The Demon King (Otherworld Series #4)

Chapter 39

My voice broke into a sob as I walked closer to Nikolai's downed body.

But a knife was suddenly at my throat. "Back away from my Nikolai."

My Nikolai? Who the hell....

Umaya stepped out from behind me to cover my view of Nikolai. She looked positively tomatoish, if that even is a word.

Her faces still kept changing. But they all had on the same expression. It was determination mixed with grief, fear and heartbreak.

She looked just as devastated as I was about Nikolai's fate.

The difference was that she was holding a knife and threatening death and I was shocked out of my wits.
"I know you recognise me."

"I know that you know that I know who you are."

"I'm not playing a game, Lunia. "

"I'm this the part where you tell me your master plan, Runeria? I thought we'd be great friends because we both had similar thinking. And if I were you I'd do something dramatic like tell you my master plan and then frame you for Nikolai's death."

"Oh. I'm going to tell you my master plan, alright. " She said and caught a hold of my collar.

She nudged me towards the ruined couch and pushed me over it. Nikolai's open eyes stared at me, unseeing from his position on the ground.

A fresh wave of tears flooded my eyes as I watched her crouch over him and close his eyes.

"It is unfortunate that Nikolai ended up the one to bear the brunt of your punishment."

"You killed him."

"It was supposed to be you!" She cried. "You were supposed to be the one who dies. And Nikolai would be heartbroken over you and I, posing as Umaya, would be his shoulder to cry on. " Her voice cracked as she spoke looking down at Nikolai.

"The scarred man."

"Is an assassin I paid to murder you."

"And he double crossed you." I guessed.

"Someone else paid him more to kill Nikolai instead." She swiped at her face and pointed the knife at my face. "Let me tell you my story from the start.

"I grew up in a family of four. My two parents, my elder brother and myself. My father was the King. And my elder brother was the prince, soon to be King. Ours was a happy family. My parents cared for me. But my brother? They adored him. The people adored him. Everyone, everywhere only cared for his wellbeing. He was to be king , afterall. They didn't care that I was the princess. They didn't care that even I needed love. They only cared about him.

In a few years, it was finally his coronation day, the whole kingdome gathered together at the chamber of origination. And just when he was declared King, the fifth Theodorius hatched. " Her eyes glazed over, as if remembering that day.

"It was the best day of my life. To know that one day when Theodorius the fifth would mature, then my brother would have to give his beloved crown away. That one day, he would be just like me, a nobody. " She grinned wickedly.

"That day came nineteen years later, when Theodorius the fifth matured and took the crown from my brother. My brother became bitter after that. He cursed his fate and that of the Theodorius line. He became obsessed with gaining back the throne. He tried to assassinate Theodorius the fifth. " She paused as pushed some of my hair away from my face with her dagger.

"He was killed. Our family as a punishment for his sins was wiped away from the minds of the people by the Theodorius' magic. My parents and mine own mind was wiped clean of all memories of my brother. And I was turned back into a child, to make my parents believe the lies woven in their minds. But." She grinned.