I'm so sorry for the long silence between chapters. I recently received a job offer to teach English in China and so I was crazy busy trying to get that all sorted. I don't leave until the end of the month so posting will be sporadic if at all until I get settled. Here's a chapter for you to tide you over until I can really sit down and pump out several chapters.

Cheers

Fox

Chapter 5

"A Pandora's Box? I know I've read about them somewhere but I can't remember much about them," Seshar said while pulling books off the store shelves.

"I just don't understand, he didn't know where I was, or at least I don't see how he could have known. How did he know that I would hear it?" said Hadrian while he paced up and down the aisle.

He had decided to return to Seshar and Walpurga's Books since the Dark Lord obviously already knew the Hadrian lived with the half Naga. Plus, he needed more information on what exactly all had gone on between him and the Dark Lord. Hadrian felt his cheeks heat up in a blush. Well maybe not exactly all that had gone on.

"Hmmmm, well from what you told me, you didn't really 'hear' it. It sounds like it was more like a magical call." Seshar flipped through a few books, discarding some before finding one that he was looking for.

"Aha! Here we go: A Pandora's Box is a rare magical artifact used in Ancient Greek and Roman times by leaders and politicians. The Box would lull and entrance those within the Box's range. Some people would use the Box to keep a populace happy and content and others could use the Box to draw people to them, be they friend or foe.

"A Pandora's Box uses the magic of the person wielding it so the range of the Box and its effects can greatly vary. Someone who has a very large, strong magical core can have a range up to about 1,600 kilometers or 1,000 miles and a weak magical core may only be able to have the range of a single room. A strong wizard or witch could use the Box to transfix an army but a weaker one may only be able to make others in the room more pliant."

"So that bastard could use the Pandora's Box to mind control the whole island?!" Hadrian asked incredulously. He knew without a doubt that the Dark Lord had the power to use the Box in that way.

"Well technically yes, but it would a huge drain on his magic if he used it continuously to that extent. You said that he could focus it on one person if he had something of theirs right?"

"He said hair or blood but I don't know how he would have gotten either, the upstairs rooms are warded and if he had found a black hair down here, it could easily have been one of yours. And—" Hadrian stopped and almost wanted to smack himself. "I transformed in front of him. All he would have had to do is find a white hair and I may have shed some during the transformation."

Seshar grimaced before extending his hand. "Let me see your wrist again."

Hadrian offered up the arm that had been Marked by that Dark bastard and tried not to shiver when Seshar touched it.

"Explain to me again what a Claiming Mark is?" Hadrian said, scowling.

"It's an old bonding mark that lords used to use; usually to signify fealty or sometimes family members. It was used as a way to protect people as well, if you were Marked by a powerful lord, then people knew not to offer you insult or harm since the lord could retaliate. They were deemed Dark magic by the previous Ministry and were no longer used," Seshar explained while bringing Hadrian's mark closer to his eyes.

"What will it do to me, though? Will he be able to control me? Or call me through it?" Hadrian said, agitated over the thought of the Dark Lord being able to control him. Who knew what the man would make him do?

"Not control you. But Claiming Marks varied by lord. Some could know where their vassals were vaguely located, some could send feelings like urgency or danger, some could even perform partial telepathy. I really don't know, they were usually not talked about to outsiders since the Marks could be a huge advantage. I do know that no matter how powerful, he won't be able to control you. Most Claims were willingly received so I'm not sure if that willingness made a difference."

"Well that's one good thing at least," Hadrian grumped. "Wait, but he said that I'd be compelled to be near him!"

"I don't know. I haven't heard about that aspect of it but like I said, most bonds were made willingly so most would be near their lord anyway. All I can really tell you is to wait and see how the bond manifests," said Seshar as he straightened up the books they had gotten out to research.

Hadrian sighed and slumped over onto his crossed arms on the counter. "I can't believe he caught me so easily," he said mournfully.

Seshar paused and looked at Hadrian, noticing the defeated slump of his shoulders and the downcast expression.

"Hadrian… You're still very young. You've only recently reached your majority and you don't have full control of your powers. You've practically been 'raised in captivity' your whole life and while you can survive in the forest, you were not raised to do so. There's nothing wrong with that, but we don't have a lot of information about kitsune. We've gone through all the books in the shop and I've been looking for books that would have more information, but the truth is that we don't have a lot to go on as far as what you can do. Yes, it is very easy for you to escape normal traps and cages, but there is no absolute when it comes to magic. Even unicorns can be trapped by a golden bridle and this is the Dark Lord we're talking about. To be honest, I thought the Dark Lord would have captured you as soon as he saw you transform or at least the same day."

Hadrian had lifted his head up while Seshar had spoken and tilted his head, considering Seshar's words.

"I… I guess you're right. I just felt so stupid." Hadrian said.

"He's Marked you, but you're not trapped. Your freedom is not taken away and he doesn't have full control over you, at least not yet. And I will try my hardest to make sure that doesn't happen." Seshar said, ruffling Hadrian's hair. "But remember, as a half Naga, I am weak to his power as a Speaker."

"I know. We both have our weaknesses when it comes to that man. I've never felt magic that Dark or powerful before. I felt… euphoric," Hadrian said before shaking his head. "Anyway, thanks Seshar. For everything."

Seshar smiled before clapping him on the shoulder and walking to the back room; leaving Hadrian to man the store and think about how his life had changed so drastically.

A few days later Hadrian found himself crouched on top of a bookshelf, in his fox form and invisible. His tail swished behind him in anticipation.

His prey was sitting at that blackwood desk, reading and signing papers; completely oblivious to the kitsune who was just waiting to unleash his brand of bad luck on the man.

He concentrated, narrowing his eyes, on the stack of papers where the man was piling the finished documents. He drew in a breath, holding it in, before pushing it out in a short puff. The papers flew off the desk and scattered around the office.

Hadrian struggled to hold in his barks of laughter as he saw the Dark Lord blink in surprise before sighing and using his wand to clean the mess and re-stack the papers on his desk.

He waited a few minutes until the Dark Lord was back to diligently working. While the man was about to dip his quill in his ink well, Hadrian moved it slightly. This caused the man's quill to skid off the lip of the well and splatter ink all over the document that the man was working on.

Hadrian gave a sly grin as the man used his wand to siphon the excess ink. He could see the frustration growing and he wanted to see how far he could push the man.

Just as the man had cleaned off the document and carefully re-wet his quill and put it to paper, Hadrian used his magic to snap off the tip.

The thunderous look on the Dark Lord's face had Hadrian silently rolling along the top as he held in the laughter.

"Are you sure you want to continue this, my fox?" he suddenly heard.

He was instantly back on his face looking at the man in alarm.

The Dark Lord wasn't looking at him, just staring out into the room, with an almost imperceptible smirk on his face.

"Every time you decide to give me bad luck, and believe me that I'll know it's you, I'm going to take from you in restitution. If you want to worsen your punishment, then by all means, go ahead. It just means I'll enjoy it more, though you won't be able to say the same."

Hadrian felt alarmed that the man was claiming to be able to tell when he used his powers, or maybe was sensing his presence.

Still skittish from his previous capture by the man, he decided to escape while he still could and flew out of an open window.

Hadrian, once again invisible, was exploring the large meeting room that the Dark Lord was using to meet with his followers. He had tried to pay attention at first, but most were reports about the ministry.

Although Lucius Malfoy was Minister of Magic, the whole wizarding world knew who held all the power. It was those who followed the Dark Lord that received the best positions, although none were unqualified or incompetent.

Right now, one follower was droning on about some issue in the Department of Control of Magical Creatures.

Hadrian floated closer to the Minister, examining the man who held the highest position in Magical Britain and yet bowed to the Dark Lord.

The man was handsome, no doubt about it. He was a contrast to his Lord's dark looks with his ash blond hair and ice blue eyes. He held an aura of power that was impressive but didn't come close to matching the Dark Lord's.

Hadrian was distracted from his perusal when he realized that the man giving his report had stopped speaking. He looked over to see the Dark Lord gesture the man away before calling up another to give their report.

Hadrian smiled, perking up at the thought of doing some mischief.

Just as the man went to bow to the Dark Lord, Hadrian used his magic to give the man a little push, which sent the man stumbling until he fell into the Dark Lord's lap.

The man looked up horrified as the Dark Lord glared at the man who scrambled away from the Dark Lord as fast as he could manage.

The Dark Lord looked ready to crucio the man before looking away from the man as if the very sight of him displeased him.

"All of you out. Those who still need to make reports can submit written ones," he said, his tone low and threatening.

Some of the man's followers scrambled out of the room as fast as they could while other, such as Lucius Malfoy, exited with a little more decorum.

Hadrian watched as the Dark Lord sat in his high backed chair, not doing much of anything. He was about to leave out of boredom when he froze as the man started to speak.

"You may not have given me bad luck, little one, but if affected me all the same. You can add that to your tally which I will collect on."

Hadrian growled, letting it swell and echo through the room. He was tired of being skittish around the Dark Lord and would not cower from the man; would not let him threaten him with punishment as if he were a naughty child.

"If you want to tangle with me, my pet, then you'll have to show yourself and we can get started," the man said with a raised brow.

Hadrian, while not wanting to be a coward, knew he was no match for the Dark Lord and was not foolish enough to try and take him on.

He used a burst of magic to turn the man's robes pink before fleeing out of the room hearing annoyed hissing behind him.

After Hadrian had gotten over his anger and had returned to the Dark Lord's Manor, he mostly spent the time just following the man around. He was curious about what Dark Lords did all day. He was NOT being compelled to be here by any bond or any other crazy reason, or so he told himself. He did worry a bit about it but decided that he could stay away whenever he wanted to and would prove it as soon as he became bored with his spying.

To be honest, the Dark Lord wasn't that different from most people. He had to do reports and meet with followers but other than that, there was nothing too out of the ordinary.

The only thing that really sparked his interest was when the Dark Lord decided to do magic, whether it was experimenting or dueling. Sometimes he would duel with Lucius or another man who Hadrian didn't know the name of. Hadrian would watch these duels in fascination as the Dark Lord gave himself handicaps such as only using wandless or wordless magic, or only using one shield spell and one offensive spell.

Even more fascinating was the experiments that the man would sometimes do. Hadrian's favorite one that he had witnessed was watching the man experiment with elemental magic to teach himself to fly.

One night, when Hadrian was exhausted from a sleepless night and busy day, he had fallen asleep on one of the chairs in the Dark Lord's office as he watched him do paperwork.

When he had woken up, it was to find himself cradled in the man's lap. He had tensed, startled at where he was especially since he was still invisible. He had looked up at the man's face only to see the Dark Lord asleep in the chair.

Hadrian had quickly and gently crept off the man's lap before fleeing in a mass of confusing, and frankly terrifying, emotions that seemed to well in Hadrian's chest at being cradled by the Dark Lord.