((Oh! I apologize! I didn't even realize that! Thanks for the heads up!))

((Thanks as well, I totally wouldn't have thought of that!))

"Right, good idea Melk. I mean, being a prince has got to count for something, huh?" he mused, "And all those boring advanced diplomacy lessons can be put to good use."

He started down the corrider, but Melk seemed reluctant, "You coming?"

---

Moira spoke a formal introduction for the girl, "King Uther, sovereign over these humble lands. May I present to you-" she faltered a moment, realizing that she did not know the girl's name, "Who are you, exactly?"

Melk glanced out the window to the side a moment before nodding and following the prince. "Ah, sorry. I thought I saw something. I'm right behind you!" he declared, thankfully they were fairly close to the throne room at this point.

---

The girl stepped forward, bearing her head high as she spoke in a regal manner, "I am Zeta Adicia Drakstylo, daughter of Mira, daughter of Luke, son of Sol, son of Sarah, daughter of, Elia, son of Zara, son of Nemes, son of Mika, daughter of Elis, son of Miria, daughter of Sol, son of Lukur, first son of Melchior, ancient King of the great land called Camelot. I am grateful for thy hospitality and while it is a pleasure to meet you great Sire of these lands, I have little time to dwell in thy presence."

As she took a breath to continue, Uther raised a hand to declare silence from her as he stood, "Hold. You speak of Camelot, do you not know where you are?"

Zeta paused and blinked before actually taking a look around the great hall. She hadn't truly been paying attention to the decorations and obvious crests plastered about the place. It was merely another castle, another structure to stay one night at before moving on. It really made no difference to her in the long run. "... I do not." she replied hesitantly as her eyes fixed upon a tapestry hanging on the wall, bearing the royal crest. She found her mouth hanging slightly open, "... it can't be..."

Pushing open the heavy door excitedly, Arcturus declared; "Father, I believe it is time to meet with-" he stopped short. Moira, the strange and gorgeous girl, and his father were all gathered in a formal stance at the front of the room. Moira raised her eyebrow at him, and then gave a formal introduction.

"The crown prince Arcturus Pendragon of Camelot," her voice lended a touch of the sardonic, "Was there something you wished, your highness?"

Arcturus thought wildly, "I was interested...in the diplomatic proceedings," he stumbled, "And I wished to provide my thanks to the foreign warrior. For saving my life." He breathed easier, and moved to take his place on a lesser throne adjascent to the King.

Melk winced at the bad timing and a little again at Arcturus' quick excuse, however he kept his mouth shut and obediently followed the prince to stand just behind and off to the side of him as the previous conversation continued.


Zeta startled a little as Arcturus entered the room, she turned sharply to give a bit of a quizzical look before her eyes turned back to the King. "Sire, if this is truly the land of my forefathers, the realm of Camelot to which I was born to protect then I'm afraid my urgency to leave is even greater than before." her gaze dropped to the floor with regret as a lump grew in her throat. Her shoulders dropped a bit and her bright green eyes became rather less fierce.


"I'm not sure I understand" Uther replied curiously, he had given his son a brief nod of acknowledgement but not much more than that. "If this is truly the land of your forefathers as you claim, then you are more than welcome."


"Not so welcome as you may think" Zeta sighed, "It had been many years, but surely you know of why Lukur gave up his claim to the throne and left Camelot?"


The king hesitated, glancing towards his advisers for clarification on what she spoke of. One of them nodded and stepped forward, "I am aware of the... legend to which you refer to. However I think it wise to have you explain first."


"And thus you will know it is the truth I speak" Zeta nodded, "I understand." She breathed in deeply and raised her head once more to begin the tale of her ancestry.

"Back in the time of King Melchior, there were many enemies of the crown. The great war raged, pivoting Camelot against many others for the claim of their territories. During this time, one of our enemies invoked a spell, breaching the realm of our existence and into another more twisted one. The energy from this alternate realm warped all that it touched. It turned good men in beasts of blood thirst and revenge. These creatures bore one single need; to continue to feast upon the same man's blood for all of it's miserable life and our enemy made that one man, be King Melchior."

"Thusly, the king and all of his offspring that bore his blood, would be doomed to death by this monster, effectively destroying the kingdom and making it ripe for the taking. It was Lukur that took it upon himself to draw the beast away with his blood. Lukur traveled far, further than anyone from Camelot had ever been before. He traveled so far he did not know where he had gone, nor did he know how to get back. At some point he thought he had lost the creature and so he settled down. But after only three years it came for him and he met his death in it's clutches."

"He left behind a son however, and thus for generations we have trained and fought these creatures. Many have died and many beasts have bred but we always fight on. Now I thought I had the last one on the run but it just turns out that it had gotten a whiff of you and decided to pursue other options from myself."

She hung her head in shame, "I have failed my ancestors by allowing the beast's return. Now you are in danger and so I must abide by Lukur's initial decision and lead the creature away again. I cannot allow harm to come to the reigning King of Camelot and his family."

Moira inclined her head, deep in wonderment at the girl's fantastic tale. But it did ring true. Moira knew the old legends of a beast raised by blood, and thirsting forevermore. But within hundreds of years, the royal bloodline had been somewhat less than pure. Despite the sermons preaching chasity and royal preservation, Moira was well aware of the straying that the royal family had done. In fact, it was rumored that King Lacrimon had fathered children with over a hundred peasants all over the kingdom.

"While your tale is a fascinating one, it may in fact be ancient history, " Moira stepped in, giving a respectful glance to the king, "The royal family is no longer the only one to hold that bloodline. Certain...strayings of the past may put the very infrastructure of the Kingdom in jeopardy. The creature hunts by scent, correct? Even though the bloodline will be diluted, the plenty of food in this area may necessitate a larger force to subdue it."

"I can assist," Arcturus tried his best to look bold, avoiding Zeta's gaze where possible, "I've been trained in combat, and since the creature sought me out first...I may be what it wants."

The King nodded to Moira, "This beast is a danger to the kingdom, not just my son and I. Arcturus," he turned to the prince, "I am putting you in charge of hunting this beast. Take the guards and whatever resources you require and hunt down this creature to it's death, before it can harm anyone else."

"With all due respect, you are sending your men to die" Zeta stated bluntly, "If what you say is true, then we have even less time than I thought. With every person the beast kills, it reproduces. Once the sun sets we only have a manner of hours before we're facing an army and I-or rather you" she turned to Moira with a fiery look, "have the only weapon that can kill them. I must Demand the return of my blade immediately. I will not take no for an answer and I will wait no longer." Zeta's words snapped at the woman, apparently frustrated at how long it had been already.

"What is so special about this blade?" Uther inquired curiously.

"It is the blade of my ancestors, forged under only the purest light in the ever burning fires of a land called Azgard. It holds the light of the first evening star and only that power is capable of ending these beasts." Zeta explained, rather quickly.

Uther's lips turned to a frown, "it is magic."

"It is the only weapon against the death of your kingdom." Zeta stated, "and I know how best to wield it, not to mention I am the only person who has fought these beasts before. I need it back."

Arcturus' mouth fell open at Zeta's blunt statement. Who did this girl think she was, barging into their kingdom, endangering the city, AND disdainfully refusinging the laws against magic. His eyes flared jealously at her, and he moved to speak, but Moira beat him to it.

"I will return your blade to you," Moira stated sharply, "But, with your permission, your highness, I have studied the blade for the purposes of determining its danger to the kingdom. It is a formidable weapon, but I believe it could be possible to forge a facsimile, with the use of magic."

"You seem to know an awful lot about the ways of magic, Lady Seivre," Arcturus shot her a poisonous look.

"Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. It is in my business to know," Moira inclined her head respectfully towards the king, "With your permission, my liege. I think a guard led by the prince would be an excellent defense against the beast. We could soon be fighting a war."

"It's one of kind!" Zeta argued as she turned to Moira, "it can't be destroyed and a copy could nev-"

"Enough" Uther snapped, creating silence in the room immediately. "if it can't be destroyed I want it locked in the vault for all time. There will be no use of magic in this kingdom and you," he eyed Zeta, "Lady Drakstylo, should consider yourself lucky I do not sentence you to burning at the stake for bringing such a thing into my realm. You will go with the royal book keeper and have him properly confirm your claims of lineage, after which you are welcome to stay here but you will leave the business of this monster up to my son." The king leaned back and relaxed a bit, "and from this moment on if you are caught with use or possession of magic, as according to the laws of Camelot, you will burn, is that clear?"

Zeta froze in place, the urge to argue, speak her mind and rebuke the damned laws was clearly written on her face but she bit her tongue and swallowed her pride. It was certainly no easy task, after spending a lifetime with only the ancient laws of Camelot to guide her and more importantly the laws of survival being her true companion, it was difficult to accept such a drastic change. Not only to fully realize that she was technically the lesser of the genders but to obey a King when once she had no one to bow to was infuriating, fortunately her father had taught her well enough.
Zeta regained her composure and forced herself to relax. Letting out a deep breath she gave a slight smile before taking her right hand and gesturing from her chest to her forehead she gave a courteous bow, "My body and mind belong to Camelot" she vowed, "my actions and knowledge are the King's to command."

Uther nodded in response, "You are dismissed." he replied simply, gesturing to one of the advisers to escort her to the book keeper. Zeta turned, sneaking a glare towards Moira before walking briskly from the room, causing the adviser to quicken his step to keep up.

Once the doors had closed again, Uther turned to Arcturus, "This is up to you now my son. Take what men you need and heed Lady Sievre's words, she is knowledgeable in the ways of magic and it's dangers. Do whatever it takes to rid us of this monster"

Arcturus gave a curt and serious nod to his father, "I will gather a guard and be ready for dawn tomorrow." He exited as gravely as he could manage, barely concealing the shaking hands behind his back. Not sparing a glance to Melk, he sprinted through barren castle halls, mind racing. He stepped two at a time to the tower, and sank down to the floor. Wishing he could cry, fear pulsing through his very being. What could he do, against an enemy whose sole purpose was to hunger for his blood? Who could only be destroyed by a weapon he could never hope to wield? And the only warrior who had ever been trained against it was relegated to virtual probation.

He pressed his head against the back wall, losing himself for a brief moment while he gathered his strength. With a spring to his feet, he set off to muster his force.

---

The dawning light was a bloodied sienna as the forces of Camelot took their stand. Forty men, Arcturus at their head set off to find the creature.

They needed no search- the darkness found them much faster than the sunlight ever could.

---

From the tower window Moira caught sight of Arcturus careening back into the sanctuary of the castle. Not a single man followed him out, and he was clearly wounded. She paused over the illustration of the beast Are you surprised?. No, not one bit. She hurried out to assist the prince, but more importantly, to council the king in the right direction.

Melk was first on the scene, Arcturus was supposed to have been back an hour ago and while that wasn't long enough to raise alarm, it was enough to have the manservant pacing back at forth at the gate. Melk hurried to the prince's side, quickly allowing him to lean on him, "Arc? What happened? Where are the others?"

"Dead, " Arcturus gasped grimly, "None of our weapons had any effect on it. The only thing that could hold it off was fire, but even then, it just changed. By the time I realized, it was too late for most of them." He stifled a sob, swallowing the horror and shame he felt.

"Melk. I think this is far beyond the comprehension of anything we've seen before."

"But the Kingdom has seen it before," Lady Seivre strode beside the two of them, "And it will multiply. Unless there is a concrete offence we can stage against the beast, the entirety of the Kingdom will be decimated. Did it consume the soldiers?"

"Yes." Arcturus managed.

"Then we have no time. We must speak with Lady Drakstylo immediately."

Melk was mortified, although he tried not to show it his face was rather pale at news. He could only nod in silence and help arcturus into the Castle.

Zeta was stewing in her room. Once the King had learned of her 'magical' sword, she wasn't allowed anywhere without an escourt. There was a guard at her door and although she could probably have found her way around him if need be, she didn't know where the vault was and she wouldn't leave without her sword. Thus she was left to pacing but at least it was in her own clothes. She flat out refused to wear anything but her armored get up.