Maddox laughed as he picked himself up off of the floor. "No no no, Azurine isn't going anywhere are you my dear?" he said as he reached his right arm out towards her with a faint green glow coming from his fingertips. Azurine stopped at the doorway and turned towards him. She fought every muscle in her body but yet her body obeyed and walked back towards Maddox. "Tell your pet to retire to your room. I have unfinished business with you girl" he ordered as he snickered at the Bakeneko. "And don't think you can reach your Master so easily cat. I've made sure of that" he said as he took Azurine by the shoulder and led her over to his left side. She turned to watch Milo leave with one tear dropping from her right eye as she spoke, "Milo, wait for me in my chambers. I will be there in a moment"<br/><br/>Maddox slammed her up against the wall. She gulped down the lump in her throat as her body shook with his grip still at her throat, squeezing just enough to let her know he could crush her windpipe at any moment. "Now that we're alone again my dear, what was it I told you to do? Hmm?" he asked as he pressed his cheek against hers, his hot breath falling on her bare shoulders.<br/><br/>"You want me to kill all of the hero's Master" she replied softly, trying to shift her weight to a more comfortable position if that was even possible. "But you haven't told me why?"<br/><br/>"You don't need to know why. You just need to do as your told" he said as he fingertips trailed down her arms slowly, caressing her skin. "You've already called your father home, yes?" he asked as he drew her in closer.<br/><br/>"Y-yes I have called him home" she stuttered, trying to push away from his grasp.<br/><br/>"Mirielle is an easy target and saved for last. I want you to find the winter fae known as Lunelra. I know she's close. I can sense her nearby.  Befriend her, see with whom she resides with since she hasn't been rounded up with the other vermin in the lower cities" he ordered, then kissed her shoulder.<br/><br/>"Your affections are not wanted" she angrily whispered, wiping the kiss from her shoulder.<br/><br/>At that moment, Maddox backhanded her so hard she fell to the floor and bloodied her lip, a cut from one of his rings. She tasted her blood as she wiped it from the corner of her mouth and looked up at him, tears in her eyes.<br/><br/>"You risk my displeasure child. I will do with you as I please! Do you understand!" he demanded.<br/><br/>She picked herself up off the floor and bowed in obedience. "Do I have permission to leave Master?" she asked without even raising her head.<br/><br/>"Get out" he growled as he pointed for the door.<br/><br/>Azurine scurried out of the room and closed the double doors behind her. She took in a deep breath and choked back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. There was no time for tears. No time to be a child. Her fingertips shot with electricity as she walked back to her chambers to check on Milo, wiping the corner of her bloodied mouth once more before she entered her room.<br/><br/>----------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/>Mage patrols doubled in the inner city looking for rogue Fae that had not self identified at the camp locations.  Doors were being kicked in and homes searched. Lucklily for Lunelra, Anthony's home was protected and could not be seen with the naked eye or even a mages eye depending on the mage. But it would make it near impossible for her to leave his compound without being caught in their snares.<br/><br/>"Did you know about these patrols my son?" Lunelra asked as she sat down on the couch in the citting room, looking out the back windows to the gardens outside. "I can't leave here without being spotted. Those are mages and not just any run of the mill mages, but high mages she's got out there." Lunelra paused for a moment and then looked over to Anthony, "Why haven't you stopped this? This is genocide!"<br/><br/>---------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/><br/>Oscar sat in his office, drinking a bottle of brandy trying to drown out the stupid gesture he made towards the Queen that ended up being undesired. What a fool he was to think she would have any feelings for a lowly Knight Commander when she had Maddox to woo over.  He slammed the bottle down on the table and walked over to the bookcase on the far wall. Books on the kingdom and the gods it worships, the lore both good and evil. He grabbed an old tattered manuscript that was titled the Old Gods and threw it down on the desk, opened it to page one, grabbed his bottle of brandy and started to read. He was going to find a loophole that would make the Queen see what a heartless bastard Maddox really was and what he would do to this kingdom if he continues his reign through her.