Rea Family/Darius/Where Loyalty Lies

Roleplay from Darius Rea Message sent to all nobles of Outer Tilog (20 recipients) - 15 days, 57 minutes ago Cold hissing filled his ears.

"Break it in two. You know you can, Darius. A few simple missives, and you could shatter the realm. Abandon all your regions, and use your religious power to condemn, and oust Vladamire. Start a rebellion, and no one can stop you destroying the capital. Shatter the realm. No one can stop you, and you know it. Rakaarox knows, doesn't he? He's the only one who understands the real stakes of this petty squabble you've started."

Darius spoke coolly, interrupting the voice. "Of course he does, Shade. He gave me my power, every shred of it. He appointed me Duke, gave me the keys to the Abyss, and he ordered me to the rebellion." Darius sat in his desk chair, his normally jovial demeanor replaced with a scowl. The shade had formed in the center of his tent, and its voice had cut the air like falling sheets of ice.

Darius matched the Shade's chilly entrance with his own stone-faced scowl, "You expect me to abuse my power, break my realm, over something as trivial as the ducal share?" Darius stood, placed his hands on his desk, knocking over several stacks of letters from the last few days. His voice rose, and gained a sharp edge, and his eyes grew cold and hard as he nearly spit at the shadow.

"You expect me to betray my realm, Shade? Expect me to not only turn my back, but to burn everything behind me?" Darius swiped his arm across his desk, the letters, stationary, and a handful of knuckle bones thunking into the dirt. He glared at the shade, venom dripping from every word. "You wouldn't understand, would you, Shade? We may poison each other, fight, steal from and kill each other, but we don't betray each other. The realm will no more ban me for something so stupid, then it will suddenly dance in the fields singing about flowers!" Darius stood straight, and stalked around his desk, coming to a stop inches from his shadow. "And even if they did, I would never break them for it." Darius ended with his own chilly hiss, before stomping toward the tent flap.

The tent dropped a few degrees colder, and the Shade hissed menacingly. "You forget, Darius Rea, I own you." A crack, and Darius dropped to his knees. His hand twist grotesquely, and blood began to soak through his tunic down his chest. If the shade could have smiled, it would have. Then, Darius started giggling. "Shadow, I'm the Minster InJustice of Outer Tilog. Your petty tricks won't work on me any longer." He stood, if a bit stiffly, and turned to the shade, grinning from ear to ear. "You'll have to kill me, Shade, and Father's not going to allow that, now is he?" The shadow floated in silence. Darius spit at where the shade's feet would be, blood now coursing down his nose.

"Did you think I didn't know? Did you really think I hadn't traced the magic back to your master?" Darius's grin grew farther, and a feral light danced in his eyes.

"F*** off, Shade. I'm loyal to Rakaarox, and I'm loyal to Outer Tilog." With a flick of his long coat, Darius left the tent, calling his aides for the tax change papers, front pasted in blood.