Chapter 5 (Mael)

I kicked at the pile of dust that was once a living, breathing creature. Though, by all rights it should not have been. What had I seen? My mind reeled still. My blue maiden was something more than what she appeared to be at first. Throughout the dinner I should have known; her arrogance, fearlessness and smug little smiles should have told me that she was no helpless woman. After she had left, refusing my company and practically demanding I turn and forget my duty, I decided to follow her. Her rigidness eased slightly when she felt she was alone and I could not help but notice she seemed lost in thought, what could she be thinking I wondered? The moonlight made her skin shimmer and glow reminding me of one of the muses that guarded my door… no, Persephone... could Cossette be so frigid? I wondered as my lips effortlessly curved into a smile. Could her heart be frozen so that even the God of the underworld could not melt it with hell fire? After a point, the scurry of animals stopped and the noises of the night went silent, Cossette realized it too as I watch her body tense. Breathing, soft but nonetheless there, something was watching her and before I could pin point the location the forest became a riot of noise and… this beast appeared. I kicked at the dust again on remembering it. I had intended to interfere and remove the bastard’s head myself but little Cossi did this for me… exquisitely so.  What she could do with a dagger… a dagger she had no doubt intended to use on me if I had gotten out of hand. I might have let her go tonight, I might have believed her and sought answers elsewhere but she had to challenge me with her smug little smiles and her pursed lips. One should never run from a wolf and she was running. Turn your back and fly little dove but I will catch you and I will eat you alive… There are some things that humans cannot understand about immortality no matter how hard they try. One is that after living several hundred life times, you become bored, so bored you wish for death simply because it is different than the slow torturous routine of life. Madam Delacroix interested me from the moment I saw her and even more so now. This little business with the rogue was just that, business, peace keeping, boring. Cossette, oh she was a challenge. I would hunt down and find the rogue, there was no question of that, but my priorities had split and the rogue was not the only thing I would have at the end of this little journey. Though I would have to rethink my usual methods of capture since she could… vanish? Where in the hell had she gone to after demanding the Master show itself? Master… I suppose this little case did require a bit of attention, after all the creature appeared as if it had been starved nearly to death and then released… but the fangs, they had been broken, almost as if its command was not to kill but to… acquire perhaps? Interesting indeed. But the Master was not present; I could tell that easily by scanning the area for a powerful life force. If only Cossette had not turned him to dust, I could have searched his body for some clues to whom or what he was. Entertaining little trick she had though, I supposed I would have to think twice about raising her anger again. I grinned; I could not stop it from forming if I had wanted too. The idea delighted me to no end, little Cossi was truly something special; I hadn’t smiled like this is years!

Ailo greeted me once I returned home, his expression was worried and stressed. “My lord, I feared for you.” He said and trailed behind me like a lost dog. “Do not be idiotic. You know very well I cannot perish by any normal means. Save your worthless sniveling for someone else. Now, do you recall where the Duchess said her Duchy was?” I inquired and headed for the drawing room. “North from here on the coast, only a few miles to the southwest of Calais, I believe she said, my lord.” Ailo rattle off behind me. “Excellent… do you think you can find it?” I asked turning on my heels. “I suppose I could find anything for you, my lord. I will get the maps…” Ailo promptly bowed and removed himself. I settled in a chair after pouring a crude mixture of blood and wine and waited for Ailo to return. Once again I was lost in my thoughts of the evening and one moment in particular stood out in my mind, the moment her armor was nicked. When I had mentioned unexplained deaths in the area, I swore she paled, I swore it. But when I elaborated that it was young women, she eased and her armor was back up again. So what had her so devastated in that innocent remark to actually still her? Ailo returned pulling me out of my mind for the meantime. He babbled on with French place names and roads and suggested several roads that should lead us straight to the Duchy. “My lord… if I may, I think this woman might be more trouble than we need. If you recall I had said the same before about the Ljusalf girl and-” Before I had the presences of mind to stop myself I had stood and struck him across the face, sending his head snapping to the side. “We do not speak of that.” I ground out. There was a moment of shocked silence, more so my own shock at what I had done than his at what had been done. He inclined his head as if realizing his mistake. I hadn’t realized the wound still bled so… but then I wouldn’t have him speaking ill of any woman who could not defend her name anymore. The smile Cossette had unwillingly given me faded; just as well, they never did last long. The past should have taught me not to try and attach my feelings to anything, to remain alone and therefore unharmed by unnecessary emotions. But somehow my heart wanted, if anything, to be broken one more time before it gave up. Ah, love, a very odd emotion. It could be bliss and it could be torture. It was an emotion forbidden to Devils and I wondered some times if they weren’t lucky to have never known it. Ailo certainly had no concept of it and he seemed perfectly fine… but then he was also a sociopath and a sadist. “Get the carriage ready, I want to be well on our way before dawn.” I said and downed the rest of my blood and wine cocktail.

“The fifth time through the same place…” I muttered as I peeked out the carriage window. Either Ailo had gone completely mad and lost all sense of direction or there was something more to these winding roads than met the eye. Ailo halted the horses and dismounted to speak with me at the window. “I do not understand it; I swore that I took a different road this last time… and worse yet my lord, the right front wheel is cracked. If I hit another rock or dip, it will shatter.” He said and turned in a circle to watch the trees shuffle with the slight breeze. “Bloody witch…” He muttered under his breath. He had no idea. I relaxed back and considered the situation; the amulets we used were only at half power for they had not a chance to regenerate since this morning and though the sun had just now begun to rise, if we did not find the Duchy soon we would be in considerable trouble… or at least Ailo would be. Just then I heard the click clank of an old wagon coming up behind us, surely the man might know something or at least aid us to a near by village, I thought and popped the carriage door open. I hailed the old farmer down, approaching his wagon slowly. The thing was filled with firewood and pulled by Oxen, wonderful. He looked at us as if we were a spectacle but then I suppose we certainly were that at the moment, weren’t we? “Excusez moi, we are on our way to Forêt en Chêne to see the Duchess Delacroix and our Carriage has broken a wheel, would you be so kind to give us a ride to the nearest village?” I asked. The old man looked us over thoughtfully. “I suppose. Not much room back there but just find a place on the wood and hold on.” He said and though I was grateful for this I was confounded that I found myself in this outrageous predicament! Bloody woman… Ailo and I climbed onto the rickety wood stack and settled as best we could, my cape, of course, caught and ripped in a place that would be unfixable. Once again, that woman would certainly pay for this. If anything for the indignity I had had to suffer.
“Begging your pardon, sir, but you don’t seem like the country-type…you’re not another suitor for the Duchess, are you…?” The old man asked as he got the Oxen moving again. I nearly rolled off the back. Had he said suitor? Why the little Duchess became more interesting every minute… “Why yes, why do you ask?” I said, just out of curiosity of course. “Aw, good God and all the good saints that reside in heaven! Not another one! Bloody, filthy, pox-ridden scoundrels, the whole rotten lot of them! Poor woman’s been fending off the bloodthirsty, shit-for-brains vermin ever since her poor father died three years ago this winter! Blasted pompous bastards…!” He paused and glanced back sheepishly. “With respect, my lord…” More interesting. “You say she has been assaulted with would-be-suitors since her father’s death… how dreadful, do tell me more. I had no idea!” I said with all the fake concern I could muster, but then again I could not say it was completely fraudulent, after all the death of her father could explain the odd reaction she had at dinner…
“…Aye, my lord, that be a story. Albert was our Duke until three years back. Poor man…lost his wife with his daughter’s birth some twenty-four years ago, they say…never remarried. Didn’t have the heart to. The Duchess we have now was his only blood – he raised her himself: loved her, trained her, schooled her, brought her up right and proper, my lord. He had no other heirs, and no male relations to serve as the Duchess’ guardian after he passed. Poor lady’s been on her own ever since. King’s been working like mad to marry her off – even brought in foreigners to suit her. None have taken.”
Why did the hair on my neck suddenly raise? Perhaps I was looking in the right place but at the wrong person this whole time. Could it be that the amethyst eyed beauty was a pawn? Or… could she be the one conspiring with the king as I had originally thought? “How did the Duke die?” I asked gently. “Private affair, my lord – not any business of mine, nor any of yours. The Duchess doesn’t talk about it. Some say she’s still mourning. Can’t say I blame her, poor girl…” Mourning indeed…I hoped that was the case and not that she had taken the man’s life for future alliances. “How many other suitors have there been?” I asked. “How many!? Glory, lord, that’s a coup by itself! It began with a couple of the nobles in and near Paris, I think. They all looked like rats, to me – fat rats in fine silks, every single one of them. But it’s right tricky to find a noble to suit a Duchess, so the King started with some of his family. No luck. The Duchess had each one of them packed back to Versailles within a week of coming here. After that, it was some of the lesser nobles. Same as before. The Duchess would have none of them. That’s when the King started to bring in bloody outsiders. He started with a bloody drunk Spaniard – some Don or what have you. He lasted maybe two days. After that, there was an Italian – he lasted two hours! A blemish to his countrymen, no doubt! The one he brought in from Cologne wasn’t bad…until the Duchess caught him with his hand up some milkmaid’s skirt. She sent him back to Cologne with the milkmaid – and word is they’re right happy like that! The last one sent to the Duchess was probably the best, though – and he was a fair recent one, too!” The old man explained with emotion.
“Oh really?” I urged him.
“An Earl from England, my lord. King sent across the channel for him! Made no difference. He was here maybe a month, but a suit was never reached. Some say they were better off as colleagues. The Duchess still keeps in polite touch with him, but he’s no threat. Word is he married a goodly little lady from his own country.” He said smugly. “He’ll be a tough one to follow, my lord – the Duchess liked that one.” Tough to follow, indeed tough to follow, who did this old man think he was talking to? A bloody Lord or Baron? Suddenly the idea of the poor woman killing her father and conspiring with the king left my mind. Three years would have been too long to put a plan into place and having to deal with the would-be suitors wouldn’t be worth the ends… no, Cossette Delacroix was not my enemy nor I hers… I just had to convince her of that. The old man turned down a road I swore we took but after several minutes of dodging low Oak branches, the Duchy was apparently well named, a village appeared out of the dark green shadows. The wagon stopped just outside a little town and the old man looked back at us with a toothless grin. “Aye, my lord, good luck! My money says you’ll be out of here before Easter!” Ailo and I jumped off the wagon and bid the farmer fair well. It was late afternoon I could tell by the sun and we still had a bit of walking to do before we actually came upon the township itself. There were fields and roads winding like snakes through the tall grass and surrounding them were large, old Oaks that near acted as a barrier to the outside French countryside. It was lovely.  The town was simple and the people simpler but then that was not always such a terrible thing, much preferable to the pigs of Versailles for certain. It was how I had envisioned my kingdom so many life times ago, children laughing and playing, working with their parents and finding simple pleasures in existence. How hate and power can destroy such noble endeavors… I blinked back the sour memories and continued into the center of the town, a woman on the road with her child was kind enough to tell me where the Duchess resided and how to get there. “The Chateau de la Mont, sir? Head north on that road, you can’t miss it.”  Can’t miss it, you wouldn’t think you could miss an entire Duchy though either! I nearly snickered to myself when I thought about how surprised my beauty would be to see me. Aw there was that smile again… she had a way of bringing it on.
Once away from the township and well into another grouping of Oak, Ailo and myself forwent with the human disguises and dashed up the cobblestone road quick as lightening. I had had well enough of this bloody human coil for the day and the amulets were wearing thin on power. The road wound up a mountainous area and stopped at the crest of a ravine, across that was an ornate stone bridge giving wake to The Chateau de la Mont. What a sight indeed it was. The castle was something from a fairytale, whitewash stone overgrown with ivy and morning glories, hundreds of windows with stained glass adorned its walls and spirals giving bright spots of color to it. It was a castle befitting a Princess no less a Duchess.  We crossed the bridge, passed the gates and made for the circular drive that went around a dry stone fountain. The place seemed a bit empty despite the obvious upkeeps here and there… somehow there was simply a great sense of… loss.  I urged Ailo back, if we were to be assaulted I wanted to be the one she went at first. I knocked gently and waited.
A few moments went by before one of the two large doors opened up, revealing a stunning young woman. “Qui? May I help you?” She inquired cocking her head so that her bountiful blond tresses, that were in a high tail, bounced with the moment.
I inclined my head gently and offered a pleasant smile. “Qui, we are here to see the Duchess Delacroix.” She was a Vampire, it was a subtle scent on her but when she threw the door open it became obvious. She was full in all the right places and delicate in the same, she wore pink and it seemed to light up her pale skin with a flush of life that only youths could muster, I wagered she was not very old. “And what business do you have with my mistress, sir? She left no instructions for an appointment of any kind for this day…” She said. I glanced at Ailo, no doubt wearing a weary expression. “To think there was a time when I did not have to announce myself… Lord Mael Seraph, your King, my lady. I seek audience simply.” I said. Though I couldn’t possibly look the part with this ripped cloak and approaching on foot…
The girl’s amber eyes grew wide and bright suddenly. “Pardon, sir? You mean…?” her words trailed off and she began to smile. “Yes child, I am not dead as the murders and hunters would have you believe. May we enter…?” The girl’s cheeks seemed to turn a shade of pink as she grinned and nearly bounced with excitement. Well… this was a pleasant response actually, refreshing. “Oh, of course, sir! Please! Come in!” She chirped as she stepped aside to allow us in. The foyer was dark and empty, strange, one would think that such an amount of land would well provide for this place…
“I really must apologize on her Grace’s behalf that she is unable to greet you herself. She had business away south of here, but she should be returning by the evening.” I had to smile slightly at the utter giddiness in the girl’s voice. No doubt she had been regaled with tales of me… I wished that all of them, the heroic ones at least, were true. To the Vampires only the good stories were told and to the humans only the bad. The truth, well that was something in between I suppose.  And how disappointing, my Duchess had not arrived yet… “What is your name, child?” I asked. I could feel Ailo behind me, stalking nervously like a rat that snuck into a kitchen.
“Lillith, my King -- lady-in-waiting to the Duchess.  Would you like to come and sit in the parlor for a while?  Surely, you must need someplace to rest!” Lillith… she bustled about, closing the doors behind us and then heading toward, I supposed, the parlor. “Thank you, Lillith, that would be very nice.” I said and followed her with Ailo in tow. She offered us a seat and then rested just across from us. “So, tell me of Madam Delacroix, is she a good woman?” I asked gently. I could hear Ailo sigh though I am sure he didn’t think I could. Lillith instantly replied with “Yes! A very good woman! Not at all like the rest of the nobles.” She paused to pick up her embroidery hoop then continued with, “I was her nursemaid many years ago, I held her the very hour of her birth, in fact!” The girl was literally beaming with pride. But that wasn’t exactly what I wanted to know. “So the Vampires here truly have been here for a very long time…” I paused. “You knew the old Duke then? Tell me, if you can, how did he die?” Perhaps it was too strong a question because Lillith looked a bit shocked and curious, what the bloody hell was so special about this man’s death anyway? Why was there such a hushed secret to it?  “That’s a terribly specific question for you to ask, my king… how did you know?” I remembered when such a response would have warranted punishment… the memories made me cringe. “An old farmer told me of it and it makes me worry with all the other stories I have heard. There is a rogue loose, Lillith, and I think it might have something to do with your Duchess or the Duchy. I am not trying to implement you and your mistress, you must understand, but I am worried that she might have been purposely put into this weakened state.” I explained gently. The girl rolled her eyes and went back to her work, her features became bitter. “Weakened state indeed…” She muttered then stopped her worked and fixed me with a stern look, a protective look. I nearly smiled; Lillith would be ready to fight for her mistress. That said quite a bit for Cossette. “We don’t really discuss the late Duke’s passing, my king. Her Grace has trouble speaking of it still. It’s been three years. She’s had much to consider since then… and as I’m sorry to say, you have probably noticed the poor state of this place…” Indeed the place was bear; no doubt things were sold off for money. The idea should not have touched me as it did. I had seen such sad states before. But then those nobles likely deserved what they wrought, these people here however sold it to keep the smiles that appeared on each child’s face. “I meant no offence. And yes I noticed and perhaps I chose the wrong words.  Forgive me.” My eyes drifted over the bare floors with no rugs to be seen and the sparse furnishings in the room. “You care for her very much and the smiles on the faces of people say she is a great protector… but who protects her? How does she keep such peace?” I asked. No doubt that spectacular little gift had something to do with it.
"…She keeps the peace because we all must keep it.  There's more than just our own kin here, my King - and all of us benefit from protecting each other.  No one individual protects the Duchess, sir - we all do, and she protects us in turn.  It's because she plays courtier to the King of France and the rest of the aristocrats that the attention is more on her than her Duchy."
“Who else dwells with in the Duchy? Madam Cossette said there might be a problem if I were to appear and yet I did not meet any resistance or harshness when I arrived... and I had only seen humans here until you, of course.” When I saw the girl’s eyes widen with realization and astonishment I inwardly reprimanded myself. Idiot!
“What? Does this mean that you’ve already met her?! When?!”  Ah the feeling of being pinned down like a rat… but what a lovely cat to do so. I attempted innocence and cleared my throat. “Well… we had dinner at my temporary resident and she was rather stubborn about the ordeal. I wanted to speak with her again and so I came here.” I explained. She needn’t know the other things. Lillith stood very slowly, her eyes were impossibly large and fixed on me. “…is she expecting you, my king?” She asked carefully. I couldn’t help smiling. “I wouldn’t imagine she is… no.” I answered. “Oh… oh, my…um…” She muttered hurriedly as she stuffed her loop and sewing into her stitching basket. “Her Grace will not be best pleased with you, sir… you really shouldn’t have come…!” She insisted nervously. Oh but that was entirely the reason I had come! That and business, but business could wait for now. “Lillith, my dear, this is a matter of safety for our kind, the anger of your mistress is nothing I cannot handle.” Nay it was something I would very much like to handle. “Worry not and I swear that you will not be accountable in anyway. I will make sure she knows it was all my doing.” I assured her. I wasn’t about to move an inch now that I was here. I wouldn’t lock the Duchess in a room at my Chateau but I certainly had nothing against refusing to leave hers.  
“It’s not blame or anger I am worried about, Majesty! It’s…!” Suddenly there was a scrambling noise that stopped her short; I swore it was coming from… the walls? No, upstairs now and voices too from below, yelling things that could not be understood. What in the holy one’s name…? “Oh no…” Lillith muttered.
“We… are not alone?” I asked shifting my eyes to each little scramble and scurry. The girl grabbed my arm and hurried me out of my seat and then nearly dragged me from the parlor, I was so shocked I had not the time to put up a proper struggled before we reached the foyer. Ailo hurried along behind me. “No! Never!” She answered and pushed me into the main hall. “Please! The Duchess has just been sighted on the road to town! You can still ride out and pass her without her seeing you! Please go!” She insisted with another shove. This place was utterly mad, I had thought it was me but no… they were all insane here! “They know when she is close to home!” She cried.  I halted our progress; this madness would have to end! “Who knows?! And I intend to see that woman! I am not leaving until this thing is settled! Now child…” I removed her delicate hand from my arm, “I am very grateful to you for your protection but…I am going to speak to Madam Delacroix.” I said sternly. This was absolutely insane… she was a damned human woman, perhaps with parlor tricks but a human, no doubt, all the same! The girl looked panic stricken at my words. “You cannot stay here! Please!” She begged and fell to her knees. I shot a look to Ailo, his face was classic but now was not the time. “Please, your Majesty! Every minute you stay here is a minute closer to unraveling all that this family has done for our kind and others! If you are truly worried about our safety, then please leave! There aren’t any rogues, here! Corbeau would have found them already…!” I calmly bent down, caught her under her arm, and lifted her off her knees. “I swear I will not endanger you at all… the Duchess will surely lay all her fury on me alone. Please, I must do this.”
“Sir! Please! Don’t do this…!”
“Lillith… stand down.” I said. There was no defying the tone I used. Lillith whimpered, preparing to beg again when the sound of a horse outside stopped her. “Oh…!” She whipped around to face the door. “That’s Etain…!” She cried.
The sudden rush of excitement, the image of that woman’s face when she would enter here… God it made my skin prickle. “Excellent…” It came as a purr. “Forgive me my King…” Lillith whispered suddenly and pushed me into a shadowed corridor of the foyer and bustled quickly to the door, in her mind she was simply begging for me to let her handle this matter. She straightened her dress and just as she reached the door it opened.
I sank back into the shadows, if anything to simply have a good look before ruining the woman’s day. I hadn’t a clue what happened to Ailo but then he could take care of himself. When Cossette Delacroix walked through the doors my heart made the strangest tip tap in my chest. She was wearing a green riding habit, the color was pleasant on her and the suit fit her figure very nicely, but when she removed her tricorn and those eyes flashed with concern at the state of the girl…
“Lillith, are there visitors today...?  Etain was horrible coming up the path and the ravens were...” The Duchess paused and carefully inspected Lillith, “What is the matter, darling? Is everything alright…?”
“Everything is fine Madam Delacroix…” I said as I stepped out of the shadows.
“Madam, it was my fault! I should have shown him out..!” Lillith said franticly, grabbing Cossette’s hands. The Duchess’s eyes bored into me so deep I thought she might be looking through me; her face was a mask of startled annoyance and rage. “What on earth…!? You! What are you doing here!? I thought I told you to never visit…!” She demanded. God the color spreading over her cheeks nearly made me grin, but I managed to stay still and silent.
“Madam, please! I’m so sorry…!” Lillith redirected her attention.
Cossette placed a gentle hand to the girl’s cheek. “Lillith, it’s fine – you couldn’t have known.” Her eyes drifted back to me, furious. “…Just show Lord Seraph out this instant and the matter will be forgotten…” She bit out.
“Uh…King Seraph, madam…” Lillith corrected her. Precious girl… I did smile then.
Cossette regarded her confused. “King? Lillith…” She was utterly unimpressed. I was glad she couldn’t see my jaw tick.
“I speak truthfully, madam! He is the King of my people…he is the Vampire King…!” Lillith insisted.
Cossette rolled her eyes, not amused, not convinced. “Lillith, I am no longer a child, and All Hallow’s Eve isn’t until the autumn – enough of this trickery…” Trickery indeed! Who the hell did she think she was…?!
“It’s hardly a trick, madam…! I would know, after all, and…” Lillith began. The Duchess regarded her sharply. “Not that I yet believe it, Lillith, I’m finding this terribly incredible! That you would be so careless as to knowingly allow the King of the Vampires to enter my family’s domain and home when there are plenty of those here who wouldn’t hesitate to raise all anarchy if he was discovered! I realize you have your moments, but surely you wouldn’t be this reckless…!” She reprimanded.  “…Un-Unless I…um…was caught in the moment and…well…believed you had not met him prior to his arrival today…and wouldn’t…recognize him or know any better…” Lillith stuttered out. Poor thing… I did honestly feel bad about getting the fair darling in trouble with her Mistress… God I had gotten soft.
“You mean you…” Cossette began but Lillith squeaked something then turned and ran up the right of the two stairs cases beyond us. The Duchess was livid now but somehow contained it into the tight glare she afforded me when she addressed me. “Send out your servant, my lord, and let us speak plainly…” She said. Ailo appeared from another shadowed area, good eyes for a human, and he joined my side protectively. “Ailo, wait outside, please.” I said. He looked as though he might refuse me but thankfully he knew better and stepped outside the doors and closed them. I shifted my eyes to the stairs, “Please be easy on her; it was not her fault.” I said in regards to Lillith. “Oh, she's not the one I am presently annoyed with -- forgiving her goes without saying.  You, however, are being most unfair.” The Duchess spit out bluntly. God she beautiful… “That is a lovely color on you.” I said, ignoring her statement, because I was being entirely fair in the matter as far as I saw it. “You have a fine castle here… though a bit on the lonely side.” I commented strolling passed her a few steps, with my hands neatly tucked behind my back. Suddenly I felt her delicate hand brush my cheek and… yank my ear so hard I thought she might rip it off! “You’re not staying—you’re leaving! Now!” She growled and began dragging me toward the door. Her free hand was hovering close to her left hip and… suddenly I realized the hilarity of the scene; I was nearly a foot taller than she and at least one hundred-fifty pounds heavier! I grasped her delicate yet insanely powerful fist, “Madam, your finger is caught in my earring, I rather planned on keeping my ear attached!” I removed her hand but didn’t allow her to steal it away from me just yet.  “We were to talk, not degrade into physicality... but if you insist, I can think of more pleasant things we could do.” I breathed against her hand, my lips curling into a wicked little smile.  “You...!” She cried in outrage. She hiked her skirt up pulling a dagger that was hidden there. Ah I knew there was something- before I could finish the thought she swiped at me, slicing across my arm. “I've had my fill of assassins, sir!  I'll not tolerate one in my own home!”  She roared. I released her as the wound began to sting then sizzle… silver…?! I hissed between my teeth at the sudden burning that raced through my blood like fire through brush. I clamped my teeth together and glared at her, attempting control. “Are you insane, woman?! I am not here to hurt you!” I pulled my newly ruined sleeve back and studied the wound, then raised a pointed, near threatening glare at her.  “I could have killed you at my home!” I said it so she knew I still could if she dared attack again. That alone should have stilled her but no, she stood ready for me to retaliate, her dagger in hand and her body poised for battle. “No -- you only waited until I was on the road!  Less of a cleanup for you if I was to be merely dumped in the woods!” Her eyes flashed with a definite green glow. “Get.  Out.” She threatened, I would have gladly asked her to make me but I was so stunned and outraged at her accusation I almost was at a loss for words.  “You think I sent that thing?” I asked in shock, forgetting she had no idea I had followed her. “Are you telling me you didn't, my lord?” She sounded utterly unconvinced I hadn’t.  “Why the hell would I send someone to kill you when I spent all that time trying to talk with you?  I followed yes and I saw you fight it... I’ll admit to that.” I said and pulled my sleeve down when the wound dried and then vanished.  Her arms dropped to her sides and she stepped back. “You followed me!?  What on earth for!?” She asked bewildered. I wondered if I looked as much the child with his hand caught in the cookie jar as I felt… “Incase something like that happened actually! I had no idea you were...” I gestured to her with my hand that was not throbbing wildly, “…different.” She studied me for a moment. “Fine, I’ll accept that.  But upon doing so, I expect you to remove yourself from this place at once...”  She spun her dagger once, making a point. “...Either of your own free will or some less pleasant means -- your choice” Oh… I swore my body came alive at that demand.  “You are going to throw out Lillith's king, nay king to all dark ones who dwell here? Who do you think they will follow, Madam Delacroix?  I come in peace and I do not intend to leave.... please, allow me and my servant to stay until this is over with. I swear you will not see me again after.” She wasn’t buying a bit of it, good; I liked how she challenged me. We would see who won this. “Will you ever cease with that damned charade!?  Do you think I wouldn't know of the Vampire King?  Lillith filled my ears with stories of him ever since I was a child -- and you...!” She studied me, her eyes glinting spitefully. “...You hardly strike me as being the marauding murderer that he was.  A fiend and a womanizer, yes, but not a butcher...” My jaw ticked. Had she been a man I might have, no, I would have struck her for that. “Pardon me for not having a kingdom to show you but I might like to add, HUMANS butchered more of my people than I did of theirs and we all have our reasons for doing things. Perhaps the stories you heard were true but then maybe it was not all true. What is it they say..? The greatest achievement the devil has made is making people believe that he does not exist.” I tried to keep my tone civil but I had never met anyone that raised my ire so quickly. How dare she call me a butcher, womanizer… murderer. “Devil or not, King or fool, you are not welcome here...” She stated. Her chin lifted as if I presented no challenge whatsoever. It should have made me angrier but that wasn’t at all the emotion it brought on, no, not at all. I would have sooner pressed her against the cool stone wall and taken her mouth than raise a finger against her.
Suddenly the castle walls began to rattle violently; more running, yelling, scrabbling, warped, twisting laughter echoed along the corridors. Cossette seemed unshaken by it. I shifted my eyes from hers for a moment. “What... is that? Do you have chickens locked in your walls Duchess?” I asked, raising a brow. She smirked, all the arrogance in the world in those eyes, she reminded me of a proud warrior, I had seen many of them before me in battle, needless to say who won.  “Hardly chickens, my lord. Merely those that help me.”  Her words were offset with another pitch of laughter, this time echoed by others. “Ah...” I licked my lips. Land spirits, fairies…magic, I saw her game now. Dangerous little thing she was though. It was time to fight dirty then and I didn’t need magic to do it, no, plain and simple blackmail would do nicely.  “Please reconsider Duchess... I would hate to have to go into the little town below... and chance being seen...” I started to turn toward the door.  “Stop.” I favored her with my most innocent expression when I turned back. “Yes?” I asked. She took a moment considering what I had just said; her mind was like a steel trap and damned if I could break in. She then spoke carefully. “I don't believe you are the King -- and I won't until you prove otherwise.  However, Lillith's instincts have never failed, and I will...concede some truth to your identity.”  The walls quieted down suddenly.  “Nevertheless!  For as long as you are in my home, you will obey that which is observed by all.  You come here to mock me freely, and you will pay that debt through at least some degree of cooperation.  I won't seek you out -- nor shall you look for me!” then she added with a hint of threat, “And mark me, my lord -- one foot out of line, and you'll have far more than just a little bit of silver to worry about.” I watched as her eyes narrowed on me, awaiting my response. “Ah, as kind as she is beautiful... I knew you would see the light, my dear!” I smiled pleasantly, hiding the eager little grin that wanted to accept this as a victory. “I am completely in your debt and I shall be on my best behavior of course.” I bowed my head slightly. “We'll see.”  She said and stalked off and up the stairs. I couldn’t help but admire the view now that I wasn’t in immediate danger of being stabbed. She climbed stairs nicely.