Heirot

A cluster of Arken's stood at the entrance to the gate, one of them being Marcus from the High Lord's office. Espha paused several yards from the gate and watched Vlad enter.

"Has the King gone to intercept our ships?" Marcus asked, scratching at the scar on the side of his tan face.

Vlad stopped in front of Marcus and studied him. "Weren't your ships intended for the king? It would be odd not to intercept them."

Marcus smirked. "They were intended for the king. I was only clarifying if he was leaving to meet them. He should miss them by two days, I'm afraid. They should have landed this morning." Marcus shifted off the wall, the leather of his armour groaning as he moved. "You're a Dead King? Dracul... I'm curious, are you the same Dead King that infiltrated Darkwood and attacked our queen to retrieve a Queen's Maiden we were interrogating?"

Vlad raised his eyebrows at him. "Interrogating? Doesn't sound pleasant." He smirk stayed still and hard as stone on his lips.

Marcus chuckled. "No, I suppose it wasn't..." he admitted, tapping the scar on his face. He paced a slow circle around Vlad. "I'm just curious to know, after you escaped... What happened to her? You're alive, is she? I'm fascinated to find out how our escapees get along after their stay, especially the interrogations I oversee. But, if you're not the one who infiltrated Darkwood, then my apologies." He waited a minute before starting to turn away.

Vlad's scarlet eyes lit with dark amusement as the man spoke. "Do you know what happens, boy, when a rat bites the nose of a sleeping lion?"

Marcus paused, tilting his head to look over his shoulder. "That's a curious question," he admitted. "I assume that the rat wakes the lion and then scurries off."

The vampire smiled. "The lion needn't wake. He need only roll over in his sleep, and the rat knows learns its place." He raised his arm and backhanded the man hard enough to snap his neck and hurl him into the sand. His eyes raised to Marcus's partner pleasantly. "Do we have an understanding about my wife?" he asked, flashing his ring. It was smeared with Marcus's blood.

Marcus's partner swallowed, staring down at the body. He lifted his eyes to Vlad. He nodded vigorously, not wanting to point out that had Marcus known it was Vlad's wife, he probably would not have poked around about the subject. He raised his hands. "Hey, man... I've been stationed in Arroes for the last ten years. I don't know what he was talking about. I got a wife. Totally understand... Ugh..." With that, the guard began backing away.

Vlad rolled his eyes and ignored the man's sniveling. "Wait," he stopped him. "Who else came with you when you arrived here? Surely you didn't send only guards."

The guard shrugged. "Nobody too important. A couple of priests and three noblemen. We always have a sorcerer on hand, so don't get any ideas..." The guard turned to walk away.

"Hey," Vlad stopped him again. You lot must have untainted food. Where is it kept?"

The guard glanced back. "I can't tell you that." And while he was saying it he pointed in the direction of the port. Then he made this motion with his hands that looked like a little boat. "I've got to go and tell General Odus that Marcus's dead."

"Yes. Shame about the fall," Vlad said. "You can't tell a vampire where you keep your food? I'm not exactly competition."

"I did tell Marcus to stop hanging from ledges a while back. He really wasn't one to listen to anyone," the guard sighed. "Its on a boat, the middle ship. Its guarded, so I don't know how you think you're getting in or what you plan on doing with it. But, whatever your plan is... Don't. You might be immortal, but they'll bind you and lock you in a hole and throw away the key. Don't know how they deal with you're kind in Ighten, but Arken is pretty well versed on dealing with monsters."