Masquerade of Madness: His Peril

Furious, Monett scanned what remained of the house, expecting to see dead bodies, but she only saw dead red eyes. She screamed in a fury and left. A couple of Nards watched the house with their future queen, Mininna.

"Study and observe, then report back to me when you have something useful," she told her soldiers. The Nards growled, showing their understanding of her orders. Mininna disappeared; confident her new plan would not fail.

Monett reported back to the only remaining council member a fake, the remake of Siphon. But he did not know any better. His mind was completely erased. So that meant that when their old plans are complete, she will be the new queen of Casalynn and she would rip Creed from the surface of the earth. Her only loose end was Vincent and now that he has the Orb of Casalynn, also known as the Orb of Darkness. He will be an even bigger threat to her.

The King of Casalynn was recovering nicely. His daughter, Princess Loyal van Laurence, busied herself studying next to her father's bedside. She sighed as the old man coughed. She was not like the other girls or women in Casalynn. She was raised to be strong. She had short blonde boy-cut hair and always wore her armor like the boys did. She studied advanced knightology and, of course, the duty of royalty. Fredal gently opened his eyes. "Well, if it isn't my darling boy."

"Dad," she growled.

"My bad, darling daughter."

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better. I hope Vincent's all right. I think I am going to promote him to a grand knight."

Vaan laid in the hospital bed in the same room, listening to the king and princess.

She noticed the movement behind the curtain. "Dad, why don't you have a room to yourself?"

"It's only poison, darling. They wanted to put me in a room to myself, but I refused. Those rooms are for the sick and injured. They should come before I do. It is the duty of a king."

"I know, Dad, a king, has to put a Casalyian before his health." Vincent leaned against the doorway. King Fredal immediately jumped out of bed. Vincent looked around the room in distaste. The walls were plain white, along with the curtains, window shades, and even the bed sheets.

"You should have picked a better room," Vincent teased. The king glared and then laughed. "You are quite right."

Vaan spoke up, "How's the lad?"

Vincent shrugged his shoulders and coldly replied, "I do not know." "That's too bad. That lad's going to do something great. Just tell him I said that."

"Father, you must calm down," the princess interjected and moved the king back to his bed.

"Yes, darling."

Vincent moved into the room and bowed before the bed. "I wish to go to the humans and check on my brother, maybe stay there a few days and search for my missing wife, too."

"Granted," the king proclaimed.

Vincent moved to walk out, but the princess dropped her book to run after him. "Wait!"

While his back was to her, she announced, "I want you to marry me if your wife does not turn up."

Vincent smiled, trying his hardest not to laugh. "Princess, someone else would better suit your taste."

"No, they would not. Face me, Vincent Angelus."

"I will turn around, but only because you are the princess."

She looked around the brightly lit hospital hallway. The bright yellow hurt her eyes. "You are the only one for me," she murmured.

Vincent walked up to her and grabbed up her chin. Those who saw it held their breath. This action was considered intensely intimate. "What did you say?"

"I said you are the only one for me. I know you will treat everyone fairly."

"You are wrong." He kissed her lips. "I highly doubt that you want me, now that I kissed you and I am married."

"Your wife, she is missing, correct? It has been almost a year. So . . . if you would. . ." she turned her head, "become my king . . ."

Vincent withdrew his head. "I cannot. I am still in love with her." He walked away.

The nurses went back to their work while the others still stared.

The princess looked at them. "What are you staring at?"

Vincent walked down one of the many metal paths to his domain, as memories of life with Mininna flooded his mind, his most favorite being the day they pushed Creed into birthing classes and planned for a newborn.

He stared at his domain for a little while and then took a long walk, avoiding the portal to the warrior's edge. That was the edge of Casalynn. Not many of these were left due to over-expansion. Vincent bent down to the edge and whispered, "Mininna, I am coming for you. I am looking for you." He stood up, spread open his wings, and dived down.

Mininna sneezed. The King of the Nards growled. "Someone is talking about you."

"I hope not," Mininna said darkly. "Now let's talk about our plans and find out where this information came from."

Mininna called for a particular Nard to come into the gathering cavern. "So you were the one that brought the information. Where did you learn it?"

It growled and groaned. "From a homeless person you ate?" she repeated to it. She looked down at the table. "All right, here is the plan– We grab him in daylight. I will cover up all the necessary tracks. I want this Casalyian. We will use him to inform the Casalynians that we have one of their own. When he is no longer useful, we will kill him.

The King of the Nards howled in approval.

Vincent landed on the ground at the edge of town. Vincent was familiar with the gravity force. He tucked in his wings ignoring the tinges of his body adjusting. He began to look for any signs of Creed's energy.

Louie threw his bottle at him as he staggered his drunken body toward him. "Another freak! Now listen here, I don't approve of these shenanigans. You don't belong here, demon! Baxter died last night. He believed you all were angels, not me. I recognize your kind for the demons you are."

Vincent studied the drunken old man, but not for long. He had more pressing matters on his mind.

Baxter gave Louie a wallop upside his head with his hat. "What's the matter with you? I'm not dead!"

Vincent tried to ignore both of them and their argument. He looked around, smelling the air, but all he could smell was human and Nard flesh. Vincent walked toward town, passed the homeless district, and into the bazaar. He closed his eyes, searching for Creed's energy, trying to determine which direction he should go. Then he felt it – Creed and a spark of Mininna.

Vincent ran toward Mininna's energy, only to have it trail off without finding her. He sighed deeply, the sadness of not seeing her felt unbearable. His eyes went downcast, overcome with grief. He had hopes of finding her alive since he had learned of the council's plot against her. At least, the energy he felt briefly must mean she is still alive.

Mininna watched the newly appeared Casalyian as she stood alone on the rooftop of a nearby building. Seeing him filled her chest with something, if only for a moment. The feeling disgusted her. Was it affection and if so, why, she wondered. That thought was lost as she grinned devilishly. "We will take care of you later, you can be sure of that!" she spoke out loud, very confident of any outcome.