Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

"It's about Shiyani."

Kalliope's words made the scars and burns on Lucius's back itch and ache. His body felt hot as though his very blood was about to boil. The woman's face appeared before him surrounded by Paul, Lethen, and Mia. Only one of the four that betrayed him died and it was by her own hand.

"L-lucius… c-calm…" Kalliope looked at him as though she was struggling to breathe. Outside the window clouds were forming in the sky.

Lucius slowly began to breathe and try to regain his sense of reason. Kalliope gently placed a hand on his arm and looked at him with eyes full of concern. It was a rather sweet and comforting gesture that he was unfamiliar with from her. He half-expected her to make a pass at him, but since Rena's news and the academy incident, she has not said anything.

However, he suspected there was more to it than that. He also noticed that the air between Kalliope and Lyrah seemed odd. It was not hostile, but something had happened between them and Lucius was at a loss for what.

"What have you learned about her?"

"While you were on your trip, Lyrah and I ran into Renton and Marie. I attacked them and almost killed them but… they said…"

"They weren't part of the attack. I know. Shiyani used her mark to incapacitate them. They were innocent of everything that happened that day."

"Well, they said that after bringing them back to the capital in Arcadios, Shiyani and her party made mention of heading north to Aedrider for their next jobs. That was four years ago, mind you, but it is more than we have had." Kalliope finished.

He closed his eyes in quiet contemplation. She was right. Though the news was four years old at this point and any sane person would consider the trail long dead, it was still a clue. He could go to Aedrider and seek out any information he could about Shiyani.

She was once a well known and used assassin in political circles. However, after Lucius's attempted assassination, Shiyani and her cohorts had never appeared again within human territories. All their contacts lost the ability to reach them. It simply appeared as though they had vanished from the face of the continent.

"I believe I read a report claiming that Aedrider was Shiyani's homeland. I figured it was obvious since a scant few natives of Haedda leave its borders, temporarily or otherwise."

"That is correct. It is likely she had many contacts there that could get her a new identity or something else to hide her from the public eye."

"Why would she do that though? I know for a fact the amount that Richard paid for my murder was high, but it was not the kind of sum that gets one to quit that line of work." Lucius pondered. "Perhaps without proof of a body she was worried I would hunt her down…"

"Perhaps." Kalliope nodded, though she sounded unconvinced. "I choose to believe she has taken up another identity to start taking contracts again. Something tells me that she was less worried about you and more worried about the impact it would have on her reputation. Starting over would be a good way to avoid both scenarios really."

Lucius nodded in agreement. What Kalliope said was the truth. Hiding her identity would solve both problems at once, so it would be hard to say which one was the reason for the behavior. Not that it mattered in the end. As the facts stood, she was gone and he could not find her.

Frustration began to build as he thought back to the battle. If he found her again, it was likely she would be using the same magical crystal that disguised her under the visage she used as 'Jen'. Thanks to his keen sense of smell, he could probably detect her with prolonged exposure, but she likely had ways to mitigate that issue as well since she knew so much about him.

The thing that caused his boiling frustration though were neither of those things. Instead it was the fact that he was unable to strike her with his [Forsaken Arts: Merciless]. Had he landed even a scratch on her with it, then he would be able to noticed her the moment he saw her, no matter what lengths she went to in order to hide her identity.

No concealment magic or technique could hide from that skill's curse….

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to hunt the bitch down."

"Then shall…"

"No…" Lucius shook his head. "I have to stay here for Rena as long as I can. Lyrah warned me that something might take me away from Rena for a while, but if I tried really hard, I could avoid it and stay by her side. So we should stay. For now."

"Of course… and about these attackers?"

Lucius went on to explain Rena's assessment of the situation. Kalliope agreed with every point that was made and took down notes as they discussed their options. What they settled upon was that they would have a team of two infiltrate the Merchant's Guild to uncover as much information they had on shipping records and trade throughout the kingdom.

They would focus on Arcadios for the moment and not worry about the other kingdoms. If anything did not show up, then they would move beyond the kingdom's borders.

While their team on the inside analyzed shipping and trade records, they would have another pair join up as caravan guards and see if they can find anything suspicious that occurs on the trade routes themselves.

It was not beyond the realm of possibility that any skimming of resources would happen between locations instead of at the trade destinations directly. Of course, all of this hinged on the idea that someone was skimming off the top from the most secure and money-minded organization in the world.

"Anything else?"

"No, I don't…"

Both of them stopped and turned towards the door of Wally's study. A gentle thud grew ever louder as a group of men in heavy armor seemed to be approaching the door.

Kalliope began to draw her sword, but Lucius held her back. She remained at the ready, but kept her blade in its hilt. As much as he would have loved to fight his way out of whatever was happening, it would put Rena at risk.

The doors to the study were thrown open as a group of almost thirty men in armor stood in the hallway outside. Standing in the doorway was Commander Arturo and some strange man wearing a combination of robes and heavy armor.

"Lord Lucius Kane of Eroa," Commander Arturo barked, "By authority of King Aleksander Verall von Arcardios, you are placed under arrest. You will yield to my commands and accompany me to the castle to face trial at once. Do you submit?"