[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/50VBWNfh/63507c917b644ae085a53d695ad43269.png[/img] [img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/2fa3b68ea7ccb5e241580009fa3f8dfe/tumblr_nrjjdcXvK71uq1wtvo1_500.gif[/img][/center][hr][hr][h3][b][i][center][color=8519A2]Arc I - Terreille in Trouble[/color][/center][/i][/b][/h3] [hr][hr] [center][h3][color=SlateBlue]In the ruined town of Sharon, Shalador[/color][/h3] [color=SlateBlue]Counter of Days:[/color] 5 days [/center] [hr] Gennar paced back and forth next to the coach, his wings rustling restlessly as he kept giving the town off in the distance furtive looks. It wouldn't have been too horrid if Faeril had not insisted on doing nothing. Then perhaps at least one of them could have tried to slip into the town proper and make sure nothing was amiss. The Black Widow was insistent, however, they could not interfere with what may or may not happen within the town. It was for Fatima, their Queen, to deal with. [color=FireBrick]"Ashke, this is foolishness. Dusk is going and gone with the Queen not back yet. We cannot remain here waiting and risking our own necks let alone hers. What if something happened?"[/color] While it was true that Fatima was not [i]his[/i] Queen in the sense that his heart belonged to her, Gen was invested due to the hope that Fatima brought. Enduring her dear friend's glower, Faeril sighed her brow furrowed with her own worry. [color=SlateBlue]"If she is foolish enough to get trapped in Eldra, then there was no hope form the start."[/color] Not to mentioned they needed what she had felt in the town before her spell-web had been torn apart by the dark black power. It had been a small blessing that the landens had left by that point. When the feedback from a spell woven over the course of months fed back on her, Faeril had lost her legs. Normally a break like that didn't put her on her ass but her spells had never been so brutalized before. Cranky already from taking Xandar's comments before as an insult, she now had been even more bitchy. Wrapped up in two thick blankets courtesy of Bellinar, the Widow bristled as Gen snarled. [color=FireBrick]"That is cold, Ashke."[/color] [color=SlateBlue]"I am a cold person, Gen."[/color] Snipped the Eyrien woman, sipping water from a mug. The few herbs in it floating and bobbing as her hand shook slightly. [color=FireBrick]"You know who they ran into. Fuck's sake, the Black put you on your ass."[/color] Gen turned about, his wings flaring in agitation. Startling the witch slightly as it took something big to startle Gennar. Of the four of them he was the most unflappable, so to speak. [color=FireBrick]"We need to go into the town ourselves and deal with it. Now. It's night and our best chance to not be obtuse about it. I don't give a damn what you say right now, Fae."[/color] The icy blue eyes narrowed as Gen used his childhood nickname for her. One only used by the brothers three and those deeply familiar with the Healer-Black Widow. [color=FireBrick]"You said yourself we need the Queen. Can we really risk losing her over some bastard who serves the Hyallian Courts? I never heard a bad thing about the Sadist from those who weren't Aristo but even those who were Aristo and stayed out of his way crossed him by merely existing at one time or another."[/color] Faeril shifted from her seat nervously. [color=SlateBlue]"You surprise me by considering the words of an Aristo."[/color] [color=FireBrick]"You are one."[/color] Snapped the Warlord as he shifted back to watching the town. [color=FireBrick]"I'm just telling you what I hear."[/color] [hr][hr] [center] [h3][color=Gold]Queen's Residence Eldra ,Shalador[/color][/h3] [/center] [hr] "Really, you just couldn't help yourself?" The sweet, overly honeyed voice purred into his ear. "A fool insulted you, so you tore him apart?" Laska, Queen of Eldra and the landen village of what had been Sheepsfold, circled about the tall and intimidating figure of Saetan SaDiablo. The Warlord Prince for his credit looked bored with the theatrical movement as Laska pranced about to show off a dress that was more gossamer than material and did little to hide a body that was just a bit too tall to be attractive. It was a common joke well out of the Queen's hearing that her mother must have been a horse herself. A truth, though they would not know it. Their last Queen, Lady Marthea, had been quite horrified by her daughter's appearance. So she had hidden the girl away and would have disposed of her altogether if she had gotten with another child. Alas that hadn't happened. So Marthea had wedded her daughter to a desperate man who needed her favor and Laska had been born. While it was true the Queen of Eldra had a face that resembled a horse, there was a lightness to the bone structure that could be forgiving. If Saetan had a guess he would assume that the child's grandfather had been a landen. The father must have been a desperate dark jeweled merchant who had been running from someone else. The daughter, a lighter jeweled witch, wedded to a man far darker to produce a daughter with enough power to hold her own and thus the entire scandal would be covered up for good if only he would bless Laska with the ability to continue her line, and lie. Which he had no intention on doing. "Yes, I believe that is what I stated." He hissed in a soft voice full of venom. He needed Laska to keep the show going tonight. But why? it was a stupid idea that the little Queen he met in the bookshop could turn the Blood's corruption back on itself. Yet, he couldn't help himself. Saetan wanted to help her. To make sure at least one pure Queen could go on for a little longer. "Do you need me to spell it out for you? Assuming you can spell, can you not?" That comment had been met with a slap across the face, much to the amusement of the guards. "I do not need your excuses. You know what happens when you use the jewels. Dorothea said you were never to use them, and if you did. Well, she never went into detail. So I suppose I can be... Inventive. Now, if you made such a mess? Where are the bodies?" Saetan smirked as well, which only proved to infuriate Laska all the more. Let her put on this show and strive against him while the guards watched on and enjoyed the entertainment. Though it was unknown to Saetan the guards through the town were on edge from the temper of the Queen and what the Warlord Prince had done. No one was quite sure and that only put those who might be on the wrong side of Saetan on edge. Could it be a trap, or had were they going to stumble upon a body? If it was the latter, it was most likely a favorite of Laska and if that was the case then who would take the news back to the Queen? Thus most of the guards were in pairs, keeping close to the town proper. Unease running through the streets from an evening spent basking the town in the temper of it's Queen. Laska had torn through several shops. Particularly gutting the places before finding Saetan wandering up the road whistling a merry tune. True it had been far from the little bookshop, but even that had seemed too close to Saetan's taste. So he had egged the Queen on in the open street. Perhaps that hadn't been the wisest course of action when he thought about it. Laska had promised that this night was going to be for her amusement, but the next dawn would bring the torment to teach those that thought she might be slipping. Well, wasn't he a fool? What had crossing that little witch done to him? Saetan grinned, even as the Queen shrieked. At least it would let the little, pure Queen get away. If the little Queen was smart enough.