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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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Shi’nryne watched the slightly younger blade dancer from the shadows for a brief moment before announcing his presence with a cough.

            Zarvynaar whipped around quickly, his blades held before him in a guard position, before he lowered them at the sight of Shi’nryne. “Why have you called me? I have nothing new to report yet.”

            Raising an eyebrow, Shi’nryne replied stiffly. “I understand that you have nothing new to report. However, I need you to give a message to Asadar.”

            Zarvynaar scowled deeply. “What is it?”

            “I do not want Asadar to know that Caellia will be at the castle for the attack. She will be in the castle mind you. But if Asadar believes she isn’t, he might split off some of his troops to look for her, thereby weakening his attack against the castle.” Shi’nryne watched Zarvynaar closely for a moment. “You are uncomfortable performing your tasks?”

            “I do not like being perceived as a threat.” Zarvynaar glared at the darkened sky for a moment. “I am not comfortable with acting the part of spy for Asadar. I am not comfortable with having to act as though I don’t care about anyone in this castle. I don’t like having to act the part of a suspicious un-trustworthy person!” A frustrated sigh broke from him as his hands ran through his hair. “I’m not even making sense.”

            “You don’t like being a double agent.” Shi’nryne stated with understanding. He sighed deeply. “Believe me I don’t like you having to play the part either. But I do not fully trust Andraos. And in order for you to play the part effectively enough to fool him you must put yourself in the mindset of a traitor. That, by necessity, means thinking in ways you ordinarily would not.”

            “Nathavin seems to trust him well enough.” Zarvynaar pointed out. “And according to the messages you sent me he interpreted my messages to Asadar correctly.” A very dark look crossed his face. “And I most certainly did not like revealing Caellia’s pregnancy to Asadar.” That had truly rattled him and had almost caused him to balk at the assignment Shi’nryne had given him.

            “It was regrettable that we had to reveal that information.” Shi’nryne agreed. “But, it was necessary.”

            “Was it?” Zarvynaar barked out, the stress of having everyone believe him to be a traitor wearing on him. “Why was it necessary? Why is any of this necessary?” He took three angry steps toward Shi’nryne, his swords held downward stiffly. “They believe I am a traitor!”

            Shi’nryne’s gaze fell on the swords, noticing that they were slightly shaking. “It was, and is, necessary to ensure that Andraos was indeed on our side.” He looked back up and met Zarvynaar’s eyes. “The only way to do that was to convince everyone that you were what you are not.”

            “Why?” The question came out as a tortured croak. “Nathavin no longer trusts me. Caellia and Kattath no longer trust me.” He lapsed into silence a moment before snarling out viciously. “No one trusts me anymore!”

            Unknown to either blade dancer, Nathavin was listening to their conversation from around the corner. While he had not heard the complete conversation, he had heard enough to understand what was going on. Infuriated, he listened quietly as Shi’nryne continued to defend his reasoning on why Andraos’ trust had needed to be verified, and as if that was not bad enough, why it had been necessary to make Zarvynaar appear to be an enemy. Angrily he swung around the corner and glared at Shi’nryne.

            Upon seeing Nathavin, Zarvynaar tensed even further, uncertain as to what the dark lord’s reaction to him would be. He was not looking forward to facing the lord’s wrath.

            “What have I done so wrong in my leadership that has caused you to doubt my judgment in people?” Nathavin questioned in a dangerously low voice, his darkened gaze focused on Shi’nryne. A tense silence passed for the span of a heartbeat before he continued in the same deadly undertones. “What have I done to cause you to take it upon yourself to order a covert operation, using double agents, without my express consent or knowledge?”

            Shi’nryne remained silent, understanding intuitively that the questions were purely rhetorical.

            Nathavin continued to glare at Shi’nryne, for once uncertain how to handle the situation. This complicated everything! With an aggravated snort, he turned his attention to Zarvynaar. “Go to the war room and wait for me there. Go, now!” He snapped out in irritation. He waited until Zarvynaar had enough time to get out of earshot before turning his attention to Shi’nryne again, disappointment clear in his voice. “I trusted you.” Another pause. “I trusted you to train Caellia. I trusted you with her safety and well being. And yet, you turn around and do this?”

            “Nathavin I do not trust that fool Andraos.” Shi’nryne started out hotly. “He is far too eager to help us!”

            Nathavin glared at Shi’nryne for a long moment. “Asadar is losing supporters daily. I do not consider Andraos’ help to be anything more dangerous than him becoming disillusioned with Asadar’s rule as the rest of his followers have increasingly become. Andraos’ information was found to be credible. He had solid information regarding Aden castle that was verified by a group of dwarves who had been specifically sent out to verify that story.” He paused again to gather his thoughts. “This was not necessary. And to put Zarvynaar up to this…” He trailed off with a shake of his head. “What were you thinking?”

            “Worst of all, you’ve endangered Caellia.” He muttered with deep concern.

            Shi’nryne snarled out viciously, incensed that Nathavin would feel he’d placed Caellia in danger. “She’s not in any danger!”

            “No?!” Nathavin bit out incredulously. “Then what would you have me think after finding out that you ordered Zarvynaar to tell Asadar that she is pregnant?!”

            “I told him to merely hint at the fact, not actually confirm it!” His hands twitched at his sides reflexively before he remembered that his swords were still where he’d left them in his quarters. “As far as Asadar is concerned it is merely a rumor, not a fact!”

            “He doesn’t need it to be fact for him pounce on it!” Nathavin cursed expressively as his hands fisted at his sides. “Caellia is in grave danger because of your monumental lack of judgment!”

            Shi’nryne stiffened angrily and took a breath in preparation to defend himself again but was cut off unexpectedly.

            “Lord Nathavin, now is not the time to place blame.” Andraos said carefully. He was very much aware that he was interrupting two very powerful and angry elves that would much prefer to be left alone at that precise moment. “There will be time for that later. Right now we must endeavor to determine how much damage has been done by these,” he paused, looking for the correct phrase, “unfortunate actions. Then we must make efforts to mitigate the damage.”

            A suspicious look crossed Shi’nryne’s face and he bit out venomously before Nathavin could say a word. “How did you find us? How did you know to come looking for us?” The human must’ve been spying on them, he was sure of it! Shillien curse him to the underworld!

            Andraos held his gaze unflinchingly. “Shi’nryne isn’t it?” At the blade dancers curt nod, he continued. “I would imagine that half the castle has heard the argument taking place here.” His look slid to Nathavin, “I may be speaking out of turn, and if that is the case I apologize now, but the two of you weren’t exactly being quiet.”

            Nathavin’s scowl deepened considerably as he realized just how loud the argument had gotten. He turned his furious eyes on the human for a moment before relaxing ever so slightly. It was purely his and Shi’nryne’s fault the human had come to investigate such a disturbance. Matter of fact it was probably lucky that it was only Andraos who had come to see what was going on. Of course on the other hand, had he and Shi’nryne been more careful there would have been no disturbance to investigate at all.

            “You are speaking out of turn, human.” Shi’nryne growled viciously.

            Glancing sharply at Shi’nryne, Nathavin bit out harshly. “I am the one to determine who is or who isn’t speaking out of turn.”

            “Nathavin how do we know he wasn’t intentionally spying on…”

            “Lord Nathavin.” He corrected, placing heavy emphasis on his title. Fixing Shi’nryne with a hard glare, “You seem to have forgotten your place these past few months, my old friend.” Nathavin was furious. “Besides,” he continued as he swept Andraos with another discerning glance, “he is in night time attire. I hardly think that he would go spying on one of us in anything less than his armor.”

            Andraos inclined his head in agreement with that assessment. Truth be told he wouldn’t have gone spying on either male in front of him without one other person with him at least.

Seeing that Shi’nryne was not going to argue that point, Nathavin turned his attention back to the original problem. Shi’nryne’s lack of judgment could have dire results. “Your method of training Caellia, while harsh, never put her in harms way. But this…This could jeopardize everything we’ve worked so hard for. I cannot simply turn my back on this.” His voice turned from anger to one of distress as he stared at his friend, “I cannot let this oversight go unpunished.”

            Shi’nryne drew himself up to his full height and gave a curt bow, acknowledging Nathavin’s position. “As you wish, Lord Nathavin.” After a moment’s hesitation he continued in the same respectful, though no less agitated, tone. “My deepest and most sincere apologies for any perceived wrong doing.”

            Nodding, Nathavin stayed silent for a moment. It pained him to have to discipline his friend. “I will decide on your punishment later. For now, we must go see about undoing this,” he searched for the correct word, “error.”

            As they made their way through the castle, Nathavin sent a guard to inform Kattath of the impending meeting and that her presence was required along with his top generals.

            When the guard found Kattath, she was with Caellia. Since Nathavin had not expressly told him that Caellia was not included in the meeting, he did not think twice about speaking of it in front of her. Kattath and Caellia shared worried looks. Whatever the meeting was about it was obviously very serious as it was very late at night.

            Upon entering the war room, Caellia caught Nathavin’s gaze and instantly knew he wasn’t thrilled about her being there. Instinctively she raised her chin up a notch and arched a delicate eyebrow, silently daring him to vocalize his disapproval. Kattath had informed her of his not wanting her to take part in the battle and Caellia most certainly did not agree with that. She had as much at stake in this fight as he did and she would not be shut away while others fought.

            Nathavin glared at Caellia for a second before turning his gaze on Kattath. Clearly she had informed Caellia of his decision. His mouth tightened in frustration. Did no one listen to him anymore? His gaze slid back to Caellia and glowered at her for a moment before deciding that for now he would let her win this particular battle. However, his expression darkened as he continued to stare at Caellia, they would discuss this later.

            A shiver ran down Caellia’s spine. She had won, for the time being. But his look had made it perfectly clear to her, this fight wasn’t over. Her gaze swept around the room taking in the other occupants. When her eyes landed on Zarvynaar, she simply stared. Why was he there?

            Kattath had also noticed Zarvynaar’s presence and she immediately went on her guard. What in Shillien’s name was going on?

            Slowly Nathavin explained what had occurred, prodding Shi’nryne and Zarvynaar to clarify as needed. As he’d expected there was a brief moment of silence before the room burst into a cacophony of sound. Confusion reigned supreme for several long and tense minutes while accusations and insults were flung around the room with abandon.

Surprisingly it was Caellia who restored order to the room by taking a handful of miniature figurines that was meant to represent different siege machines, such as the hog cannon and the like, and flung them across the table. The resulting shower of ivory, ebony, and bone pieces pelted anyone standing within a few inches of the table. She met each of their incredulous gazes head on before saying in glacial tones. “Will you stop behaving like children?”

Nathavin stared at Caellia in surprise. It was clear from her expression as well as her voice when she’d spoken that her temper had been sparked. He briefly considered reining in her rather acidic temper. But as he caught sight of her ice blue eyes dancing around the room and freezing each general into silence in turn with the force of her glare and a sharp tongued reply, he began to feel more than just surprise. Shillien but did she look impressive asserting her authority! Slowly he edged into the shadows of the room. He could call the meeting back into order at anytime he wanted, for now however he would sit back and enjoy watching the beautiful creature that was his alone.

Kattath watched Nathavin as he all but melted into the shadows of the room. A small smile broke out onto her face. She didn’t have to see auras to know what he was up to! He intended on enjoying watching the display of Caellia’s infamous, but rarely shown, temper. Biting her lower lip to keep from laughing, she turned her attention to the rest of the room, taking the time to read each of their auras closely while their attention was focused solely on Caellia.

When she came to Zarvynaar however her breath caught. He wasn’t focused on Caellia. He was focused on her. Immediately she closed her gift off with a small shudder. Quickly she averted her gaze elsewhere, sending a clear signal for him to leave her alone. After a few minutes she cautiously opened her gift again and subtly read his aura only to find in consternation that he was still focused intently on her. A low growl of frustration escaped her as she turned to face him and forced herself to read his aura closely and interpret it. Her eyes widened at what she discovered. This would not do! Raising her chin in defiance, she glared at him.

            Zarvynaar lifted his own chin as a slow grin spread across his face as she defiantly stared at him. She thought to challenge him, how amusing. She would soon learn that he rather enjoyed a good challenge.
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Treason