The Art of War

“If his forces are united, separate them.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War

It had only taken moments to change into his black robes and settle the mask in place. As much as he tried to sort his thoughts, there was nothing beyond what they'd just done. The way she had crawled on that rope, the whimpers and begs for his cock. Of course, that was when the summon had come, right when he'd been at that proverbial peak of contentment, as though to remind him that his very pleasure was contingent on his ability to be just as dutiful to his master.

"My Lord," he bowed deeply, kneeling before the wizard as he so often did. Sex or not, this was no different. He had been summoned, and like the good soldier he was, he'd answered, regardless of what it cost.

The Dark Lord looked down at his lieutenant, trying not to sneer at the fact it had taken a summons to have him appear and actually make a report. Normally, Draco would show up within a day of a situation or at least send some report. His wand was already in his hand when the blond appeared, his eyes narrowed on him.

"Draco," he drawled, his voice colder than usual. Looking the young wizard over. "How long has your injury been manageable?" He had heard he'd been injured, but that hadn't stopped him before. Hadn't kept him. He expected reports. Expected results. And with how slow the two women were piecing everything together, he was even more impatient for progress. Even if they had taken out a few more higher-ranking members of that insurgency.

Draco knew he should have come before starting his games with his wife. Part of him wanted to be regretful, but then those images of her on her knees for him, struggling against the floor in all her glory overtook his senses and there was no point in denying he'd do it again.

"I didn't intend to delay, my Lord," he promised in earnest. He'd had every intention, had even said as much. Apologies were useless, especially in his predicament. "I know where the last Dumbledore is," he offered, hoping it would appease some of that anger he would receive.

Looking him over, the Dark Lord considered him with narrowed eyes. He had been cautious for all of his years. Knew the value of ensuring people weren't hiding things from him. And he knew that he was going to have to delve into his lieutenant's head once again. Couldn't have that Muggle-born witch convince him to do something against him after all.

"And where did you get that information? Has your new wife been holding information back?" He demanded before his mind reached for his, digging into it to see.

Draco smiled behind his mask. "She helped me secure Seamus Finnegan," he loosed. It wasn't like he could hide her at the scene, cursing her former allies on her way to his side, embodying her moniker. "We tortured him this morning," he added. Of course, in the end, the torture had only gone so far; it was ignoring him that had gotten him to spill. He didn't hide any of it.

"Finnegan is a decent enough prize. His knowledge, if it's accurate, even more so," he drawled as his mind started to dig into the others. He had already been livid that there had been blank spots on the honeymoon he had taken with the witch. It made him cautious. Made him wonder what it was the two of them were up to. But then, as he dug through the man's mind to see the torture, he also saw what the newlywed pair got up to.

"It was quite the sight," he said, knowing, practically inviting the other to glean in.

A very slight quirk on his lips was the only reaction outwardly other than his words. "It seems you had quite a few sights today, Draco."

Draco was no fool. He knew exactly what his master alluded to. As much as he'd enjoyed it, he hadn't exactly wanted to share things that private. However he put it, though, he had to use it to his advantage.

"I had to make sure I was healed," he responded indolently. "Lessons had to be learned." He leaned into that depravity of the evening. The part of him that had gotten off on her crawling and begging.

The chuckle that left the Dark Lord was a deep rumble and lacked what many would consider a jovial tone. "Make sure you aren't so easily distracted by your pretty little wife, Draco, but do keep making sure she conforms to your will. Can't have her getting any more of her brilliant ideas that caused us such trouble... More importantly she needs to be working with the Muggle to get me more of those translations."

If the witch were more controlled by his lieutenant, then he wouldn't have to worry about her trying anything funny if she managed to get the proper translation. But if she were only translating what was instructed, then he wouldn't have to worry about that at all.

"How soon can you take the last Dumbledore off of the board?"

“I’ll be sure to renew the urgency of translating the item we recovered,” he answered casually. “I can give her a few days and take a small team to Cork,” he added to the last statement. “I doubt we need much longer to deal with the goat lover,” he shrugged. He wasn’t exactly the former headmaster. His wife might be distracting, but she had her uses, and up until now, his results hadn’t exactly hurt from her presence.

"Make sure that the last remaining Dumbledore can't hide any intel. If he was hiding away in Cork, I'm sure he was some sort of hub for something. The Finnegan boy might still be useful. See if you can get anything else out of him once you've returned," he said simply. A command that could not be argued with.

"Of course, my Lord," he bowed deeper, practically brushing the ground.

Looking him over, his wand hand almost twitched. "Make sure that reports to me are the priority over your new pet, Draco. I'd hate to think that she's distracting from your work when you've achieved such....invaluable results with her around."

"Yes, my Lord." He agreed, glad for the mask as the lightest dust spread over his cheeks. He could have merely gotten praised and then enjoyed his wife, but she'd been teasing him for days. There wasn't much else he could add.

"Good, Draco. You've always been such a devoted lieutenant," he drawled, turning his back on the blond. "Invaluable and capable. Ruthless. It seems your wife has a taste for that as well...make sure she helps in extracting intel at the very least. At the most...see if she could be used in the field. If you think she can handle it or won't be captured. She is your prize after all...." He drawled. Despite his pretty words at their ceremony, he knew that the Granger girl was a reward for getting a task done and could be used as a great motivation for the boy. What was given could be taken away. Draco did seem like he was growing fond of the brunette.

His wife had a taste for many things that had come as a surprise, but he tucked that thought away as deeply as he could. "I'll see how to best utilize her talents," he supplied cooly. He knew he preferred her out of the field, but the memories that had been made available to his master would counter any argument he could make, so he didn't. "The cause will always come first."

"Good. Very good, son. Now...go and take care of the job. Summon who you need." He ordered, keeping his back to him. He'd see how Draco best utilized the witch.