Return of the Runebound Professor

A flash of green light lit up an expensively decorated room. A pile of purple leather armor was arranged neatly on the bed, and the walls were covered with various forms of weaponry. Bria fell to the ground with a strangled gasp, landing flat on her face. She took several ragged breaths, rolling over and staring up at the stone ceiling as her chest rose and fell desperately.

She’d wasted the powerful Imbued marble her mother had given her. It had been meant for if she got in a fight with a Rank 4 or 5 member of another family, not for Vermil. But Vermil’s face floated in her mind’s eye, the ice-cold look in his eyes sending a shiver down her spine.

There hadn’t been an instant of hesitation. He had been planning to kill her on the spot, and his expression had been like he was just dealing with chores rather than taking a life. Bria took several more breaths to calm herself.

Is it possible he saw through me? No. I refuse to believe my disguise was that weak. If Contessa believed me, then there’s absolutely no way that Vermil broke through it. But…

Bria shuddered again as Vermil’s empty, calculating eyes flickered before her mind once more. That hadn’t been an act. If Bria hadn’t activated the marble, she’d have been dead.

That means he was completely willing to execute a Torrin main branch member in front of two other Torrins. That’s an act of war. Was he planning to kill them as well? Or are they on his side? I don’t understand this at all. Moxie was supposed to be subservient to Contessa, but Contessa was scared out of her mind the entire trip. I –

Bria froze as a terrifying thought struck her.

It wasn’t Moxie she was scared of.

Gods above. What in the Damned Plains is going on with Vermil? That isn’t the creature I knew. Did he succeed at whatever Father had him doing in Arbitage?

Bria slowly pushed herself upright. Her heart was still slamming in her chest. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d come so close to death. After one more deep breath, she pressed a hand to her forehead.

A ripple washed through her skin. Her hair turned from silver to blonde, and the flat silver in her eyes shifted to a brilliant red. Bria’s sharp features melted away, replaced by Karina’s natural, softer face.

Even if I had my Runes restrained to make sure nobody noticed a Rank 3 with seven nearly full Runes is strolling around pretending to be a student, there’s no way Vermil should have been able to fight me that easily. He’s never been in a real fight, but it was like he already knew I was going to attack.

That level of reaction speed is what I’d expect from a soldier or someone that’s been fighting for their life for years, not that perverted coward. Father had something to do with this.

Karina stripped out of her clothes, tossing them to the side of her room. She stormed over to her bed, pulling on the clothing and armor she’d left behind on it. A few minutes later, she strode out of her room, nearly bowling over a servant in the process.

The man stammered apologies, but Karina didn’t respond. He was beneath her notice, and she only had one thing on her mind.

Karina strode out of her family’s mansion, stepping onto the streets of the Linwick Estate, and set a course toward Father’s property. The conniving bastard would know something about this, and then he could answer for his son’s nearly successful attempt on her life.

***

“He was too slow to run you through?” Father asked, swirling a goblet of wine in one hand while he ran the other through the fur of some strange, black furred creature. Karina couldn’t tell its face from its ass. She wasn’t even entirely convinced it was alive.

“That’s what you got from this?” Karina demanded. “Your son tried to kill me, Father.”

“You were disguised.” Father took a slow sip from his wine. He let out a satisfied sigh, then held the goblet out. “Would you like a drink?”

“I’d rather not get poisoned, thank you.”

Father grunted. “Poison has been remarkably ineffective as of late. Tell me, Karina. Why are you here?”

“Did you listen to none of what I just told you?”

“Of course I listened. All information is important,” Father said. He set the goblet down on the table and tilted his head to the side. His flat, expressionless eyes sent a shiver down Karina’s back. They were eerily similar to Vermil’s. “But, in respect for your mother, I will speak plainly with you. You are competition, Karina. Why should I care if you die?”

Karina blinked. “What? I – I’m going to join your family branch! That was our agreement, wasn’t it?”

“You have yet to join, and that is an odd complaint. You already tried to kill Vermil, did you not?”

Karina froze.

How does he know about that?

“You should be less surprised, Karina,” Father said with a chuckle, but they both knew that it held no mirth. Everything Father did was an act. If the man had any real emotions, Karina had never seen them. “Did you really think you could order poison from one of my own suppliers and not have them report to me?”

Karina swallowed heavily. “If you knew, then why…”

“Because I don’t care,” Father said plainly. “If Vermil got himself killed that easily, then I would have found a replacement. I do not baby my children. It makes them targets. And, truth be told, I didn’t blame you.”

Is he playing with me? I can’t tell.

“You didn’t blame me for trying to kill one of your children?”

“I’ve tried to kill him more times than you have,” Father said with a dismissive shrug. “And I would have tried much harder if I had to marry him.”

“You’re the reason for that!” Karina snapped. “If you felt that way, why would you set things up so that I’d have to marry him? I went into secluded training for almost a year just so I could avoid that!”

“Perhaps you should have tried harder,” Father suggested. He took another drink of wine, finishing off the rest of the goblet. He set it down on the table and shook his head. “And you – just like Vermil was – are a tool. Your mother used you, just as I used him. We sought to bring our families closer and attempt to enter the main branch with our combined might. Your retreat and refusal to follow along with our plans sullied that.”

“You just said you would have killed Vermil if you were in my shoes.” Karina crossed her arms and glared. “And now you’re saying I should have just done it? Just… married him? Live the rest of my life with a lecherous, worthless, piece of gutter scum?”

“You should have killed him the day after you were married,” Father said, tilting his head to the side. “That would have accomplished both our and your goals. But instead, you chose to be arrogant. You thought you could rely on him drinking a poisoned healing potion – except he never got into any proper trouble, so he didn’t use it. It’s your own fault that you had to waste a year of your life.”

“I refuse to be married to someone like him.”

Father raised an eyebrow. “So I have gathered, though I care no more about your opinion now than your mother and I did when we first established this strategy.”

“Whatever,” Karina muttered. “But I’ve heard that your branch is going to join the main branch now that Dayton fled. That means we don’t need to–”

“I refuse.”

“I haven’t even asked yet.”

“I know what you are going to ask. I do not do favors for free,” Father said, interlacing his fingers. “You want me to annul the agreement I have with your mother and free you from your arranged marriage.”

“You don’t need it anymore.”

“I don’t,” Father agreed. “And that means I don’t need you.”

Karina’s spine prickled. She resisted the urge to glance over her shoulder. If Father was planning to kill her, then there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. But killing her would mean war between their branches – and Father wouldn’t do something like that without reason.

“Empty threats,” Karina said, keeping her face as flat as possible even as her heart thumped in her chest. “You have no reason to kill me. Wouldn’t this be best for Vermil as well? I wouldn’t have to keep trying to kill him, and–”

“You can’t.”

Karina blinked. “I can’t kill Vermil? Is that care I hear in your voice, Father?”

“You misunderstand. You lack the ability to kill Vermil. He has grown greatly while you wasted away, locked within your rooms. I have already tried.”

Karina stared at Father in disbelief. He’d admitted that he’d failed. In all the years that Karina had known Father, not once had he ever admitted to failure. She hadn’t even though it was possible for him to fail.

“You couldn’t kill Vermil?”

“I suspect I could, but the actions that would require would completely reveal my hand,” Father said with a shrug. “And we have come to an agreement. Vermil has done his part for me. For the time being, I have no reason to interfere with anything he does.”

Ice swallowed Karina’s veins. Father had a truce. With Vermil. The person that she was supposed to replace after their marriage.

“I don’t understand. Why are you telling me this?” Karina asked, rising from her chair. “None of this makes sense.”

“Because there is nothing you can do,” Father replied. He paused for a moment, and a flicker of a frown passed over his features. “And, perhaps, I have some degree of respect for you. You were a talented child. I would have had use for your talents.”

“Stop that,” Karina snarled.

“Stop what?”

“You’re talking about me like I’ve already died.”

“To me, you have. This is simply my last gift to someone that might have been a useful daughter,” Father said.

Karina’s fists clenched at her sides. There was a possibility that Father was playing her, but if he wasn’t…

“I – I can tell the others. The other Linwicks,” Karina said. “I’ll tell them that Vermil succeeded at whatever he was doing, and about your plans. If you don’t help–”

“You can’t. The Rune Oath will stop you,” Father said with a wry smile. “Yes, it will kill the officiant, but there’s a reason he was paid well to accept the Oath. No, Karina. There is nothing you can do to hurt me.”

“What about Vermil, then?” Karina asked, desperately trying to find something she could work with. “If you suddenly think he’s useful, isn’t it going to alienate him against you if you make him marry me?”

Father tilted his head to the side. “I will not push for the marriage, but he will discover it eventually. You have already told me that he tried to kill you once. If he doesn’t kill you before you marry, then he will kill you shortly afterward.”

The door to Father’s chamber ground open. Karina spun, but nobody was there.

“You can’t do this,” Karina said. “Just annul it!”

“No,” Father replied. “You will do this last task for me, whether you wish to or not. In the unlikely event that Vermil doesn’t kill you, then he will have to ask a favor from me to annul the marriage. I will not give that up so easily.”

Father raised a hand and a wall of force wrapped around Karina, throwing her out of the room. She landed outside it with a grunt, rolling over and pushing to her feet.

“Goodbye, Karina,” Father said.

The door slammed shut.

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