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Treason	By : Dagian Category: +G through L > Lineage 2 Views: 832 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I own nothing, NCSoft regrettably does, I make no profit off of this story that is based on Lineage2.

Chapter List
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Asterios gave a smug smile to himself. Now he had her. She had made her mistake, embracing the dark elf would be her downfall! He strode arrogantly down the temple steps with barely restrained anticipation, shoving the gathered light elves out of his way as he approached the western gates. Once there, he fixed Caellia with a stern glare and his voice rang through the air, “What is the meaning of this?!”
Caellia flinched in Nathavin’s arms and tried to pull away from him, only to find she couldn’t. She tilted her face upwards to look questioningly at him and was surprised at his gentle, yet firm voice as he began to whisper quietly to her.
“You must face him. Pull yourself together and do not let him frighten you. You are the rightful ruler of the light elves, not him. Never forget that.” While his voice was whispered and gentle to her it was also full of intense emotion. She had to understand that she could not allow her fear of Asterios to show at this moment. Nathavin looked down into her eyes as his hands captured the sides of her face and held her still as his eyes drilled into her own with the strength of his conviction. “Never forget who you are and what you must do. You are the Queen of your people, and right now you have a duty to them. Face him, as you faced me on so many occasions.”
Caellia nodded mutely and allowed him to pull her back into his embrace briefly, content for the moment to ignore Asterios as she removed all traces of her earlier, tearful, breakdown.
Nathavin held her wordlessly as she swiped the tears from her eyes. She really was quite brave. It had taken a fair amount of courage for her to turn to him for help. He was well aware of how much that had hurt her pride. Nathavin heard Asterios’ voice break through the momentary silence and although he turned to glare at Asterios, he was aware of Caellia as she looked up at him. He didn’t turn to look at her, hoping she’d take his cue that it was time to address Asterios.
Asterios shook with rage. “How dare you ignore me? How dare you show such insolence to your elders?” He hissed through gritted teeth. “What sort of treachery are you attempting Caellia?!”
Caellia looked once more to Nathavin before reluctantly pulling away from him. Turning to face Asterios head on, she bravely confronted him. “How dare I? How dare you?! The treachery you have committed is far worse than any you would accuse me of!”
The light elven forces gathered shot one another confused looks. What were they talking about? What treachery?
“Bold words coming from one clinging so wantonly against the Lord of our sworn enemy, the same enemy I might add, that would stop at nothing to ensure the destruction of our race.”
A spell singer stepped cautiously forward and asked lowly, “What is going on?” He looked to Caellia, who was standing close to Lord Nathavin and directed his next question at her, “Caellia, my Queen, why are you siding with them?” He nodded at the dark elves to emphasize his question. “What has happened that has pushed you to ally us with our dark cousins?”
Caellia felt a rush of heat flood her cheeks at the insinuation in Asterios’ words and stepped further away from Nathavin as she decided to ignore the barb about her clinging to his side, and answered the spell singer. “The threat posed by the dark elves is nothing compared to the threat our race faces from within.” Her eyes burned brightly with righteous anger. “There are those,” she glared pointedly at Asterios, “in our own homelands that seek to usurp me from my throne. That kind of threat is more damaging than any threat posed by outsiders. It is more insidious, more devastating and far more deadly than any threat that could ever be posed by those from without.”
Asterios looked at her calculatingly, “And who do you suggest would be trying to unseat you?”
Nathavin inhaled sharply. The dragon spawn was attempting to draw her into a trap!
Caellia heard Nathavin’s sharply indrawn breath and knew that Asterios was attempting to bait her into naming him before she was ready to do so. Before she had a chance to reply to Asterios however, he continued as he began to steadily walk forward towards the pair.
“Tell us, Queen Caellia. Who do you believe is trying to usurp you?” Asterios fairly purred as he walked closer to the pair.
Nathavin sent a murderous glare at Asterios. If the elven priest thought he was going to simply walk right up to them unchallenged he was sorely mistaken. Nathavin had no intention of letting him get that close to them. He subtly withdrew his dagger and made eye contact with Asterios, issuing a silent challenge to come within striking distance.
The quick glance that Asterios had thrown at Nathavin proved the dark elven Lord was seething with fury and he halted shakily a bit farther from the duo than he had originally intended. He kept a wary eye on the withdrawn dagger as it glinted evilly in the afternoon sunlight. Perhaps Caellia had been right after all, Nathavin was not one to underestimate.
Caellia swept Asterios with her own cold gaze, unaware of the unspoken challenge between Nathavin and Asterios. She wasn’t so foolish as to fall for his little trick. She trembled slightly, in both fear of the reprisals she knew Asterios could set upon her, and in satisfaction that Nathavin would support her. With Nathavin standing behind her, giving her his support, she felt stronger. Almost as strong as she had when Goryn had been alive. No, she felt stronger than she had even when Goryn had been alive and with her, and she reveled in the feeling. Shaking her head slightly, Caellia firmly pushed those thoughts away, realizing this was not the time to examine why she felt that way just yet. Instead, she focused on her anger toward Asterios. “Nalia, come here.” Caellia commanded.
Nathavin stiffened in anger as he recognized the elven female that cautiously approached them. He had not forgotten her and he would not allow her misdeeds in his lands to go unpunished. But for now, he would have to overlook that and so he settled for simply giving the woman a deadly look.
“What has High Priest Asterios threatened me with?” Caellia asked. Her words were clipped and dripped with scathing sarcasm as she spoke his full title. Caellia’s anger was mounting by the minute. All her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her.
Nalia looked at Caellia in a state of shock as she stopped a respectable distance from Caellia and Nathavin; she was still ahead of Asterios however. She’d never seen Caellia so angry and hesitated over her answer. She was taken aback when Caellia stomped toward her and stopped mere inches from her.
Caellia whispered vengefully at her old friend, “I am still your Queen Nalia! You will answer my question!” Then in a voice everyone could hear, she repeated her earlier question. “What has High Priest Asterios threatened me with?!” Nalia nervously twitched her sword arm, unconsciously raising the blade to a more threatening position.
Nathavin’s reaction was swift and immediate. He rushed forward and pushed Caellia behind him and held his dagger in front of him in a purely defensive move. His black eyes bored into Nalia’s. “You would dare think to attack Caellia? Your Queen? It wasn’t enough for you to have disobeyed her in my homeland?” His voice was as cold as hardened steel. Nathavin couldn’t resist taunting her, “Give me yet another reason to kill you where you stand.” When Nalia did nothing he snapped out, “Drop your sword elf.”
Nalia swallowed convulsively and did as she was bid, while spluttering out, “My humblest apologies, it was not my intention to threaten her.” She could see that Nathavin was prepared and quite willing to kill her, both for her apparent threat here and her earlier trickery in his homelands. She doubted anyone else had even heard him voice his threat. The very tone of his voice, a low, soft and tightly controlled sound, let her know that he had every intention of killing her if she further threatened Caellia. She was amazed he had not killed her yet. One look into his eyes clearly told her he wanted her dead at that very moment but for some reason was holding back. Nathavin’s angry voice broke into her thoughts.
“Answer your Queen.” Nathavin ordered Nalia loud enough so that the onlookers could hear him. The dagger in his hand stayed steady, never wavering in the slightest as he held it pointed at her, ready to defend Caellia if Nalia decided to attack.
Caellia looked on from her position off to the side where Nathavin had pushed her. It disturbed her to see Nalia in that position, but she held her tongue in check. She had to trust that Nathavin had acted in her best interest and so she let him handle Nalia as he saw fit, although she was curious as to just what he was telling Nalia.
Asterios glared hard at all of them in turn. “Nalia, do not answer Caellia. She has clearly become ensnared in Lord Nathavin’s wretched scheme.” He raised his voice so as to be heard by all the light elves, “Queen Caellia has demonstrated an inability to carry out her duties as our reigning leader.”
Caellia began to rage at him but stopped as Nathavin turned to look at her slightly and shook his head no. Caellia looked to him in disbelief, yet she refrained from interrupting Asterios. That did not however stop her from trembling in anger as Asterios continued his act of removing her as their Queen.
“She has demonstrated a shameful and harmful lack of judgment. She thinks to ally us with our sworn enemies! Indeed, our very nemesis!” He looked over the crowd of light elven warriors, judging their reactions. They were following him so far, but he needed to solidify it. To do that, he would have to ensure that some of the blame landed squarely on Nathavin himself. “She has been blinded! Lord Nathavin has blinded her! He has corrupted her! That has been his intent from the start!” Asterios fixed his gaze on Nathavin, “He abducted her many cycles ago, intent on using her to destroy our race!”
Nathavin merely watched Asterios, keeping a tight rein on his mounting fury. The time would come when he would bury many arrows in that fools heart. And he would savor that time when it came. His ears picked up on Kattath quietly comforting and calming Caellia and handing her the bow that had fallen to the ground earlier. He knew that Kattath had picked up his own bow from where he’d flung it and was now waiting to hand it back to him. However, he still stayed where he was with his dagger poised ready to rend Nalia’s soul from her body should the elven woman attempt to pick her sword back up.
“He has long planned to turn her against her own people and he has succeeded!” Asterios loudly proclaimed as he continued his rant. “You saw the way she embraced him! Look as she hides behind him and his kind even now! Fearful of our wrath!”
Caellia watched morosely as Asterios continued his barrage against her. She almost didn’t hear Kattath’s soothing words and nearly dropped the bow again; causing Kattath to firmly grip her hands and force the bow into them. As Kattath pushed the bow into her hands, Caellia was aware the woman was speaking to her again, this time with more determination.
“Caellia, you must listen to me. There is a good chance we will have to fight them. You must have your bow with you now.” Kattath looked at the girl and put herself directly in Caellia’s line of sight, forcing the young Queen to acknowledge her. “There is no turning back now. You must trust Nathavin and work with him. In doing so, it is imperative that you obey him in all that he asks of you. You must not show a divided front.” Kattath looked at Caellia’s aura; it was filled with uncertainty and anger, but overall showed that the girl was putting her trust in Nathavin. “I know you don’t wish to fight your own people, but this may be the only way.” Kattath felt saddened for Caellia. The young elf had really done nothing to deserve any of this.
Nathavin matched Asterios glare for glare before saying disparagingly, “Have you quite finished?” He casually strolled over to Caellia and Kattath and grasped his bow from the spell howler, leaving Nalia to pick up her sword, before he nonchalantly walked a few steps ahead of the women before coming to a halt. His air of nonchalance hid his true feelings of anger and hatred as he continued haughtily, “That was a marvelous display. Truly something to behold. One might even call it compelling.” Arrogant disdain dripped from every word. Nathavin’s voice had never risen above that of normal speaking volume, but nevertheless, it was heard clearly by all that was gathered.
Calm, far too calm, Asterios thought to himself worriedly. Truly the dark elf could pull off amazing shifts of emotion. Murderously violent one moment, deceptively calm the next. For the first time Asterios began to have serious doubts regarding the intelligence of his plan and just how far he had underestimated the dark elf. However, he had come too far to back down now. “I am declaring her unfit to rule based on the reasons I have just listed. I will be taking her place as the ruler of our people.” It was then that Nathavin did something so terrifying it had Asterios taking several steps back. He smiled, but it never reached his eyes.
“I see. You realize that you have just placed yourself in the unenviable position of becoming my prey?” Nathavin questioned slowly, a vicious smile gracing his lips.
Kattath gave Caellia a not so gentle nudge in Nathavin’s direction, urging her to stand behind Nathavin. Caellia really did not need to be there but Kattath wanted Asterios to be absolutely sure of what line he had crossed and how dire the circumstances were.
Caellia caught herself before she could stumble and made her way to Nathavin, curious of Kattath’s reasoning. She moved to stand behind him but was surprised when he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her tightly to his side. As he pulled her to him, she reached out with one hand to steady herself. She released a slight gasp as it came into contact with his chest and she felt the rest of her body gently come to rest against his at a slight angle, her chest brushing lightly against his side as his arm came around her shoulders and pressed her firmly against him. Her face burned with embarrassment, there wasn’t enough room between them for a blade of grass!
Nathavin never took his eyes off of Asterios. “You were right on one point, Priest,” Nathavin placed heavy sarcasm on the title, “I had every intention of using Caellia for the destruction of your race.” Nathavin’s voice took on a more thoughtful tone as he continued, “But Caellia fought against me at every turn. Even at the risk of her own life, she still found the courage to challenge me.” He turned to look at Caellia briefly, “Caellia showed me that her true worth was not that of a mere captive, but that of a Queen, a young and powerful Queen that would only become more powerful given time and the proper training. A Queen who deserves the loyalty of her brethren.” He passed a hard look over the assembled light elven forces.
“However,” his voice turned frosty and smothered in disdain as he turned back to Asterios, “your deception is far worse than any plan I could have conceived of. You seek to gain power from your own. You would weaken your own kind by robbing them of their rightful leader and throwing them into a chaos that would leave them weaker than any plan I might’ve conceived.” His eyes hardened and his voice steeled over, “Disgraceful. You are no better than the common, lowly Balor orcs, as they scrabble over whatever scraps they can find, stealing from one another.”
Caellia watched Asterios as his body tensed in angry frustration. “You are in no position to judge me Lord Nathavin!”
Nathavin merely nodded his head in apparent acceptance of that statement before, “But Caellia is.”
Asterios laughed openly, “Correction, she ‘was’ in a position to judge me. She’s been removed and no longer has any authority over me.”
“Your laws would allow you to remove your leader so quickly and easily? That’s absurd.” A sly look came over Nathavin’s face as he continued, “What prevents someone from just declaring the Queen or King unfit to rule for their own selfish reasons?”
The light elves looked to one another in contemplation as they began to talk amongst themselves. Nathavin had made a very valid point. The spell singer that had spoken up looked to his right and saw a sword singer in black and silver armor with wide and upraised shoulder guards, he unconsciously recognized it as an apella type of armor, as she nervously chewed her bottom lip as the tip of her slender sword made small, steady circles in the ground at her feet. “Who should we trust?” He asked her.
The sword singer flipped her long braid off her left shoulder and looked to the spell singer and whispered back, “I’m not sure.” She looked at the spell singer and noticed the rather large rip in the left leg of his dark green and white robes before she continued, “Caellia seems to trust Nathavin. Considering everything that has been said, it doesn’t appear that Nathavin is holding her against her will, nor does it look as if she’s been placed under a spell.” The sword singer looked back to Caellia and Nathavin, “I believe we should at least hear her side and find out what really happened while she was gone.”
Asterios rounded on the chattering elves before turning back to Nathavin, “Silence!” Turning to Nathavin he hissed angrily, “Do not dare attempt to interpret our laws!”
Caellia stepped forward, eager to put some much needed space between herself and Nathavin, and looked squarely at Asterios, “I would like to see our ancient texts regarding this matter.”
            Now Asterios was in a very uncomfortable position. He risked looking guilty if he did not allow her to view the scrolls, but if he allowed her to see them there was a very good chance she’d discover the scroll that detailed his part in the destruction of the dark elven lands so long ago, and he could not risk that. “No, you may not see the scrolls.” He said with finality.
            Caellia’s gaze hardened further as she took a step forward, clearly challenging Asterios. “I demand to see those scrolls Priest!”
            “I will not allow a traitor to see such valuable scrolls!” Asterios fumed at her.
            Caellia’s own fury began to climb upward swiftly, “You cannot prevent me from seeing those scrolls Asterios.” Caellia’s voice took on a deadly tone that rivaled even Nathavin’s.
            Nathavin snarled angrily and motioned to Kattath and his troops to prepare for battle once more. “Enough of this nonsense!” He leaned down slightly to Caellia, “Where are the scrolls kept?”
            “They are kept in the temple, locked in a special chest that only he and I have access to.” Caellia answered immediately.
            Nathavin merely nodded his head then his voice took on an official quality as he began to speak again, loud enough for all to hear him. “I, Lord Nathavin Rilynmitore, Lord of the Dark Elves, Lord of Goddard Castle and its surrounding territory, hereby refuse to acknowledge High Priest Asterios as the ruler of the Light Elven race. Queen Caellia, does our alliance still stand?”
            Never taking her eyes off of Asterios Caellia snapped out, “Yes.”
            “Then as we agreed, the dark elven forces will be ready to assist you should you ever request it.”
            This time it was Caellia who gave a slow, cruel smile as she watched a muscle in Asterios’ cheek begin to twitch. “Lord Nathavin,” she began in her own official tone, “I must then inform you that I have need of your assistance.”
            Kattath nodded her head in delighted approval as she watched the two of them work together. She heard the elders in the studies of Shillien begin casting their spells of strength, health, and rage and felt each spell as it was cast upon her.
            Asterios felt a cold dread settle in the pit of his stomach at the frosty quality of Caellia’s voice as she stood next to Nathavin and allowed herself to be blessed with the dark magic from the Shillien elders.
            Completely unaware of how much like Nathavin she sounded Caellia spoke. Her voice icy cold and full of deadly promise, as she gave a Nathavin-like smirk to Asterios, “I will reclaim my throne, Asterios. You were a fool to have ever tried to take it from me.”
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Treason