“Does this happen often?”
“I… cannot say.”
Kaldoran ran his hands across the weird, fluffy walls, feeling for any sort of ridge or window or exit or literally anything, hoping that there was some way to escape this hideous, lowly lit room. Knowing that there wasn’t any such exit, Vaksavar sat on the lone piece of furniture in the room, a rather ludicrously over-pillowed bed with barely enough actual space to sit on it. Everything, from the strange, carpeted walls to the shag floors to the cushions and blankets on the bed, was covered in various heart shapes.
Eventually, Kaldoran gave up trying to find an exit. He wasn’t even particularly sure how he had ended up in the room in the first place, what with him having been unconscious the entire time. Unlike Vaksavar, Kaldoran hadn’t quite worked out the correct nuance to use while talking to their new boss, the Void Lord Kenon, and had managed to annoy him a couple of times. Whether they were now being punished or not, neither of them were sure.
“I am sorry, General Vaksavar…” Kaldoran grunted as he sat down on the bed. “I should have taken your advice. Not said anything unless it was important.”
“Please do not call me “general” now…” Vaksavar tutted back. “Gives me… rather horrible thoughts.”
“Why?”
“Being the leader of a highly respected legion, only to have your own vok abruptly turn on you and hand-deliver you to the new dictator… the memory still troubles me. All of them good vok. All of them mind-controlled by a monster.”
Kaldoran tilted his head to one side. “You are speaking more freely now.”
“Kenon is not present. Not physically at least. He knows that I hate him in a multitude of ways but I offer things he requires, so he does not kill me. It will be the same for you once you… get into it.”
“I guess…” Kaldoran inspected the rest of the room. “I have no idea what he expects us to get into in this place though.”
Vaksavar shrugged. “It would not surprise me if Kenon was attempting something romantic, perhaps forcing a romantic connection between us in order to weaken our minds. He is a deity, but from my studies, I believe he is far, far more detached than other deities are and does not quite understand how we form relationships. But he has… attempted to use familial links before. Thankfully most higher ranking generals… former generals… lack that sort of thing.”
“Not all of them. A good thirty four percent of generals have a partner and one kid. Far lower than the average population, which has about three kids in any relationship but…” Kaldoran trailed off. “Rethais has kids, yes?”
“He does.”
“Any…”
“We do not discuss that.”
Kaldoran blinked. “Why not?”
“We do not know who is listening.”
“But you said that Kenon was not here so you were speaking more freely?” Kaldoran looked and felt incredibly confused. “You said-”
Both Rethans suddenly paused as a flash of light interrupted their conversation. A new Rethan appeared, collapsed on the floor.
Kaldoran and Vaksavar both glanced at each other.
Vaksavar tutted as he picked up the young, red and gold Rethan and gently rested them on the bed. “Well, I guess Kenon found out about Rethais’s family after all…”