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Emma skipped many formalities she might have bothered with any other day, though she suspected Aviar was used to her informal attitude; she was just so emotionally drained over the events from the previous night. She looked at Aviar with a slightly furrowed brow, eyes still red and swollen from a night of crying, hair a little messy from sleeping against Aidan's body in the hall outside of Danny's room, and blood still stained her clothes.
"Last night... Danielle and Arturo were taken away. What's become of them?" |
The guards looked at her with a bit of disgust. To speak to their King without putting any consideration into her appearance! And so informally. Certainly she had no respect for him.
"As the Council has informed me, they are imprisoned," he responded simply. |
Emma paid no attention to the guards' looks; she did not care what they thought of her.
Her brow furrowed however at Aviar's words. "What for?" She was biting her tongue; there was still a flicker of rage within her, but losing her temper would not serve her well at all. She would have to save it for another time, another person. She wanted at that Lord Constance again, but she did not know if that would ever happen. He infuriated her. |
"While I don't agree with their methods, they have the authority to take appropriate actions to recruit another into training." He leaned against one of his arms, observing her with boredom.
"I'm surprised you've only asked about those two..." |
Emma's face contorted briefly in anger with the way Aviar regarded her, clearly bored. Her hands fisted, but when she had parted her lips to yell at the king, his comment made her halt.
"What do you mean?" She grit out. |
The king looked away, her appearance disturbing him a bit. This girl boy was always such a disturbance.
"I'm more than certain Aidan was amongst to be taken too." *** The ice Halcyon pressed upon the back of his neck sent Aidan into a shock. He fought the urge to resist. To release his magic and attack. If he did, the Halcyon would absorb it all, sucking away every bit of it until he was emptied. A useless mere mortal man. But despite his attempts, instincts ran deeper. Someone was mining Halcyon. The last time he was here, no one dared to bother with these elemental Halcyon... Once he collapsed, the guards pulled him from his nephew and carried him away to be locked up. *** Arturo frowned as Aidan was tossed in with them. "Halcyon bands," he murmured, looking at the ones on his own wrists and Aidan's. "To think...they've been manufacturing these..." |
Emma's blue eyes widened and her rage washed away all in that moment. "No..." The girl didn't want to believe him--was he only saying it to piss her off? Either way, it was successful. Emma closed her eyes for a moment and pushed a hand to her face as she tried to fight it, but she was furious. "You... You... Infuriate me. Have you even seen what's been done to Danny?" Her blue gaze glared at Aviar now; she wanted to march right up to him and hit him as hard as she could, but she doubted she'd be able to get the hit in.
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A long pause. The guards awaited orders, on their toes to seize the girl for impudence before a king.
"Are you upset, because I won't save you?" Aviar's empty eyes turned toward her. "Or because I won't be nice to you? You are weak and stupid for not recognizing those who help you. "I allowed Aidan to go on his silly missions to save you. To help you. And I support him taking my mages to rescue your son." He pushed himself up using both armrests of his throne. Standing at full height and gazing down at her from his throne, he gave her a shake of his head. King Aviar stepped down from his throne and exited the throne room. |
Emma quieted, but never looked away. Her glare softened slowly and she frowned as Aviar looked down upon her in more than one way. She watched him step down from his throne and simply leaver her there. "Aviar!" She huffed, pressing her lips in a tight line.
Emma moved to go after him though--she had one more question, and as usual, she had lost her temper before getting all of the information. She knew Aviar was not her enemy, despite their mutual dislike for each other. He could have had her arrested and imprisoned so many times in the past, and even right then, but he rarely had. She recalled being in the dungeon a few times in the beginning, but never again. And it was true that without his support, there were many things that would not have happened, or would not have the possibility of happening... It was with his support she had a chance to have her son returned to her. She wondered why though; surely he knew that an attack on the city would only trigger the Bianco to possibly react with a declaration of war. |
"I suppose I'm to be grateful I've had him as long as I did."
Danielle had rested her head upon Arturo's lap. He felt through her long, raven hair idly. "I've had him longer than I got to spend with Aidan before they took him." Her voice had begun to quiver. "Even if they get rid of me...they will keep Aidan. I know that. They can't kill one of the kingdom's most powerful mages." "Hush," he murmured in response. Aidan began to stir, pushing himself up. When the guards had tossed him in, he had landed face first, sprawled out on the straw covered ground. His sister sat up to watch him. "Are you alright?" The dark blood stains caught her attention. "Aidan, you're hurt." He rubbed his numb face and kept quiet. The last thing he wanted to tell his sister was how her son was doing. "I'm fine," he said stubbornly. "Get comfortable," Arturo said. "We're going to be here for awhile. Here, I'll let you lean on this side of me," the water mage said with a bit of humor as he offered his other side. Aidan groaned. |
"Aviar, please wait!" She called, following after the king. "When will they be released? Can I at least see them?"
Meanwhile, slowly, the window opened to the room Danny and the healers lay unconscious in. In stepped a tall figure, standing carefully within the room as he observed the three figures. They had been watching, using an informant from within to get a better understanding of the situation. They were of the Bianco people, but one would have never guessed it outside of their pale flesh. The maid within was a young woman with red hair, pale flesh and freckles like Emma's, and the man who approached Danny had black hair and a lack of many freckles at all. Stepping around the healers, he stooped down to pick the wounded child up so carefully from the bed. He cradled him against his chest as best as he could with one arm, gripping the ledge to make his way back onto the ground where more of them waited. They were not taking this lightly, ready for a fight should they be caught, taking to the rooftops so they could return to their mounts and venture to the Hidden City where they had been ordered to bring the child. |
The guards stepped in to prevent Emma from getting too close to their king. Aviar did stop on his exit, but did not turn around to face her.
"You can see them. The Council decides the other matters." With that said, he progressed back to his chambers and his awaiting children. *** The healers, who had been working relentlessly throughout the night, had treated Danny till he was almost healed. What had thrown them from consciousness was their patient. Feeling their power as he grew well, he began sucking away at theirs to replace what the Halcyon had taken from him. As the power built within him, he yanked what was left from them violently. The Bianco would face the same fate. |
Emma grunted faintly as she was stopped from getting closer, but she didn't fight, stepping back from them slightly as Aviar answered her. She said nothing then, simply turning to run off to see them. She stopped by her room to get changed, however--if she was going to see Danielle, she did not want to be covered in her son's blood.
When she was cleaned up, Emma went to see her imprisoned friends. *** The group made it to the horses, three of them pulling wagons; as this had not only been a mission to retrieve Danny, but the wagons were full of recruits from other villages, many of them half-blood. Kadan was desperate to replace those that he had lost. They would have to take main roads until they got close enough to take Danny on one of their own mounts. For now, it was best to keep him in the wagon where he would be hidden and could lay down. It was as they placed the child upon the wagon's flooring when the dark haired man so suddenly collapsed. Other members stood still for a long moemnt, looking around as if they expected an attack, but nothing more came. After a moment of working to awaken the unconscious man, they laid him in the wagon as well and led his mount along with one of their own, a new member sitting down to watch over the both of them now as they began their travels. It would take three days to reach the Hidden City due to the wagon preventing them from cutting through the forest and having to go through a smaller village of the Bianco that was nearby. It was there that most of these members had come from--some had even resided within Caer Elise. They were a large group, perhaps a good thing for them, as members continued to collapse throughout the trip. It shook many of them up, murmuring about the child being cursed--a devil of sorts. They thought about abandoning their mission; leaving him in the forest alone, but Kadan would not be pleased. From what they could tell, the fallen members were only unconscious--perhaps they would wake soon. They continued on despite it all, leaving no one in the wagon to watch the child out of fear of him, but members surrounded the wagon he lay in amongst the fallen Bianco. They would arrive at the small village come nightfall, and from there, they would re-group and continue one more day to the Hidden City to hurry and hand off the boy to Kadan. Many of them wanted nothing more to do with him and decided they would return to their homes in other cities and villages. |
The three sat against the wall, all staring out at the door that lead them into the dungeon. Danielle leaned against Arturo, who held her with both of his arms since Aidan had turned down his playful invitation. Despite having her younger brother there, he went ahead and showed some affection to her. Soft caresses of the cheek and a light, innocent kiss on her head as if she were a child. He didn't fear the fire mage's temper; he could easily handle the flames with his water.
If history continued to repeat itself, she wouldn't have much time here. Aidan looked curiously as he saw the pale figure appear before them in the door, holding onto the bars that comprised of their only exit. He was relieved to see that she too was not being imprisoned. |
Emma hurried over to the other side of those bars, frowning as she saw the three of them, but she looked so relieved at the same time. "Aidan! Danielle, Arturo..." She wished she could get them out of there, but how? For now, she would have to take care of Danny and try to keep him safe; she had not felt the members come and take the boy away, distracted by her confrontation with Aviar.
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"They brought me here a little after you left," Aidan said with a frown. He was disappointed his guard was lowered enough to allow them to even lay a finger on him with a Halcyon.
"Don't worry about us. They're just keeping us from Danny." |
"I'll watch Danny as long as I can then." She replied, furrowing her brow as she watched the three of them. She doubted she could stop them from taking him; they would just throw her in the dungeon with them if she got in the way, she assumed. She didn't linger long, they wouldn't be moving anywhere, and meanwhile Danny was left "alone" in that room. She didn't want him disappearing on her.
Emma left them for now, hurrying back to where Danny lay, only... when she got there, he was gone. Emma stopped in the doorway--had they taken him already? No, the window... It was open. She looked around the room a moment more, looking at the bed for evidence of Danny having moved and gotten up himself--or even for footprints anyone else might have recklessly left... nothing. They had been careful an quiet--it had to have been the Tribe. Was this for the better? She really wasn't sure, but she hurried back to the dungeon for a visit far sooner than she would have ever planned. How had she not sensed them? They must have come when she was arguing with Aviar, her mind had been preoccupied then. |
Aidan looked a bit surprised to see Emma back so soon. But Danielle spoke first.
"Emma...what's wrong?" She had seen the look on her face. |
Emma took a moment to calm down before she spoke, looking at Danielle, and then to Aidan, fingers gripping the bars tightly.
"The Tribe.. they've taken Danny. They came while I was arguing with Aviar." |
Aidan jumped to his feet and cursed.
"Now it's inevitable. We're going to the Hidden City to get back the babes." Arturo's eyes flashed as he looked a bit excited for some action. |
"Aidan, what should I do?" Emma asked softly, furrowing her brow a bit. Just sit tight? SHe had nothing to do now, no one to watch over.
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"Inform the mages...the king...anyone...that Danny is gone," Arturo said calmly as Aidan fought to keep his fiery temper down. As the sound of rushing footsteps came down the stairwell, the water mage rose.
"Or maybe not. Looks like they know already." The guards pushed Emma aside and made their declaration of their release. With Danny missing, their goal was to retrieve him. The doors swung open and the Halcyon bands were removed. By order of the Council. |
Emma blinked as the sound of people rushing down the stairs was heard and she stumbled as they pushed her aside to release them. She watched, relieved as they removed the bands.
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The mages found the guards and other mages already scouring the area for any signs of where they had gone with the little boy. As suspected, Danny was leaking energy. A very faint trail that only the strongest of the mages could sense. Aidan was far too furious to concentrate. But Arturo picked it up after pacing some.
Aidan took his sister to his room, ensuring her that they would get Danny. He kept silent about how the Council had treated the boy. All that mattered at the moment was making sure he would not be lost to the Bianco. |
Emma frowned as they looked for clues as to where the Tribe had taken the child. The more time they wasted there, the further ahead they got with Danny. They would never beat the assassin's to the hidden city but she knew how to get past those large rock doors that kept intruders out.
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