Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

The roads connecting Arcadios to Aedrider were very well maintained. They also flowed through the kingdom of Paede who assisted in the maintenance of the roads for a series of tolls they collected from merchants. Representatives from each nation were exempted from such tolls, so they were not required to stop at any of the checkpoints aside from the entrance to the country itself.

This was the first time that Desmond had ever set his eyes upon Paede. It was a fairly serene country with a number of small forests and grasslands that they passed through. All in all, it was a very basic place to live. If one read a fantasy novel, Paede could fit anywhere within its non-descript world.

The people themselves seemed to be a friendly sort with many making their living off farming and trade. Trade was Paede's biggest source of income. Since all trade with Aedrider flowed through it, the country made a decent profit off the merchant caravans.

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They had been traveling for several days at this point and Desmond had found himself growing bored of the monotonous scenery of the countryside. To quench his boredom he had taken to teasing his sister a little by trying to poke fun at the girlish crush she seemed to be developing on Lucius.

Desmond did not particularly mind that she had developed an interest in him. After all, while they were on their work study, he was about to ask that Lucius take her as one of his wives. However, the man seemed to sense what was about to happen and shut him down quickly and coldly.

This wasn't to say there still was still not a chance for his dear sister if she so wished, but it was clear that Lucius had no intention of allowing political marriages into his life.

Every time Desmond started to tease Jade about her crush, they would get a sideways glance from their carriage mates regarding their antics. Jade would get embarrassed and then apologize for his behavior, but that would only stop him for a few hours.

So the cycle continued for days on end until Desmond finally worked up the courage to do what he had been wanting to do since they left Arcadios. He wanted to share the letter they got with Lucius.

On one bright afternoon, he asked to trade seats with Kalliope so he could sit next to Lucius for a quick conversation. The woman was rather displeased with the thought of separating from Lucius, so Lucius instead switched with her. This let her stay on his other side, leaving her happy.

"What is it?" Lucius asked him.

Desmond produced a small letter and passed it over to the man. He made sure that the symbol of the shattered orb was facing upwards and in plain view. The moment Lucius's eyes settled on it, the bright sunlight outside seemed to momentarily dim. What seemed to be a nice and beautiful day began to turn to a rainy and dreary one.

Desmond watched his companion slowly read the letter. The further down he got, the worse the wind outside blew. It was clear that it was an artificially induced phenomenon and their elven escort was sweating slightly from the pressure falling upon them all.

By this point Jade and him had both gotten used to it, so it hardly affected them any more unless Lucius was specifically trying to create that feeling.

"I see. Why did you wait so long to show me?"

Desmond sighed, but gave an honest answer, "I figured if I showed you while within reasonable distance of the capital you would try and meet their challenge about finding them. I haven't been around you long, but you are somewhat predictable, you know."

Kalliope snorted at his comments, but held her laughter inside so Lucius would not get mad at her. For his part, Lucius grumbled but nodded begrudgingly, "You are right… I would have. Thank you for sharing this with me, Desmond."

"Any leads on this symbol or who these people might be?"

Lucius shook his head, "None. I have heard nothing from any sources relating to organizations using this or any derivative symbols. As far as we can tell it is wholly unique."

"Then is a new faction trying to make waves?"

"One would think, but how would a new and unheard-of faction benefit from me 'causing chaos' for a whole country?"

This time Kalliope could not hold back her laughter. She started reading the letter too and found it highly amusing the way this mysterious third party viewed the man next to her. Therentil, on the other hand, blotted a cold sweat away from his forehead. It seemed he was worried about the thought of Lucius 'causing chaos' for their country.

"It does indicate they might be larger than we think. For them to think they can influence the outcome of a country's succession disputes…"

"But if they are large enough to play on that level, then we should have heard something. It's just too strange for my liking. Also, I know that we have only seen these two letters, but whoever these people are seem strangely interested in me." Lucius thought aloud, "I don't like it."

Desmond agreed. It was strange they had such an interest in Lucius. Not only that, they wanted to use Desmond to do it. Granted there could be others that are receiving these orders and following them. Without more information all they could do was speculate.

"Everyone, take a look. There is the capital of Paede. A bit larger than Arcadios's capital city, eh?" Therentil said wanting to move the conversation on. He seemed uncomfortable talking about their current subject.

Sure enough though, he was right. The capital of Paede was coming into view and it was indeed larger than Arcadios's capital. If one were to put them side by side, Paede's was almost three times the size in terms of sprawl.

It also seemed to have different layers. There was a large wall surrounding the castle in the center of the city. Surrounding that were thousands of buildings and then another wall. Outside that second wall was yet another encirclement of buildings. There seemed to be an ongoing construction project to build a wall around the other layer of the city.

It was a rather impressive city. If Desmond were a betting man, he would easily put money on it being the largest city within human territories. Part of him wanted to investigate it, but they really needed to get to Aedrider. If he did anything to slow them down, Lucius might kill him or maim him for delaying his return to his wife and child.

However, before he could imagine the horrors inflicted upon him for such a crime, the carriages suddenly stopped, nearly throwing Desmond off his seat. No one said anything for a few moments, but it seemed like Lucius was listening to whatever it was outside.

"Seems that there is a fallen log on the…" He started, then sighed, "Really?"

A moment later, someone slammed on the side of their carriage. Due to the height of the window, they could not see more than the top of the person's head, but it seemed to be someone with unwashed and unkempt hair.

"Everyone, pile out and no funny business." A gruff voice commanded.

Kalliope took on a sly grin before turning to Lucius. "Hey… can I have some fun?"