Forty Days of Flash Fic: Day Eleven
Orin loosened the front of his black leather uniform jacket, his throat tight against the collar that was his privilege, no, honor to wear. But the data on the screen refused to change, the lines of genetic succession, the thousands of generations that were the Swan-Kin's legacy branching like a great tree on the display, his humble existence one mere leaf.
And the Swan-Kin... Maria-kin... standing at his shoulder, was the root.
"Do you see now?" Maria asked him, dabbing at the blood from the pin prick with a swab. "I am your grandmother, your line's grand dame. From myself, your ancestors rose. Myself and Tez."
"How? How is this possible?" he demanded, turning to face them.
"Magic," the elf... Tez... the Immortal Lord of All. The... collared slave... said.
"There is no such thing as magic," Orin insisted.
"There was no such thing, for a very long time by my reckoning. It's coming back. Hence the inexplicable flood that is even now drowning that valley, forcing the Beast Men closer to the city. You're going to have a very nasty war on your hands shortly, which you simply do not have the resources to win, not in the long term. Unless you listen to us, and help avoid it."
"I... I can't. I cannot disobey. I am Swan-kin."
Maria grabbed him by the shoulders, shoving him against the wall, her eyes red with fury. "Swan was a liar and a traitor! You are Maria-kin! You are my child. I did not sacrifice my future to Death in order for my child to go down on bended knee with a collar around his neck!"
And the Swan-Kin... Maria-kin... standing at his shoulder, was the root.
"Do you see now?" Maria asked him, dabbing at the blood from the pin prick with a swab. "I am your grandmother, your line's grand dame. From myself, your ancestors rose. Myself and Tez."
"How? How is this possible?" he demanded, turning to face them.
"Magic," the elf... Tez... the Immortal Lord of All. The... collared slave... said.
"There is no such thing as magic," Orin insisted.
"There was no such thing, for a very long time by my reckoning. It's coming back. Hence the inexplicable flood that is even now drowning that valley, forcing the Beast Men closer to the city. You're going to have a very nasty war on your hands shortly, which you simply do not have the resources to win, not in the long term. Unless you listen to us, and help avoid it."
"I... I can't. I cannot disobey. I am Swan-kin."
Maria grabbed him by the shoulders, shoving him against the wall, her eyes red with fury. "Swan was a liar and a traitor! You are Maria-kin! You are my child. I did not sacrifice my future to Death in order for my child to go down on bended knee with a collar around his neck!"