Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

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After weeks of trying and failing, then trying again, Snow finally managed to infiltrate the highest level of the capital of Aedrider. It took many long nights of scouting and days of lost sleep in order to finally make it there.

Things would have been much simpler if Lady Corva decided to simply make her way to the capital alone. They would have let her and her retainers into the palace at the highest level of the mountain city with no issue.

Despite how easy it would have been for her to do that, Snow understood why. There was currently no way for Lady Corva to visit the capital without being forced to pick a side in the succession. Currently, among Corva's siblings, they were split equally between the two sisters, Letheya and Ayalla. Corva could upset the balance, but that would put her in danger.

Honestly, the safest thing for her to do was remain impartial until one side started taking some sort of lead in the power struggle. However, she did not want to ignore her mother and she needed Snow to infiltrate the palace without her seal to grant entry, to monitor the fading queen's condition.

Snow understood this sentiment and was all too happy to help her Lady out in such a way after the amount of care she took of both Snow and her sister Yue. The only thing she wished she had was Yue to help keep away the darkness.

She had to make do with commercially available light crystals to keep away the darkness at night. Without them, who knew what could happen? Sometimes, it only whispered… but other times, it screamed and demanded her to do horrible things. There was no way to tell which night would be hard or which would be easy, so it was best to treat them all as potentially dangerous.

Sometimes though, Snow did wonder… What would happen if she gave into the voice that came out of the darkness…

Snow shook her head to clear it. There were only a few hours of twilight remaining, and then the sun would rise, and only then could she rest. Sometimes the darkness would trick her like that. It would hint at the what ifs. Instead of asking or demanding… it would sometimes attempt to persuade her like just now.

"I will not have it…" She started to mutter before her thoughts were interrupted by an interesting prospect.

Inside the palace grounds was a woman dressed in beautiful thin and nearly see-through silks. The strangest thing about her and her entourage, though, was that they were all human. Someone granted access to the palace to humans! This was something that never happened unless the humans were extremely important.

Snow quickly got as close as she could without arousing suspicion. Based on their clothes and general appearance, she guessed they might have been from the Wisteria Concord, a kingdom that bordered Alorek and was known for its information-gathering and counter-spy techniques.

"Lady Voltara, might it be best that we return to our quarters?" One of the woman's guards asked out of concern.

Snow understood the man's predicament. It was quite often that her Lady would be doing something that caused her or her sister a headache. It was never out of conscious malice; rather, the woman was just stubborn and strange for a noble.

"I think I will stay in the gardens for a short while. After all, I've been waiting for a guest…" The woman referred to as Lady Voltara said. She then turned her head and looked directly at Snow, who was nearly completely hidden in the shadows. "Ah, there you are, my sweet. Welcome at last."

She felt her heart shudder for a moment as she locked eyes with the woman named Voltara al Famyn. Snow remained still in the case that the woman was referring to another person that she could not see.

"Come on, you, the pale elf thinking she's hidden in the shadows. Come on. You serve Corva, yes? Come on then." The human patted the empty space on the bench next to her.

She carefully stepped out into plain view. Snow grasped the hilt of her weapon at her side in the event the guards made any moves. However, none of the guards made a move to act as though they were on edge or watchful. It was as if they did not view her as a threat to their charge.

"What do you want, Lady Voltara al Famyn?" She asked.

"Oh! You know me then. Good, that will make this easier." The woman said while clapping her hands together. "I want to ally myself with Princess Letheya din Aedrider, and I think that your master would be making a good decision to join as well."

"Lady Corva is not my master." Snow growled.

"Ah, yes, you have that thing… right. Well then your employer then, if that makes you feel better." Voltara waved her hand dismissively, irritating her greatly. "Anyway. I think I can get your employer into the palace district to see her mother without needing to publicly make a note of her loyalty."

"What is the catch? There is always one."

"Good, you aren't stupid." Voltara nodded. "She won't have to publicly announce her alliance, but she will need to side with Letheya in reality. That is my condition. Take note when you inform Lady Corva that her mother is not long for this world. Her… Long Sleep, as you call it, is due to start any day."

"I will inform her."

"Ah, that's not all, I have one more condition."

"What?"

"On their way here are more allies for Letheya. One of them is quite volatile. Lady Corva will recognize him. When they inevitably meet, help keep them from fighting, would you?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Snow could not imagine Corva being driven to violence by the mere presence of someone, but Voltara sounded very sincere. "Deal."

Voltara nodded and stood up to leave. Snow caught a whiff of exotic spices and smells unfamiliar to her nation. For a moment, she felt enraptured by the scent. At that same moment, a small gust of wind teased at Lady Voltara's silk clothes, exposing small bits of her flawless skin.

Though she was not Snow's type, something about the sight still moved her in some way. She had heard rumor of the wiles of the leader of the Wisteria Concord. That among humans, she was one of the most alluring of women. Lady Voltara al Famyn, from the nation of spies, was no stranger to using her natural charms on anyone, including people like Snow.

However, her mind was stronger than that, and she quickly cleared her head of the thoughts invading it. Voltara chuckled at her. "Good, you are able to resist the aphrodisiacs. If you weren't, I would have disposed of you as a typical tool, but you are much better than that. Lady Corva is lucky.

Though, if you and your sister, as you call her, decide to change residence, then I think I can make a place for you."

"I'll pass. I have no desire to serve a human flirt."

"A pity."