Chapter 6 #2
Harald smirked. “But beggars can’t be choosers.
You’re no fool. You’ve seen the pattern.
The demons take risks, and maybe they lose some hands, but overall, they’re winning.
Five Thrones to your side’s two. And the very fact that I’m still standing here, mouthing off to you, betrays your intent.
You do intend to use me. You’re just trying to figure out how much of a leash you need, how many minders, maybe, how you can ensure my destruction if I bite the hand that feeds me. Isn’t that so?”
It is amusing. Alabenthos made a show of sitting back and relaxing.
It has been decades since anyone has spoken to me thus that was not already clapped in chains.
It is… refreshing. You burn bright, Harald Darrowdelve, despite your propensity for darkness.
And you are no fool. I have decided that I must use you.
Your very potential for destruction is what demands I seek to turn you against my foes.
If I can but find a way to direct you, control you, then you shall in time prove a mighty asset indeed.
But the question lies in how pliable you are liable to remain once you grow in power.
Even now you are barely under my control.
“Then treat me fairly,” snapped Harald, “show me some respect. If I am to be your ally, then afford me the same goodwill you would any other. Wall me in, threaten me with the lash, and you all but guarantee that I’ll bite.
Not because I’m some corrupt monster, but because any faithful servant or ally would do so if they were treated so poorly. ”
Alabenthos rippled his fingers slowly on the throne’s armrest. You are… right. My suspicion does not serve our cause, no matter how well-founded it may be. I must commit. If I am to enlist your aid, then I must treat you with the same respect I show to any other faithful follower.
Harald hadn’t expected so ready an admission. He gave a sharp, disgruntled nod of his head, and stepped back from the ziggurat.
But. I shall not pretend you are an angel-kin. That you serve my cause with the same selfless dedication as one of my Emanations. You are a demon-kin, and despite your contempt, I am no fool.
These last words were spoken with hollow power that caused Harald to shiver.
You say that if you are afforded the same respect and goodwill as I show any other of my followers, then you shall be stout-hearted and loyal.
“That’s right.”
And that I have nothing to fear: you will not betray me as long as you’re treated fairly, for your hatred of Vorakhar and his kind is your governing passion.
Harald felt like he was walking into a trap, but he couldn’t see its jaws. “Yes.”
And that you would prefer death before turning to the dark and willingly bending knee to Vorakhar?
Harald studied the lord angel above him. “I’ll never serve that bastard.”
Then, if such are your own principles, there can be no reason to refuse a gift from me that will ensure your destruction before you can indeed turn to the dark.
“Ha,” said Harald, his amusement bitter. “So that’s what you’ve been driving at. Insurance.”
Alabenthos said nothing.
“What, the Mote of Humility is no longer enough?”
Samantha Tuppins is a worthy soul, but she is irresolute when it comes to you.
Harald snorted. “You don’t trust her to cut me down.”
Alabenthos remained quiet.
“So, what’s it to be? An Endowment that will slay me if I turn against your interests? Some sort of angelic curse?”
No. There is an expression amongst your kind, is there not? To slay a demon with two stones?
“Ah—” Harald hesitated, momentarily wrong-footed. “No?”
Alabenthos’ mien turned frosty once more.
No matter. Your problem presents a solution to another matter I’ve been charged with.
Our kind is not capable of evil, but we are capable of failure.
When the failure is of sufficient magnitude, we are punished.
Even the greatest of our kind is not exempt from this rough justice.
One such being has been stripped of his majesty, greatest powers, and authority.
He has been placed in my care, and I have been seeking a purpose for him. You shall be it.
“Wait. An angel? You’re going to set one over me? Like—what? A gaoler?”
Think of him rather as your conscience made manifest. He shall observe and judge the nature of your actions. Should he deem you to be straying from the path of righteousness, he shall destroy you.
Harald opened his mouth to protest, but too many words came to him at once. So instead he grimaced, raised a finger, and tried to order his thoughts. “I’m to put my life in the hands of your greatest failure?”
Alabenthos chuckled, his huge, armored shoulders rising and falling by a fraction of an inch.
By our standards, yes. But he was once a seraph, and even in his Fallen state, far beyond your comprehension of morality and absolute goodness.
In this I am willing to place my trust completely in his judgment.
Harald bit back his immediate response once more and considered. “He’ll travel with us?”
Of course. How else will he monitor your progress?
“And he’ll be powerful enough to destroy me?”
He will report back to me before you come close to exceeding his capacity to slay you.
“I see. So… does that mean he’ll help? Fight alongside us?”
Exeros has grown… temperamental since his demotion. Alabenthos was clearly picking his words carefully. I shall only bind him to monitor your status. What he does beyond that shall be his remit.
“Great. So, he won’t help.”
Alabenthos said nothing.
“But if I accept his… monitoring me, then you’ll stop treating me like a cataclysm waiting to happen?”
Your choice is Exeros or death. But yes. While under his regard, I shall not fret as to your allegiance.
Harald sucked on his teeth as he turned away to stare over the emerald expanse of the lake. An angelic monitor. The very thought rankled, and he could imagine Vic immediately protesting. Actually—
“Wait. Will he remain literally by my side during every hour of every day? As in—”
I understand your concern. And no. He need not maintain a direct line of sight. You shall be afforded some basic privacy at times, when he deems it appropriate.
“When he deems it appropriate.” Harald shook his head in anticipatory disgust. “But all right. An extra companion. And you’re making it sound like I don’t actually have a choice in the matter.
You do.
“Not a real choice, not if I want to stay alive.”
That is your decision.
Harald decided to stop arguing. “Then fine. Bring on Exeros.”
Alabenthos snapped his fingers, the sound distinctly metallic, and a mote of tarnished ivory light appeared in the air beside his throne. It glimmered, akin to a light reflected on water, and then flew down to hover beside Harald, only to encircle him once rapidly and then move over to the side.
“A mote of light,” said Harald, watching it go. “That could be useful. Can he glow brighter…?”