Saelin was fond of dramatic gestures.

  The doors flew open just as Jake placed his foot on the bottom step. Startled, he recoiled, drew his sword, ready to defend himself, and crouched slightly, tripping on his traveling cloak.

  "Hey, you!" he began, but fell silent, staring up at the figure towering over him.

  Saelin was only slightly shorter than Petros. Hunched over and wrapped in a cloak despite the heat, he swept the gathered party with his amber eyes and shrugged. Jake Farian stepped back, studying him in astonishment. The man before him was not an old man like Petros or Nubel, but someone in his forties, with a sharp, clean-shaven chin, thin dusky skin, a hooked eagle’s nose, and messy, filthy hair sticking out in all directions. His entire body twitched restlessly, his long, sinewy fingers and thin, pale lips trembled, but his bottomless, hypnotic, motionless eyes showed no trace of emotion.

  "I presume I am addressing Their Majesties, King Emerlun, King Jake, and His Holiness Raniot—though of course, we have not met. I also presume I know the purpose of your visit, though I’m surprised you arrived so late."

  He spoke in a hushed, insinuating tone, drawing out his words slightly.

  "Professor Saelin?" said Emerlun, riding closer to the steps and halting his horse beside Jake.

  "I’m not even surprised that you came in person, rather than sending envoys. You’re right, the matter is delicate and requires a private conversation. The only question is, who advised you to visit me?"

  "That’s not important," Emerlun replied. "What matters is something else. Namely, that according to our information, the diamond known as the Lake of Aktida, discovered last year by Professor Nubel’s expedition, is currently in your possession, and that Nubel was murdered by your hand."

  Jake looked at Saelin with hatred, stepping back a few paces from the staircase and only slightly opening his mouth, as if choking on a stream of curses directed at the professor. Saelin smirked.

  "I can guess," he said. "But let’s not get distracted—besides, it truly doesn’t matter. Yes, the fire in Nubelrain was the work of my agents, and yes, let it be so, Nubel himself died by their hand. It changes nothing. You’ve come to find out whether I have the Lake of Aktida? I confirm that I do."

  "Then we’ve come to take it," Jake said coldly.

  Saelin was silent for a long time, staring intently at him.

  "Follow me, Your Majesties," he said. "You may bring your personal guards, but I assure you, there's nothing to fear. We are about to have a small, pleasant, and fascinating conversation about the topic that’s been troubling you. I just believe discussing it on the doorstep is inappropriate."

  Emerlun waved a hand at his bodyguards. Jake muttered something unintelligible under his breath and stomped up the steps, his ceremonial armor clanking. Saelin took that as agreement, turned, and leisurely walked down his corridor.

  Candles burned only near the ceiling, casting soft light onto the gallery and walls adorned with tapestries and frescoes. Saelin waved his hand in the air; a small flame ignited above his upturned palm, illuminating the tiled floor. He moved toward the tall doors in the right wall of the hall, which, as Emerlun realized, led to an annex.

  The doors swung open on their own, and bright daylight from tall windows struck the envoys’ eyes.

  They were in a laboratory. The stone floor, partially covered with rugs, was lined with tall shelves filled with thousands of colorful, steaming flasks and test tubes. Alembics hissed, tubes of unknown materials stretched out, something crackled softly, and now and then came a strange chime. Massive iron constructions with numerous springs and mechanisms lay here, gears spun, powering intricate engines, and huge propellers twirled under the high ceiling. At the far end stood a wooden lectern with a desk and a wheeled chair covered in levers and switches. Saelin confidently crossed the room and sat in the chair.

  "So then," he said.

  "We need the Lake of Aktida, Saelin. Petros told us you have it," Emerlun said sharply, without preamble, stopping in the center of the hall and tearing his gaze away from the bizarre machinery with effort.

  "Now that I like. Straight to business. Well then, I can gladden you—Petros was not mistaken. The Lake of Aktida is indeed with me."

  "Saelin, I hope you understand this is property—"

  "To hell with that," Saelin interrupted. "I don’t care."

  "Is that so?" Jake Farian said mockingly. "Really? Do you care that with just one word from us, you’ll be on the scaffold?"

  "Me?" Saelin burst into laughter. He laughed long and hard, bending over in his chair in fits, while the kings stood and grimly watched his antics. Light filtered through stained-glass windows, casting dim reflections on the lectern and iron doors in the side walls. Something hummed monotonously behind them.

  "Me…?" Saelin stared at them, his mood shifting instantly. Now he looked at the monarchs with his eerie orange eyes, cold and piercing.

  "Me—on the scaffold? Hardly. I’ve waited too long; we’ve all waited too long..." He said the last phrase in a low voice, more to himself. "All your forces and your guards are not enough right now to deal with me. I have protection too, and they won’t be long in appearing if you so much as think of threatening my life or freedom in this Castle. But still, I will explain. A few things."

  He stood and paced back and forth along the desk.

  "The Lake of Aktida is with me," he repeated coldly. "I want to use it for my own purposes, because I was denied it at first by pure chance. And now it’s mine, and I intend to extract every benefit from it. You probably think the diamond is just a pretty trinket? Then know this: I spent my entire life searching for this most powerful artifact that ever existed. My patience was stretched not over years, but decades."

  "I don’t care!" Jake Farian barked. "Save your tales for someone else—we want the diamond. How do you prove it’s even in your possession?"

  "Proof?" Saelin said, surprised. "Nubel was right. You need to touch it to believe..."

  He sat down again. Pressed a lever on his chair. Several floor panels lifted, flipped over, and revealed a narrow, dark hatch. Something clattered; a mechanism rose from the floor—a table on metallic legs. On it, on a stand covered in wires, lay a diamond.

  Blindingly brilliant, glinting on thousands of tiny facets, glowing as if from within, drawing the eye like a magnet, the Lake of Aktida instantly enchanted everyone in the hall. The kings froze. Jake Farian tried to speak with a dry mouth but failed—he stared at the diamond, unable to even blink. Saelin smiled enigmatically, savoring the effect.

  "How dare you..." Raniot whispered. "How dare you... conceal something... something like that... Thief! Thief!!!"

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "You were right," Jake said. "This is... unbelievable."

  "And it fell into the wrong hands." Saelin feigned a yawn.

  "The same old story. You kings are incapable of taking what lies under your noses. Not another step!" he suddenly roared, but Emerlun, despite his words, reached out toward the Lake of Aktida. A spark flashed, and the table vanished; the hatch slammed shut. The king’s hand dropped powerlessly, but he had already recovered:

  "Guards! Seize him!"

  "Too late!"

  A flash of light illuminated the laboratory. Everything started to move, the engines roared, and fans spun on the ceiling, cooling the stuffy room. The side doors burst open with a wail, and before the royal guards could charge, they were met by terrifying metal constructs bristling with crossbows. A handful of soldiers immediately lowered their weapons, surrounding the kings in protection. A dozen hulking iron monstrosities with eyes blazing like a hundred candles slowly rolled toward them, clanking on squeaky treads.

  "You’re lucky," Saelin said calmly. "These are unfinished models; I didn’t have time to complete them in a couple of months. But they’re already programmed to destroy any threat. For now, I’ve stopped them. Try anything, and you’ll all die by these handy automatic crossbows."

  Emerlun remained silent. Jake looked around in shock, trying to process the reality of these grotesque machines. The hall quieted; the alarm stopped.

  "And now that you've stated your terms, I’ll state mine," Saelin said pleasantly. "First: The Lake of Aktida stays with me. Second: you've seen that I possess power you can’t use, because you don’t have the diamond. Which means I am stronger than you. Which leads to the third: if you don’t want a swift and devastating defeat in war, you'd better hand over the keys to your kingdoms voluntarily."

  King Emerlun Vinver felt his breath catch in his throat.

  "Otherwise, the war will be swift and bloody," came the professor’s voice, as if from afar. "You’ve seen my first toys. There will be more. And I may gain allies you could only dream of..."

  "Is this... an ultimatum?" King Jake seemed close to fainting from the sheer audacity.

  "If you like."

  "What do you want?" Emerlun asked, trying to calm himself and make sense of the absurdity of the situation. "What do you really want? What will you do even if… somehow end up on the throne?"

  "There’s not even a chance of that happening!" Jake shouted, and at that moment, the crossbows on the arms of the iron freaks twitched ominously.

  "Oh, but there is a chance," Saelin said coldly. "And what I do on the throne is my business. Lately, I’ve been greatly irritated, and I’ve decided to put an end to it. So, gentlemen? You return to Mainor with my governors, place them on the throne, abdicate voluntarily, and declare Laugdeil as my empire."

  Jake Farian might have laughed if he didn’t feel the dozens of arrows pointed at him with his skin.

  "I will never answer that ultimatum," Emerlun said sharply. "Never. If that’s the end of the nonsense you wanted to say, we’re leaving. And soon, we’ll return with enough force to raze your castle and you along with it."

  "What’s stopping me from finishing you off right here and now?"

  Emerlun froze.

  "I’m not a murderer. My rule won’t be legitimate if I simply dispose of the kings and then march into Mainor with my army. Got it? But think very carefully. You have no idea what the price will be. Do you know what the Lake of Aktida gave me? Power. The ability to create anything I wish. These machines… oh yes, they have far surpassed humans in many ways, especially in the art of killing. And the one who kills best can claim power, can’t he? If I want to, my might will crush Laugdeil under the heel of an iron boot."

  "If you want war, you’ll have it," said Emerlun.

  "How brave. How noble… and how foolish. There will be casualties. There will be blood. Entire cities will burn. Do you want that, Emerlun?"

  "You’re bluffing. You have nothing but these iron toys. Sure, they might scare off a few guards, but what will you do when an army comes for you?"

  "Oh, Emerlun, you’ll find out soon enough!" Saelin laughed. "You’ll get a chance to see that the army of Aktida, even all of Laugdeil, doesn’t scare me. But remember, all you have to do is beg for mercy—and I’ll end the game."

  "There’s nothing more to discuss!" Jake barked, turned, and marched out of the laboratory.

  Saelin laughed loudly. Emerlun looked into his face one last time and backed away from the madman. An unpleasant, sticky fear crawled over his skin.

  "Wait for summer, Emerlun!" the professor shouted after him. "The storm is near! The prophecy is coming true, you know it, and there’s no escaping it! Soon, very soon the rivers of Aktida will run red with blood, and your only chance to avoid it is to trust me and surrender your power willingly, right now! You’ll learn everything soon, but it will be too late! Too late! Too late!"

  The final word echoed under the arches of the laboratory and through the dark hallway where the kings and their entourage fled the castle like frightened children.

  ***

  The black magic sphere glowed slowly, sparks flitting inside and beginning to swirl in a circle, but they refused to form a clear image—the connection was weak. Petros understood why. It was because Saelin had already surrounded his tower with a barrier of protective and signaling spells that disrupted any magical interference. But then the sphere flared up, the sparks scattered, and the image formed: a dark room, tapestries on the walls, and a canopy bed.

  "Come on," Petros whispered. The sphere lay on his lap. He knew Saelin would feel the call, no matter where the professor was.

  The bedroom door, reflected in the sphere’s surface, flew open, and a man froze in the doorway. He moved hesitantly toward the receiver; even in the gloom, Petros could see confusion on his face. Understandable.

  "Nubel? Damn it, is this a ghost?"

  "You could say that," Petros replied quietly, leaning closer to the orb. "Considering everything I had to go through to be here now…"

  "Oh, it’s you," Saelin muttered after a pause. "Honestly, I was hoping the next time I saw you would be when I had the chance to slit your throat. I should’ve told my men to retrieve the sphere from Nubelrain."

  Petros shook his head.

  "I’ve already tried to explain that I don’t deserve your hatred… Please, Saelin, I ask you—just listen to me once. Be careful with the diamond. You’re walking on a knife’s edge. I believe you can succeed where I failed, but you must always remember what happened to me…"

  "Don’t lecture me, Petros!" Saelin interrupted. "Now listen to me. You thought you fooled everyone again, that people would believe you and play along? Maybe that works with your little errand boys… but not with me. Don’t try to give me orders. This time, I’ll do everything myself."

  "Saelin…"

  "You still think you’re the main player in this game? Haven’t you realized yet? Your time is over, Petros. You lost the moment you rose from the dead and reached out to me. You see, I fooled you just like you once fooled me. Know this—I still hate you, Petros. You once convinced everyone you were dead, but I knew it was too good to be true, and that the world would see your disgusting face again… But now it doesn’t matter. The Lake of Aktida is mine. And I’ll use it however I want!"

  Saelin laughed with a hoarse, ragged laugh, squinting in wild, unhinged ecstasy. Petros, sitting on the bed in a small room, felt himself go cold.

  "And don’t try to contact me again. I don’t want to see your vile face. If you show up here in person, I’ll kill you. And now…" Saelin stepped up to the sphere and lifted it high over his head. "Goodbye."

  The room flew through the air, Saelin’s face turned upside down, and the carpeted floor rushed up toward Petros. Then came a deafening crash and the sound of shattering glass, and the image in the sphere went dark instantly. Petros recoiled, clutching his pitch-black receiver in trembling hands.

  Saelin stared at the shards for a long time. Then he took a deep breath and turned to the person who had been sitting in the shadows of the room the entire time, someone Petros couldn’t see through the sphere. The person was wearing a dark cloak, and their face was hidden by a hood.

  "I repeat my request," Saelin said. "I’ve done what was required of me. I want him dead."

  "We grant that request," his companion replied. "Petros is no longer needed. He has one final task. He must visit us."

  "When?"

  "In the fall. Wait about a month. Then you can do whatever you want with him."

  Saelin nodded. His companion stepped out of the shadows, removing their hood and opening the cloak. It was a Nocturn woman with black curly hair. A necklace with a ruby hung on her chest.