Chapter 195
Gleetus broke and admitted to everything immediately after his left kneecap shattered. Everything from picking on Lahn regularly for fun, to sabotaging his efforts to make it to class on time, to eventually beating him nearly to death at the request of Linela - though he had admitted to going a bit beyond what Lahn’s siblings had originally asked. Shovi was absolutely horrified and sat speechless throughout the interrogation, giving her other two children rigid and infuriated glares, while Lahn just looked sad.
The begging and screams of horrified pain Gleetus let out only grew louder and louder as his insides were ripped out and plastered against the wall, much to the terror of Lahn’s family - and even Lahn himself to an extent. Allie was an absolute maniac when she got mad, and she didn't hold back at all while butchering the young man who'd dared hurt her friend. Though Riven could tell that both Lahn and Lady Shovi Lucio, his mother, were far less bothered by the sight than were Lahn's two siblings.
Meanwhile, Lord Nikola Lucio - Lahn’s father, was rather stoic about the whole thing and just continued to watch while occasionally adjusting his frilled shirt and vest like he had an impulsive need to scratch an itch.
“Are you quite done?” Riven asked after a while as Allie’s bloodied, slim figure stood panting over the ruined remnants of what had once been a young man.
She held up the parasitic worm, squirming in her right hands, and tossed it into a small cage she’d prepared before clicking the lock shut and turning around. Funny that they'd gone to all that effort to shove the worm into Gleetus only to rip him apart not long afterwards on a whim.
Pushing fingers through her matted hair and sighing in satisfaction, she turned to the pale occupants of the room. Parius and Linela, Lahn’s brother and sister, sat rigidly still with sweat beading down their faces and nostrils flaring as she turned her gaze to them. “Not quite.”
“Allie.” Lahn protested, finally getting up and grimacing at the bloody sight on the floor - putting himself inbetween the vampiric queen and his siblings right when she started towards them. He gave her a stern look, then shook his head slowly. “Please. Let it go.”
He could barely hold himself up. He was struggling, still weak on his left side due to muscle atrophy over many years, but he managed.
Allie’s red eyes flared, and she was about to protest with hands raised when she caught Riven’s raised eyebrow. Shoulders slumping and glancing back to Lahn, she let out a long exhale and nodded. Wiping blood off her shirt and stepping forward to give him a peck on the cheek, she glared over his shoulder at the siblings - and then to Lahn’s father. “We’ll talk later, bitches.”
Getting Lahn’s wheelchair now that everything was out in the open, she wordlessly pushed Lahn into it and angrily kicked the door open before wheeling him out - with Lady Shovi Lucio in tow after a glance.
The three of them left, leaving only Riven, Athela, Parius, Linela, and Lord Nikola Lucio sitting awkwardly in Allie’s room where a bloodied, messy pile of flesh was scattered on the floor between them.
“I’d say you guys all got off pretty well!” Athela chimed in happily with a clap of her hands. “Be excited, you three get to live after all! Riven and I were taking bets. Riven lost.”
Riven rolled his eyes, but let himself be yanked out of the chair with a tug of Athela’s hand. “You’re all dismissed back to your rooms. I wouldn’t remain here to be present when she gets back, Allie gets rather violent when she's in bad moods nowadays."
Parius and Linela immediately got to their feet, avoiding the gaze of their father and powerwalked out of the room shoulder to shoulder. Meanwhile, Lord Nikola Lucio shook his head and slowly stood before shoving his hands into his pockets, taking a backwards glance at the remnants of Gleetus, and gagging once before exiting out the door behind his children.
“Do you think there’s still going to be a Royal Ball?” Riven asked absentmindedly while watching them leave and take the spiral staircase down to the second floor.
Athela’s warm body pressed up against his, hands groping his chest with a content hum. “Don’t know, but if not we need to have our own! Maybe that’d be a good idea considering all those other factions want to meet with us. It’d be a good opportunity to undertake politics, and it’d give me a reason to wear that dress I bought so long ago!”
“Bought?” Riven repeated with a raised eyebrow and a sly smile. “Are you talking about the one we found in Brightsville when we first arrived? We looted it out of a broken down clothes shop.”
Athela’s lips pooched and she poked him in the forehead. “Same thing! Now, as I was saying earlier, I’ve been very deprived. Come, take me back to bed - I’ve been stuck daydreaming for so long and now that I finally have you, I’m taking full advantage of it!”
A twinge of sadness overcame him when thoughts of Fay came unbidden, but he brushed them aside with a massive amount of willpower.
And thinking about recent events concerning the night prior, he couldn’t help but smile slyly. “You gona do that thing with your tongue again?”
Athela’s long black tongue flicked out and licked the side of his face before she pulled him down the hallway. Then she winked. “Absolutely. I loved seeing you squirm.”
***
Daylight streamed through cracks in the otherwise dusky cloudscape of the haunted woods surrounding Brightsville, and leaves cracked underfoot as Riven and Athela walked under the branches hand in hand. It wasn’t too far away from the city’s edge because Kathrine couldn’t leave the 3 mile radius surrounding his guild hall, but it was far enough that they had privacy. Kathrine kept pace beside them with her own hands clutching something akin to a tablet, cycling through videos that she displayed as holograms ahead of their path while they walked.
One such hologram she produced was that of a large, sleek tower crumbling and falling over - crashing to the ground as vampires fled and slaves cheered. The slaves were that of the humanoid Sarak, which had pale eyes, purple skin, white hair and two smooth antennae that looked rather soft and fleshy as opposed to those of insects.
“Slave rebellions happen from time to time, but this one is no doubt orchestrated by your competitors.” Kathrine said, flipping through the images to settle on a burning manor. “It is true that there are only 50 million vampires on Luteski, and there are 6 billion enslaved Sarak, but even a tenth of the vampiric cohort there could overpower these weak slaves within days. Your fleet, and your legions, are no doubt being held back by those in power there.”
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Riven raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the vampiric princess as a brisk wind brushed her brunette hair behind her. “Why? What’s the point?”
“It makes you look bad. It makes the decisions you made look bad.”
“The ones where I granted those slaves more basic freedoms than most would get?”
“Correct. The vampiric nobility don’t like it, and they’re trying to make you look like a fool. No doubt some of these attacks are orchestrated by the vampires on other sects of vampires in your faction, rather than it being entirely done by slaves. The weapons, coincidences, and lack of a coordinated suppression of the insurgence are all indicators of this.” Kathrine looked up from her tablet to frown his way. “It is very much impacting trade efforts there. The registered corporations residing on your planet are having to step in, and they’re calling for complete area lockdowns and possibly even an embargo on your trading hub if things aren’t quelled soon.”
Riven snorted with irritation. “Well I’m here and not there, and I know very little about vampiric politics. Tell me Kathrine, how would I go about fixing this? You’re far more experienced than myself and I trust your judgement.”
“As a prince: Openly going against you is going against the crown unless they can prove absolute negligence, or incompetence. The latter is what they're trying to frame you for. They can only take actions in the shadows or under pretenses, they cannot oppose your will directly unless they hold a similar rank.” Kathrine replied promptly, dismissing the holograms with a wave of her hand. “There is good reason to believe the same people who tried to sell your inheritance beforehand are related to the ones now upending the way of life on Luteski. It is your planet, your birthright since your parents went missing, and these branch families of your lineage have gone on far too long assuming they’d be the ones acquiring ownership of the planet. They are ungrateful for what was provided for them, they did a poor job of running the highly lucrative trading hub in your absence, and they sabotage your efforts to make life for the slaves YOU own better. If it were me, I would do two things: make an appearance to speak with the general of House Wraithtide’s forces via hologram transmission to address these problems, and publicly execute the troublemakers. Then go back to quelling the uprising however you deem fit.”
There was a pause, and Riven stopped in his tracks to think about what she’d just said. “It is odd… thinking that I own an entire planet with over 6 billion slaves there. That I rule over 50 million vampiric citizens there. The numbers are beyond my true comprehension, I can only fathom that it is a lot.”
Kathrine gave him a sympathetic smile. “Yes, I understand. My parents sometimes throw me to the wolves concerning one or two of the planets my own house rules over, and it’s always a staggering experience.”
“How would I make an appearance via hologram? And would you accompany me if I did so?”
Kathrine’s features immediately brightened, and she gave him a quick nod and blinding white smile. “Of course! Back at the trading commune we have a formation that was just built, and it can be used to talk between worlds! Of course the use is incredibly expensive at this distance and we won't be able to use it often given the difficulty of operating such a mechanism, but it is possible. If you’d like, I can take you there now?”
Athela got up on her toes to whisper in his ear. “She wants to use you to further her own political agenda, but it isn’t such a bad thing.”
This was obvious to Riven as well, and he gave a quick nod of acknowledgement when Kathrine was looking the other way. “Yes, that’d be great Kathrine. I’d like that very much.”
Kathrine’s excitement only grew, and she quickly changed course to head towards the Elysium Altar in the distance - outlined by its green halo of flame surrounding the black spire’s tip. “Fabulous! I’ll certainly join you, but I must ask - would it be too early or are you comfortable with meeting my parents? Perhaps the high queen? They’ve been wanting to talk to you for some time but felt that they should hold off until you and I became more acquainted. Now that we’ve…”
Her eyes flitted to Athela, then back to Riven, and she cleared her throat. “Experienced each other’s company, perhaps now would qualify?”
“I know the two of you slept together, you don’t have to hide it.” Athela stated flatly, unamused.
Riven chuckled at the blush overcoming Kathrine and waved a hand to clear the air. “Yes, I am fine with meeting my grandmother. As for your parents, perhaps that can wait. I’m very busy and don’t have much time.”
Kathrine’s demeanor lost some of her enthusiasm, but she was still overall happy. “Very well. I’m sure the queen will be pleased! After that, we can go back to talk to the general overseeing your planet and-”
“No.” Riven cut her off with a swiping motion. “We go to talk to the general overseeing Lutseki first. I don’t want to waste any time as people die and unrest unfurls on a planet I’m apparently inheriting. We will settle that matter immediately, and then I’ll meet this grandmother of mine that I keep hearing about.”
Kathrine hesitated, but not for long. “As you say, Riven. As you say.”
***
The small castle that acted as a trading commune for the Blood Moon Requiem was immediately in an uproar as soon as Riven arrived. They’d gone so long without having actual contact with the lost prince or princess that Riven almost had to swat off the young nobility who’d remained there in an attempt to try and garnish his favor, and the vampiric servants were in a frenzy trying to last-second make things more presentable the moment his foot touched the interior of the entrance hall.
Just like last time the displays were over the top extravagant, but it’d been changed up a bit. Gold plating decorated the paintings and hallways, red-crystal chandeliers decorated the rooms, and heavy-plate mail guards were on full attention with dark armor glistening in the dim light - red eyes straight ahead while he walked by.
“It is so nice to see you’ve finally arrived back at the commune!” Duke Blemrich, the tall, muscular vampiric nobleman with a black ponytail stated in a grin while quickly trailing his advance down the hall behind Kathrine. “Perhaps we could discuss things in private concerning a business opportunity, or the whereabouts of your sister?”
“You look absolutely handsome today my lord!” The vampiric Lady Muren said with a low bow when she turned the corner to see him, long orange hair swept to one side and over her shoulder while wearing a seductive, revealing red dress. “What a surprise to see you here! When the guards informed me of your presence I didn’t believe them at first”
Lord Carsion, the blonde nobleman in a purple vest and walking with a cane, loudly sighed and glared at the others while continuing to trail behind Riven just like Duke Blemrich. “I apologize for the vultures, my prince. Do you wish me to send them away?”
Lady Muren and Duke Blemrich both scowled Lord Carsion’s way, but Riven only chuckled and waved it off with his free hand while tugging Athela along in his left.
“I wish you’d ALL be sent away.” Kathrine Vonsilla Crushada muttered under her breath, and the vampiric princess stopped at a pair of double doors - waiting for the guards to open it for them and step aside.
Through the babbling of the excited nobles peppering Riven with questions and compliments, and after the quiet swing of the double doors let in a cold gust of air, Riven saw through into the next chamber where an odd display of differently colored crystals were lined up in circular patterns that overlapped with one another in odd diagrams. Runes etched into stones glowed bright purple in the center of each circle, and mages dressed in robes all stood in a line - bowing when Riven and Kathrine entered the room second slater.
“We received your message, princess!” One of the mages stated reverently before righting himself again and gesturing to the crystal formation. “We’ve prepared the room as instructed. Do you need us to set up a silencing array for the babbling trio?”
The old vampire mage pointedly looked past Kathrine to the three nobles, all of which glared back, and this in turn got a loud chuckle from both Riven and Kathrine in unison.
“Not needed, but thank you Pladius. You’ve done more than enough, I’m sure they won’t be so stupid as to make noise while our prince deals with internal matters regarding his inheritance - and then the high queen.”
At the mention of the high queen, all three young nobles shut up and took a step back - though they kept inside the room, even if it was at the outer edges, to watch.
Kathrine nodded to Riven and then pointed to one of the circular formations, stepping into an adjacent one herself. “Follow my lead, and keep your feet planted. The experience is a bit jarring at first and you’ll see double, one here in this room and the other on your flagship orbiting Luteski. I already had Pladius contact the military brass of House Wraithtide, and they’ll no doubt be waiting for your orders when you arrive. The connection should take a few minutes to establish as long as we don’t have anyone try to jam the signal, so hold still and be patient. The more you move the longer the connection will take.”