Chapter 84
(The Slaves, Pt 7 of 11)
Rex Pov:
When I had entered the building earlier, I couldn't believe what had happened. How had all of this gone unnoticed without anyone finding out. I was even more surprised when Maleller was asked for. He was the first person contacted due to his relation with this person.
I won't say it but, even if she has completely white hair, and they are related, they aren't the same race. Sure Maleller is a Beast-kin Fox, closely related to the Great Beast-kin Fox. But, his wife is nowhere near to his relation to them. No matter how you look at it, Layla is a Great Beast-kin Fox.
"Maleller, can I talk to you for a second?," I ask pulling him to the side.
"Yes, what is it?," He asks, a little tense.
Making sure so-one is listening, I respond, "I don't think I need to tell you. But that is a Great Beast-kin Fox, you know how that works. There is no way she is your daughter, so who is she exactly?" The reason I asked that was because, the Greater Beast-kins are dangerous. If not taken care of correctly, they could destroy a entire town once they were age twenty.
"Pease don't misunderstand, I already know that. It is just that her Parents asked me to look after her. Her full name is Layla Smith, so please understand why I did so," He said. At that I realize who she is, but I thought she had died years ago! The smith family was a old noble family in this country who were Barons. They were effectively the oldest living noble family in the country. They were Beast-kin Fox's with close relation to the greater form.
That meant that they could be a danger, so they lived in AL Hafah land. It was one of our colonies, but on a trip back from a important meeting, they died. They had been attacked with their only daughter, Layla at age four, near Horran. Their remains were found, along with an indistinguishable body of a young person. It was quickly thought that it was Layla, but then how did she survive.
"I was passing by and found the family dying. I found their injured daughter and they begged me to take care of her. So I did, but now I am not so sure, so I was thinking about having Jake do that. My reasoning, is he is very good with people his age, younger, and older. He would be the perfect candidate, and would not attempt something. That is why," He told me and I understood so I nodded.
I left with Terik and headed back to the front room. Why did I even give them this house, it is so damaged. But if I didn't do that then this would have never been found out. I think striking a pose. The entire reason was a suggestion from somewhere, but I can't put where to my mind. I think it was a passing maid, but none of my maids look like them, nor any in the castle, they were twins. We continue walking and enter into the front room. Looking around I see people going around to groups taking names. I see that only a hundred are here, the rest are in the dining room. I then see a girl, around my daughters age, an elf, in the corner. She was the one Terik mentioned before.
I go to walk over but Terik grabs my arm stopping me. Even if I am forty years old and the King, this man baptized me, he has reason. "I wouldn't suggest going over yet, she lost her family almost two years ago. They were attacked by bandits and thieves from the looks of them. They put her into Slavery and here she ended up. She lost her parents then, and what I said earlier, that happened today, so think wisely," Terik tells me.
Wait, that happened today?! I am such a Kota! I stop and go over to Theo who is collecting slips of paper with names. "Well, what do we know?," I ask him, walking up.
"There were a lot of slaves, and around fifty were of some Nobility. From my knowledge, ones that left from this group in the past, did so after losing their memory. There were even more slaves than this, and they were made into puppets without thought or reason. From that we can assume, this group moved around and the people's job was to make them into puppets. I just wish we had gotten here sooner, according to reports," Theo tells me.
"That girl that was pointed out earlier, the entire reason Layla was in the state that she was, was because of what she saw. She was brought into this group from another location with around nineteen others. She had seen the young girl being abused and more as you heard when She came to. She had been knocked unconscious so she wouldn't be able to tell where she came from or to. She stood up for the gal and got beaten instead," Theo finishes.
Man, why can't anything ever be simple!
Narrator Pov:
Meanwhile in the Royal capital at a certain estate. "What do you mean our Puppet factory has been found!," A Fat man yells at his subordinate.
"As you know, the Dire's were given a Estate, to which we all interjected on. We didn't think that it would be that one though, my lord. Apparently all but three men were killed, mercilessly at that. I would be careful if I we—," Another man says, light illuminating him and others when he is cut off.
"Don't tell me what to do! You wouldn't have your position without me! I also lost that Beautiful Fox! So I want you to get this next one for your failure. You cannot fail on this one though and you must take upmost care in making them into a puppet!," The Fat man yells back, getting up. It is then revealed that some of the slaves which left, were there. They had been turned into mindless beings with no thought of their own. The man had stripped them of everything even clothes, for all four of the girls, who looked no older than 32 way of time.
"Yes sir, we will capture Emma Dire without fail!," The man said and they all left.
Who was the mastermind? How did he turn the girls into his puppets? Who are his subordinates? Why is the man after Emma? Who knows, you will have to find out later on in the book.