Song: https://youtu.be/I7RggprdbQs

"What do you want?" I frowned, stepping away from the Marquis as he calmly bent down to pick up his book.

"Now now, your grace. There's no need to be on edge." He told me, straightening up and brushing off the pages of the book. He closed it and walked over to his desk with a walk that was completely silent. Setting the book on the desk, he then smiled over at me.

"I'm sure you know who I am." He said softly, and I swallowed before nodding quietly.

"Lord Dominic, Marquis of the Dark Forest." I said his full title, which seemed to make him happy as he took a deep and satisfied breath.

"To hear the title from one such as you, it's exhilarating." He told me, as if it should be a compliment. But I was gripping my skirts, to keep my hands from shaking.

So Elwen had turned me over to Dominic, and he had told him about my grandfather. It was obvious now, I really shouldn't have talked to the red head at all. Barrett was right.

Barrett. I'd all but forgotten about him until now. The memories of that day slammed into my head, forcing me to blink several times. He had been trying to buy me things, trying to cheer me up. I remembered the kiss that had upset me in the first place. It had upset me so greatly, that I hadn't even questioned Elwen when he came from seemingly nowhere. I'd been so distraught, I'd let myself fall right into Dominic's hands. But Barrett had left me alone in that market. He'd left me.

"You may or may not have heard of my ambitions during the time you have been here. Allow me to separate rumor from truth." He told me, stepping around his desk to sit down. But I stayed standing, hanging around the door.

The young woman who had guided me into the room, walked past me, out the doors as he took a seat, lacing his fingers together and putting his elbows on top of his desk.

"I have been thoroughly seeking to rid this forest of all the thieves that lurk in the trees. My efforts have yielded many successes, but there are those who always seem to slip through the cracks. They are quite the nuisance, but I can't say I'm fully annoyed, after all, I do enjoy the challenge." He told me, his eyes watching me.

"But of course, I'm only one man. Those thieves are numerous, and can scatter to the wind at the slightest hint that their plans are not going to go their way. Tracking them down is a hassle to say the least. But if I could see where they were. It would help me a great deal."

I already figured that was what he wanted. Me to use my powers to help him know where thieves were running to, and where they would hide when he went after them. I clenched my fists tightly in my skirts, it was all I could do to keep myself still while his eyes traced over me like a vulture eyeing its dinner.

"There's an especially slippery devil. He's possibly my greatest challenge yet. You may have heard of him. His name is Barrett." He said, setting his chin on his hands. I instinctively leaned away, feeling my braid hit the door. Then the marquis stood, making his way over to me, and I struggled to stand my ground.

"Imagine, we could rid this forest of every single one of those miscreants forever, and possibly even branch out to other lands. The change in terrain would be a very welcome challenge. Especially with you at my side. We could do great things together." He said to me, coming much too close for my liking. I abandoned my position at the door, quickly walking away from him. In my haste however, I ended up running into his desk. It nearly toppled over, the objects that sat complacently now scattered all across the top.

"You don't have jurisdiction outside of the forest." I reminded him, trying to be careful what I said. He was blocking the exit, and if I angered him now, he most assuredly wouldn't move out of the way.

"That's for now, your grace. Have you seen into my future?" He asked before his smile faded a little. "Or has that bandit been using your powers to evade me? Can you only see the future of one you are in close proximity to?" He asked, stepping towards me, but I kept the desk between us, pushing his chair in so I wouldn't trip over it.

"Not exactly." I hedged, not wanting to tell him how my powers worked. His beaded eyes glimpsed over me before his smile returned.

"You don't need to be nervous." He whispered, but that only seemed to heighten my feelings of unease.

Suddenly the door burst open from behind the marquis, causing me to jump in alarm as Dominic rolled his eyes with a sigh.

"Dominic. I will Not be kept waiting any longer! I am your future king!" The man practically shouted at my captor before noticing me. My eyes widened as I saw his face.

His hair was blonde, but definitely not as blonde as Dominic's. His eyes were a clouded sort of blue. This was the man from my dream. The prince, who Dominic was planning to murder. "You really ignored my presence in favor of debauchery?" He asked, gesturing loosely at me with a frown before glaring at the marquis, who stood straight, and faced him.

"I wouldn't speak so lowly to the next Seer of Astra." He said calmly as he addressed the prince. The royal folded his arms as he frowned at Dominic.

"Doesn't matter who she is. I haven't time for your fantastical stories. I thought we were going to discuss my father's visit to the forest." He said before glaring back over at me. I tried not to stare as my heart began to pound. This was my chance. I could warn the prince of Lord Dominic's plans! But if I did so in front of Dominic, would he kill me?

But the prince would protect me, wouldn't he? Unless he didn't believe me. He didn't seem to believe I was a seer, even when Dominic had told him right out.

I stiffened as the marquis turned back to me with a somewhat tight smile. "Would you excuse us, your grace?" He asked, and I blinked at him and the irritated prince who was also staring at me before hesitantly nodding. "Thank you, m'lady."

Lord Dominic left the room with the prince, shutting the door behind them. The only problem with that, was that the door they'd left through was the only exit to the study, except for a rather skinny window that sat high above, behind me. Now what? I couldn't just wait for Lord Dominic to come back. Could I? It would be better if I was able to sneak past without alerting him of my departure.

So I headed over to the door, about to open it to slip outside when I heard hushed tones. They hadn't wandered far from the door! Meaning I couldn't slip out without them spotting me. I bit my lip with a curse in my head before listening in on their conversation.

"Your majesty, with all due respect. You have absolutely nothing to worry about with your father. I will be the one handling the bow, the arrow will be poisoned, there is no conceivable way he'll survive, and you won't be suspect when I claim thieves attacked the king. Everyone here knows that thieves hate the nobles, and would absolutely kill any if given the chance."

"You had better be right. Fooling around like you do, you shouldn't be surprised that I'm on edge."

"Have confidence, your majesty. Have I ever let you down before?"

My heart sank as I listened to the men talk. The prince was part of the plan, and it wasn't the prince who would be murdered, but the king! Dominic would gain much more power than either Barrett or I ever guessed.

A shiver ran down my spine, Dominic spoke as if the conversation were perfectly casual. He wasn't even whispering! Was he so confident in the silence of his servants? Perhaps they were all terrified of the man. Personally, I couldn't blame them.

Quickly leaving the door, I walked back around the desk, putting something other than the very openable doors between me and them. I had been wrong in my thoughts to warn the prince. If I had tried to warn him, he probably would have had me killed for knowing his plans. Once again, the annoying thief had been right. But I didn't have time for all this speculation. I had to do something. I had to tell someone, but who?

I shook Barrett from my thoughts as I tried to think of something, when the door opened once again. My gaze snapped up to see the Marquis entering the room once again, without the prince.

"So sorry about all that." He smiled, but I didn't smile back. "I do hope you appreciate the time and effort it took to save you from your captor. I do apologize that it took so long." He told me as my mind went back to all the times we had run into each other in the past.

He was only treating me this nicely because he thought I might be willing to help him. Elwen was a much better actor. Or perhaps it was simply because of his eyes. I could see nothing but darkness in those green eyes of his.

When I didn't say anything, he shut the door behind him, walking towards the desk. In which I stayed on the opposite side from him.

"Still so skittish. I'm really not as bad as the rumors say." He told me, but I shook my head.

"I don't need rumors to see what kind of man you are. You set an entire building on fire just to catch a couple of thieves. Do you have any idea how many innocent people you killed that day?" I asked with a glare.

His smile only widened a little. "It was you. I wondered why you were staring so intently at me." He said softly, creeping around the desk. I took the chance to bolt for the door. But when I twisted the knob, it wouldn't budge. He'd locked it.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled as I whipped around, seeing him standing right behind me.

"Did you know who I was this entire time? Or did you learn at that moment? Tell me, dear. What are the mysteries of your family's powers?" He whispered as I pressed against the door, trying to budge the lock on the handle.

"Wouldn't you like to know." I muttered when I felt one of his hands grasp my chin.

"Don't be like that, m'lady. I could give you anything you could ever desire. All you'd have to do is tell me where those pesky thieves are hiding. Why do you fight me?" He asked, his tone made it seem as if he really couldn't understand why I wouldn't want to help him. Did he really think he was doing what was best? "Is it the amount of lives that bothers you? At least tell me where Barret is. Even just that one man would make me eternally indebted to you."

The lock finally clicked open as I spat in his eyes. "Bite me." I said, swinging my knee up. I got him right between the legs, and shoved him away from me.

As he tumbled backwards, I threw the door open and ran out into the hall. I didn't know where the heck I was going, but even just one reasonably sized window would be a good enough escape route for me.

Turning a corner, I looked both ways, spotting the prince down to the left, with a window at the end of the hall to the right. Without another glance in the royal's direction, I dashed to the right, towards the window.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dominic's voice was like a jumpscare coming from behind. My head suddenly snapped back, lurching me to a stop. The marquis had caught the tail end of my braid before holding it up high. I grasped my braid in pain as he pulled me close to him and I felt a sharp pain on my left ear.

I screamed, trying to jerk away from him when he gripped my jaw, forcing me to look at him. He had blood covering his mouth as he smirked at me.

"Careful what you wish for, m'lady."

MM MMM SIR!

This chapter gave me chills while writing it. What do you guys think? Is this badguy crazy? Creepy? Gross? C'mon, keep the adjectives going. What do you think of Lord Dominic, Marquis of the Dark Forest?

Also, was this a good chapter to be released just before Halloween? I think the timing is pretty good.

I hope you all will be staying safe this Hallows Eve,

G'Night Stars