Bredret's Return

Later that night...

BANG!

The temple door swung open with a kick from Bredret's foot. Walking inside he saw everyone gathered together after a long day. He was not sure what had happened while he was gone but the exhaustion on their faces was obvious for him to notice. It was not his place to care about such things so he ignored it.

Thud!

Without asking anything Bredret tossed the man he was carrying over his shoulder onto the floor of the temple in front of everyone. He did not utter a word as he watched the man grunt from the rough landing.

"Bredret-" Daryl started to speak first as he seemed worried. "You didn't just kidnap the merchant did you? I mean he actually agreed to come right?"

"He was too slow and mountain is crawling with those werewolf knights." Bredret sounded proud about something as he spoke.

"Ah." Daryl gave up on talking.

"Rude.." Damien muttered as he sat up on the floor and caught everyone looking at him.

"Your Highness.." Damien gave a bow when he saw Prince Leo. He was someone who could easily recognize royal family members. With his line of work it was important for him to survive and he could only manage that if he kept a close watch over royal affairs. "I wondered who would want such help from me."

"Who said I was the one you were helping?" Prince Leo put on a puzzled expression.

"Pardon?" Damien was confused. Instantly freezing as the wolf beside Leo suddenly changed shape before his eyes. A tall man with black hair and red eyes gazing at him.

"You will be making the deal with me." Vorbuk stated as he observed Damien carefully. His gaze was like a predator giving the man shivers down his spine.

"Ah, I see." Damien felt uncomfortable. "Who are we putting the servants mark on?"

"Ancient vampire." Vorbuk spoke honestly.

"Right, Anc-Wait-What?!" Damien felt sweat dripping down his forehead as he tried to think of a response. These people want to catch and mark a vampire? Even among slaves vampires were rare because of how dangerous they were. If a vampire became a criminal they were more commonly put to death. A young vampire is enough to be considered ancient because of how slowly they aged if they were a child of pure blood. This was not something someone casually considered taming like an animal.

"For now we will need you to rest here. If you came this far it means you already accepted the deal prior to your arrival." Vorbuk spoke further while the man was unable to say a word from start to finish.

Damien felt like he had been wronged somehow. These people were crazy from head to toe! Why was he bribed so easily by the money before he listened to the job more clearly? Fool! He cursed himself for being a fool at the time.

"I am a man of my word." Damien stroked his eye patch as he spoke. As if he was thinking of something long in his past. Though he did not like to dwell on things.

A silence filled the room as Vorbuk slowly stepped closer to the man. Lowering his voice he whispered to Damien. "I would like to hire you permanently as one of my men. I want your loyalty."

Vorbuk was not interested in a simple one time use with this man's talent. If he was to build up strength to hold on to a throne it was a matter of connections. He wanted to make use of Damien to get his hand into the underworld of the kingdom.

This was a deal that would be beneficial for Damien as well on a drastic scale. Since he worked in the dark as a pirate the deal was equal to him being overlooked whenever he crossed he kingdom's borders. He could not abuse this fact but it was still a huge safety net for him.

"You want to hire me?" Damien felt curious.

"Think about it," Vorbuk smiled charmingly. Enticing Damien to listen intently to every word he spoke to him. He was like a devil as he tried to charm Damien in with his every word. "The future king of Theapan hiring you to work in the palace? I want your connections and loyalty."

".. Palace.." Damien flinched at the thought of working inside the palace. It was a mixture of excitement and terror. There was something about the palace that could make ones emotions feel conflicted.

"A palace aid," Vorbuk lamented in his ear. "you'd no longer need to survive by working on the street. You'll only need to help me with things in the dark when I need you to."

Working in the tent to sell slaves was a tiresome job. There was nothing about the job that did not cause stress and exhaustion on a daily basis. It was not just dealing with the people that came to look at them not was it simply caused by taking care of the slaves. There was more to that job then that and boundless amounts of paperwork. Anyone who worked that job would dream of leaving it behind for something better.

Vorbuk did not want him to forget his talent. He simply wanted to give Damien a chance to leave behind that tiresome job. To work for Vorbuk inside the palace whenever he would need to call upon him. Damien pondered that thought as he grit his teeth.

It was a gamble for him. There was no way to know what Vorbuk would want from him in the future if things worked out. What kind of things would a future king be considering that he would invest in someone like Damien? He sighed.

"Alright, alright!" Damien repeated as he pushed Vorbuk away from him. "I got it. If things come to that point I will agree with you. It would be nice to get out of the position I am in right now."

"You are a man of your word. You cannot forget that." Vorbuk smirked as he added another connection to his list. He would soon need to cash in on these connections. The time was coming soon. First he only had to deal with the Theapan King.

"If you do not mind I would like to go rest til you need me." Damien said as he bowed to them.

As Damien left the room he felt the prince grab his shoulder. Pausing where he stood he could see the hesitation in the prince's eyes.

"Have you heard anything about Cadirade?" Prince Leo knew someone like Damien was bound to know recent news on the kingdoms. If it was someone like Damien he had probably heard something about Leo's family.

"My Condolences your highness." Damien said as he thought of something.

"What?" Prince Leo asked. It felt like his chest suddenly got tighter.

"Your Highness," Damien faltered as he spoke. He realized that Leo was probably far behind on what had happened back home while he was away. The prince wasn't even in his home kingdom and had missed so much while he was away. "We should probably talk."