2026-01-07 00:00:00
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THE POISON CHOSE THE WRONG MAN
Poison rarely needed permission to announce its presence.Still nothing happened.The silence grew uncomfortable. Even the soft hum of the room’s ventilation seemed louder than before, as if the building itself was waiting for something terrible to reveal itself.Ethan went on, voice steady. “You came into this room thinking you were negotiating from a throne. You are not. What happened at Linbourgh changed that.”Darius did not react to the words. He only watched.Still nothing.Seconds stretched.Then a full minute.A full minute was far longer than most fast poisons required. The delay pressed against Darius’s confidence, slowly turning certainty into a quiet, creeping doubt.Ethan’s posture remained relaxed. His breathing remained even. His hand did not move toward his stomach. His face did not lose color.Darius felt a thread of unease slide into his chest.For the first time since the toast, the thought crossed his mind that something might have gone wrong. He pushed the idea aw
A TOAST TO PEACE... AND DEATH
Colonel Markus Vale returned with the attendants, and the room seemed to tighten around the silver tray in their hands.Five empty wine glasses rested on it, clear and polished enough to catch the light like sharpened crystal. Beside them sat a dark bottle of imported wine, the label was foreign and expensive. Nothing about it looked dangerous. That was what made it dangerous.In rooms like this, danger rarely announced itself loudly. It arrived quietly, hidden inside courtesy, inside protocol, inside the small rituals powerful men used to pretend their conflicts were civilized.Vale stopped beside the service area and gave the attendants a short nod. “Serve.”The female attendants moved with quiet precision. Their movements were almost rehearsed, years of service had trained them to become invisible during moments like this. Their task was simple—pour, serve, withdraw. They were never meant to notice the politics unfolding around them.One placed the glasses down. Another uncorked
THE MOST EXPENSIVE DEMANDS IN VERDANIS
His anger rose fast, then disappeared under control. Rhael noticed it. So did Ethan. So did Lorne.Years of command training forced the anger back down before it could fully surface. A head of state could not afford open irritation in front of an opponent. Especially not an opponent who was watching every expression with quiet patience.Darius exhaled once and forced his expression back into something composed. “Okay,” he said. “Since that is what you asked for, I will give it to you. Negotiations it is.”He leaned back slightly, as if settling into state business now instead of personal resentment.“Despite what happened at Linbourgh,” he said, “despite the fact that your company building was left untouched and your five million pounds of uranium remained in your possession after certain bad eggs inside the Herold military were exposed, I am still the leader of Verdanis.”His eyes hardened. “And I still have an interest in your uranium resources. Along with certain privileges I fin
THE MEETING OF ENEMIES
The phone ringing at that exact moment felt wrong.Ethan stopped in front of the double doors and pulled the device from his pocket. The screen showed a private number. Captain Lorne noticed the brief shift in his expression, but Ethan’s face settled again almost immediately.He answered in a flat, controlled voice. “Hello.”The woman on the line spoke quickly. Ethan did not interrupt her at first. He only listened, his gaze drifting once to the state guards outside the doors, then to the government aide waiting nearby. Nothing in his posture changed. Nothing in his face gave away the weight of the call.After a few seconds, he spoke again. “A problem with who?”Ethan had learned long ago that the most dangerous information was the kind that arrived at the worst possible moment. A careless reaction could expose more than the warning itself. So he listened quietly, letting the silence shield whatever calculations were already forming in his mind.Captain Lorne’s eyes narrowed slight
POISON IN THE PALACE
Rhael Dane moved first.The moment Darius left the office to compose himself, Rhael made a call for about five minutes after which he stepped into the corridor outside the negotiation suite with the calm of a man carrying out ordinary protocol. Two attendants were already waiting near a silver service cart. Fine tea. Water. Crystal glasses. A covered bottle of imported wine. Everything looked polished enough to pass under any official eye.Rhael stopped beside the cart and looked at both attendants.“No mistakes,” he said.One of them lowered his head. “Yes, sir.”“The General wants everything smooth,” Rhael added. “No delays. No confusion. No one enters unless cleared.”The second attendant nodded quickly. “Understood, Brigadier General.”Rhael’s gaze dropped to the drinks. His hand hovered over the tray for half a second, then withdrew. “Which glass is for the guest?”The older attendant pointed. “The tall crystal on the right, sir.”Rhael gave one curt nod. “Good. Keep it that wa
THE POISON DECISION
Rhael Dane did not answer the question immediately, and that silence said more than panic would have."Yes. General." Rhael finally replied.Darius Herold turned away from Rhael and walked back toward the window, slower this time, like each step was carrying a heavier thought.The city below still moved with its usual rhythm. Cars flowed. Uniformed guards stood in place. Clerks entered government buildings with files under their arms. From up here, the country looked stable.Darius hated how false that looked.“You say that too easily,” he said at last. “As if killing Ethan Xavier during negotiations is just another adjustment to policy.”Rhael remained where he was, calm and upright. “General I say so because survival is easier than regret,” he replied.Darius let out a dry breath and rubbed his jaw. “You say survival?” he repeated. “You dress murder in a practical language very well, Brigadier.”Rhael’s face did not move. “I dress reality as it is,” he said. “Ethan is no longer a nu
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