Rosewood Kingdom

Vengeance Comes at a Price

Lilith drummed her fingers on the desk. Her frown is evident. For the past couple of months, Zeus had this genius idea of keeping her in the castle while they strategized how to deal with Damien.

"I'm not a porcelain doll." she crossed her arms defiantly. The queen's eyebrows lifted in surprised. They were planning the annual Christmas ball at the palace.

"Well, what would you want to be doing, Lady Lilith?" the queen asked. She stifled a sigh.

"I'd like to the go to the market square." She answered. April shook her head.

"I don't see anything wrong with that." the queen nodded in approval. "You should take some security, just in case."

"Nonsense. We'll be fine." Lilith stood up in excitement. "Come on April!"

Meanwhile, Zeus sat in a meeting with Morrow, Samson, and Pierre. They were going over preliminary plans since Damien declared war on Eastmont and Winter Springs.

"Sire!" one of the soldiers rode up at a frantic pace. "SIRE ZEUS! We have a situation in Eastmont."

Zeus grabbed his sword and black horse. "What's the problem? Where is the king? His army?" his friends rode alongside him to get as much information as possible.

"Word has it that Damien has used the town as a warning. He's declared war."

"He's ahead of schedule then." Zeus commented. They ducked under tall trees in black and deep royal purple cloaks. "Any survivors?"

"Very few. We had orders to send aid there. Women and children lay dead in the streets. The king of Eastmont was stabbed in the heart. A woman's name was written in his blood on the castle walls."

Zeus' heart dropped momentarily. "What was the name?"

"Helia."

"The innocent bloodshed is beyond reprehensible and the king's excuses to ignore it are already on my shit list."

"You have to remember that we have him where we want him."

"I can't see how he won't declare war on Damien. Dragging his feet is only emboldening this nigga and I don't like it." Zeus slams his fist to illustrate his point.

"Even still, we can't just erase him from the plan itself."

"The plan to assassinate this 'king' is going up in smoke. At this point, everybody is with each other but won't do shit to make this worth it. Infiltrating Lilith's quarters to get information. Whose side are they on?"

"I still disagree with the way you handled that, Zeus." Charlie cut his eye at his best friend.

"Well, play stupid games, win stupid ass prizes." Morrow shrugged.

The three of them traveled to the countryside one night while Lilith and April were asleep. The woman and her husband sat unassuming by candlelight. Zeus could see them eating a meal. "Such a shame it has to end like this."

"They knew about the ambush in Eastmont." Charlie reminds him. "So, we need to be tactful in how we deal with this."

"Look at you acting like you got sense! That's my role." Pierre laughed for a moment. "Fuck allat. This is a double agent leader."

"They definitely know more than they let on." Morrow drew his dagger and waited for the go. The group waited for the candlelight to be blown out before making their move.

Zeus stealthily went first, and Charlie followed. The door creaked open. The three inside created a wall of muscle and deadly weapons. Pierre brought up the rear as a lookout and first line of outside defense.