Queen of Mean

CHAPTER 20

TORI WAS now getting used to the wintery state of the Arin Tribe in her third morning in the place. She was in the middle of brewing her Chamomile Tea when a familiar firm three knocks interrupted her. Not bothering to open the door, she continued with what she was doing as she replied. "Come in!"

Tori poured another round of tea to the second teacup for her favorite guest. She did not glance at the person who entered the premises of her room. Instead, she proceeded to sip her kind of heroin. The familiar thud of the footsteps became closer until the silhouette stopped in front of her. Finally looking up, Tori greeted her guest with a polite smile. "Please have a seat, Your Grace." Tori gestured to the empty seat in front of her.

Chief Keiran, who had a solemn look on his face, took the seat in front of Tori without even bothering to glance at the served delights and tea on the table. "Your messenger brought a message from the warriors last night."

My dearest new pet has finally come back, I see.

Tori's attention remained on her tea but she was listening to him. "And I believe she brought good news?"

In her peripheral vision, Tori saw him nodded his but his grim expression remained. "It brought Chieftain Syzo Teiwar's head."

Tori beamed at his words, finally giving him the attention that he deserved. "And I presumed that you are already marching to destroy the two thousand men camped out just beyond your borders? That will be the nail to the coffin, Your Grace." Her eyes scanned the young silver-eyed chieftain. Just staring at his eyes made her involuntarily remembered a certain golden-eyed one.

"We are not killing them, Lady Victoria. And they are already outside after me and my men captured them right after your pet arrived, I am here to get you."

Setting her teacup down, Tori raised her eyebrow at him. "They did not resist, huh."

"After seeing Chief Syzo's head being displayed as we marched around their small number, they had no choice but to surrender."

"Worry not, Your Grace. They will bend their knee but do not pass judgment to the remaining chieftains yet. I believe they will be used in the future." My future. Tori could still extract the information about the benefactor of this siege. She knew that the fifteen thousand men were a militia to be used to usurp King Elphaim's throne, but Chief Keiran disrupted the plan when he declared a duel to his father and won the seat fair and square.

But the flow of the events is enough to conclude that this benefactor planned it well from the beginning, who is it? Is this related to the snake among my vassals?

"I am a proud warrior of the north, Lady Victoria. I swore to you to bring the empire beneath your feet and I plan to do that." His silver eyes were indeed a warrior's eyes. They were clear as the untainted snow of the north. They were ruthless but clear from the darkness.

"Prove it to me, Chieftain Keiran Arin. Bend the knee," Tori dared. She knew how the northerners valued their pride and when they bend their knees it would mean they would serve you for all eternity. For the warriors of the north, they would rather die than break the oath of bending the knee. This act showed that they submitted to their lifetime masters.

Silence engulfed the tiny room. The crackling of the burning wood in the fireplace was the only sound that could be heard. Tori's ruby eyes and Chief Keiran's silver eyes were accentuated from the warm light provided by the lamp and the flames from the fireplace. No one batted their eyelash as they stared at each other.