Chapter 77: Tension In Bloom

Chapter 77: Tension In Bloom His smile struck a nerve in quite a number of them. One man got up, fuming with anger, about to shout what his mind screamed, but a sudden screech drew everyone’s attention. It was Serephene Bone, dragging her clawed phlanges across the table. The sound was piercing and discomforting. When she spoke, her voice was direct, not commanding, but filled with authority. It was calm and soft, but slithered into your mind like an eel. "As the ruler of the Vermillion Empire, I would want to ask you a question." She paused, and Henndar looked at her with mild amusement. "Do you know what we call you in my lands?" "Humor me," Henndar replied in all casualness. "Deceiver," she hissed. "Oh, and why is that?" Henndar asked, still amused. The room went silent. It seemed something dangerous was happening under the waves up front. Serephene didn’t answer. She just tapped a finger on the table. A rhythmic tap, like a heartbeat. "Deceiver," she addressed Henndar, still without raising her head. "We call you that because ou always hide your true intentions. You are unpredictable because of your intelligence and strength, which makes you a formidable foe." Tap. Tap. "So I’m your foe?" Henndar asked. Tap Tap. "Don’t twist my words. You know exactly what I mean. If you want to declare war against us, we may not win, but then a question hangs in the air. Why did these other two speak up?" Tap. Tap. Without waiting for an answer, she continued. "I noticed that you never planned anything with the Lone Wolf, and you, Commander Khaizen, just spoke up without much thought. You decided to say that because you believe you understand your friend very much. But..." Tap. Tap. Tap. "It’s obvious you’re guessing you understand what he means. I believe you think he’s only saying that because he’s trying to give us a scenario. Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re not." Tap. Tap. Tap. "Tell me, do you believe you could know exactly what the deceiver is thinking?" Tap. Tap. Tap. Khaizen glanced at Henndar. "You don’t know him better than–" "And because you think you know him well enough, he can’t be trusted. You think he’s only saying he could be the one causing the trouble because he wants us to be aware." Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. She just kept tapping, giving Khaizen time to think about what she said. She wasn’t wrong. Khaizen understood that Henndar said that because he wanted them to know the person causing these attacks could be one of them. That was the truth, right? I know Henndar, and he’s no deceiver. "Commander Khaizen...Were you aware that the lone wolf and the son of the deceiver were to get married?" Tap. Tap. Tap. "Those are mere rumors," Khaizen replied. "If that is the case, then tell me why the person in question hasn’t said anything about it? And if you remember well enough, she only said not to stick our noses anywhere when one of us here addressed the issue." Khaizen glanced at Kesha, who didn’t want to speak. She wanted Serephene to finish whatever she wanted to say before she spoke. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. "I don’t know everything that goes on under the sun, but I can tell you this for sure. There is no way the deceiver would just accept that so simply, and there’s no way a marriage between the most powerful and second most powerful forces would occur without both groups benefiting from it." Tap. Tap. Tap. "Why don’t you get to the point?" Henndar spoke, leaning back. She raised her head this time, looking directly at Henndar. " Deceiver...I don’t think we can trust you. Who knows what you and that lone wolf have colluded to do? Besides...We all know the Glacial Empire would never involve itself with matters such as these. And looking at the attacks, we’ve only had some very close to them. You may know him as a friend...but are you looking at him as the leader he is?" She looked at Khaizen now, who was at a loss for words. He would have saidsomethingg back against her, but Henndar hadn’t spoken as well. Were her claims true? "I am never the one to pry, but there is so much that points suspecting fingers at your friend here." The room was quiet, but the suspicion kept growing within their hearts. "We may never know what his end goal is. And for those of you who believe other races, such as the dragons and elves, are there...keep in mind this man," she stared into Henndar’s eyes, "is married to an elf. And the elf he’s married to has a high position among the elves. We all know those elves never come out in view, so how did he manage to do that?" Henndar had a small crease in his brow. It seemed this girl knew much more than he expected. "There is also one final matter that concerns me. Whyy, deceiver, have you taken my brother, the only prince of the Bone Kingdom, as prisoner?" Silence struck the room like thunder. Someone dropped something- a cup? spoon? no one checked, and no one picked it up either. The tension was thick as ever. Khaizen blinked. Prisoner? What was the meaning of all this? Khaizen couldn’t help but suspect Henndar. He didn’t know Kethra had a high position among the elves, and he also didn’t know the prince of the Bone Kingdom was being held captive. This wasn’t the Henndar he’d known for so long. Not the Henndar who could understand the ideals of his Kingdom and even give proper suggestions. This Henndar felt dangerous, but why? Kesha wanted to speak, but she believed Henndar would want to address all these himself. He let out a deep sigh. "You’re quite informative, but most of what you speak of is unrelated to matters here." He didn’t deny, and he didn’t agree either. "But yes, the Glacial Empire will not be involved in this matter. Whatever Princess Kesha wants to do is up to her. She only decided to be here as a formality." "So you’re both up to something?" Someone asked. henndar smiled more. "Maybe we are, maybe we’re not. But you see...Whether or not we are planning something doesn’t concern you. All we need to do is work together in finding who this threat is." "But we don’t trust you." Another spoke "Yes. You seem to be hiding way too much," another. "And you never denied whether you are causing all this or not," another. "You even had Commander Khaizen tricked." Another. Henndar glanced at Serephene, who seemed eerily calm. Seems this seed of disagreement is what she wanted to sow all along, but it worked in his favor. "It is right that you don’t trust me because I don’t trust any of you myself." "An enemy he is." "You can choose to be my enemy," Henndar looked directly at the delegate who said that. "But keep in mind that if you decide to do that, I can easily wipe you and everyone from your little town to ash. Very easily." His gaze was frightening and made the man shiver. Others felt the threat in his speech,;he wasn’t joking. "What is the meaning of this? You’re not this kind of leader," Khaizen spoke up. "Good friend, that may be so, but circumstances dictate that I do this." He faced them all again. "Listen to me, all of you. If you want to believe me, do so. But if you decide to go against me, I will go against you as well. There is a threat out there, and that threat is connected to some of us here." Everyone was in deep thought. "You can mark my words that I intend to stop this threat. Some of you still find it difficult to trust me, but keep in mind, you will still need my help. Like she said, I have many secrets, and so do you. I have reasons why I do the things I do, so I won’t let anyone stand in my way. Trust me if you want, but go against me at your own risk." He wasn’t wrong...they all had secrets they could never disclose, and they all did things that would seem evil to some, but good to others as well. "As head of this meeting, I would want us all to come together and devise strategies to deal with this threat. Whoever is causing all of these is either among us, or is connected to one of us, so it is also possible that whatever plan we devise here will be known to our enemy." Khaizen finally decided to speak. "Hendar, sincewe could indeedd have the enemy here, what is the point of having it in the first place?" This question had been bothering quite a few of them. Henndar’s smile didn’t leave as he turned to Khaizen, but his eyes were cold. "If I decided to attack your kingdom with all my might..."His voice dropped lower."...what would you do?" Silence. "You would only fight back. But the truth would be inevitable."He let that word settle like dust."You would lose, and I would take whatever I wanted as I walked on the corpses I have littered on your lands. In the same manner, if we can devise a plan that is impossible to defeat, whether our enemy knows it or not, we will stop this threat." He couldn’t tell what Serephene’s true intentions were, but the distrust she had brought worked in his favor. That was his foundation for addressing this issue. Kesha felt a shiver. Henndar was an easygoing person, but when it came to serious matters such as these, he was a different person—a monster. He could even one day lead his Kingdom to the top in the future.