by Nihilistic Mind » Sun May 09, 2010 10:31 pm
Tyv looks confused and angry as Calaban silences him.
With every sentence and Insult that he throws at him, Tyv cringes and he only gets angrier.
"Calaban Ru... You have brought this upon yourself, in more ways than one. I know what game you are playing. I know the rules and I know the pieces. If anything, you should think me driven rather than foolish."
Tyv sits down and continues to eat, after a couple of bites and an audible 'gulp', he looks at his men, then back at Calaban. "You know all of us too well not to have orchestrated every single pawn's move to achieve your goals. You have overseen the contracts. You knew my Count, Thavren Thorne, could not deliver a wife in time not to be branded a Traitor and null the contract that supports your title of Marquis. You knew it would be advantageous for Count Aban Steele's wife Anibella to find a wife for me instead and gain the upper hand, a favor owed by Count Thavren Thorne if she fulfilled her plan. You also knew of Count Aban Steele's recent attempt on his life by his own Brother, and you KNEW HE WOULD THINK HIS OWN WIFE WAS BEHIND IT!"
Tyv coughs up blood and spits into a brass bowl at his feet where some of his blood has been collected by one of Calaban's servants. He drinks the water Calaban's staff offered him and continues his tirade.
"Out of all of your Vassals, I know you most. Except perhaps for your Apothecary," he says without looking at Iratu. "I know that you would expect Anibella to be under Aban's close surveillance, and that he would not refuse a duel with me. I have read the contracts and the clauses, Calaban. I KNOW what you have orchestrated..."
More coughing. More blood.
"But you know why I went there anyway? To soothe my relationship with your oh-so-important Elk Count via his wife and her arranging my marriage on behalf of Count Thavren? I think not. I went there because I knew Aban would be there. I endured his wife's hospitality through gritted teeth, and while I am certain she saw what transpired foremost in my mind, she still played her part as well. I am no actor. I am sure she saw through my carefully polite behavior. Why she endured my company and played her part, I did not care to find out. I assumed she really did want her husband dead. Why wouldn't she, after all. Now, I realize that if she had that in mind, she must have changed it at the very last instant that she could."
"You are not upset because I am difficult to deal with, Calaban. You are not mad at me because I have made your relationship with your Count uneasy or even because I attempted to murder him, for that matter. You are upset because we are both still alive, Calaban!"
"How DARE you treat me like a problem, when I continually play my part in your underlying schemes! When I allow you to manipulate my actions so freely! When I follow every prompt, every suggestion and when I turn an eye away from your Sorcerous acts in order to continue to serve you... As a Rajan, I should have put an end to you. As your Master of the Roads, I have served you completely, ensuring your lands are safe and prosperous while weakening Count Steele's own regions and giving you a constant upper hand in trade. Yes, I know that you know about that. How could you not anticipate it!?"
"I served my purpose, played my part in your machinations, Calaban. Freely. Willingly. Knowingly."
Tyv pauses to drink more water.
"And now, do you know what I am going to do for you? I will continue to play my part. I am your most trustworthy Vassal, for my every move can be anticipated due to my direct approach in every matter." He walks up to his veteran and favorite roadman, kills him and moves on to the next. "I asked nothing of you but Hospitality in your home, you damn asp!" He kills another and another.
"I want nothing but to serve and you repay me with FUCKING INSULTS?!?" He kills more and more of them. His frenzy is almost unleashed.
"How dare you? How could you?!" Five more in one strike. "You use me to your ends and I let you do this, and the one day I actually ask something of you resembling a favor, before I have so much of a chance to ask for anything, you spit out your false views about my mediocrity?!"
He moves so quickly now that Tyv Adrente becomes a blur of blood and violence never seen within these walls before. In spite of his rage, every cut, every stab, every spillage of blood, is done with complete control and intent. It is clear that Tyv has at last mastered the frenzied arts of his school. Then what circumstances could have brought such a blatant mistake on his part at his duel with Aban Steele?
When there is a dozen left, Tyv stays his blade at the throat of one of his roadmen. "Tell me, Calaban. Why do you keep me alive if I am always causing you more trouble than I am worth? Is it not because I am really no trouble at all, and because my understanding of your machinations are spot on?"
"Sparrow, I'll call you back. I've just gutted a man with a shard of wood and I need to make sure he's dead... I think you're right, Sparrow. I am a bad, bad man..."
~~Dr. Xander Crowe, WORMWOOD.