She was supposed to be here about an hour ago. Where is Carlos, and why hasn't he reported back to me yet? What are all these rumors concerning The Nouxians? Why are my scouts not back yet? It's been over a week with no contact whatsoever... Ugh... I'll put a bullet in his head if he does not contact me in the next 10 fucking minutes! ...
Lucian grunts angrily, taking a huge puff of his cigar between the two fingers of his left hand, a scowl on his face. His right hand lifts the papers on his desk to assess them, his eyebrows furrowed, either from the information he's reading from the paper or from the fact that his mind could not settle from all the things going wrong at that moment. Dropping the cigar on his gold-laced ashtray, he pushes his massive black chair slightly back, the slight squeak of the wood against the tiles followed by his footsteps as he walks away from his desk, headed to the massive glass window that covered half of the wall, overlooking the forest beneath that was covered in darkness that stretched for miles into the horizon. His posture is always straight, his hands slip into his black suit pants, a force of habit he has never quite been able to get rid of, his eyes trained to the beautiful view of the night outside.
How did things get this complicated? What am I going to tell Silica? She's definitely going to throw a tantrum and not accept the new developments. Why did it have to be her? A pathetic human with no talent for magic whatsoever...
'Ring! Ring!'
His thoughts get interrupted by his phone ringing and he fishes it from his right pocket, the name Vespera flashing on the screen and he sighs, already dreading the sound of her voice when she says "I have something of yours, little brother. I have had her delivered to your chambers, and yes, you don't have to thank me," and ends the call. He sighs, cursing under his breath as he turns around, heading out of his office, heading towards his master chambers that were directly across the hallway. His heavy footsteps are the only sound that echoes as he walks since no one is allowed around the fourth floor unless they are sought after. The dim lights fixed on the wall slightly illuminate his stoic face every time he passes by them; the light produced barely enough to illuminate his path, not that he needed the light to see clearly in the dark. The dark door comes into view as he tries his best to hide his nervousness behind the stern expression on his face. His left hand comes up to grip the gold, horizontally placed door handle, twisting it to open the door.
Lucian steps in, closing the door behind him slowly as his eyes immediately fall onto a figure lying on his bed. Taking a deep breath, he places his right foot in front of his left, slowly walking towards his bed. The soft lighting from the two lamps on the wall next to his bed softly bounces off the black silk sheets illuminating the girl sleeping on the bed. The closer he got to the bed, the clearer her facial features became. She seemed to be in deep sleep, her breathing even and her heartbeat fairly slow. Something seems to be off though—something about how she smells. He takes a sniff at the air, trying to figure out where the weird, sweet scent is coming from. He's never encountered a perfume smelling like that, so what was it? His eyes fall onto her right leg that was positioned above her left since she was lying on her side; an ankle cuff linked to the foot of the bed's leg catches his eyes. His eyebrows slightly lift up in surprise for an instant before going back to their normal state.
Why does she have that on her leg? What was Vespera thinking? She's not some animal nor a slave to be treated like this…
He leans down towards her leg, his hands reaching for the cuff and inspecting it for a few seconds.
Maybe I should ask her first, about her reason for cuffing her leg to my bed. Why is she even in my bed in the first place? Didn't I give Carlos clear instructions? She was supposed to be shown to me and then taken to one of the guest rooms that was supposed to be hers from today onwards… Matter of fact, where is he?
He stands up, an angry scowl on his face once again. Taking out his phone, he quickly calls Carlos. The phone rings just once before it clicks, "Master…I'm really sorry for the delay. Please allow me to exp…" his panicked voice booms on the phone but Lucian immediately cuts him off by speaking over him, "Meet me in my office, Now!" and instantly ends the call. Cursing, his hands now in fists, falling beside his torso as he storms out of his chambers, not taking notice of the door slamming behind him as he walks to his office. In no time he storms into his office, the office door slamming behind him as he walks towards the left corner of his office where a huge black punching bag is hanging, beside it a shelf with a collection of boxing gloves. He storms towards it and his right fist immediately flies towards it as soon as he is in range, the punching bag swinging back from the force. Cursing loudly in frustration, he quickly removes the obstacles in his way, in this case, the obstacle being his tightly fit coat. Taking it off and throwing it onto his desk, he opens his cuffs and folds his black sleeves up, past his elbows. Standing in position once again, his hands in tight fists and up in front of his face as if shielding, he throws his second punch, third, fourth, and so on.
Why do I feel like I'm missing something here? 'Punch' Why was she delivered by Vespera instead of Carlos? 'Punch, Punch' Why did she have to come across her, from all the people…and on her first day in the castle… 'Punch, Punch, Punch' Is she okay? 'Punch' Why was she asleep? 'Punch, Punch' Why is Carlos late? 'Punch, Punch, Punch'
Three knocks on the door interrupt the rhythm he had developed and he pauses for a couple of seconds, his breathing coming in heavy, sweat dripping from his forehead. He takes a minute to compose himself and he issues the command to whoever is outside, knowing that it's Carlos on the other side, "Come in". The door opens slowly, Carlos coming into view as he instantly bows his head as a sign of respect, closing the door behind him. Lucian watches him standing straight by the door, his hands by his sides and his head slightly bowed, his eyes trained on the floor. He could tell how nervous and scared he was in his presence just by the rapid rhythm of his loud heartbeat. He slowly unfists his hands, the sting making him look at his hands only to notice that his knuckles were busted again. He reaches for one of his towels that were folded neatly next to the boxing gloves and walks to his desk. Picking up the glass of whiskey that was sitting idly after he had walked out earlier, he pours some of its content on each hand to prevent any infection, and he pats down the excess alcohol and blood from his knuckles. Facing Carlos, he throws the towel in the waste bin next to his desk as he sits in his chair, and folds his hands in front of his face.
"Tell me what happened." Lucian's deep firm voice booms, breaking the dreading silence that was there before.
"Yes, master." Carlos replies, trying to mask the shakiness of his voice by fixing his voice box. " I had done exactly what you instructed, master. I took the girl from the car and was escorting her to your office. We had just arrived at the third floor when she slipped from my grip and ran into the hallway. Master, I ran after her but I lost her…" dropping to his knees immediately, tiny sweat beads gathering on his forehead, his eyes still trained on the floor as he continued, "Please master, I thought she had taken the back stairs back to the lower floors so I contacted every guard on duty to start searching for her; it's been over an hour now and we still haven't found her... master… we've searched everywhere... please... I will accept any punishment you deem upon me master... this is my fault... I shouldn't have..."
"Enough! I will deal with you later. You know incompetence is not something I tolerate. You will face the consequences of your actions, Carlos." Lucian's voice having evolved into a menacing growl. "The girl is safe. Take your leave now."
Lucian watches as Carlos scrambles up from his knees and he bows his head lower this time, before turning around and stepping out, silently closing the door after him. Letting out a deep sigh and a grunt, he lights his cigar and stands up, walks to his favorite spot; by the window, and takes a long puff as he watches the full moon illuminating the forest and the lake that stretches out to the horizon, letting his thoughts roam free.
She'll be the death of me…