Marissa's Return C1

The emperor of Juttest, Beletera Blood, peered at Mica, his cleric is wearing a black cloak with a sigil of Hades on its back. He was a muscular man, he had a beard that was grey and he was balding about the top of his head. He was not a man you could easily dismiss. He was cautious with his people, Near Mica’s left hand was a staff with the two heads of the dog guarding Hades. Their maws were a gap, huge fangs were exposed as well as their tongues, even droplets of saliva hung from their maws. Beletera almost believed that this dog was alive it looked so realistic,. He expected to hear their howls rise from their maws. Belteera was a big man, his skin was stained with the blood of his foes, His hand rested on his sword that was on his belt, he seldom took it off.

The two of them were seated in the emperor’s library. With two goblets of wine on the desk, and a plate with bread and gravy on it before Beletera’s form. Beletera had tears in his eye as he spoke to Mica, he wanted to know more about the Jarata that had Beletera’s daughter on the throne.

The emperor was trying to find the answer to his problem. He was angry at the reaction to it. He wanted to support Jarata; but he disliked Helter's reaction to putting the vice regency in place on the throne. His wife, Beletera’s daughter, should be there instead after all she was the queen wasn’t she. The dark room; with letters and books strewn about the table. Candlelight broke the darkness within the library removing the shroud of darkness that was there.

Beletera growled, “I wish Marissa were still in possession of the Cuca’s people rather than being in Kyca!" Shoving the plate away from himself, he looked at the table with with objects small statues of a bear standing on its hind feet, a hydra, a stallion, a tiger and a woman with her hands holding a dagger in them that represented the forces in the east who were facing the herectics and heathens in this region. It was unexplored, Helter wanted to claim this region of land and further still occupy it.

Mica, a large man, knew the emperor since he was, but a lad. Beletera was fearful of his daughter being in the community, Mica said, “Remembering the attacks of Crea upon our being there, Beletera did not trust what he was reading about that region of the eastern world. The race that attacked his temple. They made themselves to look like deamons when they attacked the temple's people. Their war paint was red, black and yellow in color. These soldiers of Crea wore paint that changed their appearance to that of perhaps monsters or maybe even deamons. Their way of attacking us was unusual.They attacked us as if they had no choice in the matter. They were relentless in their attack upon us!”

“My people knew that the people or rather the majority of them were humans and so, when I washed the person’s face the paint came off to make my people realize that they were human beings,” Beletera said as he returned his smile.

“But not the people of Juttest, who you told the community, that they were simply humans wearing makeup on their faces. I remembered when you killed an attacker, you washed off the stuff on the man’s face to reveal that he was human.” Mica said as he smiled saying this to Beletera.

”This they took to their hearts, that they are mortals. The Crea attacked with a vengeance that could not be denied. They had drawn upon the power of demons to defeat their enemies.” Beletera said as he recalled the attacks made by them, it made his stomach feel pain.gritshe grit his teeth.

“Emperor, she made that decision by following her heart’s desire,” Mica said as he bowed his head.

"This I know. I feared the behaviour of the Crea with their wanting to attack the Temple. That is why I sent her away. Do you remember the attacks by the Crea? They came pretty close to gaining my temple in their attacks."

“I do remember the barbarians of Crea as they attacked the temple. Their faces were painted, looking as if they were demons. They attacked! Hades how they attacked! I can’t believe that we have stopped them.” Mica said, he wiped his brow. It wasn;t warm, but these thoughts made him worry, but his brow had beads of sweat. He shivered. His hand trembled. .

“I remember them. Blood ran from their hands as they attacked us,” Beletera said as he looked at Mica, the blood drained from his face.

“Their actions caused us to worry about them coming. They came wave upon wave of them coming at us as if they did not care if they died. There was no stopping them,” Mica said as he looked at Belterra watching the emperor as he lifted his goblet.

“The bastards attacked without regard for the people there. They wanted to kill us all,” Beletera said as he reached for his slice of bread glistening with butter. Mica hasn’t even touched his glass of wine. Damn him! He shoved the plate away from himself.

“I know why you did this,” Mica said as he reached for Beletera’s hand to comfort him; his hand arrived.

“It was because of her mother that I did this. I put her in your hands, and you brought her out of the temple for her mother’s sake and my own?” Beletera said as he reached for his goblet, having ripped his hand out of Mica’s grasp almost as if he didn’t realize it was there. “But she decided to wed the king of Jarata to be free of the bondage that I had put her under.”

“I know, this is what you wanted. She was accepted into the family of another lord. This was done with a great deal of help from the clerics there,” Mica said as he watched Beletera sip his wine.

“This is what I am thankful for!” Beletera said as he returned to letters and tomes, dismissing Mica with a wave of his hand Mica shifted as he rose from his seat, but did not leave.

"This was long ago when it happened. You did not want her to leave her home. She had made her way into Helter’s home!” Mica said. Beletera bit his lower lip.

“I did not want this to happen. Did I!” Beletera as he slammed his hand down on the table to show his anger. The vessels of wine shuddered and shook.

“And you decided to allow us to have her live there!” Mica said. Mica was trying to allow him to see what he had been able to allow the emperor to understand these details.

“I did.”

“She decided to live there; she knew that you were the emperor of the temple here. Since you did not make any motion to have her join us here, she has become a lady of the city.” Mira looked away, he knew he was angering the emperor by saying this. However it was the truth.

“I know this has happened,” Beletera said as he nodded in agreement.

"Then she saw the king of Jarata during one of his visits there with their royalty."

"I know this!" Beletera said as his eyes narrowed as he gritted his teeth.

“She fell in love with him,” Mica said as his eyebrows began to draw closer together, his lips thinned to a dagger’s edge.

“I know this, also. But I wish it hadn't happened?” Beletera said as he looked into Mira’s eyes, seeing his eyes were so small they were almost pinpricks.

“The queen of Jarata is your daughter; however, you did not want anyone to know this!” Mira offered, as he watched Beletera’s hand close as his hand grew white.

“I am still concerned with them having her in their midst. There have been rumours that the person who has taken the sceptre of Jarata is trying to find a necromancer. I don’t approve of that happening,” Beletera said as he climbed to his feet.

“There has been a reason that Helter was busy in the war with the Eastern Realm, along with other forces who are there fighting,” Mica said as he stepped away from the table.

“How was I supposed to know this?” Beletera questioned.

“As this was happening here, the vice regency was looking for someone who was a necromancer. The king was unaware that this happened; he trusted the vice regency to protect the kingdom from demons and their kindred,” Mica said as he lowered his gaze to the floor wringing his hands together. He grew pale.

“He does not know this,” Beletera suggested.

“There has been a reason that the queen wants to find a heretic,” Mica said.

Beletera stared into the face of Mica; he was no longer hungry. He rose to his feet; he did not want to discuss any of this any longer; he needed to forget about it happening, but he knew that his daughter was in danger. Especially after learning that the vice-regent was trying to find a necromancer. Beletera said,” Go Damn you! Go!”

Mica headed for the door. He knew better if he stayed here any longer he might wind up dead if he was to push his luck here.

Beletera wore on his belt a sword, which he seldom took off. Even in his own home, he wore it. He fought as if his life depended on it happening. He was a big man; his knowledge of warfare was vast, and he was versed in its song. He built up his forces to protect his temple.

Beletera sat there composing a letter to be sent to the legal counsel of Cyka and Helter a well, he laid a quill with a black van its tip dripped a droplet of blood from his finger. He wanted to protect Kyca and his daughter from what he knew had been happening there. He had written on a scroll to protect the kingdom, his daughter, and the queen. Marissa was in the house of Jarata’s kingdom. He was concerned about the vice-regent. There were stories of his talking with the queen to have her understand these matters.

A goblet with external sides adorned with jewels and swirls of silver and gold, filled with wine and some half-eaten bread. That lay beside it, along with a candelabra shaped like a naked woman whose hands held a candle a piece made of brown paraffin which would be above her head to allow him to see the letters and times he was reading These two candles were there to provide light within this vast chamber; the shadows lurked to throw darkness throughout the chamber. The candelabra's light fell on both the desk and the table standing beside it; the light impaled the deep darkness like a knife through silk.

A chill seeped into his bones. His desk had numerous scrolls and tomes with their words of knowledge for all to see and understand if you could read. Very few in the kingdom could do this. Beletera could rest assured that the guards couldn’t read. A few of them even feared looking at these pages. Some of these images were frightening to look at revealing what was spoken of at the time, but he knew he had to find what he was looking for. Beletera could not believe what the clerics had said to him: that the shadows were just that—shadows. The shadows looked like beings to his eyes. Often, he could not believe what the clerics told him; he would swear that they were reading what he was reading or looking at where he moved things on his battle map to where they were or where they should go. How he feared these shadows that were in the library, he often wanted to bring in other candles to fully light the interior of the chamber.

Beletera was concerned that someone might see these pages, but he and the Times were safe inside his library. He thought that if he were a cleric, he could summon something he would fear to come here. He didn't, did he?"

There were various letters residing there that he must read. He spent the whole night reading and studying these documents. His eyes were sore from reading them, and there was a table beside it that was adorned with little statues of a bear, a black stallion, a hydra, a moose, an elephant, and a woman that Beletera knew as a formidable woman with a great deal of knowledge of warfare and soldiers representing the units under his control.

Walls of shelves with tomes and scrolls scattered throughout the chamber. It was huge. The times contained information that his ancestors had written down to protect his kingdom from other forces, and the compacts—books with spells written in them that he could not use, as he was not a cleric, and only they and the witch could use—also contained history. His kingdom had more than the other kingdoms desired. They would pay a great deal for it, and they did, to avoid wars within this kingdom.

He knew the vice regency wanted to find a necromancer who would aid him in learning what could be done against the people who prayed to the emperor’s god. Beletera wanted to stop him at all costs, especially in Kyca, where his daughter was.

Beletera, with his crest of Hades, etched into its handle, broke the seal of the scroll and some powder flew into Beletera's eyes, burning them. This powder burned as bright as the sun as it fell on the floor. A putrid scent spilled loose from this dust. He felt as if he was growing tired; he tumbled off his chair to land on the floor. He felt sleepy; he could not keep his eyes open.

When he woke, a voice growled. It was as if the speaker had gravel in their mouths as they tried to speak, “Why have you sent me here? Beletera! I was sent here.” There then came howls as if there was a large dog.

The table was driven over on its side, and the desk joined it in its flight to the floor. An enormous crash resounded into the hallway, and the guards spun about to face the door.

The voice of Beletera responded saying, “Help!”