Breathless, Azrael staggered through the forest. Even if May had been trying to hide her tracks while holding Evangeline hostage, Azrael would of been able to find his way to the home of Horus blindfolded. He'd stayed in Horus' little 'Winter Kingdom' for almost a decade, catering to his Lords wishes, fulfilling tasks similar to what Raleigh and May had to do.

Azrael trudged through the light blanket of snow for the better part of three hours before reaching one of the lesser known entrances to Horus' hideaway. He would of gotten there a lot faster, but the scuffle he had had to endure with Raleigh turned out to be somewhat more challenging than Azrael had first assumed it would be. Well, the kid had turned out to be a equipped with a bit of a surprise, but that was to be expected of an Underling of Horus. Azrael looked over his shoulder at the bound and unconscious young Vampire who he had dragged with him all this way. It was undeniable to say that the cub had skill, but he would need to put in much more time and effort before he could outmatch someone of Azraels skill. The fact that the left hand side of his body was virtually numb to the bone was testament to the fact that Raleigh possessed a high ability in combat, and although the numbing effect was down to the weapon that the boy had possessed, Azrael grinned at the replaying image of when Raleigh made his only successful attacking move. It turned out that the blade, that Raleigh had been gifted to by Horus, was in fact a magic imbued dagger. Such things, although not generally hard to come by, did require someone with a proficiency in magic to imbue the weapon. Not doubt Horus had such a person, or probably persons, locked away in his dungeons, creating things like Raleighs blade whenever he should require. Magic weapons were generally used by high-ranking humans in their armies, a gift presented to those who had brought fame or fortune to their liege. Most of the time it was simple magic, making the blade glow or emit flames and such, showy things to scare your enemies and inspire your allies. But this numbing effect was the sort of thing used by Assassins and such, the sort of profession Vampires generally shy away from, there was no honour in stabbing a man in the back or finishing off a weakened opponent. But, such things rarely bothered Horus, that much was true, he had always been somewhat of a black sheep, a stain on all Vampires have ever believed in. But, who was Azrael to judge whether his behavior was acceptable, such things were above Azraels rank within the realm of Vampires. Instead, Azrael had just left Horus' group. He'd never looked back.

Azrael dropped Raleigh on the floor and then placed his hands on the stone wall in front of him. For a moment it just looked as though Azrael was doing stretches, but suddenly there was a clunking sound and a rectangle started to form in the rock face. As he pushed the door shaped object moved into the cliff with Azrael. After a couple seconds Azrael came out from the dark of the corridor and grabbed the young Vampire once again and dragged him into the dark of Horus' Lair.

"Welcome home, kid. I sure hope your Master will be pleased to have you back."

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Horus had been casually waiting on his throne, wishing Azrael would hurry up so that Horus could go and play with his new toy. He had no doubt that Azrael would outmatch Raleigh, so it was only a matter of time before the Elder Vampire would arrive at Horus' doorstep. He sat patiently and waited, twiddling his fingers and started reminiscing about the days when Azrael was his pawn. He settled into a warm feeling of nostalgia only to be interrupted by a loud clunking sound to the right of his throne.

"Ah, he sure does pick his moments wisely, that Azrael."

Horus said with a large grin. He was looking forward to meeting his long lost friend. They had a lot to catch up on. He stayed seated on his throne but rested his chin on his fist and gazed toward the opening that started to appear in the wall at the side of the room.

Azrael stumbled through the secret doorway, still dragging his unconscious adversary. The first thing he saw was Horus, with his beaming innocent smile, sitting on his throne. Azrael propped Raleigh up against the wall and made his way over to Horus. He bent down on one knee and and placed his hand over his heart.

"My Liege."

Horus' smile cracked and his burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Oh Azrael, must you mock me everytime? I thought that we were friends now."

Azrael scoffed and tried to stand. His body shook under the effort, still weary from the effects of the magic weapon that Raleigh had struck him with. He nodded in Raleighs direction.

"You should send the boy to somewhere that he can rest. It would be a shame to lose such a talent, even if some of his skill comes down to your dirty tricks. Where did you get such a weapon anyway?"

Horus smiled wide. Looked at Raleigh and nodded with pride.

"Yes. He is quite the treasure I must say. Anyway..."

Horus whistled and a sprightly young Vampire, large scar across his nose, sprinted into the room. He came over to Horus and gazed at the floor as Horus spoke.

"Would you please take Master Raleigh back to his quarters, and bring in some tea for our guest, he'll be staying for a little while."

The young Vampire nodded and promptly left, Raleigh slung over his shoulder.

"Now, Azrael, where were we."

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He'd talked for quite a few hours and was looking forward to getting some sleep now. He walked through the hallways, until he found the room where he would be staying. He grabbed the door handle, turned it, and walked in. Evangeline was sat on the bed.

"Hello Evangeline, did you miss me?"

Said Horus.

May had been sitting on her bed reading a book when one of the other vampires brought her brother into their room. She got up from her spot on the bed and helped him lift the boy onto the bed, and then she closed the door once he had left. May looked over at her brother with a soft sigh. "Ahhhh, so cute when he's sleeping~" she mused as she looked over his body. He wasn't too badly hurt, but he was covered in dust and dirt and he looked a little worse for wear. The girl moved away from the bed momentarily and headed into their washroom to grab a wet cloth to clean him off a little, and once she had returned she noticed that Raleigh was starting to open his eyes. "You're home now, you don't need to go anywhere," May urged him, gently placing a hand on his chest to prevent him from getting up and moving around. "I can hear Azrael talking to Horus - their conversation seems friendly enough but I don't think Azrael will be getting his little princess back anytime soon..." without saying anything more, she started to clean the dirt off of her brother's face. Even though he had been bested by the older vampire, she wasn't disappointed in him or angry. Azrael was strong, and Raleigh was hotheaded and a little irrational at times. "Just relax and let me take care of you." May said softly, placing a gentle kiss on Raleigh's forehead once it was free of dirt.

Evangeline had been sitting on the bed in Horus's bedroom, looking out of the window that faced it. She wondered if Azrael was ever going to come and save her. She hoped that it wasn't all an elaborate plan to get her into a dangerous place like this. Maybe he was receiving a huge amount of money right now from Horus for getting her here in one piece. This was starting to make the princess feel a little panicked, but she knew she had to keep calm. Tricking herself into believing Azrael had betrayed her trust was an incredibly stupid thing to do. He wasn't like that, he would never do that.... at least, she hoped he would never do such a thing.
After what seemed like forever, she heard someone gripping and turning the door handle. The princess turned around on the bed to see that it was Horus. Panic set in once again and she instantly moved off of the bed, backing herself into a corner of the room in an attempt to hide from him. Of course, Evangeline knew that doing this was useless, but she was afraid of what he might do to her. "What do you want from me?" she asked him in her soft voice, blinking her long eyelashes at him. "I am of no use to you... any moment now Azrael will walk through that door and he will destroy you if you ever lay a hand on me, so you should think twice before you try to hurt me..." the princess pouted, confident that her vampire friend would come in to save her at any moment. The black-haired girl clenched her fists and glared over the vampire. He was tall and intimidating and she was scared for her life. Perhaps leaving her luxurious life was a stupid thing to do after all.

Horus walked into the room and headed over to a small desk that had an assortment of bottles and glasses arranged on top of it. He took one of the clear glass bottles from the middle of the arrangement, filled roughly halfway with a brownish liquid, and pulled the top off. He swirled the liquid as he pulled over a small glass cup. He tipped the bottle so that the liquid started to fill the cup. It was almost filled to the brim before he stopped pouring, replaced the top on the bottom, and placed it back with the others. He took the glass with him as he sat on the edge of the bed and crossed his legs. He glanced at the scared little girl in the corner, raised his glass to her and downed the beverage. He held the glass in front of his face, observing it as he talked to Evangeline.

“I’m afraid that Azrael won’t be walking through that door. You see, he already paid me a little visit.”

He raised his eyebrow and cast a look at the girl, trying to gauge her reactions to what he said.

“Oh yes, he left without making much of a fuss. Came back with Raleigh not too long ago, you see I had another little job for them to do whilst May brought you to me. After he got the money I offered him he went off to another city to fulfil his needs, suffice to say, you won’t be seeing him ever again.”

He smiled wickedly at the child.

“But don’t worry about all the little things, you can have plenty of fun with me, I’ve got lots of things to teach you.”

Evangeline was quite horrified by what she was hearing. She shook her head, trying to convince herself that what Horus was saying wasn't true at all. "I... I don't know what you're talking about, Azrael would never do such a thing...he'd never leave me here with you."she watched as he just casually sat at the foot of the bed and drank a beverage like it was water. "Besides, what would you want with me, anyway? I'm no one special... I'm no longer a princess, I left the castle and I'm never going back, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stay here and be your slave, or whatever it is that you want..." the girl trailed off and bit down on her lip, turning away from Horus and huddling in the corner. She was scared of what he might do to her, or what he might make her do. Did he intend to make her a vampire and use her blood as some sort of weapon?

Suddenly, the girl started to cry. She was unable to stop herself from crying in the corner like a spoiled child. Had Azrael really left her here for dead? She didn't think he would ever do such a thing, but money easily took control of people, and perhaps he was someone who was easily manipulated by that. Still, she thought that he had cared about her - she certainly cared for him, despite what he was. Evangeline wiped the tears from her cheeks and kept her back turned away from Horus. She didn't want him to lay his eyes on her. He frightened her and made her uncomfortable.

"Hm... And yet, he won't be coming to get you. You should just forget about him, your adventure with him is now over. How about you start one with me instead? I never said that you have to be a slave, unless you're into that sort of thing."

His lips curled into a devilish smile.

"There are many people who live within my little world, you see, I have certain... how should I put it?.. Privileges, within the world of Vampires. There are many rules that we generally live by, but under my rule, my subjects are granted a little slack. They are allowed a little more freedom to pursue their dreams, and unique... pleasures."

He stood up and walked over to the girl. He forcibly turned her around and leaned over so his gaze met hers. He brushed his fingers across her cheek softly.

"You should be honoured to be asked to join my Kingdom, I do not just let anyone join as they please. Only the most beautiful and interesting may live under my rule, and I've yet to have any Royal Blood amongst my people, even if they've renounced their heritage, such as you have."

He stretched his arm past her head, placing his hand on the wall, cornering her against the wall. He leaned in close enough so she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

"A unique individual such as yourself is very enticing to me, why don't you join me and be my lover. I can give you the world if you want it..."

A disgusting smile spread across his face.

"...Though, it's not really something you can decide on, if you refuse me... Well, I have ways of being a little more persuasive. And I'd hate to damage a new toy before I get to play with it."

"I've no interest of living under your rule, you're a bloody pig. I'd die before I bowed to you."the princess blurted out rather stupidly. She would probably regret saying that later, actually.
Evangeline narrowed her eyes up at Horus. It was clear that even though she was upset, she wasn't going to be bossed around by a vampire, regardless of how much power he had. Before she had a chance to turn herself around, Horus was doing that for her with a forceful grip, and he brushed his hand down the side of her face. Of course, the princess did what she could to slap his hand away, but she wasn't strong enough to actually be successful in doing so.
"What makes you think I would ever want to be with someone like you? You're foolish to think such a thing. Just because I ran away from home it doesn't mean that my standards for partners have dropped. Now, if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to leave...."Evangeline narrowed her eyes at the vampire and grimaced a little. She looked on either side of her to see if she could slip past him, but there was no room to do such a thing. He had purposely trapped her here so she couldn't escape. She felt a shiver run down her spine. So, it seemed like he was going to hurt her before he played with her, whatever the hell that meant. The princess glanced up at him and shrugged her shoulders. Perhaps death would be the only way out for her. If she was dead, she didn't have to deal with the pain and suffering, not to mention the humiliation of being with such a horrible man.
"I refuse you, does that mean you're going to beat me until I'm unconscious? Lock me in a cell and starve me until I'm almost dead?"although Evangeline was rather scared right now, she was doing her best to hold her ground against this vampire. Not only was she furious with what Azrael had done to her, but she was also angry about being put in this situation. Horus was a horrible man. "I-I'm not scared of you...."the girl said softly, staring up at him with narrowed eyes, doing her best to look like she wasn't phased by his words or actions.

"A Pig? Please, you don't even know me yet, and it's not like I was even giving you a choice. You're here to stay, so you might as well make the most of it."

Horus scoffed at her naivety.

"Leave? Oh no, no, no."

He laughed.

"You cannot leave my dear..."

He grinned at her with a full set of sparkling white teeth.

"... Whether you 'choose' to live under my rule or not has no meaning. You will be staying here, with me, for as long as I deem you still entertaining. When I grow bored of you, maybe then you can leave. Then again, maybe not."
He moved his left hand onto her shoulder and pinned it against the wall behind her.

"You're not scared of me? Ha. You should be, you don't even know what I am capable of, I wonder just how long that brave facade will last."
He clenched his right hand into a fist and punched the poor princess in the stomach, causing her to fall to her knees.

"I hope you can learn to submit quickly princess, I've got a lot of things planned for you, and I'd rather not have to keep going with the more violent ones."