The Defector

Day Seven. 15th day of Winter.

(Written by Gina Laurel. Edit by Nico_Lynn. 3rd person POV.)

Donovan and Keely stepped through the front gate of the castle town, closely followed by four armed fox men and preceded by two more.

Keely walked behind Donovan as she was afraid of the innumerable humans staring at them.

One of the clan elders of another village taught Donovan the art of skill sharing and he'd mirrored his sword skills in all six of the foxes with them.

Now, they are nearly a solid match for him, if it were not for his strength and endurance.

When they arrived at the castle, King Hasseth stood at the top of the steps and said.

"Welcome, friend. I am pleased to wed you and your bride.

Do come in at your leisure, Hero Donovan Lazaret."

Marquise Hershall was there but the Archbishop was nowhere to be seen.

Donovan had birds as spies all over the kingdom and had seen him leave for the forest with twenty men earlier that day.

The night before, however, Donovan had requested two hundred foxes from the War Clan of Masters of Intelligence, Combat and Martial Arts to guard the village.

They were all more than happy to put their skills to use, however, they would only agree if Donovan could remain standing in a one on one match against their elder's son, Karrynn.

After Donovan threw Karrynn from the ring, the War Clan cheered and happily followed the hero to the Song Clan's village.

They set up camp around the perimeter and each tent was occupied by a married couple.

In the War Clan, conceiving children while away from home brings a stronger generation back.

The Archbishop and all twenty soldiers were captured, tied up and stowed in a warehouse to be dealt with when Donovan returned.

That being the state of things when Donovan walked into said warehouse only to see the Archbishop's son, Mikhail, strike his father against the head with a wood belaying pin.

The boy turned to face Donovan.

After the initial surprise of being witnessed wore off, he asked.

"Are you really going to force us to return to the kingdom?"

Donovan looked to Keely.

"Birds?" She asked.
So"d sent_t
"Not this time. I let the king and all other nobles see this moment as soon as I realized what happened.

I rewound the situation so that they heard Mikhail telling his father off before he knocked him out." He said, shrugging.

The other men had witnessed everything and Donovan locked out their ability to lie or remain silent when asked a question.

They would be none the wiser until asked what happened.

Donovan and Keely were still dressed in their formal clothing but, being that its so comfortable, not either of them were in any hurry to change.

Donovan loaded the men onto a cart and pulled it out of the village.

He had eight of the War Clan foxes escort a ninth to the city's South gate.

Upon their return, Donovan saw a large number of soldiers giving chase.

The Marquise was at the forefront.

"Are the children ready?" Donovan asked, tense with excitement.

"Yes." Elder Seer responded.

"Bring them." He said.

The two children were brought to stand in front of Donovan while facing away.

They were cursed with temporary blindness and deafness to keep them calm under the circumstances, after Donovan explained it to them through thought, as it were.

When the army entered the village, they found Donovan holding a wakizashi in each hand and with the edge, of each, only a few millimeters from the back of the children's necks.

Just doing this much tore at him but it was for a, hopefully, peaceful end to this whole mess.

"You would kill children!?" The Marquise shouted.

"It's far from pleasant to be surprised at finding someone holding swords against innocent people, isn't it?

Turn around and leave, now.

You're surrounded with only the way you came clear for retreat." Donovan said calmly.

"Please, let me take my daughter." He said.

Donovan's eyes glowed crimson and then, so did the Marquise'.

"You do not want your daughter or you would have tried to resolve this peacefully." Donovan's voice resonated in all who heard it.

"I do not want my daughter or I would have tried to resolve this peacefully..." The Marquise droned.

"You care nothing for family and only love your title and station."

"I care nothing for family and only love my title and station..."

Donovan's eyes went from crimson to emerald.

"You will yield your daughter to be cared for by those who love her."

"I will yield my daughter to be cared for by those who love her..."

"As of now, she is not your daughter."

"As of now, she is not my daughter."

His eyes changed to amber.

"You will return to the kingdom of Schachrüt and forever respect the fox people."

"I will return to the kingdom of Schachrüt and forever respect the fox people..."

Donovan's eyes stopped glowing and the Marquise suddenly turned with all of the other soldiers.

All anyone knows is what the Marquise said. No one remembered hearing Donovan speak those things.

Ingrained into everyone's memory, was the Marquise publicly disrespecting his house and family before disowning his daughter.

If any aspect of what Donovan said to be repeated by the Marquise was untrue, the eye lock snare would have been broken and it's effects, nullified.

Donovan sheathed his swords and fell to his knees, crying.

To see someone's heart so hard as to disown their child broke his heart. Stacked onto him holding swords aimed at innocent children and he was reeling with despair.

Keely had been hanging back until then.

She ran and embraced Donovan.

She spoke to him, quietly, stroking his head as he poured his heart out.

The sudden shift in his emotions caused the temporary curses on the children to break.

They could see and hear again and they turned to see Donovan in turmoil.

When they spoke, it helped Donovan begin to come back around and he slowly calmed down as he fell to sleep in Keely's arms.