Bad News This Time

Marcus' feet took him on the very familiar path down the hallway to the throne room.

He was dreading this.

Last time he'd been worried and he had good news.

This time he was worried for his own death.

"Mother, there's news," he said as soon as he entered the large room.

He stepped up to the steps just before his mother's throne and stared up at her, feeling his nerves creep up on him.

As soon as her son had entered the room alone her eyes had narrowed.

He didn't have the oracle with him, already she was disappointed and irritated and that was before the boy had even opened his mouth.

Cierra stared back down at him, her earlier good mood had all but faded.

"I would suggest strongly that you offer it up with haste."

She didn't want her mood worsened by the boy dragging it out.

She was in a bad mood.

That didn't bode well for him.

"The Oracle escaped. He had a protector." They'd ransacked the small house when they got to it and found evidence of two men living there. The Oracle and another.

If the Oracle had a protector, things would be more difficult for them.

Cierra's hand clenched into a fist before she brought it down roughly on the arm of her throne, giving a peevish hiss in frustration.

"You mean to tell me that you and your best men could not find two men stumbling around in the woods!"

She looked murderous at this point, her fangs visible amongst clenched teeth.

"Please tell me why it was so difficult for you to catch a stumbling, blind, child. A protector is still one person, are you that incompetent that you can't handle one person?"

"They ran. They knew we were coming and left before we could even find their house."

He wasn't proud of that fact, either. Her anger was just bringing his own mood down further.

"They escaped further into Lycan country. We couldn't risk it. Their Army was there doing the same as we were." It had been a bloodbath as they tried to escape the Lycan.

Now they were further into Kennedrick than Marcus would ever dare to tread without an army five times the size as the one that he had on him, there wasn't much hope. Not unless they left Kennedrick.

Cierra stared down at her son, a smirk curling at her lips as she began to laugh.

"They knew you were coming? Of course they knew you were coming! Or do I need to explain to you what an oracle is?"

She asked, staring down at him hard.

"They went further into Lycan territory, while the Lycan army was searching the area for them. So the likelihood of them being found and caught by the Lycans is extremely high. Is this what you're meaning to tell me?"

Cierra looked ready to kill at this point, her knuckles were white from the tight fist her hands and bundled into.

"They knew before we had a chance."

Any other man would be desperate for Cierra's forgiveness at this point. The angry glare, the cold laugh, the fists her hands had become. All those were the telltale signs of her planning murder. He'd seen them plenty of times.

But he stood firm.

"That's exactly what I'm saying."

Marcus crossed his arms over his chest and leaned all his weight on one leg.

"I have a plan. But it's dangerous."

"No more dangerous that you standing in front of me empty handed right now."

Either Marcus captured her Oracle or he died trying, if he failed she would gladly slaughter him where he stood.

The only reason he still had his throat was because he was standing his ground instead of offering up sniveled apologies that got her no closer to her goal.

She wanted answers and solutions.

"I plan to get our sources on the inside to get me some Kennedrick papers."

If he was a Vampire of Kennedrick, he could travel easily enough within their borders.

"And I will go through every town village and camp site in Kennedrick until I find them." Going to Kennedrick alone would be dangerous. Far beyond dangerous.

But it was something that he would have to deal with.

At least alone, he could travel quickly and quietly. There was less chance of him being found out.

Cierra's lips pursed for a moment as she thought it over, Marcus would be able to move freely and fast.

If the Oracle and his protector had escaped on foot he would be able to catch up to them fast enough, especially if they were moving slow to avoid detection.

The probability of death was high, the sun still rose in Kenndrick, plus if they found his fake papers he would be arrested or killed.

Still, she was willing to gamble on this.

"I'll make this perfectly clear. Either you return here with the Oracle in hand, or you do not return at all, the sun can have you for all I care."

He either did this or died trying.
'

"Was it too much to hope four you to drop to your knees and weep for my possible demise?" the man chuckled huskily.

Perhaps making a joke would lighten her mood.

"I will rest for the next few days then I will leave."

He hoped that he would be able to find the Oracle and his protector quickly.

"Why weep for your demise when you have not earned the rite to a single tear?"

She replied, tilting her head as she looked at him, he wasn't worthy of her being upset over, not yet, not until he had fulfilled his mission.

"Resting here gives the Oracle a chance to escape or be captured. You will head directly to Kenndrick, you can rest during the daylight hours."

Ceirra wouldn't have him lounging around here when he should be working.

"Get a fresh horse and leave immediately."

Marcus' feet took him up the steps to his mother's throne.

"I need rest and I need blood before I leave."

The man's gaze held his mother's firmly.

"I will leave midday tomorrow. I will be at the borders by sunset and can pass without trouble."

"One nights rest."
She replied, it was daylight in Kenndrick anyway, he couldn't move through the border until the papers were ready and the sun was down.

"I'll not have you wasting time hunting when you are searching, take one of the slaves with you as a constant food source, on the back of your horse they shouldn't slow you down."

Even if they rode beside him, two could be just as quick as one, if not more so if they could split the area.

"Not Sigil."

She added as an after thought, she wasn't fond of that Elf, letting him loose in Kenndrick forest was asking for trouble.

"He's the only one I trust."

Sigil was the one servant that he trusted to take with him for long periods of time.

"Another Vampire will cause more trouble and your Elves are too week to last constant feeding." And Sigil could help. The Elf knew Kennedrick. He could help with tracking.

"He has been mine for near four hundred years. What trouble would he cause?"

"He has not been outside these walls in four hundred years."

She retorted, other slaves came and went, they did tasks in town and returned without fault, Sigil was constantly causing trouble.

"You two are too close, I don't trust either of you not to spend the entire mission fucking in the woods."

She knew well enough about their little antics, the only reason Marcus ever came back was to fuck his Elf.

That wasn't true.

Marcus had smuggled the man out of the castle numerous times in the past. Not that his mother needed to know that particular detail.

"It's not fit for such words to leave the mouth of a Queen." A Queen did not swear.

The man gave a dry laugh a moment later, though. "With your wrath behind me should I fail, I vow celibacy until the the Fae is in your hands."

"As a Queen, I shall say what ever the fuck I please."

She replied, not a moment later, what was proper had never defined how she had acted, if it did she would be kissing every nobleman's ass and would be married.

The woman paused for a moment as she thought it over, she did not trust him to remain celibate for the entire time it would take to track them down.

Though it was true, none of her Elves were as strong as Sigil, very few of the slaves had been with them for that long either.

At worse the Elf betrayed her good for nothing son and he ended up dead and the Elf free.

"I do suppose if you both are killed then it will solve two of my issues."

That would be the end of the discussion, if his Elf betrayed him, then it was on his head.

"You have so little faith in me."

Marcus leaned down so he was face to face with the woman. "Not a week ago you were singing my praise as you fed me and regaled me the heir to your throne."

His lips parted, showing the six fangs that stood at full attention.

"One setback does not make me an incapable child." His hands rested on the arms of her throne, either side of her body as he leaned further a little more.

"We will return. The four of us." He, Sigil, the Oracle and his protector will return.

"And you will suffer my company for many centuries." He tilted his head and an amused smile curled his lips. "Or not. I do wonder how long you'll continue to live."

Her own lips pulled into a grin as she leaned up to face him. He may not be scared of her, but neither was she scared of him.

"Return with the Oracle and I'll not have reason to doubt your ability again, will I?"

One little moment of success did not wipe away the years of failure that was chalked up against him, he was constantly on the edge of losing her favor.

"I'll out live you son, I'm sure of that."

His failures weren't things he failed at. He chose not to do as she asked.

And yet there were times she still saw him as her true heir. The one she wanted on her throne.

Because he was like her. He was as dangerous and stubborn and scary as her. He was different from her, though. That made him more dangerous in a sense. He had something that she coveted. He had his freedom.

"That is still to be seen."

He was determined to outlive her, just to shove the fact that he did in the face of her cold, dead corpse.

"Get your rest, since you seem to need it so desperately, and ready your elf."

She replied as she rose from her throne and moved past him, she grew tired of his presence so easily, his personality could grind on her nerves.

"I shall be taking bets among the nobles as to whether we see you again, or not."

She would be interested in the outcome.

"I would much appreciate you sending me off with the taste of your blood in my mouth."

He followed after her as she walked across the throne room, keeping at her heels like a yappy dog ready to bite.

"Place a bet for me, will you?"

He grinned widely. "I will bring back your Fae and his protector mostly unharmed." He held up a finger. "In less than a month." It was shooting high. But he would do it. He felt the need to shove his success in her face.

"I gave you my blood once already and it went to waste."

She replied, he would not be getting the same treatment again, she was still displeased with the outcome.

"Less than a month? Now that I would like to see, though I do suspect that you are being cocky. I'll bet against that, if you win I'll give you the prize I had been planning for when you brought back the oracle and the sweeten it, I will allow you what you have asked me in the past. Sigil can join your ranks."

The Elf could become a fighter, she had denied this request many times before.

"I learned my cockiness from the best, dear sweet mother," he crooned, swiping her hair away from her neck to stroke it.

"You'll get your oracle. In less than a month's time. In less than a month's time, I will get my prize. And in less than a month's time, Sigil will will raise from ranks of Slave to ranks of Fighter."

The man grinned as he placed a kiss on the crown of his mother's head. The most affectionate he had been with her since she was a child.

"It will be a joyous day for all of us."