{In The Castle}
"i heard there is an invasion, from one of the four kingdoms." Ares said, standing in front of the window with arms crossed without turning back.
"Why are you informing me? It's something you could easily take care of." Lucian said with a wave of dismissal.
"Apparently, it seems to connect to some viable dots and rumours flying around." Ares said, while slowly turning around to come face to face with Lucian who was laid back in his chair, stirring a glass of crimson liquid in one hand.
Lucian's brows furrowed slightly, his silver eyes glinting in curiosity as he asked in a low tone "What rumours?"
Ares's shoulders squared as he dipped his hand into his pocket "You remember the intense war between the four Kingdoms about two decades ago?" He asked.
Lucian's lips curled into a dark smirk "Of course I do, it was quite an interesting moment. For a second, I thought they would all go extinct, especially the Faes." Lucian muttered under his breath.
"It turns out that it wasn't merely a conflict between kingdoms, they were fighting over the possession of something valuable and powerful." Ares revealed to him with a stern facade, while Lucian remained nonchalant.
"Hmm, sounds interesting." Lucian purred in amusement as he rubbed his smooth chin.
"Two decades ago, when the blood moon appeared, the socerers had a divination, foretelling the prophecy of the birth of a child with unique powers beyond our imagination. Of course, you thought it was false, but as it seems, the prophecy might be true." Ares stated out, his blood red eyes glimmering with the sheer enthusiasm to go in search of the child.
Lucian could easily decipher that look in his eyes, for the thirst of power and control, Ares had always been like that. Tactical and power hungry, he loved to have everything under his control and Lucian knew exactly where he was heading to and what he was implying at that moment.
"So what makes you think it's indeed true? You're never one to act based on rumours and without logic, what's changed?" Lucian reasoned out as he took a sip of the crimson liquid before placing the cup back down.
Ares signed deeply as he spoke "Vladimir spoke to me." He confessed hesitantly but before Lucian could utter a word, he immediately added "There's no worry, I struck no deal with him."
Lucian's brows furrowed and his silver eyes suddenly darkened like stormy clouds at the mention of Vladimir's name.
Slowly, he rose from his seat, turning to face Ares "Simply letting him hold a conversation with you is only the first step to striking a deal, one that would certainly destroy you." Lucian intoned, his voice dark and low.
"I had no intention of meeting with him, he came to me and assured that the rumours were true. Forget about your father and focus on the bigger picture." Ares paused, weighing his words carefully before continuing.
"Merely a drop of this unknown child's blood can make a vampire gain immortality and unmatched in strength, her heart to the witches is a precious jewel that could grant them unimaginable powers beyond our knowledge, now just imagine what her soul could do for you, a demon..." Ares's voice darkened, matching the shadows in his crimson eyes.
"You could be more powerful than every living creature on earth, heaven and hell, you could rule the universe." Ares remarked strongly, every word rolling off his lips embedded with the hope of power and a soul worthy of devouring, something that made Lucian salivate hungrily, no doubt he was as power hungry as a demon could be.
Lucian's lips split in half as a wicked grin garnished his face "So apparently, every other kingdom is in search of this child to steal its powers?" He asked.
"Except of course, the Fae Kingdom. They know they're weak in comparison to the other kingdoms so they would rather not partake in the fight in fear of extinction." Ares noted.
"That's a shame, none of them would stand a chance against us anyway. Do you have any idea what this being's description is?" Lucian queried but the immediate look of disappointment on Ares's face gave him his answer.
"That is the only reason why no one has ever found her yet, and the fact that there has not been any peculiar sightings or unique display of power only makes it more difficult to find it. It seems to be hiding it's existence from the works, as if it knows everyone is hunting for it." Ares said.
"In hiding, hm. Well, do you have any idea where it is from or what kingdom it currently it is in?" Lucian asked.
"No one knows anything about it, the prophecy is the only lead we have but even the prophecy never disclosed a single thing about it." Ares noted.
Lucian's silver eyes suddenly flickered with a dark look as a thought immediately flashed through his head at the moment and a devilish smirk curved his lips up.
"It must truly be a peculiar little thing to have been in hiding for so long without anyone having to notice it, but what if It hadn't been hiding? What if it had no idea what it even was?" Lucian muttered to himself, amused by his own hypothesis.
"I doubt that, it would be difficult for a being such as it to remain in hiding if it had no idea what it was." Ares implied strongly.
Lucian simply sighed and with a nonchalant look, he waved his hand at Ares in dismissal "You can leave now, we'll continue this discussion with the rest of the Lords."
With a quick head nod, Ares disappeared from sight, leaving Lucian to his own thoughts and the theories constructing themselves in his head. Lucian couldn't help but wonder if the young lady who he had encountered in the woods might be the one in the prophecy, after all, she was oblivious of her lineage, but in the long run, he could also be wrong and perhaps, she wasn't anything special.
He scoffed in amusement and mechanically walked toward the wardrobe. Flinging it open, his fingers ran across the expensive fabrics of clothes until it stopped on a cheap, white cotton cloak.
Taking it out of the wardrobe, Lucian ran his fingers against the fabric and slowly hovered it to his face as he smelled it.
The scent of wildflowers and lillies mingled into his nostrils, reminding him of her, the peculiar yet enigmatic lady.
Her glowing purple eyes and radiant face were still stuck in his head, he could retrace and draw every flawless contour and sillhouette of her features without missing a single detail.
Lucian's jaws ticked as he composed himself and threw the cloak back into the wardrobe, while shaking his head at his behaviour.
He was enamored by the peculiar lady, and he undoubtedly couldn't get her off his mind, so why should he? Lucian thought to himself.
He could have whatever he wanted, anyone he wanted, so why on earth would he hold himself back from having her? Why should he resist the urge to possess her entirely and make her his? His dark mind echoed in his head.
It was late, in the middle of the night, but still, he decided to return her cloak to her, a pretentious act just so he could see her again, his new plaything.
Grabbing the cloak from the wardrobe, he set off to her house. He knew where it was since he had sent off guards to find out where she lived already.
Putting on his cloak, he flung the window open and flew down from the balcony to land on the ground with a graceful thud, six storeys away from the balcony.
The shadows of the night danced around his sillhouette as he moved, set off to meet the peculiar lady once again.
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A cold rush streamed through Dabria's blood at the horrifying realization that Lovessa had sold her off and more so, she had the opportunity to do so since Andrew was in his sick bed.
Warm tears rolled down her cheeks as she sobbed silently at her helpless situation. Lovessa truly hated her, no doubt but Dabria could have never seen this event of being sold by her ever transpiring.
It was cruel and inhumane of her to even think of that, but at that moment, Dabria was most afraid of what would happen to her. She had heard horrifying stories of girls who had been sold off by their family, forced to work in brothels all day and getting stripped of their innocence, while everyone could take advantage of them as long as they paid for the services.
There was no means of escape for the poor girls once they went into the hellish places where they would be forced to work until they were useless and their beauty withered away.
Dabria shook her head vigorously at the thoughts of what they would do to her, she felt sick to her stomach merely thinking of it.
In denial of her unlucky fate, she banged the door loudly until her wrists turned sore while she screamed till the air left her lungs, begging for them to let her out, but the more she begged, the piercing, unforgiving silence haunted her in her plight.
Her frail body slumped in defeat as she leaned against the carriage, dreading of what was to come. As the bumpy ride continued and Dabria continued to cry her eyes out till they swelled, the carriage abruptly came to a screeching halt that made her tumble forward, making her almost collide her head against the wooden door but she was quick to brace herself.
Wiping her teary eyes with the sleeve of her dress, her eyes became wide with alert as she looked around the dark space, wondering what had happened.
Before she could fix her composure, she heard the agonizing screams and grunts emanating from outside, the neighing of the horses mingled loudly with the screams and in the next heartbeat, pure silence filled the place, making it seem as if the screams were a figment of her imagination, but she knew they weren't, she could feel the cold rush of adrenaline coursing through her veins when she heard the ear piercing screams.
Dabria's heart hammered loudly against her chest as she thought a wild animal had attacked them. She wanted to whisper out the words 'good riddance' beneath her breath, not until the door creaked open and before she could react, it was effortlessly ripped off with a swift motion. The scream that was about to erupt from her throat was immediately swallowed back down her throat when her eyes locked onto a pair of familiar burning silver ones peering deeply into her soul.
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