The King and the Heathen, Part One

Mythrandril looked at the man across from him, taking in the balanced stance and the drawn blade, and said: "Very well. Let's do this." His double-scimitar was in his hands a moment later, and he shifted back, waiting. 

Ruin grinned. "Die, Your Majesty." He came in with a probing thrust, then shifted to the side when the True King deflected it, letting the impact push his blade upright and then dropping it down from overhead.

Mythrandril was mist and shadow, fading back from the blow and tapping it from behind to send it further on its way, then stepping in. Ruin let his blade's momentum carry him back, and caught all three attacks with the strong of his falchion. He pressed in with a series of cuts, but Mythrandril danced back. "At least you still acknowledge your king," he said, and tried an attack at Ruin's fingers. 

"Always," answered Ruin, and shifted over to a stop-cut as Mythrandril's blade rose again. 

Mythandril withdrew his blade far enough to catch the counter, then tried a quick thrust to prevent Ruin from moving in. Ruin didn't fight like any other True Elf that he'd ever known, but that made for good sparring sessions. "Your friend Tavros--" he began. 

Ruin shook his head and stepped back, pulling his blade up so that his hands were beside his right shoulder and the falchion was edge up, the tip slightly lower and in front of him. Hanging Guard, Mythrandril recognized, for all that the last time he'd seen it he'd been training with a two-handed grip on his longsword, in his distant and almost-forgotten youth. "Tavros acknowledges your claims," Ruin said quietly, holding back in a way that Mythrandril suspected was not at all typical. 

Mythrandril shifted his footing and came in again, this time spinning the double-scimitar sawblade-quick. "Then why all this ceremony?"

Ruin slid under the spinning blades, lifted them with his own, and then made a vicious chopping attack that drove Mythrandril back three full paces. "Vigo," he said. "Tavros thinks we need the man's help, and you can see how he's brought the nobles in line." 

Mythrandril hesitated, stepped back, and then lifted a hand. Ruin nodded and lowered his sword. "Then why have they not addressed me... one way or another?"

Ruin looked around. The practice yard was all but empty, but Mythrandril already knew that. It was still reassuring that Ruin looked as well. Ruin stepped forward, extended a hand; Mythrandril clasped it.

The world went strange for the blink of an eye, and then they were standing on a stone path. Ruin held up a hand, then reached for Mythrandril again...

They were standing in a graveyard. Is this really necessary? It might be, actually. It wasn't so much the place itself, as the sudden movement that would make it hard for a listener.

"Vigo wants Tavros to appoint you to rule Duendewood," Ruin said quietly. "Tavros refuses. It's only the second time I've seen them fight. But as far as Tavros is concerned, the ancient treaties are upheld and your rule is unquestioned. I don't think he's thought through what it means to have another king in what is technically Sol Povos, but since you don't seem to want to rule the whole nation..." 

Mythrandril shook his head. "I'll have enough headaches from our own kind, at this point. And as much as it pains me to say it, I couldn't take the throne of Sol Povos from the Warbear Queen. Tavros might manage it."

Ruin nodded. "Tavros won't see you claiming kingship of Duendewood and the elves as a challenge to his rule. He'd welcome the aid and advice of a friendly co-king. That will make difficulties for him among the human nobles, but they'll be difficult enough when they realize he intends for them to act honorably regardless."

Mythrandril nodded. "There might be ways to smooth that over, or obfuscate it." A king among my own people, and a duke in the rest of Sol Povos? History had seen stranger compromises. "You surprise me," he admitted. "I hadn't expected you to take an interest in politics."

Ruin shrugged. "I don't," he said quietly. Then, after a moment, he added: "But I pay close attention to power."