On a mountain peak, Prince Mokuti's accommodations were befitting of him, it was a garden located right at a cliffs' edge, one could see the beautiful and bustling Valley of Sirens in full view from here. He was sitting on a stone with his guard across him and a fire was burning as firewood was tossed in it, on the flame was meat was being roasted, a sizzling sound making it's way to the ears.
" Your highness, it seems Raziya has left her peak with a few troops and gone outside for some expedition, would you like us to investigate and bring her back if she tries to run, so we can keep up our side of the facade?" One of prince mokuti's guards suggested to his prince as his loyal subject. His large build could be seen even though he had a blanket with patterns on it similar to the prince's, covering his entire upper body but one could see, his was of lower quality compared to his master.
" Thebe, my subject, you preform your duties well, but, there's no need to fret even if she runs, she and this marriage are of no concern, a facade as you've said, just focus on the method to break the seal on the Runic barrier to the first peak. " With a cloth covering his mouth, his voice was muffled but a tone exuding confidence could still be heard, this statement made his guard feel assured about the success of their mission. If the prince said it was of no concern then it was likely so. To his subjects his words were to be obeyed above all else, if he told the to die for him they would do it with no hesitance.
The prince was of the same generation as the cunning Azizi and the valiant Raziya along with her sisters. Raziya became the focal point of his plans because of the peak she was assigned. To know the reason for this, one had to know that the Valley of Sirens had seven peaks in total with the martriach's peak being in the middle, causing her mountain peak to have three other peaks on each side like a queen being guarded by her generals on both sides.
The first peak or middle peak is:The residence of the martriach and her own forces, covering approximately 2500km2 of land, a massive piece of land with a mountain peak reaching the sky in the middle, access was denied to everyone unless permission was granted, even her own daughters had to follow procedure and certain customs to gain access, except of course Raziya since she had a crucial role to play in the potential rise of their kind in the northern continent.
Second peak: Located on the right hand side of the middle peak, residence to the upper echelons of the valley and their high ranked Sirens and some who were awakened in ways of the world developed by humans were also residing in this peak, research centers and academies where Sirens who have come of age can start practicing their innate abilities were also present in this peak, it had a total surface area of about 1 200km2, almost the same size as the other remaining five peaks. Trading hubs amongst fellow deviant deviant humans were also found here, it was a flourishing land and the pride of the sirens.
Outsiders could only be other kinds of deviant humans with a lot of capital or had close connections with others from inside the peak, humans were excluded here and access denied, security was tight and many investigative spells and runic arrays were put in place to root out disguises and such, thus infiltration was impossible here.
Even the prince with his 'distinguished' status as Raziya's soon to be husband could not be hosted in these two peaks. The third peak, through to the seventh were different though, they were given to the martriach's five daughters to independently commanded the cities on them that had various business hubs, settlements for 'impure' Sirens and trading facilities, each peak had its own speciality of products and services it was known for and had varying popularity among the people, the peak number also signified the strength and likelihood to become the next martriach, and how much a success said peak lord was. This could also be used to demonstrate how domineering General Raziya was and the power she wielded in the Valley. Currently she was the strongest compared to her sisters.
Raziya was assigned the third peak right next to the martriach's, even though it was close to her mother's residence, security was not that tight like in the second, but who would dare infiltrate? Only someone like Prince Mokuti who had substantial backing could do this.
The prince also proposed to Raziya out of all the daughters of the martriach because of this reason. Thebe's dark brown eyes flickered as he seemed to remember something. "Your highness I remember you asked me to invite that Invoker? Do you think he will show up, after all you sent a deviant to convince him, honestly you should have let me go instead of that halfling Kael. "
The prince coughed a few times giving a sickly vibe and answered " You, with your temper things would have gone south immediately, anyway the guy was hiding his strength, he's definitely not here for anything particularly good since he's a human, so I'm sure he won't let go of the chance to use usto achieve his goals just as we'll be using him when he shows up."
"Your highness is wise, so this way we'll be saving or manpower for the battle to come he can act as our vanguard once we corner him to reveal his strength." Thebe agreed nodding his head and turning over the meat that was roasting on the fire.
Under all the composure the prince was thinking about something else." It may seem like I have everything under control but now something unexpected has happened, Raziya who is supposed to be here with me so that I can later use her as hostage when infiltration to the first peak occurs, has somehow found a way to get away from my side using the incident of her peak being infiltrated by some unknown individuals with an unknown agenda, those fireworks though, this display really gives a familiar feeling."
Even though the prince had somewhat a network of spies and informants in this place he could not receive information promptly, even though he was a man of power he was still somewhat restricted and couldn't use his full power as it may cause a misunderstanding to his hosts, thus gaining hostility of the sirens, and his plans becoming fruitless.
Therefore at the moment prince Mokuti was not aware of the presence of Azizi in the vicinity, all he knew was a team of rogue experts were spotted just outside Raziya's peak, which she investigated. Even though she returned she was no obligation to report to him. If he knew people from the Seed Nurturing Academy were also here, and Azizi no less he would realize something really was amiss why would things be so coincidental?
"What is happening things seem to be slowly taking a slight turn, and to my disadvantage no less, I'm pretty sure those said experts were after that guy who was concealing his strength that we met, the timing is just too perfect I hope he shows up maybe he'll say something when we meet again." The prince had a bad feeling deep inside him but couldn't pinpoint what, since he couldn't find the source he could only continue to push the plan forward even if his insticts were telling him otherwise.
The prince then used his free hand to take the whole meat from the fire leaving none for others and threw it in his mouth, as he removed the cloth from his mouth, someone who did not know him would be shocked. His mouth looked like a huge gaping maw his tongue and teeth could not be seen, his mouth was pitch black like a bottomless pit and the piece of meat was devoured in a large mouthful. Even though the meat looked tender and juicy it did not taste good to him due to the bad feeling he had deep inside of him.