Luke wasn't sure how to react. His first instinct was to shout accusations at the man, but then he remembered where he was and how dangerous that would be. Besides, he could be wrong. It was completely possible for people to have similar sounding voices, plus what were the odds that the Emperor's servant was the same assassin? Luke opted to remain silent until he was sure.
Devlin Cortez had a bony figure with prominent cheekbones and a pointed chin. His glance was casual, neither friendly nor frightening and while Luke examined the fellow, he took notice. The man's eyes immediately zoomed in on the cut on the human's lip and a shadow of a smile graced his face.
Nicholas then stepped between them, shielding Luke from his sight. Cortez didn't react and just turned to lead them to the carriage. It was a luxurious looking black box with gold inlay and red velvet seats . The servant held the door open and Luke hesitated until the Archduke came up and encouraged him to proceed.
As they waited inside, Luke went over all the information he had gathered on the capitol. The territory was named Pinella, and it was one of the first established territories of the Empire. As for the Emperor, no one really knew his exact age but many believed he was one of the oldest Vampires alive.
Pinella was basically a medieval city which supposedly reflected the dark ages from which the Emperor may have been born. There wasn't much technology permitted here as it had been mandated that such things weren't welcomed.
Outside, many of the locals looked downtrodden and even sickly, with sunken eyes and pale skin. Luke had read that there was a strict tax on blood that the Emperor started enforcing a few decades ago as punishment for an attempted uprising. By raising taxes, he successfully starved out the lower class citizens who were the main influence of the whole thing.
Unfortunately, that just meant that Luke was more likely to run into a blood starved Vampire if he tried wandering around by himself. He was now grateful that Maximilia was allowed to guard him, even if she had to ride separately with the rest of the squadron.
"Make sure to stick close." Nicholas ordered. "I don't like the looks of this."
"Why?"
"Because I never notified anyone that I'd be bringing a companion along." He answered. "Yet that servant didn't seemed surprised."
"You're right, it is fishy." Luke agreed. "Because he knew my last name."
"I was wondering about that. Last time it was Shaw."
"Add that to the pile of lies my Master told..."
From what the human saw, there was no direct connection to the Emperor in Frederick's papers. There was just the trail of 'products' as they were moved. Most of them were sourced in the capitol and all the contacts were listed under alias names. If it weren't for that human woman's account, Luke may have even been foolish enough to believe the Emperor was unaware of the evil deeds going on under his nose.
Then again, the man was pretty evil without the Cartel. So maybe not.
"That's not all." Luke continued. "I think I recognized his voice as the man who threatened me and Frederick."
"The assassin that killed your Master?"
Luke nodded, and the Archduke let out a long, heavy sigh. "Of course he is."
"You're not surprised?"
"Not in the least. I've had enough attempts on my life to familiarize myself with this pattern. Sometimes the assassins are newly appointed staff, sometimes it's old friends. Either way, my enemies seem to find it funny to put them right under my nose." The Vampire rubbed his temple. "I'm regretting bringing you hear."
"But I'm already here."
"Hmm." Nicholas grunted, then turned away. "This is more dangerous than I had anticipated. I think it'd be better if you stay by my side at all times."
That wasn't good. Luke needed to be alone at least once in order to put his plan into motion. How was he going to work around this?
"Okay." He agreed, so as not to sound suspicious while he desperately tried to think of a good excuse to step away later.
Shortly, they passed through the castle gate and into an expansive courtyard where they were greeted by a handful of the Emperor's own guards. They were dressed in dark metal armor with their faces covered by helmets adorned with spikes. Luke waited for Nicholas to get out first, then followed close behind while covering his mouth to hide his cut.
"This way." Cortez suddenly flit in front of them, and they followed the servant into the castle. The walls in the entrance hall were decorated with portraits of a gorgeous man with long, curly brown hair that flowed over his shoulders. Each one had him standing proudly in some flashy suit of armor, a few even had him riding horses and hunting foxes.
Luke couldn't help but admire the artwork when he bumped into the back of Nicolas as the Vampire caught him staring. The Archduke's eyes flicked to the portraits, then he placed an arm around the human's shoulders, drawing his attention away from them.
Eventually they entered a large room with black marble pillars that stretched four stories high. There were dark red flags hanging along the walls and at the head of the room was a set of stairs leading to a large golden throne. On it sat the same man from the hall paintings.
His chiseled chin and laughing eyes gave off a disarming aura as he sat comfortably in the throne. The Vampire was wearing a black and gold jacket that hung down to his knees, with a typical king's cape draped over one shoulder and a golden crown nestled perfectly on his head.
"Your Majesty, Archduke Nicholas Abbot and Sir Luke Bates have arrived." Cortez bowed low, then went to stand at the foot of the stairs with is arms folded behind his back.
"If it isn't my favorite noble." The Emperor spoke in deep, husky voice that rumbled in his chest. "...And his pet."
Luke wanted to slip behind the Archduke to avoid that unsettling gaze, but forced himself to remain beside Nicholas. The Vampire then bowed and, remembering himself, the human did the same.
After all the stories he'd been told about the Emperor, this certainly wasn't the image he had developed. He expected a tall, intimidating figure with an ever-present scowl and an evil glint in his eyes.
This guy just looked like a himbo.
"Your Highness." Nicholas greeted the Emperor with an unusually bright smile, and it took Luke a moment to realize it was exaggerated.
"I heard you've been causing trouble again." The Emperor stated a little too brightly. "You really do enjoy testing your limits."
"I recall that you were the one who claimed there was no point in being a noble if you can't flaunt it."
"True, but the problem is you flaunted it over another noble, which I unfortunately have to deal with." The brunette stood and descended the steps. "Luckily none of the men you killed were more than commoners, but none the less, Lindstrom insists that you've overstepped your boundaries."
"As have many of the other Archdukes by sending their men to attack me, but you've never interfered in those cases." Nicholas retorted.
The Emperor laughed. "Well it's not like you had trouble dealing with them. If you got along better with your peers then maybe they'd stop trying to kill you? Besides, I can only interfere if they make the attempt themselves."
Luke made a face as he went over that logic. Why was it okay to hire assassins, but not okay to try and kill someone yourself? That made no sense!
The Emperor stopped just in front of Nicholas and grinned. "Luckily for you, the people began protesting against your punishment. You wouldn't believe how many thought that signing a petition of leniency would help. Though I do see that there would be trouble for the other Archdukes if I ignored it. I may be able to control my people, but you lot seem to struggle on that front."
Nicholas remained silent, but Luke could tell he was seething inwardly.
"So, how about this? We'll put it to a vote. Democratic style, like you and Greer always suggested. We'll have the people decide whether or not you should be punished. If more people are against it than are for it, then you'll be off the hook...For now."
"And if the people decide I should be punished?"
The Emperor shrugged. "It'd be ludicrous to kill you. We're family after all. Distantly, but family none the less. So nothing less than treason will justify your death." He then noticed the human shuffling his feet. Quickly, the Archduke stepped in the way, once again shielding Luke from unwanted attention, but it was too late as the Emperor suddenly flit behind them and grabbed the human's arm.
"Let him go!" Nicholas demanded, dropping all pretenses as he glared daggers at the man.
This just intrigued the Emperor more as his grip tightened and a wicked smile graced his lips. "You seem unusually fond of this pet. How about for your punishment, I take him away?"
"What?!" Luke yelped.
"Yes, I think that would be a good punishment. That's what a good parent does, right? Take away their children's toys when they act up?"
Nicholas grit his teeth. "And if I don't agree to that punishment?"
"That doesn't matter." The Vampire declared, tightening his grip and bruising Luke's wrist.
"I won't let you take him!" Nicholas growled angrily, but then a clang of metal brought their attention to the King's guards as they entered the room with the entire brigade of knights in handcuffs.
"Oh you wont?" The Emperor smirked. "It's a pretty straight forward deal. One I shouldn't even be bothering with, I could easily just issue the punishment here and now. So make your choice Nicholas, either agree to let the people prove just how much they truly love you, or I take your partner here and now whether you like it or not."
Nicholas glared angrily at the man, but stood down. "Very well. I accept the terms, but until a decision is made, he stays with me!"
"Deal." The Emperor released the human, who stumbled backwards into Nicholas's arms. "We'll let the petition run for a week. I'll have each territory provide their own list of signatures and order the count be done by Friday. We'll announce the results Monday."
Luke didn't have a good feeling about this as he rubbed his sore wrist. Surely the Emperor knew how much the people loved Nicholas, so what kind of game was he playing at?
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