Chapter 7

Apollo smiled to himself as he walked down the streets of the city while prancing around with his own enjoyment. It had been a while since he found something interesting like he had just found. Once he was out of sight to Gunner he ducked behind a building and pulled the chain necklace back out. With a quiet expression on his face he slowly put it on around his neck.

"I can see why you're so interested in the fellow." Apollo said, referring to Prince Clyde, as he felt pleased with himself. Slowly stroking the necklace with his fingers as he wore it around his neck he contemplated over everything he had just said and done.

There was something about Gunner that sent chills down his spine. It was unknown to him why he felt so submissive to the grasp of that man. The mere thought of what had just happened caused his face to flush slightly. Never in his life had someone so boldly treated him in that manner. To him it felt as though he had just been dominated over by another man.

Ba-Dump.

"What was that?" He asked himself as he clenched his hand against his chest. His brow twitched as he could not understand why his heart would react in such a manner over such a man. Thinking that he must have imagined things he ignored the strange feeling he had in his chest. He could hear the sounds of his men as he continued to walk forward where he had left his men before he went to meet with Prince Clyde. Apollo always liked to be prepared for the worst case when it came to things that involved Clyde; as much as they disliked each other he would not be surprised if the man tried to simply kill him one day. He would not blame him, however, because the very thought had crossed his own mind in return.

"Sir, are you alright?" One of his servants asked as he turned around a corner where his men were waiting for him. They could see the strange expression on Apollo's face and worried that things might not have gone well between him and the prince.

"Of course I am! Why what ever gets to me?" Apollo smiled brightly at the men as he held his tail high behind his back. With a flick of his ears they all turned to glance at each other for a moment before returning their gazes to Apollo.

"So your meeting with Prince Clyde went alright?" They asked him as they stood in position. Biting back their tongues they all waited for the response on their toes. Knowing how badly the two men hated each other they could not help but worry that Apollo would snap over the mention of the prince's name.

Yes, everything went well. I even ran into his so called hound on the way as I left. He seems to be rather interesting.." Apollo's eyes flickered with something unknown to the men as they all exchanged glances, wondering if someone would understand what he meant by those words. It was clear to them that something had caught the interest of Apollo.

"Tomorrow night you're all to remain at home. I'll be heading out on my own to take care of some personal matters. No questions." Apollo's eyes went cold as he gazed at the men. If a look could kill his glare would surely have caused them all to burst into flames in an instant.

"Yes! Sir!" Flinching from the look in his eyes they all shouted in unison to agree to the order. They were not stupid when it came to Apollo they knew that going against his orders could land them in deep trouble that not one of them was willing to accept.

"Sir, might I ask if you're meeting back up with the prince tomorrow?" One of them asked curiously causing the others to look at him with admiration for his bravery to bring up the topic.

"No. I have no further interest in dealing with that man unless I have to. I promised him aid and he'll get it but that's all.. What I have planned is something much more interesting." Smirking to himself as he raised a hand to his mouth he had to hold himself back from chuckling at the thought of how angered Prince Clyde would become when he found out.

"But, sir ain't Prince Clyde-" The one who had asked the question pressed further on the topic causing Apollo's brow to twitch again with fury. Startled they all flinched when the man was cut off from speaking because of the sudden burst of rage from Apollo.

"Enough! I already told you I have no interested in dealing with him any further. If it was not for our families ties together I would not have even showed up today at all and left him to burn along with this damned city!" Apollo's hand slide up against his forehead as he held his head. He could feel himself growing exhausted from the amount of fury he felt over the topic.

The man that had been talking to him slowly walked up and placed a soft baby blue blanket around Apollo in an attempt to help the man calm down. His tail was flicking back and forth behind him as if his nerves could not allow his tail to hold still. Shivering slightly as he tried to force himself to relax he glanced up at the servant that had placed the blanket around him.

"Thank you." Apollo said calmly to the man. The man was one of his closest and loyal servants under him that had been around for years. He did not enjoy raising his voice to the man who was so true to his loyalty, but he could not help it when it came down to the topic of Clyde. If it was not for the joy he felt knowing the man would become enraged to find out he was spending time alone with Gunner he would not even bother talking to Gunner at all.