Maraus, Year of Severus, 15, I.R., the 57th day of Fall, Arenfall

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"How long has it been?" 305-M asked as he sipped his warm tea. "Has it been a week already? I don't want to discourage you here, Prince Arterius, but they might be dead already!" He put his teacup down the long table.

Lord Prestonheim silently sat on his chair unmoving and refusing to make a comment from his former colleague's statement. He certainly loathed the man, 305-M had always been constantly conniving and scheming with anyone the redhead thought to be interesting. This often led to his run-in with other nobles who wanted him out, but the Imperatur had been protecting him since he won the war against the rebels at the Battle of the Gorge.

"Hmmm…Prince Arterius," 305-M scratched his head, "Is there any way we can also get some advice from the Lord Commander regarding this matter?" He sarcastically asked the prince while raising an eyebrow. 

Lord Prestonheim felt the pressure of their stares as they patiently waited for him to give out an opinion over their recent predicament. It was indeed true; the expedition might have already failed. It was already nearing its first week and they were yet to receive any form of news coming from anyone from the people below the surface. But rather than be pressured to talk, he was more annoyed at the redhead's constant instigation towards him. He really wanted to keep his mouth shut at that point however, he didn't want his godson to be left there hanging.

"Dead or nay, our opinion won't matter." Lord Prestonheim said. "What would matter here is Prince Arterius' opinion. It will only be over when he says so." He nodded at the prince.

Servus 305-M took another sip of his tea, "Well, that's why we're here to give him our opinion!" He faced the prince. "Truly Prince Arterius, at this point, you might as well leave that project behind and try experimenting on these that I brought. These were the same stones that other slave guy took from the tunnel."

Lord Prestonheim's temper was getting shorter the more 305-M kept speaking. He knew fully well that his former colleague was just sowing seeds of chaos in the prince's mind. He knew that the redhaired slave was getting impatient to see some results. Rather than be annoyed alone, he poked at his former colleague too, as if to shake his hornet's nest a bit.

"Well, if you indeed had these ores, which I'm sure you ran away with them as far as I could remember…" Lord Prestonheim stood up from his seat. "Why haven't you created any progress with your research those far? Are you pointing out to us that your sharp mind is getting blunt?" He added.

Finally, he poked the redhead just right. 305-M stood from his seat; his face flushed in red. "W-what did you just say?! B-blunt?! Me? Blunt?!" He smashed the table with his hand.

"Well, I did say it," Lord Prestonheim clarified. "You know, if you wanted to collaborate and help the prince, like what you plan to do, then share to us your initial findings of that research." He calmly stated.

305-M stared at him intently. He knew very well that the redhead was about to spew venom at him, thus he waited. He met the slave's gaze and the stare down ensued between the both of them. It was childish to say the least, but it was all that he could do to get 305-M spew his plans as well.

"You are not making any sense!" 305-M pointed out. "Why would I…give out my research to you—" The redhaired slave bit his tongue when he finally realized how he was lured into spilling his beans.

He slowly sat down and remained silent for a while. Lord Prestonheim knew his comment was a telling of the plans he had with the aetherium ores. He wanted to expose him and let Prince Arterius claim an advantage over the knowledge he had kept. After all, Senator Lucresia wasn't the onlyone who had something off his sleeves.

Prince Arterius finally broke his silence. He stood up from his chair and clear his throat before he spoke. "Honorable Lords, I can understand why you bickered for my sake, but I find it unnecessary." He began to approach Servus 305-M from his seat. "Although, I would really appreciate that report as bases for our research." He looked at him at straight in the eyes.

Lord Prestonheim could see how uneasy 305-M had become. He knew that the slave would have preferred to shut his mouth but unfortunately, the prince had personally asked him. It would be very interesting how 305-M would answer from here on out and the Commander would definitely like to know.

"Yes, of course, my Prince." 305-M whispered and nodded at Prince Arterius. "You shall have it in your quarters by the evening."

"Fair enough." Prince Arterius answered. "Thank you, 305-M. I will read that report and see what we can use to base our experiments on. Oh! We shall start experimenting with those ores tomorrow, so please clear your day." He added.

"For you, it will be." The redhead bowed.

"My Lords, I shall take my leave for now. I need to check on something—" The prince paused. "Godfather, a word please." The young prince gestured him to go outside with him.

Lord Prestonheim immediately followed his godson outside and left the seething redhead alone. Deep down he knew Prince Arterius would've despise that action he did. The young prince respected the man whom he considered a teacher once when he was younger. But he cannot let his godson be forever blinded with his mentor's shadow of influence. He knew more than anyone how 305-M sowed seeds of chaos throughout his tenure. He did it with rivals and opposing nations indiscriminately. The last thing he wanted was for that same method to take root of the brilliant prince.

Prince Arterius waited for him outside along with his ward. Lord Prestonheim hurriedly caught up with them and then paced himself to match theirs. It was a quiet walk at first. Obviously, his godson was gathering up his thoughts on what to say to him. He knew that his actions might've offended the young prince. But the prince's anger was a price he was willing to pay if it means extracting information on that crazy redhead.

"Thank you, godfather." Prince Arterius uttered, "I was trying my best to make him say that, but no matter what I do, he always was able to avoid that topic."

Lord Prestonheim felt relieved hearing what his godson said. "He is a man of his craft." He said briefly. 305-M before he became the slave, he was today, he was a brilliant soldier known for his tactics and espionage. His methods were outright questionable, inhumane and sometimes depraved but it gets the job done. "He was a soldier who boosted the espionage and war tactics of our kingdom. Avoiding questions like that is a walk in the park for him." He added.

"Then h-how did you…" His godson paused before he could end the question after he realized what the answer was. "Oh…I see…He is a bit—"

"Prideful. I know." Lord Prestonheim smiled.

Lord Prestonheim and Prince Arterius continued their discussion as they were nearing the prince's tent when all of a sudden, the ground shook violently. The poor prince almost lost his footing if it weren't for him who held his godson steadily as the ground quaked in a fit of rage.

It took a few moments for the quake to finally stop and when it did, Lord Prestonheim saw the devastation it did on the camp. Trees had fallen, the ground slightly cracked and some of the weakly built tents fell. Luckily, no one was injured.

Lord Prestonheim was very apprehensive with quakes. The one he re-called witness involved a giant centipede flipping a lord into the air before eating him off his misery. He hoped it wouldn't be the same, but just in case it was, his sword was already unsheathed to welcome the critters.

He looked around as he protected the prince with his body. He looked around and felt the ground on his feet just to be sure that no one would every surprise them in any directions.

"W-what was that?!" The Prince asked as he tried to unleash himself from the Commander's tight defense.

"A quake, it seems!" Stolas answered while dusting off.

"Shhh…be very quiet and still." Lord Prestonheim reprimanded both men. "Something might surface!"

They stood still for a while until a frantic knight came rushing towards them, "My Lord! My Prince! You have to see this!" He cried out loud.

"Be still, knight! You might—" Lord Prestonheim tried to warn him.

"Bodies! Heads! I-I saw heads flying out of the hole!" The knight said as he chased his breath.

Lord Prestonheim eased himself but was really baffled with what the knight was saying. "Did you just say—"

"Heads! Heads flying out of the hole! Bodies mutilated! I cannot explain it!"

"Godfather, what is he saying?" Prince Arterius pushed Lord Prestonheim away from him and approached the knight. "What do you mean by heads flying out of the hole?!"

Lord Prestonheim grabbed his godson's arm to get his attention. "Stay here! I will let you know what it is once I've seen it for myself!" He answered. "You! Stay here and guard the royal prince with your life!" He rushed towards the hole, hoping that whatever the knight said was nothing more than just an illusion…hopefully it was.