The Fall of Vequera

Chapter fifty-six | Nikolai

LOCATION: ARCADIOS, VEQUERA

YEAR: 622 C.E

"THE HIGH LORD IS DEAD AND THERE IS A HIGH LADY NOW."

Nikolai read off the letter that was sent from Helell. He glanced up at his uncle then back to the parchment in his hand. The letter had arrived that morning by raven. The sigil on the letter was still House Bathory. The letter confused the king. His brows furrowed and his jaw tensed. The council stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to respond. He sighed, slamming the letter onto the table. "It says nothing else about who this new high lady is. Except she is not of House Bathory but why is his sigil on the letter?"

Lord Llewelyn cleared his throat, "You could ask the whispers to see." The idea was smart but also not smart. Nikolai shook his head.

"We don't know if the high lady is hostile or not. She could have people watching everything we do." The king spoke, his head fell into his hands.

It was early in the morning, and he hadn't eaten yet. He had been summoned out of bed by his uncle for a meeting. He only wanted to sleep. The court would not meet, so he thought he would free from the clutches of his council, but he thought wrong as he was handed the letter. His lips fell thin as thoughts about the high lady ran through his mind. Who was she? And would she be as lenient as the high lord? Well, he wasn't as lenient as his mother made Lazarus out to be. He had been breaking many of their agreements over the last few years. Nikolai had learned though many of his mother's letters to the high lord what she had planned for Valia when she returned from Azoz. She was to be married off to the high lord.

His mother was hoping that Valia would take her life but when she didn't, she needed a new plan and decided that it would best to marry her daughter off to the high lord.

Because she would be forced to become an ventrui and eventually forget everything about her human life. It was seemed like a decent plan to rid their house of the burden of his sister but she was dead and had been for two years, so he didn't see the point of thinking about her much anymore. His father and the babe was what he thought about now. It was a horrid thing, but he needed them both dead.

Daefier Davian had been sent from Eriywall to aid the king. He was rather young, only a man of twenty-eight. All of the other Daefiers Nikolai had met since childhood were all old and withered. The Daefier sat near the window of the chamber with a stoic look. He didn't seem to like the king. Nikolai took offense to it, deeply. He rarely spoke unless he was asked a question. Nikolai had been informed that the daefier only spent time in his chambers outside of the royal apartments or in the libraries of the palace.

Zion had been distancing himself from Nikolai in hopes of gaining his father's favor. It annoyed Nikolai because he didn't see Zion anymore since he left for Baerston to be with his mother. Now, Nikolai spent every waking moment in the palace, alone. Nikolai turned to Prince Erato. "Summon the high lady to Vequera. I would like to meet her."

Erato nodded, refusing to look the prince in the eye. His uncle did the same as Zion. Ignoring him unless they had a council meeting. Since the death of Queen Amren, no one would speak to him. They knew it was his fault that she had died. It spread like wildfire around the palace. It irked him. Her ladies in waiting glared at him from afar whenever they saw him. Lady Katlynn Eurouin was the one who had gave him the brunt of her rage and grief with her constant insults and glares. But Nikolai ignored her for the times he would come across her in the halls of the palace. Amren's funeral was the day before and she had been burned the same as his mother. Nikolai stood but before he could leave the room, his uncle called for him. "Nikolai?"

"What?" Nikolai asked.

"Silverlight." His uncle reminded him.

"We talked about this, Uncle."