"Beg your pardon?" asked Ariana in disbelief.
"It's difficult for me to believe as well but it's absolutely true. Their marriage has been annulled by the Head Priest on their request. How could they? They are mates for god's sake!" Penny whispered in horror.
Ariana was stunned. She stood there, breathing rapidly without blinking. Her eyes were wet and her mouth had gone dry.
"Ari?" She heard Sean say.
"Let's go." Sean motioned towards the door.
Ariana started walking with him senselessly. Her vision was so blurry that she would not have been able to reach to her dorm safely without Sean guiding her the whole way.
Sean could tell that she was disturbed after hearing the news. He was amazed to see werewolves being affected to this extent by something regarding personal life of their leader. He could care less about the president of his country. Anyway, he didn't want to make small talks to console her about a matter he had no idea of. So, he thought it was best to leave her alone for now.
As he reached his house, he found his mom seated in the living room with a glass of water in her hand. "Why are you up so late?" He asked.
"Well your father has been getting unnecessary calls all night. All of them informing him about the werewolf King and Queen's failed marriage." Vanity Windsor rolled her eyes.
"Yeah. Apparently it's a huge deal." Sean chuckled.
"No, no. It is." Vanity folded her arms. "Annulments and divorces are rare in their world. They literally get their soulmates for life. And they worship their royalty. So of course this news is being spread everywhere."
"So the King is placed above everyone else? Aren't there popes or something?"
"No. There are priests and a Head Priest among them. The current one's name is Narcisse. But even they aren't above the King. Lancasters are supposedly descendant of their Goddess. So, no other werewolf tries to take over them as it is considered blasphemy. Every word from the Monarch is taken as direct message from the Goddess herself by the subjects."
"Something tells me that werewolves are very superstitious." Sean shook his head.
Vanity nodded her head. "It's best not to interfere in their faith and simply run our business. That's how we Windsors have done it for centuries. Do you understand?"
"I do, mom."
After a pause, Sean asked. "So what's the name of the King again?"
"His Majesty, Xavier Kon Lancaster." Vanity put emphasis on each word.
"Xavier?" Sean shot up from his seat.
"Mmm..." Vanity diverted her attention to the newspaper.
Sean rushed to his room. He clutched his hair tightly before releasing them. Now he knew what Nate meant when he had said that even if they brought an army, they wouldn't be able to kill Ariana's ex. He was talking about the King of the most powerful empire in the whole world. And now that guy was free. Free to snatch Ariana away. Would he even have to snatch? She could be willing.
The more he thought about it, the more he had the urge to go to Ariana right then and there and cage her in his arms.
**~~~**
Ariana was lying in her bed with her lights turned off. Her throat was hurting from all the crying. She woke up and turned on the light to grab a tissue. While doing so, she caught her reflection in the mirror. She walked and stood in front of it and wiped her tears away with her hand instead. As she was trying to compose herself, she burst into tears once again.
"Why are you crying, stupid?" asked Saoirse.
There came no reply. Saoirse continued. "You should be celebrating. Those fools parted their ways by themselves. I hope there was a huge fight between them. May be he found out that the bitch wasn't a Queen material. Or maybe that bitch left him cuz he's impotent. And tell me once again Ariana, why are you crying?"
Ariana gulped down a full glass of water to stop her hiccups. "It's just- it just hurts that all of this happened for nothing." She stammered. "I lost him for nothing- "
"- Correction." Saoirse interrupted. "He lost you. And it was his choice. Would you have been happy if they had a happy life after what they did to you? If you ask me, I'm pretty happy knowing that they're going to have a miserable life now. I wonder what Henry, the eight, is going to do to ensure the Lancaster bloodline."
"I don't know. Snatch another wolf's mate, I guess?" Ariana spat bitterly.
"Now that's the spirit!" Saoirse laughed.
Ariana's mind drifted somewhere else then. "Nate..." She whispered before jolting awake. "He must have gotten the news as well. How's he?"
"How would I know-"
Ariana ran to her bed and picked up her phone. She dialed Nathaniel's number many times but in vain. She was getting worried now. She hoped he hadn't taken any impulsive action.
Suddenly, there came a knock at her door. Ariana put her phone down and reached for the knob before asking, "Who is it?"
"It's Britney, bitch!" came an answer along with a chuckle.
Ariana frowned before opening the door. "Are you drunk, Alexa?"
"Move." Alexa nudged Ariana slightly before entering. She threw the bag she had brought along on to Ariana's bed. It made a clanking sound. Upon hearing that, Ariana closed the door immediately and checked the bag. "6 bottles, Alexa?"
"Yes." Alexa rolled her eyes and took one out.
"Why are you drunk? Didn't you have a date with Ryan?" Ariana folded her arms.
Alexa opened seal of the bottle and took a sip. "I'm not drunk. I'm just tipsy."
"And?" Ariana gestured her to continue.
"I was waiting for Ryan to arrive at this restaurant. Then my ex boyfriend came out of nowhere and started crying and made a whole scene. Apparently, his grandmother died and he couldn't think of anyone who could be with him at such a time. So he tracked me. Dude's grandmother died. So I couldn't shoo him away. I sat there patting his shoulder for some time while people at other tables were giving us weird looks. And guess what?"
"What?"
"He started saying that he wanted us to get back together. I was done with him. I mean he was the one who had dumped me before college anyway. So I just gave him a last hug and was about to say no when I realized Ryan was watching us. He just said that he won't come between us and left. After that, I tried to call Ryan many times but he didn't pick up."
"And then you decided to get drunk?"
"I'm not drunk, Ri. I'm just tipsy."
"Ri? How much will you shorten my name?" Ariana shook her head.
"Your name's so flexible. You can be called anything. Ariana, Riana, Ana, Ari, Ri, Ria, Rian- "
"Shut up!"
Alexa chuckled. She stared at Ariana's face for a while. "You were crying?"
Ariana turned back to hide her face. "No, I wasn't."
"Yes, you were."
"No, I wasn't."
"Yes, you were."
"Okay!" Ariana turned around and threw her hands in air. "I was. What about it?"
Alexa took out another full bottle and presented it with her hands.
Ariana got reminded of the time when she, Anwar and Persephone used to sneak into his their father's office which had a cabinet full of imported alcohol. Persephone didn't trust Mary's blabbering mouth. So, she used to tag along with her and Anwar. Before drinking, they used to mark the level outside the bottle and later add water to balance with it. That used to be the only time when all three of them got along with each other. It hurt to even think of her siblings now.
"Give it." She put her hand forward.
"Here." Alexa threw the bottle which Ariana caught. She opened the lid and started drinking from it non-stop till it was half-empty.
"Wow...that's my girl!" Alexa clapped her hands excitedly. She resumed drinking herself.
After an hour, Alexa was completely drunk while Ariana was only a bit tipsy. Her werewolf genes were making it harder for her to get drunk.
"I really loved Edric, you know. Everybody thought we were just some high school fling. But I really did love him." Alexa whispered.
"Umhuh." Ariana hummed.
"He was my first. Him and only him. Well except for Nate." Alexa chuckled. "But I only used Nate to get over Edric. Nate used me too. He may think I don't know but I notice a lot of things. After a good fuck, I used to pretend to be asleep. Then, Nate used to cry asking "why?" over and over to no one. Obviously, he wanted to get over his ex too."
Ariana's eyes began to water imagining Nate in such a pathetic condition. She felt the same amount of hate for Persephone now as she had when she had seen her emerging from Xavier's chamber.
She immediately reached over for her phone and dialed Nate's number once again. This time, Nate picked up.
"What?" came a groggy voice.
"Come over." Ariana demanded.
"Why?" asked Nate, confused. He had expected her to ask some cliché questions regarding his well-being.
"There's a party going on." Ariana's words were slurring. Alexa laughed from behind.
Nate hung up. What is she up to? He thought. To make sure Ariana wouldn't do something rash under influence of alcohol, he rushed to her place immediately. Seeing a guard at the gate, he shifted into his werewolf form and jumped and reached outside Ariana's room quietly. He shifted back to his human form and opened the door.
There she was. Sitting on the floor with Alexa. Eating chips. While Alexa struggled to open another bottle.
"What are you two doing?" asked Nate, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Partying." answered Ariana in an obvious tone.
Nate shook his head in disapproval. He didn't take Ariana for one who drunk her problems away.
"Argh!" Alexa threw the bottle on the floor, unable to open it.
Nate closed the door and walked towards them and sat down on the floor beside Ariana. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you fine?"
"No, I'm not." Ariana answered in a serious tone before smiling. "This is not a party actually. I'm lamenting for the failed marriage of my dear sister and brother-in-law by drinking."
Nate couldn't help but chuckle. "What has gotten into you?"
Ariana grabbed the empty bottle beside her and lifted it to show to Nate.
Nate thought for a while before speaking. "Well, let me lament for them too."
"Okay." Ariana gave him a smile, which didn't reach her eyes, before taking a bottle out of Alexa's bag. "Goddess! They were our favorite couple, weren't they?"
Nate accepted the bottle and took a sip. "Definitely. They were the ones who made me believe in soulmates."
Ariana and Nate laughed together in melancholy.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Alexa jumped on top of Ariana's bed. "I have come here with a purpose."
"What is it, Sire?" Ariana shouted dramatically with enthusiasm.
"Today we are gathered to witness the cremation of Edric Hamilton."
"For your information, Edric is her former lover." Ariana whispered to Nate.
"I know." said Nate.
Alexa took out something from her back pocket. "This is the card Edric had given to me on our first anniversary. I'm gonna burn him by burning this card today."
"How juvenile." Nate rolled his eyes. "Why would you keep a piece of paper for this long anyway considering you guys had broken up?"
"You don't know, Nate. Girls keep something that reminds them of their true love, no matter what." Alexa scolded.
"No. Not all of them are a big emotional fool like you." Nate countered.
"You don't believe me. Let's ask Ari." Alexa turned towards Ariana. "Come on. Take out that thing and let's burn it."
"What thing? She doesn't have anything." Nate stated in confidence. However, his smirk fell off when Ariana reached inside her pillow and took out a handkerchief which had alphabet X embroidered on it.
"Ha!" Alexa screamed in delight.
It was the same handkerchief the man from the garden had spread out to make sure she didn't have to sit on top of dust. Ariana had taken it with her while returning to her chamber that night. She had it with her during the Coronation Ceremony and the day after as well, tucked inside her corset. It traveled with her to the human world.
Ariana was ashamed to admit that she couldn't let go of that handkerchief even after what had happened. It had even helped her to calm her wolf down and lessen her pain the day she had shifted.
But now, she decided to get rid of it by burning it, like Alexa intended. She and Alexa went to her washroom. They filled a bucket with water and burned their respective belongings before plunging them inside the bucket to avoid the fire alarm. Meanwhile, Nate wondered if Persephone had kept any of his belongings.