The Alphas Guard

Chapter 54 - Filler

I knocked onto the back door of father's palace, letting out a shaky breath as I waited beside Luca.

We were driven by two guards who curtained the carriage, forbidding anyone from seeing the both of us. It was a shame because it did not give me the chance to see the northerners through the wonderfully carved window - more importantly, Alia Mo'men.

I knew the Mo'men's when I was younger. They were good people. Both of our families struggled to make coin, in fact, it was what made the both of us bond with one another so well. What happened after the northern war was something I could not answer, though.

The door opened, revealing an excited Alpha Nader.

Seeing him always pushed the mere breath out of me.

Just a day or two ago, he was 8 years old.

"Leila! Come in! Father cannot wait to speak with you!" He smiled, gesturing for us to enter the room.

I returned a smile to him, nodding as I walked through the door with Luca's hand gracing the small of my back.

"He's waiting for you in the living room. King Luca and I will discuss- uh, pack matters. Take your time. The ceremony begins in 2 hours, so there's no rush. Alright?" Nader insisted.

Why was he so excited to see me? He seemed to radiated happiness at the fact that I was breathing the same air as he. It unsettled me, but I did not show it. I refused to show it. I didn't know more than half of what my step brother had been through - so I ought to accept his overwhelming waves of glee.

"Alright," I replied, turning to face Luca, "I'll see you then,"

He laid a warm kiss to my forehead, wrapping a hand around my neck before letting go too quickly.

"I'll see you then," He agreed, disappearing into the palace my dad had built.

I took in a deep breath, counting to 5 before walking through the arched hallway that led to the living room. Tens of Persian carpets stained the ceramic floors of father's home, filling a foreign hollowness in my chest with every soft step I took. The scent of oud rushed up my nostrils, evoking inexplicable waves of nostalgia throughout my body.

My body seized to move when my eyes landed on a specific painting that hung dead centre in the living room, taking up a large chunk of the wall.

Alpha Nader and I.

I took slow steps towards the painting, until it was inches away from me - until the scent of the old paints rushed my nose and seeped into my brain.

Tears lined my eyes as the strings of my heart pulled.

That was the painting Nader pulled me through the streets of the norther markets to paint when he was 8. The one he practically forced me to sit down for almost 10 hours just so that Ali could get the green of my eyes right.

"Nader looks at the painting everyday before leaving the house," Father's voice rang from behind me, forcing me to face him with glossy eyes, "Every few months, he would brag about how he got to sit with the mighty warrior of the north for hours on end. How he was the only man on earth able to convince you to step aside from your warrior duties just to be in a paint with him,"

I swallowed, a traitorous tear slipping from my eyes and onto my powdered cheeks.

"You were his idol," Father said, walking towards me - a cane supporting his weight, "When I told him it was time for him to take my reign, he said he began preparing the day after he met you - the day he saw you in that armour of yours. That he was ready, all because of you,"