Rex nodded and carefully entered the cottage. He looked around and didn't see Jay, so he went to go sit down when he felt the soft thrum of magic. He closed his eyes and opened up his senses to the magic, getting a feel for what the other man was doing. It was soft, but steady. His senses spiked when the candles lit themselves, and he grabbed Skuggi before the skullbird could go check it out.

"Stay still, little one." He admonished. "Do not disturb him." He sat the parcel he held down, taking out the cloak. It shimmered slightly, but he paid it no mind as he took a seat, placing it in his lap. It would be much easier to deal with while he was holding it, as the first time he made the rune he couldn't enter his workspace for several days.

[hr]

Verdant Falls turned out to not even know where the King was. As Mayor Graham hadn't seen him in nearly a month. Word traveled fast through the Kin about a rumor of the murder of one of the Elders. Zion grimaced as he heard that the Regent was trying his best to get the Militant Faction to declare war on the Hunters for the travesty. Zion would rather let them assume he was dead as it made his mission much easier, as he wouldn't be traced in any way.

He kept moving, planning to ask the one other person who might know where the King was, the estranged Elder Jivarn Kartoss, in New Auburn City. It was a Sanctuary City, and the Regent refused to recognize it as part of the Kingdom, since it had been Magnus' only act to create such cities when he was King before abdicating to his brother. Jivarn was one of the late King's closest confidants, and his Court had all but moved there when he'd died. It would be a solid day of hard travel for the elder vampire, who would need to use all his speed to get there. He just prayed he wouldn't run into trouble or any Hunters along the way.