Private Tales The Past Returns

[Tal]

Alliria - the Shallows

"Two left." Tal murmured to himself as he peered at the maps in front of him, both super imposed over the other.

It had taken him nearly two years to find the first, and the same amount to find the second. Now he was only two others away. One, he already knew of, and the other remained a mystery. The lines drawn across the map made a scattered array, not showing any visible clue as to where they might lead. A frown pulled at his lips, head shaking.

Five years.

Half a decade he had squandered away in this cesspit of a city.

Tal had murdered. Backstabbed. Cut his way through the Allirian underground to get here, and yet there was so much more left to do. He had to get Vora's map, needed it, and then...then find the last piece. It was the only way that he would ever be whole. The only way that he could undo what his father had sentenced him to.

Rage sparked in his chest as the thought flickered through his mind. Anger that ruptured through his very soul. Even after all these years he could not forgive this man, and given ten more it would have done nothing. There was no pardon for this crime. No mercy that he would offer.

Tal knew exactly what he would do once he reclaimed what was his. Knew exactly what those back home deserved for their treachery.

Thud thud thud.

A pounding on the door behind him echoed out, and Tal turned his head. He frowned for a moment, glancing at the pocket watch which had been thrown onto the map besides him. It was nearly midnight now, the moon high in the air. The dockworkers should have been unloading ships, and everyone else knew to leave him be at this hour. "What?!"

He shouted, his voice echoing through the near bare warehouse.

"Uhh...I...Sir, I'm not sure how to say this...You got a letter?"​

Tal frowned for a moment, spinning on his heel and turning to stalk towards the door. He wrenched open the warehouse gate, staring at the ogre that stood beyond. Within his meaty fingers was a piece of parchment, sealed with a familiar seal.

Shock flickered over his features, Tal snapping the note away from the Ogre.

Eyebrows raising as he read it over.

 

[Calliope]

The letter is elegantly penned in the blood of a rock viper native to Sheketh. Once opened, the ink slowly starts to fade, and in less than a minute it is gone completely.

'Ah Tallyho, You're a difficult one to track down..
Then again, I suppose you intended to be, regardless of how rude I find it.
We have unresolved business to discuss, and since I've come all this way to find you (like I have nothing better to do with my time) - I expect you won't mind venturing out of your swamp and meeting me some place more civilised. I have secured residence at the Silver Siren Inn, I'm sure you'll know where to find it. You owe me a drink.

Calliope.'

 

[Tal]

Tal scrunched the note into a ball, his lips turning into a scowl as he plucked the cigar and pressed it into the paper.

It took only seconds for the damned thing to catch fire, the sparking flames floating over the parchment as he tossed it onto the ground. "VIKTOR!"

His voice boomed out passed the Ogre still holding the gate, echoing through the entire dockyard. Everyone stopped, some glancing over towards where Tal was, others entirely ignoring the situation in hopes no one would look at them.

"Get the fucking carriage ready." He was practically simmering. "We have an old friend to visit."

Tal didn't like this.

He didn't like someone from back home showing up here. didn't like the implication, the thought or even really the idea. Calliope had always been a nosy little brat, sticking her senses where they didn't belong. If she was here, it spelled nothing but trouble.

Shortly after his tantrum Tal pulled himself into the carriage, Viktor driving him to the inner city and towards the Silver Siren.

 

[Calliope]

"He's coming.." Calli's lips twisted at the man sitting opposite her. Xander gave her a forced smile and set his empty mug down after draining its contents in three large gulps.

"Wonderful." he rumbled bitterly, and Calliope laughed under her breath as she leaned forward to settle her hand over his.

"Lets play nice, shall we, Xan?" she asked, and the hooded man rolled his shoulders with a sigh, seeming to settle at her words. Her hand remained where it was until he nodded and she was sure that he'd understood that she expected a civil meeting between old friends, and that ancient spite should be left in the past. Her crimson eyes narrowed softly in a smile as she watched the man settle back into his chair and at least try to appear more relaxed than she knew he was.

"I'm sure he'll be delighted to see us." she mused, flashing her companion a grin to which he slowly shook his head at and she laughed.

 

[Tal]

The door to the Silver Siren slammed open, Tal's hand lingering on the door as the music came to a sudden shrieking stop.

"Clear out." The words fell into the silent space of the tavern, his head peeking up from rain soaked hair. Everyone seemed to look at him for a moment, stare, gaze flickering between Tal and the man that stood behind him.

All of them saw it.

The mark that sat on his next, the tattoo that had been carved there.

Slowly, deliberately, those within the tavern began to walk towards the exits. One by one the tables cleared around Calliope, stepping away and drawing themselves out of the exit behind the Talmanese. Even the Innkeeper ducked into the kitchen, pulling himself away.

He stood in the doorway, watching, waiting until every last one of them was gone. Then he slowly moved towards the table with his kinsmen. "You're a long way from home."

Tal offered in greeting.

 

[Calliope]

Calliope's red orbs rose to the doorway moments before the door was thrown open. Even Xander flinched, but she didn't. Her gaze shifted across the room at the bewildered patrons as they each decided it wise to obey the command of the grumpy redhead in the doorway. Calli's fingers laced together on the table as she waited for some order to settle.

His words already irked her, the only sign of it visible in the slightest twitch of a muscle in her jaw as it tightened for a moment. "Indeed I am." At the other end of the world, in fact. "I must say I'd hoped for a warmer greeting considering how far I've travelled to find you, and considering how abruptly you left without so much as a farewell." the royal pouted.

"And I thought we were friends." she sighed, falling silent for a moment before gesturing to her companion "Oh, you remember Xander."

 

[Tal]

Tal reached out, grabbing a chair from a nearby table. It made a screeching sound as he dragged it into place in front of Calliope. "One kiss behind your fathers throne a friend does not make, Calli"

The Prince said, shaking his head as he took his seat in front of her. A cigar was plucked from his coat pocket. Placed between his lips.

Her being here was a surprise, a mystery. Tal fucking hate mysteries. He had come to Allira in part because it had been so far away from home. Half a world away as she had said. Perhaps he should have gone a little further. Anirian territory, or even the Empire.

He grimaced at the thought, chewing the end of his cigar.

"The slave? Yeah I remember." Tal said as he struck his match against the table. Glancing at Xander as he lit his cigar. "That sort of thing is illegal out here, you know."

Tal of course knew the man was much more than that, but Xander had never much liked him. "You could just run away from her, be free. There's even a magic college! Ask nice enough and they might even let someone at your level in."

 

[Calliope]

Calli's lips puckered in amusement. "Oh come now. We grew up together, Tal. There aren't many others who understand what that was like in Tyre, it makes us kindred spirits at least, does it not?.." she asked, her crimson gaze watching him closely as he moved and sat.

Once more her jaw clenched as Tal chose to bait Xander. They'd both known it was a likelihood, but even though the man had expected to be insulted, the insult itself had the ground trembling underfoot and the air warmed, smelling of earth and metal.

"How fucking d--" Xander had been about to stand, but once again Calliope's hand reached across the table to rest atop his before he could do so.

"Xander is free to leave if ever he decides to. He was freed several years ago, but he remains loyal and a very dear friend." she said, her gaze shifting between the two warily. Xander's magic was a powerful one, and she pitied more than the paintwork if the pair decided to lock heads.

She stared at Xander a moment longer before settling back again and turning her attention to the Prince with a sigh. "So.. What's new?" she asked casually.

 

[Tal]

He scoffed. "Yeah, not many others like us...except ya know, the whole fucking city."

Tal rolled his eyes, though of course he knew exactly what she was getting at. Both of them were the children of Kings, families with dynasties that stretched back hundreds of years. He glanced at Xander with a smile as he half stood before being quieted by Calli once more.

"Ooo, freedom. How exciting." Tal said as he took a long drag of his cigar, taking careful measure not to let his sleeves slide down his wrists.

The markings there would be instantly recognizable to Xander. He might have denigrated the man, but he knew well enough just how powerful and intelligent he was. Having either of them find out that Tal was practically powerless wasn't something that would benefit him.

Not in the least. "With me?"

A shrug rolled over his shoulders as he let out a smoke filled breath.

"I've been expanding my worldview. Traveling here and there. Really taking in the sights we don't get to see back home." He smiled. "You know there's a tree taller than the Black Citadel? Wild thing that."

Tal shook his head, then his face became a bit more serious. "What are you doing here, Calli?"

 

[Calliope]

"I meant as a royal, you arrogant little prick. I am trying to be nice, but you're not making it very easy." she glowered at him, and rolled her own eyes as once again he sought to irritate her companion.

Her arms folded over the table as she watched him tell her of his travels, a brow quirking at the mention of some fucking tree. "You don't say. I'll add it to my itinerary." she muttered sarcastically, though she too steeled herself and her expression betrayed how irritated by him she was.

"What are you doing here? Why did you up and leave? It's like you didn't even exist. Your father forbade anyone from asking about you. People think you're dead, others say you fled. I want to know what happened." she frowned.

 

[Tal]

Tal smirked. "When have I ever made anything easy, darling?"

Even back home he had been well known as a trouble maker. Never attending the meetings he should have been, always skipping over formal events and balls. It had been infuriating to his father, but had caused more than a bit of trouble for people like Calliope.

A shrug rolled over his shoulder at her question.

"I wanted to see the world." He frowned a moment. "Tyre was never for me, Calli."

He took another slow puff of his cigar, this time his face a bit more serious. Tal wasn't exactly lying. He had never much enjoyed the trappings of their home, well, at least the palaces they'd been kept to. He loved Tyre, the people, everything he could experience there.

Just not his father, his family. "Alliria just seemed...a good fit."

The frown deepened.

"Your father send you?" He asked.

 

[Calliope]

More than a bit of trouble indeed.. The crimson of her eyes seemed to flare at being called 'darling', and the visible signs of her irritation caused Xander to bristle too. Her gaze narrowed on Tal as he gave his explanation, though she huffed, assuming that there was likely far more too it than a case of wanderlust.

"He'd intended on sending someone far less pretty, but I volunteered." She shrugged. Her father was likely the most lenient of the three kings of Tyre. He'd wanted his daughter to be as strong as his sons, and so had happily agreed to her travelling and thirst for experience.

"He had some disagreement with your father.. It's caused a bit of unrest. People are saying he's not fit.. That he's gone mad and that now that he's got rid of you, he intends on killing your brothers too." her lips pursed and she shrugged. "People say they hear him muttering to himself about burning the place to the ground before he lets anyone take his throne from him.. That he should be the only king.."

"Then again.. These are just whispers.. My father wonders if you are in on it somehow." her head tilted. "He's afraid of you. They all are, I think."

 

[Tal]

"I guess I'm glad it was you and not one of the DeathWatch Ogres." Tal jested, though as she continued to speak the smile disappeared from his face.

This time the pause was genuine. Not a game. Not something to press her further. Briefly, just briefly he glanced down at his arms.

Had the ritual somehow damaged his fathers mind?

Sealing always had it's consequences, a price that needed to be paid. Tal knew that he hadn't paid it, he could still feel his magic locked away inside of him. He had assumed it had been the Sorcerers that carried the burden, but...but perhaps not.

Lips thinned. "I don't...I don't think he would kill my brothers."

Otho had always been his fathers favorite. The golden boy, the soldier who stood to inherit the throne. He'd fought bloody dragons for his father. Senec? As far as his father concerned he practically shit gold. A genius with the merchant's.

"I'm not in on anything." He told her firmly. "And there's always rumors."

Still, Tal paused. "Has he...actually done anything?"

He asked.

 

[Calliope]

"There, see, you can say something nice." Calli grinned. Her head tilted as she watched the news settle over Tal's face. Honestly he'd half expected him to shrug it off and express in his ever colourful ways how little he cared. She allowed him silence in which to mull over his thoughts on the matters at hand, until he asked her a question and she drew in a deep breath.

"He'd been ordering a lot of executions, though most of them weren't guilty of any crime other than allegedly plotting to kill him, which I'm certain isn't true. Otherwise? Not publicly.. Though there was the time that he ordered every sharp object in his home gathered and he had them all melted down into a new suit of armour. Your brothers' armoury included."

She laughed at that. She couldn't help it, but she sighed and lifted her drink to sip.

"Something seems to be poisoning his mind, but nobody knows what or why. It all started when you left..." she leaned forward conspiratorially. "Tell me, Tal. Did you mangle the poor man's mind?"

 

[Tal]

Tal leaned back in his chair slightly, frowning as Calliope told him more of what was going on with his father. In his head he ran through the consequences of the ritual, his lips thinning as he found the truth he'd already known.

Paranoia.

It was the clue, the hint that stood out above everything else. He had thrown away a son, a rambuctious, troublesome son, but still a son. He had loved his father, despite everything, he had been loyal, but that loyalty had not been returned.

Tal had been a disappointment. A plague on the family name. "No."

He told her as he gestured towards Xander. "Your boy here can tell you, the mind was never my shtick."

"Maybe my absence just broke him." Tal said in jest, though the words carried far more truth than he would have liked. "But...I don't see what I can do."

Tal said with a shrug.

 

[Calliope]

Calli's lips twitched and her shoulder rolled in a shrug, her fingertips tapping idly on the table.

"Well, there was another reason that I came all this way to find you." she admitted, her eyes settling on his as they rose.

"Paranoia spreads, you see. Particularly when amongst powerful men." she laughed under her breath and her head tilted.

"Blood. Yours in particular." she said, planting her elbow on the table and resting her chin atop her fist. "I'll pay, of course.." she smiled.

 

[Tal]

The table was flipped, except Tal didn't react with indignation.

Instead he burst out into laughter. The cigar nearly fell from his lips as he chortled in her face, head shaking as though he had just watched a madwoman defenestrate her husband. "Absolutely fucking not."

His head shook from side to side.

"I know what can be done with that." Tal's face suddenly became serious. "You'd have to kill me to get it, Sweetheart."

Even if Tyre was burning down.

 

[Calliope]

"Oh come on Tal don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be. It's a fair deal, you've nothing to lose from it but a few vials of blood. Name your price." she frowned, folding her arms like a petulant child as she scowled at him.

She came all this way. She wasn't taking no for an answer, and if that meant killing him then, well that's what she'd have to do.

 

[Tal]

He laughed again. "Fuck. No."

Tal repeated.

"Maybe your little handmaiden here hasn't explained everything you could do with even a drop of my fucking blood." The Prince said with a scowl. "You, no, him getting my blood would be like wrapping a collar around my throat."

Tyre wasn't known for it's blood magic. Theirs was a different sort of craft, but the sorcerers back home knew well enough what could be done with such binding properties. Calliope could have his blood over his cold dead body. "Why don't you ask one of my brothers?"

He prodded, kicking the chair back and standing.

"Senec always fancied you." Tal said with a gesture, taking half a step back.

 

[Calliope]

Calli let out a quiet growl in frustration. "I've absolutely no interest in putting a collar around your throat. A noose, maybe." she added in a mutter.

She stood as he did, a determined frown on her brow. Xander stood too, the air alive again with that static spark and earthy scents. "Your brothers aren't the same - and I had Senec, he wasn't that great." she shrugged nonchalantly and settled a hand on her hip.

"Will you at least hear me out? I just, need a little of what you have, that's all.." her brow quirked.

Xander muttered her name, a simple warning to be cautious about what she said. Apparently her abilities made her rather valuable, and rather sought after. Who wouldn't want a weapon that wield any sort of magic imaginable with nothing more than a few drops of blood?

"I'll swear the Gods' Oath if I have to, that I won't use it against you in any way." she offered.

 

[Tal]

Tal glanced over towards Xander.

A thousand thoughts ran through his mind, most of them utter and complete paranoia. He rarely trusted anyone at all, least those who came from Tyre. Even less so those who were from other Royal families. Another quick look at Calli.

The jest about his brother...was it a jest? Didn't matter in that moment, though he would file it away for later in case he saw his brother again.

"I'll hear you out." He seemed to come to a standstill, the gradual retreat stopping. "But."

Tal glanced to Xander. "He leaves."

It was doubtful that she would keep any conversation they had away from Xander at a later date, but she had already slipped up once. Perhaps without the slave present he would be able to take a little bit more from her tongue.

 

[Calliope]

"Like fuck am I leaving her with y--" Xander started, but Calliope turned to look at him with a look that caused the words to turn to stone in his throat and he silenced reluctantly. She smiled at him, her eyes narrowing with genuine warmth.

"It's alright. I'm quite safe here." she nodded in assurance and her guardian sighed, casting a dark look over Tal as he walked past the man toward the stairs.

"I won't be far." he assured and warned all at once.

 

[Tal]

Tal seemed to linger for a moment, standing in place in the center of the tavern as he watched Xander walk away. There was a small, smug smile on his face. Yet he said nothing as the former slave stepped away from the two Tyrians.

After a moment, Tal slowly wandered back to his chair.

He leaned down, scooping the seat from the floor as he sat himself down. The scent of his cigar smoke filled the air as he let out a long breath. "Alright."

Tal said, looking up at Calli.

"What do you need the blood for?" He asked, leaning forward in the seat. Fingers twisted around his cigar, taking another slow drag.

 

[Calliope]

"Do you enjoy being as unlikeable as you are?" Calli asked, shaking her head at the smile the man wore as he watched Xander leave.

She sat as he did, her nose wrinkling slightly at the thick scent of cigar smoke and her hands folding atop the table. She was quiet for a brief moment of consideration. She knew she couldn't trust him, but she wanted what she wanted.

"Your father tried to have me killed. I said I volunteered to come here, I only half lied. My father wouldn't allow me to stay until this mess is sorted out." she sighed.

"I discovered, quite recently, that though I don't possess any magical talents of my own, that in consuming the blood of those who do, I can adopt their abilities for a time. I've quite the little collection already but.. nothing quite like yours, i'm afraid. Like I said, i'd pay well. And I want to return home knowing that I can protect myself..."

 

[Tal]

"It's one of my favorite things about myself." Tal said with that same self satisfied smile.

An expression that quickly twisted into a frown as Calliope described her 'talent'. He had heard of something the like before. Rumors, myths and old stories. There was a familiarity to it that sparked something in the back of his mind. Yet Calli's power hardly seemed important in the moment.

The expression on his face deepened as she spoke once again of his father.

What the fuck are you doing, old man. He thought to himself bitterly. Fingers tightened on the table for a brief moment as he considered Calli's offer. Politics back home was as much a game as anywhere else in the world.

The Three Kings constantly vied for power, shifting alliances and attempting assassinations as they could. But this sounded more like madness than an organized plan.

If his father was faltering, and if his family was causing chaos...it was unlikely even his brothers would get elected next cycle. Not to mention there was zero chance of that if the mad man had them killed. Tal took a slow, deep breath. "I'll go back with you."

He stated.

"You can't have my blood." Not that it would do her much good. If she tried to take his power, she would find her fire fueled by nothing but fumes. The Ritual had sealed away his magic quite thoroughly, and he wasn't willing to give her the attempt to learn the truth. "But, once I have what I need here...I'll come with you."

No doubt she would object, but it was the only counter-offer on the table. "You'll have a bargaining chip for your father to use, and my power to protect you from my fathers blade."

That power currently didn't exist, but she didn't need to know that.

It was a good deal, as far as she was concerned anyway. She would get what she needed to return home and a little more, and Tal would get the same. With the protection of another King he would be able to return to Tyre, and hopefully sort out the mess that his father had made.

First though, he needed the third piece still in Alliria. "And..."

He added. "I can even sweeten the deal."