Chapter 76

  We Need to Talk

  “Vivienne?” Third Prince Theo Fiammata asked, a note of surprise and infatuation filling his gaze.

  I was not the only one who saw the Third Prince’s lustful gaze upon Madame Voyou, as Mr. Karl had already stood to his full intimidating seven foot plus tall stature. Letting his massive frame rise up and block the vision of the obsessively staring princeling.

  There was a staticky discharging from behind me, one that instantly drew the attention of the prince and his entourage of three guards and a well-dressed butler guy. Or at least someone that I would expect to play the role of a butler, or a live action version of that monocle wearing Peanut guy.

  The crisp sound of forceful footsteps can be heard from behind me, as Mr. Yi, the person who just exited from the rift appears and begins to step forward, taking up his rightful protective position in front of me. His actions slow and deliberate. Not threatening, but his hand does not leave his sheathed blade for a second. I am not the only one who notices the gesture and realizes that while everything is momentarily calm, things could go violent in a second.

  It is at this point that I realize that Mr. Yi has once again let his eyes glow their golden yellow color, something that at first makes no sense as there are no demons or spirits nearby. It is only after a second of thought, and seeing the slight shiver of fear that crosses the princeling’s face that I realize this is mostly an intimidation factor.

  Madame Bloom, opens her mouth and seems ready to say something, but that is when the last and final person from our group decided to make his own appearance. An intense burst of electricity crackles out, discharging energy from behind us in a wave that causes the hair on my head to rise up for a second. That same burst rushes past us, causing jolts and sparks to lash out illuminating the armor wearing guards and the princeling’s own sparkling metal gear with what would appear to be the ultimate case of static discharge, as if they had walked across the world’s largest rug.

  With the newcomers temporarily stunned by the shock, there is a pregnant pause that settles over us as I turn to see Markan, emerging from the rift, his actions seeming to show that he is completely oblivious to the mounting tensions that were building up a moment ago.

  “Huff, huff, wheeze,” Markan let out an exhausted breath, as he emerged from the rift that now seemed to be closing slowly behind him. Immediately emerging, taking two steps to the left, before bending over at the waist and panting heavily.

  We all turned to stare at Markan, who after a few moments began talking, as if he didn’t notice anyone around him. As if he didn’t realize the tension that had been building up moments ago where Mr. Yi had to use his golden eyes to show direct confrontation. Even now, I looked to see that Mr. Yi would occasionally glance back at Markan, but once Mr. Yi was certain Markan was safe, he turned his intimidating stare back at the Princeling and his entourage. Mr. Karl too turned his attention back to the Princeling, and while he hadn’t unsheathed his battleaxe, I did notice that Madame Voyou had hopped down from his broad back and already had her hands ready to draw her violin and its bow in a second. As for me, I found my own hand resting on my own sheathed practice sword. Not even realizing that my hand was there, until I realized it was at that perfect spot to rest and prepare myself for what would happen next.

  While we were all awkwardly staring forward, ready to act as a team, Markan still oblivious to what was happening, began talking to the ground.

  “No, no, don’t wait up for me. I’ll be, huff, fine,” Markan let out as he finally regained enough of a breath to start talking. It wasn’t until he realized that no one responded that he suddenly stopped and instinctively rose to full height before looking over and began staring at the reason why everyone was now quiet. Looking up, Markan paused as he saw that there were now two, well possibly three factions as Madame Bloom seemed to be a third party to this whole ordeal. That’s when Madame Bloom took a commanding step forward, deliberately placing herself between the Princeling and his entourage and the five of us.

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  “Report,” Madame Bloom commanded, her commanding presence demanding instant respect and authority. I could almost swear she was using some form of mental suggestion, as I felt my own mouth opening to respond, but I didn’t even know where to begin. Fortunately, Markan was quick to recover and moving forward in front of me, he too began to speak.

  “General,” Markan began his voice a bit ragged as he was still clearly regaining his breath, while still snapping to attention and rendering a perfectly crisp military salute. A salute that was returned by Madame Bloom, allowing Markan to relax his posture a bit, while he never stopped issuing out details. “I wanted to confirm that we have successfully neutralized the rift site, and managed to clear the rift creature.”

  “Most importantly,” Markan began, but then paused as he looked from Madame Bloom, to the Princeling and his entourage and then back.

  “Most importantly?” Madame Bloom questioned, as she did a slight look of gotcha filled Markan’s face as he had apparently got her with that whole parroting game, but quickly reigned in his features when he saw that Madame Bloom was not in a playful mood. Seeing her expression, he quickly composed himself and responded.

  “There are private details about the team composition that should be addressed in private.”

  “Very well,” Madame Bloom responded, and then proceeded to stare at all of us, a faint trace of blue light filling her gaze as she looked over all of us. Her eyes stopping on me for a moment as I felt a slight chill at the intensity of her gaze. A faint smile crested her lips as she nodded with satisfaction before glancing at the others. Only once she was done inspecting all of us did she glance over her shoulder before continuing, “you all are dismissed. Thank you for your service and support to the Empire. You all may go.”

  With that dismissal I saw the posture of everyone slightly relax around me, as apparently the other members of my team were on edge around the apparent General. Their reactions seemed odd, especially considering their capabilities in combat, each a specialized but fully capable soldier in their own right.

  With the order for dismissal given, Madame Bloom turned to face the Princeling and the others, but suddenly stopped as she realized we had not left. Seeing that we were still just standing in our same positions, she questioned.

  “Are you waiting for something?”

  “Where should we go?” Markan finally asked, a look of confusion on his face as he turned to glance at the princeling and his entourage of highly trained guards, and the monocle guy.

  “To the Bloom Estate, don’t worry, I will meet you there when I am finished up here,” Madame Bloom responded as it if was the obvious choice. Hearing the words, Markan paused as he seemed to want more clarification.

  “Right, but if we leave now, how will you get home?” Markan asked.

  “In the carriage, obviously,” Madame Bloom responded. There was a pause as the order crossed Markan’s face for a moment, then he seemed to realize what she was implying, but decided to state the obvious anyways.

  “You want us to run?” Markan asked.

  “Well, you can walk as well, but you do not want to get there after I do,” Madame Bloom responded. For a moment Markan looked defeated as he pointed to the slowly closing rift. Actually, looking at the rift and the way it seemed to be slowly dissolving was oddly fascinating, like watching a mirror slowly melt away into floating vapors.

  “Judging by how you struggled to come in last place, I think you could use more conditioning,” Madame Bloom noted. Markan dejected drooped his shoulders and looked like he was going to make one last push to steal the carriage, but was cut off, “now go.”

  As Madame Bloom gave her final order to us, she quickly tilted her head slightly, while also gesturing with her eyes to her left, towards the princeling and his retinue. The hint was clear, that we needed to go while she handled these guys.

  “Yes, General,” Markan responded while giving a salute back to Madame Bloom. After that, we all silently followed Markan out of Bloom Park. Going towards the exit, as we moved, I saw the park bench where we first met Mr. Karl and Madame Voyou both sitting and apparently waiting for us to appear.

  “Hey, do you want to come with us?” Markan offered. As he asked, I could see Mr. Karl shrug his shoulders in a noncommittal gesture. He was just about to open his mouth and offer his opinion, when he was abruptly cut off by a demanding coo.

  “Honey. After all of that, we need to talk,” Madame Voyou began, her eyes gleaming brightly as she stared lovingly at Mr. Karl. However, the word she chose sent an instant chill down Mr. Karl’s spine as his mind tried to process the difference between her words chosen and her actions.

  “Do you mean we need to talk-talk, or talk,” Mr. Karl asked, making sure to stress the talk part at the end adding a bit of innuendo to the word.

  Biting her lower lip, Madame Voyou paused as she stared at Mr. Karl, then taking a deep breath she responded, “we need to talk, now.” Making sure to add a husky flare to her voice as she left no illusion of what she was referring to. Hearing her words, Mr. Karl trembled slightly as his mind and body seemed to realize what was being hinted at.

  “Right, sorry guys. Change of plans, I can’t play now. I need to go home now. I’ll see you all later tonight,” Mr. Karl let out as he scooped up Madame Voyou and quickly began princess carrying her out of the park. As he grabbed, her she lovingly wrapped her arms around Mr. Karl's neck as a giant smile filled her face. Seeing that look, it was clear that all that fighting and moving through the muck and grime of the rift to carry her out was all worth it, as they seemed like a perfect couple. One that almost made me believe in love. As for me, I never had anyone, though I did want to make it a goal to at least try in this lifetime. I even had someone in mind, someone that I swore to myself I would at least try for later tonight. That was the promise that I made to myself as I watched the duo turn left, as sunlight shined straight down on the massive battle axe strapped to Mr. Karl's back.

  Then like that, it was just Mr. Yi, Markan, and myself left in the park. If I looked back, I could almost make out the position where Madame Bloom and the Princeling were still in deep discussions.

  “Come on, let’s do as the General ordered,” Mr. Yi stated, and not even waiting for a reply he turned and began running. Seeing him take off, I glanced with Markan who shrugged and then we both began to run. At the very least, I was doing something that I loved, which made this at least bearable.