Betrayals.
Saytor had searched the western highlands, the hidden villages, and the lower lands and valleys, any settlement he came across in the remote places deep in the demon kingdom they would tell him they hadn’t seen the witch or the child, Saytor resisted the urge to fly back so he found himself cloaked, hidden in a settlement that was deep in the kingdom.
He knew that this was one of the little settlements where those who did not favor the king’s rule found themselves, they would stay in deep remote locations so as to hide themselves from the slaughter that would ensue if they were found. As he was cloaked he began looking around the settlement for any sign of the witch but he knew it was pointless.
Mier would never hide out in a rogue demon infested settlement like this one, he spread his wings once again but something caught his attention, well hidden the archdemon crept closer to the group of demons, they were definitely part of the rebellion, what baffled Saytor was the amounts of money they had, he questioned how they have gotten so much gold and demon currency.
So he focused his hearing and what he heard made his slowly beating heart, pound like the drums of war. “We’ve been paid handsomely, the fae prince wants us to hunt a royal witch rumored to be in the east currents close to the Aliverian sea, he wants us to kill the child, like we’ve always wanted, now we’re getting paid for it.” One of the demons spoke and the others sneered.
“What do you mean kill the child?” One of the others spoke with hushed voices yet with venom. “He’s giving us the location of the witch and the little prince, we are to kill them and he will fund our rebellion against the crown, and without an heir, Alquin BloodShade’s rule will crumble to the ground.” He explained as Saytor listened to every word he said.
He knew he needed to find Mier more than ever but could his tracking skills have misled him to believe Mier was in the western parts of the demon kingdom, if Tristan had said they were near the sea someone was changing the witch’s location, probably the witch himself.
Saytor knew Tristan would betray Alquin at one point in life but he didn’t expect it now, he believed Tristan was doing it because he was hurt about Alquin not doing anything when his family got slaughtered, but what could Alquin do with twenty guards, two archdemons, himself, against an army of over two hundred thousand soldiers.
The demon wasted no time in moving away after they began to call on their rebellion members to plan their attack, Saytor opened his wings and with a flap, he was heading further west, he knew Mier was somewhere there, even with magic thwarting locator spells, old age tracking couldn’t be wrong, it didn’t require magic, just a good eye, good intuition, and a lucky clover.
From above the demon could see everything below but at one point he felt as if he was going in a loop, as if even though he was flying in a chosen direction, he was consciously being diverted, he stopped in mid air and clasped his palms together. “7th Circle: Demonic Unbound.” He cast the spell and the first defense to Mier’s location was broken but to Saytor only.
He dived down when he spotted a lone cottage, it was so far from any civilization that it stood out from where it was, it was too gorgeous to be in the deep forest aswell that’s what drew him to it, when he was just above the tree line the demon was struck down by a beam of light so strong the pungent odor of sizzling flesh wafted into the air, the demon screamed in pain until the attack subsided.
Saytor stood up as he began to heal, he was definitely in the right place, he wouldnt be able to fly for a few hours as both his wings had been burnt. “Where are you Mier, I just want to know you’re safe.” Saytor mumbled as he looked around, the cottage was no longer there only a deep forest with no life insight.
“7th Circle: Dark Unwind.” The demon mumbled as his spirit magic spread out looking for the source of the magic preventing him from finding the witch he knew was near. When he found an origin he began to walk toward it but before he could get any closer a very large snake, two golems, and a beast like creature stood in front of him.
“Just great, you’re not gonna make this easy are you Ramier.” The demon mumbled to himself as he stood in attack stance.
***
Marcos had decided to take a walk in the garden, he missed the jovial spirit that was once in the dark castle, it was gloomy nowadays without his son to spread his cheery smiles and the witch he knew for a short while but loved for an even shorter time, he missed the good days but these were no longer those days, it was horrible being in the castle yet he couldn’t leave.
He had to uphold his duties as Alquin’s husband, the level headed helper of the king, the love of his life, he snorted to the thought alone, he had ceased being the love of a lifetime to Alquin a long time ago, when the king’s appetite for sexual pleasure escaped their bed to his general Saytor, then to the beautiful yet cunning Lera, and when he devised his plan to unite them all with the five, it also meant their bed was to take in more people.
He was hurt by Alquin’s actions but he couldn’t speak up, speaking up meant treason, meant his little boy being taken from him and him tossed aside for someone who would not question the king, to everyone it had to seem like they were in love, in truth they were in a contract, Alquin had to be given a pure blood heir and when that happened his worth seemed to dwindle and so did the respect.
The rule to keep his little baby boy in the castle had not been his but Alquin’s of course, but the king mustn’t seem like a harsh one, therefore he was the one to claim to be responsible, a lot of things Marcos had done were to cover up for Alquin or plainly to serve him as he pleased, he had to be strong all these years to endure the humiliation of watching his own husband leave their bed to go be with another, to open your marriage to the whole world as if it wasn’t sacred.
But he had no right to speak of his feelings, Alquin would take his child and he was to be the matriarch, he had to know his place, it all stung his eyes with tears how he has never been truly loved, merely owned. He had done it all, sacrificed everything so that his child could be happy and not be killed by those vying to give the king an heir.
He scoffed at the thought again as he remembered how he secretly ordered the servants to put birth control pills in his other husband’s tea or drinks so that they could never conceive for Alquin, his son would be safe as long as he was the only one, this also prevented any further alliance between the one who got pregnant, the things he had done, he scoffed bitterly.
From the very first moment he saw the witch Ramier, he knew he was different, he knew he was the key to saving his little boy, to have Lake grow up happy without him constantly worrying about someone killing the boy, so when his child decided to go with Mier, he couldn’t have been happier in that moment, his son would grow with love in his heart.
As Marcos was deep in thought he passed one dark corridor, he knew three people were covered in its darkness. “5th Circle Hidden Pulse.” The matriarch mumbled completely erasing his presence from anyone on castle grounds, he walked into the corridor way his eyes adjusting to the darkness perfectly.
“Did you do it?” Jon questioned the fae in front of him. “Of course I did, Alquin did nothing for my parents after they gave me to him, I’m going to avenge my parents and use his precious kingdom to do it, the rebellion leaders have all been paid, and I gave them Mier’s location by the Aliverian sea, they wanted the little prince dead as a price for helping us so I gave them the little prince.” Tristan replied with a proud smirk making Marcos angry but he kept himself hidden.
“You’ve already committed crimes against a Wrath witch, are you so sure going after a BloodShade child under the protection of the same Wrath witch is a good idea, and why are you sacrificing the boy.” It was Lera who argued and Jon looked to be in support of him. “I don’t care, what’s one child when they can make another, I want revenge, if the rebels kill Lake and frame it to be the fae it will trigger a war, when it does the rebels are going to support the fae, earning us our freedom.” Tristan explained proudly as Marcos deep in the shadows heard everything.
“If your plan doesn’t work, you’ll get killed on either side remember that and if Everin finds out you wanted to pit him against Alquin he will serve your head remember that.” Lera snapped before walking away, this time he wanted nothing to do with their plans. “Are you with me or not?” Tristan asked Jon who nodded. “I’m always with you, I want my freedom back, but we need allies—.” Jon stopped midway and sniffed the air, someone was coming.
“We need to go, we’ll talk later.” He asserted before walking away as did Tristan. Marcos was baffled with what he had learned, he didn’t know how to handle it all but one thing was for sure, he had to find Villa and the two needed to go to Mier immediately, both their lives were in danger, after that he needed to do something about Tristan’s plan before it was too late.
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LMJ
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