Yust raised his chin stubbornly Pride flashed in his eyes I If you did not trust my abilities why did you invite me to join your conspiracy
Perhaps on another night Claudette would have sweet talked Yust out of his horrible prideful idea However despite the recent easing of her tension she just didn’t have the spare energy to deal with him Yet at the same time she was unwilling to allow him to so obvious poison the well So she lowered her stance and then brought her fist whipping around to slam into his chest right in the diaphragm
YustÆs eyes grew very wide First he stumbled then he collapsed fully on the ground as his body briefly seized up preventing him from breathing Claudette put her fists on her hips and glared down at him We do trust you But that doesnÆt mean we can be foolhardy Thinking about this if I can knock you out in a single blow even if it was a cheap shot will Moonlight Blade miss such an opening
Then she looked at Neshamah Make sure heÆs alright And that no one tries to do anything to Randidly while he sleeps I do have one more person that IÆd like to talk to just in case we can get a little extra assistance
Claudette walked down the beach toward the water following the edge of the sea away from the tiki bar and the light from the bonfire Distant palm trees swayed in the wind as she moved determinedly forward She eventually reached a loose ring of locals that spoke in soft voices and indicated that Claudette should return to the party She ignored their soft pleases and pointed fingers and strode right past them They did not attempt to stop her
Further down the beach as the well maintained sand turned to rocks and the light and noise from the party had been eroded almost entirely by the sound of the waves she found who she was looking for Claudette bowed to the figure Pinnacle Seeker Thousand Bones My martial grandmother IÆm glad you came to this party IÆve missed you
The massive owl woman clicked her beak and ruffled her feathers her gaze never wavering from the direction of the party She shifted her weight from one scaled leg to the other Keh Girl child you know I would not leave you along in your time of need Especially considering how much your Mistress has done for me in the past By the way have you heard any news
Claudette shook her head Unfortunately I have discovered nothing about the Frost Matriarch After the incident with the Nether King she appears to have gone into hiding Even from me
Claudette stood her hands clenched into fists Her chest burned and bubbled So what So I should accept that he always knows better than I do To be a doll that he can pose for the rest of my life
For the first time Thousand Bones condensed her body into a smaller figure drawing the feathers more tightly against her flesh Her eyes remained dim I understand why you would be upset to hear this but in your mind it is completely unacceptable to allow your father to plan for you And admittedly the method he is using is not kind But also perhaps the consequences wonÆt be as dire as you believe
Claudette bit her lip for several seconds Then she shook her head and said Being safe and well cared for is not all there is to life It is not enough
That is true Especially for you Thousand Bones spoke in a soft voice You are one of those individuals who cannot subsist solely within the control of another Especially recently I can see the way the last several months have shaped who you are becoming The possibilities might be faint but I can see a few lives where you transform into something marvelous
The tone of Thousand Bones helped alleviate some of ClaudetteÆs fury and frustration but she still couldnÆt help but glare briefly at the powerful Pinnacle Seeker The old owl chuckled and twisted her head back and forth rotating her head almost 180 degrees
And the last thing Claudette finally found her voice
For the first time Thousand Bones spread out her wide wings the feathers on her aging body looking extremely thin and wan even in the darkness of the rocky beach I cannot tell you much but I think perhaps the true target of your fatherÆs plotting and the one who is the greatest threat to that resplendent version of yourself is not one of the three you have been planning to neutralize
That brought a bucket of metaphorical cold water crashing down on ClaudetteÆs mood What are you talking about
The Pinnacle Seeker released a long breath that whistled through her beak Hoo it is hard to say I can just glimpse the shape of something on this beach in the way that the various powers are arraying themselves and the way the Don is moving between the groups Something inevitable is unfolding that is not obvious on the surface Only out of the corner of my eye only when IÆm not looking for it at all And the more I seem to glimpse it the more I feel it receding as though it senses my observation Even for you child I dare not observe more closely
For several long seconds Claudette was silent She stood on the beach but she felt herself sinking into the chilling waters that had submerged her for most of her life She drifted down small metaphorical bubbles fluttering out from her lips and rushing up to the surface of the water Eventually she hit the bottom and could sink back and regress to an observer Everything around her was insulated she felt the familiar numbness settling across her skin The pressure of the water kept her still restricting her movements
But in that familiar darkness where the world around her manipulated her entire life a soft noise began to rise in her ears The desolate blade Clarent sung crooning softly to her Even if everything else abandoned her that horrifying curse of destruction was truly hers The chilling cold that could seal light and warmth would always remain within her
A blade that Randidly Ghosthound had exhausted himself to create A blade that had been baptized in the blood of the Lizakh people People like
Sucking in a breath Claudette took a step forward It will be fine
Her voice was soft but the more she spoke the more confidently she felt the words coming It will be fine she said again Because it has to be Because I cannot afford to be anything less than fine today
Chapter 1859
Claudette returned from the meeting in the darkness to the party happy to see both Randidly snoring away peacefully and that Yust remained with Neshamah even if the tiger man was clearly surly from her earlier strike Booming laugher came from the area of her father while slightly shrill titters came from the Actus Suprem Devick Compared to them all other noises fell away Those two figures became the axises around which the party spun her father for hosting and Devick likely because the woman wanted to needle the Don
Their laughter became the support structure to the project to deprive Claudette of her freedom For that reason something deep inside of her soul hardened She wished she had more time more opportunities a more reliable method to resist this
However the massive bonfire steadily burned down until only embers remained Time rushed forward heedless of her feelings The mood at the party steadily changed the tension crept up the beach on the heels of the receding firelight
All at once all of the playful preamble had run its course and everyone knew it The Don soon turned to face the group pushed through the difficult sand by one of the employees Well everyone thank you so much for attending this party and celebrating with me It warms my heart to know that I have so many bosom friends in the Nexus
All are welcome to remain but as some of you know the next portion of the party will be a little different from the purely celebratory segment The low firelight sent chaotic fissures of shadow across the DonÆs face His low voice seemed to grow in the areas of the beach without light warping into something monstrous and unfamiliar Claudette Beigon my beautiful daughter has grown up and become her own person Nothing brings me more joy than seeing her accumulating capability and independence Slowly my whole personality has been eclipsed by the pride I feel watching her transform into a young woman To me nothing else is as important as that