TWENTY-ONE
Benny stalked out of the crowd and Kon watched as the group of socialites and lower level Knights and members of the Orders reacted with confusion. There were hundreds of blank views that followed after the old man, but Kon looked to see Delano Sommers, head of the Order of the Lion, blanch. It wasn’t some great thing, no paling of his features or a cold sweat, but Kon could see it.
The slight stiffness to his body, the way his eyes widened nearly imperceptibly. Kon could see it and those around Delano saw it, those red uniformed Knights who were less skilled in masking their features.
“They are shocked as all hell.” Kon almost wanted to laugh out loud at the befuddled looks, the complete turn that their entrance had taken.
“Benny,” Delano’s voice was a bassy rumble that commanded all the attention in the room.
“Delaney. It seems you’ve forgotten your manners,” Benny said as he came to stand right outside the ring of honor guard who had preceded Sommers. Delano blinked slowly at Benny’s intentional misnaming.
“Oh shit.” Mathis’s quiet mutter was ignored as every eye locked onto the showdown.
“Listen old man, time for you go on,” one of the yellow uniformed Knight’s started, lifting his hand to gently push Benny out the way.
“Stop!” Delano barked instantly, a flash of fear crossing his face before his man’s hand touched Benny. Every eye widened as the Knight turned to look back at his commander with wide-eyed confusion.
“Seems you remember your history lessons,” Benny said with a cackle. Kon felt a shiver roll down his spine at the hint of malice in the old man’s voice.
“Everyone, enjoy the party. Ignore the old man and don’t touch him at any cost,” Delano ordered. His crew finally started to break apart, but the majority of them looked like they wanted to fight against the orders. They wanted to fight, to showcase their strength in front of these crowds. Instead they were forced humbled, forced to march away from Benny while Sommers stood there waiting for the horde of hangerons to disperse.
Kon slowly edged closer as did everyone else. The rabid curiosity overcame the natural fear and respect that the head of an Order exerted around them. Nobody really knew who Benny was and Kon started to believe that he didn’t know who he was either. Benny had done something, somewhere, to instill a deep fear in Delano Sommers.
“Kon, come over here. You’re not hiding from anyone,” Benny said, waving him over without looking away from Delano. The two powerhouses hadn’t broken their gaze as Kon got closer to them and wondered what it was that Benny was playing at.
“Kon Lorgairi, my apprentice, meet Delano Sommers,” Benny introduced them and Delano’s dark eyes broke their hold on Benny’s and rolled over Kon for a moment. A slight sneer ticked at the corner of the man’s mouth.
“A new apprentice? Is this another skulker?” Delano asked.
“I’ve only taken Squires before, never an apprentice,” Benny corrected him. That made Delano look back over Kon, but the sneer didn’t leave him.
“You show up to parade an apprentice around? You’ve stayed in the shadows for too long, old man. Nobody remembers you except those at the higher echelons. There will be no coming out party, no building of connections.” Kon felt his gut twist as he stared at the powerful Knight. That he was strong was without a doubt, but in that moment Kon saw the corruption in the man.
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Benny Lorgairi had brought forth an apprentice back to the first worldship. The last scion of Earth had come forth with his chosen heir and all that Delano saw was a way to further build connections. He had become a political animal, steel turned to rust.
That he had buried a knife in the back of fellow Knights for his own political growth and power was just a sign of the decay.
Kon looked over and past the rest of the groups of brightly colored and dressed people. Soft…all of them looked so soft. They stood there in silks and wealth that were earned in blood and death, paid for by their ancestors. Kon stared over them and felt that hatred inside of him, that burning rage blossom to life and take deep root in the fertile grounds of the decadence around him.
“Ohhh, boyo. You’ve always been daft, more muscle than brain, but this is disappointing,” Benny chided Delano and for the first time readily apparent emotion crossed Delano’s face, hot anger and embarrassment as he visibly chafed under the words.
“I know your legend. You are the undying one but even I can feel that you have become a pale shadow of what you were rumored to be. Go and crawl back into those crevices you live in and let those who wish to live in the future take charge of the present,” Delano snarled, voice low and harsh as he glared at Benny. All the guests close by reacted like they’d been slapped, they reeled back as they backed up, staring at Delano like he’d suddenly become radioactive.
“You will be taking charge? Of all of us? Some king forged from legend? Wrapped in death and wealth and power claiming lordship over all?” Benny teased, lips twisted into a proximity of a smile.
“Words are the weapons of the weak. If you had the strength to rule, you’d do it. A Knight’s strength is from their arms and brothers. You’ve forgotten yourself,” Delano said. Kon watched as the man peered down his nose at Benny from nearly fifteen feet away and for a moment Kon could almost imagine the crown on the man’s head. Sommers had the pride of a king and the power of a demi-god and enough wealth he could keep two battleships fully staffed. But as he stared down at them and Benny looked back without flinching, Kon saw the thin veneer of power that Delano clung to.
“Forgotten? No. It seems you were never taught what we are. Now you will lead all these others into graves on foreign lands to chase after your own power,” Benny clucked softly and shook his head.
“One doddering old fool who shouts that doom is upon us for the past is dim and faded. We look to the future of humanity where we have something of our own,” Delano countered.
“Under your command. Funny how that works,” Benny said before he turned around to look at the clusters of society who stood there watching.
“The majority of you do not know me. I am Benny Lorgairi. I do not belong to an Order that you would recognize, I do not belong to a Chapterhouse you’d know. I was not born in space but on mother’s fertile soil. I am the last of all our race to have breathed her air, to taste her food, and to have seen the fading of our solar system as we raced into the abyss. Know me and know the Truth.” Benny’s last words were filled with power that trembled across the entire world as for the briefest moment his rune peaked into existence.
“I have spent millennia serving the fleets. Delano is right, I spent centuries in the darkest crevices of our fleets and homes, to the point that I have become nothing more than a faded memory. But our enemies know me. Those that would harm us know that I come and with it there is nothing to stop our retribution. All enemies, foreign and domestic,” Benny finished turning to look straight at Delano. There was a deathly silence in the room as everyone stared at them with shocked wide eyes as Benny faded back into the crowds and left Delano Sommers standing there in a wide circle of isolation as every eye stared at him.
Kon followed after Benny, pushing through the crowds and quickly falling beside the old man. Hostile eyes of every person who wore a lion patch tracked them, but Kon let it pass. He’d had people try to kill him, monsters try to eat him, and his own cultivation try to blow him up. A few hard glares weren’t enough to rattle him.
“What was that?” Kon whispered as Benny strutted as he walked. There was a hint of swagger to him, a flash of youthful fire in his eyes.
“I saw that braggart come walking in with that pompous display and it pissed me off. It’s better to pull the venom out boyo. Especially if you can’t swim the political waters. They’ll drag you deep down and drown you.” Benny mulled it over a moment and then shook his head.
“No, that’s only partially the truth. I hate these bastards, boyo. I hate the corruption and decadence and everything else that is foul. Maybe I am too old, my memories tinted by age. We once were something to be proud of. Knights in armor protecting our people. Now look at that grasping bastard, reaching out to forge a crown for himself,” Benny said, voice bitter as he looked around at the crowds.
“I had an interesting conversation with Mathis. I think someone knows something is going on,” Kon said. Benny snorted and shook his head.
“Deep waters, boyo. Deep waters.”