think you can handle to start?"
Only now does Erised bristle. Funnily enough, she does so on her Lord's behalf, in the same way he'd been offended on HER behalf. The amused tone in the Paladin's voice makes it clear he thinks Marcus is at least partially showboating. Maybe he even thinks that her Lord needs to be taken down a peg. By wording things the way he's had, he's made it all but impossible for Marcus to demand a fair one on one spar without looking like he's asking for mercy. It's an attempt at humbling the young half-orc upstart, clear as day.
If she could, she would go over there and slit the aged Paladin's throat for his insult. But she knows better than that. Besides… the Dark Lord can MORE than take care of himself.
"… Let's start with five. I assume we use practice weapons for this, but what about armor?"
The grizzled Paladin looks taken aback for a moment by Marcus' words, forced to blink and stare stupidly for a brief moment before he finally regains himself.
"Ahem… yes, wooden practice weapons… and armor. You wear your armor. No point in training without the weight, now is there?"
Marcus just nods, waiting quietly as everything is prepared. Erised watches as Bartholomew chooses five of the Paladins loitering around the fighting ring, and everyone is given their wooden weapons. Soon enough, it's all set up. Five Paladins in full plate armor, facing off against her Lord in his much lighter gear. Or so it would seem at first glance.
Erised might have been worried for him, but she knew better. She knew just how capable Marcus actually was. More than that, she knew that his armor was deceptively strong. It might have seemed lighter and less protective than the paladins' full plate, but the Holy Pope herself had been foolish enough to enchant it for Erised's lord. It was likely some of the most powerful gear in the entire Empire.
Still, she refused to leave while he might still be in danger. Her place was at his side, especially after how Erised had failed him both during the orc raid… and afterwards.
"Ready?"
After glancing to both sides and receiving six nods, the aged Paladin gives a nod of his own before slicing his hand sharply through the air.
"Begin!"
With that, the five Paladins that Marcus is up against move forward. Erised tenses… but she needn't be concerned. The Dark Lord doesn't hesitate, nor does he wait for them to come to him. All but leaping forward, he spins his wooden spear, the closest thing they have to a 'practice halberd' and proceeds to slam it into first one and then a second visored helmet. He does so hard enough that the wood splinters, the 'spear' becoming unusable as both Paladins he's caught out are sent reeling from the blows.
Not that her Lord lets the destruction of his practice weapon stop him. In fact, it's crystal clear he was counting on it to happen. He's already reaching for the wooden sword in one of the two reeling Paladin's hands, and he tears it free almost contemptuously, stealing his opponent's weapon. Then… he moves. Erised's eyes widen along with everyone else as Marcus turns into a whirlwind with that wooden practice sword. He's surprisingly good with it… almost like he exclusively trained with wood all his life or something.
Backed with the abilities and power of the Dark Lord Job, he uses the Paladins' own practice weapons against them. Marcus thrashes them so effectively that by the time the half-orc is done, they're all on the ground, groaning in pain… and not a single wooden implement has survived the contact. Every single one has been broken upon heavy plate armor by her Lord's immense strength.
Marcus flashes Bartholomew a pleased smirk and Erised lets out a slow shuddering breath before finally slipping away. Her Lord has more than proven his capacity against the Paladins. Even against ten at once, the disguised demon knows he would be able to handle himself. He doesn't… need her right now. Or at least, he doesn't need her to watch his back. He needs her in another way. He needs her to clean up after herself.
She'd fucked up. She'd royally fucked up. And not just by sleeping through the initial raid back in the Border Town either. No, that was a crime enough, and one that Erised would be beating herself up over for a long time to come. The Dark Lord was counting on her, and she was… she'd failed him in his time of need. She'd been ASLEEP while he was BLEEDING!
In hindsight, what she'd done afterwards had been where she'd truly made a mistake though. In the heat of the moment, she had had a chance to act appropriately, to act sensibly… and she hadn't. Oh, she'd thought she was being smart at the time. But no, in hindsight… she'd been an utter fool.
What else did you call sending the Dark General Roka-Ra a letter detailing Marcus' secret identity and background without his permission? When he found out… Erised knew he wouldn't be able to forgive her. Just as she knew that some time soon she would NEED to tell him. There was simply nothing for it. Her mistake had led to all of this.
Sending Roka-Ra that letter detailing Marcus' true parentage and his real Job as the Dark Lord had been an attempt at making the Dark General stand down. It was obvious, at least to Erised, that Marcus wasn't happy with the sudden orc attack. After over a month and a half of traveling at her Lord's side, of dealing with human bandits and what not, Erised had come to understand Marcus fairly well, or so she liked to think.
He was going to be a very interesting Dark Lord, if they could coax him into accepting the role. But that was just it. He had to be coaxed into it. He couldn't be forced. He certainly wasn't going to be browbeaten. No, they had to work on him slowly. And likely grant him several concessions. And yet, Erised had been confident that they could do it. Both that she could convince Marcus to take up the mantle of Dark Lord properly, and that they could then go on to conquer the Holy Empire in his name.
Things were shaping up so well before the orc raiders had attacked. Marcus had spent weeks hunting down human bandits, who had then turned out to be led by a human noble of all things. Meanwhile, he was still upset about the Church's enslavement of those with Evil Jobs. Angelina could only do so much, and for all that Erised had found herself softening to the perverted Priestess somewhat… she'd known that Angelina didn't truly represent the rest of her congregation. And privately, Erised believed her Lord knew that too deep down inside.
Yes, everything was set up perfectly for Marcus to realize that leading the orcs and other Forces of Darkness against the Holy Empire was the best possible choice. He could save the commoners of the Empire from those at the top who were abusing them! He could be the Big Damn Hero… by BEING the Dark Lord! It was all going to be perfect!
And then the orc attack happened. And suddenly, Marcus was more interested in stopping the orcs than he was in finding Roka-Ra to talk to her. Erised knew she needed to find a way to make them all stand down and FAST. She needed a way to defuse the situation. It was something her mother had mentioned to her once that ultimately made her send the letter. She'd said something about how the previous Dark Lord, Gral-Ra, had taken Roka-Ra in or something. How they were family, or practically family, or… or SOMETHING.
Erised didn't know the exact connection, but she figured they could lean on Marcus' true parentage to get Roka-Ra to back off and eventually come to their side. If Erised could spin the orc raiding party as just an isolated incident, then maybe shit could still be salvaged. That was what she'd told herself anyways. After all, she knew full well that she couldn't convince Marcus to fully turn on the Holy Empire by herself. But with her AND Roka-Ra, they would outnumber Angelina, and maybe then they could get shit done!
So imagine her horror when a week later, news of the Orc Warband had arrived in town. Under any other circumstances, Erised would have been thrilled. Like for instance, if she'd managed to get her Lord to Roka-Ra first and they decided to launch the Warband together. That would have been amazing! Instead, the Dark General was forming this Orc Warband in what Erised imagined was direct response to her letter. General Roka-Ra had not only not believed Erised's claims, but she'd also been so outraged that she'd started a war over them.
That was the real reason this was all happening. It wasn't because the orcs had found the Dark Lord like the half elf Princess thought. Erised knew that wasn't it. After all SHE was the one who had found the Dark Lord. Before anyone, even Marcus himself, had even known he was the Dark Lord, SHE had been there from the beginning. She'd been by his side from the start!
… Not that Erised expected that to save her from her Lord's wrath. As she slips across No Man's Land, the space between the two opposing camps, the disguised demon grimaces. When all of this was over, she would confess her crimes to Marcus and the Dark Lord would decide her punishment. If it was to be death, she would bow her head and expose her neck for the swing. If it was exile, she would accept his decree, though she did not know where she would go. Still, whatever he decided, Erised knew that she would deserve the punishment.
She had betrayed him. She had given information about him to the enemy. Erised recognized that now. In trying to stop Roka-Ra from going too far, she'd exposed Marcus' true nature in a letter of all things. What if someone else had intercepted her letter? What if the information had fallen into the hands of someone more willing to believe Erised's words than the enraged Dark General? Before, she would have said that would have been an acceptable outcome. But in hindsight, she knew better. She knew that what she'd told Roka-Ra should never have come from anyone's lips but Marcus'.
As the Orc Camp comes into view, Erised lets out a short sigh and ripples her glamor. She drops the guise of Eris the Beastkin Thief and becomes the smallest orc that has probably ever walked these lands. She can't make herself much bigger than she actually is in appearance, after all. There are limits to the abilities of the glamor.
Once she's done, she knows she looks more like an orc child than a full-grown orc. Not exactly the most inconspicuous appearance when she was trying to be subtle. But that was alright. That was where one of her Assassin Abilities came into play. The ability was called Without a Trace and it was something that Erised tended to use quite often, as a matter of fact. Along with her glamor, it made her all but unnoticeable. People would still be able to see her, but they would find their attention drifting off of her.
It wasn't very good by itself, however. Because if she looked like herself, like a full-blown demon, it wouldn't matter that people's attention drifted away from her. It would snap right back to her so long as she so clearly didn't belong. However, that was where the glamor came into play. As Eris the Beastkin Thief, Without a Trace made people from the Church and the Holy Empire ignore her almost entirely.
After all, she was just a Thief, controlled by the Church with her shackles and collar. She was nothing to them, literally less than a person. She was a slave, to be ignored and treated like an empty space.
On the other hand, if Eris the Beastkin Thief had tried to enter the Orc Camp, she might have been caught out immediately. A Beastkin wearing Church-issued shackles and a collar? Yes, that would certainly stand out to the orcs. On the other hand, as odd as an orc child in a War Camp might be… in the end, she was just another orc. And thus Without a Trace let her slip right by the guards at the entrance of the camp and allowed her free access to the camp itself.
For a brief moment once she's inside, Erised's eyes linger on the largest tent in the camp, situated atop a hill. There, she knows she'll find General Roka-Ra. She's tempted, ever so slightly, to go up there and have words with the orcish woman right then and there. Or maybe not words. Maybe she should just assassinate Roka-Ra and cut the head off of this damn snake.
Unfortunately, Erised knew she couldn't do that for a number of reasons. One, killing Roka-Ra wouldn't disband the Orc Warband. Not at this point. Things were already in motion. Two, killing Roka-Ra would be easier said than done. Demon Assassin though she might be, Erised wasn't confident of her chances of slaying a Dark General. Even if Roka-Ra was supposed to be the weakest of them, she was still capable enough that Marcus' mother had promoted her in the first place.
And that was reason three. Marcus. It all came back to her Lord. Not only was there still some sort of familial relation between the Dark Lord and Dark General that Erised loathed potentially cutting short… but also she'd made a promise to Marcus. She'd told him he could count on her and that she would even the odds.
… Erised refused to risk her chance at sabotaging the orc camp on an ill-advised assassination against General Roka-Ra. The Orc Dark General would get hers soon enough. If not at the end of Erised's daggers, than perhaps at the end of Marcus' halberd. Regardless, it was not for Erised to decide that sort of thing on her Lord's behalf.
She'd already done so, to all of their detriment. She'd made so many mistakes recently. She'd fucked everything up. But she would pay for her betrayal of her Lord after they dealt with the current threat. For now… she would do everything in her power to make sure Marcus didn't die in the upcoming battle. The Princess and the Paladins… Erised couldn't have cared less about all of them. But for her Lord, she would do everything in her power to do exactly as she'd said she would and even the odds.
Standing there in the middle of the Orc Camp, all but invisible to the massive green-skinned creatures passing her by, Erised's eyes flash and she lets a slow smirk build across her currently tusked face. She sees… so many opportunities around her.
Time to get to work.
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A/N: The truth comes out. Erised was very dumb and got extremely lucky that the only one who read her letter was someone who immediately didn't believe it and then ripped it to shreds.
On the one hand, Erised has had a tough life and is no older than Marcus really. On the other, she DID accidentally start a war. Hmm, will Marcus forgive her when the truth comes out? What do you guys think?
As always, hope people enjoy!
Chapter 26 will come out on Wednesday like usual, or you can read six chapters ahead right now over on the P atreon!