Throne Room King's P.O.V.

Raveos and Marvok are standing to my left as I sit in my throne, other than the guards we are alone, I am not holding court today. We are waiting for Quill to appear with his report of recent activities. How I hope he will bring a report of the beastman's death!

It is a few minutes before Quill appears out of a shadow and kneels before me. The way he just pops up whenever he wants is so annoying! If he wasn't so good at spying I would get rid of him.

Quill says "Your Majesty, I have quite a bit to report on, would you prefer the good news or the bad news first?"

"You have good news? That is a nice change, let's hear it first."

Quill says "As you wish. The Duke of Durendall, in a drunken rage, has killed his entire household. His wife and children, as well as every servant in the house. When he sobered up he took his own life in remorse."

"What a shame! That leaves Durendall with no ruler, I will have to think of someone worthy to take his place."

Quill says "We have a report from Marcadus, the mage party suffered a bandit attack after they crossed the border. Unfortunately, there were no survivors."

"Ahh, too bad. Marvok, remember to send our condolences to the mage's guild."

Marvok says "Yes, Your Majesty."

Quill stops speaking, that must be the end of the good news. I wait a minute before telling him to continue, I want to enjoy this feeling before I hear the bad news. I should be focused on conquering the other nations, but thanks to my step daughter the other nations now know my plans.

Attacking the other nations when they are prepared won't work, so I need to modify my plans. But I can't even do that because of all the issues that keep popping up. Between this damn beastman and the rebels that refuse to die nothing is going how it is supposed to.

"Alright, my mood is ruined anyway, let's hear the bad news."

Quill says "Yes, Your Majesty. First off, about the hero Justin."

"The one who was asking questions?"

Quill says "Correct, things didn't go as planned. He went north as ordered, but he took four other heroes with him. The ambush team was wiped out."

"So, instead of one traitor we now have five, and they are loose inside the kingdom, but you have no idea where?"

Quill says "Basically, yes, Your Majesty."

"And what steps have you taken to correct this issue?"

Quill says "My best trackers have been unable to locate their trail, I sent a mage out with troops to attempt magical tracking."

"Do you even know what direction they are headed?"

Quill says "As far as I was able to determine they headed north."

"You will make every effort to deal with them, and make sure the mines are alerted. Any trouble they cause is your responsibility."

Quill says "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Anything else? Any other problems you have let slip past you?"

Quill says "The only other issue is the beastman, since Justin's party was wiped out we have had no contact with him. The hero lead units have swept through the forest and into the plains with no sign of him."

This is so frustrating! I can't even kill the messenger because he is too useful! Just as I am about to start ranting the doors to the throne room open and the guards go on alert.

I left orders not to be disturbed so it must be something urgent. Instead of a messenger it is a hero who walks through the doors, I don't recognize him, but I haven't paid much attention to the heroes. Other than that delightfully innocent child who I can't wait to break.

The hero walking towards me looks like he has been out in the wild for awhile. He is dirty and his clothes are tattered and he looks exhausted. Yet he also looks furious, and that look is being aimed at me.

Marcadus says "You lied! You lied to all of us! That was no escaped slave!"

"I am the king! How dare you speak to me in that tone!"

Quill says "Your Majesty, this is Marcadus."

"Oh, the one useful hero, alright I will hear him out."

Quill says "Marcadus, what happened to you? You reported that you completed your mission."

Marcadus says "I did, and on the way back that monster ambushed me and my men!"

Quill says "Wait, the beastman attacked you?"

"Where? When? Did you kill him?"

Marcadus says "Kill him? That monster? If it hadn't been for my wolf keeping him busy I would have never survived!"

Quill says "You lost the wolf? Where is your lance?"

Marcadus says "Yes, both are gone. I managed to injure the beast but it wasn't near enough. He was stronger and faster than anything I have ever seen."

"Never mind all that! Where did you see it?"

Marcadus says "It was on the eastern road about a quarter of the way from the trade city to the capital."

"The eastern road! What the hell is it doing there!"

I jump to my feet, I just can't keep still anymore, and I start pacing back and forth before my throne. No wonder those idiots couldn't find the beast, it pulled a fast one on all of them. I need to think, how can I deal with this thing once and for all.

"Raveos! Send one thousand troops down the eastern road, send word to the Illium border garrison, have them send another thousand up the road. Also send orders to all the heroes in the plains to turn east and converge on the road. I want this thing surrounded on all sides!"

Raveos salutes and says "Yes, Your Majesty!" and strides quickly out of the room. He is an idiot but once he has clear orders he is quite capable.

Marcadus says "Where is Justin? There is no way he told the truth about his encounter with the beast. I want to beat the truth out of him."

Quill says "Justin and four others have turned traitor and are currently on the run."

Marcadus says "What?! That goody goody turned traitor?"