Eros

Blood Bath - 25

"He's late." Kaelen frowned, knuckles drumming on the arm of his chair.

"Lay easy brother," Nair said from the seat beside him. "This disquiet is unlike you."

"For the two years this fucker is king, he dismissed our messengers without returning a word. And now all of the sudden he demands an urgent meeting with both of us?" The frown twisted deep across Kaelen's face. "I don't like it one bit."

The Warhawk brothers looked older than they were. Long years as warriors hardened their bodies, and the hardships of command wore most traces of youth from their features. They sat at the great hall of the War Hawks' headquarters. Torches glowed across the long walls, and a tan banner sporting a wing-spread hawk draped the wall behind them.

"Since when does the almighty leader of the War Hawk mercenaries fear a crown?" A teasing smile curled Vanessa's supple lips. The young woman was leaning against Nair's chair. A tan leather outfit clad her athletic body, grabbing sleek curves as tightly as skin.

Her hair was like tamed flames, spilling bright red from her hair ponytail. Her complexion was too light to endure the desert sun of Veramor, which powdered it with dainty freckles. Her eyes glinted with girlish mischief. Though she had the high cheekbones and the pouting lips to command authority.

"This king isn't like Senarion, Vanessa." Kaelen shot her a scolding look. "Haven't you heard the 'Blood Ballad' they sing in every corner?"

Vanessa scoffed. "Forgive me if I doubt the story of an unarmed man single handedly slaughtering the royal family in the most guarded place inVeramor."

"I am inclined to agree," Nair spoke, a light smile on his face. "It wouldn't be the first nor the last time a king had rumors spread to glorify himself."

"Besides," Nair continued. "There's nothing he can do to us. Not as long as the treaty is intact."

Vanessa smiled with him. "He probably just has nothing to do and wants us to stroke his ego."

Her last word was swallowed by the boom of the hall's twin, massive doors bursting open. The three of them snapped their attention to the entrance. The guards down the stairs to their seats tensed, half expecting a charging giant.

Instead, a young man emerged. He tread into the room as if it was his. Hair like golden silk, features drawn sharp and smooth, beautiful as a painting. Vanessa's eyes lingered on his bare upper body.

Unlike the brawny, war-rugged man she lived amongst, his flesh was unblemished, toned with slender muscles. Only one thing dared to defile his sun-kissed skin: a pitch black tattoo stared at her with an ominous eye as it grasped his shoulders with monstrous claws.

"Your Highness, you must wait!" The sentry chased him across the hall.

"You would dare test a king's patience?" Julian's gaze shifted to the sentry, a threat in his amber eyes. "Remove yourself from my sight. Before I shall remove you."

Filled with fright, the sentry saw Nair nod, and hurried to leave.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, your Majesty, and as the commander of the Warhawk Mercenaries, I welcome you to our headquarters." Kaelen said and rose to bow. Nair did the same, and Vanessa hesitantly followed their lead. The king seemed unimpressed.

"It is Kaelen, is it not?" He asked.

"Yes, your Highness, the -"

"Kaelen," Julian silenced him with a lift of a hand. "You command a military order that doesn't serve me within my realm. I will have that impossible situation changed immediately."

Vanessa's jaw slacked. Nobody dared to speak to Kaelen with such blatant disrespect.

"The Warhawks operate in all of the human realms." Kaelen replied, voice firm, and brow furrowed in a stern frown. We do not qualify as a Veramorian order-"

"The order was founded in Veramor." Julian cut him short again. "Its headquarters and the majority of its forces are based in Veramor. You were born and live in Veramor. If I didn't see you as Veramorians, Warhawks, I would've seen you dead."

"Either way, the treaty signed by the rulers of the four realms forbids us serving a king, and forbids a king hiring us." Not a feature shifted in Kaelen's frown. He wasn't one to budge for threats.

"I signed no treaty, and have no intention of hiring you." Julian strode towards the stairs. The guards reached for their swords, moving to stop him. They didn't get to take a second step.

The king clawed skywards and their armored bodies were swept off the floor, launching after the arcs of his hands. He grasped air, and the guards were held overhead. Arms restrained against their ribs and legs kicking with no purchase.

No magus can do that, Vanessa felt the tension at the back of her throat, fear rushing her blood. What, by the gods, is he?

"The power you hold changes nothing." Kaelen's confidence was disputed, seeing his bodyguards dangle helpless in the air. But Vanessa admired his courage nonetheless. "Only a madman will break the Conqueror's treaty, and I will not bend to a madman's will."

Julian's beautiful features, set in a fierce sneer. From below the stairs, he looked down on them. Then he clenched his fists. A screech of steel echoed throughout the hall as the plates of the guards' armor caved into their bodies. Their writhing and screaming were swiftly terminated, their skeletons crushing like fragile toys in the grip of a reckless child.

"Do you know why I insisted your second-in-command will be present at this meeting?" Julian dropped his arms, and the guards' gnarled corpses hit the flagstones at his sides with metallic thuds.

His question was answered by their dreadful silence. Vanessa knew there was no way she could defend the Warhawk brothers from him. It was the first time she encountered a man she couldn't stand against. The first time she faced a challenge she didn't want to take.

"Two options are laid before you," Julian ascended the stairs and stood before Kaelen, his amber glare fixating upon him.

"Serve or die."