Cleo sits on the table with her thighs spread apart as Landon kneels before her. She would of ran away if she was ever to be in this situation with him. Not only did it seem as inappropriate, but also it gives away false images of what she and Landon did in the meeting room. If someone were to come in on them like this, that person would be sure to assume that Landon was busy between her legs, and be the first gossiper of what really went down with her and Landon in their supposed meetings.

Cleo dismisses the thought but also unfortunately had to spread her thighs like this for him. The tattoos on her skin has progressed to her inner thighs nearly curling right around her thigh making it look like a red garter. She would of found it sexy and sensual, and might even bare them for attention in her long long legs, have they not been scorching her skin inside out.

But there just had to be something wrong with it.

Landon uses his monocle with a deep frown etched onto his features to focus on her thighs that she finally decided to show him. He even switched the monocle to the other eye as if the sight was wrong at the previous one. Stupid.

She holds her black silk very close to her front to keep herself covered as she looks down at Landon watching her thighs. It led her to think that she was a patient during his nursing examination. These marks could not of come to a better and much more safer place. Even though she trusts Landon, he was the first and only person she bares herself to. She had no choice but to, Landon ought to know what it was, or at least help her with it.

The pains and acidic burn of it had lessened which makes Cleo even more suspicious about why the hell it suddenly stopped like that. It's like a candle someone blew out, leaving her thighs like the remaining smoke willowing away from its tip.

It was about time she did this. And it is also time for her to speak to this Mage about assisting her as well.

But maybe she didn't have to, if Landon would open up his damned mouth and finally talk instead poking at her thigh with his cold tipped fingers. She feels pity for him as she notes the sweat running down his face, looking as if the tiny tributaries were having a race with one another— about which could reach his cheek first. He was sick too. He just didn't want to admit it.

He moves the monocle to the other eye.

"There is the same result you know. Nothing is changing if you keep switching it like that."

"Its to focus more."

She bites her lips at her response.

Instead she utters out. "What are they Landon? Anything you ever see before?"

Landon gets to his haunches and then he leans back onto his heels before hoisting himself up with ease. His brows are knotted  tightly together with one hand on his chin and the other on his hip. He taps onto his goatee not meeting her eyes just yet.

Cleo snaps her thighs shut together but doesn't cower her marks yet, Landon was still watching them.

"Unfortunately not Miss. This is something I am witnessing for the firat time in my life." He looks at her with wide murky eyes. There is still a blue tinge to his lips.

He goes on, "The burn is excruciatingly painful you say? Feeling tender? Burned? Pricked?"

She lets out a breathe. "Yes. Everything." She didn't know how to describe her pain anymore. Nothing that her cold wet tiles in her bathroom couldn't fix.

Landon nods and sits down before his papers on the table on which she was seated on right beside her. "Is this why you seek the Mage's assistance?"

Cleo nods. Not feeling like talking. But Landon wasn't looking at her, he was writing something on a new sheet of paper harshly dipping his quill in the ink, causing the ink to nearly spill over.

She is then forced to speak aloud. Dammit. She is so exhausted. The weariness is starting to creep in, she hasn't eaten nor rested properly since that last demon attack; and it's starting to wear on her. Her body physically feels drained and lifeless; she wasn't too sure she could manage any more meetings or near deaths or even a demon. She would apologize to everyone in her Court and go into a fitful slumber while the world went to hell.

Sometimes she herself couldn't understand what type of person she was. Did she care? Did she not care?

Well she cared enough to not care.

"Someone said I should seek him."

Landon continues writing something about the Elemental and new discoveries. She knows what he was doing. He was keeping track of each new Elemental there was to be and perhaps how everything was linked, why they all passed so suddenly; and then how to prevent it from happening again and again.

She feels a tiny bit offensive that he was actually considering her dying when once upon a time he said that she wouldn't. Guess it's not just Jezio that lies to her.

"Who was that? No one is ever in close ranges with the Mage. He is a man resort to himself."

Cleo pulls her dress over her thighs. "None of your concern Landon."

Landon raises a brow giving her a curious look. "If you found out about the mage by someone else. Then it should be my concern."

Cleo yawns and wipes away the tears that formed with it. "It really doesn't matter Landon. Can you please contact him. I would see that I meet him soon."

Landon rummages through his paperwork once again. "I shall send him a letter Miss. Is this before or after you go to the Demon Tower?"

She could of sworn she heard a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

She crosses the one thigh over the other and rests her hands behind her on the table enjoying the hot breeze that wafts into the room to wrap around her in a warm embrace.

"Both needs to be done Landon, no matter what."

He shakes his head fast from side to side so fast she wasn't certain whether it was her sleep-deprived self that was beginning to spin or if he really spinned his head around so fast.

"Miss. Going to the Demon Tower is a rash decision of suicide!" Landon looks angry. It actually made her want to regret her decision of going. His eyes become hard pinpricks, his face going completely stiff and clenched. The lines on his face looked hard enough to cut glass, and the way he clenched his jaws looked tough enough to break an acorn into pieces. The old wrinkles, marks, and pale, slightly blue-tinged skin looks more pronounced with his sudden belligerent face.

"And have more of our people killed or heavily injured?" She stares deeply into his eyes.

He looks away after sharing a long look with her. He first looks to the Elemental posters on the walls to the left and then the guards to the right and then lastly to settle on the double doors behind her exciting the room. She could see he was thinking about what she said, he was seeking the best response for a situation like this.

"Landon, I don't want to see more dying. Genevieve was already a huge shock to everyone in the Court and we nearly lost Thane and Kaleb."

His expression becomes pained. He pulls his face sour and massages his temples with his forefinger and thumb.

She continues when he remains quiet in his bubble of thoughts. "I don't want a next time for another demon attack Landon. What if it's you next time?"

He finally meets her eyes. He didn't even look shocked that she even considered him in this. "Then it happens, then the next General is to take my place and lead you to your rightful destiny."

Cleo shakes her head. "No. There is no one else like you. I would rather die than to have Delilah or Andrew taking your seat as General."

He laughs under his breath very much faking it. "I can't believe it's actually alive after all these years, right after the last death — the Demon Tower is alive, awake, thriving actually."

"Thats why I'm going there. I'm going to end it once and for all."

She knows its a drastic decision, she couldn't even kill one. But if this was for protecting her people she would do this. For them. For Thane and Kaleb. Even if she comes out dead in the end, it would all be worth it.

"Miss, I am almost certain that the Demon queen is alive as well."

She sucks her teeth. "Good. I'll kill her first."

Landon looks like he wants to say something but then closes his mouth, before going back to his paperwork.

"So you're adding these new notes to the journals to try and save more Elementals?"

He nods but continues writing. "All the best to be more prepared if this doesn't end up well. And I shall see that the mage sees you too."

She nods. "Thank you. I want to meet him before I go to the Demon Tower. Perhaps he has knowledge in that category for us."

"I doubt it Miss. Many people wavers away from him, and it's not just because he practices dark magic on us beings. It's because he can't be trusted with anything."

Cleo's eyes darkens. She was rather good at detecting lies. It was said clearly in the way their eyes and the tongue moved. That was what changed when and if anyone were to lie; this she speaks from experience.

"I don't trust him yet Landon. But please let me speak to him."

Cleo would of told him about Ezra. That was until she realized that Landon would seek for him right under her nose and even torture him for him for playing a role in the death of his wife. Landon constantly sought links and patterns to what happens the way it happens. He would of assumed that Ezra played a huge role in her dying, maybe even accusing him of letting her die right after her crowning.

It's all very much untrue. Ezra loved his wife more than life itself, even though it was more forbidden than there being more than one Elemental alive. He wouldn't allow a single finger to be laid upon her skin without his consent.

Cleo gets up from the table. "I'll see myself to my chambers. I'm exhausted."

He gets up too but she motions for him to stay put. "Your room has been patched up a little, the remaining mess will be tended to tomorrow."

"Thank you Landon."

She was at the door when a thought popped into her head. She turns back around but stays where she is. "Landon?"

He looks up immediately assessing her body for any damages or anything abysmal happening to her. "Miss?"

"My crowning is happening in a few days yes?"

"Correct. Is there a problem? There are more preparations coming your way soon Miss, if that's your concern-"

"No."

He waits for her response.

She shakes her head no. "Nevermind, I shall speak to you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Good evening Miss."

It was still mid day outside.

Cleo wanted to ask him whether he was really expecting her death.

Right after that, she left and made her way to the Guards courters, also situated in middle court like the meeting and drawing room but deeper in and away from all activity. Many of them gave her weak nods or bows and some— those with real guts, greeted her verbally; to which Cleo replied to with a nod herself.

The wainscoting corridors were quiet and peaceful. Cleo would of considered recreating her own bedroom in this hallway with this environment, even though every corridor and turn she passed was filled with men. She wasn't particularly concerned about that.

The floor to ceiling windows to the right of the hallway was bright with the sun shining through, it brought out the colour of the various art pieces hanging on the walls; colours and paintings she would never in her life recognize or even give a mere glance towards. She runs her fingers over some of them, feeling the rough texture of the paint on her fingertips, and some felt like smooth oil— which she didn't dare look back at if it was a newly done painting that she just smudged.

She faces the front, only now familiar with her bearings, there were many turns before she could reach the King of the Guards chambers; turns she was never familiar with. She barely communicated with her guards on the daily even less the King of the Guard, that is the one before Kaleb. And yet here she was on her way to find his chambers and then him.

She took a last turn, now in a long corridor lined with unlit braziers on the walls as well as more portraits and swords crossing one another attached to the gray wainscoting walls.

At the end of the corridor stood a double door, made of rich cherry wood with fire emblems engraved on them. Were her doors this pretty? Why is she only seeing this now?

She continues walking down the hall with her bare feet meeting soft red carpeting which she regularly curled her toes in, and especially enjoying the satisfaction of the soft tickles and caresses it did to her feet.

She touches the cold brass doorknob and steps over the threshold and right into Kaleb's room. First thing she noticed was that there were no guards inside and outside his doors. There were nursing trays and a soft food plate on his bedside — which meant that there were nurses who regularly visited him, but there are no guards keeping him safe in the now considered unsafe Court.

Cleo rubs her arms in the icy chilly room, it actually bit her skin. His room was absolutely marvelous. The whole side of the room was full of floor to ceiling windows, baring the gardens below showing off grand bushes, trees, flowers and little fountains. The whole greenery was lush and full of life, she gasps at the various colours of the flowers ranging from yellow to black. Cleo only had a small balcony at her room only depicting only half of what Kaleb's room had to offer. This was really making her question if she was the Elemental here or him. She had half the riches Kaleb had here.

To the right of the room and the right of the breathtaking view of the gardens, was a door leading to what Cleo presumed was the bathroom and also his huge wardrobes gathering dust. The room was so still and quiet and bright and sunny she could see dust particles drifting all over the place, it somehow made the room scream her name even more. It didn't look like Kaleb spent time in his chambers before this incident. It was as if he never existed in this room.

To the left of the gray and blue coloured walled room, stood the double bed with a big bulky body on it sleeping peacefully. It was hard to even know that there was someone in the room. A pin could of been heard dropping on the floor.

More cupboards and tables filled to the brim with swords, maces, daggers and even slings, which also looked as if it were gathering dust laying there stranded on the tables. Cleo was starting to think that the guards expected Kaleb to magically wake up, grab a weapon to take down the demon himself that decided to visit their Court once again.

She walks towards the bed, already glancing at the potted plants, flowers, and nursing instruments laying on the floors and tables at the end of the room. The bedside tables were completely full of elixirs, and broths she could smell was freshly made from where she stood. She could scent the mints and herbs that the entire infirmary reeked of in his room.

Then she glances to his body and immediately sucks in a breathe, almost sure she inhaled a bug.

He lay on his back completely naked save for a loin cloth, his skin is still as golden as ever and looks smooth to the touch. He is spread out like an eagle, arms and legs on top of the blankets, Cleo was assuming this was for the nurses to properly bathe him since he couldn't do it himself, unlike Thane. That means they must have seen him naked, the thought didn't sit well with her.

There is a bandage wrapped around his head just beneath his hairline , making it look like a mushroom with his curls plopping right onto the bandage. His eyes are closed, unmoving. His cheekbones are still as prominent as ever, but his lips looks more pale than usual. His lashes, beneath the bright sun shining through, looks like cobwebs on his cheekbones. The shadows long as it stretches across the expanse of his cheeks.

He still looks handsome even half-dead. But it pains her to see him laying so quiet like this. It wasn't anything she would imagined, but if she did it wasn't supposed to be like this. Not him.

She makes her to his face laying snugly in his cushions. She brushes his curls away just to see them pop back onto his forehead like a spring. His curls are still so soft from what she remembered, slipping out through her fingers like sand. The strands are so silky and bouncy nothing could ever tame it.

She bends down and plops a soft kiss on his cheek. Her warm lips met his cold cheek. It is foreign that he was cold. She frowns. He didn't have any sheets covering him, but still when she looks closer, there were sheets of sweat on his skin. He didn't even look like he was getting cold. Hell he didn't even have goosebumps on his skin.

She runs her one finger over his palm, feeling the hard callouses but his skin like she expected was warm. His hand remained unmoving beside him.

She glances once more to his heavily roped muscled arms and legs wishing she could just lay her body on his and wake him. Her craving to do that is hard. But she however restrains herself thinking how inappropriate it would be to touch him in just his tight loin cloth without his permission. Even though Cleo was convinced that he would of welcomed it with open arms.

She gives him one last glance, this one at his slowly rising chest, before making her way to his door closing it quietly behind her.

She finally reaches her chamber with a huge sigh of relief and also a dramatic collapse on her door. She folds her long wavy hair from her trio braids she  had before over her ears as she takes in her own pathetic room compared to Kaleb's.

There are still many cracked and broken tiles, and she didn't have a balcony door now, and when she glances through the wide open gap where her doors should be, she could see that her balustrade was damaged too, the jewels encrusted in them broken with the glass. The gems were as hard as diamonds, nothing could of broken that. This meant that the demon swiveled in with a force possible to break diamonds.

She clenches her teeth. Perhaps it was a death sentence by going to the Demon Tower. Landon may be correct. But she would still have to try.

Her bed was made neatly with her lunch tray on it wailing her name. Damn, this would be her first real meal in a long time. She can scent a beef stew coming from it, and oh! Was that garlic she could scent too? Her stomach rumbles loud enough to wake Kaleb from his coma, but Cleo took it as a cue to take a bath before filling herself with the delicious food and then sleep before anymore shit happens. It seemed as if this all nonsense happened when she was awake.

Quickly glancing to her intact inglenook with the low table and settee just before it where she and Kaleb had their first rather embarrassing conversation there— still not believing her stupid self threw herself at him like that; did she weep in her mind that it was at least in working order. A fire is always good to heal her.

She shakes away her thoughts and glances to the wall on which Kaleb fell onto and nearly killed himself with a worry in her features. There was a dent in it. She could feel herself starting to grind and crush her teeth, already tasting blood. It was reasons like this that filled her with ire making her so desperately needing to destroy the source of conflict in her Court.

She forces herself into her bathroom. She then groans because she forgot the maids name, and how could she call them out? Maid? Servant? Little girl? Fabulous lamb?

Cleo then  runs her own bath filling it with the last of the salts and oils and bath soaps before taking her deep soak in it.

She washes her hair too and then wraps the long mass in a towel when she got out. She stays in her short gown baring her thighs but no one would enter her chambers at this point. Not with all this happening, it would be for their safety to not enter in case something dangerous happened again. Because she is the only person that could keep it at bay.

So there was something good out of this at least. She could be left the hell alone.

She makes her way back into her room and lurches herself hard onto her bed. She groans and swims in her now silk sheets, loving the cool and smooth texture of it against her. She is careful of not hitting her tray and when she finally removes the lid, she lowers her head to first take in a deep heated smell of it with a pleasurable eye roll and then looking at it like her next favourite toy— it was a beef stew like she smelled, garlic bread and a few green salads on the side. It was an eerie combination of foods but she was too hungry to care. She places her orange juice on her bedside table before sitting with her back to the headboard and stretching her legs out before her with the plate on her lap.

The heat sizzles her skin slightly but it soon became a nice heat source on her thighs. The demon slash was very healed and her thighs has halted their protesting for now. The deep scar in her neck is quite raw and sore to the touch, but she gently smeared the ointment onto her destroyed skin, given to her from Gwen to aid the burning-stinging sensation it gave off. Gwen said that it had to be kept open to dry out, because the moistness would keep it from healing correctly.

So she did just that, but she is a little dissatisfied that her sleep position would be disrupted that she couldn't sleep the way she wanted to, as to not touch her neck to any parts of her bed.

She takes a huge forkful of food into her mouth and immediately stuffing a piece of garlic bread in with it mixing the two completely different foods into her mouth to create a mix she loved now but would soon regret later. It was fair to say she ravished down her entire meal like a starved animal.

Time passed and she significantly finds herself laying back in her bed in the same position as Kaleb — body parts spread apart like an eagle, but in this case her legs were apart too.

Sleep is taking a little longer to come this time, it was about just after midday; far from tonight's sleep. Cleo would have difficulty to sleep again tonight if she fell asleep now. This is how her sleep would get disrupted for the tenth time in just a few months. She can't even begin to think about the various reasons she slept during the day just to be awake lonely as hell at night. It didn't even bring her any good.

She sighs and blows a strand of wet hair from her overly long bangs out of her face. Her cushions were wet too, the coolness of it against her cheek felt both satisfying and also bothersome at the same time. It feels like stepping into dog piss in socks at first, but then she remembered it was just water and the drenched coolness made it feel more chill and relaxing than anything else she could comprehend.

Her boredom was evident in her toes wiggling about and her hands at the top of her head laying on her wet pillow, messing and tossing around over and over. She even traced a few pictures she formed in her mind onto her hair with her fingertips. And then also more pictures from her toes. One of them was Kaleb in a crown and another of Lady Delilah suffocating in a tank filled with Cleo's leftover food.

She smiled specifically at that one. She then ran her hand down her body past her chest to between her thighs, but then brought it back up again just as quickly. She wasn't in the mood for that.

Cleo turns to her left side, her neck on the other side  and untouched, before bringing herself into a fetal position. This part of her pillow was dry and  she is a little disappointed that it would get soaked too but whatever.

She feels herself drifting off to sleep. Her dreams filled with Mira and her new bone.