Chapter 240: Dianne's Changes

After a hurried luncheon, each retired for their respective midday rest.

Rulance returned early to his quarters, while Ronin was drawn into the courtyard by Blayton for a test of arms.

Blayton possessed the twin affinities of lightning and water; though the exact depth of his attunement remained unknown, that he had mastered the surging thunder within a mere matter of days suggested it was no lesser talent.

As they sparred, the lightning would course through the Flowing Flame Blade into Ronin's flesh, sending ripples of numbing static through his frame.

Though the current intensity of Blayton's lightning was insufficient to sway Ronin, such a numbing sensation would wax far stronger against a silver knight of the storm, a peril against which he must needs guard.

Fortunately, the defense proved no great labor; he required only his own battle qi to wall off the encroaching lightning, without any particular need for insulating garb.

Throughout the half-hour encounter, Blayton naturally endured a constant thrashing, yet his spirits remained entirely unmarred, growing only fiercer with each setback.

Even after Ronin suggested a respite, Blayton lingered in the courtyard, retracing the steps of their contest, weighing his faults and pondering how he might answer them.

"A true zealot of cultivation,"

Ronin murmured with a sigh, taking the towel offered by Hallward to wipe his face before motioning for the man to follow him from the yard.

"Hallward, has something befuddled Lady Diane?"

Ronin handed the cloth back to the steward, "She strikes me as somehow altered from before."

"I cannot say what has transpired with the Mistress, my lord."

Hallward hesitated for a brief spell, as though pondering where such a tale might begin.

After a long silence, he spoke: "I only know that since the Mistress returned from Black Python City last, she did not stir from her chambers for two or three days, and when she did emerge, her disposition seemed somewhat estranged."

Ronin nodded slowly, harboring a silent conjecture: could Orson have laid the blame for his misfortune at the Castle of the Black Mountains upon Diane's shoulders?

Surely it had not come to that; Orson himself had insisted upon challenging Rulance, and if memory served, Diane had even urged him against it.

"Should you wish to learn more, young master, perhaps you might inquire of the Marquis himself."

Hallward counselled, "When the Mistress departed for Black Python City, the Marquis sought her out beforehand."

Ronin's eyes kindled; could this be some machination of Rulance's?

Meanwhile, having concluded her midday repast, Diane was tending to the flora she cultivated along the veranda of her small courtyard.

Her watering done, she reclined upon a chair to bathe in the sun's warmth, and in that state between waking and slumber, her thoughts drifted once more to the events of that afternoon in Black Python City.

As Orson's daughter, she had returned to her ancestral home to visit her grievously wounded sire, only to be met by a father who refused her presence, and the vitriol of her brother, Barrington, the heir to Black Python City.

The very conjecture Ronin found somewhat absurd had indeed been the pretext Barrington used to castigate Diane.

The man had even proclaimed he would no longer concern himself with Blayton's affairs, and that even should Rulance restore Ronin's birthright, they would offer no interference.

That quarrel had endured for an age, and Diane had defended herself for just as long, yet it availed her nothing.

In the end, it was her uncle, Alan Hyde, who stepped forward to part them, offering counsel to both sides.

Ultimately, Alan had proffered his advice—that Blayton take Karima to wife.

Thus, Blayton would stand both as Earl Orson’s grandson and Barrington’s son-in-law, rendering his claim to the succession far more legitimate.

This seemingly fair proposition, however, pierced Diane's heart like a blade, leaving her in bitter torment.

For before her departure, Rulance had sought her out for a private audience.

Aside from bidding her convey a simple "Are you well?" to her father, the Marquis had spent the greater part of their meeting foretelling the Hyde family's next moves before her very eyes—

They would have Blayton wed Karima to sire an heir, and upon Rulance’s demise, they would slay Wiggins first, then Blayton, and finally elevate the infant, likely still in swaddling clothes, to the lordship of the Black Mountains.

When Alan uttered those selfsame words, Diane felt a profound weariness of the soul.

Once, she had innocently believed her father and brother championed Blayton merely because he was their kinsman, and that a Black Mountain under their nephew's rule would naturally favor the Hyde family.

Her only duty, she thought, was to exhort Blayton to cultivate diligently, to grow strong enough that he might never be a puppet to others.

But when Rulance’s dark prophecy verged on reality, terror gripped her.

She was but an ordinary woman, incapable of besting a fierce hound, and before these extraordinary beings who dealt in casual slaughter, she could alter nothing.

Even should she sacrifice her virtue to win over her former suitors, the mightiest among them was but a silver knight, helpless to turn the tide.

Yet, fortunately, a choice still remained to her.

"I had best simply tend to my flowers."

Diane murmured as she lay upon the chaise, drifting into a deep slumber beneath the mantle of sunlight.

By the afternoon, Wiggins had returned to the citadel.

Upon receiving the tidings, Ronin paid him a courtesy visit.

Yet the man was deep in council with several officials of the Black Mountain City, deliberating over the collection and transport of grain and armaments; he exchanged only a few brief words with Ronin before returning to his labors.

Beholding Wiggins’ focused and industrious mien, he scarce seemed entirely incompetent.

Ronin took his leave of the study at the opportune moment, and seeing the sun nearing its descent behind the peaks, he resolved to grant Rulance a small token of astonishment.

Upon the mountain path, Rulance summoned his Thunder-Wind Beast, mounting its back to ascend the slope at a leisurely pace.

When confronted with Ronin's inquiries regarding Diane, Rulance offered no elaborate explanation, choosing instead to reply simply:

"I merely brought her to understand her own station. As she stands now, she must be Rulance’s daughter-in-law first, Wiggins’ wife, and Blayton’s mother, before she is Orson’s daughter."

Rulance looked down upon the grandson walking with lowered gaze at his flank, shifting the discourse: "Do you truly possess a dragon?"

He remained plagued by doubt; indeed, after the midday meal, he had specifically sought out several tomes to peruse, yet the dragons described therein were entirely fabulous, failing to withstand scrutiny, with no account bearing the mark of truth.

Yet seeing Ronin's solemn countenance, his heart wavered in uncertainty.

The corner of Ronin's mouth twitched upward; there was a certain irony in seeing the old patriarch inquire with such cautious, tentative probes.

"Of course, Grandfather. As you well know, I am a man of upright character, and I never utter a falsehood."

Rulance's hoary beard quivered, "You have spun no small number of deceits."

Ronin touched his own conscience, thinking to himself: I truly never lie, save when necessity demands it.

"In my youth, I traversed many lands, and I have beheld no lack of magical beasts."

Rulance patted the flank of the Thunder-Wind Beast beneath him, "This creature is said to harbor the blood of the great drakes. Beyond that, there are certain avian beasts, such as the dragon-hawks, which claim descent from the dragons of old."

He shook his head slightly: "But as for a true dragon, I have never laid eyes upon one."

"You shall behold one presently."

Ronin had already summoned Carlos in his mind; by his perception, the beast was not far distant, and upon his call, it would likely arrive within ten minutes.

Reflecting upon it, revealing Carlos's existence to Rulance was a most fitting course.

Henceforth, whenever he returned to the Castle of the Black Mountains, he might descend directly upon this rear peak, spared the tribulations of his current journey.

Beholding Ronin so resolute, Rulance fell silent, his heart already seven parts convinced.

He was no stranger to the wonders of the world; even should he behold a dragon, it would scarce move him to shock—it was, in the end, merely an exceedingly rare species of flying beast.

Ere long, the pair arrived at the clearing midway up the mountain.

Rulance dismounted his steed, and the Thunder-Wind Beast paced toward its designated shelter nearby.

Suddenly, however, its movements froze, its head snapping violently toward the sky as it let slip a low, uneasy groan.

"It comes," Ronin murmured.

When Rulance sensed the unease of his contracted magical beast, he raised his eyes to the heavens.

Through the dimming twilight, a dark speck gradually expanded in the sky, growing larger and larger; though the dragon's precise form remained indistinct, a faint, heavy pressure had already settled over his heart.

As a man of vast experience, he knew this was an oppression born of bloodline, an influence that only a truly high-born magical beast could exert upon a human.

His eyes flickered, betraying the deep shock that stirred within his soul.

"Is this a dragon?"