A Woman In Power; A Girl in A Tower
Lanshu stood there and kept a stone face as he listened to Adelaide, Destiny's father, and this barbaric Prince barter over the woman he loved and had a previous life with. Actually.....multiple previous lives.
They had been together since that day they met in the Grand Tower, and for centuries they had found one another time and time again, to the chagrin of everyone who had hunted them. Still, he held his jaw tight and his expression straight as their rude conversation continued, and they ignored his Princess, who sat there with sullen eyes.
He tuned out their conversation, and instead his eyes drifted towards her behind the square sunglasses he wore. It was best if he tuned them out anyway. He knew why Adelaide came here, and he had to keep his ruse up, or he'd be caught.
Lanshu wasn't 100% sure yet, but he was pretty positive she hadn't noticed he took the place of one of her bodyguards. He could shape-shift as well as any Chimera could, so it was easy to mimic the identical form all of the special guards took when they accompanied their Queen.
She hadn't said anything by now - so it looked good so far. If she knew he was there, she wouldn't have allowed him to go (or so he thought). There was no way she'd risk that, so it must have been that he fooled her.
It didn't matter right now anyway, because all he cared about in the moment was being able to see her again, even if she had no idea he was there. It was good enough for him for now.
"Sattus... this is absolutely ridiculous. As an old friend, this puts me in a very bad situation. Given my position, I must inform the council about your stupid, foolish decision tonight. I still cannot believe you...." The Queen was annoyed and sighed out in anguish as her sour face stared over to the old man who had looked more and more ashamed as time passed.
"You'll have to stay by my side until this can be dealt with..." Adelaide went on with bitter bemusement.
"As for you..." The Queen went on and turned her head to Destiny who had still not looked up from the table. "You should prepare for whatever choices are made on your behalf - but I assure you, I will ensure they are the best in your benefit."
The sea Princess merely nodded.
She nodded!? That pissed Lanshu off on a deep level that it nearly caused him to drop his disguise as he felt his scales shift ever so slightly for a moment. It must have caught his lover's attention - because she looked over at him for brief moment.
In his opinion, she shouldn't have to nod anymore. Neither of them should have. The more he listened, the angrier he became about how the world had treated his kind. It didn't make sense. He had read so many history books - and in none of them had it mentioned once that Dragons had done some wrong. If they had - Adelaide should have told him way before now.....right?
His stomach churned at the thought of so many things about his life being unknown and cut off to him. The more he heard, the more he resolved to fix this problem. Why was it that all the other magical creatures were allowed to live so well and his parents and the others with his blood had to remained locked away somewhere.
What kind of balance was that?
If he clenched his fingers into his palms anymore, they were going to bleed - but he remained blinded to the pain as he watched his Princess' lonely eyes grow darker upon Adelaide's continued speech.
"V'Azlak - are you certain you do not want to marry such beauty?"
'You had better say no...' Lanshu thought to himself angrily as he eyed the man behind his dark shades.
"Wait... do I have to in order to get this territory?" The Prince asked with a drunken face that had confusion written all over it.
"No, dear boy... I believe you've already won that right with Sattus' foolishness. He won't be here to rule anyway as far as I'm concerned. You don't even have to shed a drop of blood."
He looked upset by her response. "....but we like to shed blood..."
Exasperated, she sighed out with a hint of a growl and rolled her hand towards him. "Then shed blood all you want - I don't care. All I care about is the situation in front of me regarding your rival. Do you want the girl or not?"
V'Azlak looked over at Destiny for a long time and then nodded at her. "Before I turn her down, come over to me little Sea Pearl...."
Lanshu's lips parted, ready to shout at the way he instructed her - but he was able to swallow his urges again - and probably for what he felt was the last time if this scene played out any further.
Adelaide held her hand up and halted Destiny as she stood up as directed. "Do not do that." She turned her attention to V'Azlak and darted her eyes. "Do you really think I'm going to sit here and allow you to degrade another woman in front of me? You either want her as a wife, or you don't. Either way, you get a city."
V'Azlak tapped his chin as he watched Destiny sit back down. After a moment, he finally replied with a grin. "Why not have a new city, and a new wife. What good is ruling alone? She can be the first of many....I'll consider it a victory gift for myself."
The Queen nodded and sported a smile of contentment.
In the silence after the matter, small splats of blood drops could be heard as Lanshu's nails pierced through his own scales and collected below him.
Adelaide looked towards the sound and trailed her eyes from the floor, up to her guard. "You should excuse yourself for a moment and deal with...whatever this is..."
The disguised Lanshu gave a bow and took the chance to get out of the room before his ideas turned into plots. He didn't get far before she shouted another order at him. "Wait. Take the Princess back to her quarters and stand guard. I must have a conference with these two gentlemen without her present. Don't let her leave under any circumstances."
Sattus growled and shook his head. "Now just wait a minute - you really think you can waltz in here and take over everything from me without any kind of fight on my part?"
"No," she began with boredom. "I know I can, my dear old friend. Especially when you've committed a serious crime. You cannot just give away secrets, you know....and considering they aren't your secrets to boot, you really should have kept your mouth shut."
When Lanshu failed to move as he watched their conversation unfold, Adelaide barked towards him in annoyance. "It wasn't a suggestion. Why are you still stand here bleeding on the floor? Get out. She doesn't need to see her father be punished. It's too much of an embarrassment for even this fool."
He bowed towards her and found himself a bit shaky as he realized that she had wrath underneath her skin that had bubbled into rage. He could tell based on her clenched jaw and her red eyes that had started to glow that she was ready to eat Sattus alive.
As much as he hated to pull her so fiercely, it was necessary in the moment to keep up the ruse. "Come." Lanshu commanded as his hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her so hard she nearly fell to the floor.
She would have had he not tugged her upwards so roughly. He felt his stomach as it boiled in remorse below his heart, which caused him to lurch silently and swallow it all back down before he made himself look more suspicious.
"You don't need to be so rough, Beta. Shall I ask Alpha to take her instead if you cannot be at least a little kind?" Adelaide tore her eyes towards Lanshu with more anger.
He shook his head, bowed, and relaxed his fingers. He instead led her away, and felt both shame and distress has he noticed his blood on her arm where he had first grabbed her.
The fact she hadn't attempted to even fight back broke his heart. She had no fire in her as she was essentially dragged up the stairs as delicately as he could being that she didn't even try to raise her feet enough to not trip over every single stair.
He kept his grip firmly on her wrist as they ascended the stairs together, further and further in an endless curl. He lost count on how many flights they had taken, but he was relieved when they finally made it to the top of the circular stone tower.
Now, she fought back briefly and pulled her wrist from his roughly. Then, she gave him a dirty look and pushed him away as hard as she could - but he didn't budge. She, however had caused her own body to bounce back onto her door, and with a destitute look upon her face, she slid down and hid her face in her hands.