Twisted Beauty (A Sleeping Beauty Tale)

Chapter Thirty-Four

The king was restless. He paced back and forth in front of the blazing fire in the hearth, waiting for the guards to arrive and give a report. They were late.

Daniel lounged on one of the chairs, a bottle of liquor dangling from his fingers. "Calm down, Drake. There's nothing you can do at the moment, so stop stressing."

Drake wanted to be angry; wanted to feel something roar in his veins. But nothing came. He felt hollow; exhausted. His fiancée was taken from him and he didn't know how to get her back. "How would you feel if Jasmine was taken from you?" he snapped.

His friend chuckled, taking a long drink from the bottle. "I don't love Jasmine. I couldn't care less." And that was the big difference between them. Both were cleaved from the same rock; two sides of the same coin. One might even mistake them as brothers, for all the time they were together. The one thing that made them different was Drake's ability to step out of the darkness of magic. He had made an effort to overcome it. But Daniel had welcomed it.

Someone knocked on the door at that moment, and Drake called for them to enter. Half a dozen guards stepped forward, each dropping to their knees in greeting. It was something he wasn't sure he would ever get used to.

In Kallis, no coronation was needed to make him king – the title was given to him automatically upon his father's death. There was no time for grieving, no time to adjust.

"Your Majesty," one said, waiting for the order to rise. Once the king gave it, they got to their feet and the leader of the group gave his report. "There have been whispers about the rebels having the princess," he said. Not that there was any surprise there – but a confirmation was better than nothing. "One of our inside sources saw her, and we're working on a way to get her out."

"Have the army commanders discuss strategies," Drake said. "We'll schedule a meeting for first thing tomorrow."

"There is another thing," a second guard added, and Drake could feel his fear. "The source from within the rebels said there was something going on. He doesn't know what it is, but they're planning something big."

Drake slowly nodded. Of course, such a group was bound to have some sort of plan in the works. "Have him look into it – get him to climb the ranks; whatever it takes."

And with that, they were dismissed. More useless information. If they were going to find Belleza, they would need much more than that. A location, an approximation of numbers.

"I still say you relax," Daniel called, raising his bottle in salute. Drake hissed at him, but after a moment claimed the seat beside his friend. Grabbing the second bottle of liquor, the king took a long swig.