Choices

Chapter 100
Seraphina dodged and leapt across the room. Each attack just as fast as the last one. Fandral had managed to grab his sword and was fending for himself, but just barely. They were not just out numbered, but also out matched in abilities.
Between the tails and the venomous spit, there was an assortment of other things to dodge.
Seraphina was sweating, but not from the fight, but the venom that moved into her system. The poison was causing her to sweat bullets and her vision was also being heavily affected.
Already, she'd stumbled over her own bedroom chair in an attempt to parry an attack. Her head was pounding and they couldn't have been fighting for more than a few minutes.
Reinforcements came barreling into her room to see what all the ruckus was about.
At least they came prepared.
Seraphina hated to, but when the others came, Fanfral grabbed her to pull her from battle. She coughed a measly protest, but her mind was too rattled to think clearly. She allowed herself to be pulled back, but she was a target.
Claws struck her left arm and a tail curled around her ankle.
Her feet were suddenly no longer under her. She fell to her backside knocking Fandral down too. He called her name as she was yanked across the floor.
Everything around her became a blur as if she were on a roller coaster. She couldn't make out much of anything anymore. She could hear fine though, nothing was muffled there.
"Take her," she could clearly hear someone order, though she didn't recognize the voice.
"Stop them," Avia, one of the best cooks in Mechanova yelled right after.
Seraphina felt numb, her whole body tense and her head aching. She felt like she might puke. Maybe she could projectile vomit and gross out her captors. The amusing thought was fleeting.
She heard Fandral call her name again and 'whoosh' his sword swung nearby. Seraphina stopped bring dragged and a roar of pain lifted through the room. Wetness showered across her face, it smelled of copper.
Blood!
She wondered for a second if she was wounded and just couldn't tell.
Her father's face became hazed above her, but there was no mistaking that massive frame of blue complexion. He plucked her from the floor into his arms.
The sounds of battle died down as he took her further away. It seemed a lifetime before he stopped and she was placed on a bed. "What's happened?" Dia asked.
"Looks like poison." King Yorin replied.
"I'll take care of it." Dia replied her cool hand touching Seraphina's burning cheeks.
"I have blood to spill." Her father added. She could make out his footsteps leaving.
"You'll be okay," Dia was clearly talking to Seraphina but she wasn't worried. Dia was the best healer in Mechanova.
She lay still, not that she had a choice with her body gone so numb, and waited almost impatiently for her cure. She wanted to get back to battle. She was sure they were the lost children. They'd grown so much quicker than Loki's dark magic children had, but then again the more magic used...,
She didn't want them to be killed, she wanted answers. She wanted to make Mechanova a place her sister could come home to and be safe.
Dia's footsteps returned, only they were not Dia's at all. "Hello princess," the boy said. She couldn't see him. Her vision almost completely gone now.
She also realized she couldn't speak, not even a sqeak as he picked her up. The venom must have been at its highest, all she could do was listen. Every bone in her body ached with the need to fight, but nothing happened. She was helpless.
***
She couldn't tell how long she'd been lying down. Didn't know how long she'd been gone from the palace. She counted her kidnappers footsteps as he walked, just so she could know that much at least.
He'd set her down and since then then hadn't heard a thing, not even a whisper of wind.
The feeling of numbness had begun to subside. Her fingers prickled to life and her muscles relaxed. The only thing to not return to her was her sight. She'd trained blindfolded before, but the knowledge of knowing your actual sight was gone was both alarming and frightening.
It was distracting even though she tried not to think about it as she sat up. She used her hands to feel the ground. It was hard and chilled, like rock. Rough against her palms as she pushed herself to her feet.
It wasn't the best choice. She walked right to a small dip in the floor and fell over. Her shoulder collided with a solid wall.
She cursed.
She would not scurry around on her hands and knees like an infant. Again she stood. Being more careful she slid her foot along the stone, using her bare feet to test the floor before proceeding.
Her hands touched the wall and followed it. There seemed to be nothing else there aside from wall, floor and ceiling. Her best guess was a cave, although she was sure they had checked them all.
"Don't bother." The boy's voice from before alerted her. Seraphina whirled toward the sound. "This place is well hidden and a perfect dome shape. You wouldn't go far, aside from going in circles." He sounded amused in a snide fashion. She didn't like him.
"What do you want?" She asked staring his way and wishing she could see his face so she could strike it.
"Answers." He replied.
"Really, what a coincidence." She drawled back. "I got few questions I want answered myself."
"Me first," his cocky tone irritated her to her core.
"You're quite the rude little shit, aren't you?" Seraphina might have smirked, but he cracked her across the cheek before she could. She'd forgotten to listen for movement. She forgot the basic rule of being blinded.
"You'll watch your mouth. Your regency holds no power here." He was angry, his voice harsh, and cold.
The slap shocked her for a moment before she regained composure.
"You don't know a thing about me. Royalty or not I would have said the same thing." She replied, this time smirking.
"You think you're better than us?" He demanded grasping her neck. He had long fingers, one reached her earlobe.
"No. But I tend to tell the truth as I see it. People tend to hate hearing the truth." She replied, ignoring his threatening hold.
"At least I'm no cold blooded murderer." He hissed, spit landing on her cheek.
"Murderer?" Seraphina asked. His hand tightened making her gag.
"Don't pretend you don't know...,"
"Sulu, let her go." A female voice ordered. He did so, but reluctantly.
"Are you the leader of this ragtag band of misfits?" Seraphina kept her voice steady.
"I'm the oldest, so I suppose I am." She replied. "I'm Karzin,"
"Are you the missing children?"
"Missing?" Karzin asked walking closer.
"Yeah, belonging to this dead women."
"Women you killed?" Sulu growled.
"By kill, you mean didn't stop from getting kidnapped and not finding them until they were dead, then yes, I guess I killed them. Other than that, I had nothing to do with it." Seraphina was getting the feeling she was being accused.
"Lair!" Sulu screamed.
Seraphina was caught off-guard by the immense hatred that dripped from his tone.
"Sulu," Karzin warned. Seraphina wished she could see. She wanted to know what they looked like. In battle is was hard to get every detail. "All we want is to talk princess. Will you listen?" Karzin asked, her tone calm but held colors of political authority.
"I will," Seraphina agreed, deciding it was in her best interest.
(Fandral)
"Any sign of her?" Fandral asked King Yorin as he re-entered the healing wing.
When their attackers turned tail and ran, Fandral immediately went to check on Seraphina. He found the wing empty save for Dia who was unconscious near her storeroom.
"No," the king was frustrated, angry, and worried. Fandral couldn't imagine how he felt right now. It was hard enough having one daughter in danger, but now they both were.
If it were Rorik, Fandral would be on the verge of killing someone. Still, King Yorin kept his head on straight.
"They couldn't have gotten far. I have everyone out searching. Some of my best hunters are out tracing tracks and such." The King looked over his shoulder. "I need you to keep fresh eyes on the Fevours." He whispered so low that even Fandral had trouble hearing it.
"Will do," Fandral also tried to take the King's lead and stay strong and calm. Seraphina was more than capable of handling herself. The only reason they had any advantage over her was because she was poisoned.
They cheated. No true Mechanovian would dare use trickery to win a fight.
Fandral left the room and followed the staircases down to the main level where he took a sharp left. He found both Kystoff and Katarina in the meeting hall were tactics were being discussed.
He stood far enough away to observe them.
Fandral noticed that all three family members were never together at any given time. If they were all in on it, it was possible they were taking turns kidnapping, killing and disposing of the bodies. If Krystoff was the father of the missing children, whose to say Demos wasn't also.
He only knew what Seraphina had told him. Krystoff was powerful physically and magically. Though apparently his magic abilities honed around damage and battle. Katarina used little magic save for her known talent at transforming herself to sound and look like others.
Everyone Seraphina trusted enough to corresponded with knew a safe phrase that changed monthly. She could be sure they were not being spied on from Katarina's flawless trickery that way.
Demos only excelled in draining energies. Most Mechanovian's had one spark of magic they usually preformed better than others. For Seraphina it was automatically using the core. Her skills for other powers were lacking.
Cephera had no natural talent and struggled all her life to learn what she knew. Developing the skills overtime. Fandral had a feeling that the skills always depended on who your other parentage were.
He held a safe word between himself and Seraphina so that he would never succumb to Katarina's tricks, but Krystoff worried him. It was hard to say just how much damage the dark magic was having on his mind.
The Frost Giantess, Angrboda lost her life to dark magic that was forced to develope over a short while, where as Krystoff had been develing with it for years. Katarina did at one point warn Seraphina about Krystoff, showing her fear.
That could have been a rues, but what if she truly feared her brother. What if the incest between them was not something she actually wants nor enjoys, but it's something she's afraid to decline?
Fandral often wondered, but he quickly reminded himself that it didn't matter. Katarina could choose to tell King Yorin about her family and save everyone future trouble and maybe save herself. Instead, she was most likely consorting with them against the throne.
His eyes held a steady gaze on the siblings up ahead. The crowd was thin. Most were people out looking already.
When Katarina turned she caught Fandrals eye and smiled a soft sweet smile. Had he not known her, she would have certainly been a woman he would have bedded. It sort of made him question his choice in females.
He did wonder, if he dared sleep with her, if she might let something slip. As soon as he thought it he pushed that aside. He wouldn't get caught in that sort of predicament. Seraphina hated Katarina enough already and even though Seraphina claimed to never feel jealous, he was sure Katarina just might bring that out in her.
It was not a side of Seraphina he eagerly wished to see.
So for now he watched them. He was worried as to the whereabouts of their father and wished he could mention it to the king. To do that, he'd have to take his eyes off the siblings and he wasn't willing to do that. Seraphina would come home safe, he had to believe that.

Notes

Note: a Norse buff informed me that my spelling of Sigyns new name Sigurd is actually the male version. The female version I don't like so I'm changing her name to Suvia instead. I will edit past chapters to mirror the change and remind you all later when she comes up again. Thanks!