The Vampire & Her Witch Chapter 1965: A Plan for Succession (Part Two)

"...he might even have earned the right and accumulated the strength to contend for my throne..."

Reynold swallowed heavily when he heard Dirar describing everything that went with becoming Captain of the Stone Guard. Looking back, he should have expected as much. During the welcoming feast, it had been Rastlan who sat next to Dirar. At the time, he’d treated it as little different from his own father bringing a favored knight to sit at the High Table, but now, he realized how mistaken they’d been.

The mistake, he realized, came from the fact that Rastlan came from a different clan than Dirar. Reynold had been steeped in the ways of the Kingdom of Gaal for so long that he’d forgotten how inheritance worked among the Eldritch. Why should he expect Dirar to pass his throne down to his son when he could choose from among the most capable people in his empire?

The seat next to him hadn’t been given to a favored knight who led his guard. It had been given to a potential heir, who, like Reynold himself, needed to follow the lord he was meant to succeed. The training method was the same: a successor needed to follow their lord closely, to understand their lord’s plans and to become acquainted with their partners and allies... It was just that the successor no longer needed to have a blood relationship with the lord he would inherit from.

"And this," Aspakos said, turning to face Tybal. "Is why you will accept this outcome. You will preserve your own life, because Reynold will need you to watch over Aleese while he follows Lord Dirar. You will hold on to your lands because they are the inheritance of your family and you will preserve them for your son."

"Meanwhile, Reynold will achieve the ambition your family has always held," Aspakos said before Tybal could interrupt him. "A Lord General of the Southern Steppe is certain to find a fine wife, and several concubines besides. The line you feared would grow extinct will flourish like never before under the traditions of the Southern Steppe," he said before turning back to Dirar.

"And when the time comes for the Lord of the Blood of the Southern Steppe to retire at last," Aspakos said. "Who better to succeed him than the apprentice who helped him to trample the Heavens? Where better to place the head of the comet than before the whole of the Southern Steppe, so that all may benefit from the good fortune that follows in his wake."

"This is the thing of greater value that I offer you, Lord Dirar," Aspakos said. "And this is the future that accepting this solution makes possible, Lord Tybal. There are no guarantees. It is up to each of you to walk the paths that begin from this moment, and you all may still falter and fail," he reminded them.

"But for the chance of it," Aspakos said. "For the opportunity to achieve all of your aims, could you take this step?"

"How much have you seen, Aspakos?" Dirar asked directly. "How much of this is fate revealed by the founder of your order’s art, and how much of this is your own wishful desire?"

"I have seen enough, Lord Dirar," Aspakos replied. "And I have said too much already. You know as well as I do that every path may twist and wind unexpectedly once we place our feet upon it. This one requires much from all of you. Whether you choose to walk this path or search for another... That is up to you," he said, glancing briefly at Nyrielle. "Either way, I’ve exhausted my time. Thank you, your Eternity, for the indulgence," he said, bowing to the Midnight Empress.

"Well, Dirar?" Nyrielle asked, pointedly ignoring Aspakos. "What say you? If Lord Tybal allows you to take Reynold, will you fulfill all the grand promises that Aspakos just made on your behalf?"

Everyone around the platform held their breath. Even the knights of Aleese looked on with a bright shine in their eyes as they imagined their lord rising to claim one of the highest seats beneath the empresses, and rule over the lands they’d fought for their entire lives. And it would happen without any more wars or bloodshed, simply from accepting this arrangement.

Even Tybal looked conflicted. Stacked against the future that Aspakos had proposed, sacrificing himself to ensure his son’s freedom seemed... pointless. Wasteful even and beyond foolish. But would Dirar really do everything that Aspakos had said?

"I can’t promise to name him as my successor," Dirar said after several tense moments. "He will have to earn that right on his own merits. But... If he will follow me as my apprentice and if he can prove through his actions that he is more worthy than any other, then I have no objections to preparing him for the role."

"Until then, he may serve at my side as the Captain of my Stone Guard," Dirar conceded. "But if he wishes to hold that position for more than the next year, he has much to learn. Is that acceptable to you, Reynold?" Dirar said, unwilling to decide the man’s fate without hearing his own opinion on the matter.

"All I can ask for is an opportunity," Reynold said. "But if you give it to me, I swear to give it my all and be judged by my results. Father?" Reynold asked, setting a hand on Tybal’s shoulder. "Can you accept all of this? I will be away for some time, and I cannot promise how often I will visit home," he warned. "But I promise, I will not forget where I came from."

"I don’t know how I feel about this notion of you having concubines," Tybal said, seizing on the one thing that he could reasonably object to. "But your mother and I will expect grandchildren from you. Don’t stay away from your home so much that you miss your chance to build a family of your own," he demanded.

"If you can do that," Tybal said, biting his lower lip for a moment as he surrendered to what felt like an inevitable fate. "If you can do that, then I will watch over Aleese for you," he conceded. "And you may go with my blessings..."