The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 357. Actively Seeking Palers

Chapter 357: 357. Actively Seeking Palers

"Damon, do you have any idea what happened to the Primus?" Danag asked.

"Somewhat," Damon replied. "I doubt it would change anything."

"Let it out."

"I dropped by the study to inform him you had left with the princess. He had acted nonchalant about the information but less than thirty minutes later I saw him leaving the castle. I tried to follow him, he chased me off and vehemently ordered me not to. He did return unharmed by the end of the night. However, I did smell a paler off him but didn’t think much of it. Yesterday night, he spent most of the night outside the castle and returned in that state. I have no idea what might have transpired but it is safe to say he fought at least a Paler."

"Is he actively seeking Palers out?" Erick asked.

Danag frowned as he processed Damon’s information. "As much as I hate to admit it, that seems like the only logical explanation."

"Why?" Erick asked with a horrified expression.

Danag didn’t want to think it was that but one thing was for sure this was the Primus’s way of handling stress.

"What do you suggest we do?" Damon asked with a stern expression.

Danag cussed, Damon didn’t have to say it but he knew the vampire was thinking about ten years ago.

"Keep an eye on him and try to follow him without him noticing."

"You know that’s almost impossible, the Primus’s senses are second to none." Damon replied.

"What do you think this is about?" Erick asked.

"I don’t know," Danag lied. "Let’s give it a couple of days and see if there are any changes."

"This is not a good time for this to be happening. Kieran would be here in less than two nights. He has completed a generous batch of the drug and he is bringing it himself. I already sent out guards to escort him to the castle." Damon commented.

"I know Damon, I am trying to think here. I didn’t think he would react like this," Danag swore.

The Primus was hard to talk to, he never listened. It either went his way or not. Danag pressed against his temple. He could only hope this was nothing but a tantrum and it would be temporary.

Danag sighed, "Our only option right now is to try to wait it out and in the meantime keep an eye on him. Hopefully, this ends soon."

"How are we supposed to do that without pissing him off further?" Erick asked.

"I will think of something. Right now dealing with the Palers is just as important. As soon as Kieran is here, we would start actually hunting out Palers. Haney has been training them excessively. Hopefully that would ease up the Primus’ need to go after Palers alone and he might join us in the hunt."

"If you say so," Damon said and turned to the door.

"Where do you think you’re going?" Erick asked condescendingly.

"I think we are done here and unlike you I have duties."

"I am not," Erick replied.

"I don’t care. I believe dealing with this situation is better than whatever personal issues you might have." Damon spat out.

Without giving Erick a chance to reply he turned to Danag. "Danag, having your plan fall flat on its face barely two days later isn’t a good sign. I am hoping you will be able to come up with a solution soon enough."

Danag opened his mouth to reply but Damon was already gone. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out an inner scream.

*********************

"What if you didn’t have to go? Would you return, still?"

Mauve’s eyes widened slightly at Galath’s question. "What are you asking?"

"I always thought it was inhumane that you were sent to a nest of vampires and to return with such a large..."

"I understand your concern," Mauve said, cutting him off. "There is no need to worry about me."

"It’s not just about being worried. I am sure it wasn’t as peachy as you like to make it sound. I am sure something can be done and you won’t return."

Mauve almost laughed at the irony of that. She couldn’t return even if she wanted to. However, this wasn’t something Galath had to know.

"I am married to Jael, to not return would be to neglect my wifely duties and not just that it would be against the alliance. I understand your worry and concern but there is really no need for that."

"I do think there is a need. I don’t think the vampire King really needs a human wife." Mauve winced, what a way to tell her presence was insignificant. She knew Galath didn’t mean it like that but she couldn’t see it any other way especially when she had just been chased off.

"You don’t have to go through this simply because of the alliance. I am sure some changes can be made."

"I would prefer it if you dropped the subject," Mauve said, holding Galath’s gaze. Her expression was neither stern nor soft.

He blinked, a little taken aback. "I apologize, I got too emotional about it."

"I suppose," she said, turning away from him. "How much longer to the town? It’s a bit weird that I can’t see it from here."

She quickly changed the subject, the awkwardness between them was stretching out. As much as she appreciated his thoughts and apparent care, this was a matter she would rather not talk about.

"It’s behind the trees after the field," he responded, recovering quickly. "The reason you can’t see it is because the path curves. At the end of this road," Galath pointed to the main road. "You should be able to see the town. It isn’t as big as the last one we were in but it’s just as pretty."

"I can tell with a field like this, there is no way it won’t be pretty," she replied, staring at where he had pointed.

She wasn’t too curious about the town but it wouldn’t be too bad to know about it. She doubted she would be able to take a tour but she would check it out as much as she could while they were riding through.

"If we keep up at our current speed, we should be able to pass two more towns before nightfall," he suddenly added, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Really? That’s fast."

"Yes, as I said Erenwood isn’t a very big town. We should be able to reach the end of it in less than two hours. However the others might take a bit longer but I want us to get that much distance before the end of the day. I hope that won’t be too much for you to handle."

Mauve shook her head, "I can handle it. Don’t think I’m so weak."

"I don’t think you are weak at all," he said giving her a strange look. "No one weak would be able to survive what you went through."

"Thank you," she said with a soft smile. "How long do you think this journey would go on for?" She asked as the silence stretched a little.

"Four more days at most but if something comes up maybe five." He said turning away from her to look at the field and trees.

"Four?" Her shock apparent.

"Too many days?" He asked with an arch of his head.

"No," she shook her head. "Actually, It’s faster than I expected. It had taken us about nine days to get to the Nolands, so six days is quite unexpected."

"You got to Nolands in nine days. That’s still fast, normally it would take almost two weeks. However, this is fast because we have to get you to the castle as soon as possible so cutting through towns is allowed."

"I noticed," she didn’t know if this made her stressed or relieved. The castles held most of her memories and most of them weren’t so good.

"Your journey took longer because, I doubted some town let the carriage in except they wanted to break through."

Mauve winced at the memory. Vampires were still feared in a lot of places, she doubted that would change any time soon.

However, she couldn’t blame them, they had every reason to fear vampires. Even after staying with them for months, she was still absolutely terrified of them.

"Yeah, we had to stay in the mountains sometimes as that was easier than finding a place to stay."

"What?" He yelled.

"Yeah," she whispered.

His face softened and he rose to his feet. "We should go, I am sure the horses have rested enough, if we want to make it to the several towns today."

"Okay, I am ready to go." She stretched out her hand and he moved quickly to help her to her feet. Mauve found his warm hands odd.

"Owen," he called out. "Gather the horses, we are leaving now."

"Okay," he replied.