Lendence stood perfectly still, facing his king. He couldn't quite stop the slight shake in his hands. He held them so firmly that he swore they might burst into a cloud of dust.
"Sixteen?" Silvian roared, "How could you catch only sixteen, did you not bring enough warriors?"
"No lord," He answered quietly, his head bowed.
"Then what?" Silvian demanded, he slammed his hand against his chair. Lendence didn't dare move.
"We caught all their warriors," He said carefully, "All their craftspeople."
Silvian straightened, his face furrowed.
"If you could catch warriors and outsmart the craftspeople then who are we missing," Silvian said slowly.
"The children," Lendence flinched.
"WHAT!?" Silvian exploded, "My best people bested by little children?"
Seeing no reason to deny it Lendence quickly said, "That is correct lord."
"Go to the prisoners immediately! Find out who they are!" Silvian roared, and Lendence took a low bow.
"Of course, my lord."
He stormed his way out of the hall.
Once he was outside the door he took deep breaths, carefully smoothed the crinkled edges of his robes, and picked his way toward the prison hall.
This part of the castle was eerie, light was kept very low. The air was unceasingly damp so much so that moss had sprung up in places. The ground had a very slight crunch from places where the stone had deteriorated. This was a place that Lendence never ever wanted to stay.
If he failed he would be getting to know this place better than he cared for.
He approached the large door at the end of the hall. He placed his hands on the brass handles. Putting on his most intimidating face he mustered himself to be his usual proud self.
He shoved his whole weight into the doors, causing them to crash into the wall, creating a satisfactory sound.
To his delight, everyone in the room froze, including the lower-ranked Endoms, who were the prison guards. They looked at him with wide eyes. Once the shock had worn off they began to move again in a hurried distracted manner.
One of them hurried her way over. Stopping a couple of meters short. He recognized her, she was the highest ranking in the room.
"Lendence sir, what brings you here?" She said, smiling a little too brightly. The tension in the air was thick, he swore that he could cut through it with a knife.
He brushed past her, stepping into the big room, "Where are the humans?" he turned to face her, "King's orders."
"Ah. Yes." She was fidgeting, "Right away sir."
She began to make brisk strides toward the back of the room.
Lendence followed, glaring at anyone who dared meet his eye. He had a reputation to keep.
They entered a smaller space filled with metal cages. Inside hundled the human creatures. Some were alone and others in pairs.
As soon as they saw the Endoms they all dropped their eyes.
"Attention!" Lendence shouted.
All the creatures looked back up at him, and to his satisfaction, they were clearly in varying states of terror. He smashed his fist into the nearest cage. "Four children are missing, I need to immediately know who they are," He spoke the last words with a quieter tone, "Tell me now or face the consequences."
He cast a glare around the space, looking for indications of the effect of his words.
He stopped first at a cage containing a young woman. A bright red coat surrounded her shoulders. When she looked up, she had blackish rings around her eyes from crying.
"Tell me," Lendence demanded.
"I don't know, I don't know." She stuttered, "I don't have children I swear!"
Satisfied he moved on. Each person said the same thing until he came to the last prison cell.
This one housed a man and a woman.
They stood, hands firmly locked together, a couple, Lendence smiled. Both were dressed in black, quite fitting for the occasion. The woman's hair was a reddish blonde, but Lendence was more intrigued by the metal bands that circled her wrists. The man was brown-haired, wearing a white shirt with a black overcoat.
Lendence grabbed the cage bars.
"Tell me who they are" he growled.
Both of the humans backed away, he shook the cage, allowing them to tumble and toss about. Both shrieked and fumbled to hold onto each other,
"Please stop," Begged the man.
Lendence titled the cage so they fell toward him. He waited till they were a mere inch apart and let a wide smile creep across his face, "So the four brats are yours then?"
The man said nothing, but tears welled in his eyes. Answer enough for Lendence.
He was ready to continue his questioning when the woman spoke. "If you haven't caught them yet then you won't!" Said the woman, standing as tall as she could in the face of such a creature.
Lendence considered her words, he could see the fire burning in her eyes, "We will see to that."
She stared, ever defiant.
"Names!" Lendence demanded.
They didn't reply.
"Tell me!" Lendence said, "Before I do something you will regret."
The man opened his mouth to speak but the woman stopped him. Lendence grabbed her by the throat.
He held her up against the bars, "I will ask one more time, names!"
"Maeve is the oldest, our sons are named Clem and Wyatt, and our youngest is Zoey," The man whimpered, "Now please let her go."
Lendence released the woman.
She turned, "Don't you dare hurt them!"
Lendence let go of the bars, smirking, "Expect to see them soon."