there are many paths to tread
”Then drink.” His lips curl in response, a smile as hard and bright as the sands of the desert sliding into place. Oh, Toulouse has every intention to do just that, to summon what water he can from this barren court and bleed them all dry. Everything in life could be his, so long as he was bold enough to take it.
Bold like the silver king before him, a king who betrayed his court and paid for another crown with blood.
The king is turning away, and Toulouse almost allows himself to relax.
Almost. The temptation is there - his blood is singing its own glory, his heart beating hard and fast as if it’s just survived death. And maybe he has, for is that not what Raum is? Death masquerading as a king, a man who takes only what he wants and leaves others to die. With a word he could execute anyone he wanted, and few would rise against him. But Toulouse finds only relief in knowing that, a strange sense of calm that belies the tension lingering in the air.
And as long as he knows, he’ll never be caught in the unknown.
I know you, his eyes say to Raum’s retreating back, you’re like me.
Raum turns back then, and for the briefest of moments he wonders if the king could read his thoughts. But it’s only another warning, and Toulouse dips his head in response. “I will indeed,” he says, as answer to it all.
And then he watches the king disappear like a mirage into the desert. And with the vulture still circling overhead, the golden man sets his sights back on the Oasis, a new card to play hidden up his sleeve.
