The road leading away from the Edger estate was long and winding, carved through the dense forests that separated the northern counties. The rhythmic sound of hooves striking the dirt was the only thing that filled the air.
Selena and Lyssa rode their horses at a steady pace, their cloaks fluttering in the wind. The morning sun was bright, but both women were lost in their own thoughts, still processing the sheer impossibility of what they had seen at the count mansion.
Lyssa looked over at Selena. Her partner's face was unreadable, a mask of calm that hid whatever she was truly feeling. Lyssa couldn't hold it in any longer. She pulled her reins slightly, bringing her horse closer to Selena's.
"Selena," Lyssa started, her voice barely louder than the wind. "Are we really doing this? Are we really going back to the headquarters and telling them that we found nothing?"
Selena didn't look at her right away. She kept her eyes on the road ahead. "What would you have me say, Lyssa? That we found a High Elf who has enslaved a Marquess? That there is an army of a thousand Denares soldiers camping on the lawn of a minor count because they think they're hunting phantom mercenaries? If we tell Thorne the truth, he won't believe us. Or worse, he will believe us and send a legion to wipe that house off the map before we can understand what is actually happening."
Lyssa bit her lip. "But it's our job. We are investigators for the Duke. If that elf is as dangerous as he looks, isn't it our duty to report him?"
Selena finally turned her head. Her eyes were sharp. "Dangerous? Yes, he is dangerous. But did you see the way those other elves looked at him? They didn't look like slaves. They looked like people who had finally found a reason to breathe. And Elora Denares... she wasn't a prisoner. She was standing by his side of her own free will."
Selena slowed her horse to a walk, and Lyssa followed suit.
"I have a hunch, Lyssa," Selena continued, her voice lowering. "The world has been the same for a long time. The Elves are broken, the Nobles are greedy, and people like us just follow orders while the Duke pulls the strings. But that boy... Eon... he is a variable we haven't seen in a long time. Reporting him now would just put him in a cage. I want to see what he does when he's free. I think, for the first time in my life, something good might actually happen if we just stay out of the way for a while."
Lyssa sighed, her shoulders dropping. "You always were the one with the intuition. Fine. We keep quiet. But if this blows up in our faces, I'm telling everyone it was your idea."
Selena gave a small, rare smile. "Fair enough. Let's get moving. The longer we take to get back, the more Thorne will bark."
The Investigation Headquarters was a cold, gray stone building located in between count Edger estate and count Hyra estate. It was a place of endless paperwork, hushed whispers, and the smell of stale ink. Inside, mages and clerks scurried about, carrying files that decided the fates of thousands of people.
Selena and Lyssa walked through the halls, their boots clicking on the polished floor. They stopped in front of a heavy door with a brass plaque that read: Commander Thorne.
Selena knocked once.
"Come in!" a harsh, impatient voice shouted from inside.
They entered the room. It was a cluttered office, filled with maps and magical scrolls. Commander Thorne was sitting behind a desk, his face red with irritation. He was a man who lived for rules and results, and he had very little patience for anything else.
"Well?" Thorne barked, not even looking up from the report he was writing. "I assume you're back because you finally realized you were wasting my time at the Edger estate."
Selena stood at attention, her face perfectly blank. "We've completed our scout of the area, Commander. As suspected, the report of illegal activities was a misunderstanding. The mansion is under the control of House Denares. Lord Alaric is present and in command. There were no signs of a High Elf uprising or any hidden rebel forces."
Thorne slammed his pen down on the desk and looked up. His eyes were narrowed with spite. "Of course there weren't! I told you that days ago! Why do you think I was so angry when you insisted on going back there? You are supposed to be one of the top-tier knight, Selena. You graduated from the Royal Magic Academy with honors, and yet you spend your time chasing false rumors in a minor county estate!"
Selena didn't flinch. "We were following a lead, sir."
"A lead from a drunk informant!" Thorne yelled, standing up. "If you're going to be this useless in the field, maybe you should just take an office job. We have plenty of files that need filing. You could spend your days organizing tax records instead of bothering noblemen like the Denares brothers."
He pointed a finger at Selena. "I'm sending you on a different mission. To the southern border. There's a report of a trade dispute that needs a knight's oversight. It's boring, it's tedious, and it's exactly what you deserve for wasting my resources. Now, get out of my sight before I decide to demote both of you."
Selena saluted. "Yes, Commander."
They walked out of the office, closing the door quietly behind them. As soon as they were a safe distance away, Lyssa let out a quiet, mocking laugh.
"When I was in school," Lyssa whispered, her eyes dancing with amusement, "I really thought the Duke's investigation network was the pinnacle of human intelligence. I thought they knew everything. But look at him. Thorne is sitting there, feeling so superior, while he has absolutely no clue that a single Elf is currently making a puppet out of one of the most powerful lords in the North."
She shook her head, leaning against a stone pillar. "I really overestimated them. The quality of work here is embarrassing. They don't even see the house fire when they're standing in the middle of the kitchen."
Selena looked back at Thorne's door. "They only see what they expect to see, Lyssa. They think Elves are animals, so they don't look for leaders among them. Their own arrogance is the best cloak Eon could ever ask for."
"Well," Lyssa said, pushing off the pillar. "Let's go do our boring trade mission. The Edger mansion is 'perfectly normal,' and everyone lived happily ever after. At least, that's what the files will say."
Hundreds of miles away, far from the bickering of low-level commanders, sat a mansion that made the Edger estate look like a shack. This was the seat of power for the North, a place of white marble and gold leaf.
Inside a private training hall, a man was just finishing a sparring session. He was in his mid-forties, but his body was a testament to decades of brutal physical training. He wasn't just lean; he was thick with muscle, his chest and arms scarred from a hundred battles. Even in his sweat-soaked training gear, he radiated a sense of absolute authority.
This was the Duke of the North. Ten years ago, he was the man who led the final charge against the Elven capital. He was the one who had personally slaughtered their king and broken the back of their resistance. Time had not yet softened him. If anything, it had made him more dangerous.
The Duke walked over to a bench and took a seat, picking up a towel to wipe his face. He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a short nap to let his muscles recover from the intensity of his workout.
Suddenly, the air in the training-room shifted. A patch of shadow near the wall seemed to detach itself and move toward the Duke. A man dressed in a pitch-black cloak and a featureless mask emerged from the darkness. He was a Shadow Mage, part of the Duke's personal, secret spy network.
The spy knelt silently, waiting for his master to speak.
The Duke didn't open his eyes. "Report."
"My Lord," the spy said, his voice a hollow whisper. "We have traces from the Edger mansion. Our agents who have visited that house have confirmed something the local headquarters missed."
The Duke opened one eye. It was a cold, piercing blue. "Go on."
"There are elves roaming freely inside the mansion," the spy reported. "They are not in chains. They are not in the slave quarters. They are armed, and they are acting as guards. Furthermore, Lord Darius Denares is confirmed dead. Lord Alaric is present, but his behavior is... inconsistent with his usual personality. He is following the lead of a High Elf boy."
The Duke sat up slowly. The air in the room seemed to grow heavier. "And the investigators? Selena and her partner?"
"They reported to Commander Thorne that they found nothing," the spy replied. "They are hiding the truth, likely out of curiosity or some misplaced sympathy."
The Duke let out a low, rumbling grunt. "Did the local headquarters find out about this report? Did anyone else get this information?"
"No, My Lord. We followed the protocol for 'Elf-related anomalies.' The information was bypassed directly to you. Commander Thorne and the rest of the base believe the house is clean."
The Duke stood up, reaching for a fine silk coat that was draped over a chair. As he put it on, his terrifying warrior aura seemed to vanish. He looked like a refined, handsome nobleman from a prestigious family. He looked like a man you could trust.
"Is Arnold the one who was in charge of that search to the count house?" the Duke asked, adjusting his cuffs.
"Yes, My Lord. Commander Arnold oversees that sector."
"Good," the Duke said, a small, cruel smile touching his lips. "Ask him to meet me as soon as he can. I want to hear his explanation for why his subordinates are lying to him. You may leave now. I have to go pick up my daughter from her training hall. She hates it when I'm late."
The spy bowed and vanished back into the shadows.
The Duke stood alone in the training hall for a moment. He looked out the window toward the distant horizon. He thought about the war ten years ago. He thought about the smell of burning forests and the screams of the elves as their civilization was dismantled piece by piece.
"Are the elves making a comeback after all this time?" the Duke murmured to himself. He looked at his hands, the hands that had strangled a High Elf king. "Let's see. Maybe they just need some cleaning up once in a while. It's been a decade after all. People forget. I'll have to remind them why the North belongs to me."
The cruel look in his eyes was unmistakable. He wasn't just a ruler; he was a predator. And he had just found a new prey to swallow.
He walked out of the hall, the sound of his boots were steady and purposeful. He was going to be a father now, a kind nobleman picking up his child. But beneath the silk coat, the monster was awake and hungry.
Eon and his people were no longer just hiding from the law. They were now in the sights of the man who had destroyed their world once before. And this time, the Duke wouldn't stop until there was nothing left but ash.
Author note: What do you think of the so-called Duke's introduction? Does he feel as domineering as everyone claims to be? Tell me in the comments.
👑 Support the Story & Read Ahead! 👑
Unlock Exclusive Access:
🚀 20-Chapter Head-Start on the public release! https://www.patreon.com/posts/instant-access-144074236?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
🎨 Access to Exclusive Character Art, lore, and much more.
Discord Link: [https://discord.gg/2D7YUsma5s]