"What?!" I gasped, feeling lightheaded.
"That is why the prince was after you, because you're his sister." He muttered, "I just received a letter from one of the spies."
Numbness creeped in, blocking the anxiety that threatened to rise. It felt as though I was no longer a part of what was happening, but just a bystander. The temporary defence was not strong enough to last but I calmed while it did.
"What does it say?"
"Princess Jenna ran towards Beate with her childhood friend. That is the last anyone knows of her. It makes sense. Nish took his revenge because your mother rejected him for someone who was inferior in status." He said, "Jace must not know what Nish did. That is why he was so determined to end my life."
Unacceptable.
"I won't let him end your life." I frowned, "if he truly is my cousin, he will listen to me."
"Thankyou." He chuckled.
I blushed, it dawned upon me that he did not need my protection.
"What if they go to war with us?" I whispered. "To get me."
"I don't think they will. I'll try my best to prevent it." He sighed.
"But what if they want me? What if they don't reason?" the panic was back and the force of it was enough to overcome the numbness.
He pulled back and looked down at me.
"Ralia may be a strong nation but so is Isolde." He cupped my face, "They will not go to war with us. I won't let it happen. Trust me."
"But Dominic..."
"Think about it. You're my wife now, they're your brothers. Even they understand how it works. Your rightful place is here. I'm not going to let you go unless it is you who asks."
"I'm not going to ask that." I rolled my eyes, "but you only married me to protect me."
"You are so stupid at times." He was irritated, "what part of I'm not going to let you go has eluded you?"
"Even if there is war?" I frowned.
"It won't happen." He was confident and so I nodded.
"What else does it say?" I gestured towards the letter.
He told me that there were details about her childhood, ranging from something so insignificant as her favourite food to the man she was allegedly in love with.
My father disappeared around the same time as my mother did, according to the letter. He had been the son of the royal advisor. My mother had decided to run away after her marriage was arranged to Nish.
"I don't understand why she ran towards Beate if she didn't want to marry Nish." I said, "and why would she go to the palace that night?"
"Perhaps he offered friendship and then tricked her." Dominic answered after a while, "perhaps he blackmailed her from the start. I don't know."
Nish's behaviour finally made sense. He was blinded by revenge, because my mother rejected him. It wasn't done simply because he hated me. He was not right by any means, but knowing why he did what he did gave me a strange sense of direction.
"Are you going to tell anyone?" I asked, trusting him to make the right decision.
"For now, I'd like to keep it quiet." He said, "Once I remove Torus from the council, I'll tell them."
"Even Jamon?" I grimaced, remembering Hath's brother.
"He is not that bad." He chuckled.
"You're joking." I raised an eyebrow, moving to get off.
"Stay." He whispered into my hair, tightening his arms around me. "How do you feel?"
"Numb." I answered after a while. "It's fading fast."
"The last few days have been overwhelming for you." He said, "it is natural."
Dominic was offering a helping hand. He was willing to help me navigate my way out of the swirling mass of emotions. There was no longer a need to be numb, no longer a need to bury my emotions and move on. I had somebody to help me deal with them and I wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. Without thinking twice, I dived deep into what I was feeling.
"I'm scared."
"About?" He nuzzled my hair.
"A lot of things." I whispered.
"Tell me."
"About your uncle." I shuddered.
"I know exactly where he is." He said calmly, "the only uncertainty was Rider and he is dead."
"What do you plan to do?"
"I plan to conquer the entire south. To be honest, I no longer care about them. I've been eyeing south since a while." He muttered as though taking over kingdoms was no big deal at all.
"What about Torus?"
"He should be the last of your worries." His tone had the hard edge that I'd heard many times before, "Today is the last time someone hurt you. No one is going to touch you from now on."
I knew he meant every word he said but there were things that were out of his control. It did nothing to ease my fears.
"You'll see." He said, sensing my reluctance.
"How can you be so sure?" I frowned.
"Did you forget already? I'm not leaving your side." He teased, his smile bringing one on my face.
"Brilliant." I laughed.
"What else are you worried about ?" He asked, seriously.
"Nish."
"What about him?" His eyes raked over my face and I looked away.
"He is very devious. It just scares me. He has already made multiple attempts on your life." I choked up at the last word.
Even Dominic's presence wasn't enough to diminish my anxiety. I gulped down the tears, hoping he wouldn't notice.
"All of them have been unsuccessful." He reminded.
"I'm worried that I'll lose you." I closed my eyes and moisture spilled.
Someone knocked on the door and I scrambled off his lap. He sighed and allowed Leo in. I took a moment to compose myself.
"Are you both alright?" He asked, plopping down on a chair.
I nodded, taking a seat besides Dominic.
"I just received news from Iria." Leo said.
"Iria?" I frowned.
"The territory towards our north." Leo answered and looked back at Dominic, "a sickness has broken out. I've sent Cleo."
"Good call." Dominic nodded.
"Cleo?" I asked.
"Hara's daughter." Leo said, "we've already lost 20 civilians to this illness."
"Does it have anything to do with the vials of blood we found from Beate?" Dominic questioned.
Vials of blood?
"I'll send a letter to Hath. We will know more once Cleo assesses the situation." Leo sighed, "if it is connected, you know what it means."
It was evident that there was some connection between the sickness and those vials of blood. I made a mental note to ask Dominic about it later.
"What did you do with the body?" Dominic was angry. It was evident from his tone.
Uh oh.
It was never a good sign. Angry Dominic meant people were about to lose their heads. Literally.
"I was waiting for your instructions." Leo looked at him warily.
"We are going to send a message to my dear uncle." He smiled a cruel smile that send chills through my body, "I will force their hand."
"What about waiting ?" Leo frowned, "what about conquering the south first? If they attack...we might not be able to defend ourselves."
"The entire south? Attacking me? Doesn't seem likely." Dominic raised an eyebrow.
"It is likely. Beate has been an ally of Ralia since years and so has the south. Isolde is not strong enough to take on all of Ralia as well as the south." Leo argued.
"I can go to Ralia." I offered, looking at Dominic. His answering glare said it all.
"Absolutely not." He grit out.
"What good would that do?" Leo frowned.
"Uh.." I looked at Dominic once more and he took a deep breath. Then he told Leo about what we had found out.
His reaction was pretty funny.
"You're the princess of Ralia!" Leo practically jumped out of his seat, "how is...how is that even...I can't..."
"Calm down." Dominic rolled his eyes.
"You married the princess of Ralia! That means we're allies!" Leo gasped.
There was a sense of hope. If Ralia was on Dominic's side, he was sure to win.
"Can't you stop shouting?" Dominic winced, "I don't need allies. I'll crush the south without them."
"But-"
"No." Dominic cut Leo off, "I've forgiven them more than once. Nish tried to kill me by poisoning Seraphina. The Prince came after me as well. Then there was the Deskan. It is one thing to go after me. Rider crossed all limits by going after her and now what? They think to kill my people? Innocents?"
"All of our planning will go in vain if we attack now." Leo said, "the sickness could be natural. We don't even know if Nish caused it. We don't even know if Nish is working with your uncle."
"If Nish isn't working with my uncle then there is no threat from Ralia and if he is, then they will attack sooner or later." Dominic answered, "My patience isn't infinite. You know what to do with the body. Send a message to my uncle. We know where he is. Tell him that his moves will not be taken lightly."
"We just conquered Aris, just a month before conquering Beate. The fight was brutal. The repair work for the infrastructure is still in progress. On top of that, even Beate hasn't settled. We can not afford a war."
"I'm not going to war tomorrow." Dominic gave an exasperated look, "the repair work will be done in a month. I talked to Marak this morning, you were there as well. Beate has enough resources to carry on. Send the message Leo, start preparing."
"Are you sure ?" Leo frowned.
"Yes." Dominic was determined, "its time to end this. Time to teach them a lesson. You don't go after what is mine."
I wondered if he was talking about his kingdom or about me.
"I will send the message." Leo sighed, "what about Ralia?"
"We have spies all around. If there is anything to worry about, we will know." Dominic said, confident.
"You're right." Leo nodded and then smiled, "time to teach those bastards a lesson, eh?"
Dominic only smirked in return.
"Gress will arrive in a few hours." Leo stood up and stretched.
"Ok." Dominic nodded, "tell Dahar to keep an eye on Torus."
"Will do. Anything else?"
"Alert the southern border. If I'm going to war, I'm going to do it right."
I couldn't help but feel responsible in a way. I knew that Dominic had his own set of enemies but adding my own to the mix was only going to increase his burden. He seemed to be fine though. I wondered if it was only a shell.
"Alright." Leo nodded, "see you both at dinner. Bye Princess."
He winked at me before leaving. Dominic clearly didn't appreciate it. It did occur to me that Leo might've been doing it for that precise reason.
"Did Ariadne get you any new clothes yet?" He enquired.
"She did." I had zero focus on new clothes and his sudden interest in them was confusing.
"There is an event tonight." He sensed my curiosity, "nothing major. Just the council members and their families. A few ministers."
"Why an event?" The time hardly seemed right for celebration.
"I've invited a few ministers to see how it is going. It is a general meeting." He explained.
"Alright." I nodded.
"And you won't lose me."
My mouth dropped open. I was surprised that he remembered. Stepping closer, he placed a kiss on my head.
"So should we get dressed ?" He chuckled.
My brain froze.
"Uh." was all I managed.
"I'll get dressed and wait outside." He laughed his way to the cupboards.
I huffed at his back. He absolutely loved rendering me speechless. A planned formed in my head. There was one dress from the entire collection that was particularly revealing.
Let's see if he laughs then.
With a smirk of my own, I walked to my side of the closet.