Obscurno flew between the towers and clearings, slowly counting the number of soldiers that were accumulating. He had been trying to send Cormac his warnings for some time, but his master was in too strong distress for Obscurno's message to reach him. So he opted to do the next best thing he could. Assess the situation as accurately as he could.

The soldiers were flooding through the walls, shouting all the while. Though they all parted ways for the few man adorned in dull grey uniforms of leather, rather than with the sparkle of iron.

They were crossing the gathering of men without stop, as the crowds parted to let them walk. Even if they were physically no superior to the soldiers, it was obvious that their station preceded theirs.

Obscurno kept itself in the chilly shadow embrace of the trees, trying not to stand out too much. He felt it prudent to keep himself hidden, as he feared the enforcers coming closer to the hidden opening.

The wall of crumbled stone mysteriously put itself back together only a little while after the others had entered and numerous soldiers were gathering around it. Though none of them seemed aware of walking past such a tunnel.

Obscurno shifted his weight between his talons, nervous. He could gleam into his master's thoughts and emotions only a little bit and he only started understanding them a bit, but it was obvious that he was in distress. Something was wrong, a part of his plan must have failed. At least that was what Obscurno thought at the start. With a little time, he realized that some kind of revelation caused this. A part of Cormac moved inside him wildly, resonating with his Master's emotions.

They were getting stronger and he could understand them better and better, they must have been coming closer.

Obscurno immediately started flooding his bond with Cormac with the pictures of men marching outside the castle gates. Of the enforcers and mundane guards both. Thankfully his master understood, as he stopped before leaving the safety of the tunnel.

Cormac was taken aback by the clear visions that Obscurno gave him. He could almost count out the number of men waiting outside from the birds view. He never got such a finely tuned impression from Obs. The crow was improving fast.

But it was enough to distract Cormac for only a little while, before his mind swam to the things he had found out moments ago.

He motioned for the others to wait behind him and he continued monitoring their situation through Obscurno, but all his mental faculties were preoccupied with all the different questions and thoughts that attacked each-other. Did he ever even have a family? What his father might have been like? What would they be like if he was allowed to live with his own parents? Why did Leon take care of him for his whole life, only to leave him for his captors? Why was he so weak anyway? It made no sense.

But the biggest question he came here to answer, was as blank as it was before. Who was his mother? Where was she? Was she…alive still?

Suddenly a gentle hand on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts.

"Cormac?" Nery asked. Her big yellow eyes worried and shining even in the dimness of the tunnel.

"Yes. I just…It has been a lot." Cormac answered, shifting his focus back into Obscurno. "I don't really know what to make of it."

"I…I am sorry Cormac."

"For what?" Cormac turned again.

"I-I knew about the stuff with your father. You were always speaking of your mother, I…it did not occur to me that I could share the knowledge."

"It's alright Nery. I think…I think that hearing it from fath…Leon, was for the best. I don’t know if I would believe it otherwise." The pulsating weight of emotion still swirled inside him. The vortex making him unfocused at the task at hand. The more he uncovered of his shrouded past, the less he gained. Now, he felt more alone than ever. He did not like the way he was in that dream. That dream that seemed so far away now. But he had a family. He had people that cared about him, that he cared about. Now he did not.

His father was dead and his mother gave him away to hide by herself somewhere. He hoped that they were estranged. That maybe she wanted him by her side somewhere, longed for his presence as he longed for hers. But that was all just a dream. A wish of a crying boy, who always winds up alone with enough time.

"Cormac." he heard the soft voice again. The yellow eyes mellow and compassionate. "We're going to get through this alright? Together."

Cormac slowly exhaled and nodded. A soft smile tugged on the corners of his lips.

"Yes, we are."

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Suddenly, Obscurno sent Cormac a worrying message and Cormac's eyes widened in fear.

"Nery I need you to open the way again. However you done it the first time."

She just nodded and started touching about the stones on the wall.

"What is….going…on?" Carl asked.

"The queen, the queen is here." Cormac uttered, suddenly overcome with fear.

It was like this for just a few moments, before Obscurno broke the panic Cormac was falling into.

The coast was clear, all the enforcers and guards walking after their queen.

Cormac seized that opportunity and they ran.

Leon felt her presence well before she blasted the doors to the room open. As if a part of him pointed to her at all times. And that part could not stay still. He knew for what she came and he feared what she would do when she wouldn't find it. He had failed his mission. Let the man his queen thirsted for run. She would know this. He may have convinced the young ones, but he was about to meet someone versed in the art of intrigue and trickery. Someone he could not hold but a candle to.

Still, he tried. He replaced the burst painting with a replacement and quickly shoved the old frame into his bedframe. He cut himself in places and quickly pushed blood out of his wounds. He further thrown the furniture around, to simulate a rougher battle.

And at the end. He had to go back to sit in his place of shame. Where the vomit of his drink and the regret of his past waited for him.

The doors exploded from their hinges, completing the carefully crafted stage that Leon spent his time creating. And into the room Trisna came.

She looked around slowly, in her poor impression of grace. Then her eyes landed on Leon. And he knew then and there, that he was found out.

"What happened? My dear lion?"

"Cormac came back…he was-" Leon coughed some blood he been keeping down his throat. "He was stronger than I suspected."

"Are you saying that a teenager managed to defeat you? You? The one adorned with medals and praise? You Leon? The one person that has the whole enforcer order under his tutelage?" She walked closer to him. She did not mind that her shiny golden shoe would be covered in grime. Stepping into the ever-growing pool of bile, she reached her hand at Leon, slowly lifting his head by his chin.

"You made an effort Leon. You tried to cover the boys tracks, but tell me, do you really want to betray me so?" The question was much more than just that. Leon felt the intention bruise his insides. The fierce look on Trisna piercing him to his very core.

"See, Leon. I had always wished that Arvar would be more like you. He used to be strong and built like a proper man, but he never quite had your spark. He is like…a dog you could say. Too preoccupied running at his own tail, instead of looking forward. Well too happy to follow whatever orders. You are a lion Leon. Majestic, beautiful, prideful."

"What do you mean my queen?" Leon tried. Even in his pitiful state of being, the shame of licking the boots of Trisna hurt him as much as always, though it was as exhilarating.

"What I mean Leon, is that I enjoyed owning a feral yet graceful animal. I enjoyed the primal needs and wants it had. The impulses that drove it forward. And I would rather keep it. But for that to be so, it would have to behave."

"Though it shames me, I have to admit that Cormac and the other boy overpowered me. I near tripled the amount of patrols outside the manor, because of your warning. I had not expected them to reach me here. And I was not prepared for such an ambush."

"So it was not just Cormac?" Trisna arched her brow. "Tell me then, how many were there?"

"Two." Leon answered, averting his eyes from the dull swampy eyes before him.

"You lie." Trisna's voice resonated through the room. It was no command, it had no intention towards him, but he felt the power settle around his heart just the same. The old rusty chains squashed it again. It has been a long time since he was tormented by his oath, but the pain was too familiar.

"You lie Leon." Trisna moved her hand down to his throat, gripping it tightly. She hefted him with one arm and even though his face was now higher than hers, she still managed to look down on him.

"A punishment is in order." Trisna's smile quirked as she snapped her fingers.

Two enforcers came into the room, one holding a sleeping Eamon, the other his young and small sister. Leon's heartbeat quickened as his fears were laid bare before him. Trisna let go of the small pressure on his neck, allowing him to breathe, be it with great difficulty.

"Now, tell me the truth Leon. The kittens are watching."

"…three, there were three."

"Oh? And do you know who they were?" she asked. Leon watched his children. They must have been drugged, both were sleeping so soundly. It was horrifying. The lengths that the one he swore fealty to could reach.

"…Cormac, the other boy…Of Stonefists…the third…Erwin offspring…" The queen's mouth turned into a content smile. She slowly put Leon back on the ground and gestured the man to leave with the children.

"Now, that is how a servant should act." she put a hand before his mouth. Leon slowly put his lips over the bony fingers and he closed his eyes as he kissed it. The chains around his heart let go of the pressure.

"And as your master, I will have need of your services once again. See, you may have failed at delivering the boy to me now, but I wager that you can still be useful. Say, do you think that Cormac may still care for you and your family?"

"Yes." Leon answered slowly, dreading what might come after.

"So he would come and save you, if I was to execute you with your family?"