The Price to Pay

For weeks the royal family was invited to feast and balls in honour of the new prince of D'Hara. Everyone was gay and happy, and ignorant of the war that was still raging against that damn Seeker of Truth and the Resistance. For once, Rahl was not being badgered on when he would just give up the furtive fight or when he would just send out his mages to burn them all to a crisp, no questions asked. Everyone just left him alone and he liked it.

The only piece of information that threatened his peace was the rumours of a terrifying beast running rampage in the forest surrounding the palace. He was asked many times if it were one of his creations, made to protect the new prince from any enemy. Of course he had no idea what they were talking about but he played along and claimed to have it all under control.

He realized that he would have to investigate the claim when more than one commoner complained about his flock being attacked but a horrendous beast and a plea for the king to keep his beast under control and better fed if needed; after all, he couldn't let himself be known as the king that let his people suffer to protect his son. He sent a squad to search the woods to see if the beast was true or fiction, conjured up by a mix of too much drink, late night parties and superstition. In a matter of hours, he hoped to have this whole mess cleaned up and explained; but he did not know what he was facing here.

Sure enough, he received word from the squad that they had found the beast and that it was just as horrifying and gruesome as told to be, but that it would be no match for their swords and brave hearts. They promised a quick end to the beast and a new head to be mounted on the king's hunting trophy wall. A matter of minutes later, there was a new message in a rather different tone. It told of the battle between the beast and solders. The beast literally ripping the corpses of live men apart as if they were paper dolls and hungrily pursuing them solders as they tried to retreat to regroup. The beast hadn't initiated the attack, but once attacked, had fought back with the ruthlessness of a mad man.

Rahl shuttered as he read the gory descriptions. He managed to compose himself enough to write a reply for the remaining solders to track the beast and watch it for a day to study its habits before returning to the palace to report. He stated clearly for them not to attack the beast unless absolutely necessary. He decided that with the information they would gather, he would be able to send out a new squad, or two, and to kill the beast when it was the most vulnerable.

He found it odd that this beast had not left the forest and rampaged through the country yet. It was obviously capable of felling more than a couple sheep and scaring a few young people going into the forest for a bit of moonlit fun. It was apparent that someone was obviously controlling the thing and in which case the person possessed a quite significant gift. He would have noticed if it was anyone in a palace and most of the villagers around these parts couldn't possibly have any trace of magic left in them besides the one placed on him to obey the king. This person must be hiding in the woods or must be a newcomer in the towns, and he would have to find a way to use them to his advantage. Something clicked into place in his head and a smirk fell on his lips. He knew what he would going to do

*~*~*

"Just to make sure you all have heard me correctly, because I wouldn't be very happy if any of you disobeyed my orders, you are to capture the beast, NOT kill it," Rahl said.

There was a soft murmur in the crowd of men standing below him. They obviously wanted to stick the beast through and avenge the men that the beast had murdered. They would heed him though, he knew it.

"I know you all might be tempted to kill the beast, but you all must be patient. Once we capture the wizard that is controlling the creature, then you can kill it."

There was a murmur again and they all seemed happier with this plan, as long as they got to kill the thing eventually. He smiled slightly to himself as he dismissed his men. They quickly made off for the woods and were ready to catch the monster. His smile slowly faded as he remembered what Shara had said the past night.

He had been writing up orders and signing documents in his study when she had come to him. He had been smug and happy with his plan and couldn't wait to have another powerful wizard on his side. He felt as if the Creature was on his side, sending him all these mages to control. He hadn't taken her seriously at the time but at night, while he was lying next to her, he couldn't help but wonder if she had a point.

She had said that maybe he shouldn't go after this beast. Maybe the person controlling the thing was just trying to protect his new prince and that it was his gift to the family. Maybe taking the beast from the forest would make the mage mad and he would set it loose on the palace. Then his new son would be in trouble and it would be on him.

Her other hypothesis was that maybe this was all just another clever ploy of the Resistance or the Seeker and his followers. Maybe it was just a way for them to gain access to the palace and kill both the prince and king in one go. Then she would be left alone and vulnerable and would inevitably be killed too. As much as death would grant her an eternal life with her husband and son, she was hardly too pressed to go through that whole process.

Again, at the time it had seemed ridiculous and just the worried musing of a concerned wife, but now that he thought about it, they were both very possible. He shook off the feeling of doubt and decided that he was right in doing this but that next time he might give Shara's word more creditability and thought before executing the plan. He walked back to his chambers and waited for word from his solders.

*~*~*

Shara felt fidgety all day. She knew what Rahl planned on doing and that the Keeper was hardly all that pleased with what was going on. He had warned her against letting him carry through with the capture of the beast but despite her best efforts of pleading, and she had really done her best both during and after the debate to try to persuade him to stop and think, he had gone on with it.

She paced nervously with Alric in her arms and realized that he was crying. She tried to settle him but she could hardly settle herself, how could she calm her crying infant son? She handed him over to his nurse and made for her study to pace there a bit. She felt sure that she would wear the rug thin soon if she kept up all this nervous walking, but at least it was keeping her fit.

She jumped as she felt the eerie feeling that she always got when she was about to talk to her Master and felt her heart jump into her throat. She knew that he was mad, and was afraid of what he might do.

"Shara, I am honestly a bit disappointed in you. I thought you would have tried a little harder to stop your husband from going on with his stupid plan," his voice boomed from behind her.

She spun to face him but kept her eyes glued to the floor in shame. She felt like a small child being scolded for being naughty. The disappointment was far worse than the rath she thought she would have to face.

"I'm sorry Master, I tried my hardest but he was not about to listen to me. He had his mind set on going through with it and he is very stubborn at times," she muttered, trying to excuse herself to him, but more importantly to herself.

"Well, now that he will be in the palace, you will have to know his true purpose and how to control him," he said.

She felt a pang of shock but didn't dare look up to see if he was being serious.

"Like all my creatures, this lovely pet of mine was created to bring me souls to work with. I need these souls to build my army so I need to keep getting souls. Now, this is a very special pet. He doesn't only send me souls; he more importantly sends me blood and limbs to work with to build my army. Anything he eats or drinks gets sent to me. Recently he has only sent me animal carcasses and blood and a few sprinkles of human matter to work with, which is fine, but now that he is captured you will have to find ways for him to continue to send me building materials."

She felt her body twitch at a few of the details but besides that she kept perfectly still. She took in the information like water and hoped that if she kept her Master happy, he would forgive her. She nodded her head and kept quiet on her doubts on sending him good quality materials. She would find a way to get the beast fresh meat, even if it ment she had to resort to an extreme. She would keep the beast and the Master happy.

She heard a knock on her study door and was jolted to reality. She bade the person to enter and speak and was told that her husband was asking for her in his study. She was told that it was urgent and to hurry as much as possible. The servant left the room with a bow, leaving the queen alone, standing in the middle of her study, trying to remember all that she had been told before she rushed off to talk to her husband.