The King's Maze (Yami x Reader)

The Storm

Early that morning, just as the sun was rising the town's people heard the approach of carriages entering from a path from the north side. The inn keepers grinned as they rubbed their hands knowing that their rooms would be full for once with well-paying guest. The castle was not the only place getting ready for the outsiders as rows of people hoping to earn an extra coin or two waited by the side of the inns to help unload the sleeping cargo into their rooms where they will wake to prepare themselves for the ball at the castle.

Those who were still new to the maze watched with wide eyes as a procession of coffins were carefully carried through the front doors of the inns both by uniformed staff and a few lucky bystanders. Once the drivers were satisfied that their passengers were properly taken care of they drove around back to the stables to rest their horses. With their masters asleep for the day the servants scattered in large groups into the town to gather any new information from inner maze and to do some light shopping.

The small shops eagerly awaited the arrival of the ten vampire hordes and their servants for their pockets were deep and their spending frivolous. Not a single citizen of the inner maze knew what it was like in the north and what good their alliance did for the King. It was not their role to care. All that matter was that life continued as it did and that someone other than themselves cared for the maze.

Hunters and traders casted their eyes away after seeing how strong these hordes had become. Gone were the days when these day-sleepers were easy money for them when there was nothing to catch. But life in the maze was all about adapting and these hunters found a new job hunting rare food for them.

Each of the personal servants of the ten different masters lead their groups of servants of the horde through the streets. some would glance at the cages of creatures and beings that were caught in the night in seeing if they would make a good meal for their horde. Others ran errands together or enjoy the limited freedom they had. The leader of these groups would nod politely to other servants from different hordes but never mingled. While united in the alliance, it was every horde for themselves.    

xxx

Later back at the castle,

Seto was heading to his office to take a small break from all the questions and decision making for a bit. He was told of the arrival of their guest in the town below hours ago and most of the preparations in the castle were completed in time for him to take a small rest, but something told him that was not going to happen.

Seto, while a rational man, lived with a pure pessimistic mind that was now nagging at him that something had gone wrong. The King had not been seen since noon, but Seto had guessed that he was hiding somewhere in the garden as usual. As for Persona, he guessed that she was still hiding in her room. Both were out of the way not needing his attention, which was welcomed, but felt suspicious at the same time.

How he wished his mind could work without so much pessimism for a day. The dragon gave in to his nagging mind and planned to check in on Persona after stopping by his office to see if any messages had arrived for him. On entering the tidy room, he spotted a raven waiting for him outside his window with a note tied to its leg. Perhaps this is where the irksome warning was coming from, but something still felt off as he read the surprising news on the note. In his days as a sacred priest his mentors had praised him on his caution and intuition commenting that such a gift should never be ignored. If they only knew what a curse it was.

It was right after reading the scrap of paper that he felt an odd change in the air of the castle that quickly faded. A chill then ran down his spine as an image of Persona came to his mind. His heart then felt a sharp pain warning him that his cousin needed him. Burning the note in the palm of his hand with his blue flame he found himself walking hastily through the halls as the sun fell a few more inches in the sky. In two hours, the guest would be arriving.