Eternal Night (II) Chapter 31: A King without His Quee, a van helsing fanfic

Anybody care to know what our villainous assholes are up to? No? Just me? Okay then...

Chapter 31
A King without His Queen

Three Weeks Later

The impressive blaze in the hearth not three feet away did nothing to ward off the chill in the room, nor the shadows that lingered just on the fringes. The air was heavy and still, a tremendous weight left to settle unseen; a nagging hint of worry lightly scratching at the back of the brain, warning of danger, though it never seemed to come.

Basilio shifted in his chair as if doing so would dispel his own discomfort, but the movement offered him no reprieve. Marcus Augustine was still seated across from him in his seat, leaning back with an elbow on the armrest as he absently ran the side of his forefinger over his lip. His brows were furrowed in a pensive expression as he scanned the chessboard between them, considering his next move. The spider cleared his throat, returning his attention to the faintly illuminated tablet in his hand as he continued in his review of the latest state of affairs. Basilio did his best to keep his voice as disinterested as possible while he read aloud, belying the well of frustration and unease that resided just beneath the surface.

"That's it?" he asked, holding the tablet up as if to show the leader seated before him, his expression pure incredulity. "That's all you have on her? Just a rumored siting in a cemetery? No evidence? No other alliance members? Not even a bloody picture?"

Marcus said nothing, still considering his next move.

Clearly, he was more invested in their game of chess than he was with the issue at hand.

Basilio's uneasiness gave way to his growing irritation with the incompetency before him and in a display that was more childish than intimidating, he snarled and violently tossed the electronic device into the fire. The sound of the tech shattering in the blaze was deafening in comparison to the persistent silence of the room. Still, Marcus' gaze never wavered from the board, his expression impassive, indifferent to his counterpart's temper tantrum. The spider stood, furious at his sovereign's disinterestedness.

"It's been months since the incident at the blood factory, Marcus, and even after calling her out directly – which you assured me would be enough to bring the bitch out into the open – your spies have still had no sign of her! Of anyone in the alliance!"

"Sit down, Basilio," Augustine answered evenly, moving only to adjust one of his pieces on the board between them. When the Spaniard neglected to obey, Marcus finally looked up at him, his expression sending a chill down the man's spine. Angry, but not enough to remain obstinate, Basilio returned to his chair with an overly dramatic display of concession. He even bowed a little as he did so.

Augustine rolled his eyes a bit, but said nothing more.

"I don't understand how you can be so calm about all of this."

Still nothing.

"The outrage you had hoped to inspire with your little exposé barely lasted 48 hours before petering out again. And while the woman herself hasn't come out of hiding, I know how pernicious she can be. No doubt she's planning her next move with the alliance. If we don't get out in front of their retaliation soon, Marcus, if we don't double our efforts and squash them now while we still have the upper hand…"

"There's no need. Your move."

"No need?" Basilio repeated in disbelief. He then barked out a hollow laugh. "Wasn't it you who stated rather emphatically that we shouldn't underestimate the Duchesse de Chacier?"

"Yes – and we shouldn't."

Basilio moved a pawn rather haphazardly, missing the look of triumph that sparkled in Marcus' eyes when he was able to overtake it with one of his bishops.

"Then why are you more interested in this game," and he waved his hand over the chess board, "than you are with the task at hand?"

"Because I have it under control," Augustine stated with confidence.

"You'll forgive my candor, your majesty, but from where I'm sitting, I don't believe you do," and he moved his queen, overtaking Marcus' bishop.

The corner of Augustine's lips twitched as if in satisfaction and he leaned forward a little in his seat, finally bringing his attention to the man seated in front of him.

"And why is that?" he asked, moving one of his knights forward.

"Because if you had this situation under control, the alliance would have been eradicated by now, the wolves would be under your heel, and Frankie Chase would be behind bars."

Basilio took his queen and moved the piece, overtaking one of Augustine's rooks.

"You seem to be full of ideas. What would you propose I do?" and he moved one of his pawns.

"Strike her and the alliance at their center – their inner circle. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If you want to eradicate the resistance, you should infiltrate their forces and destroy them from the inside out," and he moved his queen again, overtaking Augustine's knight. "Especially now that we've received confirmation that Rémy Chase and your Duchess are brother and sister. You've already taken her parents from her. If you really wanted to draw her out, taking out those closest to her – her brother, her friends – would be the obvious move. If it were up to me, I would slaughter them all."

"That's a little difficult to do when we have no idea where they're hiding," Marcus pointed out. "And besides, I want to remove the threat, Basilio. Not enrage it. You'll get your revenge on Rémy Chase soon enough, but not yet. You must be patient."

Augustine then moved his remaining knight, taking out one of the spider's bishops.

"There have been rumors."

"What rumors?" Marcus inquired, still the picture of utter calm.

"The Dracul Sânge live."

"I could have told you that."

"Yes, you could have. So why didn't you?"

"I didn't feel you needed to know."

"You had something to do with their disappearance, didn't you?"

Augustine said nothing, only shrugged.

"I just did what needed to be done. I needed Vladislaus out of my way and the blood hex was the most effective method…"

Basilio's expression shifted as if he had just put pieces of a very old puzzle together.

"That explains a lot. You know, that reminds me, I've also be hearing a lot of whispers coming from the magic community about a blood hex."

"They can't break it even if they wanted to," Marcus insisted confidently. "The ritual requires a sacrifice no one on this earth could survive, and the blood of the dragon, fresh from the vein – the latter of which would be impossible for them to acquire without risking their own destruction."

"Seems you thought of everything," the spider replied, but there was a twinge of sarcasm in his tone that Augustine didn't particularly care for.

"I had been planning the usurping of my brother for decades, Basilio. I can assure you, I've been most thorough. Even if the Dracul Sânge joined themselves with the alliance, even if the werewolves were to claim open allegiance to Rémy Chase and his band of misfits… even if Dracula himself were to lead them, there is no power on heaven or earth that can undo what I've done. Not even the devil himself could rip this kingdom from my hands. Vladislaus could try, but he can't destroy me. That fool has grown so soft over the centuries and with his children gone and his friends and allies all but eradicated, he wouldn't have it in him to stop me even if he wanted to."

"Maybe. But if he were ever to ally himself with her, she could do it for him."

The spider finally made his move, moving his queen to overtake Augustine's last surviving bishop and checking his king. Instead of getting agitated, however, the man leaned back in his seat, holding Basilio's gaze with an unreadable expression.

"Yes. Perhaps at one point, Francesca could have," he admitted at last, allowing his words to linger in the air. "Should she ever tap into the power locked away inside of her, then and only then would I have reason to fear. But I took care of that little problem a long time ago. She's a nuisance, but she'll never be anything more than that."

"What makes you so confident?"

Marcus leaned forward again and reached for an unsuspecting pawn.

In a move that was so obvious, Basilio couldn't even believe he had overlooked it, Augustine took out the spider's queen, leaving his final rook and knight to checkmate the opposing king, ending the game.

He then sat back in his chair once more, smug, both elbows on the arm rests as he folded his hands in front of him.

"A king is nothing without his queen," Marcus stated simply. "And Vladislaus, for all his… qualities and potential, has always had one fatal flaw."

Augustine held up his finger before reaching across the board to pick up Basilio's king. He studied the ebony chess piece with a contemplative look.

"He cares, in spite of himself," Marcus continued. "About his children, the few friends he has, his people, his homeland… If they were ever to cross paths, Francesca de Chacier would never take him in – not after what I did to her, and in his name no less. Her hatred and pain runs far too deep and the moment he learned the truth of it, he would distance himself. You have to understand, Basilio, I broke the great dragon when I took his children away from him. If he knew the true extent of Francesca's suffering because of the prophecy, the guilt coupled with the loss he's already endured – it would drive him to further isolation or even a self-loathing madness."

"You think so?"

"I'm certain of it," he answered with confidence. "You weren't there the night he 'lost' the Dracul Sânge. It nearly destroyed him. Some of my finest work, actually."

"Have there been any sightings of him in the city?"

"None whatsoever," Marcus confirmed, tossing the chess piece in his hand up into the air casually before catching it. "If I know him well enough, he's undoubtedly chosen to live in exile in the mountains somewhere," and he placed Basilio's king back down onto the board before rising from his chair to stand by the fire.

"But what about the Dracul Sânge resurfacing in Budapest? Surely that should be a cause for concern. Have you talked to Elina?"

"We interrogated her for hours after Mariella's journals went missing, but her alibi was rock solid. She wasn't involved. She wasn't even aware the dragon's brats were still alive."

"I still don't understand why you didn't off them when you had the chance forty years ago. Maybe Dracula isn't the only one that cares."

Augustine's expression narrowed in disapproval at Basilio's baited comment, but instead of responding, he huffed out a short and censorious breath, returning his gaze to the flames.

"There's still one thing I don't understand," the spider continued, standing now to join his counterpart by the fire. "Even if Frankie Chase hates Dracula, surely her hatred of you would outweigh any animosity she could feel for him. You were the one that tortured her for half a decade, turned her blood to poison."

Augustine turned to walk away, but Basilio persisted.

"She's not stupid, Marcus. Even if she hated Dracula, as you suggest, she'd be a fool not to see the benefits of allying herself with him – even if they can't be blood-bound, she's resourceful and she's resilient. She could find a way around your circumnavigation."

"She won't."

The spider materialized across the room, positioning himself between Marcus and the door, blocking the exit.

"I'm growing weary of your apathy, Augustine," the Spaniard snapped impatiently. "It's going to get us killed."

"You, perhaps, but not me," and he made to move around the vampire, but Basilio would not be ignored. He shoved Augustine away from the door, snarling, fangs out.

"What was in those journals, Marcus? What was so important about them that someone felt the need to break into the palace and steal them? That made you stupid enough to even keep them around in the first place?"

Enraged that the man had had the gall to touch him, let alone question him, Augustine moved with inhuman speed, snatching the spider by the throat and slamming him into the door, pinning him there with his brute strength. The impact sent the wood to splinter, fracturing around the vampire's body like a web.

"I don't particularly care for the implications in your tone, Basilio. Nor do I appreciate the insults," he stated plainly, voice eerily level and calm. But his eyes were illuminated with rage and he tightened his grip on the man's neck, relishing in the feel of his esophagus collapsing beneath his palm. "Those journals contain nothing that could benefit Dracula or his allies."

"But… the prophecy…" the spider managed to choke out, struggling to pry his king's grip from his throat.

"Can never be fulfilled because the dragon cannot claim what is his," he hissed. "If he does, he dies, and with him the rest of your pitiful kind!"

Marcus then released him, shoving the man as he did so and Basilio fell to his knees, coughing roughly as his neck slowly healed.

"Don't you understand, you pernicious arachnid? She can't touch me – none of them can. If they want a war, I can give them one, but it would avail them nothing. I cannot be destroyed! Not by Dracula, the Dracul Sânge, the lycans… not even your precious Madame Nemo could stop me!"

"No… but there are things far worse than true death, Marcus," Basilio managed and he rose slowly from the ground, holding the gaze of the usurper before him with boldness. "Unlike most, I know very well what you have sacrificed to sit on your stolen throne…"

"IT IS MINE!" Augustine interjected, shouting at him; but the abrupt display of outrage didn't even faze the spider. "It was always supposed to be mine!"

"Regardless," he answered coolly, "It can still be taken away."

"Are you threatening me, Basilio?"

"No, sire, I would never dream of doing so. I have no desire to be king – even a pretend one." Marcus growled at him, getting in his face, but the spider held his ground. "I only mean to remind you that while you may have saved yourself from ever meeting true death, and at a woman's hands no less, you still have much to lose. It would be wise, your majesty, if you took the threats at your door a little more seriously."

"And what would you have me do, hmm? Release another outbreak of the virus? Perhaps you would like to carry that out to the people for me?"

"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but you're running low on allies, Marcus. Threatening what few you have left wouldn't be the most intelligent course of action."

"I don't need you!"

Basilio shrugged.

"Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. But believe me, you wouldn't want me as your enemy."

Augustine paused, studying the man before him as if in search of something before replying,

"You want something."

The spider only nodded.

"Well, come on then. Out with it!"

"I want Francesca de Chacier."

"What? Her head? Can't be done."

"No… I want her. If she cannot be destroyed, then I want her neutralized. I want her submission."

Marcus actually laughed at that.

"You don't understand the threat that she poses," Basilio continued, insistent.

"Oh, I understand. I just don't care the way that you do."

"You're a fool not to."

That put an end to Augustine's good humor. His expression darkened.

"What do you want? Permission to hunt her? By all means! Be my guest. It's not like you need my blessing for that."

"That's not all I want. I wish to break her; to finish what you could not."

"And how do you propose we do that? You don't know her like I do. You think you understand how deep her willfulness runs, but you cannot even begin to fathom…"

"All stubborn beasts can be broken. It just takes the right amount of pressure."

Augustine's gaze narrowed suspiciously.

"What kind of pressure?"

"Well," and the spider motioned back toward their seats by the fire, a silent invitation for them to sit back down, "I believe you had the right idea initially when she was last in your care – to take those things which are most precious to her. I'm merely suggesting that we finish what you had started."

"You really have it out for her brother, don't you?"

"I won't deny that the prospect of slicing him up into tiny little pieces certainly has its appeal, but I have half a mind to save him for last. I propose we begin with her inner circle. We already know that she's connected to the alliance – and if my instincts are correct, I'd hazard a guess to say that she's intimately involved. If we can eradicate the inner circle of the alliance, not only will we cut off the rebellion at its head, but we'll have effectively destroyed all that she holds dear here in Budapest. Her friends, her family…"

"Her brother," Marcus finished, following his train of thought.

"He is the last of her kin, isn't he? According to your source?"

"Of her immediate family, yes. That I know with absolute certainty."

"And grief, as we well know, has a habit of making one reckless…"

"Giving us further justification for incarcerating her. Yes. She could end up taking out a fraction of the population in the process if that footage you found is to be believed. If that happened, the people would turn on her for sure."

"A sacrifice well worth making," Basilio insisted. "Dracula may not be able to 'claim' his queen, as you put it, at least by blood; but we need to ensure that she is removed from the board entirely if we are to guarantee the longevity of your… reign."

"I have a few ideas of how we can do that, once she's in our custody."

"I'm sure you do."

A tense silence lingered between the two men as Marcus visibly mulled all of this over. When it was clear he had made a decision, he nodded, gaze returning to Basilio.

"You have permission to do what needs to be done. Use whatever resources you require to identify, track down, and annihilate her inner circle. Draw it out. Make it excruciating. Make her watch if you can. If the council or law enforcement give you any grief, I will handle them directly."

The spider bowed dramatically.

"You are too generous, my liege."

Augustine waved his hand, rolling his eyes as he dismissed him.

"Go. See to it immediately. We strike, and we strike hard, Basilio. Give her nowhere to hide."

"Oh, I assure you, that won't be a problem at all. But while I take care of the woman, I need you to crack down on the dragon's brats. I can't afford any more interference."

"I'll take care of them."

"Good. It's been a pleasure, as always, your majesty," and he bowed his head once more as he made his way toward the exit. Before he could depart, however, Marcus spoke, bringing his retreat to a halt.

"Basilio?"

"Yes, my king?"

"Don't get too cocky," he warned, his expression perfectly grave. "You do, and this entire enterprise could come crumbling down around us. You make one wrong move that gives her an advantage and she will use that to return your vengeance one hundred fold."

"You say that as if you know from experience."

Augustine didn't answer right away, allowing his silence and the look in his eyes to speak volumes enough.

"There's a reason why it's taken me centuries to get to this point. If you fuck this up for me, if you give her any kind of edge… death at her hands would be a mercy in comparison to what I'll do to you."

A little unnerved by the threat, the spider merely nodded his head in acknowledgement before he turned and then departed from the room.