My head was throbbing.
My mind was fuzzy.
But there was a tunnel vision somewhere in that fog shining completely clear.
I needed the ale, the fuzziness and I needed the tunnel vision, the clarity to go through with this part of the evening.
Sera was going to be buried in the Royal Mausoleum.
Members of my court came up to me, saying how sorry they were at the loss of such a good soul. That she'd be remembered. Some were lying, some weren't.
The moonlight had just started peeking out from the horizon where a full moon formed. A dark shade of blue surrounded us, soon to turn into an inky black. Stars twinkled in the clairvoyant sky, like dotted pearls with an unlikely shine trying to wrestle their light out of the dark ready to engulf them.
Sera would've liked the scenery.
Right.
I exhaled, running a hand through my hair and glad for the herbal concoctions and magical potions both the healer and Esmeralda had provided me with that helped in controlling the exhaustion and after effects of the tankards of ale I'd consumed in the past few days.
My gaze caught onto the stone-faced figure standing besides a tree in the shadows, his eyes dark and consumed with an unreadable expression as he stared at my sister's body too.
Leon and Sera were more than just bodyguard and Princess and I'd have been a fool not to realise it. I didn't think anyone else would be able to share a semblance of my pain but I suppose Leon felt a bit of what I was feeling with Cara gone.
Loneliness like I'd never known took hold of me.
I didn't even have my Angel besides me to ease the pain. No. She was gone too. Maybe just like Sera was. Forever.
I'd just barely started to form something between Cara and me, something I felt like I'd been deprived of my whole life. And then the only two females I ever cared about were wrenched away from me by a painfully abrupt twist of fate.
No one would forget Sera though. She would receive the utmost respect and love. From me and our kingdom because Valeryn was hers as much as it was mine.
It made an age-long ache settle deep in my bones.
I took in a breath as the ceremony was about to start.
Clenching my jaw, I realized how much I didn't want to do this. Say goodbye. That too, alone.
"She'll never be forgotten." A quiet voice from my left made my eyes snap towards Lucien.
He looked forward, hand on hilt but his words made me feel like a hand had been extended.
A touch of firm comfort rested on my shoulder where Damien's coldness seeped in to provide me with a silent warmth that Valeryn's people and weather couldn't.
Glancing at him as well, I realized that they were out here not just to pay respects to my sister that they treated as her own but to tell me silently that we were in this together.
I don't know why I feel that way but I knew now that it had kicked in.
A part of me was lost forever.
But at at the same time, another hollow feeling inside my heart had filled in a little bit.
It was horrifically confusing to be torn between the feeling of being complete and incomplete.
And a friendship...a brotherly feeling that had seemed dormant inside of me came alive and I grasped onto it like a lifeline.
Without the jade-eyed girl who made me lose control and my mind a mess, I didn't think I could deal with a loss so potent after the aftermath of my kingdom's battle.
But maybe, just maybe Damien and Lucien could help.
•○•
The door clicked shut behind us and I didn't feign any more shows of strength.
Collapsing into the oakwood chair in the guest room Damien had inhabited and Lucien hadn't left, I felt it to be more welcoming than the room I might've previously called my own.
I couldn't even stomach the idea of visiting the West chambers of my palace. My room was next to my dead sister's and across from the human girl who had lit something inside me, only to meet a fate as horrible as Seraphima.
It wasn't easy to watch Sera's lifeless form being buried. Her last connection to the living world gone as well. No family left for me anyway.
I scrubbed a hand over my face.
I was so done. Spent. And not in a good way.
"Did you find out anything about Micah?" Lucien inquired and drew my attention towards him.
I was craving something to fill the hole inside my chest but nothing did it.
"Micah? That redhead who fought besides us?" Damien frowned, his gaze switching between me and Lucien.
I gulped and nodded, "Its like he vanished. Just like the Golden Pack. I don't....remember seeing him before the battle." Clenching my jaw, I let my eyes trail over the purple vine design in the ceiling.
"I have a bad feeling that things are going to be linked to Adalda now." Damien sounded hoarse.
I stared at him.
The man I held a strange aversion for. It was unsettling to see those similarities in personality between us.
But today it was Damien who provided me with a shoulder to lean my weight on with a touch that made me feel less lonely.
His comment though, wasn't so far off the mark.
Lucien scrubbed a hand over his face and I narrowed my eyes at them.
"Why..." Licking my dry lips, I put forth the question I'd swatted away but the curiosity of which ate me. "Why did you feel Cara...her...pain?"
I had a sneaking suspicion but that was all it was and I needed confirmation no matter how much I would detest the answer.
Damien's cobalt eyes weren't crackling with electric lightning or any sort of energy anymore. They were shrouded in pain and determination.
I stilled in anticipation, strung taunt.
But before Damien could answer me, the door flew open.
Our eyes snapped in the common direction and we were on the ready with our swords unsheathed.
Esmeralda Eldwick stood in the open doorway in all her glory, her eyes trailing over the three of us.
We still kept up our defensive stances, not entirely at peace with her presence. Especially after what her 'pseudo-sisters' had done to Malaar. I wasn't in the mood to talk to her but apparently it didn't matter.
"Your Majesties." She gave a bow and then with a firm set to her shoulders, headed towards Damien who narrowed his eyes on her.
I didn't react to the greeting but I noted how she used the same title to refer to all three of us when our social standings were clearly not the same.
"I am glad to see you're doing well. If you could lie down once more, I'd like to check over." Esmeralda wasn't backing down, even with out intense gazes.
None of us had moved but the witch was acting calmer than I would've expected. She waited for us to do as she said and in the end, I lowered my sword. Lucien and Damien followed suite even though we all kept our guard up.
"Esmeralda has been the one who acted as your healer." Lucien stiffly informed and I clenched my jaw, despair churning in my gut.
All I wanted was a few peaceful moments to breathe and grieve. Apparently that was too much to ask for.
When Damien silently lay back down on the bed, Esmeralda put out her bag filled with weird potion bottles and spelled talismans. Lucien remained standing and I took a seat on the chair I'd been seated on.
What was nagging me though, was how she'd thrown open the door like she had the power to do so but I was quite sure she didn't. That show of disrespect - never mind that she had saved Damien or something - wouldn't go unnoticed by me for future calls.
Yet we all remained silent until the dark haired witch broke it herself: "Prince Damien. Did you, per chance, do something with Cara?"
Damien stilled and Lucien's lips tightened. I frowned.
Her choice of words was strange. Too strange. It was like conveying something to the other two while keeping me in the dark because their reactions told me they sure as hell knew what she was speaking of. Now I was being cautious.
"Because if you did what I fear, then things just got a whole lot messier." Her stare was hard on the Celeran Prince. Esmeralda wasn't doing a check up, rather an interrogation that didn't quite feel like one either.
She swivelled towards me and I rose a brow. Her next question though, was directed at me and it had me clenching my fist.
"Did you initiate any physical contact with her? Say...." Her dark eyes narrowed in scepticism, "A kiss? Or more?"
I exhaled slowly, not sure how to answer but chose to keep the memory to myself, much like whatever Damien had done to Cara as well. A string of rage and jealously threatened to strangle me at the thought but I trampled on it.
Damien's eyes flashed electric for the first time since he came to and I wasn't sure if I was glad for it or not. Lucien's muscles tightened but he kept his cold facade.
Turned out, I didn't need to answer as she took it upon herself.
"You did. How reckless. How stupid." Esmeralda's dark words were a mix of chuckles that grated on me.
"What did Damien do." My voice rumbled and I hadn't realized but the vases in the room were floating due to my loose control on power. I tried to rein it in.
"He created a soul-bond." All of us - sans Esmeralda - turned to look at the new voice of interest and found my textile Minister, Isla, standing there, her eyes haunted.
Esmeralda sighed at her sight.
"Sad." Isla remarked, entering and flicking her gaze from me to Damien to Lucien to finally Esmeralda. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
"We're aware." Lucien curtly added.
I was a bit suspicious now. Why were they here?
Isla approached me, dipping her head in respect, "Your Majesty. Your sister wanted me to give you this in case something ever happened to her. The day came far too soon for it." Her words were melancholy and I could believe her. I knew they were good friends.
She was holding out a roll of parchment that I took from her, afraid what I'd find inside would break me more. It had the faint scent that was all Sera lingering on it.
Esmeralda spoke up again, "My condolences as well. To all of you. Princess Seraphima met an untimely death. But nothing's been timely after all."
My gaze narrowed on the dark witch. "What do you mean?"
Minister Isla stepped in, "I'm afraid we can't say much. But we can tell you that Prince Damien's reaction to...well....Cara was visceral and thanks to his Soulbond with her." Her blue gaze swung towards me, "I'm aware you felt your connection with your sister being severed, King Arion. But I want to ask you if you felt something in regards to Cara as well?"
I wasn't ready to relive the painful moments but the second she brought it all up, I could remember just fine. I know what I felt was for both females. One my sister and one...one I don't know what.
My answer must've shown on my face. I haven't been in the best form after all.
Isla's shoulders slumped but she nodded as if in acceptance.
Esmeralda eyed Lucien and then addressed him, "General Lucien. You've been the most distant with her. It's not exactly what we had assumed but.....I'm sure you weren't as unaffected as you're putting on?"
Her question was met with a look as good as a glacier that wouldn't be melting anytime soon. But for some visceral reason, I interpreted it as an answer saying yes.
The dark haired witch and Minister Isla exchanged looks and then with a deep breath, took a few steps away from us and towards the door. I subconsciously took a step forward.
These women knew something. No, they knew what we were desperate to.
The other two men in the room didn't ask the questions though I could practically feel the urge they had. So I took it upon myself, sensing that Damien and Lucien were letting me deal with this since these were technically my court members.
"You're hiding something from us. What is it, Minster Isla?" My hard tone should've made her react to me, afraid of my power over her in my court but sadly she only smiled ruefully.
"A Queen is gathering her army, King Arion." Esmeralda's ominous words made my stomach roil in a bittersweet memory of my sister saying the same.
"And that's all you need to know." Minister Isla bowed once more and then both females were closing the door behind them. Gone just like that.
Except their words had my brows pulling down into an aggressive frown and my heart clenching in pain.
"I've heard that before." Damien's small voice seemed misplaced with his bloodthirsty Vampire Prince persona but he seemed to be tiring. As expected since he didn't get enough recovery time.
Yet his words made my eyes snap up towards him. I saw how Lucien did the same.
"You have?" I tentatively asked and he closed his eyes, jaw clenching.
"My father said that to me."
My mind raced and though I knew I should keep I cards close to my chest, I couldn't help it when I blurted out, "Sera said the same thing when we arrived in Celera, after the party."
Now it was their turn to look at me with various degrees of surprise, curiosity and dread.
Because I had a feeling it didn't mean anything good for us.
Damien and I locked eyes and as if we knew it, we both turned our attention towards the Shifter General in the room whose teeth were grinding hard enough that even I could ear the gritty sound.
Lucien quietly acknowledged, "Queen Kesla said it after she met Cara."
I sucked in a sharp breath and gulped thickly. "So we can deduce that this isn't just a random sentence." I ran a hand through my hair, still feeling sick.
I slumped down in my chair, feeling agonised that I didn't even know what my sister had been upto. Clutching the roll of parchment Isla had left me with in my hand, I let out an ironic snicker.
But if the vampires knew of this dreaded thing much like Isla and Esmeralda that why didn't we?
I didn't even know why I didn't press the two hard enough for answers. All they did was barge in and leave us with more questions than answers.
"But what does it mean? Who does it symbolise? Is it, like, a rebellion?" Damien rolled his shoulders in ire.
No one had an answer to that.
But I knew we all had only one thing on our minds because there was a single, common link in this mess. She was the catalyst. And though I didn't hold her responsible for Sera's death....a part of me was battling the other to know why I couldn't have both my sister and Cara.
It was tearing me on the inside like the Daeva had torn into my soldiers. Gruesomely and as if it was nothing big to accomplish. Their darkness could only rival the one growing inside me at the immeasurable losses on all sides that I was facing.
And then suddenly something occurred to me.
My eyes snapped to the door and I stood up. Lucien and Damien frowned as I proceeded to leave.
Walking down the corridors hastily, I heard their footsteps joining mine a moment later. But my focus was elsewhere and my heart was nervous.
When I finally arrived at the hallway leading to the training rooms, I detoured.
Hesitating for a whole minute because this was where Sera had died and Cara had been too.....
Remembering how Cara had come from the opposite direction the day I'd tried distracting myself by draping Katherine over my arm, I could clearly recalled her words.
"Where were you?"
"The training room, Your Majesty." Her reply was curt and I knew why.
"Let's leave, My Grace." I ignored Katherine, my attention on Cara.
"We were just there as well. I didn't see you." My eyes narrowed in suspicious but she didn't let another emotion slip out.
"The other one, Your Majesty."
"There's only one in this whole Palace, don't lie." Katherine's response was meant to be degrading and yet I stayed silent, baffled.
Cara looked Katherine in the eye, fearless but cautious. She threw it out that she wasn't humiliated. It was a bold move her words covered up. "My apologies. I must be mistaken."
"Yes but then where were you?" I was being impatient.
She bowed her head. "Forgive me, Your Majesty but the Princess has called on me. If you have questions about my whereabouts, she can confirm them."
It had slipped my mind back then and I hadn't bothered to question more. But now....
It urged me forward and I pushed away the sick churning in my stomach to arrive at the next curving hallway.
"Where are we going, Arion?" Damien asked but I didn't bother responding as I finally came to the destination.
Slowing my pace, I walked on until I finally saw it.
A door.
Which hadn't been there before. I clearly knew my own Palace. And this part of the Palace was rarely used. Sometimes for stealthy exits but that was all.
My shoulders slumped and Lucien stepped forward. We all followed suit, entering the small lobby before it opened into a grand training room equipped with all kinds of weapons of utmost quality.
"This training room....I don't remember it." He'd been here enough to know this wasn't an addition to my Palace.
Damien's eyes bore into me questioningly and I exhaled in helplessness.
"Neither do I."
"What the hell is this place?" Damien ingaled sharply and I knew what he meant.
Not only could we scent Cara's presence here but very slightly Sera's too. Although it didn't raise my hackles as much as the tar-like blood remains of the Daeva did.
Just....what had been happening in my castle, right under my nose, by my very own sister?
"We need to find Cara."
Lucien reaffirmed Damien's thoughts, "That we do."
I remained staring at the anomaly of a room, agony and confusion ripping me apart.
How many secrets were we unaware of? And why?
"We have a lot to do. And finding Cara is one of those things. Because she clearly isn't dead."
However there was one more question none of us voiced: Then what?
•○•
AN~
So what are your thoughts? We had our favourite sentence mentioned by Esmeralda and Isla. Then the funeral. And of course what the two women spouted. So many hints and questions. Any theories? Besides, Arion finally found out about the secret training room! What do you think about that?
Anyways, this was a long chapter lol. But I'm really happy since we've crossed 200 votes and oh god, 1K+ views! Ah! Tysm! I really appreciate you all!
Once again, hope you had fun reading and don't forget to vote and comment! Makes my day. Do keep spreading the word about Vicious Fangs to all your friends nd such on wattpad who you believe may like it!
I'm writing chapter 7 currently and uhm. Have been busy with tons of things buy don't worry, I never forget you all! ^_^
Anyways, stay safe then and till next time!
~Skyler