Marcus' POV:

I strolled lazily down one of the long corridors the Lord and Lady's floor had, trying to fix it to memory.

I had every single hallway and room memorized on the Prince's floor, but I still had some rough spots when it came to this one.

Not that I really needed to memorize this floor since the Princes were my main concern, but I just liked knowing.

Lord Vanderwood called for me sometimes to complete a task or stand watch while he met with people in his throne room, but that was basically it.

Plus, I had some time to kill before I met Doe and Khloe for dinner.

I let my eyes close for a moment, just listening to my footsteps echo as I walked. It was oddly peaceful in a way.

At least it was until I heard what sounded like muffled yelling coming from one of the rooms.

I paused for a moment, debating whether I should check it out or just keep walking.

From what it sounded like, Lord Vanderwood was the one doing the yelling.

I wondered which poor soul was getting yelled at.

At first, I concluded Nico, but it couldn't have been him this time since I had recently seen him in the library.

Maybe Xander then?

Actually probably not. It didn't really seem like the Lord had much to do with him whenever they weren't eating together.

I quietly stepped closer, trying to calculate a safe distance to assure that Lord Vanderwood couldn't catch my scent.

Whenever the Lord was upset with somebody, he usually took care of it within his throne room, or with at least a guard standing watch outside.

But a guard was nowhere to be seen and I didn't have any idea what was in the room this was all coming from.

Just as I was barely able to make out words, the door opened and I honest to God think my heart stopped, making me stop dead in my tracks.

"I don't care how it gets done just get it done," the Lord's voice ordered.

I just stared at the opened door that no one had stepped out of yet, too stunned to move and risk the Lord hearing my movements.

Something told me that I wasn't supposed to be hearing this conversation.

I could barely make out a hand on the door handle inside the room, like the person inside was just about to leave.

"You know where everything you'll need is. You know the ins and outs of his floor better than any other slave here. If the worst comes, then you have my protection. I don't care how you do it, but get the information that I need. Do that and I'll think about your request."

Request?

His?

Why do I have a feeling that he's talking about Nico?

"I will," shock shot through me as soon as I heard whose voice it was, "You can count on me, my Lord, although I may need some time to plan and prepare."

"I'll give you two weeks to get it done." the Lord stated.

"That will be more than enough."

"Good. You are dismissed, Carlo."

What the hell?

I stayed absolutely still as Carlo walked out with his head down, a blanched look of worry forming on his face.

He hadn't noticed me yet.

The door closed behind him and he almost immediately blew out a harsh sigh, rubbing his eyes before dragging his hands down his face.

Whatever they were talking about, he didn't like.

He was usually so composed after dealing with the Lord.

He turned and took a step in my direction pausing as soon as he spotted me.

A whole new look of worry crossed his features.

His eyes shifted from the door to me.

A tinge of worry grew within me at the thought of him telling the Lord that I was here.

Luckily the thought didn't last for long before Carlo began quickly walking towards me.

"You're not supposed to be here," He snapped quietly as he walked passed me.

Well, that was a different tone

I turned to follow him, wanting to get far enough away from the Lord so he couldn't hear us.

"Actually, I'm more than welcome anywhere on this floor," I remarked snidely.

I'll admit that I was a little annoyed with Carlo right now.

He's been different and avoidant ever since I took that letter to the Lord and for no reason.

I may not be an expert on friendships or whatever but I knew enough to know that that wasn't cool.

We used to practically be partners, but now, I barely see him.

Whenever I tried to approach him about it, he'd change the subject.

I guess now I know he was making deals with the Lord.

Deals that I had a feeling that involved Nico.

If that was the case, despite my relationship with Carlo, I'd have to tell Nico.

Carlo quickly stopped and turned to face me as soon as we were far enough away, causing me to stop as well.

"You weren't supposed to be here." He responded curtly, almost looking mad at this point.

I mirrored his expression.

He had absolutely no right to be mad at me.

"Well," I shrugged, "I was, so do you want to tell me what the hell kind of information the Lord wants you to get?"

Guilt crossed his face for a short moment.

"How much of that did you hear?" He asked quietly, his anger now replaced with uneasiness.

"Enough to know that whatever you two schemed is happening on the floor that I'm in charge of."

I actually didn't know that for a fact, but the look on Carlo's face told me that I was right.

But what kind of information could he get from Nico?

That is if Nico is even his target...

But who else would it be?

"Look, Marcus just please drop it. We may be friends, but you're loyal to the Prince and I'm loyal to the Lord. No matter how much I don't want to do something, I have to obey an order from the Lord no matter what. Our jobs come before anything else."

I watched as a type of sadness filled his voice.

My sympathy got the best of me and I felt it too.

I didn't like it when he was sad.

He was all smiles and laughs up until a few days ago.

And to be honest, what he said kind of hurt too.

"What is it you need to do?" I asked calmly.

"I can't tell you. I'm sworn to secrecy."

My shoulders slumped a bit.

Lords often made slaves swear to secrecy for every little thing, since they could so easily tell if the slave was lying about telling anyone at any given time, so I understood that.

But at the same time, that didn't make me feel much better.

Sure, I felt bad for him, but I also had the Princes and their pets to look out for.

If something involving them was happening, I wanted to know.

Although I knew I couldn't get much information out of him.

As much as I wanted information, I didn't want to put him in danger.

I sighed defeatedly.

"Okay, I'll drop it, but answer me this," I met his eyes with a hard gaze, "In anyone going to get hurt?"

That's all I really cared about. As long as no one was in danger, it shouldn't be that bad.

Plus I could figure out some things about this on my own.

He thought about this for a moment, his eyes shifting to the side before he spoke.

"No. Not as far as I know." He responded.

I could tell that he was being truthful.

The Lord probably didn't fill him in on every detail of whatever the Lord had planned.

"Okay."

"Okay?" He repeated me, shocked by my cooperation.

"Yeah. I get it, you can't tell me what I want, so there's no point in getting upset over it. We might be divided right now, but I don't want to ruin our friendship by getting mad over something that isn't in our control."

Thankfully, he look relieved, his smile showing up for a small second.

Living a life as a slave was difficult. I, more than most,understood that.

There's a lot that we can't control and we just had to accept that. We were born to be used.

Although that wasn't going to stop me from trying to get information by myself.

Carlo placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a small squeeze.

"Thank you. After this is done, hopefully, we can go back to being partners again."

"Yeah, Id like that," I responded.

Friendships between slaves were difficult for this exact reason, but I really wanted to make this work.

He let out his own small sigh of relief, his hand sliding off of my shoulder.

"Good. I should probably get going now. The quicker I get this planned and detailed, the better things will go so everything can go back to how it was."

He turned to go and do just that, But I quickly grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"Wait," I blurted, "Have dinner with me."

His eyes were wide as he turned to face me, "What?"

"I mean... I mean with me and the pets. You haven't met Khloe and Doe yet and I'm positive you guys will hit it off. They're both actually really fun to be around."

His nervousness returned again as he removed his gaze from me, "The pets? I cant... Not yet anyway."

He cant?

"Then when?" I asked, letting go of his wrist.

He looked back at me, his light brown eyes now filled with melancholy.

"Two weeks."