The Burden of Breaking Hearts

The Hunt

Darion pushed the door open and strode into the throne room. Stained glass depicting images of past kings, queens, and knights in armor bathe the room in golds, crimsons, and sapphires.

"Heart Breaker, how good it is to see you've fully recovered." The king and queen were present, but the children were stowed somewhere safe; a location only a select few knew of.

The throne room was the one room in the entire palace Darion actively avoided. His personal favorite room was the library, a vast room with multiple levels, each filled to the brim with books of all sorts. There was even a small section set aside for his spell books.

"Your majesty." Darion bowed. He no longer wore the pure black outfit he donned for executions. Instead he wore a blue shirt with a leather jacket over loose dark pants and leather boots. He bore no weapon for not only were they not allowed in such close proximity to the rulers of Hathorian, he never carried weapons in the palace; he never needed to.

"As you know, a prisoner escaped their execution earlier today. With your...talents, you are the most qualified soldier for getting this man back to us." Darion nodded, accustomed to being sent after criminals. Some were escapees, others had been people smart enough to elude the army for weeks on end. No matter the target, Darion had never failed to bring them in.

Not once.

"Dead or alive?"

Rema looked over at Ethan, her eyebrows scrunched. "I actually haven't thought about that."

"Whatever you desire shall be fulfilled, my love." The two engaged in silent conversation, leaving Darion to wait patiently in the middle of the room, standing with perfect posture.

The queen leaned back in her chair, turning back to face her soldier. "Alive; the crime is simply too high for a private execution." She looked off to the side as if considering a thought for a moment. "Although I wouldn't be opposed to a few injuries that would prevent any more escapes."

"As you wish, your majesty," Darion said, bowing once more before turning to leave. His steps reverberated through the room as he made his way out, passing the armed guards standing still as a statue.

The executioner turned hunter headed straight to the library, twisting through the endless maze of palace halls. The library utilized natural lighting from a glass dome ceiling five stories above. The spell books were stored at the top where the lighting is best; no chances were being taken for someone to accidentally read from The Book of Death instead of The Book of Breath. He took the stairs hidden away in the back up to the top floor, smirking at his shelf as it came into view. He walked past the shelf, letting his fingers run across the spines as he looked for the book he needed.

His hand stopped and he pulled a slim book off the shelf. Spells for Tracking Elusive Scoundrels. It was perhaps the smallest book in the collection; there are only so many ways to track someone.

The whisper of pages sliding against each other broke the silence as Darion opened the book. He flipped to the page with the spell he was looking for. The ingredients and words were already etched into his mind, but he always double-checked for magic was a very dangerous practice; one ounce of garlic can be the difference between a tracking spell and an explosive.

Darion's next stop was the kitchen. "Garlic. Check. Honey. Check. Water. Check." Darion paced around the room gathering ingredients and muttering to himself. Everything he needed went straight into a bowl and was mixed in together as he read a passage over them. Not many would notice the slight glow that signaled the concoction's completion, but Darion had long ago trained himself to spot it. "And a dash of cinnamon for scent." He pulled a vial from his belt and took the lid off. There were eight vials in total around his belt. One was for the tracking potion, another was already filled with the dark purple potion he used for executions, and the other six were empty. He slid the vial of golden liquid back into its slot, turning to head for the prisoner cells down below.