"Is that all?"
The veiled woman's voice was flat, a thin sheet of ice across the shadowed room.
The man's jaw tightened. He met her gaze, his eyes flickering, a brief, almost imperceptible tremor in his hand as he pushed a stray paper into the neat pile.
"Everything he asked for..."
He said, voice controlled, but a muscle jumped in his jaw. The papers on the table seemed to mock him; stark white against the dark wood..
A faint sigh escaped the woman. Her gloved fingers brushed the edge of the document, the movement hesitant, almost reluctant.
"You've delivered enough to ruin lives," she said, her voice dropping, a subtle shift in her posture betraying a deep weariness. "And you sit there as if it's just another day?"
He leaned back, and the chair groaned its objections to his weight. Faint, almost imperceptible smile on his lips but his eyes dark pools filled with turmoil, shadowed over.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked, his voice low, a tremor running through it.
"Do you think I wanted this?"
His knuckles whitened as he gripped the arms of his chair.
"I'm trapped, bound by chains that I can't break!"
The woman's breath hitched. Her gloved hands tightened, the knuckles showing white against the dark fabric.
"You're adding links to those chains," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
His eyes blazed. He slammed his fist on the table, the sound sharp and violent, scattering papers like startled birds. His shoulders shook with barely controlled rage.
"There's no escape... If I stop, I become the food. And those I care about… they're next." He reached up to pull his hand through his hair, the motions jerky and beyond his control. "Nobody gives a damn about what I pay!
The woman recoiled slightly, her hand instinctively going to her throat. Her voice, though steady, held a tremor of unease.
"You're feeding a monster."
****
Ren shifted nonchalantly in his seat, the bright light of the single lantern on the table casting sharp shadows across his face.
Across from him sat a man with round eyeglasses perched precariously on his nose, his posture languid, one leg casually crossed over the other. The air in the room was thick with a strange, almost playful tension.
The man adjusted his glasses, a lazy smile curving his lips as he looked Ren over.
"So, I'm going to keep this short since the princess wants to see you," he said, his tone light and conversational. "Where did you get your Leizage?"
Ren tilted his head slightly to one side, then he breathed a sigh of relief.
"It was a gift from the Overseers. A coming-of-age thing, really. Everyone gets an egg. And it just happens that I got Zardlite. no, sorry, an Leizage egg."
The man with the round eyeglasses chuckled softly, the sound oddly at odds with the weight of the question he'd just asked. He leaned forward slightly, his glasses catching the light as his smile lingered.
"The Overseers. Sounds romantic. I imagine they didn't point out the small matter that it was a Leizage, did they?"
"Yes. What else would you have me say?"
He shifted his glasses once again. The teasing light in his eyes sharpened into focus.
"Nothing. But the species of Leizage went extinct. Five years ago. Surely you understand the importance of that. Now, tell me. How did your Overseers manage to have one in hand?"
Ren furrowed his brow, deep furrows forming on his forehead. He felt the man's gaze weighing down upon him, but he had nothing good to say.
"I have no idea. Never bothered to ask where they got it. Maybe they had it stashed away for ages, maybe they didn't even know what it was. Doesn't really concern me."
The man studied Ren carefully, as if weighing the truth of his words. He leaned back slightly, crossing his arms.
"Interesting. And your town… I assume it had an academy, right? A place where tamers like you trained?"
Ren's heart dropped, his jaw locking. The memories of the academy, the vibrancy of young tamers training for their futures—all felt like a distant dream now. He looked down, his fists clenched on the table.
"There was," Ren admitted, his voice low. "But there's nothing to find there now. It's gone… destroyed."
For a moment, the man's easygoing demeanor faltered, and his smile thinned.
"Destroyed? How?" he asked, and now his tone carried just a faint edge of curiosity.
Ren exhaled sharply, frustration beginning to surface.
"How do you think? Bandits, warlords, a greedy noble who wanted the land, I don't know. One day it was thriving, the next it was ash and rubble."
But the man never got a chance to speak because the door creaked open, and inside stood a guard, his polished chestplate flashing, his figure long as it stretched across the floor of the room.
"It's time," said the guard, in his gruff but formal tones. "The princess waits for him in her chambers."
The man with round glasses rose smoothly, his relaxed attitude slipping back into the easygoing mask.
"Well, seems our little chat's over.
Ren stared at him as the man strode out, the door clicking shut behind him. The guard motioned to Ren to follow, his face unyielding.
Ren sat for a moment longer, hesitating, before getting up off the chair. His mind swirled in confusion-what was this about him coming to see the princess? What did that man who wore glasses knows?
He stepped out into the dimly lit corridor, his heart heavy with unease. The guard's boots echoed against the stone floor as they walked, the silence between them stretching thin.
Approaching a large, ornate door, the guard stopped and turned to Ren.
"Be careful with your words," he said gruffly. "The princess doesn't tolerate insolence.
Ren nodded curtly, swallowing the hard gob in his throat. The door opened wide, and a wave of golden light illuminated a princess's chamber.