Fate

Fourteen

Beast stirred angrily, not liking the pompous man that stood before them anymore than Tonius. "What do you mean that you're here for Elyssa?" Tonius asked.

Lord Tomlinson snapped his fingers and a footman handed him a slip of parchment paper. Unfolding it, he showed it to Tonius. On it was an accurate drawing of Elyssa, along with her full name scrawled across the bottom. A bounty posting. It had seemed like ages ago that they first met Patrick and were told about the bounty on their heads. Honestly, Tonius had forgotten all about it. A bit much had happened since then.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded.

"I'm a lord. I have connections you couldn't dream of."

Tonius snatched the parchment from between the man's fingers, his movements too fast for the lord to follow. Beast grumbled restlessly. "I'm going to ask you one last time. Where. Did. You. Get. This?" he asked through gritted teeth, crinkling the page in his hand.

"You think that your Seer is the only one in these lands? Someone was looking for her and came through my town. At first, I was tempted to commission Hunters to find her and keep the reward. But then, being the genius that I am, I saw the bigger opportunity. Why not find the Seer personally and keep her for myself?"

A growl started low in his chest, and the lord squinted at him, like he was trying to figure out a puzzle. "She is not some novelty object you keep on a shelf."

"Naturally. I was thinking more along the lines of entertaining my guests. Can you imagine? Dukes and lords coming to my town to get their palms read? I'd be the talk of the town. Of the entire realm!"

"It doesn't work that way. Elyssa's gift isn't something that can be accessed on a whim." Lies. "It chooses when it will be present and when it won't." More or less accurate.

"Well, let's hope that it works more often than not," Lord Tomlinson grinned as he spoke, his words as fake as his smile.

"You best hope that wasn't a threat," he snarled, pointing harshly at his lordship.

"Of course not. I wouldn't dream of threatening such a beautiful lady."

Instead of blushing, Elyssa straightened her shoulders. "I won't be going with you."

"Frankly, my dear, I don't think you will have a choice. You're an escaped slave from my lands. You already belong to me." He snapped his fingers. Tonius considered taking off his whole bloody hand. "Rolf!"

The ground shook as whatever lackey that had just been summoned heeded its master's call. A strong, pungent smell attacked Tonius' senses. It was so thick that he could taste it, his empty stomach convulsing and causing him to dry heave. He knew the smell, from a time long ago when he was still a boy. Long before Beast had made itself known, when he was still as innocent as they come, and even then, the scent had been so rancid that it had caused his eyes to burn and water.

"Tonius!" Ruby kept him upright while he gagged, his eyes screwed up tight. "What is it? What's coming?"

He cast Tomlinson a heated look, forcing as much hate into the expression as he could. "Troll."

"Amazing," the lord shook his head in disbelief, Tonius' identity having finally clicked for him. "The rumors are true. A Seer travelling with an unnatural one. The Daemon, in the flesh. This really is my lucky day. I get to add two new pets to my collection."

Elyssa gasped then and Tonius knew, even with his head angled toward the ground, that Rolf had finally made his appearance. Raising his head proved to be a real challenge, the rotting smell of troll now stronger than ever. It looked just as he remembered, all those years ago. Standing nearly eight feet tall, Rolf was large, ever so large. Thick, leathery skin stretched too tight, stringy, greasy black hair hung well past his shoulders. His dull teeth stuck out at all sorts of odd angles, rope-like drool oozing out of his cavernous maw. Animal skin created makeshift clothing, not that it did much to cover his enormously fat body.