Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Several members of the Aedridan royal family sat in a court-like chamber. Two women, in particular, sat on opposite sides of the room in elevated thrones. On each side, a handful of people, clearly their siblings, had gathered behind them. Letheya had six siblings behind her, and Ayalla had five behind her.

According to the sisters, there was at least one brother who was not present and had thrown his support in with Ayalla. This brother was apparently away at Stark Academy, the major academic institution in Aedrider.

Lucius was standing near the doorway, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. Desmond and Jade stood beside him, exuding an aura that befitted their noble upbringing. Lucius had been taught how to carry himself in a similar manner. However, the way he saw it the elves needed him, not the other way around. With that in mind, he saw no need to try and present himself in any special manner.

"So, sister," Ayalla broke the tense silence. The word 'sister' dripped out of her mouth as though the very concept of the word would make her vomit. "You wish to prove your point that we should maintain open borders with the savages outside our nation by inviting the single-most boorish non-elf you could imagine.

"Not only that, but you allowed him to beat our poor baby sister within an inch of her life. What an embarrassing display you have shown us today."

Above their heads, the match between Lucius and Corva had been playing on repeat for the audience. No one in the room looked happy at the sight. However, the loser, Corva, watched it intently while taking notes on a small pad of paper and using a strange writing utensil that Lucius didn't recognize.

"Ayalla," Letheya said carefully, "It was our sister who desired the match. If you remember, she fought against yhis man in Arcadios. Her honor demanded…"

"Honor!" Ayalla spat. "What good is honor when talking about this man? This… Titan. Do not think I didn't look into him. Have you heard what he has done since his entry into our borders? Varris may not be the same for months.

The populace still speaks of a man of ill-omen that brings storms and the rage of the skies. I fear they will scare children with this story one day.

"You would have us allow more people like him into our country? You would expose our citizens to such barbarism for the sake of coin and trade? It disgusts me. Our siblings who insist on supporting you for the throne should simply join me. It is plainly clear that I am the one who cares for the safety of our people and culture."

Letheya scoffed at her sister's speech. "Safety? I think you mean purity. We all know that you dislike the other races and the mixing of their blood with elves. You don't care about safety, you care about purity. If you truly wanted our people to be safe, then you would have supported last month's measure to expand funding for security in outlying villages.

Yet you did not…"

"This again, I told you…"

"Quiet."

A voice reverberated through the room along with a deep rumble, shaking the stone and furniture. The elves eyed the suspected source of the voice and saw that Lucius was casually leaning against the stone. His expression was still hidden behind his strange black mask.

"You dare…" Ayalla began to snarl.

Lucius raised a finger to where his lips would have been and then pointed to the center of the room. Everyone had been so preoccupied by the thought that Lucius was the problem that they had failed to notice that they had an additional guest in the room.

Standing in the center of the room was a tall and slender elf with long, flowing pink hair. Her eyes glowed a brilliant gold, similar to Lucius's own. Lightning crackled around her feet, occasionally being absorbed into an ornate spear made of a strange, green metal. From the right angle it seemed that there were faint golden wings slowly vanishing from her back.

Small pieces of broken glass were scattered around her as well. One look at the skylight above showed the hole she left from her entrance into the room. Leaving everyone to wonder how she managed to appear without a sound.

No one said a thing as they all stared in awe at Lady Tenia, the Empyrean Ranker of Aedrider. She smiled at everyone in the room before settling her eyes on the nonchalant human. "You, boy. Take off that mask. I cannot see you through that damned enchantment. Your hood as well."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Lucius slowly stood at attention and removed the mask from his face. He also pulled the hood of his cloak down. His deep black hair and glowing eyes were now exposed for all to see. One silver eye and one golden one locked on the strongest entity on the continent.

The realization that Lucius was a handsome half-beast caused several female elves in the room to suddenly blush. The warriors in the room began to pale, their focus being drawn to the large battle scars around his face and neck.

"You look so much like him…" Tenia whispered so quietly that only Lucius could hear her.

Her statement caught him off guard, but he quickly realized that this was not the place to press further into why she reacted in such a way.

Ayalla was the first elf to recover. "Great Auntie… I mean, Lady Tenia, to what do we owe this pleasure?"

Ayalla's voice quivered with concern. Tenia was known to spend most of her existence at the mountain's peak. Save for holidays and other important reasons, she rarely descended to the palace. Everyone seemed concerned as to what the purpose could be. None of them felt that she would be involving herself in the succession dispute, but that only made her motives more mysterious.

"I came for him." Tenia said, still looking at Lucius. "I have a favor I wish to ask of him. You do this, and I will give you one favor in return. There is a human in this palace that little Letheya wishes you to meet. My own goals align with hers.

"Meet with the leader of the Wisteria Concord. Perform the task she asks, and you will have the ear of the Strongest as well as whatever it is that the human offers."

"I came here for…" Lucius started.

An intense pressure weighed down on the room. Many of the elves dropped into unconsciousness, saving only the members of the royal family, Lucius, and his friends. The walls and stone floor cracked simultaneously.

"Perhaps I should be clearer, boy. This favor of mine is not a request. It is a command. It is by my own kindness that I offer you anything in return at all."