Mather, Queen Tyviona’s left-hand man, strode through the main castle walls of Dremetica. They had recently returned from the Autumn Palace where she held her experiments on those she deemed unworthy. Thus, this castle's decorations showed the decadence of the Queen’s predecessors.
Mather walked these halls since the time he could walk. He knew every crook, cranny, secret passages, and exits. The castle was his playground, but the summons of the Queen always sent shivers down his spine. It wasn’t the summons itself, but what it could entail of a multitude of things. He dreaded the day he messed up, that he would become one of the Queen’s experiments among the Autumn Palace. Worse, the Winter Palace, which housed the worst of the worst.
He came to a stop at the overly large double doors, blocked by two level 85 guards. Her guards, to be exact. Nonetheless, he smoothed out the non-existent wrinkles on his sky-blue coat. “I am here at the request of the Queen,” he said, straightening his back and squaring his shoulders. The guards didn’t say a word and only ushered him through the opening doors.
The throne room featured numerous pillars and banners displaying the royal house's emblem, a rose. Every other pillar held a portrait of previous rulers and their significant others that were hung opposite ?them. Mather always admired the portraits illuminated by an ethereal white flame.
Although he kept his eyes from straying and solely focused on the elegantly stone-carved throne ahead of him, that was empty. The Queen, in Mather’s mind, was the sort to be fashionably late to her own gatherings, so her not being present to receive him wasn’t uncharacteristic. Granted, she was Queen. So, to pass the time while he waited, he took out a report he had hastily stuffed into his Inventory before running over after being summoned. That said, the report was on the recent prison riot of Janik. He quickly skimmed it, picking out the losses, escapees, and a jumbled recounting of the attack being led by some people from the Holy Order from the branch of the Aurora. Seeing that, he stopped skimming and started reading, beginning with the names. His blood stopped cold as one prisoner who escaped was Darius Ravindra. Before he could digest and process, the double doors opened once more.
A waft of pressure that resembled a monster billowed and blanketed the hall, announcing ?the newcomer before Mather even had a chance to put a face to the aura. Rigidly, he turned to see who dared to let their aura seep into the Queen’s hall. He immediately corrected his thoughts when he saw them.
The man, striding down the hall, wore perfectly shined ceremonial runic-engraved grey armor, holstering a black morningstar on his left and sheathing a dirk on his right. A long, flowing red-scaled cape, from whatever monster or beast it was made, dragged behind the man. Mather had to tear his eyes away from the armor and the weapons that could kill him before he even knew what happened, to see the man carrying himself in such a way. His features were refined as befitting ?someone hailing from a noble heritage, but of course, those refined features lessened through the years as age caught up with the man, turning his face hard. A square jaw, a flat nose, nicely trimmed eyebrows, and salt and pepper hair braided into one long ponytail. The eyes, however, were slitted like a cat that was a mix of blue and green, a trademark of the noble House he hailed from. A House his father had told him stories of before.
“L-Lord Grey! It is an honor to meet you. My father spoke highly of you.” Mather greeted once the man got closer.
Lord Grey merely glanced at Mather, but in that glance alone, Mather felt all of his weaknesses exposed and laid bare before the man. To his credit, Mather stood his ground under the brief scrutiny.
“The honor is mine, Lord Delsun. I am kept abreast of your exploits that have pitted you as the Queen’s tongue,” Lord Grey spoke deeply with a voice that was laced with authority and conviction.
Mather smiled like he swallowed a lemon. “Hopefully, not all of my exploits.”
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Lord Grey only made a sound in the back of his throat before turning his eyes back to the throne that sat upon dialed steps meant to make the current ruler stand apart, as better than those that stood at the foot of the steps. He scrutinized it too, and every corner of the room, assessing potential threats that were not there.
“I see Her Majesty has summoned you as well,” Mather said, trying to get the man to talk again.
“She has,” Lord Grey replied, not bothering with honorifics. “I am told she is in need of my House’s expertise on a certain matter. A matter that is certain to become a thorn in her side should it continue. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you? Lord Delsun?”
Mather tried to recall the various reports he received through the coming weeks, one in particular, came from Tanyth recently, stating that they were on the trail of two Vampires. Worse than that, they weren’t Feral Vampires either but fully sane. Those types were thought to be extinct from long ago, but it seems a few managed to escape. It didn’t bode well for any future ramifications if one escaped than how many others did. It was a question that kept Mather up at night since reading it.
“I have a report of two Vampires within the Queendom,” Mather replied.
Surprisingly, Lord Grey scoffed and turned to leave.
“They aren’t Feral!” Mather called after Lord Grey, stopping him in his tracks. Before Mather could even blink, Lord Grey was in front of him, lifting him up by the front of his shirt.
“HOW?!” Lord Grey rumbled in fury, his blue and green eyes blazing with unrestrained anger. “MY FAMILY HAS HUNTED THEM DOWN TO EXTINCTION! AND YOU ARE TELLING ME MY HOUSE HAS FAILED IN THAT TASK, YOU CONNIVING WORM!”
Mather helplessly gripped ?the ironclad grip of the man. “L-Lord G-Grey… Please…” he choked.
“Lord Grey…” a raspy, metallic voice said, and immediately Lord Grey dropped Mather and knelt, keeping his vision firmly locked on the marbled tile beneath him. Mather wasn’t too far behind him as he choked and gasped lungfuls of air, but kept his gaze on the marbled floor as well. “Mather is correct in what he tells you. My eyes, however useless he is becoming, are on the hunt for them as we speak.”
“What is your task for my House, Your Grace,” Lord Grey humbly said.
There was a raspy wheeze before the Queen spoke, signifying to Mather that her condition, or rather her self experimentation was getting worse. “Send someone capable of subduing a master and a newborn. The master cannot be that old nor that powerful if it risked stepping foot here.”
“At your behest, my grandson, Horace, has been itching to prove himself. I see no better prey than for him to face off against our ancient enemies.” Lord Grey rumbled proudly.
“Mather, give House Grey all that they need. I want these leeches stopped before they spread.” Queen Tyviona rasped. “And Lord Grey,” she trailed off, letting it linger in the air.
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“I want the newborn captured alive and brought to me in my Autumn Palace. Kill the master,” the Queen said before her metallic heels clicked against the stone floor, signaling her exit as she departed through a hidden door off to the side of the throne.
Mather and Lord Grey waited a few moments before braving to look up. They both stood, Lord Grey brimming with a cold fury and Mather, all the more wary of what the Queen wants.
“Send all your reports and findings to my estate. House Grey will be ready.” Lord Grey commanded before turning on his heel and striding back down the hall.
Mather watched the man go before the tension that had built up in his shoulders loosened. He had felt the inhuman strength of the man and wondered if the rumors surrounding House Grey becoming monsters to hunt monsters held a modicum of truth.
He waited a bit longer, not wanting to run into the man before he fixed his shirt, smoothed out the wrinkles of his sky-blue coat, and made sure his brown hair was still slicked back to give the perception of a well put together man. Deep down, he feared that by the end of this, he would be unraveling at the seams. First it was the haughty golden High Elf, Tanyth, and now he has to deal with House Grey, the ones the small folk and other Houses whisper about. It was the price to pay for being the Queen’s left-hand man and her tongue, as Lord Grey dutifully pointed out.
Rummaging through his pocket, he took out a small silver bead meant to communicate with his assistant linked to the estate. “Scribe! Prepare the paperwork on the Vampires. A new hunter has entered the fray,” he said into it without waiting for a response to come through before stashing it back into his pocket and retreated down the hall where the doors opened for him to exit.
