"Father."
"My son..." The King leaned back at his desk, now fully recovered but expecting this all afternoon. He placed the emptied whiskey glass down so he could swing his legs up to nonchalantly place them on the mahogany, crossed at the ankle. "Come to finish what you couldn't the other night?"
Kaanan locked the door meticulously- Confident no one saw or heard him enter.
Black wings materialized from his back and pooled at his feet as he accepted his true form. Now the King knew of it, so it didn't shock him quite as much as the first time. It still frightened him, though. Kaanan reveled in the putrid scent of his father's fear.
"Ele isn't around this time to save you."
"Mm, and what a shame. Her beauty is a feast for the eyes."
"That it is," Kaanan hated that even his father noted her elegance but couldn't argue it. Except her beauty didn't satiate his hunger... It fueled it. Even now, images of her flitted in his mind and drove him to take action. "She'll be even more so once I restore her wings. I thought you always kept your promises, father?"
"I would have retrieved them, eventually." Jyosith stated dismissively. The look of arrogance on his face would be wiped clean once Kaanan ended him. "Laying siege to a stronghold doesn't happen overnight. I want to kill every last one of those satyroids myself since they threatened my family too."
His lip curled back in disgust. "You made her a promise!"
"You really desired to restore her wings so soon before we unlocked her secrets? I thought I was doing you a favor by delaying it. Why so eager to free your caged pet?"
"She's more than just some prize now. It may have started as such and I may have been willing to allow your grimy claws to toy with her life, but not anymore. It ends today and any secrets you wish to discover can be damned."
"It's unfortunate you think that way, my son. But I'm glad you told me your intentions with the girl before killing me. At least I can be ensured, that even in death, I can keep our bloodline pure."
Had he not heard him? Kaanan growled at the games his father played in his last moments.
"She'll be my mate by morning, to hell with your precious lineage!"
Jyosith's mouth twisted into a smile as he confessed his departing gift to his son. "Not if the assassin I sent gets to her first."
Kaanan dismissed the hollow threats of his father as a distraction. There would be no more avoiding his fate by rambling on. He stalked across the expansive room and didn't hesitate as he pulled down his grandfather's longsword from the mantle above the fireplace. He deemed the weapon worthy of wielding and putting an end to his father. All of it so poetic.
He dragged it behind him, shaving a line in the wood as he approached the front of the desk. Jyosith stood; a trace desire to fight this inevitable outcome battled against an urge to flee. But he needed Kaanan to make the first move before deciding which direction to sprint in.
They stayed like that, and their calculating gazes noticed every bead of sweat and change of breath. It would be Kaanan that acted first. With blinding speed, he raised his foot to kick the back of the considerably large desk and it slid towards his father on the wood floors. It pinned him to the wall as Jyosith never contemplated him making that move.
"Clever boy!" Still he praised the wickedness of his son. He had taught him well. Blood spurted out of his mouth and he counted the moments until his demise. The desk had struck vital organs and pushed into them harshly, relieving none of the excruciating pressure.
Kaanan practically impaled him with his own furniture.
Blood filled his mouth and dribbled down his chin. He locked eyes with the unrecognizable killer in front of him. "The demons will enjoy your brutality."
Kaanan shook away the mumblings of his father that only sought to distract him.
"Enough talking! Enough games!"
The growl he produced reverberated even in his spacious office and shook the walls. Now Kaanan had to act fast since someone would be coming to investigate the noise.
He fanned out his wings, then slammed them down on the ground. It propelled him up and onto the desk as he wickedly gleamed down at the pathetic excuse for a King.
Kill. Kill him. He'd heard these voices many times before by now.
For once he acted on them and it pleased them so.
"Goodbye, father."
The sword raised behind him and he swung true, severing the head of the man trapped below. Awestruck that his son had carried out the act, a shocked expression remained frozen on the face that fell to the ground with a hefty thud.
The body, still trapped by the desk, slumped forward slightly and blood spew from the open wound for a few moments before it drained. All Kaanan could think about was how he'd have to change before facing Ele... The blood would terrify her. He wondered if the heartless thought made him a monster- Something he already knew the answer to.
When his mother's screams penetrated his ears, it only confirmed what he knew about his true nature. Still, it pained him to hear her so grief-stricken over a monster greater than any.
"Don't waste your tears." He dropped the sword at his feet. No sense in hiding the fact it was him. Everyone would soon come to know the truth, including his innocent faenix.
For good measure, he bent down to rip into his father's chest cavity and yank out his un-beating heart. Customarily, the heart of the previous King was saved for rituals to crown the next King, but he had voices in his head telling him to devour it. And that he did, right in front of his gaping mother, who trembled in the arms of his uncle.
Behind them...
With blood clouding his vision, he hadn't noticed her piercing stare until now. Half into feasting upon the heart of his father to absorb its power, he heard her gasp and it stilled him. The bloody entrails fell from his hands and he wiped away the blood on his face to no avail- Too much coated him that he'd need a proper wash.
He wished to erase this sight from her memory. Perhaps he could find a mage to do just that and simultaneously restore her wings once he fought for them back. Would it be much of a fight against the leader of the satyroids? Not much was known of the man, only that he sent his sons to do his bidding.
When his face darkened while thinking of the next coward he had to eradicate, Charles misinterpreted and went to shield Ele in case he attacked. He gripped her wrist and pulled the frail being behind him.
Kaanan jumped off the desk and absorbed his wings into his back so they no longer terrified Ele.
"Don't ever touch her again if you value your working hands." He knew hands to be of importance to healers, so he directed his threat towards something that would land properly.
Everyone else dematerialized as he tunnel visioned her pure form. It called for him.
Still, Charles foolishly challenged him to protect the girl. "Roman claimed her. You won't be able to change that!"
"Watch me." The Prince vowed.
Prince? No... King. He waltzed over to the mantle once more, this time to fetch the crown on display tucked in a blood-red velvet box. When he placed it on his head, he caught Ele in his peripheral who now came to him willingly.
"Love, don't be afraid of me. This is the last time my other side will surface. Today it served its purpose and now we're free to mate."
At the utterance of 'mate', he noticed how she shrunk back from dread. The last male to claim her almost killed her. Somehow, he had to convince her that he would be different. Until he discovered how to break her weak bond with his cousin, she would simply stay by his side at all times.
Charles worried about the faenix girl who pined for the wrong vampire. Now that his nephew was freed upon the world to unleash unthinkable terrors, would Roman be able to pick up the pieces and take the place of the Prince in her heart?
'Kaanan?' She signed his name meticulously, as a question.
"Yes, love?"
She hesitated before delivering the catastrophic blow.
'I'd like to go home.' Ele prayed the kindness he once swore to her still remained and he'd honor her request.
He pretended she meant it for other reasons. His lip twitched. "Of course, love. How else would we tell your mother?"
Then he walked away before she had the chance to ruin everything he worked for.
"Sepulchre needs to be enlightened of its new ruler. We'll throw a ball, one more magnificent than any before, and we will open it to all the creatures in the Kingdom, not just vampires and dhampirs. It's time we expand our borders and we'll need the help of the individual villages to do so. Ele, I trust you will convince the faenix council to attend?"
Unsure of how she'd even do so, she forced a nod to go along with his whims. It would serve her right to obey his every command. Even if they hovered on the line of insanity.
Wylda craved to rush to her decapitated husband, but she knew that'd be unwise.
Even more unwise was the guard who rushed into the room and announced, "Sire, I couldn't find the girl. She wasn't-"
When he spotted the Prince with his back turned and then noticed the body of his King, he realized all too late that he dug himself an early grave.
"What were you saying?" The shoulder blades of the Prince flexed.
An assassin had been sent. His father hadn't lied. Somehow his clever girl managed to break free from the bed he cuffed her to. He looked down at her wrist and fetched the key from his pocket to toss her way. Ele caught it and freed her hand that started to ache.
"I don't know who's more lucky. You or I." He mused to the guard who now trembled.
Kill. Kill. Kill.
Kaanan fell upon the unsuspecting guard who hadn't the time to flee. Not lucky enough but he made it a quick death seeing Ele stood, unharmed, in front of him. A quick snap of his neck did the trick. If bodies were going to drop like flies, he'd need a maid in here pronto.
Then he completed his thought to the man who could no longer listen. "You're lucky you didn't succeed, and I'm lucky to have caught you. See, Ele? I can be reasonable."
Oh gods, the once gentle boy she knew had gone insane.
"Mother, I need you on your best behavior when the council comes questioning me. They need to think the King had gone mad and the only way to stop him was for me to swiftly end him. So, what shall the lie be? You love to weave your tales, don't you?" While he left her thinking on that, he turned to address his uncle once more. "And you will see to it that Roman remains out of the castle. If I see him, I don't know what I'll do. After you warn him, come back here to protect Ele. I'll be all around the castle today and I need her watched by someone I trust."
Without another word, he left them to stare blankly at each other.
"What. The. Fuck." Charles spat. He looked at his brother's body and closed his eyes at the foul stench filling the air. Good gods, someone needed to get in here and clean it up. Although he and his brother never saw eye to eye, he felt pity for the widow he left behind and mourned for her.
"He needs to be stopped." Wylda's statement fell on agreeing ears.
None of them could muster a 'how'.
Unable to stay in the room a moment longer, Wylda left to seek a meeting with the vampire council and also informed a maid along the way that the office needed a deep-cleaning.
Charles brought Ele along with him to find his son and deliver the warning. Roman would be wise to comply but one look at his mate would send him spiraling. That's precisely why Charles dragged her along... So she could escape alongside his son before the new King caught on.