Manhunt

Darker side

Valentianus tapped his pen on to desk scowl on his face as he stared ahead trying to drill a hole through his office’s door with his glare. Nothing was going his way, and Valentianus hated when that happened. It made him feel like he wasn’t in control over things and it ticked him off and throwing the pen across the room he let out a growl hiding his face into his hands.

 The meeting a week ago with his mother and brother had been a disaster like he thought it would be.

First Niraya had announced as if it was to take for granted, that Riss should marry Arabelle Vearra. 

The only daughter and heir of Corvus and Ophelia Vearra.

It tempted Valentianus to laugh because it was a joke, an absurd joke to say at least, but knowing Corvus Vearra laughter was the last thing in Valentianus’s mind. 

He needed to find a solution for Niraya’s, Kathrynne’s and Ophelia’s little scheme of getting Riss and Arabelle to marry one another. 

As he had suspected, Corvus knew nothing about it when Valentianus had called Corvus three days ago asking about it.

Hell broke loose when Corvus learned what his wife and grandmother had been plotting behind his back. 

First, he had yelled at Valentianus on the phone nearly half an hour before hanging up and then like tossing a fuel into the flames; he had sent Valentianus a fuming message pointing out that his daughter would never marry a son from Tharron's family.

To say it irritated Valentianus after the phone call with Corvus was an understatement. He had called his mother after that, stating the marriage was off of the table, but Niraya wasn’t hearing any of it. She had hung up and stormed into Valentianus’s office demanding another meeting, this time with Vearra family.

Shoutings from the office had echoed throughout the building as Valentianus and Niraya had argued loudly, neither willing to give up and accept the defeat. It had last over two hours until Niraya had changed the subject and asked how Theia was doing.

Hearing his wife’s name mentioned Valentianus had lost his last nerve kicking his mother out and slamming the door behind her. 

He got angry every time someone mentioned Theia’s name because he had watched the surveillance footage from the day Bernand had the incident with the intruder in the archive.

Seeing his wife so happily clinging into the same man she had asked for breakfast weeks ago while flirting, and yet she dared to lie: the man was just a friend who was in a relationship with another woman. 

What made matters worse, Valentianus had seen Theia leaving with the couple and as he had checked footage after footage, Theia had reappeared after hours of being missing.

Leaning back in his chair while sighing, Valentianus clenched his jaw and looked at the ceiling, deep in thought.

He had said nothing to Theia. Valentianus wanted to see how far she would go with this lie before he would drop everything to the table, saying he had caught her red-handed.

But what worried him was the guy whose arm Theia has attached herself before he had attacked Bernand. All that time the man had spent in the hallway, not once Valentianus could see his face through the footage. It seemed like he had known the cameras were there and the way he had moved; it disturbed Valentianus.

The injured person had meant something to the man because of how fast he had gone to help. But what they were doing there? The question didn’t leave Valentianus alone and his head hurt the more he tried to figure out the answer.

There had to be a way to find out who he was. Valentianus reached for his phone on the desk when midways he froze staring at the phone, his eyes wide. There was a way!

A wicked grin formed on his face when he remembered the guy was the same guy Valentianus had invited into his dinner party. He wouldn’t have to lift a finger to find the man. He was going to come to him.

Valentianus chuckled lowly, as one problem had solved itself. Now he had to solve the marriage problem his mother insisted should happen, although no one had asked Riss what he thought about it. He didn’t have to ask his brother’s thoughts about marriage. His baby brother had said his opinion about it a week ago adamantly. Valentianus was certain it was still valid.

But it wouldn’t hurt to request another audience with the Vearra family and have them tell his mother their thoughts about it, or rather Corvus would most likely do the talking.

Taking his phone, Valentianus selected Vearra’s secretary’s number and lifted the phone on his ear. Pursing his lips when no one seemed to answer, Valentianus was about to hang up when a bright woman’s voice answered.

“Vearra resident, Calina Rayham speaking.”

Valentianus’s brows rose at the sound of her voice. It was rather pleasant to the ear, and it made him smile.

“This is Valentianus Tharron. I was hoping I could ask for another audience with Vearra's family. My mother has troubles of accepting Mr Vearra’s answer regarding the marriage between our families.”

There was a long pause at the other end and Valentianus bit his lower lip, drumming his fingers onto the desk. Then he heard the woman sigh.

“Mr Vearra’s opinion on the matter is final. I don’t think neither of you should waste time on it.”

“Trust me Ms Rayham, I normally wouldn’t be so persistent on the matter but I’m afraid my mother refuses to take no for an answer. I sincerely wish we could discuss this one more time face to face, with my mother joining the meeting.” Valentianus used his most seductive low voice, as he knew there weren’t that many women who could resist it. He knew it was a dirty trick, but he didn’t care, as long as the result was the one he was after.

He heard Calina clearing her throat while trying to be discreet about it, as the cough sounded a little muffled and Valentianus smirked.

“I’m sure a lovely and talented lady like yourself can help me out here. Please.” Valentianus continued, practically purring to the phone and he when he heard her soft gasp, his smirk turned smug.

He still got it. Hearing some rustling, Valentianus figured she was going to through some papers and then she cleared her throat again before speaking.

“Well, let’s see if I can find something for you. I mean Mr Vearra is strick about these matters but, he is having lunch every Wednesday at a restaurant named Aurubuki. It is a popular place, you never know to whom you might bump into.”

Valentianus leaned back in his chair with a devilish grin licking his lips.

“Thank you, darling, you do not know how much you helped me just now.”

He listened to her giggle before politely ended the call and taking a paper from the notebook Valentianus wrote the name of the restaurant and the day when Corvus would be there.

Corvus wasn’t the type of man who would throw a scene in public, so it was a perfect set up. Valentianus reached for his calendar when hurried footsteps echoed through the door, making him pause and lift his furrowed face to look up just in time as Riss stormed into the office room.

He didn’t look too happy as Valentianus watched his brother’s eyes blazing and his lips formed a thin line, brows knitted together.

“Riss, for what do I own this honour?” Valentianus hummed, resting his arms on the desk.

Riss was like a hurricane sweeping through the room and sitting on the edge of Valentianus’s work desk, making Valentianus frown at the action. He looked at the spot where Riss was sitting before lifting his glare to his baby brother, who ignored it.

“This desk is custom made. Get your ass off of it, now.” Valentianus snarled, but Riss merely smirked.

“So is my ass. Deal with it. So, has mom being contacted with you yet regarding the marriage?”

“No, her scheming behind my back is trouble enough, I don’t need more of her ideas. I called Corvus and as I suspected he didn’t have any idea what his wife and grandmother with the help of my mother has been plotting.” Valentianus sighed, rubbing his eyes.

“That must have been some conversation.”

“To say it displeased him doesn’t begin to cover it. We need him onto the same page otherwise those women won’t stop and it would end in war between our households.”

Riss twisted his nose while pursing his lips. Starting a war wasn’t foreign to their mother, on the contrary, if anyone knew how to master a war it was Niraya Tharron.

“So what are you going to do?” Riss asked with a smile. He wasn’t too worried, since he got his big brother on his side.

“We need meeting with Vearra family and I know how to do that,” Valentianus smirked looking at Riss whose face lit up.

“Do tell, what’s up on your sleeve?”

“I know when Corvus is having lunch at Aurubuki restaurant, all we need to do is to show up at the same time and make sure he doesn’t escape before we have stated our business.”

“So it’s an ambush.”

“Basically.”

“Ambushing a man of powerful rival family… I like it!”

Valentianus chuckled, looking at Riss who had troubles of sitting still as he wiggled himself with a widest grin there was known to man. 

He was about to suggest for a lunch break when there was a knock on the door. Valentianus frowned while Riss turned his attention toward the door, wondering who it might have been at this time of day.

“Enter.” Valentianus barked and watched as the door opened and unfamiliar looking minister stepped in bowing his head while closing the door.

“What is it?” Valentianus asked the second the door was closed, and the minister was facing him.

Riss stared at the man before him with an unwavering gaze, frowning lightly. He hadn’t seen this man never before and he spent nearly half of his time in this building when he wasn’t at the race track. He looked the man up and down, searching for clues while trying to figure out who the man was.

“We have found the family you wanted us to find for the theft of family heirloom.” The man spoke, keeping his gaze fixed on the floor.

Valentianus leaned back in his seat with a pleasing smile.

“Excellent. Where are they now?”

“Locked up in the dungeon, we have separated them as you ordered.”

Riss turned to look at Valentianus, who was now looking more than pleased. He looked almost like the devil and it made Riss stand up as he gazed at Valentianus, baffled. What kind of heirloom they were talking about?

“Question them until you get the answers I want. After that execute the punishment as instructed.”

The man bowed again and turning around left the room, leaving the brothers in the quiet room until Riss broke it.

“What was that all about?”

Valentianus glanced at him while standing up but didn’t answer him. Instead, he motioned Riss to follow him as he walked across the room opening the door and looking over his shoulder waited until Riss with a side glare followed his brother.

They walked through long corridors, descending five levels of stairs until they reached the main hall. Valentianus ignored the puzzling people, glancing at his way while whispering and pointing at him. 

Riss merely rolled his eyes, as if these people hadn’t seen members of Tharron family before. But then again as he thought about it, a smirk forming on his face, his family was nearly a royalty so naturally, citizens were excited to see them.

Riss was so occupied of his thoughts he almost didn’t notice when Valentianus halted and he rammed on his big brother’s back.

“For a racer, you’re not exactly the most observant one.” Valentianus teased, glancing at Riss who was rubbing his forehead with a grimace.

“Shut up,” Riss mumbled, sending a death glare at his brother’s way, who only laughed in return and focused on the door in front of him. It was a dark brown wooden door with iron bars screwed on it. Pressing down the handle and pushing the door open, the hinges whined like a dying cat.

Shaking his head, Riss followed Valentianus through the door into a dim, narrow corridor, wondering where on earth they were going. The door slammed shut behind them, making Riss jump a little while before looking back at the door. His hair on his neck rose the further down the corridor they walked, his steps turning more cautious, and he kept eyeing his surroundings.

“Watch your step,” Valentianus warned as staircase came to view and they descended deeper under the building.

The air smelled tangy and heavy, making Riss cough involuntarily. 

Following Valentianus further down, the corridor started slowly to get wider and Riss noticed a barred gate which separated the corridor from wider space. 

Valentianus halted in front of it, pocketing his hands into his jacket while looking at something through the gate.

“Where are we?” Riss whispered, coughing again and pulling his shirt’s collar in front of his mouth and nose so he could breathe. He then looked at his brother.

“We are in the holding cells, this is where they bring the criminals for questioning.”

Riss frowned, looking around. It looked nothing like a modern prison. Quite the opposite.

They had built the entire space from stones, now covered in moss, and by the looks of it were moist. Simple lamps hung on the ceiling, giving a little light so people working down here could see what they were doing.

It looked like a dungeon of the dark ages when officers of the law forced criminals to live in the cells with nothing but their shredded clothes on, no beds, no toilets, no nothing. Shivers ran through Riss’s spine as he looked more closely through the gate.

Ten cells, five on each side, shallow gutter travelling on the floor coming from each cell and at last Riss realized what he was smelling from the air.

“Oh God Cian…” he gagged, turning away from the gate and closing his eyes tried to breathe through his mouth so he couldn’t smell the odour so strongly. It baffled Riss that Valentianus didn’t seem to mind the stench.

“Ah, there you are!” Valentianus spoke waving at someone as Riss turned to see to whom he was talking to and seeing an older looking man stepping out of one cell Riss wanted to leave.

The item on the man’s hand looked like an eyeball, making the bile rise into Riss’s mouth.

“This is so gross.” he moaned with a wince as he watched the man coming closer to the gate and halfway there tossed the eyeball to the guard dog lying on the floor. Riss remembered what he had done to the priestesses some time ago to get the rarest jewel to himself, but this, this was a whole new level and Riss wasn’t sure if he had the stomach for it.

“Have they said anything? Other than they’re innocent?” Valentianus asked, focusing on the man ignoring the dog gobbling the eye in one go. The man stopped a foot away from the gate and snorted while sneering at Valentianus.

“Aren’t they always innocent?” the man huffed, turning his head slightly and spit. Valentianus merely rose one of his brows keeping a steady gaze on the man’s face and waited.

“All they keep saying they got it as a gift from a neighbour, but when one minister went to the address they gave, surprise, the house was empty.”

Valentianus sucked his lower lip into his mouth for a second as he tried to think. Classic lie, someone gave something for a gift. Sighing, Valentianus lowered his gaze for a moment and then looked up, staring at the last cell, his gaze hardening into a haughty glare.

“Start with the husband. If they still refuse to tell the truth about how they got the sword, move to the mother, maybe the kids will find their tongue when they watch their parents being tortured to death.” Valentianus growled before turning his back, walking away while Riss stared at the man lost in words.

“What is it, pretty boy? Wanna try? It’s a very liberating feeling when you rip a person’s tongue out and move to the eyes. You know, the eyes are the mirror of the soul, you can almost see it trying to escape while you pull it out of its socket.” the man taunted, laughing as Riss turned on his heels and practically ran after his brother.

“Are we torturing people now?” Riss asked when they made to the lower level into the corridor leading into the main hall.

Striding forward, head held high as nothing just now hadn’t affected him at all, Valentianus gave his brother a side glance.

“We have always tortured people, especially when they have committed the crime against the House of Valor.”

“But what I understood, that family stole from you, not from House of Valor.”

“I need to send a message for the citizens, steal from me, and the consequences are going to be as severe as if stealing from the House of Valor. I do not tolerate it.” Valentianus spoke, his voice going lower the angrier he got, and Riss took the hint, not questioning further.

His brother was a lot of things but not in a million years Riss would have thought his big brother would accept torture, let alone allowing a man who seemed immensely enjoy of torturing people, committing those acts.

“I need a drink,” Riss muttered, knowing he would need a lot of drinks so he could forget what he had just seen.

“It’s only noon.” Valentianus chuckled while pulling the wooden door open and stepped into the main hall, Riss right behind him.

“I’m sure it’s nine o’clock in the evening at some part of Krecia…” Riss replied, rushing past him toward the main entrance, determined to find a bar and get wasted.