Krados’ brain stopped functioning for a few minutes and he stood rooted to the floor while Adela beamed and skipped out the store. Zenon picked up the chair and walked back into the kitchen to take a pause on whatever fatal experiment he was conducting in the name of cooking.

Krados moved to the edge of the door to check on Adela and saw her standing against the onyx wall opposite the store and looking around, admiring the complex architecture. When she caught sight of him, she turned away sharply, making her long wavy hair whip against her dark skin. 

It might have only been for a second that they had eye contact, but he didn’t miss the way her lips thinned or the glint of anger that passed through her eyes. He smiled wryly as he leaned back against the doorframe and looked away from her. It was better for everyone that way, anger and fear were the only emotions he was meant to elicit.

He looked back in the room where Zenon was now dusting off his blazer and putting it on.

“Where’s your brooch?” Zenon asked, nodding at his empty lapel.

Krados shrugged and Zenon shook his head lightly as he adjusted the chains of his golden rowan tree leaf brooch with a pearl on it, one of his many accomplishments.

“You are recognized as one of the strongest.” He started walking towards Krados. “You should be proud of it.”

Krados scoffed and started moving out the door. “They’re twelve others. It’s not really special.”

He might not have cared about the brooch but he was most certainly proud of his ranking, he had worked day and night to get stronger and a little piece of gold couldn’t possibly account for all his hard work. And besides, there were more important matters on his mind, like the tall girl who was walking in front of him. 

He turned to Zenon who was whistling and looking wherever Krados didn’t. “Why?”

Zenon turned and looked at him with a confused expression on his face. Despite being almost double Krados’ age, Zenon had the mind of a ten year old child. He was well known for his spiteful antics that Krados had the unfortunate pleasure of cleaning up after. He still shuddered when he remembered how he kowtowed to the emperor when Zenon had released poisonous scorpions into the palace just because one maid had said he was ugly.

“You never do anything without a reason. Is it to spite Lady Erix?”

Lady Erix and Lord Zenon had been sworn enemies since the day they were born and they never missed any opportunity to ruin the other’s day. Still, hiring Adela as a maid just to spite Lady Erix was dangerous to both her and the empire. Krados looked at the floor that was gradually transitioning from the green jade of the market section to the brilliant sapphires of the central square.

“Turn right.” He shouted towards Adela.

She didn’t respond or even acknowledge that she heard him, but she turned left anyways. The empty street slowly started becoming populated and some people bowed in greeting as they walked by. 

“Tsk. Why are you calling her a lady. That old boar should have been put down long ago.”

Krados rolled his eyes and kept his eyes forward, making sure that Adela didn’t slip away. “You’re both old. Too old to be bickering like children.”

Zenon pouted to himself and continued mumbling on. “I’m not that old.” He brought his hand to his face and ran his fingers over the tan skin. “I still look better than that exhausted piece of fabric.”

Krados bit back his laugh and tried to steer the conversation back to its original course. “Back to Adela.”

Zenon clicked his tongue and frustration passed over his face for a few seconds before he schooled it back to normal. “Let’s just say I’m helping a friend.” 

“So would that friend appreciate you putting her in danger?”

No answer.

It had been one of the two main issues that had been lurking at the edge of his mind. Why would he bring in a stranger to the palace where maids had been dying? It was hard enough keeping the deaths that occurred outside the palace under wraps, not to mention almost impossible with those chattering maids who were afraid they could die any second. The presence of a stranger was dangerous to that delicate balance and it didn’t make it better that the stranger had elite skills. 

Zenon may have been childish but he wasn’t stupid or willing to put the empire at risk, so he was utterly bewildered by Zenon’s actions. And all Zenon said to allay his fears was a simple, “You will just have to trust me.”

Krados’ eye twitched and he tried to stabilize himself. All this would blow back on him, there was no doubt about it. He was about to start pulling his hair out in public when he heard Adela’s muffled voice calling his name. His eyes immediately did a quick scan of the area and he saw her waving at them from a food stand just twenty steps away. She was holding a handful of chicken kebabs and dutifully devouring them one by one. 

“He’s paying for me.” She said, pointing straight at Krados.

“Excuse me?” 

Zenon eyed the juicy meat sizzling on the fire and immediately grabbed a few. “He’s paying for me as well.” He announced to the store keeper. 

By now the store keeper was looking at Krados, hand stretched and demanding for her money. Although she retracted it after she took a closer look at his companions and deemed she shouldn't be too flippant with them. 

“Aren't you ashamed?” He said to Zenon who had taken a seat and was dipping the meat in sauce before eating it. 

Zenon shrugged while he faced the woman. “How much?”

“Three gold coins.”

He started to feel around in his pockets and started to collect the coins when Zenon suddenly tapped the woman. 

“Do you have those new drinks? What did Anil call them again? Kunzite Tea?” 

The woman nodded. “That’ll be a silver piece.” 

Krados dumped a gold piece in her hand and stormed off before Zenon would see any other thing that was to his liking. He continued walking until he came to the central city square that was designed in the shape of a five-tipped star and the most important building in Danica - the Mages and Knights Academy, The Akira House, The Cadel House, The Enzo House, and the Main Temple - stood at its edges while the rest of civilization stretched on from there. Krados spared only a glance at the imperius statue of the three goddesses at the center before continuing in a straight line until he could see the faint outline of the palace walls. 

He heard Adela's footsteps coming up behind him and Zenon's not too far behind her. He looked up at the watchtowers and seeing no one standing there, walked to the closed gate and placed his palm on it, letting his seed flow through the gate until the carving of the Oak tree on the gate pulsed with a black shine and started to creak open. He filed it at the back of his head to severely punish the knights who had left their post empty.

Maybe two hundred one handed push-ups would be sufficient.

The gate finally creaked open and Krados got reminded of one of the principal reasons why he was always exhausted - the towering eight story palace that loomed over almost three hectares on just the building alone. It was a known fact that one underwent enough training to become a knight just by walking from their bedroom to the kitchen. 

But Adela, who was now beside Krados, didn't share his sentiments because she was grinning ear to ear and bouncing lightly on her feet. The palace was still a little way off and Adela started walking in front of him, still ignoring him. He sighed and stretched out his hand, silently nullifying the runes that were inscribed on the cobbled walkway before following her, taking in the shrubbery that flanked his sides and the butterflies that fluttered around. Krados felt Adela looking at him and removed his gaze from the shrubs and looked straight ahead, walking towards her. She turned and continued too.

He looked over his shoulder to see Zenon looking down on the knights who had their shirts slightly unbuttoned and doing pushups while he berated them on their careless behavior. The door in front suddenly flung open and three maids rushed out, bowing deeply as they lined up in a straight line. 

“Welcome back Lord Krados.” They echoed in unison before glancing at Adela and adding, “and his guest.”

They straightened and Krados gestured towards Adela whose eyes were busy scanning the interior of the palace and smiling slightly to herself. “She’s a new maid. Please take her to Madam Raquel.”

Each and every one of them had been carefully instructed to maintain silence on the killings, but a little bit of pity and relief showed on their face. More people meant in the palace meant they were less likely to die.

“Excuse me.” He said and strolled past them into the palace, leaving the maids to talk to Adela. 

Krados walked briskly and with a little bit of annoyance as he darted down corridors and went up the stairs until finally he was in front of the meeting room. He reached out for the door handle but paused, letting his palm hover around the golden object. 

“Never thought I would see the day when you would be nervous.” 

Krados smiled and turned to face the only other twenty-five years old knight who was on the Council of The Blessed standing behind him with his arms tucked in his trousers.

“Good afternoon to you too Anil,” Krados responded.

Anil rolled his eyes and twirled one of his crimson dreadlocks around his finger, “So picky about manners.” 

His dark eyes darted around the empty corridors before looking at Krados. But before he could speak the door opened and the signature clinking of heels against the polished tiles appeared and eyed them before walking back in.

Krados struggled to maintain a straight face and not retort against the annoying woman. He was suddenly anticipating the next stunt Lord Zenon would pull and annoy the woman. 

They walked in after her where the other members of the council were seated according to their respective houses. Anil waved to Krados before going to the Akira House seated on the right hand side. Krados walked towards the middle of the room and looked round at the Houses and glanced at the empty golden throne that was lined with fire opals. 

“Good day everyone.” He greeted and nodded a little in respect.

The door flung open dramatically and Zenon strutted into the room. “GOOD DAY KRADOSSSS!!!”

He rolled his eyes and tried to stop the pulsing that was running rampant in his head. “Good day to you Lord Zenon, can you take a seat?”

Zenon beamed and walked towards his seat but not before swearing at Lady Erix who was seated directly opposite him in the area for House Enzo on the left. Before Lady Erix could launch her counter attack which normally consisted of a barrage of icicles and swearing, Krados started speaking.

“The prisoner lied. His description of the person that was supposed to deliver the poison was false,” His mind went back to Adela clutching her daggers against Zenon’s throat and decided to skip that part.

It would be hard enough convincing them to let her stay as it. “She’s just a Naian who is relocating to Danica.”

Lord Patrick, a member from the House of Cadel suddenly slammed his hand on the table, cutting Krados in the middle of his report and grating on his already frayed nerves.

“What more evidence do you need!?” He looked round at everybody. “Those damn pagans are all traitors, siding with the Hesperian scum and killing the empress. And we let her run free? On the account of a naïve child?”

Krados couldn’t see how his face looked, but he was sure it matched the way he was feeling inside – livid. “Did. I. Ask. You. To. Speak?”

Lord Patrick turned towards him, the veins popping on his huge neck. “What?”

“Did I give you permission to speak? Or do not know it is rude to cut someone off when they are speaking?”

He could feel his seed coming out, the urge to smash everything and just scream welling up inside him. But apparently the old man couldn’t take a subtle hint of Anil glaring him, or a very obvious hint of the sheer anger emanating from Krados’ body, because he still had the confidence to talk. “You do not tell me when to speak child.”

“Nothing beats number one Lord Patrick. So in this room I am not a child but your superior and I expect that I be treated as such. Is that clear?”

Lord Patrick glanced at the head of his house and when he saw her stone cold face he quickly shut up and nodded. At this point Krados didn’t have the mental strength to even bother listening to all the reports. “Just give me the written reports, any conclusions I land on will be relayed to all of you.”

Anil stood up and moved round to get all the documents before passing over the flimsy sheets to Krados. The emperor would not be happy, and he would receive the largest portion of criticisms. He bowed and moved to walk out before he remembered he hadn’t concluded his statement. 

“She isn’t a mage. So there isn’t anything to worry about.”

And with that he walked out into the corridor. The sky was dark with only the lonely moon providing light to those outside. He walked swiftly and with a bit of fear. Krados fervently hoped the emperor was in an amiable mood and if the goddesses were on his side to day, maybe his sword would have mysteriously disappeared. 

He knocked once sharply on the door before entering. The emperor stood with his back to Krados and his deadly broad sword clenched tightly in his hands. The room was a mess with upturned tables with papers ripped to shreds. “My liege? I have come to deliver the reports.”

The emperor stood there for a few minutes panting and sweating before he finally spoke. “You must be exhausted, leave the reports and go.”

He hesitated and thought about staying until the emperor calmed down, or at least dropped his sword. “Go.” The emperor repeated.

Krados finally relented and placed the reports on a side of the floor that seemed less destroyed than others. “Good night my liege.” He muttered.

He shut the door and waited as he heard footsteps approach the papers, stay silent for a while before slashing so hard that the thick walls couldn’t conceal it. The furniture would be completely obliterated, so he would have to come back to watch over the emperor and make sure he didn’t hurt himself. It was in moments like this that he wished his predecessor hadn’t gone so soon, murdered needlessly in the palace.

The utopia that the emperor had struggled so much to maintain was crumbling and he was crumbling with it. And so, as the emperors right hand man, Krados had to make sure that didn’t happen, had to make sure the emperor didn’t break.

His legs brought him towards the edge of a balcony that overlooked the rest of Danica and the walkways below. He could see the little burst of lights from the moonstone lamps below and could make out the faint outline of the knights vigorously patrolling the area. His hand went to his chest and then travelled to his pocket where he palmed the vial of potent poison. Sometimes when he was alone in the dark, he wondered what Danica would like ablaze, razed to the ground with nothing left in the aftermath. He wondered if it would be better that way, starting afresh.

He peered down to see a new figure jogging down the pathway in a baggy shirt and trousers who paused suddenly to look up at him with dark blue eyes. Adela, he mused. Even from here he could see a snarl form on her face before she continued running along the street. Whatever she had come here for he honestly hoped it was worth it, because she was gambling with her life.

**********
Author's Note
Buy meee ice creammmmm. 2.8k words isn't easy.🥲

Anyways comment your speculations, thoughts and everything inbetween. And also please do me a favour and comment tags you think would fit Ethereal. My brain is a smoothie right.

Byeeeeee