BPL2 - Chapter 6

Dalyn gestured with exaggerated politeness to the table. “Are you ready to sit and act like an adult now?”

Lylan plopped down on the bench, crossing her arms.

“Very regal of you,” he said, coming to sit across from her.

“Get to it, stink brain.” But Lylan unfolded her arms and straightened her back. When he was right, he was right—there was no need to act like a baby. “First, explain how you conned your way in here and made these guys believe you were a king. What’s gonna happen now that you’ve broken cover?”

“It’s not a con,” said Dalyn, shrugging. “These people know exactly who I am. I just wear the ring to match the customs here. It’s a Cultivator country, and everyone is weird about names.”

“Cultivators don’t reveal their true names,” said Lylan, thinking of Sift. “They’re called after what they do.”

“Exactly. I rule the province of Norwood, so that’s my name.” Dalyn slipped the copper ring back onto his little finger. “This makes it easier.”

Lylan raised an eyebrow. “Is hiding your Ascendancy also a local custom?”

“Well now, that’s just good business sense.” He grinned. “Privateering is all about image. When I’m out raiding, the marks don’t give me half as much trouble if my profile matches the part.”

“Privateering.” Lylan laughed in disbelief. “You know I’m going to have to tell Ky where you’ve been. She’s going to come down here personally and string you up by the ears.”

Dalyn waved off her concern. “She knows—Or she will. I just sent in a report on everything I’ve learned about this area and its neighbors. There’s some good stuff in there about the desert settlements west of here. Should be enough to earn her forgiveness for my little lapse.”

“Lapse.” Lylan blinked. “You’re deluded.”

“Ky loves me. It’ll be fine.”

Idiot. The worst part was, he probably wasn’t wrong. Oh, Ky would lay into him all right, but she’d probably only give him a slap on the wrist. He was too valuable an operative to be mad at for long.

“So,” said Lylan. “How’d you convince these people to go along with your con?”

“I’m telling you, it’s not a con,” said Dalyn. “You should have seen their faces when I strolled into town and introduced myself. You’d think the heavens had opened.”

“They recognized the name Keel.”

He nodded. “I mean, they did some checking of course. Brought in Cultivators who can detect deception. Compared my ugly mug to some old portraits, poured over genealogy scrolls, stuff like that. But yeah, they accepted me right away.”

“Why in the world would they do that?”

“Mostly, I think it’s that they wanted it to be true.” Dalyn had grown serious. “They’re in trouble, Lyl. My appearance was like an answer to prayer.”

“And so they made you a king? Just like that?”

“No,” said Dalyn. “I was already a king. Or the heir, anyway. You get the big chair because you’re a girl, but Norwood is passed down through the males of the Ke’el line. It’s only fair I get something, too.”

Lylan rolled her eyes. “What did you mean about these people being in trouble?”

“They’ve been in violation of the treaty with Epesia for a long time now, and the seas have grown dangerous. The hydras are impatient for a new queen of Ithakros. It’s messing with more than the underkings’ smuggling business, they’re losing shipments of food and supplies to the islands, too.”

“Epesia,” said Lylan. “Why do sea monsters care whether Ithakros has a queen?”

Dalyn shook his head. “If the kings know, they won’t tell me. I guess it’s a state secret that only you get to learn.”

Lylan drummed her fingers on the table. She loved mysteries generally, but right now she was drowning in them. “What can you tell me about the hydra that’s trying to possess me?”

“I can tell you that you shouldn’t let it.” Dalyn searched her face. “When I first came here, I didn’t know about the burden that would eventually fall on you. That’s the part I regret the most—even more than missing out on that trip through space. Say, is that blonde still taken?”

“She is.”

“Too bad.” Dalyn shook his head. “And you don’t think—”

“There’s no chance, bro.”

“I knew I should have gone. A whole year stuck on a ship together. And she was pissed at him, too.”

“Just give it up,” said Lylan. “He’s like, the savior of the universe.”

“But he looks so cranky. And that hair…”

Lylan sighed heavily. “If I put in a good word for you, will you please move on?”

Dalyn held up his hands in surrender. “Right, fine. But you’ll be sure to mention I’m a king now, right?”

Lylan just tapped her foot and waited.

Dalyn nodded. “I’m guessing you already know about the Regeneration and Poisoned Blood. The message we got from Lord Haybier explained how you bonded with the egg and that you’ve already died once. Now that the Vertex has been saturated, you need to get to the Trial.”

“But what does the Vertex do?” asked Lylan. “Other than give me a killer headache.”

“It’s all very vague. But I know the tricky part will be just learning all the symbols to control it, but then— Wait… you have a headache?”

Lylan nodded.

Dalyn glanced at the door, biting his lip.

“What’s wrong?”

“It might be nothing,” said Dalyn. “But apparently, you’ve been doing things out of order. You were supposed to prepare for the Trial before you completed the last parts.”

“Not my fault—I didn’t intend to die. Besides,” said Lylan, “preparing ahead of time wasn’t part of the quest.”

“Maybe not, but Jerrick has still been freaking out about your break with tradition,” said Dalyn. “The Vertex isn’t something you play around with. Among other things, it’s an indication the hydra is fully integrated now, and it’s stronger than you. It will soon try to take over your mind, if it hasn’t started already.”

“Wonderful. Fantastic. I love this quest.”

Dalyn grinned. He didn’t seem doubtful that Lylan could handle this, and that made her feel better.

“I’m not sure I want anything sharing space up here,” said Lylan, tapping her head. “Starfield suffers from that condition and it’s not pretty.”

“I don’t know about Starfield, but I know that you do want this,” said Dalyn. “It’s not like you’ll have voices in your head or anything. The hydra will activate in you a kind of magic no one has even heard of. And if no one’s heard of it…”

“How will they fight back,” said Lylan, finishing his thought.

He gave her a fist bump.

“What kind of magic?” asked Lylan. “And hey—if no one’s heard of it, how do you know it’s so impressive?”

“Okay, some people have heard of it,” said Dalyn. “But only from legends and only the locals. You’ll be able to snap bones from fifty feet away, boil blood, melt brain matter, cause muscles to digest themselves…” Dalyn shrugged. “All with a weird wave of your fingers.”

Lylan stared.

“Pretty great, right?”

She nodded, still stunned. “It’s my heart come true,” she whispered. “I’m going to call it Death Miming.”

Dalyn’s jaw opened in horror. “No. No, you will not. That boyfriend has only made you worse.”

“Death Miming,” repeated Lylan.

“It doesn’t even make sense,” said Dalyn. “You’re still allowed to talk. You can’t call it that. Besides, it already has a name. Its name is hexing. You will call it hexing.”

“Fine.”

“Also,” said Dalyn. “Before you call it anything, you have to learn it. You’ve got to master each symbol and corresponding hand movement, plus the right combinations for what you want to hex. That’s part of what the Trial in the Underworld is for, I think. The details are sketchy.”

“Oracles and sea monsters and Underworlds and homework.” Lylan shook her head. “Of course I would end up as the queen of nightmares. This place is so messed up.”

Dalyn shrugged. “It’s a kingdom of Cultivators and those type are all weirdos. You know that better than anyone.”

Lylan grinned. “He’s the biggest weirdo of them all. Isn’t he the best?”

“He found out I was having trouble sleeping after my time in prison, and he went and got me a pile of rocks. He was trying to teach me to bond with their stillness or something.”

Lylan tried to keep her face straight but failed.

“They were all sticky and smelled like syrup,” said Dalyn, grimacing. “Why were they sticky?”

“Did it help?” asked Lylan, laughing.

“Yes, actually,” said Dalyn, looking horrified. “How? I sleep like a baby now. How did it work?”

“Stop,” said Lylan, snorting. “Back to this Underworld business. What—”

A knock sounded at the door. “Your Majesty,” called Jerrick. “If you’re done killing your brother, we need to get going. The Oracle is waiting.”

“Now?” Lylan turned and watched the others file in. “Why the rush? Before last night, you didn’t even know I’d found the egg. Who says it has to be this moment?”

Jerrick pointed to where Lylan had collapsed. “Something is wrong. You need guidance. Quickly.”

“It’s just a headache.”

Dalyn raised an eyebrow. “You’re level sixty. Unless you’ve been seriously misapplying your attributes, you should not have blacked out from a headache. I think Jerrick is right.”

“I can’t go yet,” said Lylan, knowing she was stalling. “I don’t even have the quest for that part.”

“Oh, right,” said Jerrick, pulling a small glass vial from his pocket. “You need the Keys.”

Welborne stepped up to Jerrick and used a tiny knife to slice open the tip of Jerrick’s finger, then his own. They took turns squeezing blood out and dripping it into the vial.

Goli and Dalyn sliced their fingers, as well, and got in line to add their own blood to the bottle.

When they’d finished, Welborne held the bottle up to eye level and swirled the contents. “I think we should add a little water, yeah? It looks kind of thick—she’ll never be able to choke this down.”

Lylan stiffened. “Choke what—”

“Let’s try whiskey,” said Goli. “Give her all the help we can. You don’t think that’ll affect anything, do you?”

“Nah,” said Welborne, pulling a flask from his pocket. “I’m sure it’s fine.” He poured a glug or two into the vial, then stoppered it with his thumb and gave it a hard shake. He held it out to Lylan. “There you go, sweetheart. You can keep the bottle.”

Lylan did not take the offered vial of frothy blood.

Dalyn snorted quietly as he watched her face. “Drink up, Lyl.”

She looked from Dalyn to the others, finally landing on Jerrick. “They’re joking.”

Jerrick grimaced. “The term ‘Keys’ is a bit misleading. Sorry.”

“Gunder?” she said, her voice full of murder.

He stepped forward. “To enter the Underworld, you must contain within you the blood of each of the five sovereigns.” He paused for a moment. “Perhaps it wasn’t necessary for Norwood to add his Key, as you already have it within you. My apologies, I ought to have spoken up.”

Lylan gaped. “Right. Because that would make this easier and less weird.” She stood up and took the vial from Welborne. Whatever. She’d drunk worse.

Ting!

You have completed the quest “Awaken the Bloodline (Part 3 - The Keys)

You have received 15,000 experience

You have been granted an audience with the Oracle

Ting!

You have received the quest…

Awaken the Bloodline (Part 4 of ? - The Summons )

Seek council from the Oracle to traverse the Underworld.

Reward: The first three sigils of the codex

Reward: 20,000 experience

Accept or Decline

Lylan accepted.

“So I drink this and then what?” asked Lylan. “Where is this meeting?”

“The Temple of Ithakros is in the cliff face of a protected cove a few miles from here,” said Jerrick. “We’ll leave whenever you’re ready.”

Lylan cursed under her breath, then squared her shoulders and downed the blood whiskey.