Wolves among Kings

Chapter 6 ~ Pride of Grief

It didn't seem real, and for a moment William was unsure whether or not to accept it as real, or that his mind had simply drifted into a doze once again as he leant against one of the castle's great columns. However, after pinching himself just above the elbow, he made the realisation that he was not in fact dreaming, and that it was all true. The queen regent was on her death bed, and William didn't quite want to accept it.

Dying was a word which was so rarely connoted with the royalty, it seemed impossible, it seemed unreal. Almost impossible that someone, who he had always seen to have so very much power, to be on the grip of death. The royalty had always seemed to indestructible, this only made it stranger that he was now wanted to be the next one of them. After having avoided them like the plague for so very long. It almost seemed like betrayal to those few he had been close to, when he had felt so much hatred towards them for so long.

Before he realised it, his knuckles had turned white from the pressure he was applying to his hand with his right. Gripping onto it in order to stop himself from shaking, from showing the frustration and true emotions which were building up on the inside of him. The instincts of his wolf hating the feeling of being pent up, of being restless, of being scared.

The men and women lowered their voices, though they seemed confused by William's reaction to what had happened, none of them brought it up, as far as William's sharpened hearing would allow him anyway. They had other things to worry about, and William wasn't about to hold that against them at this moment in time, and hopefully they would not remember it later when their minds were a little clearer.

Sylas looked up after a minute or two, he suddenly looked a good twenty years older than he had seen him a moment ago. His eyes now heavy with the tears that he was clearly having to fight back to stop them from coming down his cheeks, it struck William how much these people thought of their royalty, and it surprised him a little. It almost made him a little uncomfortable, the way in which they now seemed to look at him. Almost in awe, with a slight amount of fear, though he knew if they knew his true form, this would only be tripled.

All he had ever known for them was hatred, as the people who had raised him had taught him to do, the idea that to some they may have been loved, seemed rather unreal. He watched them curiously, but didn't make it obvious what he was doing. That he was judging them all, in a way that he had seen many others do to him.

His eyes now directed to William, the knight turned towards him and took a deep breath, at first William couldn't tell whether or not he wished to scream or burst into tears, though both appeared to be more likely. However, he maintained his composure and bit down on his lip until it almost bled, then spoke in a low tone. Keeping it quiet, as William felt if the knight raised it much more, it would have simply broken Sylas.

"She wishes to see you, as soon as is absolutely possible, for more than obvious reasons." His voice shook, but only a little bit and William almost admired him for keeping his nerve better than he could have ever possibly expected. If it had been him, with someone he had cared about, he doubted he would be anything less then a blubbering child. But this was a trained knight, careful about his tone and even more so about the way that he looked.

William flushed at the cheeks at what the knight had said, and he felt a little awkward when each of them turned to look at him. It almost seemed full of hatred, William looked away and backed off a little taking a deep breath, not looking any of them in the eye. Happy to stay in the shadows as much as he possibly couldn't, he couldn't risk bringing any attention to himself, despite the strong urge to lift his head to the sky and let out a long howl.

"Are you certain? Would I not be unwelcome at such a time, would she not prefer to be in peace at this moment, with the ones that she loves." He asked in a low tone, keeping his eyes to the ground and holding himself still with every ounce of will that he had remaining. All he wished to do was set off running and not stop until he had reached the end of the earth, and if this feeling still remained, throw himself off it even then.

"She has no loved ones left, and she has made it quite clear that she wishes for you to be the one to come to see her." Sylas answered simply, with every word his voice became a little clearer and calmer. He seemed to be proud of the grief which filled him, and he had some form of control over his anger, his pain. A form of control that William doubted that he would ever be able to understand as he watched the older man with a nervous look.

Before he was able to argue again, Sylas crossed his arms and his tone turned almost deathly, angry that the man he still sort of viewed as his insubordinate was being stubborn. He said lowly, no arguments were capable with the voice he put on. He wasn't going to accept any answer then the one that he was expecting. The knight steadied himself, the bags under his eyes seeming ten times worse then when William had seen  him the evening before.

"I will accept no answer other than yes, otherwise I will have you dragged into her room, regardless of what you want. This may well be my queen regent's final wish, and I will do whatever I can to make sure that it comes true." Sylas said, treating William to his best and most lethal of death glares that he possibly could, but the anger was real, the anger was threatening and intimidating. But most of all, the anger was pure.

"Will you come with us?" He asked one final time, lifting an eyebrow and William half expected the larger knight to gesture for the guards to grab him by the armpits and drag him into the Queen regents bedroom.

"Very well," William said at last, though he still didn't look particularly comfortable with the prospect of having to do what he was told. "But I don't know what on earth your expecting to come of this little experiment."

"It is her last wish, I only want to make her happy. My queen regent is dying, I will do absolutely anything to make her happy.