"I have no interest in discussing these agreements with you. My vassal, Alexander Von Windsor will be your dance partner for these matters."
The king coughed slightly.
"Yes, yes of course."
"You can relax. If I wanted to kill you, I would have already." Valerian said, only half jokingly.
The king gave a forced laugh and changed the topic.
"Do you have any children, Your Highness?"
"I am expecting my first but it is still too early to tell." Valerian replied. To him, the vampire race were not his children. They were descendants of those he passed the vampire gene to. He was their leader, their Emperor and their idol but not their father.
"I wish you the best then. I do not know where I went wrong in my children's upbringing. I gave them the best tutors in the kingdom, the best wet nurses and maids. I sent them to the best schools and still they turned out this way. Nikolai is my only saving grace. I only chose Finn because he was supported by the noble faction."
Valerian felt a sense of uneasiness and foreboding. Was Inanis not receiving the best as well? Did he not have the Princes of Abaddon acting as his tutors, wet nurses and masters? Would he not turn out to be like the idiot Finn or worse?
"Where...where do you think you went wrong?" Valerian asked. The vampire's tone had changed but the king was full of self pity and wine to notice Valerian's sudden change.
"I spoilt them and I was not truly there for them as their father. They grew up embroiled in the difficult nature of the court and their mothers' competitive natures. I never influenced their thinking, sheltered them when I was supposed to show them then cast them into the world before I taught them what the world was like. I failed as their father then failed as their king."
[Enoch: I could have told you that.]
Valerian had a feeling he only felt when he thought of the Traveller. He felt worried.
"I see."
"I am sorry to bother you with my private thoughts." The king immediately apologised.
"It is fine. I have learned a lot from this chat." Valerian stood up. "I will retire for the night and send Alexander in."
"Of course but may I ask you one more question as a father and not the king?"
Valerian nodded.
"Do you think that you could ever care for my daughter?"
"I am not foolish enough to say that time does not change me but by the time I change again, your bloodline and kingdom will not even be a footnote in the annals of history. So no, I do not think so. She should live her life."
"I see." The king nodded. "I had to ask."
Valerian left the study and gave Alexander a few points before going to his room, not to rest but to meditate.
*****
Morning came quickly but it seemed that it was only just a hair ahead of Oswald.
A knock came at the door.
Valerian opened his eyes and allowed Oswald to enter.
"I am ready, Your Highness."
Oswald had already appointed his successor and resigned from his position. The king did not even put up a fight once he heard that the mage was going to follow Valerian.
Alexander was next, he appeared at the door to brief Val about the negotiations with the king.
When all was said and done, Valerian nodded and agreed.
It was time to leave.
Oswald's private study at the tower had mysteriously caught fire. All the books were saved but nothing else was recovered.
It seems that the magus was meticulous, knowing that he would never return.
Valerian prepared to use [Slipstream] when he sensed a new arrival in the shadows.
"Show yourself. I am surprisingly impatient to leave."
It did not take a second. A hooded figure came out and knelt down, head touching the ground, in front of Valerian.
"I ask the Demon Lord's forgiveness. I did not when to show myself. I did not mean to lurk."
"And you are?" Valerian asked.
The figure removed her hood and gazed up at Valerian.
"Lilian..." Valerian spoke his thoughts out loud. "You are alive?"
Valerian was shocked but also pleasantly surprised.
"What are you doing here?"
The demoness thought it was weird that He did not know why she was there when He was the one that summoned her but she did not waver and went on to explain everything.
"You will come with us." Valerian's tone had turned cold and his mood had become worse.
The seals had weakened. Samael was now able to exercise his authority without Valerian's knowledge but why send Lilian to him?
He put his thoughts aside. One problem at a time. Although, Samael was a big one, he had more pressing issues.
The four of them stood together and Valerian cast [Slipstream].