"It won't be much longer now, my spies have them close to their territories borders." Prince Arden says confidently, a goblet of wine in his hand as he swirls it around slowly, enjoying the deep red colour and how it reminds him of the violent red of blood.
"Well that's good news, they haven't waisted anymore of our time." King Callin replies, body hunched over the table while he stares at the map, pieces spread out before him like a puzzle, a puzzle that he was so very close to winning.
"I wonder if they wept at the funeral." Arden says softly, his eyes still transfixed on the wine in his hand. "I would have paid good money to see it myself."
"I have no doubt you would have brother, but our plan was meticulous in its detail and you enjoying our cousins loss was not included." Callin replies, his bright blue eyes watching his brother who lounges on a chair comfortably.
"Unfortunately not, while I enjoyed the theatrics during my time there I did miss on watching the play unfold. It would have been something spectacular to see the look on their human loving faces." Arden smirks darkly before tipping back the glass and finishing the wine.
"Well our plan isn't entirely finished, you have more theatrics now we know how attached our dear cousins have become to their human whore, even if we don't know who Demwyn intended to choose, and soon it won't matter." Callin says glaring at the large territory Wyndelle inhabited, a territory that should belong to him and soon would.
"Indeed, who would have thought they would both want the same woman, and not just for a night of fun but to marry?" Arden replies sitting forward and setting the empty wine glass on the table beside him.
"They should never have considered picking a human wife in the first place. It is one thing to secure heirs and have children, it is another thing entirely to allow humans a place of authority in our kingdoms." Callin snaps quickly, his distaste of the humans and belief they were inferior was abundantly clear in every decision he made, even after the agreement he made with them to fight for him. You see, he never intended for them to return home to where their women waited so patiently for them.
"Well it is a good thing we are here to help them see the error of their ways." Arden smiles at his brother, trying to ease the tension that never seemed to leave the King's presence.
"We will do more than help them see the errors of their ways brother, we will make sure that the Valessia line is broken for good and Wyndelle is no longer ruled by them but instead by us." Callin replies, turning back to the map in front of him.
"Once we have his brothers where we want them on the battlefield fighting for their pathetic lives you will carry on the rest of the plan and draw Demwyn's attention away from the palace where he is hiding away. Then it will be left open and defenceless and his subjects will either surrender or fall to our swords." Callin smiles darkly, looking up at his brother who turns to the map.
"Your plan hasn't failed us yet, it may have taken us many years of waiting and biding our time, but soon everything we have planned for, everything we have wanted will be ours." Arden looks to his older brother, their appearance so similar that many would assume they were twins.
Callin nods, turning back to the map.
He knew every inch of the map, had studied every line and mark, every Kingdom and city, he could name every road and bridge. But it wasn't enough, it wouldn't be enough until his plan had been fulfilled and he was the rightful King of Wyndelle.
The End
Thank you everyone who has read my story, it means so much!!
This is the end of Book One and I hope to start posting Book Two very soon.
I can't believe I finished this story, with almost 150k words, when I started writing I wasn't even sure if I would make it this far, if I even liked the story, but the more I wrote the more I fell in love with the characters and I couldn't leave their story without giving them more. So here we are, no happy ending yet, but please stay tuned and look out for Book Two.
Lots of Love,
Megan xo