He was almost always hidden from mortal eyes, but not this time. Many eyes sought him. He had many enemies; he reveled in that, delighting in the challenge. He thrived on the contest, and rose to face any obstacle. It made him feel alive. He cherished anyone he drove to rage, despair, or best of all, over the edge of sanity. Nomed loved what he did, which was why he was the best at manipulating and controlling people - his puppets.
The string quartet filled the room with the music of a dancing tune, light and airy under the domed ceiling that housed a dozen crystal chandeliers. Scented oils in the censers made the room smell like spring, even though autumn approached. Black and white clad servants carried silver trays laden with wines and brandies, food from all corners of the continent covered in savory sauces, and sweets swimming in syrups. The crowd spun to the music, graceful riots of color and jewels.
Always a flair for the dramatic, Nomed swirled his short cape, and spun away from a maiden he had lured to the dance floor at the grandest ball of the season in the Kingdom of Humbrey. All thirteen noble houses attended, as well as every small-time hopeful in the realms. All eyes watched his graceful actions -- some with envy, others with desire; the movements he did without thinking were more than any other could do. The men watched with jealousy, and the women watched with lust. The charming man, who danced with the movements that could not quite be explained, was dressed simply compared to most of the men in the room. His cape was a basic black; his breeches, tucked into polished black knee boots, were a dark brown with gold buttons. A brown doublet over a cream-colored blouse – untied -- showed more chest than appropriate in a cultured gathering. Dancing without care, his pearly smile glinted in the thousand candles that lit the hall, his dark hair almost indigo and his eyes the deep blue of a stormy ocean. He smiled at man or woman, bowed to all, and startled, charmed, or confused everyone he touched.
Nomed knew what he did to people, and it made his grin grow, though he was careful that it did not become wolfish. He loved what he did, and no one could do it better. He moved from woman to woman, and stopped to kiss the hand of an effeminate nobleman. The man’s face blushed under his powder as he fanned himself to keep from fainting. The aristocrat noticed a plain-sheathed dagger peeking from under the dashing man’s cloak as he spun away to dance with another woman. Men openly wore daggers, swords, and other showpieces, often covered with gems and jewels, but Nomed’s – with its utter lack of decoration -- appeared sinister and dangerous.
Plucking a glass of wine from a tray, and a spiced shrimp from another, Nomed moved into the night air, gliding onto a balcony with a rhythmic gait. Even his walk was a dance, and every movement drew people’s stares. Popping the shrimp into his mouth, he leaned against the wide marble railing, sipped his wine, and watched the crowd. He spotted a man in a small knot of the upper crust’s finest patrons. It was an older man, slightly round and graying at the temples, who carried a jeweled walking stick, the type men his age preferred rather than a rapier or other weapon. The noble stood talking with three others. Nomed grinned as he decided how to break into the conversation. He approached the group.
“Jaeken, I need to speak to you about matters of great urgency, the fate of the land is at stake,” Nomed interrupted the discussion of the day: the comet in the sky, the Talisman.
Jaeken paled, staring at the man who had appeared from the night shadows. The other men looked back and forth between Jaeken and the stranger. They shuffled and looked towards the well-lit ballroom.
Nomed stared at Jaeken, and reached out to run a finger across a line of pearls sewn onto the doublet of one of the other men. He turned his head to look at the nervous fop as the man jerked away. The dandy’s eyes locked on Nomed’s hand in a mix of fear and excitement.
“Dandelos, you should return to your manor to check on your wife, Myrian, who was not feeling well this eve,” Nomed’s sly grin hinted of forbidden knowledge.
The man turn and fled the balcony.
Nomed turned to another of the men. “Candol, perhaps you should go with him to protect your son, Kinvin’s, life when your friend finds him with his wife?”
With a cursory bow to the two remaining men, Candol also took his leave.
The third man began to excuse himself when Nomed interrupted, “Perhaps you should stay, Alixin. This concerns the church of Jonath also, and the horrors you bring upon others.”
The two remaining men were taken aback. This unknown man, who had appeared from nowhere and spouted information each of them thought to be private, now insulted the church. Neither noble was a stranger to confrontation. They drew a breath, stood up straight, and steeled themselves for the encounter.
Nomed smiled, knowing what was about to come next.
“Lord Jaeken, do you know this man?” The second man was dressed in a long gray robe and wore the symbol of Jonath the God of Justice,.
“No, Lord Father Alixin, I do not, but I do not like what he has implied of the church,” Lord Jaeken replied.
The men puffed up and tried to comfort each other with their own importance and indignation. Humans were predictable. But then again, so were plays, yet Nomed kept going to see them. The men began the inevitable barrage of questions.
“Who are you, and why have you come?” Lord Jaeken asked, turning to face Nomed.
“That’s really not important to you, Jaeken.” Nomed left the insult of the lack of the man’s title hanging in the air. “Something comes this way, and are you prepared?” Inserting himself between the two men, he took Jaeken and the priest by their elbows and guided them towards the railing. Both men, talking at the same time, sputtered the expected responses to deny what Nomed suggested.
“Gentlemen, stop,” Nomed said in a quiet but strong voice, pausing by the edge of the balcony overlooking the city and gesturing at the night sky. “Humbrey has stood for centuries as the gleaming example of knighthood and all things associated with it. Now, it is rotting from within. You both have seen it. Jaeken, you have two sons, Cyril and Cyrus, who were closer to one another than your own testicles are to each other, and now they have split. The lads that is, not your testicles. Dire times indeed. I would watch your testicles just to be safe.”
The Lord jerked as if slapped when his sons were mentioned.
“Alixin, you have been a priest for decades,” Nomed ignored the priest’s title also. “You have hidden your affairs with married women, never been caught siring children with those women, and now you have used your God’s blessed gifts to do something horrible. You have created divisions between fathers and sons, and made brothers’ love and trust become a weapon to tear them apart.” Nomed watched the implication sink into Jaeken’s thoughts. Nomed knew part of what he insinuated was true, but often learned more by watching others mull over his intimations. It was fun watching others play with the thoughts in their heads, like watching a dog given a treat that tastes bad, but won’t spit it out.
“This Kingdom is in danger,” Nomed continued, “it is on the brink of destruction. The Talisman foreshadows many things to come, but some things can be stopped. I think you both have to consider the larger picture.”
“What is it you are getting at?” Lord Father Alixin jerked away from Nomed’s grasp.
“Alixin. Never has the church created such an atrocity as the monster you helped create from a loyal servant of Jonath, and the corruption that took seed from this abomination will lead to devastation across the land, great houses changing hands, and more than a few pregnant housemaids. Giving one man so much power is often dangerous, don’t you think? And think what would happen if certain people discovered what you had done.”
Nomed held the priest’s gaze before pointedly turning to the other man.
“Jaeken, you have sat back and let petty politics keep your lesser fighting over scraps, and in turn this has made you impotent,” Nomed smirked, “well, not in all ways, but politically it has stopped you from moving forward with plans that would have protected your allies from losing valuable assets
. How would they know that your aloofness and concern for minor nobles gain made them fall from grace, and even fall prey to the schemes of the same men? What if someone heard about such things and let it slip to the right, I mean, wrong people.”
This time Nomed held the Lord’s eyes before turning back to Alixin with raised eyebrows. The two men stared at the interloper, then glanced at one another, dropping their gaze when it met.
“But the two of you together, that would be a force to be reckoned with. You would cover all sides and contingencies, forcing others to follow just so they weren’t left behind. Your combined strength could move castles and counties.
“I know my craft well, and I love what I do. There is no one better at any craft, than someone who loves the work they do. And as you see, I love what I am doing here, which is bringing the two of you together, to help the greater good and save each of you, this country, and even the whole continent a whole lot of trouble.”
“That’s enough,” Alixin said, his face clenched as if he had just suckled a lemon,” I think we see your point.”
“Yes,” Jaeken fiddled with his belt, straightening his gloves and jeweled dagger, “what would you suggest we do?”
“Jaeken, use your influence. Rouse the knights of each of the thirteen great houses. Look to the south. Alixin, rouse the church. What happened may not have been your, or the church’s fault. Much magic lies in Malvor, the city just south of Humbrey’s lands. It has been secretive for far too long. It is time it spills some of its secrets.” Nomed stopped and looked at each man. “Go now, no more arguments. It is urgent that this begins now, and the Changing Wheel will need time to grind out what it must.”
The men turned and left; Lord Father Alixin with haste and worry in his steps, Lord Jaeken much slower but with a steady determination. Nomed almost felt pity for him, but knew the sins of the father were the sins of the sons. Soon Jaeken would be able to worry about only one, either his sons or his sins, but not both. Nomed smiled, the shadows enveloping him so that people no longer noticed him, instead walking around where he stood without realizing they did so.
The celebration sparkled and spun in its drunken haze as the night went on. Chill night air enveloped Nomed as the scent of sweat and sour wine wafted from inside. He was considering reentering the fray of a festivity, when he felt another presence in the darkness; it stole his smile from him. It returned a moment later, as he thought of the fun he would have if he could manipulate the man behind him. Nomed turned and offered a wolfish grin.
“Duke Malvornick, how nice to see you again. It has been, what, twenty-five years or more since we have spoken, hasn’t it?” Nomed asked.
Duke Malvornick stepped forward, the shadows touching him, wavering. Sometimes they flowed to meet him, other times they emanated from him in waves. The Duke was powerfully built, decked out in the finest silks and jewels; his brown hair was in a meticulous wave, shining in the dim light. Other men moved in the curtain of shadows around the Duke, but Nomed saw through the façade that hid their true forms. The beings behind Duke Malvornick were akin to demonic jackals in human form, and they were hungry.
The Duke circled Nomed, forcing him to either turn to follow him, or allow him access to his back. Nomed grinned wider at the juvenile tactic and stood still, focusing instead on one of the entourage trailing after its master. The beast stopped and leaned against a pillar, confused but not wanting to show it. Nomed watched it, letting his smile fade into a tight-lipped glare. The beast shrunk back behind the pillar as Duke Malvornick completed his circuit of Nomed and stopped, blocking his view of the creature. Nomed stared through Malvornick, in the direction of his quarry.
“Ah, it is good to see that you know not to look into the eyes of your betters,” Duke Malvornick said, picking a non-existent piece of lint from his gem-studded doublet.
Nomed looked up into Duke Malvornick’s eyes, as if he had not noticed him before. In a tone of stating a simple fact, Nomed said, “I do not notice rats, curs, or whores whose services I do not plan to purchase either. When one’s ego precedes him, much as yours does, it is unnecessary to bother to see if you are preening or not. I was just thinking of you, and much like an upset stomach predicts stinking gas, here you are. How may I be of service to you, Your Worshipfulness?” He imitated and mocked the Duke’s superior tone.
“I see you are watching my pet. Do you desire it? Perhaps you miss the taste of the flesh that helped birth you?” Malvornick asked, as if Nomed had not spoken at all. “You remember what happened when you last crossed me, just a year ago, half-breed? All the people you were dealing with died. You wouldn’t want that again, would you?”
“My dearest Duke, I do recall that. But you wound me. They died at my hand. How many city blocks did I bring to an end for the sake of destroying your fun? How much of your time and resources were lost in that endeavor in the city of Everyway?” Nomed chuckled. “Those lives meant nothing to me; they were well worth the price to watch you choke on it, and yes, I did watch. Right from the little courtyard and assembly you keep, with your drug-bought sycophants and power-hungry lapdogs. I sat amongst them and even rubbed the belly of a few of your favorites, and now they roll over for me upon command.”
“Yes, you did destroy it, but I rebuilt it, and thanks to your actions, it is better hidden than I ever could have done myself. Once again, you were my pawn.” Malvornick smirked.
“Until someone informed the brave city guards who discovered it. Now Grenedal Dragonblood was born and Hue Blueaxe was reborn, and I have again shut down your plans to bring more vermin into this world. Now, we can go back and forth on this for hours, days even, but I do not have the time nor interest in wasting time on offal such as you. If you have a point, please come to it; otherwise, please expire.” Nomed turned and sauntered towards the pillar that hid his earlier quarry.
“You would be smart not to turn your back on me, half-breed!” Malvornick growled, his silk gauntlets turning a metallic silvery gold swirl of color, spikes growing from them. “I can destroy you whenever I feel the urge,”
“Then do so, Malvornick, or go away. I doubt you want to harm your image here in Humbrey though. You may be able to destroy many people, but could you handle the whole righteous Kingdom at once?” Nomed turned and considered at Malvornick with a bland stare.
“They would destroy you if they knew what you are. Without hesitation, they would end your miserable little existence,” Malvornick said, turned on his heel, and began walking into the lit interior of the ballroom.
“Perhaps so, Duke, and perhaps one day it will happen, but today is not the day. Your plans would spoil if you moved to take action against me now. Ever wonder how much I know of those plans, Duke?” Nomed asked to the Duke’s back as he left earshot.
The next morning, more than a dozen men, women, and children were found dead in the streets of the capital of Humbrey. They had been violated and torn apart, many found partially eaten by teeth that did not belong to any animal. The authorities could not find any witnesses or survivors. One death they did not discover was in the rooms of Duke Malvornick. One of his entourage was found dead of natural causes, odd for a creature that could not die in a natural way. The only mark was a smiley face traced on its left buttock with a grease pencil left planted in the creature’s arse.