Crownless Consort

"What an annoyance..." A man grumbled as he tossed a stack of papers onto a desk, throwing the chair he had been sitting on over. He had a face full of scars, with one stretching over his left eye, clawed into his eyelid. There were burn marks on the right side of his face, and his glimmering scarlet eye glared at the work ahead of him.

"Careful, Marris... just because we're here legally doesn't mean they won't diminish the meaningfulness of our actions by using our methods as poison to the cause." The other man was a bit more frail in comparison, shorter, and wore black-rimmed circular-framed glasses over his small nose bespeckled by freckles. 

"We've got the warrant, Lindley. Why can't we also break a few things? It's certain that nothing can remain intact when doing a 'full investigation'. If that bastard Mahew didn't try and slow us down this entire time, this would have already been done days ago..."

"Where is Mahew anyway?" Lindley questioned, raising an eyebrow. Lindley had been sorting through a stack of papers to the side. In the print shop owned by Mr. Mahew, these two members of the Hunt searched for any sign of sedition, or otherwise any semblance of disloyalty to the crown.

"The neighbor said he has a habit of visiting the library a couple streets over. He won't return for some time, I think..."

Lindley suddenly let out a sharp gasp, dropping a stack of papers to the ground, spilling them across the shoddy wooden floor. This drew Marris's attention, glancing over towards his partner.

"Marris, look..." 

The scar-faced agent of the Hunt moved towards the corner of the room where Lindley knelt. He bent over, grasping at one of the sheets of paper. As soon as his gaze read the first few lines penned onto its surface in thick, black ink, his face paled.

Marris grimaced.

//...the danger lies underneath the Capital itself! Sources indicate that this danger has begun to fester, to encroach upon our world! Not only that, but it isn't just a recent threat! This is something that has rested underneath our feet for years! In truth, the Light has left us in the dark...//

"How seditious..." Marris spoke in a coy, gravelly tone.

"Do the accusations carry any weight?" Lindley glanced up worriedly. 

"Certainly. Even if it isn't the truth, they will be latched onto. A populous loves conspiracy, even if they dearly admire the person it targets. What this may become, as an ember, will rage as flame... the real question is, who gave Mahew this information? Who was his source in the Palace?"

Past the curve of the hall behind Lindley, Marris suddenly caught a glimpse of light, causing his words to cease. Mahew was the sort of fellow to draw the curtains, he had done so on the many occasions they had sought to investigate without warrant, so why was the light of the street shining into the building? He stood up, walking around the corner into the open hall of the print shop, his face paling.

The backdoor to the printing shop was wide open, a trail of papers leading out into the streets. Lindley stepped quietly behind him, grimacing.

"If we didn't have to acquire a warrant... we could have caught them in time. If we can't track them before this spreads, it won't be up to us, but whatever political shield the Palace can try and conjure to avoid the downfall..." Marris chided. "That man isn't at the library, he's escaped with the documents!"

Lindley sighed, placing his hands in the pockets of his coat as he procured a cigarette, lighting it before taking a harsh puff. 

"Shall we report this to Captain?"

"Fool. If we report it to Captain, how much time will be left to try and clean up this mess?" Marris adjusted his shirt-collar as he grimaced, standing up and glancing out into the dark of night. "It's time to hunt."

[+++]

A week from the wedding, a raven brought about an invitation to the Palace in the center of Henem. It was promptly delivered to Artemis by the Palace Courier, who bowed before exiting the room. Now, August and Artemis shared a room, once his mother and father's, now his own as King. 

"What does it say?" August glanced over at Artemis as he approached him at the edge of their bed, raising an eyebrow. 

Artemis read each pretty-prosed, formal line on the sheet of paper that had been marked with an unfamiliar crest pressed into the center of a wax imprint. He whispered them under his breath, it was a habit. All thoughts seemed to spill into the waking world, and the whisper was his shield from embarrassment. 

August peeped over his shoulder, grinning. "House Sequioa's Crest, the five-branched sapling... you've gotten the attention of some important people, haven't you?"

Artemis turned his head, kissing August on the cheek as he replied coyly, "it's an invitation to the Sequioa Estate. It's not far from here, right? It might be a good day-trip..."

"But I will miss you..." August whined, wrapping his arms around Artemis.

"You won't come with me?"

August shook his head. "When the Witch-King arrived at the estate of a Noble House, that is not a mere 'day-trip'. My presence will only serve to make matters more formal..."

Ah... I didn't even consider such things... to think being a King would be clouded by such necessary judgments...

"This will be the first time we've been apart in a while..." Artemis murmured. 

August kissed him on the cheek in turn, turning Artemis's gaze with a hand on his jaw as he placed his lips on his lover's. Artemis felt the warmth of August's touch, his heartbeat close. It was fast, fluttering, like the wingbeats of a dove. He was so much shorter, so much smaller, it was adorable.

F-ck...

He couldn't abstain from expletives. It wasn't common for Nobility to curse, not even a habit in their own mind. Artemis simply couldn't contain himself. 

It was only supposed to be a joke. That was what he had once told himself when he had arrived in Henem. But now, it didn't seem like that at all. More and more, during the week they had spent beside each other, his feelings had gradually taken shape. This was counterintuitive to what he had described as his idea of love, although it certainly also favoured it. 

It had come to be that both of their ideas of love, of commitment and of feeling alike, were really the truth. They were both right, and they were both wrong. And so Artemis was lost, hopeless, for he loved his husband. That would have been normal, were he not fearful of the obvious.

August didn't seem that much stronger. Granted, he was unsure of how 'Ascension' of an Aspect worked in the first place.

So that meant his feelings weren't wholly reciprocated...

Artemis let out a sigh, pulling away from August.

"I know nothing of the Sequoia House... perhaps I should take Cercival with me. He was a close friend of my father's... he should know them to an extent."

"And Xerandes. Take him as well." 

"The Eunuch who serves Adeline, Isolde, and Ms. Eunice?" It was quite curious to Artemis. What connection did such a man have with the most important Runebranded House? 

"Lieger Sequioa served as a member of the Hunt until his father died, and he was forced to carry the Lordship in order to preserve his House. Xerandes should know him well, he served in the same unit. This was before he became a Eunuch, I believe."

Ah... no wonder... August really does know many things about his people and the land he rules. So maybe he really would know why the Corvo family chose to isolate themselves, and where they are now... but this is simple curiosity, there is no purpose to it. I won't bother him for now...

"You know so many things... it is wonderful..." 

"It is a benefit of my path to power, but it is also to my detriment..." August smirked in a self-deprecating fashion. "I'll also lend you an Archknight, although I suppose at this point, you have command of them yourself... then, why don't you pick someone to accompany you?" 

An Archknight... who should I pick...? Gwennaude? He might scare anyone we meet while traveling... Lysia? I haven't really spoken with him yet... what about Arcas? He didn't seem to like me too much...

Artemis shook the thought out of his head. It wasn't something that mattered just yet.

August turned his head away, continuing. "When we spoke for the first time, deeper than we had before, I told you of my reason for all of this, to reach 'the surface'... when you return, I would like to tell you exactly what that means. I want you to know the purpose you are helping me reach."

Artemis glanced at August, measuring his seriousness in the folds of his eyes, the creases of the skin beside his lips. This was a matter that he had first ascertained to be of great importance, even the threat of execution hanging over his head were it to become too grand an issue. 

He smiled. 

"Alright. I'll listen to whatever you have to say when I return."

It really didn't matter anymore, this was no longer a joke. His heart would beat for the King, his life was no longer his own.