Chapter 7 A New World. #3
“Not as good as fresh, is it?” he said, and sipped his glass of wine.
“It’s fine. What do you want to talk to me about? Who wants to keep me under lock and key? Why am I here?” I asked, the questions leaving me quickly.
“One at a time,” he said with a grin, placing his glass on a coaster on the coffee table.
I took a few large gulps from the can, finishing the drink. I hadn’t realised how thirsty I was.
“Another?” he asked, standing from his chair.
I nodded. And he walked back to the fridge and handed me another can before sitting again.
“Espresso is normally consumed in small sips,” he commented.
“Normally, I don’t wake up, not knowing where I am or how long I’ve been unconscious for,” I replied.
He smiled and retook his glass, lifting it towards me.
“Five days,” he said.
“Five days what?” I asked.
“You were picked up from House Ardens five days ago. You’ve been under a mixture of heavy sedatives and Syngeneia magic since then to keep you asleep and allow your accelerated healing to begin, which is quite impressive for a non-pureblood like you.
You were in a dire state, I would say. But look at you now, all it took was some forced rest, and you're nearly as good as new,” Arvid said, looking pointedly at my brace boot. “Nearly,” he reiterated.
I had been separated from Selene for five days.
“What do you know of Selene?” I asked. “Is she okay?”
Five days were surely long enough that if anything had happened to her, the news would have reached the whole kingdom by now.
“Word is that she was a victim of venom poisoning and is currently recovering in the Borealis Castle at her father’s command,” he told me.
Venom poisoning could be fatal. How did anyone get close enough to her to bite?
It had to be another pureblood.
“Who?” I asked. Arvid looked at me, confused. “Who bit her?” I clarified.
Arvid laughed.
“I hear it wasn’t a bite, but a dagger laced with venom,” he answered. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. Selene is a character who could use being pushed down a few steps. It will be good for her ego to learn that she is as mortal as the rest of us.”
“What do you want from me, Arvid?” I asked. “I’m not willing to play games with you.”
“I wanted to let you know that you have options,” he said cryptically.
“All I want is to go home,” I told him.
“And where is home, Percy, to you?” he asked.
Selene was home. Wherever she was, that was where I needed to be. I could feel the emptiness within me, the place that she was meant to fill.
“I understand, you’re a loyal slave, and you wish to return to your mistress,” he continued when I didn’t respond. “I can see from the way you have perked up that this is exactly what you desire.”
“I’m not a slave,” I corrected.
“Do you prefer blood whore, or pet?” He laughed.
I looked away from him.
“I belong to her, yes, but that doesn’t make me less than. It’s the opposite,” I told him, frustratedly.
Everyone assumed I was lower than Selene, that my position diminished me.
All they focused on was that I gave my blood to her, that I wore her mark, that I deferred to her.
They didn’t see how she cared for me, how she encouraged me to pursue my talents in healing, how she ensured I always had access to fresh fruit, that I was warm and safe, that she cherished our time together, that she listened to me intently.
They saw my submission but ignored Selene’s devotion.
“Oh, I agree. Selene has made you a very valuable bargaining chip,” he told me.
“What do you want from me, Arvid?” I asked again.
“You are an integral part of the coming battles for The New Foundation and their witching branch. If rumours are to be believed, and I know that they can be, you are a very powerful young witch, Percy,” he said and paused to drink his wine.
I didn’t reply. I knew he was speaking of my new ability. I wouldn’t confirm anything for him. My abilities would never be used for war. And never against Selene.
“I have my suspicions regarding what the leadership of The New Foundation have planned, but so far nothing has been confirmed,” he explained further.
“What does this have to do with me?” I asked.
“You don’t want to be here, Percy. You want to return to Selene. I can potentially help you with that when the time is right. But I need something from you.” He leaned forward in his chair.
“Who are you around here, Arvid? Where am I? I saw a class schedule. Is this an academy?” I questioned.
“This is my home. A purpose-built, military training facility in the Halvorsen countryside. I am the host and greatest ally and lobbyist to The New Foundation’s cause,” he told me.
“And yet here you are, offering to help me escape when you suspect that I am important to The New Foundation in some way? Some ally you are,” I challenged and took a large drink from my can.
“Our goals align. A current win-win. On the surface. Yet recently, I’ve become aware that my new friends might not be being honest with me,” he told me.
“What a shock,” I deadpanned.
“Quite,” he agreed, missing the sarcasm entirely. “As it stands, my concern is that they have a primary concealed agenda. One which would interfere with my own and which I believe you are at the centre of.”
“What is your goal, Arvid? And what do you want with me?” I asked for what felt like the thousandth time.
“My goal is to inherit House Halvorsen, for the Halvorsen House and name to rise in power and dominance. I want to rule the southern Houses,” he announced.
“There are many ways in which this could happen, Percy. But secession of the southern Houses, though this, my least favourite route, is currently the most viable. For that to happen, there needs to be a south left standing, a kingdom worth ruling.”
He sat back in his armchair and finished his glass of wine in one large gulp.
“You said the southern Houses secession is your least favourite route. What’s your favourite?” I asked, leaning forward.
“I’d like the title Lord Paramount of the South,” he looked at me slyly as he played with the glass absentmindedly in his hands, “That would mean I have power over the lesser Lords of the southern Houses. I want everything to stay relatively the same.”
“You said, before, when I was listening, that you don’t hide your ambitions, but I think you do.
Lord Paramount of the South doesn’t sound like something The New Foundation would agree to.
” I told him. He was slimy in a scary sort of way, the type to say one thing convincingly and mean another entirely.
He laughed loudly.
“You caught me. Yes, The New Foundation wouldn’t like that at all.
They want to reform the House system. They understand the need for political structure, for law and order, and each House has too much uniqueness in terms of culture and history to willingly become one amalgamated mass.
No, just look at what chaos your mistress caused by destroying the personhood of one small northern House.
The New Foundation can’t entirely destroy the foundations of our society, but they can tweak and change them to their liking.
Maybe you’re wondering just how aligning myself with The New Foundation benefits me.
Hmm?” he asked, but didn’t wait for an answer, a smug grin on his face as I sat forward, unable to hide my interest.
“I want to survive. The Kingdom is too unsteady, King Nyx,” he paused to laugh, “has grown too weak. A shell of the man he once was. Power is up for the taking, and there will be those who try to take it. I’m not na?ve, I am not Icarus.
I do not want absolute power; such a thing does not exist. But I can and will ensure the survival of my House, my name, my line, my people. ”
“You think your cause is noble,” I stated.
“Is survival not noble?” he questioned.
“If it comes at the cost of everyone around you, I don’t think so,” I replied.
He hummed.
“I still don’t understand how aligning yourself and helping The New Foundation helps you,” I told him, feeling like I was missing something.
“I’m hedging my position. Someone will win. Regardless, so will I,” he explained.
I understood then. I was a pawn to him.
“The New Foundation have promised you, House Halvorsen,” I said, and he nodded, “And if they fail, if King Nyx defeats them, I’m what you will use to bargain with, you’ll switch sides.”
“Something like that. My side will be decided upon who wins.”
“Creon was left with nothing,” I warned him.
“Creon had a weak and useless son and wife,” he replied. “There are no Gods to anger.”
I wasn’t sure if angering Selene wasn’t as dangerous as angering the Gods.
“Do you know the history of King Nyx?” he asked, and it felt like he was changing the subject as he laughed again.
“Why do you keep laughing when you speak of the king?” I asked.
“Do you know how he gained his name?” Arvid asked instead of answering.
“From his parents?” I answered.
“Oh, you really were raised outside the loop, weren’t you?” he mocked me.
I didn’t respond. Being mocked for my background by nobles and others had become almost common. It was a sign of their own ignorance ─ not mine.
“King Nyx was nameless for the first seventeen years of his life,” he told me.
“Nameless?” I asked. “What did people call him?”
Arvid hummed and picked up the glass of wine he had poured for me and took a drink.
“I suspect His Royal Highness Prince of Borealis. It was before my time. The important question is how he gained the name Nyx, why name the future King after a Goddess?”
“Why not give him a name at birth?” I countered. That seemed like a far greater question to me.