Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 765: Only One Match ()

"Your speculations are no business of mine." Keila replied blankly. "Unless you have some other explanation for her death, I do not see what your point is."

Lord Fintan tilted his head to the side, tapping his fingers lightly against the armrest of the chair he sat. "That explanation... I suppose you would know better."

A memory she had forced deep into the depths of her mind flashed right behind her eyes and a sinking feeling surfaced deep within her but she suppressed it as her expression contorted into a scowl. "What do you mean to imply, Fintan?"

Lord Fintan rose from his seat and crossed the hall at a measured pace. Keila’s gaze trailed him until he stood at the steps leading up to the dais. There he crouched down, splaying a hand on the thick vines at the foot of the Fae royal throne.

His eyes went closed and he sucked in a sharp breath. Shivering visibly as he poured his magic out, tapping into the veins of magic the earth held in abundance. "I am born of nature, it is my blood and life source. I have dedicated my life to it and have been faithful for generations. In turn, it has offered me its grace, my magic thrives even while that of my kin fades."

"The earth withholds nothing from me... I can feel it, the blood seeped into these vines. The arcane used in these halls... I can hear the cries... the final breaths..."

When his eyes snapped open again, a dozen sharp vines were aimed at his throat and Keila glowered down at him. "Did the earth fail to reveal to you that you would be joining those voices tonight?"

Lord Fintan smirked slightly, tilting his head to gaze up at her. "Your Grace...you are still a child, are you not? You have much to learn... about revealing your true self so easily."

He slowly rose up to his feet, the vines followed, stretching out themselves to remain poised at his throat. At any moment, they would tear through his flesh.

Lord Fintan was unfazed. "Arcane... silences the earth itself. There is no way it can tell me anything here..." He said, watching the vines that were barely an inch away from piercing his flesh. "But I thank you, for confiding in me yourself."

"You bastard!" Keila hissed darkly. "What will you do? Tell the council? You will not live long enough to get a word out."

Lord Fintan smirked. "I am a clan representative. The strongest on the Fae council, second only to the royal lineage. Do you think I would be naive enough to walk right into your hands without preparing a fail safe? Your Grace?" He asked.

"You will find it troublesome to explain my mysterious death... disappearance, or whatever you hope to make it into, to the council. If you hope to push it off to the dragon queen as you have been doing, then you would still have to explain to my clan when my memories condense into orbs in the memory hall at the instant of my death."

"You must have forgotten, what it means to be a clan lord... seeing as the royal clan has long declined. The memory hall of each clan was created to preserve culture and history. Hence the memory of every clan leader is preserved at death, and returns to the hall for future generations... I’m sure you might be able to kill me to keep me silent. But can you afford to wipe out my entire clan to hide what they will be sure to see in my memory orb?" Lord Fintan asked.

Keila’s eyes blazed with fury. "You swore fealty to me. If you wish to go back on that, I will go as far as is necessary. My ancestor gave up seven clans... I will not be the worst ruler to give up one." Keila replied darkly.

Lord Fintan was silent for a moment. "Is that why you have no hesitation using the lives of hundreds in the Fae battalion as a distraction for what you truly hope to achieve? From the Sea Kingdom to the volcanos at Inferno, you diverted the attention of the dragons from what you are truly after..."

"But as you rightly said. I have sworn fealty... I will not break my vow. But it is my duty to remind you, lest you forget, that the dragons are not the only ones watching you, Your Grace..." His voice has dropped to a dangerously low tone

"And you may believe the dragon queen underestimates you and your intentions remain undiscovered, but if all I have heard of her is true, then perhaps it is you who underestimates the Dragon Queen..." Lord Fintan left his words hanging. He lowered his head to a bow and then turned to take his leave, completely unbothered by the vines.

As the doors to the royal hall slammed shut behind him, the head of the Fae royal guard emerged from the treeline. His cold gaze fixed on the doors.

"How much is your vow of fealty worth to you?" He asked, his question directed at Lord Fintan. "Enough to betray the arcane?"

Lord Fintan trailed his gaze to the doors. "She has betrayed the arcane first and employed the aid of dark magic. It is the innate sin of the royal lineage...each and every one of them eventually turns to the dark."

"Yet you do not dare oppose her." The head of the royal guard said. "You who is the strongest amongst the Fae fears the arcane."

Lord Fintan scowled. "The mother of all magic, how could I not? My magic, with all its experience is nothing in the face of a naive mastery of the arcane."

"That doesn’t mean I will do nothing. I do not favour the dragons, but I loathe dark magic more."

"I may fear the arcane. But there is one who does not." Lord Fintan said. "In this crumbling world, there is only one match for the power drunk High Queen of the Fae... and that is the cold and ruthless Dragon Queen."

"A battle of Queens..." The head of the Fae royal guard murmured. "I fear the stronghold may not survive this."