Silverware clinked and clattered against the various plates and bowls as those sitting around the dining table dug into their meals, conversing amongst themselves with a hushed tone as the bustling servants continued to serve the needs of their masters and their guests.

The conversations were of little consequence to Aurelius as he took the first bite out of his meal, softly chewing on the tender meat of his steak as he casually glanced around the table’s immaculately prepared surface. There was not a single thing that could have been said to have been missing from the table’s rosewood surface and none of those attending that evening would have found themselves wanting for anything more even if they were to somehow complain about whatever little detail that they found fault in.

Yet even if he were to have been one to care for things such as the ornate candles standing proudly over the table’s finely woven cloth cover, none of what he was seeing now would have even mattered in the slightest. As a prince of the Dark Elves, Aurelius was concerned about one thing and one thing only.

Getting Iskra, his raven haired human wife, to reconnect with her relatives no matter how long or the frustration he would experience in accomplishing such an occasion would be.

“This is quite the tender steak, Duke. And the taste is something that I haven’t experienced in quite a long time.” Aurelius proclaimed as he turned his sight upon the master of the Vesely estate, Duke Radoslav Vesely.

Duke Radoslav smiled at the elf’s gentle tone as he turned his attention away from the sight of his wife and youngest daughter, chuckling to himself as the Duchess fussed with the Vesely’s as she tried to get the talkative child to eat her meal in a proper manner. “I’ll be sure to pass on your compliments to our chef.”

Aurelius watched as his father-in-law nodded his head towards a nearby servant who wore themselves as someone who had been working in the estate for perhaps their entire life. For a split second the elven prince kept his gaze upon the servant as he watched the older human move towards a separate room, disappearing behind a set of double doors.

The blonde haired prince quickly lost interest in the servant’s actions as the doors closed behind the man with a solid click.

There was no doubt in Aurelius’ mind that the Duke had wordlessly ordered the man to extend his praises upon the kitchen’s head chef and the staff under his command.

“Hard work should always be praised,” Came Aurelius’ sing-song voice as his black and silver eyes quickly scanned the mountain of muscles upon the Duke’s bear-like body before turning towards the Duchess as she forced her daughter’s hands next to her dinner plate. “No matter how mundane or complex the bearer of such accomplishments may be.”

The Duchess leaned over into the little girl’s ears as the child continued to excitedly gush over the various things that she had done over the course of the day’s events, speaking excitedly over her mother’s hushed tone as she continued to swivel her head from side to side in her attempts to get both of her parents involved in her excitement.

As the Duchess made her whispered threat to send the Vesely’s most talkative child to bed if she didn’t eat her meal before it grew cold, a sudden and concerned gasp rolled across the table.

The Vesely estate’s youngest child had finally realized the reality of her mother’s threats and she quickly, but neatly, ate her food under the watchful gaze of her mother.

A low, amused chuckle rumbled out of the Duke’s throat as he watched the sight of his wife and daughter continue to fuss over the little girl’s meal, jokingly asking the Duchess if she planned on letting her own plate of food grow cold.

“She’s going to talk herself hoarse if she doesn’t stop.” Duchess Nivenia uttered as she turned towards her husband with a chastising stare. “Again, might I add.”

A second chuckle escaped from the Duke as he smiled at his wife’s words as he fondly recalled the times when his youngest daughter learned her first few words.

Despite having raised countless children beforehand, the ducal couple had somehow found themselves unprepared for the unstoppable force that was their youngest daughter and her inability to stay quiet for even the briefest of moments.

“I don’t understand where she gets such a personality from. None of us were anywhere close to being as talkative as she is.” Mikael, one of the youngest of the Duke’s and Duchess’s many sons, referred to both himself and those of his many siblings as he looked over at his wife, shrugging his shoulders at her as she quietly bit into her steak.

His wife remained quiet even as she nodded her head in agreement with her husband’s words. Both Mikael and herself had only recently gotten married to one another but as of right now had yet to go on their honeymoon after the Duke had requested his son postpone the young couple’s post wedding plans in order to help resolve several issues around the Duchy that had recently risen to the Duke’s attention.

The Duke and Duchess’s newest daughter-in-law was not at all pleased at having her honeymoon postponed and wasn’t the least bit afraid to show it as well.

“That’s because you were always out hunting. Chasing after whichever animal had the misfortune of wandering into the forests every new season or something to that nature.” Anya, another daughter of the Duke and Duchess, called out as she eyed the newly wedded couple with disdain.

Anya Vesely was in the mists of returning back home to the Vesely estate after having caught her husband in bed with another woman. It was the fourth time that she had caught her soon-to-be ex-husband in such an act and now the divorcing couple was in a custody battle over their four children.

Suffice to say, Anya was not at all thrilled to be in the midst of a newly wedded couple.

“I happen to recall you going out on your own little hunts, Anya.” Galina called out to her sister as eyed her twin sibling with disdain. “Chasing after that husband of yours as he smooth talked his way into other women’s beds.”

“Ex-husband, you mean.” Anya corrected her twin sister as the two of them scoffed at one another.

Just because Anya and Galina happened to be twin sisters to one another, it didn’t mean that the two of them were compelled to like one another. The two of them had been at each other’s throats ever since anyone could remember and would fight each other bloody if either of them had said one wrong word to the other.

A forced cough erupted from Duke Radoslav’s direction as the bear-like patriarch of the Vesely household wordlessly commanded for his child to cease their squabbling.

The siblings of such a prestigious noble family had no choice but to obey the commands of their father as they tightened their lips and nodded their heads to one another in wordless apologies.

“Despite our chef’s tremendous abilities in his cooking, I can’t help but wonder if your compliments were made out of politeness for us having to host you this evening.” The Duke pondered openly as he expertly shifted the conversation back towards the blonde haired elf and his personal life as he sat across from the Duchy’s ruler at the opposite end of the dining table. “Surely the meals that your people serve are at least on par with one such as this or far above my imagining.”

“There are only so many ways to cook a steak, Duke.” Aurelius answered as he smiled towards his host, picking up a nearby handkerchief and dabbing its pristine cloth at a trail of the steak’s blood-red juice that dribbled down the side of his chin. “Though if I’m to be completely honest with you, the tasteless and bland unorthodox meals that I’ve had the misfortune of experiencing these last few years have made me realize that spending time with one’s family during a meal will make even the most mundane of dishes taste the most exquisite.”

“You’ve mentioned a little bit about your family before,” The Duchess stated as she openly recalled bits and pieces of the earlier conversation that she had with the golden haired elf, taking the first bite of her meal after having finally been satisfied with the progress of her daughter in having now eaten most of what was once upon her plate.

“That I have.” Aurelius chuckled as he slyly nodded his head. “Our eight year anniversary has passed not too long ago. Sadly, however, I have the misfortune of informing you all that I had been away on business for most of that time. To me, it feels as if I’ve been married for less than half of that time.”

A remorseful gasp escaped from the Duchess as she looked upon the elven guest with empathy while the Duke remained quiet, silently nodding his head at the elf’s implied meaning.

“What sort of business is it that you do, exactly?” Came the labored, wheezing voice of Baron Pavel as the portly man stared blankly into the emptied vestiges of his drink. “I think that I can speak for everyone here as I’m wondering just why you’ve sought out the Duke while there seems to be far more opportunities for your kind in Porosk instead of a city so far removed from any of our Kingdom’s ports.”

“It’s complicated to try and explain it,” Began Aurelius as all eyes turned to him, smiling at their curious gazes as he gleefully eyed the man who was beginning to show the initial signs of having become inebriated. “But for now, let’s just say that it has its moments where excitement is bountiful and there’s plenty of travelling to do. Not much can be said about the rewards and pay that one might expect to come with such an exhausting livelihood, however.”

Aurelius continued to eye the man eve as a servant closed in and began refilling the Baron’s cup, only to have to immediately refill the cup as the estate’s sole human guest downed the alcoholic beverage with a tremendous speed.

The elven prince smiled towards the Baron as he watched the man down yet another cup, only to have the nearby servant refill it for what must have been nearly the dozenth time. He couldn’t help but be excited to see where the man’s increasingly drunken state would lead their conversation next.

Aurelius’ brows furrowed into a scowling expression, turning the elven prince’s gorgeous features into a web of cruel shadows as he became increasingly irritated at the sight of the Duke and Duchess exchanging pleasantries with the servants of Baron Pavel.

The elven prince’s fingers twitched and tapped against the arms of his chair as he watched the scene unfold before him, peering through the eyes of the Creature from atop of Baron Pavel’s carriage as the latter’s group of mean readied the nobleman’s primary mode of transport in order to facilitate the return trip south.

The Prince’s mood had grown spoiled thanks to the fact that the Baron had drunk himself into such a stupor that the man’s increasingly debilitated form had to be dragged out of the dining hall and onto the awaiting carriage that had been hastily prepared for him.

His foul mood wasn’t because of the fact that his time with his in-laws had been ruined, but instead it was because of the notion that Aurelius had lost any and all possibilities of gleaning an assortment of information from the passed out drunkard.

‘My feelings at the moment don’t matter,’ Aurelius proclaimed to himself as he rested his chin upon the palm of his hand whilst continuing to watch the Baron’s servants force their master into the cabin of his carriage. ‘I’ll catch up to him soon enough and find out for certain what to do with him.’

A lyrical, song-born chuckle forced the prince’s dreary expression to slowly turn into one of a brighter and light-hearted smile as Aurelius caught sight of Argonok’s shadowed form in the corner of his eyes.

‘Not that I don’t know what to do with him already.’

“Spying on the in-laws?” Argonok asked of his elven counterpart as he remained standing from where he appeared. His arms crossed over the front of his chest as he stepped further into the room, eyeing the prince with an unreadable expression upon his face as he trudged his way deeper into the prince’s poorly lit domain.

“Something like that.” Aurelius answered as he cut his connection with the Being atop of the carriage, no longer interested in the mind-numbing interactions between the two groups of humans and their faux politeness towards one another.

With a long, drawn out sigh, Aurelius turned his full attention towards the Fire Guard as the dwarf stopped dead center in the room. Each second that passed without a word said between the two men forced the elven prince to grow increasingly irritated with his dwarven companion as he watched Argonoks’ expression turn into something akin to a contemplating parent who stood on the precipice of deciding whether or not to chastise their wayward child.

“You look like you have something to say.” The elven prince snapped towards the dwarf, no longer willing to abide by his seemingly increasingly dwindling pool of patience that he held for most others these days.

Argonok couldn’t help but shrug at the elf’s irritated tone, silently declaring that he cared little about his companions’ emotional state. No matter how adversarial it felt in both tone and intent when directed towards him.

“I doubt that anything I can say would be able to dissuade you from doing what you plan on doing,” Argonok slowly began as he looked straight into the elf’s eyes. His expression remained unwavering even as the Dark Elven prince scowled heavily at his intended words. “Just don’t be surprised if things start to go south because of what you plan on doing in the near future.”

“For all of the time that we’ve spent together,” Aurelius laughed at the implication left behind from the dwarf’s words, finding the idea of anyone within Ranislava to be capable of hunting him down to be nothing more than a joke of the highest order. “I thought that you would have at least held a little bit more confidence in my abilities.”

“I don’t doubt your abilities in killing.” Argonok stated as the two companions laughed in unison for a brief period in time.

What he said next however, brought a frown to the elven prince’s face.

“But you know that your enemies will see it compelling to ignore you altogether and move towards far more juicier targets once they locked their sights upon you.”