“It is rumoured that one of Lazuli's precious daughters ran from their castle in Awrelwood in the middle of the night. Now, I don't usually take much interest in rumours, however when you hear the same snippet from several sources – all with varying loyalties to the faerie king – you start to get curious.” Zelrus grinned.
“Doesn't Lazuli have, like, five daughters?” Oriel asked.
“Three,” Zelrus corrected. “If my sources are correct it is the middle daughter, Lori Goldwyrm, that has run. The city is buzzing about it.”
“Lazuli deliberately keeps his daughters out of the public eye. Despite their father's lineage, no one in Awrelwood has seen or heard from the princesses in over a decade,” Raxx spoke from his shadowy corner.
“No wonder she's run away,” Lephas mused.
“Zelrus, please tell us you have a location?” Haros asked.
“I do. A villager spotted an unusual female figure heading west on an old farm track in the early hours this morning.” The king pointed at a mark on his map and glanced at Raxx who simply nodded.
“If it is Lori, we believe she has no knowledge of her surroundings or training of any kind to survive in the wilderness. She should be relatively easy to pick up, but no doubt her father has sent troops out scouring for her as well,” he continued.
“Has she got any weapons training or majick abilities that we're aware of?” Lephas asked, his tacticalmind already whirring with ideas.
“We're not sure. Very little is known about the Goldwyrm daughters. Even the faeries are in the dark. They're estimated to be anywhere between thirteen and thirty years of age, but no one really knows,” Zelrus replied.
“We'll have to act fast if we want to be in with a chance of reaching her first. Lazuli has a head start if the faerie population are already aware of her absence.” Haros rubbed his hand over the rough stubble on his chin thoughtfully.
“That and the fact that his men will know who they are actually looking for.” Oriel snorted. “For all we know, the female that was spotted this morning could have been an old farm hand!”
“I don't know many old farm hands who are slender young faeries and even less that would be wearing a coat fashioned from the fur of a white wolf. I believe the information is solid, or at least solid enough that it's worth investigating.” Raxx folded his arms.
“Agreed.” Lephas nodded.
“So, what are we waiting for?” Haros asked, standing so quickly that his chair screeched against the wooden floor.
“I can't spare many men, but you can have four of my foot soldiers to accompany you.” Zelrus stood up straight and began rolling the map back up.
“Lephas, Haros – you two go on ahead,” Oriel instructed. “Raxx and I will accompany Zelrus to visit Cirro.”
Zelrus looked at his brother, eyes wide with surprise. Oriel stared back at him.
“What?” He shrugged. “I'm not about to let you get snuffed out by a fool like Cirro. Lazuli is a mean bastard, but his goody-two-shoes younger brother? That would be humiliating.”
“Well thanks, I guess.” Zelrus smiled.
“Don't mention it,” Oriel replied, hurriedly turning his attention to his men. “And you boys – don't go doing anything I wouldn't do.”
“A short list, sir,” Raxx quipped from the corner. Haros snorted and Lephas fought a smirk.
Oriel didn't respond, just picked up Zelrus's map-casing lid and hurled it in the shadow demon's direction. Naturally, Raxx had already disappeared.
“Bastard...” Oriel muttered.
“Hey! That's the lid for my– Oh, never mind!” Zelrus scowled. “Lephas, Haros – good luck. You are dismissed. Oriel, you and I are going to run through the plan for meeting Cirro.”
Lephas got to his feet and Haros pushed his chair in to the table.
“I mean it, you two. No pussy moves like dying, alright?” Oriel pointed at them.
“Pft, as if,” Haros replied. “She's, like, what? A thirteen-year-old girl? What could possibly go wrong?”
“You don't want him to answer that,” Lephas replied sarcastically, shooting Oriel a grin. The demon prince pulled a face.
“Shut up and fuck off, the pair of you!” he yelled, sitting back in his chair and sweeping his boot back up onto the table. His brother looked at it, clearly unamused.
