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Scott led the way down into the Castle crypt, face a calm, impassive mask as Pyro trailed behind, unaware of the coming conversation.
But it was a necessary conversation. Pyro had betrayed Scott’s trust. First, he speaks to the humans, seeking answers about the supposed cure. Scott honestly didn’t mind that part, even if he did take some offense to it. What did he care if Pyro wanted to be a human? Personally, he didn’t understand it. Why choose to be weaker? Especially when he’d clearly been enjoying the perks of vamparism.
While Scott didn’t understand Pyro’s interest in being human again, he still didn’t really care if he choose it. It was fine. It didn’t effect him. Wouldn’t effect him.
Except for one thing.
10 minutes Prior:
“So, our options for safety is the crypt below us and also...” he glanced at Pyro, face a mask of nonchalance, even as he felt like a snake watching its prey, looking for any sign of weakness before it struck. “Pyro, no one knows about that, right?”
Pyro seemed a bit confused for a second, but then a light lit behind his eyes and and smirked proudly. “No. Nobody knows. Nobody.”
“What?” Shelby asked, looking between the two in confusion.
“My mine in the hills.” Pyro supplied.
Pyro had just shown them the mine shaft and dubbed it a second safe place for the vampires not even three days ago. Then, he goes and tells the humans about it as a place to meet up and pass messages if nothing else.
Scott had given Pyro the chance to come clean about the mine shaft being compromised, and yet Pyro had lied. Lied to Scott, his Sire’s face. Essentially lied to the Coven, even if they were unaware of it.
That would not do. Scott needed to be sure to nip this in the bud, before Pyro thought he could get away with more lies, especially if they could put the Coven in danger.
He directed Pyro to one of the tunnels he wanted him to dig out, and waited until there was nothing but himself and the solid stone walls to block the younger vampire’s escape.
“And another thing...” he started, looking at the back of his fledgling, who paused in his mining out of the rock to glance back at him with a curious but worried glint in his eyes.
“Yeah, of course...”
“You really think you can get away with lying to me?” he said, the snake striking.
“Uhh....” Pyro stammered, thrown off kilter by the sudden switch in demeanor from his Sire. “Sorry...?”
Scott closed his eyes to reign in his anger. He needed to be calm about this. He was angry, yes, but he didn’t want to push Pyro away if he didn’t have to.
“I was there you know.” He started. “I was there when you told them-” he opened his eyes, and froze.
“I mean, I’ve never really had the experience of monarchs enjoying me doing kinda what I wanted.” a man said. Scott did not know this man. Worst still, he was no longer in the Castle Crypt, but on a sunny beach, the sun baring down on him, yet not burning his flesh.
His heart hammered in his chest, and at the realization that his heart was even beating, he stumbled back.
“Wha...?” he muttered out and the man, and two women looked at him with concern.
“Scott?” the man said, brow furrowed as he approached, hand out to grab his shoulder.
Scott hissed, stepping back, “Stay back!”
“Scott, what’s gotten into you?” the man said, stepping forward again despite Scott’s words, but he did come up short when Scott let out a low growl, though even to Scott it sounded wrong. Weaker than what it should be.
“Scott, calm down...” one of the women said, not approaching, but holding up her hands. “I get you’re upset we lied, but this is....”
“Who are you?” Scott interrupted, and the group gasped, staggering back. How is it they knew him, yet he had no memory of them, even though as a vampire, he had perfect memory? Why was his heart beating? And why did his chest ache and burn, yet it didn’t feel like the hunger that normally resided there.
Before he could get any answers, he felt his vision darkening and staggered. The last thing he saw was the man rushing forward to catch him.
Scott stepped out of the boat onto the sandy beach, his heart constricting with the anxiety of the coming conversation. He was confused and hurt by Nom’s lie, and though he disliked confrontation, he knew he needed to confront this.
He trusted Nom, and thought Nom felt the same.
Mae followed behind him as they crept up the beach, stopping just behind a mound of sand tall enough to hide them from view of Nom and Cherri as they “farkled”.
Scott shook his head sadly watching them.
“Hm... They’re over there.” he muttered, looking back over his shoulder at the rouge.
She peered around too, before looking back at Scott with sympathy. She hadn’t taken very kindly to the lying either, but more because she was essentially made an accomplice to the lie- something she was not inclined to do, and had immediately informed Scott of.
“They’re just sparring.” Scott said, looking over at the two, chest aching at the sight. “Again, I... I have no issue with it. I just do not understand the secrecy.”
“I could go in and make a big scene and be all, ‘Hey, whats’ up guys!’” Mae offered, likely seeing the stress in Scott’s eyes and offering to step out first.
Scott smiled in appreciation, but shook his head. “No... I feel like the worry of seeing us was what led to the lie in the first place. I just...” he sighed, slumping back against the hill, frustrated by the whole situation.
He was only just made King, and that had been stressful enough. Now, the first issue he’s dealing with is one of the people he’d felt closest to had lied to him? Had being crowned changed Nom’s opinion of him that much? It’s not like he had asked for it!
They were silent for a bit, the only sound that of the waves, wind and occasional clashing of sword on sword from the two down the beach.
“Do you wish to confront?” Mae asked finally. “I feel like if you go over there, and you just bring up like... ‘Oh, I thought you were farkling?’ but don’t really jump into the, like... the sparring of it, it might... allow for a space that they feel comfortable sharing more of what is happening?”
Scott nodded, running his hands over a patch of grass, absently, “Potentially....”
Mae continued, trying her best to help her king and friend. “That way, they might see that you aren’t reacting poorly?”
“Yeah, maybe...” He looked back up at the two sparring, and sighed heavily. “Well conversations don’t get easier the longer you wait for them, so...”
“No, they do not.” Mae said, laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he walked past, grounding him and allowing him to steel himself before walking out of the cover of the hill.
Holding his head high in what he hopes was a good show of confidence he felt he sourly lacked, he walked down the beach.
They hadn’t noticed him, too absorbed in the sparring as Nom gave reassurances and Cherri listened.
“This is an interesting looking farkle game.” He called out as he came to a stop some 10 meters away.
Nom lowered his sword, glancing between Cherri and Scott, smiling nervously. “Its... an old Blue Kingdom game called Farkle.”
Pain lanced though Scott once again. Again, he lied. Why? He’d clearly been caught, why continue the lie?
“Yeah!” Cherri confirmed after a moment, and again, Scott felt hurt. He wasn’t as close to Cherri as he was Nom, but he had thought they had a good rapport, despite being from different Kingdoms.
“There’s many variants of Farkle, Scott.” Nom continued.
Scott felt a flare of anger, tears prickling at his eyes. “There’s apparently many lies you can tell as well.”
“She took like, 15 gold from me...” Nom said, still trying to hold on to the weak lie, despite everything. “Was I meant to not-”
The tears were burning his eyes and he screwed them shut, unable to continue looking at his friend as they continued trying to lie.
“I do not... I don’t understand the desire to lie...” He opened his eyes but came up short, flinching back from the man mere meters away from him. A man he did not recognize, with stark white hair, pale skin and red eyes with inky black where white was normally.
“I’m sorry, Sire...!” the man cried, moving forward, reaching out clawed hands almost as if to crab him, even as he shied away, trembling.
Scott backed up, but was unable to look away.
“I just wanted to learn, to experiment! I just wanted to see if it was possible!” When Scott remained silent, the man grew frantic, and he made to grab at him again, this time actually grabbing hold of his... cape? When had he put that on? “Let me make it up to you! I can do better!”
The man was frantic, and Scott found himself stumbling back, yanking the cape from the other’s clutches.
“S-stay away from me...” he stammered out.
“Sire...?” the man asked, hurt and confusion lacing his tone.
Looking around, he was confused about his surroundings. Was he in the sewers below the cities? His eyes landed on a ledge, and the skull upon it, causing him to reel away from it.
This wasn’t the sewers.... He had no idea where he was, and no idea who this man was. Panicked, the did what he always did and went invisible.
“Sire?!” the man yelped, looking around. He started walking away, searching for him, while Scott just backed away, back meeting the wall as he slumped down to the floor, panicking.