Theurgy: Forsaken Oaths (Book Two)

Chapter 23 The Betrayer

Lyse pushed aside the doors to the captain's quarters, followed by Ryan and Vivian. Both were equally curious as to what he meant by having a plan all of a sudden. However, only one of them seemed eager to hear this plan out.

"My lord Colt," Vivian pleaded to him as he began to rummage through the piles of reports on her desk. "You have done our city all the service necessary, far more than anyone of your station should be allotted to do. Surely the regent from Hathan can handle all else left, right?"

"I think we are well beyond that now, Viv," Ryan said.

The captain gave him a very pointed look. "Look, I understand you are upset about your friend. But it is not the responsibility of a knight to compensate for it. I don't know what business the two of you have, but-"

"It is not business, captain Vivian," Lyse suddenly interrupted her. He was still sifting through the reports, but he now looked up at her, locking her in place with an intense gaze. "These people have done a great offense to me and my status as a knight. That, I must not abide by."

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

He sat his palms face down on the desk. Anger boiled beneath his relaxed demeanor, making him appear more dangerous. "Veronica was a scoundrel, a smuggler whose escapades helped strangle this city from beneath. However, she had seen the light. And I made an oath to that woman that I would protect her till she was in safer hands. My honor as a knight. That is what they have taken from me. And they will pay dearly."

"For one, I am with you, knight," Ryan said. "Veronica is not the woman I once knew. But . . . these people are going to pay for what they did. But I'm not doing it for you, understand? I'm doing it for the kids."

Lyse nodded. Both could sense a hidden meaning in each other's words through their momentary eye contact. Ryan has, on some level, excepted his responsibility. Whether it be by his own will or the will of others, he is a godslayer. And as long as Ryan does breathe, he will work tirelessly till all of Talin is smothered, not survived by whispers. Though he is unsure of how this knight will perform as a partner in this endeavor, Ryan must admit on some level that he admires his tenacity and stubbornness. He will not abandon this goal or mission, no matter what object fate has to offer them. Lyse will not falter, unlike him. And Ryan wonders exactly how he will put that ambition to the test.

"Alright," Vivian sighed heavily. "So what is this plan of yours, my lord? How do you intend to find these people's base before they manage to flee."

Lyse gestured to the scattered documents before him on the desk. "The answer has been in front of us all this time."

"How so?" she asked.

"We know that they are manufacturing this new drug to be disseminated all across the southern seas," he went on. "The drug popper up recently in recreational use. Reports of people roaming about in a daze for nearly a month. And then, quiet. I see that for a week, these reports stopped. And then, not long before I arrived, they started up again; this time, its users started disappearing."

"Yes," Vivian said curiously. "We believe that the drug's gone bad, and these people are just dying off."

"If that's the case, where are the bodies," Ryan asked.

"Exactly," Lyse said. "If I were to tell you all this, out of context of drug smugglers or criminal activity, what would this sort of procedure would sound like to you?"

Ryan thought for a moment. "Sound like they waited to see its effects. Then switched it up to whatever new they are doing."

"Experiments, they are experimenting on the citizenry here in Antalya like stock," Lyse told them. "Now they are on the next crop, taking people who've been affected on the streets. For what end, I am not sure."