Aedan De Doria


Aedan had been sent by his father, the Duke De Doria, to attend the ceremony of the third anniversary of the death of the Emperor Axelio on behalf of his family.

He had arrived at the palace around midday, after having passed through the capital. Ordinarily, the city was full of life and bustle. But, on this day of mourning, it had seemed dark and ghostly. The streets had been deserted, and an oppressive silence had replaced the shouts and the laughs of the crowd.

He had expected to find the same dreary atmosphere inside the imperial palace. He had been wrong. There had been no solemn mass. The nobles of the court were not dressed in black. As usual, they were wearing colorful clothes made of exotic or luxuous fabrics, as indecent as they were impressive.

And now, a few hour later, Aedan was uncomfortably sitting at a huge table. He had been invited to join a feast. Instead of grieving, the highest, most esteemed nobles of the realm were gobbling deer meat and drinking vine. There was joyful music in the air. The Count of Karvos was flirting with a servant maid in an extremely undignified manner. The seats of the imperial family remained empty. He had been told that the Empress was hiding in her apartments.

Aedan was not hungry. This feast was not a mourning ceremony. He had not been emotionally affected by the passing of the Emperor Alexio, as he had met him only three times, but it was the tradition to honor the memory of the dead. He knew something was wrong, and it made him feel queasy.

He excused himself and left the table. He was determined to find out what exactly was happening in the palace, and why everyone at court seemed to be mad.

Diane nodded solemnly. "She doesn't care about father either.", She mumbled, playing with the brittle pages of her book. "I hate that she only got in bed with them for power, and I hate that she loathes your mother just because she got to become Empress."

"sounds better then being burned at the stake for liking women," she said backing up keeping an eye on where the guard was before. She hoped he didn't follow her and this other person out here. She got her weapon ready for a fight even if she knew it was usless and she wasn't going to win.

The tendrils stopped before as Lyon seemed to process this. "Unfortunate."
It seemed the offhand comment was enough to shake some of the beast's grip on him. He didn't appear to want to fight as took another step forward, resting his clawed hand above her heart.

"Hold still." He snarled loudly as his ears swiveled in the direction of the guardhouse.
They were far enough from the city gates not to be seen, the night and trees gave them cover from any prying eyes or any hunters who wished to mount his own head.

Where his hand rested, a dark energy creeped off his arm scouting for her soul, surprisingly gentle despite the man's monstrous state. It seemed, at least, this stranger was true to his word. Luca's flesh and blood were safe this time.

she held still keeping calm, she didnt want to get hurt. She didnt have any reason to lie other then to keep her identity secret.

With the woman now calm, the dark magic honed in quickly on her soul energy, prying it from her with little to no resistance. It was probably a disorienting feeling to see your own soul dangled in front of you so haphazardly. The beast didn't give the woman any chance to eye over it for more than a second or two as it was dropped into its shadowy maw. It disappeared in a fine, shimmering mist as the shadows dripped away off the merchant, leaving him with nothing more than the distinct taste of blueberries and citrus in his mouth, exhaustion, and the sinking reminder of what had just transpired.

It seemed his demon companion was getting better at deceiving people through him, but he still found it strange that the woman was left intact this time. Perhaps he had imagined it or his own mind had imprinted enough onto it to give it a sense of pity..? How humorous. Perhaps there was some way of controlling it after all. He'd have time to consider the thought later though. There were a lot of things he suddenly needed to work through.

Lyon quickly dug through his merchant bag, offering the woman a small vial full of a shimmering, yellow liquid as he nervously knelt to the ground.
"It may not be entirely effective, but this remedy should help you keep your bearings. I cannot say as to what will happen to you however. Archon has never left any of his.. er.. prey alive before. I am deeply sorry."

"its fine, as long as im alive its fine," she said smiling drinking the liquid, her felt kinda empty with out it but she still felt like her. I get used to it' she thought as she finished off the liquid handing the bottle back to him. She was just glad to be alive and still intacted with out a scratch on her body.

" She told me to my face that I stole her son's spot. It never belonged to him in the first place. " She said.

Lyon sheepishly took the vial back, tucking it into a pocket of his bag.
"So, it.. erm. I think it goes without saying that it may be in your best interests to not mention any of this around the city. Likewise, I will return the favor and try to keep the law off you in return."

He stood up, checking his reflection in a nearby puddle when he had finished. His eyes had returned to normal, expectedly, as the demon entwined around his own soul returned to his slumber. He was relieved to have not grown any more demonic in appearance with the slight boost in his companion's power other than his canines having grown slightly more pointed.
He'd still be fine to continue his work in the city, but.. smiling did pose a new problem.
He turned back to Luca, folding his wings.

"Do you require a room to spend the rest of the night? I have coin I can spare."

(i feel bad seeing you lonely so...)

Suddenly the doors opened, and the nobles quieted down. There was a chance it was the Empress, but it was unlikely. It was her mother, the Empress Dowager. Although she also didn't like the previous Emperor, she did respect the law. She walked in, looking over the crowd of disrespectful nobles. She herself was wearing a simple black dress, and anyone could tell she was about to give every noble in the room an earful, but in an elegant way.