The Devil's Warrior Queen
Chapter 399: Damsel In Distress

Chapter 399: Damsel In Distress

{Back In Voltaire Empire}

The trio had been busy accumulating information on Ares’s presumed mate, her location and her history. Unfortunately, they had gathered little or no significant news to her whereabouts or who she was.

On a typical day, Vlad and Ares were in the forest hunting as usual. Vlad’s aim was precise but Ares’s mark was better.

"Leave it to run a bit farther." Ares said to Vlad as he positioned his gun for aim.

"You sadist." Vlad muttered under his breath and Ares smirked.

As Ares was about to pull the trigger, they both snapped their heads towards the direction of a movement they sensed from their heightened senses.

Their gazes dropped on the figure approaching them, her ashen hair floating with the wind behind her as she scurried toward them with visible excitement masked in her glowing violet eyes.

Soon, she neared them, grinning from ear to ear. It was apparent she had something important to say, leaving them both in suspense.

"Stop grinning like an idiot and spill." Vlad urged her.

Ari pouted "Since when did you both start hanging out without me?" She pointed out with a glum look.

Vlad sighed nonchalantly as he answered "You were busy with your lessons, we were just hunting, but now you’re here, aren’t you?"

"Well, I have news." Ari drawled with a smile.

Vlad and Ares silently waited for her to spill as they gave her tense stares.

"I found your mate!" Ari exclaimed.

They both exchanged doubtful glances before returning their gazes on her.

"Where is she?" Ares asked with a slight whiff of uncertainty in his tone.

"East Ravka." Ari uttered in a low tone.

They could see the glimmer of thrill in her eyes, but despite trying to hide her true emotions, there was a vulnerability that revealed a pinch of sadness in them.

Both Ares and Vlad stayed silent for a moment as they observed her demeanor, until she broke the silence.

"You don’t have to look at me like that, I’m perfectly fine." Ari remarked with a short chuckle.

"Look at you like how?" Vlad asked, feigning ignorance.

"With pity in your eyes like I’m a helpless bunny. He’s dead and I never even knew him, besides, it would be fun to visit East Ravka. I’ve heard a lot about it, the kingdom has mystical secrets and it was rumoured to be a folktale but apparently it’s real and I’m evidence of that, so." Ari blabbed out, but when she realized, she pressed her lips in a straight line.

"Do you know what household she’s from?" Ares asked.

"Or perhaps her name?" Vlad added.

"Her story is quite an interesting one. My sources told me that she is actually a damsel in distress and at the same time, a harbinger of chaos." Ari implied.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean and where do you even get your sources from?" Vlad pointed out with a skeptical look.

"My mother is the Royal diviner, of course I have bloody sources." Ari intoned with a scoff.

"Well, what do you mean about her being a damsel and chaos? Is she some sort of imprisoned beast?" Vlad quipped with a short laugh.

"It seems for once you are right about something, V." Ari said with a serious look, leaving them both curious with a mixture of confusion.

Before they could ask any more questions, she continued "She is a girl, don’t worry, but, she is no girl. As I told you before she has great powers that she acquired from the elixir of a Phoenix which is also very quite destructive. Because of her nature apparently, she is being locked by her own people in the council house, which is technically the castle but in East Ravka, they’re not ruled by Kings and queens, they are ruled by the seven Council." Ari blurted out in a long breath and their brows furrowed harder than before as they processed her words.

Ares, on the other hand didn’t seem to be too happy about the news, despite having found his mate.

"So she is being locked in the Castle?" Vlad repeated and Ari nodded vigorously with an empathetic look in her eyes.

"She’s being locked away from the outside world for seventeen years, no friends, her freedom stolen away from her. I think we were fated to rescue her, no, her demon mate was fated to rescue her. How romantic." Ari signed dreamily.

"That’s quite cruel, do you have any idea who her parents are?" Vlad asked.

"Her mother is one of the seven council members, but I had no lead on her father." Ari stated.

"It makes sense now. Her mother was afraid of her, so she thought it was a best idea to imprison her, but what I don’t understand is that, if she’s so powerful, why can’t she escape?" Vlad asked thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin.

"From my sources, they never thought her how to wield her powers and they seemed to give her a tonic to suppress her powers." Ari explained.

"Seeing that East Ravka is home to every paranormal being, some witches must have been making the tonic for them, they have quite a lot of assets as well as liabilities." Ares said.

"We are only going to East Ravka to rescue your mate, we’re definitely not going to start a war with them and take over their kingdom." Ari warned with a serious tone.

"Why shouldn’t we start a war with that shitty kingdom? She’s not their prisoner, she deserves her freedom and if they can’t give her that because they’re all spineless and cowardly leaders, then I suggest they need a new ruler, one who won’t make decisions out of fear, but will and strength." Ares said.

"I don’t want this to escalate more than it already has, moreover, our parents wants us all to be at dinner, we’ve been missing a lot of dinners lately, I swear they’re going to try to get something out of us, they can sense we are up to something, so we need to act smart and fast, which means no war or they’ll know what we’re up to, despite them being shitty rulers." Ari said with a subtle look.

"I wasn’t planning to hide it in the first place." Ares said in his usual tepid tone.

"Right." Ari sighed in defeat, leaving Ares to his decision.

"So when do we leave for the... His mate... The girl?" Vlad asked in uncertainty.

"At the break of dawn." Ari suggested.

"Or we can leave tonight. I’m actually excited to see the Phoenix girl, she sounds exciting." Vlad said with an enthusiastic spirit and as he turned to look at Ari, she gave him a side eye.

"You do know I am not a Night Walker, right? I need my sleep." She snapped

"Fine, we leave by the break of dawn to rescue Ares’s mate." Vlad said, a little too excited and it made Ari’s stomach churn with an unfamiliar feeling. Jealousy?

"It doesn’t sound as easy as you say it. They despise us and obviously, it would be a bloody battle to go into a kingdom that is not hospitable in the slightest and it will be harder to leave with their heavily guarded priceless jewel." Ari mentioned.

"What is her name by the way?" Vlad asked.

As soon as he asked, Ari suddenly snapped at him "Why are you so bothered about her, anyway? She’s not your mate, yet you ask so much questions about her and you’re even more excited to see her than her own mate? What is she to you, huh?"

Vlad, confused by the outburst was taken aback "I was simply just curious about her name, besides you should really take more lessons on your etiquette and Lady manners, you need more brushing than I thought." He spouted out.

"More brushing, you say? The only thing that needs brushing is your rusted brain, you little!" She retorted between gritted teeth.

"Calm down little missy." Vlad said, patting her head while she looked up at him from her height. Despite the fact that he towered over her, she glared at him hotly.

"Take your hands off my head." She growled and he quickly retracted his hand.

"Wanna hunt? Take out your anger on the wild?" Ares asked as he gave her a gun.

"I’d rather take it out on him, besides, why are you so relaxed about your mate? I know you’re always relaxed but when it comes to a demon’s mate, they are always so... Untamed." Ari mentioned out.

Ares smirked as he said "I am untamed, I just conceal it."

Ari’s neck snapped up toward the darkening skies and she announced "It’s dinner time, please show up, your parents miss you."

"But we see them everyday, tsk." Vlad scoffed.

"We haven’t had dinner together in weeks, it will be fun or interrogative, come on." Ari said.

"More of interrogative. I don’t know how many times Draco asked me if I feel a dark entity in me, maybe I’ll just say yes this time." Vlad said with a shrug and they laughed.

"That will be the day you get beheaded, surely." Ari quipped as they proceeded back into the castle.