Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 316: The Insider

CH316 The Insider

***

It had been a rocky few months for Mr Family Values, the self-proclaimed paragon of morality and widow-caretaker — Lucas Zell.

His once steady life had shifted from solid ground to murky waters in a matter of months. It all began with a single mistake involving Lady Anna Venshire, the wife of an old friend and colleague — a woman he’d been looking after since that friend’s untimely passing.

One thing led to another, and before he realised it, Lucas found himself pressing the grieving widow beneath him, venting primal urges in ways he never imagined possible... at least, not with his wife.

By the time the deed was done, he had tasted an euphoria too intoxicating to forget.

Like many men before him, once he had bitten into the forbidden fruit, there was no going back. And with just a bit of persuasion, Anna caved — turning that fleeting moment of indulgence into a habitual sin, one that both soon began to crave.

Unfortunately, that was all it could ever be. He could not marry Anna — his wife would never allow it. For all his dominance in the widow’s bedchamber, Lucas was but a henpecked man at home.

He couldn’t let the affair become public either. It would destroy his reputation as a staunch advocate of family values, the very foundation of his social standing and political platform.

It didn’t take long for Lucas to realise why he was so drawn to Anna despite the danger.

She gave him something his wife had long denied him — the feeling of dominance, of being a man again. And ironically, the risk of being caught made the experience even more intoxicating.

But every thrill has its end. Eventually, he was discovered — and not by just anyone, but by a young noble from a rival family to his liege lord.

Before Lucas knew it, he was being coerced into fencing items for cash on behalf of the young noble, draining the Kellerman coffers for resources the fief believed it desperately needed. The goods were resold to the fief at inflated prices, allowing both Lucas and the young noble to profit handsomely.

He thought it was merely a bit of corruption — a private trade deal between opportunists.

He was wrong. It was only the beginning.

Thanks to his ”efficiency” in acquiring rare provisions through questionable means, Lucas Zell soon found himself promoted to the position of Head of the Provisioning Department, after his predecessor was personally dismissed by the Earl.

Believing his fortunes had turned, Lucas relocated to the fief’s capital, Warrington City. Even better, his wife chose to remain in Warlton, managing their family estate — which gave him the perfect excuse to bring Anna along as his ’private assistant and secretary’.

Lucas was living the high life — enjoying his mistress and quietly collecting cash from the side sales of goods smuggled to him by the young master’s men.

That comfortable rhythm lasted only until a great terror arrived in the fief capital in the form of the Mad Earl, Earl Drake Fury himself.

No one really knew why the Mad Earl had stormed into the city with such force, but everything changed from that moment.

Earl Kellerman grew paranoid. Selling smuggled goods became risky. Worse, the mysterious young master’s orders changed — Lucas was moved from petty fencing into the dangerous game of espionage. He was expected to deliver insider information from the Kellerman inner court.

His first instinct was to refuse. Before he could, his handlers presented him with damning evidence: proof of his role in selling stolen weapons and goods, and records of his clandestine meetings with Anna.

The latter would wreck his reputation; the former would cost him his head.

The choice was no longer his.

To Lucas’s surprise, spying wasn’t the nightmare he’d imagined. He was paid handsomely for valuable intelligence. He was also treated like filth by his superiors — Earl Kellerman included — which only deepened his bitterness.

His loyalties shifted quietly, almost imperceptibly, until one day he realised he no longer cared for Kellerman at all. Instead, his sympathies lay with Young Master Alex Fury.

Then came the biggest assignment yet.

As an officer in charge of the fief’s provisioning, Lucas was to accompany the Earl to the reparation talks and advise him on strategy. On the eve of departure, his contact met him and handed down final orders: nudge the Earl toward accepting the other side’s proposal — if necessary.

The threats were redundant now; the thought of sticking a quiet dagger into the back of the man who had publicly humiliated him in the court more than once was too delicious to refuse.

When Grand Mage Taman called the recess and Earl Kellerman rose from his seat, Lucas caught the prearranged signal from Alex.

He barely stopped himself from grinning. The dagger had been passed. And he intended to drive it quite deep.

Earl Kellerman spent a good ten minutes pacing the room after his delegation entered their assigned quarters.

Everyone could see it — the man was seething with rage.

Fortunately, the designers of this chamber had been wise enough not to include anything fragile or portable, or the Earl would’ve smashed it against the ground, reducing it all to shards by now.

No one dared speak. Each member of the delegation kept perfectly still, trying to become invisible until the storm passed.

Eventually, Earl Jorg Kellerman’s fury burned itself out. He exhaled sharply, composed himself, and took his seat at the head of the long conference table. Only then did the others follow.

”What do you all think?” he asked at last.

”That young master from the Fury family is insufferable,” one said. ”He doesn’t know how to respect his elders.”

”We can’t accept such a deal,” another added quickly. ”House Kellerman won’t bow to the Fury brat or his threats.”

One after another, they parroted similar words — not because they had ideas, but because they hoped to flatter their fief lord and avoid becoming the target of his anger.

Only three remained silent. Lucas Zell was one of them.

Bang!

Earl Kellerman slammed his fist on the table.

”If you don’t have anything useful to say, then shut up!” he barked. ”I want solutions — not empty talk about honour or that Fury boy.”

Silence.

None dared to speak again. What solution could they possibly offer against such a disadvantageous deal?

”Nothing?” the Earl growled. ”Then why am I feeding you leeches? Maybe I should throw you all into the Dankrot Forest — at least the beasts there would have some use for your worthless hides!”

As the Earl fumed, Lucas saw his opening. He steadied himself, then raised his hand slightly.

”My lord,” he said calmly. ”I have something to say.”

***