Page 14 of The Time Of Queens (An Afterlife Story #2)

14

THE POWER OF A NAME

DRAVEN

T he moment she said my second’s name, I had to suppress a growl as I narrowed my gaze at the man in question. However, the surprised look on his face was sincere enough that I recognised the truth instantly. As after a few thousand years being my second in command, then I was confident that I knew my friend well enough. Meaning what I saw now told me without any doubt…

Lucius didn’t know her.

Which was why my accusing gaze shifted quickly to another. There was only one guilty face in the room, and that belonged to the enigma that was Pip’s beautiful lady’s maid. And speaking of the Imp, I noticed how quick she was to come to her rescue.

“Yes, my dear, this is my friend I spoke of, is he not exactly as I described him to be?” Pip said, stepping up to the Vampire and tucking her arm in his before patting it affectionately.

His calm and collective countenance slipped as he looked down at his little friend, someone he had grown close to when aiding her in finding her husband, Adam.

In fact, if I had to put a title to the relationship, I would have labelled such as being brotherly affection, as he seemed quite fond of the Imp.

“Erm, yes, indeed, just as you described,” Keira said, looking flustered before getting to her feet now that we had company.

“Well now I feel at a loss, for you know who I am, yet I am still waiting to discover your name, Miss?” Lucius said, stepping forward.

I couldn’t help but scowl when she too stepped closer to receive him.

“Ah but of course, allow me to introduce you to my new lady’s maid, Miss Keira Williams… Keira dear, this is Mr Lucius Septimus.”

Keira curtsied and Lucius being forever the gentleman, unless blood was being shed, took her uninjured hand in his and kissed the back of it. Meanwhile, a purely irrational emotion was brewing deep inside of me, and it was one I hadn’t experienced before…

It was jealousy.

“The pleasure is all mine, Miss Williams,” Lucius said.

Just seeing another man’s hands on her, and I couldn’t stop myself reacting as I stepped up behind her, taking her by the tops of her arms and pulling her back a step, whilst stating firmly,

“Yes, yes, enough of that, don’t crowd her, for she has just suffered an ordeal at the hands of…”

“The cook. Yes, I saw her being taken away and making quite a fuss of it, I might add. Had I known why or what the lady had suffered at her hands, then I would have aided in her removal… although, I would also say that from the looks of the cook’s face, someone already executed punishment,” Lucius said, nodding down to her bandaged hand and making Keira blush.

“Oh, Keira, is that what she did to you? Why that Fussock!” Pip said, rushing over and taking Keira’s hand in her own. And in all honesty, she looked as if she had no idea what a Fussock was.

“Well, no actually. I…erm…” She started to explain, pausing when words obviously failed her as she was looking more embarrassed by the second.

“She injured herself when punching the cretin’s face,” I stated firmly, making them all look down at her in shock.

Although Lucius’s smirk irked me more, as he now looked intrigued. I found I didn’t like the way his eyes lingered on her, nor how intently such a gaze was.

“You did all that damage?” he asked, making her blush and, again, I found myself reacting by pulling her back another step. Not an action my second missed, for his eyes narrowed slightly before recognition flashed in his questioning gaze. His ice blue eyes looked to me with surprise, making me shake my head to him, silently telling him not now.

“Well, it was clear she deserved it, come on, Miss Williams, let’s get you some air, as I am sure you’re in need of it,” my sister said, now taking Keira by the arm and purposely from my side.

She most likely assumed I would want to speak with Lucius in private. If only she knew the truth and how I was starting to loathe being apart from her. But my sister was right about one thing, because I did indeed need to speak with my second, and it was not for the mortal’s ears.

So, I was forced to let her be taken from me, noting how the two women fussed over her, making me question who was the lady’s maid in this picture? For I did not believe I had ever seen my sister conversing with the hired help in such a way before. Not that she was a tyrant, but she wasn’t exactly openly warm towards them either. A fair mistress to be sure, but not one to be classed as eager in making friends with her maids, as Pip obviously was.

“Have you ever seen her before?” I asked Lucius without taking my eyes from the door she just left through, as if willing for her to come back. I also knew that Lucius was looking at me questionably, but I chose to ignore it.

“No, but you know Pip, she is always taking in strays,” he replied, making me grit my teeth at my forced tone of indifference.

“Although with the sight of that cook’s face, then I would say this one is more suited to my friend than most,” he added, giving me cause to sound more like him in my response, as I said,

“Indeed.” Then I walked from the room, with no explanation needed as I knew Lucius would follow.

I continued on until I got all the way to my office, wishing for a certain delicious little mortal to be hiding under my desk once more. Alas no, not this time, and most likely for good reason as I had important matters to speak with Lucius about, which was why as soon as the door was closed behind us, I told him,

“I have found my Electus.”

“Yes, so I can see, and I must say, the Gods have blessed you indeed, for she is beautiful, my friend.”

I actually jerked back a step, as it took my mind confused moments to understand what he meant.

“You speak of the maid?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes of course… wait, you mean to say it is not her?” he asked, frowning.

“No, it is…” I couldn’t seem to finish that sentence, as I didn’t know why, but it felt like a betrayal on my part.

“Dominic?” The sound of my name made me grit my teeth and I turned away from him as I forced myself to say,

“No, it is not the maid.”

“I see, well in that case, I look forward to seeing more of her.”

“What do you mean?!” I snapped, whipping back around to face him, as if a tightly kept spring had been released.

“When Pip and Adam accompany me back to Germany, of course, for they do not intend to stay at Witley Court for long… unless I am mistaken?” Lucius asked, making me suddenly want to punch my fist into another door.

My actions earlier must have seemed quite shocking to her. Yet the more I thought on it, the more I now questioned why she had seemingly taken my brutish manner with so little resistance. Anyone else would have screamed the house down.

But then, even I could see that the girl was not like most other women… the bruises on her knuckles were a testament to that. Just the thought of what could have happened to her made me sick to my stomach. After the dream I’d had of her being beaten by the cook, I had never felt dread like it. Nor had I ever experienced the shock I felt when I found the very last thing I expected.

She had been beating the woman bloody.

I had even been calling her name, but she had been too lost to her rage to hear me. The very reason why the second I touched her, she had taken a swing at me. Granting me no choice at the time but to capture her small fist and engulf its entirety in my hand.

I found myself looking down at my hand as if seeing it there once more, astonished to know that something so small could have done so much damage.

Of course, I had seen that she had also been struck which was no doubt what had ignited her rage. But then I had also seen what the cook had planned for her in the way of a whip when being chained to the wall. Which was why it was no wonder I then wished I had let Kiera break something more than her nose. However, the moment I had spotted the blood on her knuckles, I had winced as I knew it didn’t solely belong to the cook.

As for the cretin, after Keira had left the bloody scene, it had taken everything in me not to snap the bitch’s neck the second she started making her excuses. For nothing could save her the fate of my wrath after she laid her hands on my girl…

Fuck, but what was I saying!

She wasn’t my girl.

Despite this, I also knew that I would be damned if I allowed her to become someone else’s either! I decided that she was going nowhere. Not until I… damn it, but I didn’t know. I only knew that I couldn’t let her go, not yet. Hence why I told Lucius,

“She will not be leaving this house. Now, did you find the seal?” I asked, getting back to the reason he was here now, ignoring the annoying smirk I could see playing at the corner of his lips.

“But of course, for when have you known me to fail in a mission?” He then nodded to the wall where I had a secret compartment built into the panelling. Which meant that Lucius had already been in here and done the honours of hiding the artifact. One that had been lost for over a thousand years and many thought had been destroyed.

I had been charged by its creator to find it and bring it back to him. For all on my council knew what would happen should we fail in its retrieval and allowed the artifact to get into the wrong hands. More specifically, hands that belonged to the Demon God of Chaos and War known as Chiyou.

Once a legendary king who was said to have godly power to control the elements. A descent of the Flame Emperor. And ever since his death and rise into the demonic power he had gained, he had wanted to get his hands on the Heirloom Seal of the Realm.

The Seal was created in 221 BC, shortly after Qin Shi Huang unified China and established the Qin dynasty. China's first imperial dynasty at that. The Seal of the Realm served as a symbol throughout the land that the one who possesses it, ruled all of China. It was thought to be a physical symbol of the Mandate of Heaven, despite its true, more hellish, origins.

It’s true creator was King Yanluo, the God of Death and ruler of the underworld known as Diyu. He was recognised as the overseer to the Ten Kings of Hell, better known as his judges. However, something that nobody expected happened, for the Seal was made as a symbol of not just the right to rule, but doing so without greed for power or gluttony for gold. The King of Diyu was, after all, the ruler of Judges, and he took the judgement of his souls very seriously.

The Seal encompassed the very balance between good and evil, and judgement of China's first imperial dynasty. However, when the dynasty was changing hands to a new emperor, a particular enraged empress dowager was not ready to hand over the Seal to a new ruler. In anger, she threw the Seal on the ground, chipping one corner. Later, Wang Mang, the new ruler, ordered the corner to be restored with gold. But gold was the very thing the Seal did not stand for.

As a result, it ended up turning it into something evil, and malevolent. It became the reason for boundless wars to be waged and caused endless deaths on the battlefield. It fed from the greed of Kings, encompassing corruption, and becoming more powerful with each passing Emperor who owned it. Until one known as Chiyou discovered its power after he was turned into the Demon God of Chaos. He knew it was the only weapon he would need to take a new throne.

That of the Underworld Diyu.

Which was where Lucius and I came into play, as after some time of searching, we had finally discovered a location where it may be hidden.

Li Congke, the Last Emperor of Later Tang dynasty of China turned out to be the key to this discovery. Although, there was much speculation around Li Congke being recognised as a legitimate Emperor. For he was the adoptive son of Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong, and was someone who took the throne after overthrowing Emperor Mingzong's biological son, Li Conghou.

It was not his rule that piqued my interest, but instead his death. Li Congke was later overthrown by his brother-in-law, Shi Jingtang, with the help of others who wished to see the fall of the Later Tang dynasty. Knowing of his impending end, Li Congke ordered his family members, as well as the guards most loyal to him, to ascend a tower. Then he himself set it on fire, committing mass suicide, where all perished in the flames. But this was not all he wished to take with him into the afterlife, as he clutched onto the Seal of the Realm, hoping to take this power to rule with him.

Needless to say, it did not happen this way.

It took us a while to discover where the remains were buried, as after his brother-in-law, Shi, entered Luoyang and took over the Later Tang realm, it was said that he had Li Congke’s bones gathered up. This was so he could be buried near his adoptive father, Li Siyuan's tomb. However, for some reason, whoever was charged with this task also gathered up much more than that, no doubt not wishing to sift through the mass grave too deeply. Therefore, the seal ended up buried with the voluminous remains of Li Congke’s family and guards.

“And was it found where we believed it to be?” I asked as I took the seal from my hidden safe.

“It was in Mengjin County, yes,” Lucius replied before asking, “And what now? When do you plan to visit with the King of Diyu? For I also took the liberty of bringing you a coin from your treasury in case you were without.”

I had to grin at that, as my second certainly thought of everything. But there was a problem, as once I entered the Janus Gate and into the Diyu realm, I would likely be there for quite some time. Time I could not afford if I was to find my Chosen, and that was not something I was prepared to lose. Not for anyone, not even a God. So, as I examined the Seal of the Realm, a four-inch piece of jade with a corner made from solid gold, I told him,

“I have another task for you.” I then turned over the seal and read the inscription that was quite apt to my own circumstances in life, as it read, ‘Having received the Mandate from Heaven, may the Emperor lead a long and prosperous life.’

I couldn’t help but ponder the words, for would it soon mean to be a long and prosperous life with my Chosen One?

“And pray tell, what task would you have me succeed on this time?” Lucius asked, his words laced with smug knowing.

“A hunt… which is your specialty, is it not?” I replied, replacing the jade piece topped with a vivid interlaced dragon.

“You know it is, but as of what, you are yet to tell me,” Lucius replied, no doubt eager to discover his next target. Which was when I finally granted him his answer, after placing one treasure back within the safety of my grasp and wishing it was another.

A treasure far greater than all before it.

The treasure of discovering…

“My Electus.”