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Chapter 27 - The Departure

Elric and Xerxes stood in the center of the King's study, nervously awaiting a response from the King regarding their need to leave the castle grounds to search for Damia.

"How are you both so certain that Damia is no longer on castle grounds?"

Xerxes had agreed to let Elric handle all of the talking as he believed they were both in agreement that talking about his connection with the Princess would do more harm to their cause than good. Xerxes took a great risk revealing that it happened through releasing a seal on the Princess' powers since he didn't know who would have put such a seal on her. But whomever was responsible would not take too kindly to hearing that a portion of their work had been undone.

"Your Majesty, the Marquis has informed me that shortly after I left for my hunting trip, he saw the Princess follow behind. She had not expressed interest in wanting to join me so I was not aware of her presence and did not know to look for her as my party travelled. He was the last to see the Princess, and given that she never joined my hunting party, we think it is safe to assume that she has become lost."

"You expect me to believe that the Princess would be so daft as to leave the castle grounds without a proper escort? And without my consent no less."

"Your Majesty, I do not mean to imply such a scenario. I only mean to relay the information imparted to me by the Marquis. We do not know the specifics of her departure and many of these comments are assumptions based on the information we have available. As of now, no one on the castle grounds has been able to locate the Princess, and it would seem that the Marquis account of seeing the Princess is the last that anyone saw of her."

"If that's the case, how do you expect to find her with these assumptions?"

"The Marquis saw the direction in which she took off, which seemed to be a slightly different direction than the one I took with my hunting party, which would explain why we did not see her on our return. We intend to follow the direction in which the Marquis guides us."

"All the Marquis saw was her direction of travel. I have yet to hear why it is imperative that I allow you to risk his life for such a menial task as retrieving the Princess."

The King's irritation over the situation had caused him to forget that he should be perceived as a doting father of his only and most precious daughter to the Marquis. This lack of consideration did not go unnoticed by Xerxes. As much as he wanted to comment on this matter though, he had given his word to Elric to let him handle the conversation.

"The Marquis has requested to join us as he feels partly responsible for the Princess' disappearance as he did not stop her when she left on her own. I have assured him that he should not bear so much blame, but he still wishes to join to make amends and ensure your daughter's safe return."

The King understood what Elric was implying with his statement and quickly adjusted how he spoke of Damia. "Very well. Marquis Xerxes, as my son has stated, you should in no way feel responsible. My daughter has always been very attached to her brother and it is this attachment that has led to her current situation. As our guest, it is not your responsibility to ensure her safety. That being said, I am grateful that you wish to assist us in searching for her. The castle just hasn't been the same without her and as my only daughter, I fear all that can befall her while she's away. I would think that I have cherished her enough for her not to need anything outside of the castle."

Xerxes' only thought was that the King must truly think him dense to feign this level of concern after he had spent the first portion of this conversation speaking of the Princess as though she were a replaceable servant. He wanted to leave the room as quickly as possible so he merely smiled politely and bowed his head, accepting the King's explanation for his cold demeanor.

"Elric, I expect you to bear full responsibility for not minding Damia. I will grant you, the Marquis, and Adi's request and you will bring her back safely."

"Yes, Your Majesty. We will not disappoint you. I will not disappoint you."

"You're dismissed."

Both Xerxes and Elric bowed to the King and went their separate ways to pack their necessities, agreeing to head straight to the stables once they were done.

The meeting with the King had taken longer than they had expected. By the time they packed some belongings and food that could handle the travel, Adi had already met up with Sir Castor, prepared the horses, and gathered general gear that the group would need for travel such as blankets, water pouches, weapons, and medical supplies. He and Sir Castor were now just patiently waiting for Xerxes and Elric to make their appearances and give the signal to head out.

Elric was the first to arrive.

"Sir Castor, glad you could join us on such short notice. Have the Grandmaster and Adi given you the details of this voyage?"

"Yes Prince. I am aware that we have obtained a lead on the Princess' whereabouts. I am eager to assist in her rescue."

"Good. Has the Marquis made his way down yet?"

Adi shook his head to say that the Marquis had not yet arrived.

Moments later, Xerxes entered and Elric motioned for him to head back out of the stables with him. Xerxes followed him out, but questioningly glanced back at Adi who merely shrugged as he did not know what the Prince wanted to discuss with the Marquis.

"Marquis, this journey cannot be successful is we are hesitant to discuss your connection to the Princess with all members." He was refering to Sir Castor, as it was evident that Adi had omitted that information. Probably coming to the same conclusion that not everyone needed to know about this matter.

Xerxes inhaled deeply and sighed. "Prince, while I agree with you, I took a risk telling you about my connection to the Princess. For all I knew, you could have been the one that placed the seals on her. Do you know who was behind that?"

Elric shook his head.

"I didn't think so, but if we tell Sir Castor, can you be certain that he is not the one responsible? We also can't afford to share the Princess' location if she was running away from something."

At that moment, Adi walked out. Having heard the conversation, he added his information to the discussion. "I wanted to wait until we knew the direction in which the Princess was traveling before saying any of this, but a few weeks ago she came across a book that she felt was meant for her, and telling her that she needed to seek out the Lycans for a talisman that they possess.

Elric raised his voice in shock, "You think she's heading for the Lycans?! And you only now mention this?"

Xerxes too, looked at Adi in shock as Adi continued speaking. "Like I said, this happened weeks ago. I assumed she had given up on this theory. She was going based off of great assumptions and I thought I had convinced her that it was a fictional story. I was hoping that once the Marquis told us where she was heading, that it would be in a different direction than the Lycan clan and that I wouldn't need to bring this up, but since the Marquis is worried that she's running away from someone, I felt I had no choice but to share this."

Xerxes understood now. "You think she's out looking for answers so Sir Castor would not really be a threat to her if he were to be guided to her location."

Adi confirmed with a nod.

"Very well, let's share the information of my powers with Sir Castor then. We should be quick about this too. I can sense the Princess' movement slowing down so I imagine she'll be coming to a stop soon.

They spent the next few minutes bringing Sir Castor up to speed. He was surprised by the information, but as with any good soldier, he followed the Prince's orders to keep this among themselves.

The sun was starting to rise now, they had spent the night preparing, but Damia finally stopped her movements so they commenced their search for her.