Elder Born

5. Cultivation-3

Kevin waited until they were down the hallway and out of earshot before he turned to Clements. He raised his eyebrow at the man who’d been the closest thing to a friend he’d ever had in all the years he’d been alive.

“You do realise, Clements, that vile little fool truly does believe he will be king?”

A wolfish smile spread on the Scholar’s lips as he chuckled.

“Ah yes, I know. I cultivated him when he was a child.”

Kevin’s eyes narrowed. “At the same time as Daniel?”

The loss of Daniel had been a blow to the Order. Kevin had been slow on the uptake during those years and had missed the prince’s conversion into a loyal follower of the Order. Still, he understood Simon’s dilemma as the Skull Lord. When Alex had gone after him, if he'd been in Simon's place he would have thrown Baine and not so coincidentally Daniel himself to Alex's blade as well.

After all, as far as Simon was concerned the man deserved it for coming up with the scheme to direct the blame for the kidnap attempt on the League of Skulls. Not so coincidentally it pointed the blame squarely at Simon, since he was the Lord of Skulls. That had prompted the damn Rathadon prince to come after Simon and clean out the bulk of his den of carefully cultivated talented killers. His friend didn’t have his own desire to rule, but he didn’t take kindly to someone trying to take what was his.

The League of Skulls had been a small group but each and every one of them had no compunction at all in doing what Simon asked, particularly when it was the wealthy they were targeting. Unlike his Sundered, Simon’s people had the brains to follow through on instructions without being carefully controlled. Simon and his people had been extremely useful. Kevin was sure they would have proven even more so if Alex hadn’t cut through the bulk of them. Now, thanks to Alex, Simon only had a few handfuls of them left. Still, Simon had placed some of those that were left to guard the approaches of their current base. That had been of great benefit to Kevin, keeping their current position right under the nose of the king a secret.

“Of course. I didn’t want to leave anything to chance.” Clements’s eyes glittered.

Kevin frowned, and then he laughed as understanding dawned on him. The old man was extremely crafty.

“You cultivated followers in the Rathadon, Strafford and Kastler families!”

“Well, the Kastlers were the fallback. They are hardly the most powerful of families but they are one of the older ones that can trace their line back to the founding of Vallantia.” Clements shrugged, dismissing the death of his most strategic convert.

Kevin paused outside the door to his own rooms and had to grudgingly admit he admired the old man.

"I'll send one of my people to see what it is that the good commander has for us. Given who his uncle is, the man is surprisingly competent." Kevin's eyes narrowed at the thought.

It was a shame Janson would have to die. After all, how could a man who'd ultimately turned his back on his sworn duty be trusted?

He caught Clements’s nod of approval, watching him as he walked further down the hallway to his own rooms before retiring himself.