Stained By Sin

EIGHT

Elara stepped into the clearing with Aki by her side.

As planned, they arrived earlier than the Ivorys. As soon as the sun’s light was dim enough not to burn them, they had set out for the meeting place. Elara left her soldiers outside the agreed perimeter of discussion. They already know what they should do. As soon as Aki gave his signal, they would split up. One half were to engage the Ivory soldiers to battle and the other half would provide back up to Elara and Aki inside the clearing.

As soon as they had reached the hut erected in the middle of the clearing -- which was specifically built for discussions such as this -- Elara closed her eyes and let her senses take full control of her mind. She tried to stretch out her senses as much as possible, trying to pick out whether the Ivorys were approaching. She sniffed the air, tracing any foreign scent that the wind would carry. She sharpened her hearing, staying alert for any sound of footsteps or crunching leaves. She allowed the sensitivity of her sense of touch to heighten, detecting any movement that was not of the forest. And finally, she opened her eyes and tried to see as far as she could, waiting for any sign of the enemies to enter her field of vision.

Since it was a particularly windy day, Elara relaxed her sharpened senses except for her sense of smell. With the way the wind was blowing, it would bring her the scent of the Ivory even before her other senses could detect them.

Once satisfied that the Ivorys were nowhere near them yet, Elara nodded to Aki.

Aki nodded back at her, his expression serious. The way he usually was whenever they were outside, or when there were other people aside from her.

As quick as he could, Aki ran to where they left their troop. Elara followed him with her eyes, watching him as he efficiently buried a thin thread under the scattered leaves and thick grass. In just a few minutes, Aki was already back to the clearing. He tied the end of the string to a small rock and then hid the string with dried leaves inside the hut, leaving only the rock on top of it.

Aki went to where Elara was standing -- which was by the door of the hut -- and they studied the rock in silence, memorizing its location, committing to memory its appearance.

Once they were sure that they knew they rock by heart, Elara closed her eyes again, searching for the Ivorys. She didn’t have to look for long. As expected, the wind brought her the general direction in which the Ivory were coming from. The distinct scent of the Ivory clan -- which was something like vanilla -- mixed with another sweet scent… was that Myrtle?

Shrugging away the odd scent that was mixed with the Ivory’s, she zeroed in her vision to the spot where the scent was coming from, and waited until they were within her line of sight. They were close enough. If they keep up their current pace, they would arrive in thirty minutes.

Elara’s lips twitched in annoyance as she realized that they were walking as if they were sightseeing at a park. She calmed herself though with the thought that it was thanks to their lack of urgency that they were able to hide the thread perfectly.

“They’re almost here,” she whispered to Aki, who nodded in response.

Aki looked excited. He always were, when it comes to fights. While Aki had been acting very out of character the past few days, with him being very gentle and soft, he was now back to his usual self. A cold and sadistic vampire.

Fearing that the Ivorys have someone sensing their movement like how Elara sensed them, Aki and her kept quiet while they waited. They had already discussed what they would do before heading out for this discussion. Aki knew what he had to do. Her men knew what they needed to do. If all goes well, this night would end with that bastard king’s head on a stake.

As Elara stood there, waiting for the Ivorys to show up, she looked at the sky, which had already darkened since they arrived at the clearing. There were still some traces of the day, but night had already arrived. However, there were no torches or any sort of light anywhere. The darkness didn’t bother any of them. As vampires, they had exceptional vision, and just like a cat, they could see even in the darkest of nights.

A few more minutes had past before they heard a set of footsteps coming closer and closer. The Ivorys had finally arrived.

Elara watched as the Ivorys stopped at the edge of the clearing’s perimeter. She saw how the tension started to build up between the Ivory troop and her own men.

Then, she saw Nero, standing in the middle of all those vampires. This was the first time she saw his face after she fled the m******e of her siblings, and it was enough to revive all the hatred and anger in her heart. She started to shake, her fists clenched tight as she tried to control herself.

He was exactly the way she remembered. The same white hair. The same cold, emotionless eyes. The same pale skin. She couldn’t sense any bloodlust from him right now, but she knew it was there. Saw it firsthand when he swung his sword to chop Cairo’s head off. She shook in anger once again at the unwanted memory.

She needed to pull herself together. She needed to act normally, if she wanted her plan to be a success. She could let all of her hatred loose later, when the time comes for her to decapitate Nero. But for the mean time, she needed to relax.

Nero, together with another vampire, entered the perimeter, leaving behind their men. As they walked, Elara took the chance to observe Nero’s men. The soldiers left outside the perimeter were all armed, but that was expected. She then looked at Nero and his companion. They were both weaponless, which made Elara want to laugh. She held it though, not wanting to make any suspicious actions just in case Nero was also watching her.

As Elara kept watching them, she realized all of them were wearing necklaces made of leaves, which Elara recognized as Myrtle leaves. In place of pendant, a small pouch made of white cloth hang in each of the necklace.

What could those necklace be? Does she have to be wary of it?

As per the law, no weapons were allowed inside the clearing. Since it was supposedly a “safe zone” where clans could discuss things without fearing for their lives, only the clan leaders and one companion each were allowed to enter the clearing.

Since Elara decided to play along with the Ivorys for a while, Aki and her left their swords at home. Not that swords were their weapon of choice. They both actually preferred throwing knives, which they were currently hiding in all places possible. Elara have one dagger hidden on her, which she would use to decapitate Nero.

But were those necklace weapons? She had to be sure.

Elara shifted her focus to the king’s companion, observing him. He looked like he was a lot older than Nero. Though purebloods stop aging when they reached twenty-five, the guy still looked very matured. He was covered with battle scars, and he wore a mask of a wise man.

They kept walking slowly, in a calm and careless manner.

As soon as Nero entered the clearing, and his eyes met Elara’s, surprise flickered on his face, before he hid it with a neutral expression. Then, he bowed in apology.

“I apologize for our tardiness. I didn’t realize that you would be this eager to meet with us,” he said as he slowly straightened himself up.

Elara raised her eyebrow in disbelief. Was he being cocky with her?

She smiled at him sarcastically, offering her hand for a handshake.

“Well, what can I say. This is the first time I will meet with the king formally. I need to be punctual,” she replied.

Nero accepted her hand and shook it. His grip on her hand was firm, but it was surprisingly gentle. Annoyed, she gripped his hand tightly, giving it enough force that could break his bones if she add a bit more strength.

She watched his face as she did it, waiting for any kind of reaction. His expression didn’t change, however, and it was enough to made her want to punch him.

She let go of his hand instead, and then gestured to the necklace hanging around his neck.

“Before we enter the hut, tell me what that thing is first.”

Nero looked confused at first before he realized he was referring to his necklace.

“Oh, this? This was only a necklace we use whenever I go for a formal meeting. As you can see, it has a pouch here,” he said as he fingered the white cloth. “Inside this was crushed Myrtle flowers. They were very fragrant, so I use it as my fragrance.”

“Fragrance, huh?” Elara said, eyeing the small pouch carefully. He seemed to be telling the truth. It was very fragrant indeed. When Nero and his companion were walking closer and closer to the clearing, the sweet smell that was mixed with the vanilla scent of the Ivory’s were also growing stronger with each of their step. And as soon as they entered the clearing, the sweet became overwhelmingly strong that Elara had to fight the urge to gag. “You have an odd choice of scent, then. That fragrance you are using is sickeningly sweet. I don’t want to be stuck in a room with the two of you while you are wearing those necklace. Either you leave those damned things outside, or I am calling this meeting off.”

Nero looked like he was taken aback of her sudden outburst, but she didn’t care. Either those things were getting off their necks, or their head would fly earlier than scheduled.  

After a moment of pause, Nero nodded to his companion and they both took off their necklace, before throwing it unceremoniously to the ground.

Satisfied, Elara smirked.

“Perfect. Then, shall we go?” she asked, in which Nero responded with a nod.

They entered the hut, which was thankfully devoid of the sweet scent these bastards brought with them. Inside, there was a rectangular table placed in the middle. There were only four chairs available -- two on each length of the table. There were also two candles placed on both ends of the table, waiting to be lit.

As per the law, Aki lit the candle on one side while the vampire that accompanied the king lit the candle on the other side. This was to show that both leaders of the clan, while inside the walls of this meeting place, were equal, even when one of the leaders present was the king. Elara wanted to roll her eyes, but didn’t.

Silly laws. Why would they even try want to symbolize that both leaders were equal when it was clearly not? Whoever held the title “king” would never be equal to anyone. Not even to his queen. That was the law.

Elara sat on one of the chairs, Aki sitting beside her. Nero followed suit. He sat across Elara, while his companion sat across Aki.

“It’s now time for the introductions, right?” Elara said as soon as they had settled on the chairs. “I am Elara, leader of the Crow. This is my right hand, Aki.”

Nero and his companion nodded, acknowledging their introduction.

“I am Nero, leader of the Ivory. This is my right hand and adviser, Khalil.”

Elara and Aki nodded as well, acknowledging the introduction. Elara wanted to cringe so bad. Everything they were doing right now where demanded by the law. She just wanted to get it over with. Honestly, she could give Aki the signal to attack, now that this bastard Nero was already separated to his men. She was curious, however, as to how they would convince her to give them Jaiden.

This should be interesting, she thought.

Nero watched Elara and Aki carefully. He still hadn’t yet recovered from the shock of seeing Elara’s face again, but he hoped he managed to hide it well. She looked very different from how he last saw her… the night he killed her family.

She was still beautiful. Her face was very feminine, but it was hidden by the hardness of her expressions. Her beauty made him freeze the first time he saw her. He knew all too well that the Crow had a princess on their ranks, but he hadn’t expected her to present herself before him. He had assumed that he would be taken care of by his men, and he wouldn’t have to stain his hands with the blood of a woman.

Not that it ever happened, though. Far from what he expected, the Crow princess was every bit of a warrior as her older brother. And even if they did not cross swords the last time they faced each other, it was evident from her movements that she was an experienced fighter.

That was why he was so relieved when she chose to flee rather than fight him. He wouldn’t be able to go all out against a female, and she was a skilled fighter, he would be at a disadvantage.

Nero blinked hard, willing away the thoughts that had infiltrated his mind. The past had no room in his mind right now. He needed to focus on the present. He needed to stay sharp and alert.

He was already surprised that she asked for the necklace to be removed. Good thing it wouldn’t affect the plan that they had in place.

Bringing his attention back to the present, Nero let his senses stretch out for a quick moment, assessing the situation. He couldn’t believe that Elara followed his rules and really bought only a single companion with her. He had expected her to bring a number of soldiers with her and hide them around the area to ambush them.

Were they really serious about talking out things with him? Or was Elara a strategist in a clan known for relying only on their strength?

He wasn’t able to ponder about it though because Elara had already broken the silence.

“So… what is your proposal?” she said, already diving straight into the matter on hand.

Nero cleared his throat and spoke.

“We are willing to discuss with you anything you want as ransom for the human. As long as your demands are reasonable, we will grant it to you in exchange for the princess’ mate.”

“Clarify your statement. Whose princess?” Elara asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“The Ivory princess,” Nero replied, knowing that the Crow leader was baiting him.

“Right,” Elara muttered, probably annoyed that he was still calm and collected. “So, you’re telling me that I can ask you for anything? Anything at all?”

Nero nodded. “As long as it is within reason.”

“Hmmm…” Elara placed her forefinger on her chin, tapping it slowly while she thinks.

Would this really work? Was she seriously agreeing to his proposal? Would he dare hope?

After a while, she finally spoke, but the evil glint in her eyes told Nero that whatever it was that she would ask of him, he wouldn’t be able to give.

“Then I want you to give me the throne. It is still within reason, right? After all, I am the rightful to that title you are currently holding.” She gave him an evil grin, but one that was able to send a shiver down his spine.

She was frightening.

She might look feminine, but it was obvious that she was every bit of a man as he was. Nero was certain that if she could only get her hands on him, knowing what he did to her brothers, she would let him live but would make him wish he was dead.

“I am so sorry, my lady, but I believe what you are asking is something that we cannot give you,” Khalil said, speaking on his behalf.

Khalil probably sensed that Elara still affects his conscience, and that was why he decided to intervene.

“But why? The title of “royal family” originally belonged to me. And even if I am the sole survivor of my family, I am still one of the strongest pureblood.”

“My lady, if will give you the throne back just like that, then why did we even took it from you in the first place?”

“Because you guys are assholes, that’s why,” she spat, anger evident in her eyes as she glared at Khalil. He didn’t even to look at her hands to know that they were clenched so tight, they were trembling. The vibration in the air was enough to let him know that it was happening.

Nero wanted to defend himself…to defend everyone that was involved in the ambush. But he knew that anything he say would not affect her. If anything, it would add fuel to the fire.

Instead, he said, “Do you have other demands?”

That did it. Her eyes snapped to his, and he almost flinched at the intensity it held.

“I have no other demands. And since you can’t give me what I want, the negotiations are over.”

The events that followed were too quick for Nero to do anything but watch. As soon as she said those words, her right hand -- Aki -- threw something to the ground. His eyes followed the thing Aki threw -- which seemed like a throwing knife -- and saw it hit a small rock that was located near the door of the hut. The speed of the knife made the leaves on the ground rustle, revealing a thin thread hidden beneath it. The next thing Nero knew, he was tackled to the ground and Elara was on top of him, her legs straddling his waist, one hand pressing down on his left shoulder hard while the other was holding a dagger on his neck.

Nero tried to look for Khalil but the strangled noises he could hear was enough to let him know that he was also in a similar situation.

A single bead of sweat trailed down Nero’s forehead, his breathing was starting to get ragged. As he tried to assess their current situation and think of ways on how he would counter it, the first thought that crossed his mind was how unexpected the Crow’s move was.