Corrupted blood lord

Duke Seravin arrived at the royal gardens while the first prince was still having tea.

He did not enter unannounced.

Even with the urgency eating away at his mind, he waited outside the garden archway with his hands folded behind his back and two of his guards standing several steps behind him.

The servant who had carried his request inward returned quickly enough, bowed, and informed him that His Highness would receive him once tea had concluded.

Seravin accepted it with a polite nod, then waited in the shade on a bench nearby.

—

The royal garden was beautiful, adorned with many different flowers and fruit trees that were obviously being taken care of by a skilled gardener. Every hedge was trimmed into perfect shape. Every flowerbed had been arranged so that its colors shifted gently from white to gold to pale blue. The fountains murmured softly, and the marble paths shone beneath the afternoon sun.

It was an artificially made, peaceful heaven.

Beyond the archway, beneath a pavilion made of white wood, Prince Darion Draevenfall sat across from his fiancée.

The prince was nineteen now, young enough that some still called him a boy, but old enough that he did not need a guard around him constantly.

He had a lean build, blond hair, and blue eyes.

His posture was trained to perfection by tutors, knights, priests, and even the king. He had already earned his knighthood, and unlike many royal children, he had not received it purely because of his blood.

He was strong for his age, which many nobles praised.

But he was also very idealistic.

A just, honorable, courageous, and earnest boy who made men want to follow him into battle and politicians want to sigh.

He believed nobles existed to protect the people beneath them. He believed the law should serve the weak as much as the powerful. He believed evil could be confronted openly and defeated cleanly if enough good men stood together.

Those beliefs made him admirable.

They also made him young and naïve.

Darion had grown up with a diamond spoon, carried on a velvet cushion and polished by servants. He cared for the poor, but there were parts of their lives he simply did not understand.

Hunger, desperation, fear of one’s own lord, and the harsh path they had to undertake to escape their poor roots.

Those things had to be learned the hard way and firsthand.

Seravin hoped the prince would learn them slowly.

Today, however, the bad news could not wait.

The tea lasted another half hour.

Darion did not rush his fiancée, and Seravin respected him for that. When the time finally came, the prince stood and accompanied her through the garden himself.

She still had time to remain with him, but she was graceful enough to understand that a duke waiting outside the garden meant the matter was urgent.

Darion led her to the carriage, spoke softly to her, then lifted her hand and kissed it gently.

"Until tomorrow," he said.

She smiled, but her eyes moved once toward Seravin. "Do not let duty steal all my time with you, Your Highness."

Darion returned the smile. "I will try."

The carriage rolled away a moment later.

Only then did the prince turn toward Seravin.

His expression warmed, and a slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he approached.

"Duke Seravin. What a pleasant surprise. Had you announced yourself earlier, I would have arranged a proper welcome."

Seravin bowed. "Your Highness."

Darion extended a hand and patted Seravin on the shoulder. Their greeting was respectful, but familiar. The duke had supported Darion’s claim for years, and the prince knew well enough that such loyalty was priceless.

"Come," Darion said. "We will speak inside."

They entered a smaller receiving room connected to the garden, where sunlight fell through high windows and painted the floor in gold. Darion sat on a sofa and gestured for Seravin to take the seat across from him.

"So," the prince said, still calm. "What brings you to me today?"

Seravin finally revealed the situation without omitting anything.

He began with Meralyn Skallion.

He told Darion that she was alive and well as a slight smile escaped his mouth, but his mood soon changed when he told him that Count Aweq Van Denos had tried to have her killed.

He told him of the vampire sent to infiltrate her castle, that she had lost her arm because of him, but he had also saved her life.

Then he moved to what she had uncovered after escaping. The dungeon beneath Aweq’s castle. The missing people who were not reported and the experiments.

They suspected that instead of Aweq, Luther Vael’thorr was the real mastermind behind the scenes.

At Luther’s name, Darion frowned.

"The foreign envoy?"

"Yes."

"He attended a few balls, and everyone praised him for being a noble soul."

"So I have heard."

"And a vampire helped Countess Skallion?"

"Yes, he said that he was somewhat free from the contract or pact that he had with his master."

Darion leaned forward slowly. The warmth in his expression had vanished, replaced by anger.

"You are telling me that Count Aweq is working with a vampire lord, and that beneath his own castle, he is conducting vile experiments? Not only that, but Luther Vael’thorr is likely the mastermind behind it all?"

"That appears to be the case, Your Highness. An envoy from the Church arrived through the portal this morning as well and confirmed our suspicions, ten paladins under the command of the promising Dawn Church captain from Lupos. They captured the vampire I spoke of earlier and are using him to extract information."

Darion went still.

This was no small matter. If they moved quickly and played their cards right, they could be the ones to expose and destroy a parasite hiding within their own kingdom.

Then the shock gave way to anger.

Darion stood and began pacing back and forth. "How does something like this happen? How does a count build a dungeon beneath his own castle without anyone knowing? No reports? No witnesses reaching the crown? That vile bastard was toying with innocent lives."

He slammed his fist onto the table, and the wood cracked beneath the impact.

Seravin watched him carefully.

There it was.

That was the reason Darion could become a good ruler, even if he was still somewhat naïve. His first thought had not been the reward, the political gain, or the glory of catching a vampire.

It had been the people.

"Your Highness," Seravin said, keeping his voice controlled, "poor people do not have the power to stand up for themselves. Servants are threatened through their families. Guards are paid off. Villagers learn very quickly what happens when they defy their lord and are thrown into a dungeon with no escape."

Darion turned toward him, and his words seemed to shock him a bit more than Seravin expected. But to his credit, the prince did not reject them.

Instead, he looked ashamed, like it was his fault.

"That will change."

"I shall stand by you when it does, Your Highness."

Darion sat back down again, and he had a focused look on his face. "Tell me what you need."

"We need to be discreet and quick about it, and bring as many loyal nobles as possible."

"Explain."

"If the Church moves openly against Aweq without noble backing, the noble faction will call it an overreach of their authority. That means Luther and Aweq will have enough time to vanish once they are warned.

If we move alone, they will claim I am using Meralyn to settle old political scores between Aweq and me. If this reaches the wrong ears too early, the noble faction may try to steal the achievement or bury the evidence."

Darion’s mouth tightened. "Surely they would not protect a vampire and their vile conspiracy?"

Seravin looked at him with a stone-cold expression, and the prince went silent.

"There are four power-hungry dukes in the noble faction," Seravin said. "With their vassals, they are powerful, rich, and desperate for victories. The royalist faction still outweighs them, but if they can twist this into a Church scandal to cut our ties with them, a ducal feud, or a preemptive succession move, they will try."

Darion thought about it for a second and asked, "How are we to secure the people inside of the castle? Won’t they just die if we rush in?"

"I received a report that the archbishop will handle the matters inside and protect the people."

"...All right then. I will get my father’s approval, and you gather the nobles under our banner. We shall strike that vile beast down!"

Seravin held up a hand and stopped him from rushing out. "One thing to note, though, Your Highness. If Luther has hidden himself this well, then we should assume he has eyes and ears in the capital too. This matter should only be reported to the king and our most trusted allies."

Darion nodded and then sat back down again. "All right, then give me the names of your most trusted vassals. They will be informed first."

A pen and paper were brought to them by a servant, and Seravin quickly wrote down the names of trustworthy people.

The prince looked at the list and smiled despite the situation. "Seems like Countess Skallion is on your mind a lot, Duke Seravin, haha."

His face reddened, and he stuttered. "W-w-what?!"

"The most trusted person at the top of the list is her, and don’t think I did not notice your smile as you were talking about her."

Seravin scratched the back of his head and just ignored that comment from the prince, which amused the prince even more.

When they separated, Seravin gave one final piece of advice and warning to not trust anyone, then excused himself after the prince nodded.

They both had their roles to fulfill and had a lot of work ahead of them.

—

Far from the capital, the six thralls arrived at the ruins of the burned forest where they had last seen Teclos. The sun had already begun to sink.

They did not speak unless it was absolutely necessary.

Tepesh crouched near the remains of the broken tree that Teclos had slammed against, while the rest already searched other parts of the battlefield. His fingers brushed over the bark that was covered in blood, ash, and soil.

Dallion stood farther back and observed the surroundings.

The memory of defeat was still fresh in their minds, as was the torture from their master. Both clenched their fists and swore in their minds to never disappoint him again.

The place still stank of fire, holy magic, and death. Plenty of leads still remained, meaning that they could easily track them down.

And sure enough, one of the female thralls knelt near a set of tracks. "Tracks from the horses. They all lead in the same direction."

Tepesh brushed the dirt from his gloves and beckoned them forward. "Let’s move."

They nodded and rushed after him.

After a few hundred meters, the signs of battle became clearer. The ground was torn, branches were broken, and the scent of blood grew stronger.

Dallion veered toward the source of it and sniffed the air.

"Teclos was here," he said. "His scent is faint, but unmistakable."

"Looks like the Church cornered him here," Tepesh said.

"He couldn’t have gone far," one of the thralls said.

They followed the trail without wasting any more words.

From there, the signs became fainter, but they were still easy enough for them to track. Even when the Church warriors had moved through the river to hide their passage, they had left traces behind.

By nightfall, their path became clear.

Although those Church bastards had tried to hide their route, they still managed to easily navigate through the forest, and eventually, a small village rested ahead beneath the darkening sky.

Alta.

A temple stood on the hill beyond it, with too many patrols moving around the holy grounds.

For such a small village, they had an awful lot of paladins and inquisitors... not suspicious at all.

Tepesh stopped beneath the trees far away and raised one hand.

The others halted immediately, and every single one of them erased their presence so as to not immediately alert that man.

Dallion smiled faintly. "Found him."

Tepesh’s eyes remained fixed on the temple as he nodded.