Tarien was never the fatherly type. I doubt a son would fare much better in his care.”
“Maybe, maybe… anyway, I think she likes you, you know.”
“Hm?”
Naro grinned and leaned in close, whispering as he nodded towards the door, “Rina. She likes you, I could see it in her eyes when I asked about you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, we have been friends since childhood.”
Naro raised his brows, “Need I remind you I am a werecat? we are amongst the most perceptive of the cthonicans. I know love when I see it,” he said with a chuckle before continuing. “Furthermore, since I left the Royal Mage Knights, I have developed a keener eye. It’s interesting what you can discover about the love life of humans once you spend time observing your romantic behavior.”
Dante cleared his throat and thought to change the subject. “That caused quite a stir at the castle when you left”—he appraised Naro thoughtfully—“why did you do it?”
“As you know, I decided to open an elixir shop instead.”
“Odd choice of new profession for someone who was the captain of the Royal Mage Knights.”
“Well, I think there are stranger things in life.”
Dante leaned forward and whispered. “Tell me the real reason you left, Naro. Please. Just between us two. We have always shared each other's’ secrets.”
“You are blessed with a great intuition, Dante,” Naro said as he leaned back in his chair and placed both feet atop the table, crossing one ankle over the other. He interlocked his fingers and looked at them while shaking his head slowly. A serious countenance dawned upon his face. “It’s this war, Dante. You know how I felt about it before… at the end of the last major battle we had. I hated it. My feelings have not changed.”
“Ah, I recall we had a brief discussion on the matter just before you resigned.” Dante nodded in agreement with the revelation which he himself could relate to.
“What are we fighting for? What happens when we win?”
“Peace will come.”
“Haha, peace?! Maybe externally, yes”—Naro cast his eyes downward and shook his head—“but on the inside, in the hearts of many humans... there is too much hate.”
“Cthonicans are quite full of hate towards us as well.”
“Indeed, indeed. I feel as though there will never be peace in the hearts of either of our races, no matter who destroys the other”—he glanced up at Dante—“do you know what I mean? Hatred has a nasty way of lingering and manifesting in other, sometimes more subtle ways.”
“Right…”
Naro put up his palm. “However, you are the new knight captain now. I won’t put you in a position to compromise your vow of fealty to the kingdom by agreeing with my rogue banter.”
“No, it is fine. I have to admit, many things about this war feel disenchanting to me. I just want to know the truth… did a cthonican really kill the fifth king’s son when he was visiting their kingdom?”
“You do not think it is so?”
“I… the details are so obscure. We only know what was written about it by the sixth king after the death of the fifth.”
“The sixth king was a dubious man. Exiled and dethroned for upon discovery that he killed his brother, the fifth king”—Naro scratched a brow—“besides that, he was a tyrant to the people, can we really trust what he had written?”
“Had anything been falsified our current king—His Majesty would have rectified it.”
“Would he have?”
“N-Naro… what are you saying?” Dante asked, a half-bewildered look on his face.
“Though he is our seventh king, he has done little to change the terms of this war.”
“It is not so easy, the cthonicans will not make a treaty with us.”
“Is that really so?” Naro asked. Dante remained silent. “I have learned many truths while I had left the kingdom, Dante. I believe there is more to this ‘war’ than meets the eye.”
“It is dangerous to say such things.”
“The truth can be dangerous sometimes. So, do you disagree with anything I said?”
“My mind has been burdened by thoughts of this lately… I cannot disagree, but I cannot speak ill of our king.”
The two stared at each other for some time before Naro chuckled and rubbed his bushy, silver hair. “Ah well, at least I found someone who sees eye to eye with me on most of it. I thought for a second you would arrest me for treason, haha!”
“Hmmm… actually, I’ve never apprehended a werecat before,” Dante said in jest.
“As long as there are sweet treats in prison I shan’t mind! Hahaha! How did the meeting with the Viscountess go?”
“It was… fine.”
“It can be hard finding out about someone’s past, can it not?”
“Mmm,” Dante murmured, idly looking at the papers on the table.
Naro smiled at him. “Hey, why don’t you go rest? you’ve been working pretty hard.”
“Oh, I still need to find more clues. Hopefully, I can catch this Shadow Woman tonight. The King expects me to, in fact, that is why he sent me here.”
“Suit yourself. Rina and I will be scouring the Black Rose Fields the entire night, if we discover anything we will let you know, Knight Captain Sir,” Naro said, tipping his feathered cap.
Dante grinned as he stood up from his seat. “You won’t overdo it as usual, will you?”
“You mean if I’ll single-handedly complete the mission? No, no, Lady Rina would impale me with a spear if I were to do so!” Naro mused. “I shall allow you two to perform your knightly duties with no great interference. I only came to Tarien to buy herbs for my shop anyway.”
Dante smiled and tipped his cap to Naro before turning around and leaving through the door. He walked through the corridor and passed Rina’s room where he could hear shuffling and commotion going on—preparing her spells, he assumed. He opened the door to his own room and wasted no time in taking off his clothing and lying on the warm, soft, bed.
How long had it been since he had lain so comfortably? Too long for him to remember. He closed his eyes and soon drifted off into a deep slumber.
His sleep was interrupted by a heavy feeling on his body. A foreign weight which had not priorly been there. His eyes flew open—a look of shock spread across his face as he stared upward into the glowing, red pair of eyes which gazed back at him.
Dante's Confession
Dante looked stone-faced as the eyes peering down at him changed by and by from their crimson color to a hazel hue. He breathed in deeply as his mind became aware of what was happening.
“You look surprised to see me,” Viscountess Amelia said as she lay upon his chest, smiling at him— her chin resting on the back of her interlocked fingers which were placed upon his chest.
“Amelia… how did you get in here?”
“As a vampiress, I have my ways,” she replied. “You look quite helpless without your sword,” she added, glancing down at his waist then to the side of the room where his sword lay.
“I hardly think I am helpless.” He felt his heart thumping against his chest with increasing intensity. He had forgotten how it felt to be close to her. The softness of her skin… the warmth of her body pressed against his.
It brought back memories to when he had just been knighted and was put in charge of escorting her to a faraway town for a month. Memories of when he had protected her from rogue, cthonican hordes that had attacked her carriage, causing them to take refuge in a cave till morning—the night they first huddled together by a bonfire he made using magic, to keep them warm. The night they first kissed. The night they first made love by the glow of the bonfire’s light.
The renewed proximity was titillating.
“Not helpless now you say? Oh, but you are,” she said, snaking her comparatively petite body further upward upon his. The dark, hooded robe she wore was enough to allow him to feel the softness of her skin against his well-toned muscles. The sweet, floral scent of he
r perfume filled his nostrils as she looked into his eyes wordlessly with a smile.
He took a deep breath in before glancing to the door and whispering. “What are you doing here?”
“You really upset me with your questioning earlier.”
“Well then, I’m sorry for that,” he said. Amelia suddenly shrieked and laughed as he quickly put his hands on her hips and flipped her over—his body now looming over hers. “Shhhhhh.” He put his index and middle fingers to her lips to quiet her, looking again towards the door and hoping neither Rina nor Naro heard the commotion. “I did not mean to hurt your feelings. I just had to do my job. I would have questioned anyone else just the same.”
She quickly flipped him over towards to the middle of the bed, positioning herself atop him once again. “I see. The question is, am I like anyone else, to you?”
“Hardly, though I have much to do from my position which dictates I handle issues unbiasedly.”
“Your position…” She swiftly took his naked arms and moved them above his head, pinning them down at the wrists with a broad grin. “What could you do from this position, Mage Knight Captain?”
“I could do plenty.” He twisted his arms this way and that to no avail. “You’re quite strong, you’ve hidden it all this time”—he raised his brows—“like when I saved you from that attacking cthonican horde. You could have eliminated them all, couldn’t you?”
“I could have, though it was enjoyable to see you wield a sword and work up a sweat.”
“What else have you hidden from me?”
“I have a lot hidden that I can reveal, Captain. Would you like to become