Siurad and Yona found themselves back in Vex's private dining room. Their second night had been much more comfortable than the first, the feeling that they actually belonged here beginning to take root. But the morning had not been without its complications.
“I trust your stay was appropriate last night?” Vex asked as he leaned back in his chair, one long, bony finger resting lightly against his temple. “No suspicions of kidnapping this morning?”
“Heh,” Siurad laughed nervously. “You heard about that, huh?”
“I definitely heard about that one, as well as the various other atrocities you committed throughout the compound.”
“Various?” Yona bristled. “I think you're giving us one too many there, Vexy.”
“Vexy. How cute.” Vex coughed, a dry, rattling sound. “Unauthorized disturbance of working personnel,” he read, looking down at his notes. “Times three.”
“Three seems a bit much,” Yona sighed. "We are being set up.”
“Assaulting working personnel… twice.”
Siurad looked up at the ceiling.
“You destroyed a pot of carrots.”
“That's different! Believe me, I did you a favor.”
’...THAT WAS ACCEPTABLE.’
“You see? Even Obi agrees.”
“Kivuli would never.”
“You're just gonna have to take my word for it. Isn't that right, Obi?”
“Obi?” Siurad echoed as a long moment passed awaiting a response.
‘...I AM ATTEMPTING TO RESONATE WITH VEX.’
Siurad smiled. “He's going to resonate with you. He did it to Yona and it sucks. Looks painful and she bled. I'm assuming you don't bleed. Do you ooze? Or spurt or something?”
‘...HEIR!’
“Anyway, you're in for an uncomfortable experience. Maybe you should think about your snooty, accusatory tone the next time you accuse the Heir.”
Vex smiled. A very large, terrifyingly wide smile. He glided up from his chair, stepped over to Siurad, and wrapped his skeletal arms around the massive bouncer in a tight hug.
“Thank you so much for this.”
As quickly as he had gotten up, Vex returned to his seat and sat back down.
‘...IT IS COMPLETE.’
“I have not heard this voice in millennia,” Vex whispered, the green flames in his eyes flickering with reverence. “There are no words to express my gratitude. However, you two have been trouble. The priest has utility, which is why he has been spared this meeting. But you, Siurad... you take on the mantle of Xara. And you are failing.”
Siurad frowned, deeply unsettled.
“That didn't hurt? Like, at all?”
“Yeah, why couldn't I get that treatment?” Yona asked, crossing her arms.
“And all these comparisons,” Siurad continued, waving a heavy hand in frustration. “I'm not as smart as the snail, and I'm not Xara. Congratulations, you get the obvious award. I'm not trying to be her.”
“That much is obvious. However, the office does not consider your feelings relevant,” Vex replied coldly. “Kivuli has entrusted you with a legacy, one which you are now bound to uphold.”
“And if I can't?”
Vex laughed, a dry, rattling sound. “Can't is not in the Authority's vocabulary.”
“Look,” Yona said, stepping forward and placing herself between the lich and the bouncer. “He's new to this. We all are. Constantly comparing him to your old friends isn't helpful. You're just putting expectations on someone who doesn't even know what those expectations are yet. So let's slow it down.”
She leaned in, narrowing her eyes at Vex.
“Tell us who Xara actually was, minus the jewelry's idealizations.”
“You want me to remove my biases,” Vex said. “To what end? Are you hoping the truth will lower the standard?”
He leaned back in his wooden chair.
“Xara was many things. Brilliant. Vindictive. Generous. Possessive. At the end of it all, she was the heart of the Authority. She once declared she would make an enemy of the world itself if that was what protecting her people required, and I assure you, she meant it.”
Vex waved one thin hand dismissively.
“She fed thousands. Protected nations. Subjugated others. Killed more people than either of you could comfortably contemplate. Some days she did all four before dinner.”
Siurad frowned. “But none of that matters?”
“How does none of that matter?” Yona interjected.
“Because you are not Xara.” Vex's emerald eyes settled heavily on Siurad. “You do not possess her experience. You do not possess her judgment. You certainly do not possess her ability. Attempting to turn you into an imitation of her would be insulting to both of you.”
Siurad's expression hardened. “Then what exactly do you want from me?”
“The finest version of Siurad that can possibly exist.” Vex smiled. “And I fully intend to manufacture him.”
“That didn't answer the question. At all.”
Then, a grin crept onto Vex's gaunt face. Slowly at first, before breaking into genuine, rattling laughter.
“Yes. Yes, I see it now.” He glanced toward the ring on Siurad's heavy hand. “I see what you saw, Kivuli.”
Yona looked between the lich and the bouncer's fist.
“Are you two having some kind of secret conversation?”
“No secret conversation,” Vex said, his amusement lingering. “I merely understand his selection somewhat better.”
“Wonderful. Now answer the question,” Siurad pressed.
Vex sighed dramatically. “You are remarkably persistent.”
“It's one of my better qualities.”
“Very well. You want Xara without the legend?” Vex leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “She was exhausting.”
“In what way?” Siurad asked, leaning forward as well.
“In all ways. She was loud and unrefined. If you asked Lysander, she had zero respect for established diplomatic policy.” Vex smiled again. “She would sooner take a nap than entertain foreign politicians. And she was deathly afraid of butterflies. Working with someone who could kill gods had its drawbacks.”
“Was she bossy?” Yona asked.
“My dear girl, Xara had no need to be bossy.”
“Hard to imagine someone with that much power wasn't a bit bossy.”
“Then you do not know Xara. She was lazy, in a way.”
‘...SHE MOVED AT HER OWN PACE. UNLESS IT WAS FOR TORIAN.’
“The Weaver?” Siurad asked aloud.
Vex raised an eyebrow. “You have told them of Torian?”
‘...THEY KNOW VERY LITTLE.’
“Yes, the Weaver,” Vex confirmed. “Terrible scones, a heart made of... whatever you consider pleasant these days. And as for her being bossy, you misunderstand the distinction. Bossy people demand obedience because they are uncertain they possess it. Xara never wondered.”
Vex tapped one long, skeletal finger against the table, the sound echoing sharply in the quiet room.
“If she told Aman to hold a gate, he held it. If she told Vulneir to evacuate a village, the village was empty before sunset. If she told me to prepare the dead, I did not waste either of our time asking whether she was certain.”
“Was she always certain?” Siurad asked.
“Always. She was not always right, however. And when she was wrong, she handled the consequences. The world called her a tyrant; we just called her the General.”
‘...SHE WOULD NOT ASK OTHERS TO DO WHAT SHE WOULD NOT.’
“Unless it was reading,” Vex added dryly.
‘...TRUE.’
“So you want us to rebuild?” Yona jumped in, crossing her arms. “You said you want me to handle personnel. What does that even mean?”
“You have been here forty-eight hours and have already infiltrated my compound, freed a sacrificial asset, and blackmailed a kitchen worker for additional rations,” Vex listed smoothly. “You are highly intelligent. Just a little feral around the edges.”
Yona smirked, looking entirely unrepentant.
“You said you have a plan,” Siurad prompted. “Like training?”
“We will never rebuild the Authority without restoring certain processes that made it tick,” Vex replied, his tone shifting to something much sharper and far more commanding. “Without the Heart and the Mind, we are already behind the curve. Aman is not Xara, and Archibald is certainly not Lysander, he would be insufferable if anyone suggested otherwise, but between them they can compensate for a considerable portion of the deficit.”. With Kivuli returned, we must now reconvene the high council.”
“Reconvene the council? Sounds like you all sat around in a dark room plotting the end of the world.”
“Partially true.”
“Which part?”
’...TOO MANY IRRELEVANT QUESTIONS.’
“Agreed,” Vex said smoothly. “The point, Siurad, is that we must reunite all who remain.”
“For an empire that's been dead for over three thousand years?”
“Temporarily inactive. There is a distinction.”
“Of course,” Siurad sighed. “So, what's next?”
“First, I want to guarantee that you do not die immediately. That means training with Steve and Julia for both of you. We must assess where you currently stand.”
“What about the priest?” Yona asked.
“I would assume you do not intend to have him engage in dangerous activity. He is better off left with me here at the compound. Steve will accompany you and Siurad on your journey to retrieve Aman and Archibald.”
“Cool plan, but I have kids in Brookshire,” Siurad stated flatly.
Vex blinked, genuinely confused.
“Brookshire's in Vildris,” Yona clarified.
“Yeah, Vildris,” Siurad confirmed. “They're orphans. I kind of made them part of the Authority to calm them down. We left them with a priest, but I wouldn't feel right not being able to go back and let them know what's going on. And there's a man in Silverspire... Valerius. He has to be corrected for what he has done.”
The room fell quiet for a brief moment.
Vex slowly leaned back in his chair, a look of profound amusement crossing his gaunt features.
”"Corrected, you say? There is a detachment of Authority citizens in another kingdom, unguarded by Authority forces, and you are just now informing me?"
"I just met you!" Siurad protested. "And I literally just felt safe here yesterday."
"How safe are they?"
Siurad looked down at the table, his voice dropping to a barely audible whisper. "I don't know."
"This alters the plans. You and Steve will retrieve these Authority citizens immediately."
Siurad stared around the dining room, his gaze lingering on the cold, windowless stone walls. "I'm not really sure if this is the best place for children, Vex. They are pretty young. And I have a priest watching them."
Vex followed his gaze to the stone walls, and a grimace twisted his gaunt features.
"You speak of aesthetics when children of the future are in possible peril?"
"Possible is the keyword there, Vexy," Yona butted in. "Besides, Siurad terrified him into compliance, and we have fully funded them for at least a couple of years."
"You speak of coercion as though it were permanent," Vex retorted sharply. "You frightened one priest, left him money, and departed. You possess neither the reach nor the infrastructure to enforce that arrangement, yet you left children dependent upon it."
“What the hell was I supposed to do?” Siurad asked, throwing his hands up. “Carry fifteen kids through god-knows-what while everything we encounter tries to kill us?”
“Once they become Authority, you do what must be done. You made them Authority, did you not?”
“I didn't exactly fill out paperwork.”
“Did you tell them they belonged to the Authority?”
“Yeah.”
“Did they believe you?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you intend to protect them?”
“Obviously.”
“Then cease pretending the absence of paperwork absolves you,” Vex said coldly.
“Look, I hear you, I really do. But just two days ago, this was a cult compound that sacrificed people.”
Vex didn't blink. “Fair criticism.”
“We set them up in a small town. It specializes in wool, for fuck's sake! They are low-key in a Temple of Ceuci. Let's get this place up to par first. I don't want them traumatized any more than they already have been.”
Vex looked at him for a long moment, then shifted his gaze toward the ring. “Kivuli?”
‘...THE HEIR HAS MADE THEM AUTHORITY. THEY ARE NOT SAFE BY OUR STANDARDS. HOWEVER, HIS OBJECTIONS ARE REASONABLE. TWO WEEKS IS A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT OF TIME.’
Vex stared at Siurad, then his cold gaze swept to Yona.
“You heard the haunted wedding ring,” Yona said, crossing her arms.
’...BIPEDAL SQUIRREL.’
She waved a hand dismissively at the ring, then leveled a hard glare at Vex.
“Vexy, since we have been talking, you have assigned all three of us roles repeatedly. I don't know how you used to do it, but these things require a conversation. We are not your lackeys.”
Vex's smile disappeared.
For several seconds, he said absolutely nothing.
“That,” he finally said, “is a fair correction.”
Yona blinked. “Really?”
“Do not look so surprised. I am capable of recognizing when I have overstepped.”
Siurad raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”
“Occasionally.” Vex paused for a brief moment before continuing. “Very well. Yona, do you want responsibility for personnel and resources?”
“I want to know what the job is first.”
“Personnel management. Resource distribution. Internal disputes. Acquisition.”
“Acquisition?” Yona echoed.
“The Authority will undoubtedly begin to expand. Someone must be responsible for procuring funds, land, and anything else the Authority deems necessary.”
Yona grinned. “Sounds like something I would be able to do.”
Then, Vex shifted his gaze toward Siurad. “And you?”
“What exactly are you asking me to agree to?”
“At first, your determination to make me state every obvious implication aloud was endearing. It is rapidly becoming exhausting.”
“Will I become a new Xara? No, I will not.”
“I have already explained that no one asked you to.”
Siurad let out a heavy sigh, running a hand over his face. “I'm saying, if these people are going to look at me like I'm responsible for them... then yeah. I'm responsible.”
Vex smiled.
“Close enough. Now then, accompany me to the lower levels. Bring your gear.”