“Hm. Looks like he’s redecorated…”
All things considered, Kohra was actually feeling rather calm right now. The trip from his home where he had been kidnapped from, all the way to the Grand Palace that marked the centre of Rethan territories and influence had been rather calm and, more importantly, Kohra had managed to glean some information from his kidnappers. Turns out, none of the Rethan soldiers holding him prisoner wanted to be there either.
To make matters worse, according to Captain Balik, the leader of the group, this wasn’t even their normal job. They had been sent because his boss didn’t trust the Void Lord in sending his own troops. It turned out, they were wanted alive, not dead.
“Redecorated what?” Kayen asked, as one Rethan soldier lifted him out of the van. Being a very small Skyan, he felt quite awkward being carried in the air by the much larger Rethan. The soldiers at least had the decency to allow Kohra and Timik to walk.
“The Grand Palace…” Kohra nodded towards the large, golden building. “It used to be silver.”
“The Void Lord regularly redecorates…” Captain Balik tutted, leading everyone straight into the main building. They headed up several staircases and a few twists and turns, before finding themselves in a very gold, elaborate hall, complete with a throne in the centre of it.
The group was greeted by more Rethan soldiers, three groups, all in different colours of armour. Standing before them were two Generals, both of whom Kohra vaguely recognised, and the Void Lord himself.
With a low growl, the Void Lord whispered to his two Vice Generals. “Did we not exile him to a far away land?”
“Yes,” the blue, red and silver General explained. “We did exile him.”
“So how did you bring him here so quickly?”
“You requested that we exile the Heir of the Kronospasts in a place with horrible monsters and a poor quality of life, so we sent him to the worn down parts of Thre-Slikania, where we keep most of our Temthan immigrants, where the quality of life is the lowest on the planet. We have no idea why you wanted to bring him back here, but we did as you requested.”
“Well thank you, Vaxavius…”
The Void Lord grunted, then stepped forward, towards the three prisoners. Kohra noticed that the Captain and his soldiers all immediately stepped back, letting go of the chains holding them in place. And, in Kayen’s case, calmly putting him down on the ground.
“Kohra, son of Avra, heir to the Kronospast throne…” the Void Lord started, then trailed off. “Hm. You seem very calm.”
Kohra shrugged. “Well, you don’t seem to want to kill me right now. So clearly you want something from me.”
The Void Lord’s grimace turned into a smile. He lowered himself down just a little, so it was easier to look Kohra in the eyes. Kohra was rather glad that he was still in the shape-shifted form of a Rethavok, otherwise this would have been even more awkward.
“I have been doing research on your kind, dear Kohra. Apparently your kind have ways to subdue and control the masses.”
“OH NOT THIS AGAIN!” the red and gold General shouted from behind the Void Lord. “Lord Kenon, we have explained to you, hundreds of times I might add, that only the Rethavok have the required telepathic neural paths to allow ourselves to be controlled by you!”
The Void Lord snapped around, glaring at the two Generals. “Rethais, please do not interfere.”
“Perhaps you should listen to him, Void Lord…” Kohra shrugged. “Because he’s right. Us Kronospasts no longer have a way of controlling people. That secret died with Avra. And even then, Avra knew we lacked the lower level “hive brains” to allow ourselves to be controlled.”
The Void Lord paused for a moment, then grunted some more, turning his attention to Kayen and Timik.
“How about you two then?” the Void Lord growled. “How do your leaders control your populaces?”
Kayen and Timik both glanced at each other, not really sure how to answer.
“Uh… the All-Ksa doesn’t? He kinda spends tons of time juggling everything to keep everyone happy, and could be voted out at any moment?”
“You’d have to ask the Allbirther, because I ain’t got any idea.”
“Hm…” the Void Lord seemed satisfied with Timik’s answer. The two Generals behind him both groaned as the Void Lord snapped his fingers. “What a pleasant suggestion. Rethais, Vaxavius, prepare a hall for a meeting with Yisini, immediately.”
The two Generals rolled their eyes.
“And what of the, uh, prisoners?”
“Oh, just stick them in a cell or something. I shall find a use for them later.”
“What about their righ-”
The Void Lord glared at the Generals. “Just do as I say, Rethais.”
“Very well…”
With a tut, the Generals parted ways. General Vaxavius snapped his fingers and the majority of the Rethans in the room moved aside as the Void Lord stomped past them. When the coast was clear, General Rethais waved his hand briefly, signalling for Captain Balik and his soldiers to grab the three prisoners and follow him.
“Do not fret too much. He may have said to put you all in a cell, but he left everything else to interpretation…” General Rethais sighed. “I will make sure that you three are well looked after…”