Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Lucius quietly walked his way inside his father's villa. He was wearing only a set of pants and his leather boots. A towel was wrapped around his neck and he gently patted himself dry with it.

Kalliope was waiting inside for him as she had known he was training before she arrived at Kalivas' residence. At that moment her eyes traveled up and down Lucius' naked upper body. He was far from the largest warrior she had seen, but his muscle definition was extremely attractive.

"You can stop staring anytime now, Kalliope." The young man called out without even looking at her.

"I'm aware." She answered back. "Anyway, I heard from Father that you wanted to speak to me?"

"Yes. We have a new assignment." Lucius tossed her an envelope with a document inside.

Kalliope looked at it curiously before opening it and reading. The contents of the document were… jarring, to say the least. The biggest part of it was that it would be a long-term mission with no real end date. It seemed like King Verdayl was cutting Lucius loose, but allowing him to continue accessing the order's resources on the condition he does a few odd jobs here and there.

"That's quite convenient for you." Kalliope sighed.

"So it would seem."

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow night."

"I'll pack my things. Are we wearing standard issue?"

Lucius paused for a moment, clearly thinking. "No, you can wear whatever you like. However, I'll be in my standard issue gear for a time, so don't be surprised."

"Understood! I will meet you outside the main gates of the capital tomorrow night then. For now, I'll go see my father." She said before trotting off happily.

It seemed only they would be doing this mission together. Lucius' team was being reassigned to Crown while they were away so they would not be waiting for his return. They were also given several contacts throughout the various kingdoms that would get word to the rest of the order if needed. Of course, this list was memorized and subsequently destroyed.

Kalliope made her way back to the capital which was only a short jaunt away from Kalivas' villa. At least it was a short distance for a powerful warrior such as her. When she arrived at the gates, she flashed a small identification tag. It was made of a jet-black metal. It did not reveal which part of the military she was in, but it did show she was rather high-ranking.

The guards at the gate quickly waved her through without explanation or inspection. Once through the massive gates, her eyes were treated to the wonderful city. It was a blend of buildings that were on the ground and in the massive jungle trees that made up a large portion of the kingdom.

Massive walkways spanned many of the trees and there were even suspended markets hung between the trees as well, leaving massive shadows on the ground below.

It made for quite a sight even to her, as she had only been inside the capital a handful of times. The lower levels of the city on and near the ground had magical lampposts constantly on due to the shadows of the layers above as well as the canopy. Yet that only added to the fantastical scenery.

Her father's property in this city was much closer to the palace, so she quickly made her way to it so she could say her goodbyes and collect as many of her personal effects as she thought she would need.

After several minutes of walking, she finally made it to the building, which was on an upper level of the city. It was a smaller building than her family's compound in their territories because it only needed to house a handful of the Gray Wolf Clan at a time.

Currently staying there were herself, her father, and her biological mother. Her mother and father were sitting together in the main room just inside the entryway. In front of them was a small table with a few cups of tea waiting for them.

Eroa had a more popular drink, called coffee, but her father thought it was much too bitter and enjoyed tea as well. Her mother agreed as she often said it was too strong of a flavor to pair with most foods. Once upon a time, Kalliope thought this way too, however, Lucius had shown her the wonders of coffee as an emergency energy source out on missions.

When he was still a bodyguard for a noble family in Arcadios, he spent a lot of time learning how to prepare drinks like tea and coffee and had somehow made the poor-quality grounds provided to soldiers taste pretty good.

Seeing as she had gotten used to the stronger flavors… the gentler tea that her parents had prepared felt almost… flavorless and watery.

"Kalliope, my love… is something wrong with your tea?" her mother asked.

"It tastes like tea?"

"Well, that is what it is so…"

"And therein lies the problem." She mumbled.

Atil coughed. "Anyway, I take it you have spoken to Lucius?"

Kalliope explained to them that she was going to be joining her commander and longtime friend, on a mission outside Eroa's borders. The length of time she was gone was unknown, and it was even possible she might not ever return. Put simply, there was no way to predict where they would go or what they would do. Read new chapters at m_v-l'e|m,p| y- r

Her mother pulled her into an embrace, a form of affection that Kalliope had rarely seen from the woman. It seemed after the loss of her brother at the start of the war, her parents had softened their expressions of love. She had noticed they were less distant not only with her but with her many other siblings as well.

"I want you to make sure you eat every day. And do what you can to stay by that boy's side. He may be rough around the edges, but he is Kalivas' boy and I know he is tough and loyal to those close to him." Her mother whispered into her ears while stroking her back.

"Yes, and please send us letters when able. They may take time to arrive since they would be routed to us from the capital here, but we do have an aviary to receive messenger birds." Atil agreed.

"And we hope that one of those letters contains good news." Her mother finished, matched with an intense amount of head nodding from Atil.

"I'm trying! No luck so far but… I will not give up!"

"Have you tried drugging him?"

"Mother!"

"Calm down Kalliope… she was only giving you a suggestion."

It was all she could do to not shake her head at her parents' behavior. Before Lucius, they had never pushed her into a family life before. However, before Lucius, Kalliope had never shown interest in anything other than fighting. So it was likely they were making up for lost time.

That night, Kalliope stayed with her parents and even slept between them like she had as a small child. It was one last expression of love she shared with her parents before she left them behind for things unknown.