Devourer

Chapter 83: Smoke and Mirrors

I looked up at the walls of Averlin and I couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. I sent a mental command to my soldiers to remove themselves from their assault positions under the city. It looks like taking Averlin will be bloodless… well relatively bloodless…

I heard the gate start to rise as the city opened its gates to the army that was outside its gates. Yet Cecilia didn’t order the army to march through the gates. That was because there was a show. I scanned the fully manned walls and the soldiers of Averlin were all standing in neat lines with the banner of House Averlin flying proudly in the wind. I could see the banner of Tralis burning along the walls and there were lines of men stripped of their arms and armour standing on the edge of the wall. I could hear them weeping and I could see the nooses around their necks.

Then I spotted a man in ornate gold armour appear at the top of the gate house. It looks like he was about to speak.

“Empress Cecilia, we thank you for rescuing and protecting the members of house Averlin!” the man shouted from atop the wall.

“And you are?” I asked, my booming voice easily travelling over to him and the man flinched for a moment. He turned his gaze to Cecilia as if expecting a response.

“My friend asked you a question.” Cecilia said her voice easily carried over to him thanks to magical amplification.

“I am the commander of the Royal Guard of Averlin.” the man replied in a shout so that he may be heard from such a distance.

“I assume this is some sort of human theatre to show that you wish to swear loyalty to our Empire?” I said as I turned to look at the line of weeping men.

“Yes…” the man replied softly, forgetting for a moment that if he doesn’t raise his voice most can’t hear him. I have no problem of course, I could hear a pin drop in the middle of a rock concert. He soon realised this as he opened his mouth to reply.

“Then get on with it.” I said cutting him off and he visibly recoiled in shock.

“I can hear you just fine, get on with it. I have things to do.” I said dryly and he nodded mutely.

I am sure this was supposed to be very dramatic, with the line of soldiers standing at attention, the flag of Tralis burning and those men with nooses around their necks. I can see it now in my head…

WE PLEDGE OUR ALLEGIANCE TO THE AVERLONIAN EMPIRE!

They will shout something like that, then they will kick those idiots off the wall. Depending on the length of the rope the heads might end up being tugged off. They will push them off in unison of course, being synchronised makes it more dramatic. Then there will be people to greet us as we parade through the streets, maybe throw some rose petals or rice grains. Then at the palace the Royal Guard and the soldiers will kneel before Cecilia and pledge their loyalty to the new Empire. Cecilia brought Maria along so she could properly accept oaths of fealty. Maria had chosen to take the Duchy of Averlin so she would be ruling from her ancestral seat. Then there were the pleasantries and then we were off to burn Tralis.

“Empress Cecilia, the city of Averlin pledges allegiance to the Averlonian Empire!” the head of the Royal Guard shouted.

And there it is…

“Averlin will be slaves to Tralis no longer!” the head of the Royal Guard declared and I watched as the soldiers kicked the men with a noose around their necks off the wall. There were screams of terror as their bodies fell.

I wonder if they rehearsed this?

Then I saw some of them snap to a halt as the rope pulled taut. Others on the other hand had their heads yanked off and their bodies fell spinning to the ground before cracking on the grass.

Guess it wasn’t that well rehearsed, they got the length of the rope wrong…

“The ropes were too long…” Cecilia said nonchalantly..

“So it would seem.” I replied.

“Unless…” Cecilia muttered.

“Unless?” I asked.

“Unless they wanted to show they have a blatant disregard for their lives and bodies. They would rather risk the rope pulling their heads off like the cork of a wine bottle than compromise on the spectacle.” Cecilia said.

“You humans are so odd. If you wanted to send this kind of a message, couldn’t you just kill them and send a letter. I really don’t understand all this theatre shit, I know how to do it but really? Why does it work so well?” I asked dryly.

“Humans are just like that friend.” Cecilia replied with a wry smile.

“I mean if you wanted it to be flashy for something like this why not just put a big sign on the gate and then use some fireworks or something? You humans like fireworks right?” I asked.

“We do… but it’s a little bright out isn’t it?” Cecilia said as she raised her head to look at the bright blue sky.

“Huh… good point. Then I guess we could have come at night?” I replied as I looked up as well.

“I suppose so… That is if they decided to use fireworks…” Cecilia said as she turned to look at me.

“Well yeah, obviously.” I replied.

To be honest all of this was just another show. The entire army could hear us and I could sense many behind us were quite unnerved. As to why, well considering the circumstances, we are sitting outside a city that has just raised its gates to us after watching a very graphic execution. In response the two of us have this idle chit chat which shows a complete disregard and disdain to the mannerisms and practices of humans. It was a completely irregular and disconcerting reaction. 

The funny thing about humans and humanoids in general is that even if something absolutely terrible happens as long as they are used to it they are quite calm about it. But if you do something completely strange, something that is completely unexpected, well then they start to feel a different kind of fear. The unknown entrances and much as it terrifies. Humans fear what they do not understand and they will never understand what I am.

Eventually we decided perhaps we should probably actually occupy the city that had just opened its gates to us but we didn’t actually want to occupy it. We had bigger fish to fry. The plan was that if Averlin resisted we would take it the old fashioned way. But if they acted like good little children and just let us in, the local forces could send some of their soldiers to join us while leaving a small force behind to keep the peace.

But of course we needed to do some showmanship. We needed to make it look like we were welcoming the city back in the fold. That was why I was now moving next to Cecilia’s open top carriage as rose petals landed on me. 

I looked around and saw the people cheering ecstatically, they must have really hated the Volerians to cheer on something like me. I’m not human, in normal circumstances I would be horrifying to look at. It looks like humans will cheer anything that seems like a saviour. Well not seems, we did intend to make their lives better. Not because we liked happy people, it's that happy people were more productive and less likely to cause annoyances like rebellions. It’s like a “here have some prosperity now shut the fuck up and get to work” kind of deal. 

To be fair that is the arrangement most humans have with their rulers anyway. Rulers rule, give good life, people happy with good lives, then they don’t rebel and try to tear the rulers to pieces. Pretty straightforward transaction actually…

Eventually we arrived in front of the palace, Cecilia and Maria who is now a lot saner thanks to a little help from me walked up the steps to address the people. The funny thing I noticed was that the people seemed to adore Cecilia but they didn’t seem to care that much about Maria. I guess it makes sense, when you get down to it Maria may have been sacrificing herself for the good of the people but they still disliked her for “sleeping with the enemy”. So it's natural that these ungrateful lemmings wouldn’t be that enchanted with her return as their ruler. Not to mention it was obvious that Maria was having her throne returned to her on a plate.

Cecilia on the other hand has revived the old empire and considering she was here it means that she had managed to smash the Tralis army. Also considering she was here so soon, the victory must have been quite decisive with little to no time for post battle recuperation. 

Although… as I listen to Maria speak… I could see the opinions of the people shift slightly. I had a look in her mind after all and I realised something. Well not realised something, it was more of a new appreciation for the fragility of the human mind. My past assessment of Maria was that she was an idiot and had no handle on her emotions. Well the no handle on her emotions was still true. I had two of my arms melted off when I was fighting Azatherine and after comparing the pain of what Maria went through… well let’s just say I don’t feel what she went through was a big deal. Honestly, having a long object stuck into you isn’t that bad as losing a limb. Even when I transform it actually hurts more than what she went through. When I want to change the shape of my limbs my body breaks all the bones and digests the biological material before regrowing it into the desired shape.

So no I don’t think the penetration, the bites, the slaps and strangulation was that big of a deal. What’s more there was this weird thing that I really don’t understand. Apparently if that Prince goes at it long enough with Maria it starts to feel a little good and for some reason that bothers her. Isn't pleasure a good thing? Like if something happens that you don’t like and if it goes on long enough and you start to like it shouldn’t that be a plus point? For me that would definitely not be the worst part about the whole thing. The whole logic of that line of thought made no sense. 

Maria was calling herself a whore and a slut which is weird, because first off technically she was selling her body just in an unconventional way so her being a kind of whore was true. I thought that would be very clear from the outset. Secondly, why would she be a slut? It’s not like she wanted this situation so how can she be a slut? Lastly, how does a physical reaction from vaginal stimulation relate to any of the two things above? The physical reaction would be there with or without the above two points. That’s like getting embarrassed over the fact that you need to eat or urinate. Not what you eat or where you urinate, the fact that you have to do such things to stay alive. If anything it’s my predecessor's fault since they made the humanoids. So in a way this supposedly negative aspect of human physiology is the fault of the Firstborn.

I understand that action A causes reaction B but I have no idea what causes A to result in B. I suppose I don’t need to understand it, I just need to know what to do to get the desired reaction. That is easy enough, it’s the reason why it works that puzzles me. 

Eventually the speech ended to the cheers of the people and we proceeded into the palace. Honestly I really hated this part of the job, I feel like a dog that is being forced to wear a stupid costume. But hey, at least it works really well…

“Great Beast.” I heard Maria say as soon as we stood in front of the throne.

“Hmm?” I asked as I turned lazily to look at her, she was beaming happily at me. She was doing much better after my treatment. Devourer Psychiatry! Standard rates are one Grahanam Crown an hour. Fix all your stupid emotional problems born from the imperfections and the failings of your race today!

“I never got the chance to thank you for all that you have done for me.” Maria said warmly.

“It wasn’t that much of a problem for me. It was quite a trivial task.” I replied calmly as I turned to look at the throne.

“All I had to do was get you in that shiny chair, it’s not like I had to make you powerful enough to slay a dragon.” I said dismissively.

“I suppose something like this isn’t that difficult for you.” Maria replied with a chuckle.

Technically it wasn’t that easy because I had to do the whole alteration thing on Legiana so that she could let me interface with her mind. However, I had to do all of that anyway for the whole cult thing. So the only thing I did for Maria was move my plans up a little and use my new toy on her.

“It’s funny you know after I met you… after I truly met you.” Maria mused as she looked at the throne with a gentle smile on her lips.

“I don’t recall telling you any jokes when I was in your head.” I replied dryly and Maria let out a small giggle.

“No, what I mean is that what we see is often a lie. Before you helped me my mind was fear and panic, but now I see so clearly thanks to you. When you entered my mind I could sense what kind of creature you were. You were not malicious, not angry, not fearful, you were like a placid lake. You saw the world as it was, with no judgement or dissatisfaction, just calm acceptance.

I could tell you felt I was being stupid and foolish. But now with the benefit of hindsight I do agree. I was stupid and foolish, I was blaming myself for a crime I didn’t commit. That is quite foolish wouldn’t you agree?” Maria asked.

“Well… yeah… That’s what I said when I was in your head, remember?” I replied.

“It’s funny how our emotions are, the love I bear for my future husband is such a great drive but yet the darker emotions held me back. Sometimes I wonder if we would be better or worse without emotions.” Maria said.

“I do have emotions but I can control them. I only use emotions when they are useful, when they aren’t useful they are discarded. I can switch them off when I desire, that is the secret to it. The world where you all live now is so gentle as compared to the one I lived in. 

When I was born the strong did what they willed and the weak suffered what they must. Those who couldn’t get a grip on themselves just ended up dead as someone’s lunch or just killed for fun. The reason all of you are like this is because life is too easy. You get someone’s genitals shoved into your genitals, big deal. I’ve seen something tear out the liver of something else while it was still alive and then eat it in front of it. I’ve seen a predator incapacitate the mother and eat the children in front of her just because it preferred to do it in that order.

You want the trick to it? When something happens to you just think what is the smartest thing to do. If getting upset about it hurts your interests, then why are you doing it?” I said as I loomed over Maria.

At those words Maria let out a sardonic smile as she looked back at the throne.

“Smoke and mirrors…” Maria muttered, she said it so softly I was probably the only person that could hear it.

“What?” I asked.

“We cannot do as you ask. We are just too flawed as creatures to do as you ask. That is why we need things like this ugly chair. I don’t even like gold…” Maria said as she turned to face the throne.

“Even if we feel it we have to hold it back, when we want to scream we must hold it back. They say power is just smoke and mirrors, it is an illusion like a shadow on the wall… almost like bad theatre.

Like that little display my city showed you and Cecilia. Does it matter how you kill someone? At the end of the day they are still dead and they end up forgotten. Those men they threw off the wall were not important enough to be remembered. Come two generations no one will even know they existed…

I was doing it myself when I walked into that brutes bed chamber. I played the role even as it ate at my heart. By the end of it there was barely anything left of me, the tangled vines of despair had almost strangled all of who I was. Yet you showed me what is tangled can be untangled and for you with such trivial ease.

It’s all just a show isn’t it? Your relationship with my cousin. You act like you are equals but that isn’t true is it? You can easily destroy everything we know. My cousin's power is just that, isn't it, a shadow on the wall?” Maria said as she turned her head to face me again.

“A very small woman can cast a very large shadow…” I replied with a chuckle.

Not bad I must say, most just want to believe that me and Cecilia work together because we are the besties of friendsies. I was and am still surprised at how well this weird friendship thing was working. Don’t get me wrong we were very good friends, it was the kind of situation that made fact seem stranger than fiction. But we were not always friends, it started out as a mutually beneficial arrangement. Of course some could see that me being buddies with Cecilia was good for my health especially considering Heaven’s love for holy fire and burning things with said fire. But no one knew about her prophecy and my own prophecy. This missing piece of the puzzle changed the game significantly. 

Most of the people in this world were not that sharp, they haven’t even figured out that I’m doing this partly because of heaven. Most at best think I just don’t want the other humanoids to come and attack me. Human arrogance at its finest, as if I was bothered by anything normal humans can bring to bear…

Not bad little Duchess

Keep thinking about it and you just might figure out what is going on…