Dangerous Illusion

Chapter - 10

For a moment, he doubted himself. Did he poison the correct glass? He watched Octavian, tuning out everything else not even the musician striking the ivory keys of the grand piano reached the omega's ears. A fair trade, one could say, one life for another but in this case one life for thousands of others.

Suddenly the man began coughing. The glass tumbled to the ground with him. Wine colored blood has stained the floor, leaving the body in a pool of blood and sharp shards of glass.

For a few agonizing moments, everything was silent. The musicians stopped their playing, hands still in the mid air. The soldiers watched helpless with wide eyes, as they saw their general falling down, onto the hands of death. From the corner of his eyes Louis could see the king, a goblet of wine on his hands, his eyes frantically falling on his ministers.

"He deserved it. He deserved it."
Louis repeated to himself staring at the body. Death had frozen the man's face into a rigid snarl, a final, eternal lamentation to the heavens. His eyes were black, a never ending pitch resembling the nights when even moon hides, too afraid of what lurks behind the dark. There was no life behind it, death had sucked it away from him, just like the way he diminished the light behind hundreds of lives.

Louis' eyes wandered across the people who surrounded the man. Most of them were shocked but in some features he could see the small sign of relief. Standing near the wall, a hand to her chest was the small girl from before. But now different emotions danced in her scared amber eyes - relief and shock.

Now all that was left of the man was a small congealing pool of blood. Louis' gut lurched, and a churning mixture of digestive fluids and yesterday's dinner filled his mouth. It was always like this. He was too weak to behold his own work. He was too weak for the emotional turmoil that comes as an aftermath.

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Rumors about what happened to the noble spread through the country like a wildfire. Some thought that he died of natural causes, while others thought that he was murdered. Stories began to be fabricated and whispers swiveled in the dark corridors and alleyways. In spite of all woven stories and imaginations , one thing was clear - Octavian was already 6 feet under the ground, succumbed to his fate.

When he was alive the man rode high on materialistic waves, with only one goal, increase his wealth. Now after his death no single soul wept for him, his gold coins that he spent almost his entire life collecting did not shed a single tear for him.

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Louis stared at the ceiling, desperately waiting for his eyes to droop and allow the darkness to engulf him. But of course just like all these years, nothing plays in his way. Even if he sleep, his mind will just open the doors of nightmares, an act that summon monsters from the dark pitches of Tartarus. 

With a long huff, he got up from the bed, placing the thin blanket around his shoulder to keep away the unforgiving winter air.

Opening the door Louis stepped out slowly closing it behind him. Walking past the silent maids quarters, he reached the main door leading to the back garden. He knew the guards are watching his every move, but he was too tired to even lift his finger, let alone run. After his little stunt almost two months back, Harry had became paranoid and has appointed guards to watch his every move.

Walking through the garden, Louis' eyes wandered across each patch of flowers, the art made by the gardeners shining in the moonlight. The pebbles crunched under his feet; apart from the occasional hooting of the owls the silence of the night wrapped around him. He picked up a small flower, the delicate blue petals twirled in his hands, fluttering as a soft gush of the wind filtered through the air.

"Its beautiful."

Louis jumped dropping the flower. He looked up to see Harry, amusement dancing in his eyes. "Warn a guy next time, Harold."

The alpha stood beside the omega with an eyeroll. "That's not even my name Lewis".

But there was no bitterness behind it. Their dynamic is not something that others will understand. The insults that bounced between them, there was no real meaning behind the words, no double innuendo intended to make hearts bleed.

Harry sat beside the small omega, his hair framing his face, eyelashes fluttering every few seconds. "What are you doing here?" The alpha looked at him, up close Louis could see the golden flickers that danced in the green pool. The warmth radiated off Harry, the soft fur that the man had around his shoulder slowly grazing the omega's hands.

"Don't worry, I am not going to run." Louis replied, his eyes crinkling. Harry chuckled at that picking up a small daffodil. "I know you won't. Don't even try it."

"I asked you a question." The alpha reminded once more when silence began to settle between them. "I couldn't sleep." Louis replied, prompting Harry to look at him once more.

"What are you doing here?" Louis questioned as he slowly leaned on his elbow, until he was lying half down on his side, facing the royal.

"I was awake. When I saw you,  thought I will come down."

"To see if I am running away?"

"of course" Harry chuckled slowly.

It was silent for a few minutes, both of them enjoying the coolness of the night.

"I need to tell you something," Harry said touching Louis' hand which garnered a surprised hum from the younger man. "I'm proud of you" the prince whispered in the darkness, surprising Louis at the abrupt appreciation, "You did better than my expectations."

The omega was shocked for a few minutes. Its been ages since someone praised him, the giddiness running through his body. Although the reason for it was not something good or to be proud of, Louis smiled at the alpha, his inner omega crooning at the praise. 
"Thank you Harold."

"Should I be concerned about the amount of knowledge that you held when it comes to killing. " Louis laughed at that, which made the alpha join him.

" I'm afraid you should be your highness." The sky, a matt dark canvas was filled with orange and pink hues at some areas, ready to welcome another new day. 

"You know I'm trying to look behind this mask. Your personality is odd. You seemed to have a tree trunk stuck far up your ass. But sometimes all I see is a small omega, looking for a place, a person who is trying to change everything that's wrong ." The statement that came out hung heavily in the air, the tension between them thicker than ever.

Louis sat up, his eyes a cage of anger. "You know nothing of what you speak Harry."

"I don't know what happened to your family, although I have my own guess. But whatever I said right now, there is nothing wrong in it." 

"You have your own guess? Well you know what Harry, it- its your family who caused it." Louis' face was blanched with anger, tears streaming down. "Its you nobles who did it. Was that your almighty guess Harry?" 

Harry watched as the boy broke down, all the sadness that was bolted up inaide him came tumbling down. He slowly took the omega in his arms, trying to calm down the painful whimpers and sobs that came out of the boy . If it was any other moment Louis would have wrecked havocs or would have buried himself rather than being seen like this- a damsel in distress.

But right now he is trying to catch breath, the sobs wrecking through his small frame. His vision blurred, throat burning from the silent scream. The warm hands wrapped around Louis, slowly rocking him back and forth. The gentle touches calmed him, giving him a sort of anchor.  The fresh pine scent wrapped around the omega, his eyes slowly draping shut. Somehow it felt good, the scent of the alpha floated around him as a protective blanket, the gentle touches slowly lulling him to darkness.

"They are not my family. Its not blood that makes one, its the love and trust Louis."  

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